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Leonard Klady

By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com

Posted Sunday, April 19th, 2009 - Comments Off on 17 Again … and Again … and Again
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17 Again … and Again … and Again

The body switch comedy 17 Again trumped the competition with an estimated $24.2 million to lead weekend movie-going options. Another freshman, the political-thriller State of Play, ranked second with a $14 million debut and the high energy sequel Crank: High Voltage slotted sixth on a gross of $6.7 million.

Year-to-year box office was once again on the plus side with activity in the niches also improved. The latest live moviecast from the Met of opera classic Madama Butterfly generated $270,000 at 65 venues while the fact-based race relations drama American Violet bloomed a comparable $270,000 at 61 sites. Other encouraging limited bows included the behind-the-scenes Broadway doc Every Little Step with $65,100 from eight screens and Brit import Is Anybody There?generating $42,700 at six locations. However, the low tech sci-fi Sleep Dealer was somnambulant with $31,300 from 18 exposures.

The tenacity of wish-fulfillment was evident in 17 Again, bolstered by the current popularity of its star Zac Efron. Industry trackers expected the old war horse to score in the low 20s and estimates were about 10% better than those projections. It not surprisingly played best with young fans rather than anyone old enough to muse on a second chance.

The plus-25ers gravitated toward the anxiety-raising State of Play. Expectations were low; with some anticipating an initial weekend tally barely touching $10 million. In fact, the Crank redux was expected to out-perform the Russell Crowe vehicle with a salvo of about $12 million. Charitably speaking the market research firms were close on one of this weekend’s trio of freshmen and as one studio distribution exec bemoaned none of the vendors has demonstrated greater predictive skills than their competitors.

Weekend box office approached $108 million for a 20% rollback from the immediate prior frame. However, it was 17% better than the 2008 session when openings of Forbidden Kingdom and Forgetting Sarah Marshall scored respective debuts of $21.4 million and $17.7 million.

There’s no question that the under appreciated niche movie programming success story is the recent ramped up Live from the Metropolitan Opera feeds to cinemas. The early days of digital cinema at the multiplex predicted a flood of alternative viewing options that this sort of offering embraces. But apart from the Met experiment and a brief mania for live wrestling feeds in Canada we’ve yet to see the elasticity and more than a glimmer of potential for a broad spectrum of alternative fare.

While box office analysis tends to jump on the most obvious and immediate trends, there’s increasing evidence that fewer pictures in the marketplace doesn’t appreciably alter the number of people buying tickets. In fact, first quarter revenues would bolster the argument that it encourages more people into the multiplex. However, that conclusion sits on the precarious notion that all films are equal in audience appeal and if that were the case both Paul Blart and Observe and Report would have the same box office gross.

– Leonard Klady

Weekend Finals

Title Distrib Weekend % Change Theaters Cume Wks
1 New 17 Again WB 23,722,310 – 3255 23,722,310 1
2 New State of Play Uni 14,071,280 – 2803 14,071,280 1
3 1 Hannah Montana: The Movie BV 13,406,217 -58% 3118 56,874,039 2
4 3 Monsters vs. Aliens Par 13,240,233 -39% 3662 163,063,465 4
5 2 Fast & Furious Uni 11,774,715 -57% 3674 136,205,795 3
6 New Crank: High Voltage Lions Gate 6,963,565 – 2223 6,963,565 1
7 4 Observe and Report WB 4,174,939 -62% 2727 18,812,239 2
8 5 Knowing Summit 3,574,727 -44% 2405 73,795,283 5
9 6 I Love You, Man Par 3,327,668 -47% 2202 64,614,979 5
10 7 The Haunting in Connecticut Lions Gate 3,114,892 -47% 2255 51,883,389 4
11 8 Dragonball Evolution Fox 1,684,942 -65% 2181 7,934,562 2
12 9 Adventureland Miramax 1,331,696 -60% 1412 14,064,483 3
13 10 Duplicity Uni 1,113,795 -63% 1252 39,052,330 5
14 12 Sunshine Cleaning Overture 980,560 -43% 642 8,795,970 6
15 11 Race to Witch Mountain BV 744,406 -61% 1116 63,749,283 6
16 13 Taken Fox 584,153 -46% 609 142,088,804 12
17 15 Paul Blart: Mall Cop Sony 473,756 -20% 403 144,689,133 14
18 16 The Last House on the Left Uni 288,965 -51% 338 32,236,155 6
19 New Madama Butterfly Live Fathom 278,742 – 64 278,742 1
20 14 12 Rounds Fox 263,198 -67% 409 11,329,749 4
21 18 Sin Nombre Focus 258,484 -22% 80 1,185,249 5
22 21 Hotel for Dogs Par 251,186 7% 335 72,354,570 14
23 New American Violet IDP 243,162 – 61 243,162 1
24 19 Under the Sea 3D WB 241,457 -19% 43 5,875,202 10
25 26 He’s Just Not That Into You WB 207,567 47% 308 93,409,454 11
26 17 Watchmen WB 199,114 -64% 236 106,848,750 7
27 24 Coraline Focus 157,066 -11% 197 74,800,029 11
28 20 Slumdog Millionaire Fox Searchlight 142,771 -49% 212 141,017,353 23
29 22 Gran Torino WB 123,957 -43% 185 146,775,920 19
30 34 Sugar Sony Classics 102,925 3% 48 320,690 3
31 23 Medea Goes to Jail Lions Gate 97,550 -52% 169 90,485,233 9
32 32 Push Summit 87,985 -14% 141 31,640,193 11
33 35 Valentino: The Last Emperor Truly Indie 83,058 -9% 21 444,986 5
34 25 Two Lovers Magnolia 78,433 -49% 82 2,857,577 10
35 New Every Little Step Sony Classics 68,504 – 8 68,504 1
36 29 Entre les murs (The Class) Sony Classics 66,265 -42% 100 3,574,412 14
37 31 Gomorrah IFC/E1 65,626 -36% 55 1,537,828 10
38 28 Bedtime Stories BV 65,109 -44% 156 11,982,041 16
39 70 The International Sony 61,314 177% 160 25,751,216 10
40 37 Curious Case of Benjamin Button Par 58,881 -29% 111 127,490,802 17
41 27 Tera Mera Ki Rishta Eros 58,146 -55% 17 208,214 2
42 30 The Reader Weinstein Co. 55,229 -47% 105 34,111,418 19
43 42 Confessions of a Shopaholic BV 50,476 -21% 73 43,879,066 10
44 36 Shall We Kiss? Music Box 49,664 -58% 32 266,522 4
45 New Is Anybody There? Story Island 46,209 – 6 46,209 1
46 40 Paris 36 Sony Classics 45,815 -31% 36 199,200 3
47 39 Goodbye Solo Roadside Attract. 42,947 -35% 13 225,399 4
48 33 The Great Buck Howard Magnolia 42,114 -58% 62 606,264 5
49 62 Lymelife Screen Media 42,014 51% 13 83,906 2
50 50 Space Station 3D Imax 40,444 10% 8 78,463,667 366
51 43 Magnificent Desolation Imax 39,053 -38% 5 28,394,872 187
52 49 Anvil! The Story of Anvil Abramarama/FWL 35,479 -9% 8 104,284 3
53 New Sleep Dealer Maya 35,050 – 18 35,050 1
54 45 Everlasting Moments IFC 30,740 -42% 29 419,390 7
55 38 Dede a travers les brumes TVA 28,532 -61% 29 1,426,118 6
56 68 Fired Up Sony 27,835 18% 22 17,314,265 9
57 46 The Wrestler Fox Searchlight 27,681 -38% 56 26,187,724 18
58 60 Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure NatGeo 26,305 -14% 11 21,325,565 81
59 52 Tokyo! Liberation 26,071 -28% 18 265,502 7
60 66 Fly Me to the Moon Summit 24,079 -8% 9 13,517,980 36
61 51 Bride Wars Fox 23,681 -35% 42 58,682,237 15
62 44 The Cross Gener8Xion 23,618 -67% 49 648,422 4
63 53 Che IFC/E1 22,248 -37% 28 2,104,794 18
64 71 Hunger IFC/Maple 21,494 -2% 13 131,885 11
65 41 The Pink Panther 2 Sony 20,970 -68% 61 36,266,545 11
66 54 Last Chance Harvey Overture 20,131 -42% 31 14,879,423 17
67 73 Wendy and Lucy Oscilloscope 18,525 -9% 25 841,171 19
68 RE The Golden Boys Roadside Attract. 18,366 – 20 158,934 20
69 47 Friday the 13th WB 17,863 -59% 52 64,997,188 10
Source: EDI/MCN

Estimates – April 17-19, 2009

Title Distributor Gross (average % change Theaters Cume
17 Again WB 24.2 (7,440) – 3255 24.2
State of Play Uni 14.0 (4,990) – 2803 14
Monsters vs. Aliens Par 13.0 (3,560) -40% 3662 162.9
Hannah Montana: The Movie BV 12.9 (4,150) -60% 3118 56.4
Fast & Furious Uni 12.2 (3,330) -55% 3674 136.6
Crank: High Voltage Lionsgate 6.7 (3,000) – 2223 6.7
Observe and Report WB 4.0 (1,480) -63% 2727 18.7
Knowing Summit 3.5 (1,440) -46% 2405 73.7
I Love You Man Par 3.3 (1,520) -47% 2202 64.6
The Haunting in Connecticut Lionsgate 3.2 (1,400) -46% 2255 51.9
Dragonball Evolution Fox 1.5 (700) -68% 2181 7.8
Adventureland Miramax 1.3 (930) -61% 1412 14
Duplicity Uni 1.1(870) -64% 1252 39
Sunshine Cleaning Overture 1.0 (1,510) -44% 642 8.8
Race to Witch Mountain BV .68 (610) -64% 1116 63.7
Taken Fox .62 (1,020) -43% 609 142.1
Paul Blart: Mall Cop Sony .31 (930) -48% 334 144.5
Last House on the Left Uni .28 (830) -53% 338 32.2
American Violet IDP .27 (4,490) – 61 0.27
Madama Butterfly Live Fathom .27 (4,200) – 65 0.27
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) – $103.20 – – –
% Change (Last Year) – 17% – – –
% Change (Last Week) – -20% – – –
Also debuting/expanding
Sin Nombre Focus .26 (3,260) -22% 80 1.2
Under the Sea 3D WB .24 (5,600) -20% 43 5.9
Every Little Step Sony Classics 65,100 (8,140) – 8 0.07
Is Anybody There? Story Island 42,700 (7,120) – 6 0.04
Sleep Dealer Maya 31,300 (1,740) – 18 0.03
The Golden Boys Roadside At. 16,600 (830) – 20 0.02
Lemon Tree IFC 14,400 (7,200) – 2 0.01
Leon Morin, Prete (reissue) Rialto 8,500 (8,500) 1 0.01

Domestic Market Share – January 1 – April 16, 2009

Distributor (releases) Gross (millions) Mrkt Share
Warner Bros. (16) 491.2 17.20%
Paramount (7) 391.5 13.70%
Fox (8) 313.4 11.00%
Sony (9) 310.1 10.80%
Universal (8) 270.2 9.50%
Buena Vista (9) 237.2 8.30%
Lionsgate (6) 215.1 7.50%
Fox Searchlight (5) 185.3 6.50%
Summit (4) 123.6 4.30%
Focus (3) 92.8 3.20%
Paramount Vantage (2) 51.2 1.80%
MGM (3) 42.3 1.50%
Miramax (4) 35.3 1.20%
Weinstein Co. (6) 34.4 1.20%
Overture (3) 22.8 0.80%
Other * (95) 43.7 1.50%
* none greater than 0.4% 2860.1 100.00%
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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