Back in the day, films would remain in theaters for several months, showing small drops or gains from week to week, slowly raising their tally to blockbuster numbers. Today, the opening weekend is everything for big films, and only overwhelmingly good word-of-mouth can keep a movie going after a lack-luster start.
Looking back to 1980, the top five films were:
The Empire Strikes Back-$210,000,000, 5.2% from opening weekend.
9 to 5-$103,000,000, 3.8% from opening weekend.
Stir Crazy-$101,000,000, 8.6%, from opening weekend.
Airplane!-$83,000,000, (opening unknown)
Any Which way you Can-$71,000,000, 11.4% from opening weekend.
Now lets look at 2009:
Avatar-$745,000,000, 10.3% from opening weekend
Transformers 2-$402,000,000, 27.1% from opening weekend
Harry Potter 6-$302,000,000, 25.8% from opening weekend
New Moon-$297,000,000, 48.2% from opening weekend
Up-$293,000,000, 23.2% from opening weekend
2009 is probably not the best example of this trend however, as Avatar had shocking longevity, and a holiday release, which always marginalizes the opening weekend. Transformers 2 had a five day opening, meaning the opening day is not included in the opening weekend. Harry Potter 6, also had a five day opening.
These days, films with significant legs are a real rarity. One such film is "How to Train Your Dragon". After superior word of mouth (98% on rotten tomatoes) the movie has maintained a steady stream of cash since its somewhat tepid premiere ($43,000,000), and managed to take #1 this weekend. This is an extremely rare case of a film retaking #1 after falling out, something that hasn't happened in a very long time, perhaps ever for a film in its fourth weekend. It now totals $159,000,000, and will probably cross $200 million by the end of its run.
By comparison, Transformers 2 earned $200 million in its five day opening and struggled to get over the $400 million mark. Word of mouth really does help a film.
Showing posts with label avatar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label avatar. Show all posts
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
If Avatar wins best picture, I will strangle a kitten.
The Academy Awards nominations were announced on Monday, and of course there has been an endless amount of buzz around the internet, mostly focusing on James Cameron's brainless hippy-themed trip of a film, "Avatar". According to a poll on Yahoo Movies, 39% of voters think it deserves best picture. That might not be a majority, but it is more than 8 of the other nominees votes combined. The second place is "The Blind Side" with 27%. I haven't seen the Blind Side, but I know it probably doesn't really deserve it either. More unsettling is that 50% of voters thought Cameron deserves the "Best Director" award. Also, 72% of voters think it deserves Best Cinematography, which I strongly disagree with. I have yet to see many of the nominees, and probably will never see many of them, but I still know Avatar doesn't deserve crap.
Last year's winner, "Slumdog Millionaire" was nothing short of a masterpiece. This year is a jumble of odd picks, and the sum of their parts is so sad that Avatar is actually the frontrunner. If Avatar wins best picture on March 7th, I will be furious, and you should be too.
Here are the noms for best picture, in case you've been living under a rock and don't know yet.
Avatar (most overrated movie of all time)
The Blind Side (haven't seen)
District 9 (a fantastic movie, my pic out of the 10)
An Education (haven't seen)
The Hurt Locker (haven't seen)
Inglorious Basterds (haven't seen)
Precious (haven't seen)
A Serious Man (haven't seen)
Up (good, but overrated)
Up in the Air (haven't seen)
I have a few movies to see, but as of now my pick for best picture goes to "Zombieland". That movie rules all.
Last year's winner, "Slumdog Millionaire" was nothing short of a masterpiece. This year is a jumble of odd picks, and the sum of their parts is so sad that Avatar is actually the frontrunner. If Avatar wins best picture on March 7th, I will be furious, and you should be too.
Here are the noms for best picture, in case you've been living under a rock and don't know yet.
Avatar (most overrated movie of all time)
The Blind Side (haven't seen)
District 9 (a fantastic movie, my pic out of the 10)
An Education (haven't seen)
The Hurt Locker (haven't seen)
Inglorious Basterds (haven't seen)
Precious (haven't seen)
A Serious Man (haven't seen)
Up (good, but overrated)
Up in the Air (haven't seen)
I have a few movies to see, but as of now my pick for best picture goes to "Zombieland". That movie rules all.
Friday, January 15, 2010
New Year, Same Movies
Just got back from watching James Cameron's "Avatar". The movie was pretty good, but that's not what I'm going to talk about here.
I'm going to talk about the trailers, or rather, trailer. The lights went down in the theater and I witnessed the same trailer, again and again and again. The trailer was for different films, but it was all the same. Threatening music at the beginning, quick shots of random stuff and then a heavy metal song would kick in and there were quick shots of random action. Stop, someone says a line and then go into montage of random destruction. Wash, rinse, repeat.
I witnessed millions of dollars thrown around on screen, again and again and again. All the trailers built to the same point and flashed their title too quick to see, or else I just didn't care.
One film stood out from the rest, not going with the "gritty" and "dark" look of the other films. This was the trailer for an unconventional movie based on an unconventional comic book, "Kick-Ass". Yeah, that's the title, and it looks like this movie will RULE. However, this was the lone exception, and there were at least 5 trailers (almost certainly more, but I lost count because I just didn't care).
It became clear to me that we now live in an age where special effects extravaganzas are commonplace and boring. Why? They make so much money, it inspires studios to make them again and again and again. And we keep buying tickets.
It's unfortunate, but I have no doubt many people will pay to see the same movie several times this coming year, under different titles of course. And next year, they'll do it all again. But I won't.
I'm going to talk about the trailers, or rather, trailer. The lights went down in the theater and I witnessed the same trailer, again and again and again. The trailer was for different films, but it was all the same. Threatening music at the beginning, quick shots of random stuff and then a heavy metal song would kick in and there were quick shots of random action. Stop, someone says a line and then go into montage of random destruction. Wash, rinse, repeat.
I witnessed millions of dollars thrown around on screen, again and again and again. All the trailers built to the same point and flashed their title too quick to see, or else I just didn't care.
One film stood out from the rest, not going with the "gritty" and "dark" look of the other films. This was the trailer for an unconventional movie based on an unconventional comic book, "Kick-Ass". Yeah, that's the title, and it looks like this movie will RULE. However, this was the lone exception, and there were at least 5 trailers (almost certainly more, but I lost count because I just didn't care).
It became clear to me that we now live in an age where special effects extravaganzas are commonplace and boring. Why? They make so much money, it inspires studios to make them again and again and again. And we keep buying tickets.
It's unfortunate, but I have no doubt many people will pay to see the same movie several times this coming year, under different titles of course. And next year, they'll do it all again. But I won't.
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