April 25, 2024
Box Office
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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” â 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 â 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 â he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” â and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging â I was with her at that moment â 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 namedâ” “Yeah, sure â 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 Iâm on the phone with you now, after all thatâs 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 didnât seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. Thereâs not a case of that. He wasnât using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had â if that were what the accusation involved â 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. Iâm not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, âYou know, itâs not this, itâs thatâ? Because â let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, thatâs what it lacked. Thatâs 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
I would have thought The Departed and Texas Chainsaw would/will be closer…horror franchise and all. But I disliked the first one so much that I would be happy if this one underperforms.
This might be the one weekend of the year where box office really matters to me… for if moviegoing America doesn’t have the sense and taste to make a critically acclaimed Martin Scorsese gangster film starring DiCaprio AND Damon AND Nicholson some kind of hit, then moviegoing America is probably ruined beyond repair.
I totally co-sign what Crow wrote, I haven’t seen The Departed yet, but I’m going tonight (!) and of course I’m rooting for Scorsese not only to have made a brilliant film, but to have a true B.O. hit.
Oh yeah, and to win a couple of Oscars…you know everyone wants to give it to him…
We can also hope that maybe the CHAINSAW thing has been to the well once too often…
A lot of young people might be stupid and vote for “Employee of the Month” over “The departed”, but I think all other age groups have this at the top of their list. I think it might do $30M.
New Line should’ve held TCM:TB for next week. It would’ve been better to have it go up against Grudge 2. You’d think horror would do better opening on Friday the 13th.
If DP is correct in stating that opening weekend is all about marketing, then Departed might have the edge. Previews have been everywhere. for nes
You’d think someone would release a non-sequel horror movie this month, too. Is FEAST still playing?
Hopefully EOTM doesn’t open at all. We need to put an end to this Dane Cook fascination and fast.
Is DP having lunch with the camera? More off topic, I keep seeing these little campaign signs you stick in your lawn everywhere for “Man of the Year.” It’s kind of weird stunt advertising.
Wouldn’t TCM be better off counterprogramming against The Departed rather than going head to head for the same audience with something like The Grudge 2? I don’t see the logic, Jimmy.
On my way to Departed right now. I’ll be sure to let you all know how it ends.
I wonder if maybe David can revive the spoiler thread for Departed, so the rest of the people can now discuss it, too.
“New Line should’ve held TCM:TB for next week. It would’ve been better to have it go up against Grudge 2. You’d think horror would do better opening on Friday the 13th.””
But this way they’re not opening against another horror movie (The Grudge 2) AND they get a few extra weeks before Halloween. The original had the exact same release patern.
The reason I think they all aren’t predicting a $30mil opening is because there hasn’t been a single R rated movie open to that much. And Scorsese, Damon and DiCaprio aren’t in the league of Will Smiths or whoever can guarantee something like that.
But I think it’ll get up to $27mil and have good word of mouth. I can’t help but think that this was the August adult action movie hit that Miami Vice tried to be.
Let’s all hope Box Office Prophets (my personal face box office site) is correct about Employee of the Month. Ugh.
LOL @ Prophet’s EOTM predict.
Saw The Departed. Movie of the Freakin’ Year. See it with a crowd for full effect.
I’ve heard some godawful theatre reports for EOTM, so they might end up being closest… it’s not doing well so far. (There is a God!)
“I can’t help but think that this was the August adult action movie hit that Miami Vice tried to be.”
You got that right. The shootout in The Departed not only shames the shootout in Miami Vice, it holds MVs face down in its own crap-filled underpants and punches it a few times in the kidneys.
Dave really should’ve started a new Departed thread on Friday.
Is he going to write a real review now that the movie is out? I want to know about the two sequences that don’t completely work he mentioned in his original post. For me, there isn’t an ounce of fat on the movie. If anything I could’ve done with a full three hour crime epic. It’s another towering achievement by one of the greatest filmmakers in the world. This century has seen Gangs, the Italian cinema documentary, Aviator, the Dylan documentary, and now Departed. Those are five movies, flaws and all, any director would be proud to have his name on.
By contrast Eastwood has had Space Cowboys, Blood Work, Mystic River and M$B. His output this century looks a little uneven to me. (Haven’t seen Flags yet.)
I’ll close by mentioning one of my favorite character bits. Right before Martin Sheen’s screen exit he crosses himself. I don’t know if this was scripted or improvised, but it’s the kind of small detail that marks The Departed as being just as “personal” a Scorsese movie as, say, Mean Streets or Last Temptation.
(P.S. I forgot to mention the blues documentary Scorsese did a couple of years ago. The man’s work is breathtaking.)
Well, the Friday results are at Showbizdata.
It would have been nice to see The Departed truly explode, but as I had been thinking, it looks like it will do Inside Man business, which is really nothing to sneeze at – $8.5 million.
What’s of course, bothersome, is Texas Massacre and Employee of the Month were not far behind, at $7.3 and $5, respectively. Wow, Dane Cook is NOT to be underestimated. Wonder if the film has 15 minutes of bloated filler and leadup between punchlines, just like his standup.
The stupid teen audience is just not to be underestimated. Honestly, at this point, Damon and DiCaprio are probably just too old and respectable for them. But there’s no reason this still can’t be Scorcese’s biggest hit. Inside Man business of about $90 mill would be nice, but getting up to Prada business of $120 mill would be a great message to Hollywood.
Still haven’t seen it, but am dying to.
Geoff, what’s the message to Hollywood? That violent, obcenity-laced movies about criminals still do decent business? đ Or more likely that Scorsese has still got it and can find a good script and put together a good cast to realize it?
Somehow, I doubt we’ll be seeing this get that high because it’s really more of a draw to older males and it’s going to be hard to keep it in theatres long enough to capitalize on holiday/awards season business like Aviator and Gangs both did. I expect it to hang around the big cities for a while, but by late October, it will have to give up screens. I’m going to put it in the $85-90 million range for sure though.
EDouglas,
The mesasge could be that films for ADULTS made by directors by Martin Scorces can still be seen by mass audiences, make money, and be profitable. That not all dramas by major studios with major actors, violent or not, have to be held until November or December, be platformed released, and rely heavily on awards for their marketing campaigns.
Studio’s have become so ridiculously timid when it comes to producing or releasing these kinds of films, in recent years. If you want some recent examples, see Closer, Munich, The Aviator, Finding Neverland, etc. And I didn’t even like half of those films.
The Departed isn’t exactly a difficult movie or a marketing challenge…. it’s an action-thriller crime drama directed by Martin Scorsese….and it’s going to end up making around the same opening weekend amount as Miami Vice or Inside Man, both which had similar crime elements (genre, respected filmmakers, name stars)…the big difference is that those movies made that amount despite being godawful (especially Vice, which also didn’t have as strong a cast).
All of those other movies you mentioned are much more difficult sells and they DID need the awards attention to make any kind of money. Warner Bros knew that they had a strong commercial movie that would sell itself as long as they made sure critics saw it and people knew about it.
“The reason I think they all aren’t predicting a $30mil opening is because there hasn’t been a single R rated movie open to that much.”
Come again???