The new year had the smell of blood as Hostel entered the marketplace with an estimated $19.4 million and the Narniates headed for the safety of the closet. The new calendar was less gracious to the frame’s other freshmen entries Grandma’s Boys and BloodRayne but relatively strong holdovers allowed for a modest improvement from one year earlier. And coming off a year that experienced a significant downturn in attendance, any glimmer of light is most appreciated.

The down and dirty Hostel went for the chills and iced the type of impressive first weekend numbers that more than suggest a second offering will be served. Produced for less than $5 million, it’s an instant profit generator even if the bills still have to be processed.

In a somewhat similar vein, the video game inspired BloodRayne was unleashed to a considerably less buoyant $1.1 million. It’s the maiden release of Romar Entertainment and only time will tell whether the start up will find a niche to exploit successfully in the highly competitive marketplace.

As Hostel assumed instant hit status, the sentimental comedy-drama Grandma’s Boys goes into the record books as 2006’s first commercial casualty. It grossed roughly $2.8 million from 2,015 venues with the sort of marketing campaign that implied little confidence in its prospects.

The first week of the year should generate revenues of about $127 million for a 6% boost for last year’s first round at the multiplex.

The frame also saw the national expansion of Munich that resulted in a sixth place ranking with $7.5 million. The film isn’t quite catching on and will have to tough it out for Oscar announcements. However, if it fails to get one of the coveted spots in best picture, there’s scant hope for the picture to find a second wind. The film that’s definitely getting an assist from award’s fever is Brokeback Mountain and it continues to mosey into a few more theaters each week with its major push poised to coincide with the aforementioned announcements. Academy Award prospects also look good to improve expansion and ticket sales for both Capote and Match Point.

The Year That Was

In the course of compiling the 2005 market share I was reminded of something that I had forgotten. There were no great surprises though perhaps a small blip that box office declined by 5.4% rather than 6% or 7% had the year end releases continued to underperform.

What caught my eye was the percentage increase from 2003 to 2004. Until I stared at the 0.5% increase the memory of such a marginal improvement had been wiped from my consciousness. The next thought that entered was the conspicuous spinning about the absence of The Passion of the Christ and Fahrenheit 9/11 in the 2005 lineup (though March of the Penguins came close to filling the latter movie’s record). The implication is that the two 2004 releases swelled revenues whereas the truth is that box office barely budged.

It also served to jog my immediate memory of a newspaper article about the imminent close of Rhino records and the decimation of independent record stores in the past decade. While the parallels between music and film are not in lock step just as the impact of piracy in each arena cannot be extrapolated, it does give one sufficient concern to pause and ponder. One of the recurring elements that arose at a conference I attended in London about the box office was how little the people that make and distribute movies know their audience. By implication it emerged as the primary reason fewer people are going to the multiplex. The industry is cushioned by ancillary revenues while the big losers in the equation have been theater operators that are unlikely to see economic largesse from the majors and over time it has to translate into another round of theater closings – especially those not operated by major chains.

– by Leonard Klady

Top Worldwide Grosses – January 1 – December 31, 2005

Domestic Grosses – January 1 – December 31, 2005

Be Sociable, Share!

• 
•