MCN Blogs
David Poland

By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com

Friday Estimates by Klady – 8/25

Not a very exciting weekend at the box office.
Superbad is holding ok, considering the First-Friday-to-Second phenomenon. Sony can be as precious as they like with this weekend

Be Sociable, Share!

17 Responses to “Friday Estimates by Klady – 8/25”

  1. Wrecktum says:

    What a stinker of a weekend.
    FYI, Ratatouille crossed $198m yesterday. It’ll be at $200m by next weekend. Finally.

  2. seattlemoviegoer says:

    i’m still impressed with the performance of HAIRSPRAY. only down %22? and it constantly jumps up to the #5 position during the week…besting STARDUST, grossing more per screen than SIMPSONS, outpacing POTTER, CHUCK/LARRY, INVASION, etc. etc.

  3. EDouglas says:

    I’m really puzzled why Yari didn’t do with Resurrecting the Champ what they did with The Illusionist last year by opening it in limited/platform last weekend or this one and then open it wider next week over Labor Day, when there are a lot more people in theatres looking for something to see. Surely it would have built up enough word-of-mouth. I figured that $4 million for the weekend would be its ceiling but $1.5 million is embarassing, especially considering how much better it is than every other release this weekend (and yes, I’ve seen them all including War, Illegal Tender, etc)
    I think $200 million is a given for Bourne unless it kills by the upcoming guy flicks (Halloween, 3:10 and Shoot ‘Em Up). Pretty amazing summer for Universal, Evan Almighty aside, and I think they h ave the strongest fall line-up of any studio as well, at least in terms of quality films. (And if you combine them with Focus releases, it’s pretty damn killer.)

  4. fnt says:

    Yes, Dave… Universal HAS forced people to go see Bourne. They’re “making a run for it.” Or it could near-unamious critical praise and excellent word of mouth.
    This movie will easily make over 200 million. “It’s math.”

  5. William Goss says:

    Apparently, Lionsgate looks to push Yuma with 9/2 sneaks. Doubt it’ll do well, but at least it’s a flick worthy of a push.

  6. ThriceDamned says:

    Yes, I remember this argument.
    “It’s math, fnt…
    This weekend, $160m… next weekend, $175m… the next weekend, $183m.”
    When in fact it was &165…this weekend, $185…next weekend, $195….and then, $200 and still going.
    And no pushing involved. It’s just a great movie, and it’s sticking around with no special treatment. It’ll probably drop only about 30-32% this weekend.
    Glad to see that Ratatouille will finally cross $200 by next weekend. A truly wonderful film

  7. ployp says:

    The Nanny Diaries still doesn’t have a date set for a release in Bangkok. I’ll just have to wait. On the brighter side, there is a date for Atonement, albeit one in December. So, I’m waiting for Stardust (Oct. 4th), Becoming Jane (Sept. 27), and the Golden Compass (Dec. 6th). I envy people in the US!!

  8. Me says:

    Ployp – see Stardust. I haven’t seen the other two, but that one is definitely worth the wait.

  9. waterbucket says:

    Why do people continue to expect good box office from Scarlett Johansson? What has she done to deserve that A-list status? Whoever managing her career is doing a bad job to position her as a sex symbol without any real role that might appeal to women. While she struts on the red carpet and tries to look sexy, it’s women like Julia Roberts and Reese who really rule Hollywood. This is why I think Anne Hathaway is the true star in the making: harmless beauty in roles that women really love.

  10. Rob says:

    Well, I think Nanny Diaries was supposed to appeal to women.

  11. T. Holly says:

    I “predict” RTC could have been a Golden Globe type nominated made for tv film produced by a Von Zerneck Sertner type production company, or a profitable direct to dvd film.
    Here’s a coolsville review:
    http://www.thereeler.com/reviews/resurrecting_the_champ.php#comment-170864

  12. David Poland says:

    I don’t quite understand why the drama about a movie I raved and am happy to see succeed. Am I allowed to be wrong by $15 million on a movie without it being fetishized?

  13. Spacesheik says:

    Waterbucket, I agree with you concerning Johansson, I don’t understand why she keeps getting free passes all the time: PRESTIGE, BLACK DAHLIA, THE ISLAND, etc, as well as starring in three Woody Allen films, including an upcoming one (she’s his new Diane Keaton/protege) *and* she gets cast in two high profile flicks as well: Polanski’s POMPEII and THE SPIRIT.
    Are there no more actresses left in Hollywood? She’s like the female Josh Hartnett, no matter how many flops, she keeps getting work.
    Speaking of Hartnett, did anyone think CHAMP wouldnt flop, irrespective of all the internet ads? The marketing was wrong for that flick, they should’ve sold it as a newsroom story a la ABSENCE OF MALICE and highlighted more of the supporting cast like Alan Alda in the ads, maybe then some of us adults would’ve showed up.

  14. ThriceDamned says:

    My apologies David, if it came across from my part as if I were making drama or rubbing your face in. Not my intention at all. The intent was to highlight how much better the film has been holding than most people expected, nothing more.
    As for Johansson, I predict she’s about two movies away from doing a much publicized nude scene in a heavy, unsexy drama to resuscitate her flagging career, ala Halle Berry/Monster’s Ball. You read it here first folks!

  15. I think The Nanny Diaries was, in Scarlett’s mind, the film that would push her into “she’s a lovely gal” territory but something went awfully wrong. Plus, being distributed by the Weinstein’s didn’t help. They couldn’t open an envelope at this stage unless it’s scary (or scary movie). And even then…
    The numbers for Bean’s Holiday are, quite literally, just extra gravy for Uni to swim around in.

  16. anghus says:

    the numbers for Bean’s holiday, to me, are spectacular for a movie with little marketing, a character whose popularity in the U.S. is nominal at best, and released in a weekend with a lot of other product. it’s kind of funny how it all played out in terms of spreading out the demo.
    War – Action Film
    Bean – Harmless Comedy
    Nanny Diaries – Chick Flick
    And they all pulled in about the same numbers. Yet, i don’t think any of the numbers would have improved if any of the others hadn’t opened.

  17. RoyBatty says:

    Until the inevitable “Tsk Tsk, naysayers” piece that Dave writes every year when the box office is not praised enough, I will point this out here: again the actual tickets sold dropped this year. Only INCREASED TICKET PRICES is pushing that $4B milestone.
    In other words, another what has become typical disappointing summer season, when the studios can’t even release a slate of films that are supposed to be their mainstay (summer popcorn blockbusters).

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