MCN Columnists
Leonard Klady

By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com

Posted Sunday, November 16th, 2008 - Comments Off on Shakin’ All Over
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Shakin’ All Over

Five decades of good will added up to a staggering estimated debut of 00-$71.1 million for the 22nd James Bond (under the Broccoli imprimatur), Quantum of Solace. It was the biggest bow-wow for the enduring series domestically and wound up selling about 46% of all movie tickets; its anticipated potency had potential competitors steering clear of a blistering opening salvo.

Still, some limited and regionally debuts found their niche. The hybrid Bollywood entry Slumdog Millionaire propelled to $344,000 in just 10 exposures and the real-deal Bollywood Dostana generated a stellar $9,190 average from 34 circuit screens. And for good measure, Tamil-language Vaaranam Aayirim showed strength with a $38,600 tally from eight playdates. Also speaking in tongues, French import A Christmas Tale had a solid American opening of $58,500 from seven beachheads.

For the second consecutive weekend movie going showed improvement with weekend sales in excess of $150 million.

Though critics were largely cool to Quantum, there was no escaping its built in audience appeal; especially following the thumbs up response from all sectors to 007 Daniel Craig’s intro in Casino Royale. Advance ticket sales on both MovieTickets.com and Fandango were torrid, selling out more than 500 theaters prior to its Thursday evening launch. Tracking studies showed off-the-chart interest to see it opening weekend and huge numbers among those who anticipated they’d see it at least twice. And the film had already opened internationally in more than 60 countries, where it set a slew of records for the series as well as new, seasonal benchmarks.

Yet skepticism prevailed as none of the prior installments had ever bowed to more than $50 million. No one was willing to predict a weekend better than $55 million, but audiences threw caution to the wind.

Quantum’s chief competitor was ironically Twilight, the popular teen vampire saga that hits screens next weekend. In fact, according to Fandago, Friday sales of the fang yarn accounted for 51% of business to Bond’s 44%. The kid friendly Bolt(also opening next weekend) managed a slim 1%, but family pictures rarely register strong advance sales until days prior to release.

Overall business experienced a 7% boost from the prior weekend. Revenues were up a dizzying 45% from 2007, when theBeowulf debut led with $27.5 million followed by Bee Movie with $14 million.

The session’s other major noise maker was Slumdog Millionaire, a surprising festival crowd pleaser considering its story of poverty and violence and how a Mumbai lad overcomes the odds as a contestant on India’s version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” Credit is due the Brit filmmakers for making it work; opening response certainly bodes well for commercial success and, given the right breaks, sums of outrageous fortune.

Slumdog is a relatively early starter in what’s expected to be an unusually bloody competition among those seeking award’s recognition that translates into box office this year. To date only Rachel Getting Married has seen that strategy work effectively, though Miramax has done well in its early platform weeks of both Happy-Go-Lucky and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.

– Leonard Klady

Weekend Finals – November 14-16, 2008

– – Title Distrib Weekend % Change Theaters Cume Wks
1 New Quantum of Solace Sony 67,528,882 – 3451 67,528,882 1
2 1 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Par 35,017,301 -44% 4065 116,905,195 2
3 2 Role Models Uni 11,150,030 -42% 2798 37,577,245 2
4 3 High School Musical 3: Senior Year BV 5,656,162 -38% 3202 84,169,216 4
5 4 Changeling Uni 4,254,080 -41% 1896 27,631,772 4
6 5 Zack and Mira Make a Porno Weinstein Co. 3,146,312 -50% 2210 26,465,482 3
7 6 Soul Men MGM 2,350,141 -56% 2048 9,370,925 2
8 9 The Secret Life of Bees Fox Searchlight 2,338,279 -24% 1449 33,627,359 5
9 7 Saw V Lions Gate 1,767,405 -56% 2002 55,380,488 4
10 11 Beverly Hills Chihuahua BV 1,579,080 -37% 1617 90,878,127 7
11 10 Eagle Eye Par 1,463,140 -42% 1214 98,738,396 8
12 8 The Haunting of Molly Hartley FreeStyle 1,438,561 -57% 1587 12,484,484 3
13 13 Fireproof IDP 1,255,877 -21% 862 30,198,386 8
14 15 Rachel Getting Married Sony Classics 1,051,365 -30% 391 6,945,965 7
15 14 Body of Lies WB 674,495 -56% 625 38,246,741 6
16 New Dostana Yash Raj 645,604 – 74 645,604 1
17 12 Max Payne Fox 620,337 -65% 845 39,963,832 5
18 31 The Dark Knight WB 502,334 129% 346 529,143,070 18
19 29 The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Miramax 474,390 87% 38 827,683 2
20 19 Appaloosa WB 454,518 -32% 737 19,413,695 9
21 17 W. Lions Gate 444,210 -60% 505 25,134,292 5
22 16 Pride and Glory WB 410,530 -68% 575 15,371,091 4
23 22 Happy-Go-Lucky Mrmx 370,651 -8% 143 1,760,854 6
24 New Slumdog Millionaire Fox Searchlight 360,018 – 10 427,715 1
25 18 RockNRolla WB 343,980 -67% 548 5,245,837 6
26 27 Synecdoche, New York Sony Classics 331,778 13% 80 1,123,224 4
27 21 The Duchess Par Vantage 236,779 -41% 270 13,445,348 9
28 20 Religulous Lions Gate 230,474 -45% 238 12,550,842 7
29 26 Nights in Rodanthe WB 212,563 -35% 324 41,288,655 8
30 23 Burn After Reading Focus 195,748 -46% 207 59,850,794 10
31 24 Passchandaele Alliance 193,702 -45% 120 3,739,894 5
32 32 Wall-E BV 192,392 -8% 223 223,280,427 21
33 New Vaaranam Aayiram Ayngaran 169,228 – 20 169,228 1
34 33 I’ve Loved You So Long Sony Class/Metro 163,344 -13% 31 960,608 9
35 28 Quarantine Sony 131,781 -55% 193 31,487,293 6
36 41 Let the Right One In Magnolia 123,858 34% 26 439,906 4
37 30 Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist Sony 121,289 -48% 133 31,487,293 7
38 35 City of Ember Fox 97,067 -27% 171 7,571,177 6
39 25 House Roadside Attract. 83,915 -74% 234 530,328 2
40 37 The House Bunny Sony 80,365 -31% 159 48,777,195 13
41 38 Mamma Mia! Uni 79,629 -29% 126 143,980,806 18
42 36 Journey to the Center of the Earth WB 74,722 -38% 149 101,590,877 19
43 76 JCVD Peace Arch 68,357 28 240% 95,422 2
44 RE My Best Friend’s Girl Lions Gate 64,060 133 – 19,395,294 9
45 New A Christmas Tale IFC 63,837 7 – 63,837 1
46 46 Lakeview Terrace Sony 61,030 -23% 89 39,500,154 9
47 75 Space Station 3D Imax 60,038 194% 6 76,939,202 344
48 34 What Just Happened Magnolia 58,888 -61% 62 995,155 5
49 42 Vicky Christina Barcelona MGM 55,950 -39% 39 22,345,826 14
50 36 Tropic Thunder Par 54,640 -43% 116 110,515,947 13
51 48 Igor MGM 49,463 -34% 78 19,048,181 9
52 43 The Express Uni 48,032 -45% 112 9,817,135 6
53 59 Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure nWave 47,318 44% 21 19,783,110 59
54 39 Ghost Town Par 45,290 -54% 116 13,297,931 9
55 45 Righteous Kill Overture 44,127 -46% 108 39,705,189 10
56 57 Deep Sea 3-D WB 40,068 -1% 10 36,889,629 142
57 44 Traitor Overture 39,544 -54% 124 23,501,463 12
58 51 Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re) BV 38,496 -41% 37 1,096,037 4
59 47 Sex Drive Summit 34,959 -54% 62 8,302,193 5
60 55 Le Deserteur TVA 32,540 -34% 36 323,238 4
61 49 Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom Open Door 32,313 -57% 7 451,141 4
62 50 Kung Fu Panda Par 27,431 -62% 59 215,903,624 24
63 58 Forever Strong Crane 24,648 -27% 12 758,331 8
64 78 Heaven on Earth Mongrel 24,110 25% 14 155,607 3
65 64 Tell No One Music Box 23,326 -14% 29 6,071,209 20
66 66 Dolphins and Whales 3-D 3D Entertainment 23,106 -11% 11 5,055,805 40
67 91 Miracle at St. Anna BV 22,112 127% 76 7,898,010 8
68 54 Fly Me to the Moon Summit 21,237 -56% 27 12,242,600 14
69 69 Magnificent Desolation Imax 19,650 -19% 5 26,457,831 165
70 53 Repo! The Genetic Opera Lions Gate 19,029 -65% 8 90,828 2
71 65 The Family That Preys Lions Gate 17,550 -33% 31 37,431,496 10
Source: MCN/EDI

Estimates – November 14-16, 2008

Title Distributor Gross (average) % change Theaters Cume
Quantum of Solace Sony 71.1 (20,610) – 3451 71.1
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Par 35.4 (8,700) —44% 4065 117.3
Role Models Uni 11.6 (4,160) –39% 2798 38.1
High School Musical 3 BV 5.9 (1,850) –35% 3202 84.4
Changeling Uni 4.2 (2,200) -43% 1896 27.6
Zack and Miri Make a Porno Weinstein Co. 3.1 (1,390) –51% 2210 26.4
Soul Men MGM 2.4 (1,162) –56% 2048 9.4
The Secret Life of Bees Fox Searchlight 2.3 (1,601) –25% 1449 33.6
Saw V Lionsgate 1.7 (860) -57% 2002 55.3
Beverly Hills Chihuahua BV 1.5 (910) -42% 1617 90.8
Eagle Eye Par 1.5 (1,240) -41% 1214 98.8
The Haunting of Molly Hartley FreeStyle 1.4 (860) -59% 1587 12.4
Fireproof IDP 1.2 (1,440) -22% 862 30.2
Rachel Getting Married Sony Classics 1.0 (2,460) -33% 411 6.9
Body of Lies WB .71 (1,140) -54% 625 38.3
Dostana Yash Raj .68 (9,190) – 74 0.68
Max Payne Fox .61 (720) -66% 845 39.9
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Miramax .45 (11,840) 78% 38 0.8
W. Lionsgate .44 (870) -61% 505 25.1
Appaloosa WB .43 (580) -36% 737 19.4
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) $146.30 – – –
% Change (Last Year) – 45% – – –
% Change (Last Week) – 7% – – –
Also debuting/expanding
Happy-Go-Lucky Miramax .36 (2,540) -10% 143 1.7
RockNRolla WB .34 (630) -67%- 548 5.2
Slumdog Millionaire Fox Searchlight .34 (34,400) — 10 0.41
Synecdoche, NY Sony Classics .28 (3,820) -3%- 74 1.1
A Christmas Tale IFC 58,500 (8,360) – 7 0.06
JCVD Peace Arch 50,300 (2,520) -144%- 20 0.08
Vaaranam Aayiram Bharat 38,600 (4,820) – 8 0.04
How About You Strand 5,600 (5,600) – 1 0.01
The Dukes Cavu 4,500 (1,120) – 4 0.01
Eden Liberation 2,500 (2,500) – 1 0.01

Domestic Market Share – To November 13, 2008

Distributor (releases) Gross Mrkt Share
Warner Bros. (26) 1578.7 19.10%
Paramount (16) 1427.9 17.30%
Sony (23) 1056.2 12.80%
Universal (20) 1024.4 12.40%
Buena Vista (16) 833,9 10.10%
Fox (21) 827.7 10.00%
Lions Gate (18) 381.6 4.60%
Fox Searchlight (8) 185.2 2.20%
Focus (6) 124.5 1.50%
MGM (16) 113.8 1.40%
Overture (6) 95.2 1.20%
Paramount Vantage (11) 86.2 1.00%
Picturehouse (7) 63.3 0.80%
New Line (4) 61.8 0.70%
Miramax (8) 59.7 0.70%
Summit (4) 55.4 0.70%
Other * (288) 296 3.60%
* none greater than 0.4% 8271.5 100.00%

Top Limited Releases – To November 13, 2008

Title Distributor Gross
Vicky Cristina Barcelona MGM 22,289,876
Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure nWave 14,041,661
Under the Same Moon Weinstein Co. 12,590,147
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day Focus 12,413,165
Religulous Lionsgate 12,320,358
Fly Me to the Moon Summit 12,221,363
U2 3D nWave 9,614,324
The Visitor Overture 9,427,089
In Bruges Focus 7,800,824
The Orphanage Picture/Christal 6,894,612
Brideshead Revisited Miramax 6,448,127
Tell No One Music Box/E1 6,313,030
Rachel Getting Married Sony Classics 5,894,600
Mongol Picturehouse 5,705,761
The Counterfeiters Sony Classics 5,488,570
Shine a Light Par Vantage 5,421,098
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Miramax 5,064,793
Dolphins and Whales 3D 3D Entertainment 5,032,699
The Savages Fox Searchlight 4,795,616
Magnificent Desolation Imax 4,266,848
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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