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Thursday, November 26, 2009
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2004-04-13
It was hardly a surprise that The Passion of the Christ was able to take top spot over Easter weekend. What is a surprise is the amount; just $26 million is barely an increase from last weekend. There was only one new opening, but it was in Italy, one of the most staunchly Catholic nations. The film did cross $100 million internationally some time during the mid-week, but a serious post-Easter drop-off is expected.
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2004-04-06
Another 7 openings helped keep The Passion of the Christ in top spot with $25.4 million. And the same pattern is holding true, the smaller the market the better the result. In Spain it opened to $3.2 million, about on par with Gothika's opening at the end of February. In South Korea it opened first with $2.3 million, significantly below the local productions that have been taking tops spot for most of the year. So far the film has earned just over $80 million internationally and over $400 million worldwide.
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2004-04-02
April starts out like a lion as four movies open wide, two of them are opening mega-wide, (theatre counts over 3000.) And with the box office humming along at double digit increases from last year we could see records broken this week.
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2004-03-30
Every week films get a second chance at success from the home market; or, in some cases, a first chance at success. Here is a list of wide releases, limited releases and a few from the growing TV on DVD section. It was a much richer week in terms of choices, but for me choosing a DVD pick of the week was easy, (Penn & Teller: Bullsh*t!.) Although I also picked up House of Sand and Fog - (Buy from Amazon) as a rental.
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2004-03-30
With no new wider releases the top five international box office finished in the same order as last weekend. The Passion of the Christ again topped the week thanks to number one openings in many markets and even a few records. The biggest slice of its estimated $16 million take came from the U.K. where it finished first, sort of. Including previews its $3.6 was strong enough for first place; if you don't include previews then it drops to third place behind the debut of Dawn of the Dead and the second weekend of Starsky and Hutch. The film again had strong results in small markets breaking records in Argentina and Venezuela. Total international run now sits at $58.7 million in 36 markets, good, but certainly not comparable to its domestic total.
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2004-03-23
The Passion of the Christ had mixed openings during its fourth weekend in international release. In Latin America is performed very well, where it made two thirds of its $15 million weekend take, breaking records in Chile and Central America along the way. On the flip side it could only manage a paltry $2.3 million in Germany, half of first place Brother Bear and on par with Gothika's opening earlier in the year. It would have been more impressive if the situation was reversed. After all, record breaking performances throughout Latin American won't earn as much as a blockbuster performance in Germany. Overall Passions has pulled in $32.3 million in 19, mostly smaller markets.
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2004-03-16
Without an international breakout hit, the domestic slowdown is still affecting the international box-office. This week a single massive opening in a major market could have put a film in the top five. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. But a string of strong openings helped push Along Came Polly into first place with $12.4 million. It's still early in its international run, but with $40.2 million so far and with some big markets left it should beat its domestic total.
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2004-03-09
The earlier domestic box office slow down is starting to affect the international box office as no movie could manage $10 million or more at the box office. Compare that to last week when three movies managed that feat. Even winning 11 Oscars didn't help Lord of the Rings: Return of the King's international box office as it dropped 15% to $9.4 million, although that was enough for it to reclaim the weekly crown. Overall its international total is now just shy of $680 million while its worldwide total is nearing $1.05 billion.
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2004-02-23
As Oscar night draws near, we analyze the current voting in our Predict the Oscars competition, and, like CNN on election night, start calling results that we think are looking like racing certainties.
We'll be announcing a new projected winner each day leading up to the competition, and giving our final projected results on the afternoon of February 29 - just before the show itself.
Today we start with an easy one... Best Animated Feature
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2004-02-18
The Japanese opening finally happened for Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and the wait was well worth it. $14.7 million, (including previews) was the boost the film needed to regain top spot on the international box office charts. Overall, its take nearly doubled from last weekend with $21.7 million. That was enough to push its international total past $600 million, only the fourth film to do so. Worldwide, Return of the King climbed into second spot with $975 million and should cross the $1 billion mark by the weekend. Also worth noting, the film crossed $100 million in the U.K., only the second film to do so, (the other being Titanic.)
Buoyed by a couple strong openings and several excellent holdovers, Something's Gotta Give climbed the chart to second place with $16.9 million. Number one openings in Spain and Germany as well as insignificant drops in the U.K. and Italy helped its international total rise to nearly $40 million.
After four weekends on top, The Last Samurai dropped to third this weekend with $12.8 million. Most impressive was its run in Japan, where it as earned $111 million so far, that's more than its domestic total.
Rounding out the top five are two Disney films that had disappointing domestic runs. With $7.0 million Brother Bear narrowly beat out The Haunted Mansion, which earned $6.6 million.
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2004-02-03
Strong holdovers and a half a dozen smaller openings kept The Last Samurai in first place on the international scene for the third weekend in a row. This week it took in another $23.3 million to raise its total to nearly $250 million internationally. Ken Watanabe's Oscar nomination helped the film's Japanese take rise by 22% from last weekend, and is now just shy of $100 million in that nation.
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2004-01-27
Nominations for the 76the Annual Academy Awards were announced today. As always, here is a list of the nominations, plus reactions below.
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2003-12-01
While all but one for the movies opening over the 5-day Thanksgiving weekend failed to make a big splash at the box office, the holdovers picked up the slack. The extra helpings of family films helped this Thanksgiving weekend 7% up from last year for the 3-day weekend. But a weak Wednesday / Thursday lead to a 6% drop for the 5-day weekend. The mixed results sent 2003's box office a little further behind 2002.
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2003-11-24
here have been no massive hits like there were last year. This week there was a token increase from last weekend, (2.5%) but without a Harry Potter or a James Bond at the box office we're seeing more and more drops from last year. This week it was a 13% drop and year to date 2003 is now more than 1% lower than last year. That might not seem like much, but it works out $100 million despite higher ticket prices.
The Cat in the Hat's opening weekend was a little better than predicted earning $38.3 million. However, the chances for long-term success for the picture are not very strong. First of all, the reviews were just terrible at only just 14% positive, and while kids don't read reviews the parents who take them to the movies do. Secondly, the international appeal is limited; The Grinch earned $260 million domestically but just $80 million internationally. And lastly, the cost is just too high. Factoring in both production and P&A, it cost the studio nearly $150 million to get The Cat in the Hat into theatres. Strong home market sales and overwhelming marketing alliances will be its only saving graces.
It's hard to say is Gothika was a success based on a $19.3 million opening. It was the best opening of the four Dark Castle Entertainment films released so far; it was also the most expensive. And even though it only received 13% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, only House on Haunted Hill did better with critics. If it follows the same pattern as the rest of the Dark Castle Entertainment movies, it should end with $50 million at the box office. Their best effort so far, but barely more than the production budget.
With $18.7 million at the box office, Elf fell a little bit faster at the box office this week and will have to wait till next weekend to break $100 million. This is still an excellent third weekend figure and should result in a pay-raise for Will Ferrell.
Despite excellent reviews and an older demographic, Master and Commander: Far Side of the World had only an average week-to-week drop. The film dropped almost 40% to $15.2 million, sinking the hopes of the studio for long legs and profitability. Only Oscar hype can save this film now.
Of the three movies I predicted would battle for fifth place, only one managed to meet expectations.
Love Actually dropped less than 1% at the box office this week earning another $8.6 million. So far it has only made $30 million domestically, but it should continue to do well into the holiday season. It should also be noted that Love Actually could have not opened domestically at all and it still would have been a huge hit for the studio as it will earn $200 million internationally.
After only two weeks, The Matrix Revolutions started shedding theatres, that is all you really need to know about its performance so far. In week three it dropped almost 60% to just $7.0 million. It won't make $150 million, and it might make less than half what The Matrix Reloaded made just a few months ago.
After two weeks of holding up well to ever increasing competition, the bubble finally burst on Brother Bear. It only managed $5.3 million this week and it should see its theatre count drop dramatically in the coming weeks.
Another kids' movie that couldn't handle the increased competition was Looney Tunes: Back in Action. After only make $9.4 million opening weekend; Warner Bros. was relying on strong legs for any chance at profits. However, during its second weekend it collapsed at the box office dropping to just $4.2 million. On the bright side, sales of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection were so strong that a second collection is now in the works and should be released some time next year. Hopefully the next one will include Hillbilly Hare.
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2003-11-21
ss, I was going to do the whole column in rhyme, but I decided it might irritate some long-time readers. That and I can't find my rhyming dictionary anywhere.
The Cat in the Hat will easily finish first at the box office; thereby confirming quality doesn't mean everything at the box office. The reviews for this movie are absolutely horrible, currently sitting at just 11% positive. Compared that to The Grinch, which got 53% positive. No film currently in the top 10 comes close to that score; the last film to open with such a low score was Cold Creek Manor. Compounding problems is the strong competition from last week's winner Elf. The Cat in the hat will win this weekend, and will top Elf's opening as well with $34 million. But it's legs at the box office will be far shorter than Elf's.
Even with the increased competition, Elf should take second place with a very strong drop-off. Granted, it will be sharper than last weekend's 15%, but a third weekend drop-of a little more than 25% is excellent. That will give Elf a weekend total of just below $20 million and $100 million either late next week, or early next weekend.
Also holding up well, but for different reasons, will be Master and Commander: Far Side of the World. As with most movies with an older demographic, strong legs will be the saving grace of this film. A second week drop of just one third at the box office and a $17 million weekend will help recoup some of that $150 million budget.
Reviews for Gothika are only slightly better than the Cat in the Hat's, but its box office standing is significantly worse. Halle Berry hasn't had success carrying a movie, all her hits have either been ensemble pieces (X-Men) or supporting roles to already established characters (Die Another Day.) Her box office appeal will have a hard time overcoming the poor reviews leading to a $15 million opening weekend. Looks like she'll have to wait for Catwoman before she has a hit of her own.
There are three movies battling for the final place in the top five: Brother Bear, Love Actually and The Matrix Revolutions. All three should be within $1 million of each other.
Love Actually has the best shot at fifth place as it is adding another 500 theatres this weekend. This should offset most, if not all, or its drop in per theatre average. With almost no week to week drop-off, it will finish at $8.5 million and fifth place.
It seems every week Brother Bear has more competition for that coveted kids' demographic. And every week it holds up well, not great, but not poorly either. This week is no different with a slightly greater than one third drop to $8.0 million.
Unlike Love Actually, The Matrix Revolutions is shedding theatres, fast. It will suffer another greater than 50% loss to end at $7.5 million and seventh place. $150 million total box office is becoming less and less likely.
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2003-11-18
, there was a power outage last night.
Both wide releases faltered at the box office, one more than the other did. And with the other quasi-wide release not a factor in the top 5, it was a hard weekend at the box office. The box office was down 14% from last weekend, and almost 25% from last year, when Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets opened.
While there were two other movies aimed at kids were playing this weekend, they were no competition for Elf. The Will Farrell Christmas comedy dropped a stellar 15% taking in $26.3 million. That raised its two-week total to just over $70 million and makes $100 million a forgone conclusion. With a production budget estimated at $30 - $35 million, and a P&A budget a little lower than that, Elf should make a healthy profit during its domestic run.
Master and Commander: Far Side of the World wasn't so lucking at the box office. It was only able to make $25.1 million (or roughly $697 thousand per letter in its title.) Even with fantastic reviews, it won't have the legs to match the $150 million production budget and unless it has stronger appeal international, the studio won't see a dime of profit till long after its hit the home market.
It's hard to put a positive spin of The Matrix Revolutions' performance thus far. It opening to the third best Wednesday opening ever then quickly dropped before having to settle for $48.5 million opening weekend. But that's miles above its second weekend performance of just $16.4 million. That's a drop of a little more than 66%, only The Hulk had a bigger drop after finishing first. Expectations for The Matrix Revolutions were at $350 million when the year began, but they've been dropping ever since. Now, most analysts predict it will end closer to $150 million, barely more than its budget. And the backlash is so strong that it will affect the sales of the DVD box set.
Brother Bear might be remembered as one of the last feature length 2D animated cartoons released, at least for a long, long time. Weekend grosses are dropping much to fast for a Disney film, down almost 35% this weekend to $12.1 million.
The bad news is, Looney Tunes: Back in Action opening with only $9.3 million at the box office. The good news is, it had an internal multiplier of 4.28, which suggests good legs. The bad news is, the total budget to produce and advertise was $120 million. Average reviews won't help, so it looks like the studio will be stuck paying for this one for a while.
Love Actually wasn't able to live up to expectations. It did finish sixth with the best week-to-week performance, but the actual box office was only $8.7 million. Even if it disappoints domestically, it should easily earn $100 million internationally.
Tupac: Resurrection's weekend was strange, to say the least. It earned an impressive $2.5 million on Friday but ended the weekend at just $4.6 million. That's an internal multiplier of just 1.86, which is ridiculously low. It will be interesting to see how the rest of its run goes. Excellent reviews and genre suggest excellent legs. But that internal multiplier is very puzzling.
One final note, both The Matrix Revolutions and Scary Movie 3 cracked the $100 mark. They were the 22nd and 23rd movies to do so this year. One more and 2003 will tie last year's record.
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2003-11-14
two new movies are opening wide and another opening quasi-wide, last week's quasi-wide release gets a wider release this week. With all the new films, holdovers might get lost in the shuffle.
Opening in over 3100 theatre and competing in the longest title of the year competition is Master and Commander: Far Side of the World. This Napoleonic naval epic cost a reported $150 million to make, and that doesn't include P&A. With such a large investment, the film will need to be one of the highest grossing movie for star Russell Crowe, right up there with his last film A Beautiful Mind. Amazing reviews will help, (including 100% from the Cream of the Crop) and so will a $34 million opening. And with an older target audience, expect great legs from this film.
There is a lot of competition for the kids at the box office this weekend, but even in its second weekend, Elf looks like it will win over that particular demographic. The Will Farrell hit will lose less than 25% landing at $24 million and second place.
When a movie performs poorly during the mid-week it means one of two things, it has poor word of mouth or its demographic is skewed young. The Matrix Revolutions is one such film, and since Elf has held up better mid-week I think it's more like that The Matrix Revolutions has poor word of mouth than an R-rated film having a younger demographic than Elf. Look for $21 million this weekend and a dubious future. Two positive notes, it will cross the $100 million mark in just 10 day and its international run will be much, much stronger than its domestic run.
During this time of the year in 1996 Space Jam opened with $27 million. Granted, that film was helped out by the popularity of Michael Jordan. This time around in Looney Tunes: Back in Action the human co-star is Brendan Fraser, who is no stranger to kids, having stared in the live action adaptation of George of the Jungle. Reviews are on the weak side at just over 50%, but kids don't read reviews so that should matter little. One last factor, the strong sales of the Looney Tunes: Golden Collection shows Bugs and Daffy have lost none of their popularity. So look for an opening weekend just north of $20 million.
Brother Bear will again be hurt by the direct competition of a new film. Last week it was Elf, this week it's Looney Tune: Back in Action. Last weekend, Brother Bear lost just 4% of its box office; however, on a day-by-day comparison that loss was a little more than 25%. And that loss should start accelerating, down to just under $12 million this week.
Despite more than doubling its theatre count, Love Actually will again miss the top five. But will have the best week-to-week performance climbing to $10 million at the box office.
The last movie to open in more than a handful of theatres is Tupac: Resurrection. In spite of good reviews, this biopic opens in only 800 theatres and will have trouble hitting $3.0 and the top ten.
On a side note, unless it completely collapses at the box office Scary Movie 3 should get the little less than $4 million needed to cross the $100 million mark.
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2003-11-12
s at the box office this week all finished in the top 5 per theatre average, with another spot going to Love Actually, which at only 576 theatres fell just short of a wide release.
Coming in first was The Matrix Revolutions with a not so impressive $13,842 per theatre average. Of the more than a dozen movies to open in 3500 theatres or more, only four have earned less than The Matrix Revolutions on a per theatre basis.
Coming in a close second was Love Actually with $11,995 per theatre, higher than almost all predictions. Helped by great word of mouth, Love Actually will hold onto most of that per theatre average when its theatre count more than doubles this weekend.
The other wide releases do well on the per theatre average chart were Elf at $9,324 per theater and Brother Bear with $6,114 per theatre.
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2003-11-11
ions made on Friday were beaten at the box office, (albeit mostly by very slim margins) but the one movie that failed to live up to predictions did so by such a large margin that it wiped out the gains of all the other movies. Even with The Matrix Revolutions under-performing, we still saw a huge increase from last weekend (up nearly 50%) but a much smaller increase from last year (up just 6%, roughly the average increase in ticket prices.)
Even lowered expectations after Wednesday's and Thursday's weak performance were too high as The Matrix Revolutions failed to crack the $50 million milestone for its opening weekend. The $48.5 million was just above Scary Movie 3's opening two weeks ago. Its three day weekend was barely more than half what The Matrix Reloaded made during its three day opening weekend, and The Matrix Revolutions earned almost 40% less during its first five days than The Matrix Reloaded earned in the first 4 days. It is important to keep in mind that this is still a good opening weekend, it's just not the massive hit most people were assuming it would be. But why didn't The Matrix Revolutions live up to expectations? It was mostly do to great expectations, when the film didn't break any new ground it was attacked. This led to very poor reviews and bad word of mouth. How well will it do for the rest of its run? It's a little too early to know for sure, but it will still be one of the biggest movies of the year. It will just be closer to X-Men 2 than Finding Nemo. And The Matrix Trilogy will go down in history as one of the most successful movie franchises of all time.
Elf could be the real story of the weekend. Costing just a fraction of The Matrix Revolutions, Elf earned $31.1 million for its opening weekend. Thus ensuring Christmas movies will open earlier and earlier each year till we're surrounded by the holiday all year long. Moving on … Elf's family friendly nature and excellent reviews should bode well for this movie's legs and it should top last year's early Christmas entry, The Santa Clause 2.
Brother Bear earned slightly more than prediction with $18.5 million, off just 4% from last weekend. However, it did have an extra day to earn that $18.5 million as it opened wide last weekend on Saturday, not Friday. Comparing this Saturday and Sunday to last Saturday and Sunday and we see a roughly 25% drop. Still good, but not spectacular given its target audience.
After earning $48 million during its opening weekend, Scary Movie 3 has struggled to reach the $100 million milestone. If it fails, it will be the only movie to open with $40 million or more that has failed to reach that mark. Fortunately for all those involved, it held up better during its third weekend than it did the previous weekend. $10.8 million is still a 46% drop, but it does all but guarantee $100 million at the box office. If not by next weekend, then it will earn it by the weekend after next.
Radio continues to show strong legs with $7.2 million. However, even with strong legs its total box office of $36 million is just above its production budget. Add in P&A and the theatres' cut and Sony will have to wait for strong home market sales before they see a profit.
Love Actually has sleeper hit written all over it. After a successful preview, it opened this weekend with $6.9 million, a bit higher than Sunday's Studio estimates. All this was done in fewer than 600 theatres to give the film a per screen average of just shy of $12,000. Love Actually should climb into the top five next week when its theatre count doubles. And the overall positive reviews should help it maintain its box office as we head into the holiday season.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl earned just over $600 thousand to surpass Star Wars: Attack of the Clones on the All-Time domestic charts.
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2003-11-07
e opening wide this weekend each with their own target audience. The Matrix, which opened on Wednesday, counter programming in the form of Elf and pushing the envelope of the definition wide is Love Actually.
The Matrix Revolutions opened worldwide on Wednesday, and while the box office numbers are huge they are not the record breakers hoped for by the studio. Domestically, it opened with $24.3 million in 3,502 theatres, nearly $7000 per theatre. However, even with that figure it only came in 3rd for biggest Wednesday opening after Star Wars: Phantom Menace and Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Combined with the sharp drop-off for Thursday and the less than impressive reviews and suddenly The Matrix Revolution's weekend doesn't look as strong as it did earlier in week. $65 million and crossing the $100 mark by Sunday. That would normally be great, but expectations for the final two installments for The Matrix Trilogy were just too great.
Also opening in more than 3000 theatres is the Christmas comedy Elf. Before I go into my prediction I have to say something. Christmas is in December, late December. This tread of extending Christmas earlier and earlier has to stop. This year when I went to pick up a party platter for my birthday party and I saw Christmas decorations … My birthday's in August! It's no wonder that by the time Christmas finally arrives I want nothing to do with the holidays anymore. Now that that's off my chest, back to the prediction. Will Ferrell is quickly becoming on of Hollywood's most in demand comic actors, but he's never been asked to carry a movie like this before. He had a very important part in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and was one of three leading men in Old School, but Elf is his movie. And if the reviews are correct, he's more than up to the job. Look for $24 million this weekend with $100 million run not out of the question.
It looks like Brother Bear's second weekend won't top the first, despite having one extra day to do it. Look for just $17 million, a very disappointing result for Disney.
Scary Movie 3 will continue its quick drop at the box office again losing more than 50% at the box office. Earning just $9 million during its third week will leave it one more week away from hitting $100 million.
Holding on to its audience will be a much easier task for Radio. But even so, it will have a tough time sticking in the top five with $6 million.
The last film to open in more than a handful of cities is the romantic comedy Love Actually. This is the first time directing effort from screenwriter Richard Curtis. Richard Curtis has had a lot of success writing comedies like Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones Diary. This success has been greater internationally where the previous films I mentioned have earned an average of $200 million. Love Actually isn't getting the quite the same warm reception by the critics as those films, but 68% positive is still quite good. Look for an opening week per theatre average of about $10,000 for a total box office just shy of $6 million. And over the next few weeks it should expand into many more theatres.
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2003-11-04
ionally a bad night for the box office. Younger kids are out trick or treating, and most parents are either out there with their kids or handing out candies at home. So when Halloween comes on a Friday you know the box office is going to be hurt. This year, most of the releases were scaled back from the much wider released that were previously planned. This hurt the box office to the tune of 21.7% from last week and 14.4% from last year.
By Thursday, Scary Movie 3 had lost nearly 90% of its opening night box office. This could mean one of two things, its audience is skewed very young and they couldn't go to the movies on a school night, or it's a really bad movie. After only taking in $20.0 million for its second weekend, a drop of 58.4%, the latter seems more likely. It did beat Scary Movie 2's box office, but topping the first’s will be all but impossible.
Coming in a very close second was Brother Bear with $19.4 million. Not opening on Halloween seemed to be a good strategy, but the two-day box office will still be seen as a disappointment to Disney. It will need better legs than Finding Nemo just to hit $100 million, and is no where close to Disney's animated fair of the past. And that holds true on the critical side as well; with only 39% positive, reviews are well below expectations.
If one movie benefited from Halloween it was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Its target audience was too old to trick or treat and was too young to have kids that wanted to trick or treat. It took in another $10.8 million to raise its total box office to over $66 million. That's more than double the cost to make and advertise the movie.
Radio made more at the box office than predicted, $9.6 million. However, it wasn't able to hang onto third place like I thought.
Fifth place was just as tight as I thought it would be with Runaway Jury taking it $6.5 million to $6.2 million over
Mystic River. The total box office for the two films are even closer with Mystic River holding a slight lead $33.5 million to $33.3 million.
In The Cut's performance was right in line with predictions. It managed only $2.1 million and just missed a spot in the top ten. With very poor reviews, look for this one to disappear from theatres quickly before having and unrated DVD released.
The Human Stain would have had the best per theatre average in the top 10, if it had made it in the top ten. However, it had to settle for $1.0 million and 15th place. Reviews are a little better than In the Cut, but not enough to suggest a much wider release is in the works.
The release of Alien: The Director’s Cut the biggest disappointment of the weekend. It was probably hurt by the multiple releases that are already on DVD, or the fact that a 9-DVD box set will be released in December. Whatever it was, while the critics are almost unanimous, the director's cut is excellent, the re-release was a bust earning only $1.0 million.
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2003-10-31
he opening of only one wide release, and some that don’t quite make that cut. Many were planned for wider openings than they got, and after this week we’ll see if it was a smart idea to cut back on the theatres.
Last week’s winner is likely to repeat at the top of the charts this week. Scary Movie 3 should take in about $25 million to raise its total to $80 million after just two weeks, topping the final box office of Scary Movie 2. Topping the first’s box office will be much harder to do.
Disney’s latest animated movie, Bother Bear, won’t open in theatres till Saturday. This is probably a good strategy given most kids will be out trick or treating today. However, I doubt most parents will want to be in a theatre with a bunch of kids on sugar highs. So Brother Bear’s prospects for the weekend are bleaker than most Disney movies. And with reviews that are well below par for Disney movies, $15 million will be all it will get.
Radio will again finish third with $9 million at the box office. This is a drop of only 33% and could spell some nice legs for the film. But even so, it will have to wait till the home market before it starts to show a profit.
Dropping a couple of spots will be The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It won’t be far behind Radio with $8 million. This box office will be helped out by some Halloween action, but bigger drops are coming for next week.
Mystic River and Runaway Jury will be in a very close contest for the last spot in the top five. Both will get around $6 million with Runaway Jury having a slight advantage.
In The Cut, which opened in just 6 theatres last weekend opens wider this weekend. But calling 800 theatres a wide release is not quite accurate. Reviews for the movie have been quite poor and there’s only so much Meg Ryan’s controversial sex scenes can do for a movie. Look for $2 million and possibly a spot in the top ten.
The release of Alien: The Director’s Cut was reportedly trimmed back from 1700 theatres. And considering how poorly the movie did during its Wednesday release that was probably for the best. It has failed to make the top ten either day and this weekend it will only get $1 million at most. This is too bad because the reviews are excellent. But if you don’t get a chance to see it in the theatres, you can always pick up the 9-DVD box set in December.
Lastly, Human Stain opens in 160 theaters. Also originally planned for a much wider release, its reviews suggest cutting back was the right thing to do. Box office wise, it should fall just below Alien: The Director’s Cut with under $1 million.
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2003-10-28
the-numbers.com/movies/2003/BEARS.php>Brother Bear opened in two theatres over the weekend before opening wide on Saturday. The strategy seemed to work as the film easily won the per theatre average with $145,970. However, it was not as successful as previous Disney animated fair. For example, The Lion King earned nearly $2 million per theatre back in 1994.
In second place was In The Cut, which is employing a similar strategy by opening in only 6 theatres before opening much wider next weekend. In the Cut earned a much more humble figure of $16,271 per theatre. Just behind with $15,559 was Elephant, which also opened in six theatres.
The only other film to top $10,000 per theatre was this week's box office champ Scary Movie 3 at $13,727.
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2003-10-23
k promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here’s a list of highlights, plus one last look at websites for films opening this week. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
21 Grams
Current Content: The redirect was replaced with a placeholder site. The only content on the placeholder site is the trailer.
Alien: The Director's Cut
Current Content: All six clips were added to the site, as was the interview. The only feature left to be added is the modern reviews.
Beyond Borders
Current Content: The movie opens this week, but there were no changes in the website from last week.
Brother Bear
Current Content: The movie opens in just two theatres tomorrow before opening in 2500+ next week. A couple more games have been added since the flash site first launched. I still think Rutt and Tuke are the best part of the site.
The Butterfly Effect
Current Content: Just a placeholder with the trailer, image gallery, wallpapers and poster.
Dawn of the Dead
Current Content: Just the placeholder site for now. The site has the synopsis, cast and crew (no bios) and the teaser trailer.
Elephant
Current Content: There is a lot of information on the production and the crew, but very little for the cast, most of whom were acting in their first movie. While the production notes were interesting to read, the lack of sound or animation was a disappointment.
Elf
Current Content: Activity center was added to the games and toys section.
Girl With a Pearl Earring
Current Content: Just a placeholder site with no real content for now.
The Haunted Mansion
Current Content: There was a major update this week, including a mostly new format and some additional content. The synopsis, trailer and image galleries are still there. Added to the site was the cast and crew, (no bios yet, not even ones marked coming soon) a good sized behind the scenes movie and a virtual tour of the mansion. So far the tour only lasts up to the front door, but there should be weekly updates till the movie is released.
Honey
Current Content: A music clip was added to the site, and not only is it very long for a website (clocking in at almost 24 seconds) it also loops extremely well.
In the Cut
Current Content: In the Cut opened on Wednesday, but so far the only content on the site is the trailer.
Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Current Content: A couple of games were added.
Love Actually
Current Content: The flash site launched this week and it has a lot to offer. This isn't surprising given the number of characters and relationships in the movie. Not only does the site have all the usual features, but also has plenty of extras. The best of which is the Find Love section that details the nine stories of love featured in the movie where you can click on each character to read a one sentence description and hear a quote from the movie. Each story has an audio clip, a video clip and a question for the Love Quotient Quiz. Some also have additional features like the Soundboard from Love American Style. With all these features, and a couple TV Spots marked coming soon, this site wins the beloved Weekly Website Award.
The Matrix Revolutions
Current Content: This week's updates include three more 30 second TV spots and 2 15 second spots.
Polar Express
Current Content: The redirect was replaced by a placeholder site. The only content so far is the poster.
Radio
Current Content: The movie opens tomorrow, but no changes were made to the site. I guess we'll have to wait for the last two previews to be added.
Scary Movie 3
Current Content: Another movie that opens tomorrow that had no updated from last week. This site is particularly sparse with only the trailer. Not a good sign.
The Singing Detective
Current Content: Like the previous two sites, this movie opens this week but had no updates to talk about. Here is the original review of the site.
Timeline
Current Content: Two IPix and an Internet exclusive trailer were added.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-09-17
k promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here’s a list of highlights, plus one last look at websites for films opening this week. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
Alien: The Director's Cut
Current Content: Just the intro and the trailer but hopefully more will be added before its release.
Anything Else
Current Content: The movie is being released this week, but there's nothing new to report since the site was last reviewed. There's still plenty of multimedia, but with quite a lot of redundancy and overlap.
Brother Bear
Current Content: The placeholder had been up for a long time, but the flash site finally launched this week. As with the preview two characters from the movie, Rutt and Tuke act as guides of sorts to the site. They pop up every once and a while a talk about practically everything but the website. Also on the site joining more traditional features like synopsis and trailer are character bios, games and image gallery and several clips.
Bubba Ho-Tep
Current Content: Opening this week in limited release the site was a disappointment to me. It's not that it's a bad site, but with such an original premise to the movie I was hoping that the site would be more original. There is a lot of news, reviews and previews as well as the synopsis and trailer, but the site screams for audio clips and animated intros.
Cold Creek Manor
Current Content: Last week's winning website had one last update before being released this Friday. The House is a single image you can explore and clicking on certain parts brings up short clips from the movie. It's intriguing without giving away too much information.
Fighting Tempations
Current Content: The site is an excellent mix of regular and unusual features. Like almost all sites it has the synopsis, trailer, cast and crew bios and production notes. Some less usual features include a music mixer, musical beginnings (information on music stars that got their start in gospel choirs) and Winamp player skins. But at central feature of the site is the music. Too many sites have no music at all, those that do usually only have a short clip that loops in the background, The Fighting Temptations has clips from the entire soundtrack on their site and six full songs. The music alone almost puts it ahead of the rest of the sites this week, and the overall site win the sentimental Weekly Website Award.
Godsend
Current Content: Still a placeholder site, but it’s a different placeholder site.
Good Boy
Current Content: The last two sections were added, almost. The Scoop will have all the cast and crew bios plus the production notes, but right now it just has the introduction. Playtime has a memory game with audio clips from the movie. Unfortunately, to hear all the clips you must play for all long time.
Honey
Current Content: Yet another release date on the site, this time December 5th, 2003. It's probably not the last release date we'll see.
Hypnotic
Current Content: It's been a while since this site first launched and since then there have been no updates. Where used, the background music is good. Unfortunately it is only used in one section.
Mambo Italiano
Current Content: No changes since the site was last reviewed. Still an effective but simple site in need of some more flash.
Run Away Jury
Current Content: Another flash site that launched this week, and with a movie like this mood is of the utmost importance. And the video clips do a good job setting the mood, but the music seems to counter it. Which is a shame as the background music is otherwise very well done. In addition to the video clips, there's the synopsis, trailer, cast and crew bios, image gallery and sections of the four main characters. So far only two are currently up, Rankin Fitch which has details on the jurors (just #3, #4 and #9 so far) and Wendall Rohr (3 video clips.) The last two characters are marked coming soon, as is the section for clips.
The Run Down
Current Content: Dangers of the Amazon, a series of humorous warning signs, was added to the site.
Second Hand Lions
Current Content: There were no new format changes since the site was last reviewed, but there was a learning guide added for parents and teachers.
School of Rock
Current Content: I've got a bone to pick with this site. Why is Prince listed under Funk? Prince? Come on. But I won't hold that against the site. This site has a fun atmosphere with little touches like being able to doodle in the notebook where most of the content is presented. It has a short synopsis, trailer, cast and crew bios, production notes, image gallery and news. There are also a few sections marked coming soon, the Music (hopefully they'll explain why they put Prince under Funk), video clips and games and download. Combined with the sound effects and segues, this should be an award winning site. But Prince isn't Funk so they're disqualified.
Underworld
Current Content: Another site that has previously won the weekly website award, there's been very little in the way of updates since then. Plenty more user sightings have been added as has more usual features like cast and crew bios.
Submitted by:
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