April 19, 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” — 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
First! Have to ask: Is this just for the Friday-Sunday weekend, or….?
Based on the Die Hard numbers, it must be for the 3 day weekend.
Interesting variance between Niki’s Pals, EW and every one else on Ratatouille.
Those numbers should be enough to give us the first up weekend following four consecutive declines.
Any early buzz on Rat so far today?
I asked this last week – Who are Nikki’s pals?
Oh, and Direwolf: a little earlier today, as per an insider, Ratatouille was up to $2.8 million vs. Die Hard’s $800k.
Rat is tracking around $50m for the weekend. Very good, in my opinion. No other studio would be able to get a Rat-in-the-kitchen movie anywhere close to a $50m opening besides Disney-Pixar.
Ratatouille was very good. It totally wins you over. I want to see it again. Not many movies I’ve seen this year that I can say that about.
Nikki’s pals = Nikki Finke, with tracking info supplied by Sony (allegedly)
This part of Nikki’s blog entry is just ridiculous and it insults audiences to boot:
“I still think that what appeals to sophisticated film critics may not be accessible to parents or children who can’t pronounce the title and don’t care about French gourmet food (unless The Food Network has changed that). Here’s hoping the rat doesn’t get gout.”
Do you all think Ratatouille could have decent legs or will competition hurt it? The word of mouth would seem like it should be very good. Looking back at the last 5 Pixar films, Incredibles had the lowest opening weekend multiplier at 3.7 times. Monsters and Cars were at 4.1 times. Toy Story 2 was at 4.3 times. Nemo was 4.8 times. The first three films mentioned had pretty similar stats in general while Incredibles was a step above in domestic and intl gross and Nemo is off the charts.
I also wonder what people think about the international potential for Ratatouille. Will it get around 60% of its WW Gross abroad like Nemo and Incredibles or around 50% like the other three films?
As you may know I manage money for a living specializing in media stocks and I am long Disney.
Meanwhile, Joel Siegel makes three:
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3324632&page=1
Wow, I cannot wait for Ratatouille! That movie will be awesome.
I live like, 2 blocks from the local art house theater where they have SiCKO on 2 screens. There’s a genuine HULLABALLOO happening outside the tehater right now…people in SiCKO t-shirts with petitions for health care for all, people waiting in line for the next screening…traffic slowing to see what the deal is. Kinda cool…definitely interesting. Lets see if Moore heeds Pierson’s words and stays the hell out of the spotlight and lets the movie speak for itself…
Hmmm, can anybody account for the Weinstein Bros’ whereabouts around the times of the past few critics deaths????
Saw Live Free or Die Hard and Ratatouille tonight. Both were packed, audiences cheered throughout and at the end. I don’t know how much stock I put into Friday night audiences. Enjoyed both films. Ratatouille is brilliant. The Incredibles is great, but the rat is so much more sophisticated in terms of its structure and story-telling. There’s no third-act sag here. It’s pure movement from beginning to end, and every beat works. A superlative achievement. Pixar strikes again.
I really want feel like flying to America and go see some movies in American cinemas just so I can see whether people actually cheer throughout the movies and at the end. Because everytime I read someone saying that I just don’t believe it. The only movie experience I’ve ever had where people clapped throughout the film was Moulin Rouge. People clapped at the ends of some of the various Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movies.
Anyway.
I’d love to see Ratatouille blow everyone out of the water. And seriously who can’t pronounce that title?! They explain how to say it in the freakin’ ads!
Also, it’s so weird seeing documentaries on these sorts of charts. Michael Moore fan or not, you gotta hand it to the man – he’s bringing more people to documentaries than anyone ever before.
People clapped when I saw ONCE. It’s a neat feeling when a crowd in a public theater erupts in applause. At a festival, it’s expected. But in “real life,” it’s pretty neat.
Just got a look at the early b.o. numbers. And I am happy to see: The Knocked Up phenom continues.
Camel, this is just more anecdotal evidence but with the right opening-night crowds I have indeed experienced applause and cheering besides just at the end. Not often, but it happens. I remember when I saw the first X-Men movie on opening night, the applause, laughter, and cheering after Wolverine’s “you’re a dick” line downed out the next 30-60 seconds of the film.
My midnight screenings of the Star Wars movies have always been enthusiastic, especially (oddly enough, given its rep) Attack of the Clones — when Mace Windu got that “I’m totally going to kill Jango Fett” look in his eyes, the crowd started cheering and didn’t stop until Windu was triumphant.
Moulin Rouge is another one where I heard some mid-movie applause for certain parts. When I saw Dreamgirls, even, people clapped at the end of J-Hud’s song — and that was in Rochester, not opening-night NYC.
I saw Ratatouille last night at the Ziegfeld in NYC, and while it was only about half full (it’s a huge single-screen theater so they can fit a lot of people, but even so, I’m not sure why more people don’t go there; I went to Pirates 3 opening night there and it was only about 80% full… meanwhile Times Square showings sell out around the clock on weekends)… there was definite enthusiasm. No massive breaks into applause but sometimes small bits of cheering and clapping would break out, especially in the second half of the movie. You could tell people were just loving it, which was a nice feeling for an already great-feeling movie.
So, it does happen a few times a year in my experience.
The most enthusiastic audience I can remember lately was a midnight ‘opening day’ screening of Snakes on a Plane.
When I say they audiences cheered throughout, I don’t mean they were cheering the whole time, but that they applauded at other times than the end. For example, when various things exploded and villains were dispatched.
“Sicko” is projected to hit the weekend top 10. This means “Evening” and “A Mighty Heart” cancel each other out.
You guys need to spend more time with us in Geezerville. Classic films playing in repertory venues invariably get applause at the end, and there’s also recognition applause for favorite actors when they first appear, as well as for directors, writers, composers, et al during the opening credits: last night at the American Cinematheque, they clapped for Mitchum, Elmer Bernstein and Phil Karlson.
Mitchum was there?
Why clap at an explosion in Die Hard 4? That’s what I don’t get. I can totally understand opening night LOTR or Star Wars or Harry Potter
As I’ve said before, it may just be a cultural difference, but it just seems really pointless and quite silly to clap (especially during a movie) when it’s not at a festival or a special screening of some kind.
“Mitchum was there?”
He was barely there in the movie (RAMPAGE, a real snoozer).
No one claps or cheers in cinemas in Thailand. People don’t even laugh (I attribute this to the language barrier as I watch films in their original language). I guess Thais would laugh watching Thai films or the dubbed version of foreign films.
Estimates are up: “Ratatouille” a soft #1, “Live Free or Die Hard” spot-on at #2, “Sicko” and “Evening” both in the top 10. The rat and Mr. Moore have estimated per-theater averages above $10K.
How amusing that MCN now includes my weekly tracking as part of its own. Unfortunately, MCN is not reporting my numbers accurately. The 3-day projected total I gave for “Die Hard 4” should be $25M to $30M. It’s simple math: I said pic was supposed to make 5-day total of $40M-$45M, and it had already taken in $15M its first two days. MCN refuses to correct the error. Why?
(FYI: The tracking numbers and analysis I post weekly come from my own reporting. I confer with: top film financing guys, Wall Street analysts, marketing and/or distribution experts, agents, and studios.)
KCamel, there’s no real logical reason to clap during or after a movie, since no one from the movie is likely to be there with you. But I think that’s what I like about it — it’s more spontaneous and therefore maybe more heartfelt than the kind of applause given at a live performance. I mean, when does an audience not clap (at least at the end of a song or an act) at a live performance, even if it’s subpar? It seems impolite not to, I think. Whereas with a movie, it’s not necessary and therefore kind of exciting when it happens (even if sometimes it’s for stupid reasons, like a bad guy getting dispatched in Die Hard 4). If people are involved enough to respond that way, and not checking their voicemail or texting their friends or something, I’m happy.
“MCN refuses to correct the error. Why?”
David’s barely been online since Friday. (Hence, no Friday or weekend estimates.) I think he’s travelling.
EDouglas: Yeah, but isn’t he back by now? I’m begining to fear his unrequited lust for Nikki has clouded his judgment. The little minx tends to have that effect on men.
Has anyone organized a search party yet? If he goes, I elect Craig Kennedy to replace him, I’ve coined him the “Tony Soprano” of movie reviewers. I don’t elect LYT, his website says, and I quote,
“Luke Y. Thompson was recently inducted into the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. He is also the ONLY film critic nominated for a Los Angeles Press Club Award.
Humorless New York bloggers are hereby invited to kiss his ass.”
SO HE’S SAYING L.A. IS A JOKE, RIGHT?
Can I just say I hate it in reviews/articles/comments people the writer types “Pic has good acting” etc. I don’t really know why, it just bugs me.
It’s not like Dave to leave Joel hanging like that, so I’m not posting anywhere until we hear from or about him (that’ll cause most of you to say “good” or “so what.”) Plus, letting the Nikki comment go, so not Dave.
I usually enjoy your posts but perhaps this time you may have been too sick when writing because the post it seems rushed.