Sunday Estimate Analysis
Len Klady threw a little ice water on the Deuce Bigalow story, reminding us that Disney released the first film and Sony was stuck with the sequel. It
April 19, 2024
The Hot Blog
amit on: Review: Frozen 2 (spoiler-free)
movieman on: BYOB Fall Back, Film Forward
Christian on: BYOB Fall Back, Film Forward
movieman on: Review: Marriage Story (spoilers only in the broadest sense)
movieman on: BYOB Fall Back, Film Forward
movieman on: Review: Frozen 2 (spoiler-free)
YancySkancy on: Review: Little Women (no spoilers)
Hcat on: Why You Should Be Afraid Of The End Of The Paramount Decree
movieman on: BYOB Fall Back, Film Forward
movieman on: I Should Be Doing Box Office
Review: Little Women (no spoilers)
Why You Should Be Afraid Of The End Of The Paramount Decree
Review: Frozen 2 (spoiler-free)
Review: Marriage Story (spoilers only in the broadest sense)
see all »
[twitter-widget username="DavidPoland" hiderss="true" hidereplies="true" hidefrom="true" items="3" showts="60" title=" " targetBlank="true"][twitter-widget username="MCNTweets" hiderss="true" hidereplies="true" hidefrom="true" items="3" showts="60" title=" " targetBlank="true"]
Quote Unquotesee all »
It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?
So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.
And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.
There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.
I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.
But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”
My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher
“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.
~ David Simon
Who sets a budget for a Robbie S movie at over 25mill anyway?
You can do it!
Not that they are always right, but boxofficemojo lists DB:EG’s budget as $22 million. That is pretty cheap and would seem to ensure that after DVD it will turn a profit, as sad as that is. Unless they’re mistaken and it cost more than that.
Good to see Batman get to 200$. It deserved to. Hopefully Nolan will sign onto more of these.
^ Hopefully this means that Nolan won’t waste his time treading water in the Batman mythos and instead can leverage his newfound A-list clout into something new, different and interesting.
There is zero chance that DB:EG cost $22 million.
$35 million is the bottom. There are reports that it was more, but I don’t trust them.
Well I can see why a $9 million opening looks so bad then.
You can’t believe anything coming out of Hollywood. $22M for this movie, $3M for that movie. Maybe. Whatever. BG is another stupid movie made by a stupid comedian for stupid moviegoers. What I can’t understand is how & why some movies that are clearly “straight to video” go straight to the movie house first.
Roger Ebert, is that you?
Am I in the minority in actually liking Four Brothers a lot?? Far more entertaining than I thought it would be. Maybe I just like revenge flicks…
Anonymous in C–do you mean Deuce Bigelow? Sometimes stupid is funny and entertaining. DB is OK, but Hazzard wasn’t my kind of stupid.
Dodgeball was stupid…and funny and so was Undercover Brother…and the first Austin Powers I said..in my head “god that was so stoopid” but I still liked it alot.
Stupid doesn’t always mean unentertaining. This just didn’t seem the best weekend for Deuce. With Wedding Crashers and 40 Year Virgin coming out next week.
c’mon David…I know it’s been a long week…but Deuce Part 1 was in fact R-rated…i think that the trailer looked like garbage and wasn’t all that funny looking…the first one, while far from even being a “good movie” had some seriously funny scenes…crude just to be crude generally doesn’t seel tickets. I bet they get to $35 million, $40 tops. Four Brothers I bet will make it $50-60 domestic which Paramount should be happy with I guess. The fact that the Penguins keep marching along (sorry for the bad joke) is awesome…Broken Flowers deserves to be advertised and taken more seriously…after seeing it today for the first time I think there’s no reason why this movie shouldn’t do Sideways-type box office…Murray is priceless as usual and the film is always smart and engaging and casually stylish. I am going to be very curious to see how The 40 Year Old Virgin does at the bo…
From what I heard, Disney wanted a PG-13 sequel, Schneider said no, Sony said yes, and there you have it…still, no matter the rating, the movie has to be funny and I just think that DB:EG looked like trash. It’s also hysterical that it’s directed by a guy whose last name is Bigelow…i find the coincidince assinine in some weird way.
A Pg movie about a male hustler and his assorted ladies? Sounds like genuis.
to ManwithnoName…I really enjoyed Four Brothers too…it was a lean and stripped down revenge movie with ass-kicking on it’s mind and not much else…felt just like a 50’s B western…the chemistry between the leads was strong and the package was well put together…not gonna win any awards but it’s a solid entertainment if you arent looking for anything real demanding. but i also confess…Revenge flicks are sweet…make sure you check out Old Boy which hits DVD very soon, though that’s not a typical “revenge” movie per se…
Not winning any awards? You don’t watch MTV and BET and ESSENCE then. It will clean up.
awards of any significance…if we’re to believe that awards really do mean anything at all.
just messing around Dave…all in good fun.
That’s it? No more congats for Batman? What happened to all the naysayers that ASSURED us it wouldn’t get to $200 million? I guess they’re hanging out with the people that thought Revenge of the Sith would never break $300 mil, let alone pass Return of the King.
I guess we’ll be hearing from them come Christmas when we hear the same thing about King Kong. If you’re gonna predict diminishing returns, try Harry Potter.
So what was the bad thing Dave Poland listened to somebody about?
is that jeff talking or chester giving his thoughtful advice?
I figure all of DB:EG budget is the salaries. Because Schneider doesn’t do these movies for less than his quote. I don’t blame him either. Not like hes working with Spielberg here.
The Great Raid gets dumped into oblivion.
Wonder if the Skeleton Key makes Kate Hudson an A Lister again. She has just had a string of bombs lately. She took the easy path. Horror movie. Joining Watts, Kidman, Gellar, Biel.
Is Rob Schneider the male Tara Reid? I think the amount of abuse he gets is undeserved (and how can Ebert HATE HATE HATE the Hot Chick too?? with Rachel McAdams??).
An R-Rated Deuce was a colossal mistake. Who thinks of Rob Schneider as anything but PG-13?
I’d rather watch Deuce again than the Dukes.
the difference is rob has had genuine hit movies. tara reid is known for drinking and showing boobs. two different careers. i don’t think rob schneider is crying over it. hes richer than he ever thought he was gonna be.
I’d rather watch Tara Reid than Deuce. She is much hotter in a bikini.
DB:EG was just plain old trash. I don’t mind so much the term Man Whore being passed around every five minutes as I do an insane plot that was just stupid. Although I haven’t seen it in a while, I remember a certain sweetness about the first that made the gross out humor OK, kind of like American Pie, or, I like am hoping for in the 40-Year-Old Virgin.
Why would you pay to see Deuce 2 if thats the attitude you had going in? What a waste of money and time.
I didn’t have a bad attitude. I thought the first one “had a certain sweetness.” The sequel does not have that.
What does a certain sweetness mean? I don’t think they’re changing much of that winning formula here in the sequel.
I have enough sense in avoiding Deuce the Sequel and waiting for cable. Even if it stars my main man Eddie Griffin.
Isn’t the first one a pretty tame R? I don’t remember any nudity in it, or much strong language/gross-out humor. Not that that makes it a great movie or anything, but it seems like they took the second one in a different direction.
All I remember from the first one is the cop asking Deuce if his you know what was small.
What I mean, is that even though the language was ribald and the humor was “gross out,” Deuce had a certain amount of likable charm which is totally missing in the sequel. Kind of like American Pie, sure it’s known for the Jason biggs-Pie sex scene, among other things, but all of those kids were likable and you could relate to them.
i wouldn’t be analyzing deuce bigalow that much. i don’t think its gonna be in theatres long.
Admittedly, I only saw the first one on like HBO or something, so my standards were probably lower.
I usually like these really dumb comedies but Rob Schneider doesn’t do it for me. I’m not that dumb.
I still have a fondness for certain dumb movies of the 80s like “Just One of the Guys” and “Weird Science.” Could watch those and a number of others any time!
You just named two classics. Two of my all time favorite movies. Iw as raised on those 80’s comedies.
Buddy from “Just One of the Guys” was the best supporting actor of the 80’s. A great performance by Billy Jacoby.
Actuals from Mojo: The “Deuce Bigalow” sequel cost $22M to produce and opened to $9.62+M.
Cullen is correct to a point re the sequel. The studio (Touchstone) wanted it PG-13 and the production company {Happy Madison) wanted it R, so Touchstone passed. Happy Madison is based at Columbia, thus Columbia released the sequel.
Also, “The Animal” was from Revolution Studios (which distributes via Sony in US/Canada).
Chucky, Poland already pointed out that Deuce Bigalow 2 cost at least $35 million. Boxofficemojo’s figure is wrong.
boxofficemojo.com says $22 million. the-numbers.com says $25 million. Dave Poland says $35 million. Can we say for sure who is right? No.
Either way, it’s dying a quick death. It should be out of the top 10 by the end of this weekend, and on DVD by Thanksgiving.
It better hope for a good video return.
Chester with a rip on DP. And the sky is blue. The sun sets in the West. And the Cubs choke.
The studio insists on $22 million…and if the studio says it’s true…
Revolution movies were (the deal is about to ended) funded almost fully by Sony. So the relationship is quite different than, say, Morgan Creek or Franchise at WB.
35, 22,it doesn’t really matter. It will make its money back on video/dvd anyway after it quickly leaves theatres. Not like this is Waterworld.
Who were the people who planned their weekend around a viewing of Deuce Bigalow Euro Gigolo? Why, I ask?
Trust me, it’s 22. Maybe 35 with P&A.
It’ll make its money back at 30 million. But its not a money maker.
Moving on to next weekend, anybody else notice that “Red Eye” is currently scoring 86% on Rotten Tomatoes? I don’t expect it to hold up quite that high, but it’s still pretty damn impressive for a Wes Cravin movie. And it could win the weekend over “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.”
It hasn’t even opened yet. And there are only 22 reviews. But its Wes Craven and Rachel McAdams. Could be good.
Since the typical mainstream movie ultimately gets about 150 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, IMHO 22 reviews is a decent sampling to predict what’s to come. If it’s at 86% now, I’m guessing it will be 65%-75% on Friday. Those are “Wedding Crashers”-type approval numbers and are pretty damn high, especially for a movie of this sort.
its been getting good early reviews for a while now. it’ll open well and set rachel mcadams on her path to stardom and make dave smile a little at night.
It’s pulp… but it’s fun…