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Thursday, November 26, 2009
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News Stories About Radio
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2004-01-27
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. If I were to pick just one DVD this week, it would without doubt be Time Bandits - (Buy from Amazon.) Or The Critic . Or both. Yeah, I'd have to pick both. But there are plenty of choices for everyone this week.
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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.
Submitted by: C.
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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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2003-10-27
nd to close out October with records set for widest October opening, biggest opening weekend in October and best overall October box office. With all these box office records being set, it's no surprise the box office was up 14% from last week and 21% from last year.
It was no surprise that Scary Movie 3 won the weekend; it was a surprise how much it earned. $48.1 million dollars was not only well ahead of all predictions, it was also a record for the biggest opening weekend in October. It also broke the record for widest opening in October at 3,503 theatres. For this type of movie reviews are almost a non-issue; however, the PG-13 rating may have helped the overall box office by allowing more high-school males to get tickets. Budget information hasn't been released yet, but it is expected to be between the first two movies in the Scary Movie Trilogy, and even with a $25 million ad campaign Scary Movie 3 will show a profit by the end of next weekend. Needless to say, there is another sequel in the works, this time lampooning Super Heroes.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre also beat expectations, albeit by a much smaller margin. The $14.5 million earned in its second week was only a 47% drop at the box office, very good given the genre and advanced hype. It was also enough to push its total past $50 million and to start showing a profit for the studio.
The latest attempt by Cuba Gooding Jr. to regain acting legitimacy came in third place with $13.3 million, just below predictions. Reviews for Radio are not strong enough to erase the memory of Boat Trip, and were in fact weaker than the rest of the top ten at only 35% positive.
After a weaker than expected opening weekend, The Runaway Jury had a much better than expected second weekend. The courtroom drama lost less than 30% of its box office to land at $8.4 million and fourth place. This could be an indication of strong legs to come, but no amount of legs will allow the film to recover the estimated $80 million production / P&A budget.
For the second weekend in a row, Mystic River rounded out the top five. This time its box office was $7.8 million, down just 25%. Its box office total is now just shy of its production budget of $25 million.
If there is any accountability in the movie industry then the performance of Beyond Borders should cost someone their job. The budget for this movie has been estimated at anywhere from $50 to $70 million, but its first weekend it only made $2.1 million and failed to make the top ten. That's a per theatre average of just $1154, compare that to The Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl which made $1271 per theatre and it was in its 16th week of release. Reviews are going to be no help either; at just 16% positive it has the lowest number of positive review for any movie currently in wide release by nearly 20 percentage points. Paramount will be lucky to make back 10% of its investment before it hits the home market.
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2003-10-24
ening wide this week, but none of them are opening to rave reviews. And while the most likely number one movie won’t suffer due to poor reviews, the other two will mostly like suffer.
The third movie in the Scary Movie trilogy opens today with much less fanfare than the other two, but in a huge number of theatres. Reviews for Scary Movie 3 are almost exactly between the first two movies, and so should the box office. $31 million this weekend, with an outside shot at $100 million.
It has been a while since Cuba Gooding Jr. made a really high quality movie but Radio was supposed to break that streak. This movie has, ‘for your Oscar consideration written’ all over it. However, with the reviews currently sitting at just 35% positive, (and even lower for the cream of the crop.) he will have to wait for his slump to end. Financially, the movie is in better shape with a budget of only $35 million. With an opening weekend of $14 million, it should show a profit by the home market.
Given the hype and the genre, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre will drop a lot this weekend. Dropping down nearly 60% down to $13 million and third place. Even with the fast drop, the low costs will mean this film is close to a profit already.
There will be a virtual tie for fourth place with both Mystic River and Kill Bill: Volume 1 making roughly $8 million. Mystic River has the slight edge for top spot, but it won’t win by much.
The last new movie opening this weekend is Beyond Borders. It not only has the weakest reviews at just 16% positive, but the lowest theatre count at just 1798. Because of this, expect an opening weekend of just $5 million before quickly exiting out of theatres.
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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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2003-10-16
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. This was bit of a weird week, the best sites either had little or no changes to an already impressive site, or there was a major update but with most content being marked coming soon. 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: The flash site was launched during the past week and while there is a lot of information, most of the multimedia is still marked coming soon. Synopsis, Trailer, Cast and Crew Bios, Production Notes and Legacy are there. So is an interesting twist on reviews, they have reviews for the original from 1979 and will have reviews for the Director's Cut when they are available. As I said, most of the multimedia is marked coming soon and this includes 6 clips, TV spots and an interview with Ridley Scott. The site also has good background music and animated intros. The only complaint I have is the animated intros are a little too long, they could be trimmed to improve the pacing of the site.
Beyond Borders
Current Content: The production notes and the cast and crew bios were added.
Big Fish
Current Content: The flash site launched this week but there is very little content. In fact, there is more content on the placeholder site then there is on the flash site. That could change as the release date nears, but there are no features marked 'coming soon' to let us know.
Elf
Current Content: Another game was added, Snowball fight, as was a section on Elf-themed self-help books.
Garfield
Current Content: The redirect was replaced with a placeholder site. Right now there's just the synopsis and cast list, but it says the trailer will be online in November. There's also more animation and sound than most placeholders have, and that's a good sign.
Gothika
Current Content: The flash site went live and it is good. Not so much for its content, (most of which is marked coming soon) but for the mood it creates. The background music helps, so do the little interactive features. And most pages there's something you can click on to see flashed from the movie and some text will appear. I even got the all the menu items to turn to, 'Not Alone' but I have no idea how and I can't seem to do it again. So far the site has the synopsis, trailer, more than two dozen images (all of which can be sent as e-cards) and quite a few downloads. Production notes, cast and crew bios and 2 movie clips are marked coming soon. This is the best mood for site since Identity, and just like that site Gothika wins the fervent Weekly Website Award.
Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Current Content: There was a complete redesign of the site last week, the third design used, and the flash site is marked coming soon. There's less information about the movie than the last site, but more extras like wallpapers, screensavers, image gallery and even two full-length cartoons.
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Current Content: Three more interviews were added to the site featuring Viggo Mortenson, Karl Urban and Peter Jackson. Most of the interviews are text, but they are supplemented with video clips. Also, information on the upcoming release of the soundtrack was added.
Love Don't Cost a Thing
Current Content: The trailer was added to the placeholder site.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Current Content: The Non-North American English International Sites is up, but it appears to be the same as the North American site.
The Matrix Revolutions
Current Content: This week's updates include more photos and the cover for the upcoming comic book.
Pieces of April
Current Content: Another movie opening this week with a website that hasn't changed since I last reviewed it. It's worth checking out for the extensive intro alone.
Radio
Current Content: Another flash site that launched this week. There's not much content, Synopsis, Trailer, Cast and Crew Bios, and four part production notes. There are two more previews marked coming soon.
Returner
Current Content: No changes since I first reviewed the site. Given the movie in question, the site could have used more flash.
Run Away Jury
Current Content: This site has previously won the Weekly Website Award. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get to the site right now; it's gone 404 on me.
Scary Movie 3
Current Content: So far there's just the trailer, four posters and a TV you can find. Since the movie is released next week, expect a large update soon.
Sylvia
Current Content: Opening this week, there was a bit of content added. There are six main sections, and each one except the last start with a little bit of animation and some background music. The music doesn't loop, so you only hear it when you change sections. The site has the usual information, Synopsis, Trailer and three other clips, Cast and Crew Bios, Image gallery, some downloads. It also has biographical information on the two main characters portrayed in the movie.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Current Content: Not much has changed, just new background music. The clip itself is long enough but the gap between loops is too long.
Timeline
Current Content: This site underwent a complete redesign this week and a lot of content was added, but even more is marked coming soon. It has the synopsis, cast and crew bios, both the teaser and the full trailer, image gallery (including some behind the scenes), downloads and even your chance to ask the director Richard Donner a question. Most of what is marked coming soon is multimedia, movie clips, behind the scene clips, interviews, concept art, etc. Production notes and news are also marked coming soon, as are three mysterious wormholes on the main page. I'm not sure what they do, but they might have something to do with the 1357 features marked coming soon.
Veronica Guerin
Current Content: The film opens tomorrow, but the cast and crew bios and film clips are still marked coming soon.
Submitted by: C.
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