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David Poland

By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com

Weekend Estimates by Klady – 11/29/09

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Twilight: New Moon is at about double the 2 weekend gross of the first film. And here is where it starts getting interesting, box-office-wise. On either side of its massive opening, Pirates added 60% of its two weekend domestic gross, which would put T:NM at about $370m in the end. Spidey 3 did about 40% more than its two weekend domestic gross, which would put T:NM at about $325m domestic. The percentage of opening weekend vs final domestic gross amongst the Top 10 openers of all time ranges from 25% to 45% (that’s Spidey 3), so who knows?
After a 15 year movie star career with just 3 $100 million domestic grossers, Sandra Bullock now has 2 in one year. Both will outgross her previous high, her first $100m grossser, Speed and its $122m gross. Both have already outgrossed any female-led film this year except for T:NM. Yes, Virginia, Sandra Bullock is the biggest female star in the world… again. Magic Meryl is a solid #2, with Julie & Julia grossing about $93m domestic and It’s Complicated likely to gross more than $60 million domestic as well… and don’t forget Mamma Mia!‘s amazing $610m worldwide gross just last year.
Some will quibble about what a Drama is… but The Blind Side is, to my eye, the first $100 million drama of the year and seems sure to outgross – domestically – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, last year’s only $100m grossing drama.
2012 has done okay in the US, but as is often the case with Roland Emmerich, the story is overseas, where it has already grosssed over $450 million and looks like it will end up over $550m, which would make its international gross alone more than the worldwide total for The Day after Tomorrow. Emmerich’s career-best gross, ID4, is safe, but 2012 will be #2. (Insert Joke Here.)
The return to the Wild Hogs well, Old Dogs, opened to about 40% of the progenitor… or about what people thought Hogs would open to when it showed up. The bottom line for me remains that when you have two movie stars and your key marketing element is Seth Green singing to a monkey, you are in trouble.
A Christmas Carol is running about 30% ahead of where The Polar Express was at this point in its run. If that continues, you’re looking at a $200 million domestic gross. I would guess it will come up short of that, especially with Avatar coming to eat every IMAX screen that IMAX can find for it. But if it ends up in the year’s Top 10, will it still be the crushing commercial disappointment that it was portrayed as a few weeks ago?
Ninja Assassin reminds us that when a movie is treated like it deserves to be dumped by a studio, audience will smell that.
Unless it finds a way to turn the history of such things, Precious hit its box office wall this weekend. Once a film start losing box office in an under-1000 screen release, it rarely recovers in terms of weekend grosses, no matter how many screens are added.
It seems pretty clear that the template that Lionsgate was working with on the film was a combination of No Country For Old Men and a slightly accelerated Brokeback Mountain a month earlier on the release schedule. Brokeback maxed in its last positive % change in Weekend 7 with $7.4m and a $41.7m total domestic gross. The total was about double that.
No Country had a more exciting run, from Lionsgate perspective. Like Precious, the film started negative % changes in its second weekend over 200 screens. But it went on to do about 3.3x the gross it had hit that weekend. The next weekend, it dropped to a $4.1m weekend and would see only one weekend over $3 million after that… after winning Best Picture. But the film played for 14 more weeks of over $1m at the box office.
So $65 or $100 million domestic… it could go either way… or, of course, somewhere else altogether.

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48 Responses to “Weekend Estimates by Klady – 11/29/09”

  1. marychan says:

    “The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day” has outgrossed “Bright Star” and became Apparition’s highest-grossing film; amazing result for a limited release film that receives mostly terrible reviews.
    Apparition isn’t the biggest winner in here, though, because Apparition is just releasing this film for Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group.

  2. Eric says:

    None of the people I know who like the first Boondock Saints would be deterred by terrible reviews. I haven’t seen it or the sequel, but everyone I know that raves about the first happens to have absolutely terrible taste in movies– the kind of friend that makes you suspicious of a movie by liking it.

  3. palmermj says:

    Two movies in the top five increased their take pretty significantly. For The Blind Side to go up 15 percent to $40 million and Christmas Carol to go up 33 percent is really impressive. I think Christmas Carol, as David once said, is going to settle into a groove. These next couple of weeks could be quite nice for a movie people were ready to call a bomb after its opening weekend.
    The Blind Side has a legit chance, as Joe Leydon said, to get to $200 million. It’s more than a cable movie, as one commenter said. It’s a well-done film that hits all the necessary pitches it needs to, never goes outside its strike zone and accumulates runs by getting the hits throughout the game.

  4. movieman says:

    “Boondock 2” finally hit the NE Ohio/western PA market last
    week, and all I can say is, “wow.”
    If anything it’s even worse than the putrid original. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve sworn that it was written-directed by a hormonally charged, sexually confused 13-year-old boy who watched “Pulp Fiction” too many times on HB0.
    The acting is worse than what you’ll find in the average porn vid, and the whole thing is so utterly consumed with homosexual panic that you almost feel sorry for Troy Duffy and his never-ending sexual identity crisis.
    But, hey. Kudos to Apparition, Sony, Duffy.
    Just do me a favor and ship “Boondocks 3” straight to home video where it belongs.
    That is, if it even has a reason to exist at all.
    The most enjoyable Duffy “project” to date remains that deliciously snarky “I Hate Troy Duffy” doc, “Overnight.”
    It looks like those soft opening weekend figures for “The Road” are all that Weinstein needs to put the kibbosh on any future expansion plans, certainly any imminent ones.
    $200-million?! “BS” is gonna smash that ceiling PDQ. I wouldn’t be surprised if it eventually surpasses “The Hangover” and/or even “New Moon” (which will be damn lucky to hit $300-million).
    It looks as though “Deck the Halls” (rather than “4 Xmases,” or even “Wild Hogs”) is the true “Old Dogs” b.o. template. It’s kind of tragic really. So many (potentially) funny actors, and not a single laugh, smile or grin in 88 excruciating minutes.

  5. leahnz says:

    lol your scathing ‘boondock 2/troy duffy’ thoughts, movieman, classic (not that i’ve seen boon2, just that your mini-review is amusing)
    (and your sarah palin/’blind side’ analogy complete with simmering political paranoia re: the movie’s success reflecting some insidious ‘palinisation’ of middle america is sorta freaking me out, i can only hope you’re horribly, terribly off-base on that score, yikes!)

  6. Twilight Saga New Moon just broke another record of sorts. It was the first film in history to decrease its box office weekend take by a full $100 million between its first and second weekend. Not that it matters for the movie at this point, but it, like Lost in Space, gets to be the answer to a fun trivia question.

  7. bulldog68 says:

    With the phenomenal success of New Moon and Blind Side,and with Avatar, Holmes and Princess in the wings, looks like it will be the first $10B year in box office history, and likely an uptick in admissions as well.

  8. movieman says:

    Leah- I hope you’re right. Maybe I am just being paranoid.
    But if you’ve seen as much of Palin as we Americans have in the past couple of weeks, you’d almost believe she was already the imperial leader of the Free World, lol. And the rabid zealotry of her fans is probably freaking me out most of all.
    The weird thing is that I rather liked “The Blind Side” when I saw it. But its completely unprecedented, totally unexpected, summer blockbuster-style box-office has me furiously attempting to come up with answers to explain its “what the ****?!” performance. And the Palin-ization of America is the best that I can come up with right now. In all seriousness, isn’t Bullock’s character really just an idealized (smarter/prettier/etc.) version of the Alaskan hussy-moron? My theory is that “Middle Americans” are projecting their Palin-as-(idiot savant)-savior fantasies onto Bullock’s Leigh Anne. And for me that’s both nauseating and incredibly disturbing.
    As far as 2012 goes:
    If “Blind Side” somehow manages to win the Oscar next March, look for a Palin/(Jed) Bush ticket to score an equally decisive victory in November ’12.
    So for the love of all that’s good and decent, people: boycott “The Blind Side” stat!
    (And go and see this wonderful new movie called “Fantastic Mr. Fox” instead.)

  9. Blackcloud says:

    “And the Palin-ization of America is the best that I can come up with right now.”
    In that spirit, allow me to offer my theory that the success of “Marley & Me” can be solely attributed to the racism of Americans, for surely if Marley had been a dark-skinned dog, it would have tanked at the box office. Movieman seems hell bent on proving, all by himself, that Palin Derangement Syndrome does in fact exist. Or maybe he’s just trying to usurp Chucky’s idiot savant throne. More analysis like this and he’ll be vying for it in no time.

  10. Telemachos says:

    I think you’re projecting way too much into TBS’s success, movieman. It’s a feel-good movie that involves America’s #1 sport, which means it plays particularly well in the midwest and south (where football is HUGE), and it’s the perfect sort of family-friendly entertainment that you see with the entire family on Thanksgiving and the holidays. Add in the fact it’s a true story, stars Sandra Bullock (who’s seriously underestimated in terms of her “everywoman” draw), and you have something along the lines of a REMEMBER THE TITANS, writ large.

  11. leahnz says:

    i definitely see what you’re getting at, movieman, and i’m very afraid! (but as is often the case around here i haven’t yet seen the movie in question so i’m just flying blind)

  12. The Pope says:

    Blackcloud, I think we can source the white labrador in Marley and Me all the way back to Fatal Attraction. Adrian Lyne seems to have a thing for the white pooches (check again with Indecent Proposal, Lolita and Unfaithful) and as far as I can make it, it is THE signifier of white, suburban America.

  13. The Pope says:

    APOLOGIES FOR TYPO
    Blackcloud, I think we can source the white labrador in Marley and Me all the way back to Fatal Attraction. Adrian Lyne seems to have a thing for the white pooches (check again with Indecent Proposal, Lolita and Unfaithful) and as far as I can make out, the type of dog is THE signifier of white, suburban America.

  14. leahnz says:

    and HUGELY looking forward to ‘mr. fox’ because i adore the wes, but no release date here yet 🙁 *8$#@%$#@*!
    plus, ‘pippa lee’ and ‘orsen welles & me’ as a fan of miller and linklater — fingers crossed they find their way down someday, some way

  15. leahnz says:

    blackc, even from what i’ve seen, ‘palin derangement syndrome’ not only exists but is growing like a boil on the ass of american culture

  16. bulldog68 says:

    Is everything about politics, and left vs right in the good ole US of A? Cant the success of TBS just be because people like the star, its an accessible story, a new football star, released at the right time, marketed right, and dare I say, people who see it are recommended it to their friends, so its getting great word of mouth?
    This obsession with assigning credit/blame on the political environment for every box office slump/spike is absurd.
    And as for the Palin factor, from what I understand,its a very vocal minority (fox noise) that are positive toward her, and the rest just like to slow down and watch the car wreck as they drive by. Not even Tracy Flick wants to be Palin,

  17. bulldog68 says:

    One other thought, if Bullock in TBS is to Palin, is Danny Glover in 2012 to Obama? The absurdity reigns.

  18. Blackcloud says:

    Continuing in this vein, then obviously the popularity of “Twilight” is evidence that there are way more Mormons in the US than everyone thought, and also that lots of women believe in abstinence and whatever else it supposedly promotes.

  19. martin says:

    What do Mormons have to do with “Twilight”? If anything, the success says to me that there’s way more Morons in the US than anyone thought.

  20. palmermj says:

    bulldog, you’re dead on.
    How about, people like it because they like it?
    Few people carry their political baggage with them when it comes to being entertained. They’re paying $10 at the multiplex to see a sweet woman bond with a homeless black kid and help him find his gifts in this world, in the classroom and on the field.
    They’re getting exactly what they wanted and more.
    People love a good story and this is a very good one. The movie’s playing well here in Baltimore, where Oher’s a rookie not playing like a rookie at all.
    As far as I can tell, Palin hasn’t taken in a large, homeless black kid or gone to visit his mom in the ghetto. I don’t know where people would find similarities with a woman like Leigh Ann and an Alaskan governor.
    The only similarity is that they carry a gun.
    This flick’s in overwhelming positive word of mouth territory.

  21. Joe Leydon says:

    Maybe there’s a certain amount of wishful thinking at play here. Palin supporters see The Blind Side, and think they’re seeing an idealized version of their gal. Just like liberals watched The American President, and thought they saw an idealized version of Bill Clinton?

  22. bulldog68 says:

    Dave said: “A Christmas Carol is running about 30% ahead of where The Polar Express was at this point in its run. If that continues, you’re looking at a $200 million domestic gross. I would guess it will come up short of that, especially with Avatar coming to eat every IMAX screen that IMAX can find for it. But if it ends up in the year’s Top 10, will it still be the crushing commercial disappointment that it was portrayed as a few weeks ago?”
    I know you are really championing this movie but I’m not sure where you are getting your math from Dave, but 4 weeks out and ACC is at $105M while POLAR was at $96M, that’s a 10% increase. ACC has to accomplish some sub 20% decreases over the next few weeks to stay neck and neck with POLAR. And if ACC is following POLAR’S template then we can expect a huge drop next week, it being post thanksgiving, when POLAR dropped by 44%. It then followed that with 11%, 12%, 22% and 14% into January before it freefalled. Can ACC duplicate that with the loss of 3D screens to Avatar, Blind Side and Old Dogs siphoning a good portion of family audience, and of course Disney’s own Princess and the Frog, and another potential big dog in the room that no one is talking about yet, that $217M Chipmunk movie that dropped two years ago and went toe to toe with I am Legend and National Treasure 2? And with that single ladies chipmunk style intro, they are gonna clean up.
    People seem to be also forgetting that Polar Express made $162M in its initial run, and it was subsequent annual releases later that has it $180M right now. No way ACC makes it into the top 10 movies for the year, far less leg it to $200M.

  23. movieman says:

    Lest I continue to have my reputation besmirched by Chucky name-checking, let me just say, “Oh, never mind.”
    How about some of my other discussion points for 11/29?
    (1) “Old Dogs”=the new “Deck the Halls”?
    (2) “New Moon” having a hard time cracking the magic $300-million mark?
    (3) “Fantastic Mr. Fox”=movie of the year or what?
    (4) off the charts homosexual panic in “Boondock 2”?
    And on a completely unrelated note:
    Help!
    Has anyone purchased dvds from modcinema.com before? They’ve got a treasure trove of (fairly) obscure ’60s/’70s films never released on dvd in the US before (everything from “Brewster McCloud” to “The Boy Friend,” “The Christian Licorice Store,” “The Deep End,” “A Safe Place,” “Alex in Wonderland,” “The Sterile Cuckoo,” “Joanna,” “The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart” and Tony Newley’s ineffable “Heironymus Merkin”) at bargain=ish prices. Despite their claims that everything they sell is all region friendly, I’m still a little skeptical. Thought I’d check to see whether anyone on here has had any dealings with them before placing an order.

  24. IOIOIOI says:

    I just wanted to point out, that according to the ad, Avatar is going to be the GREATEST ADVENTURE OF ALL-TIME! Seriously, the greatest adventure of all-time is going to spawn a million furries. So, yeah, FOX is really bringing the marketing muscle to this one.

  25. Joe Leydon says:

    Moviemaker: Be careful. For openers, I seriously doubt these are legit DVDs. Because, hey, why else have there not been legit studio DVD releases of things like The Sterile Cuckoo (Liza Minnelli’s first starring role, once released on Beta and VHS)? There may be ongoing disputes over rights to music, source material, etc. For example, I’ll bet that Joanna has never had a legit DVD release because there are disputes over the Rod McKuen score.
    Also: My wife bought a DVD boxed-set of one of her fave TV shows — Providence — and discovered that the episodes obviously had been recorded from cable broadcast. (You could see the Lifetime watermark.) Worse, something about those DVDs bollixed up her DVD player.
    Let the buyer beware.

  26. Monco says:

    What movieman wrote about TBS is one of the most insanley stupid things I have ever read on this comment section. At no point in your rambling incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. And leah being his cheerleader is priceless.

  27. Chucky in Jersey says:

    This weekend was a perfect weekend for waterboarding. Legion of Doom … Fundie-Friendly … Legion of Doom … Name-Checking … Name-Checking … Name-Checking … “Shrek” rip-off … Academy Award Winner/Name-Checking … Put the trailers for all those together and run them on an endless loop set to “Metal Machine Music” by Lou Reed.
    Are those numbers for “The Blind Side” real? Print ads for that movie are claiming an endorsement from the Parents Television Council. Yes, Hollywood is playing footsie once again with censorship advocates — “Good Morning America” disinvited Adam Lambert after the PTC bullied ABC over his appearance on the American Music Awards.
    @martin: The “Twilight” novels are written by a Mormon.

  28. christian says:

    Modcinema is da bomb.
    Chucky’s favorite Beatles must be the White Album.

  29. Blackcloud says:

    Chucky can’t like music. Bands are always namechecking other bands by sampling, sounding like them, and what not. I mean, if he listened to a song, it might remind him of another song. That would namechecking right inside his brain! It would explode! Can’t have that!

  30. David Poland says:

    bulldog – A. Not championing the movie… just suggesting that the attacks were a bit hysterical.
    B. Not counting 4 weeks… counting to the last weekend in November. Unlike other films, there is a set expiration date for Christmas films. All that matters is what the film has made by the end of New Year’s weekend, not how many days the film earned the money in. On Nov 29, Polar was at $82.4m and ACC is at $105.4… the difference is 28% of ACC’s gross as of that date.
    There are not many other films I would use that standard for, but in this case, it is appropriate. Satna Claus also did about 50% of its domestic gross after Nov 29. On the other hand, Elf only did about 1/3 of its gross and Santa Clause 2 only did about 1/5 of its gross after 11/29.
    I agree – and wrote – that Avatar may be a stumbling block. Polar was about half way into its total first-run domestic gross at this point. Perhaps ACC will not achieve the same.
    But it’s hardly crazy to think it possible.

  31. IOIOIOI says:

    1) I love how people give Breaking Dawn crap. Devin, have you ever read the Godfather book? Sonny’s penis, Devin. Most of it’s about Sonny’s penis. The next time you want to slam something. Make sure one of the greatest motion pictures is not based on a book featuring the prowess of SONNY’S FUCKING PENIS!
    2) Christian that’s a good one.
    3) If it’s not available on Amazon from a REAL STUDIO RELEASE. You should not buy it. Providence is not even close to being on DVD. Why? Music rights issues. Why music rights holders are such assholes with DVD producers is constantly annoying. I want my WONDER YEARS! I WANT IT NOW!
    You also always need to look for those films on Amazon, see if they have a real release, then go see if they are on Warners archive. IF they do not exist that way, then they just do not exist. You could always get them on VHS. If that’s your sort of thing.

  32. Joe Leydon says:

    David, take note: De Danna Dan — a Bollywood movie getting limited theatrical play in the US — outgrossed Bad Lieutenant this weekend. Does this mean Akshay Kumar is a bigger draw than Nicolas Cage? Or maybe you should start having someone cover the Bollywood imports?

  33. Joe Leydon says:

    Er, De Dana Dan, actually…

  34. leahnz says:

    monco, would you care to explain how i was ‘a cheerleader’ and in what way that’s priceless of me, mr. snarky snarkerson?
    as it happens i understood exactly what movieman was getting at re: his comparison of whatshername in the movie to palin, perhaps because i’m used to reading his comments which he writes in a certain style; if you read for comprehension i never said i agreed with him, only that i understood where he was coming from and hope he’s totally off base, and if he’s not then i’m scared. movieman is most certainly not stupid or incoherent – anyone who’s been reading this blog for any amount of time knows that – so sorry if i didn’t jump in like a pit viper spitting venom to take him down a peg when he voiced his opinion, and giving him the benefit of the doubt. but you’re so cool and smarmy tearing him a new one!
    as for palin, i’m unrepentant in calling that dim bulb a growing menace 2 society

  35. leahnz says:

    so, what newspapers and magazines do you like to read?
    the NERVE! i was AMBUSHED! they’re trying to make me look like a fool!

  36. jeffmcm says:

    “This weekend was a perfect weekend for waterboarding. Legion of Doom … Fundie-Friendly … Legion of Doom … Name-Checking … Name-Checking … Name-Checking … “Shrek” rip-off … Academy Award Winner/Name-Checking”
    Is there any way to read this micro-rant and not think of it being recited in a flat monotone by somebody slowly rocking back and forth while curled in a fetal position?
    Chucky, take some medication.

  37. leahnz says:

    that’s weird, jeff, i read it more like chucky tapping away at his keyboard with a smug and indignant smirk which barely conceals the rage simmering below the surface for those infuriating name-checkers and oscar-whores, his glock locked and loaded within easy reach on the computer desk in front of him (all ready to go for one of his many trips the cinemas in and around copland to see what is playing at the art-houses vs. the city multiplexes)

  38. bulldog68 says:

    I would give pay good money to see Chucky’s house, no Sony TV, cause that would be name checking. No Sharp Microwave, name checking, in fact, no food, no chiquita bananas, nor metamucil, nor viagra, all name checking. God forbid you should get sick Chucky, cause all those medications that could save your life, have names like Bristol, and Johnson, and Pfizer. In fact, Chucky should have no surname either, cause doesn’t that belong to his father? I mean, after all, after a studio employs hundreds and possibly thousands of ordinary people as grips, hairstylists and carpenters, its absolutely horrendous that they would use a past success to try to recover a decent return on their investment so that they could possibly make another film and employ another batch of ordinary people who have families to support. Those studios are bastards I tell you, just plain bastards.

  39. Joe Leydon says:

    Actually, isn’t Chucky in Jersey a name-check of the Chucky in Child’s Play?

  40. I just wanna open up to y’all and say…I saw “Old Dogs.” I saw it for the same reason Travolta and Williams did it (someone paid me to) and it’s simply terrible. Sloppy, poorly made, stupid, unfunny, inane and sends all sorts of BAD MESSAGES to kids. Seth Green is in the movie about 6 mins total and 3 of those are the gorilla scene.
    Everyone involved with this film should honestly be ashamed of themselves.
    My review is here: http://gordonandthewhale.com/theatrical-review-old-dogs/
    And, I should be on the Rotten Tomatoes show on Current this week as well. Angry Don in da hizzzzzzay!!

  41. Good on The Blind Side, I say! A movie with a $30mil budget that people actually want to see! It’s an amazing prospect that a movie can become a hit because people like it and are not just going because they’ve been brainwashed into thinking they have to see it, which is more than I can say about New Moon. The number of people who paid to see that just so they could write something negative and get blog hits or twitter followers is depressing and destressing. But, then again, I’m of the believe that movies should be for everyone and not just hoity toity people in big cities who look down on anyone who dares to like someone like Sandra Bullock and who wants to spend their hard-earned money on something they think they will like and not on something they’re being told they’ll like by a bunch of people with priveledge issues.
    I love how marychan is always first in with her bit about Boondock Saints 2 and then disappears.
    Chucky’s name is a name check of Jersey. Clearly he’s a hypocrit.

  42. Triple Option says:

    re: : don lewis (was PetalumaFilms) “Old Dogs”
    Wow, and I thought the meandering mess that was “The Road” had to be the worst film going these days. What I think I’m most angry about is myself for not walking out early on and asking for my money back. By the time I realized I had done nothing to cause me to punish myself and truly convinced I had seen all I needed to see I thought it would’ve been too late. In hindsight, there was so much more monotony left to endure that I wish I would’ve at least tried.

  43. Geoff says:

    “But, then again, I’m of the believe that movies should be for everyone and not just hoity toity people in big cities who look down on anyone who dares to like someone like Sandra Bullock and who wants to spend their hard-earned money on something they think they will like and not on something they’re being told they’ll like by a bunch of people with priveledge issues.”
    Come on, Kam – can we ALL get of the ranting about “real” Americans vs. those in big cities???? This stuff is getting really, really old – I live near a big city (Chicago) and I love all kinds of movies. I saw Precious and An Education, over the weekend, and dug them both. AND I also really like Sandra Bullock – everytime Miss Congeniality is on cable, I really dig on that movie and enjoy it. And I paid to take my wife to see The Proposal and enjoyed it, too.
    Does that make me confused, Kam? Should I just be hoity-toity? Maybe I should just put on Fox News so they can tell me what and who I should like, purely based on where I live. Would that work?
    Look, I know lefties and liberals have their issues and prejudices being dished out all of the time, but nowadays, it’s these conservative “flyer-over country” elites (yet all of the biggest ones on talk radio and television still lower themselves to reside in New York City, apparently) who have the biggest chips on their shoulders.
    It’s all for show, it’s all bullshit – what, you think only drag queens and priveleged suburban white girls went to see the new Twilight movie? Really???? I have a feelin it sold out malls in Alabama and Kentucky as well as anywhere.
    I am so sick of hearing how I cannot appreciate certain things because I live near a big city. And I got news for you folks with the biggest chips on your shoulders – MOST Americans live near big cities. The whole myth about how most live in small towns with a general store a church is just that….pure myth. It died years ago.
    Most Americans live in major metropolitan areas. And within 30 years, a majority of them will not be white. Get over it and move on.
    Sorry, rant over….

  44. The Big Perm says:

    Kam, I’m reasonably certain that New Moon didn’t make 150 million due to nerds who wanted to write something mean about it on their blog. I’d think most people actually wanted to see that movie.

  45. hcat says:

    To paraphrase the great Ebert: a movie made to appeal to everyone is made for no one.
    Isn’t this the place where movie snobs would congregate, because I haven’t seen any ill will going Bullocks way over her recent career resurgance. If anything people in their posts have been celebrating it. And if you look at the state of the film industry the hoity toity’s certainly do not have a stranglehold on the market.

  46. Joe Leydon says:

    My beloved Saints give the NE Patriots a 38-17 ass-whipping. Life is good.

  47. IOIOIOI says:

    My Vikings are waiting for your Saints. “DREW… COME OUT TO PLAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAA!!!! DREW COME OUT TO PLAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAA!!!” Bring it on!

  48. Geoff, I was more commenting on the fact that people are so “omg how can the blind side be so successful?!?!” It’s not so much a rah rah flyover states thing as it is a common sense thing. Sometimes solid no frills filmmaking is you need to have a hit and then people turn around and wonder why Fantastic Mr Fox failed when it was clearly made for Anderson’s fan base and nobody else.
    Perm, of course I am aware of that, obviously. But I’ve seen so many film writery people say stuff like “I knew New Moon would be shit, why did I go?” It makes no sense.

Leonard Klady's Friday Estimates
Friday Screens % Chg Cume
Title Gross Thtr % Chgn Cume
Venom 33 4250 NEW 33
A Star is Born 15.7 3686 NEW 15.7
Smallfoot 3.5 4131 -46% 31.3
Night School 3.5 3019 -63% 37.9
The House Wirh a Clock in its Walls 1.8 3463 -43% 49.5
A Simple Favor 1 2408 -50% 46.6
The Nun 0.75 2264 -52% 111.5
Hell Fest 0.6 2297 -70% 7.4
Crazy Rich Asians 0.6 1466 -51% 167.6
The Predator 0.25 1643 -77% 49.3
Also Debuting
The Hate U Give 0.17 36
Shine 85,600 609
Exes Baggage 75,900 62
NOTA 71,300 138
96 61,600 62
Andhadhun 55,000 54
Afsar 45,400 33
Project Gutenberg 36,000 17
Love Yatri 22,300 41
Hello, Mrs. Money 22,200 37
Studio 54 5,300 1
Loving Pablo 4,200 15
3-Day Estimates Weekend % Chg Cume
No Good Dead 24.4 (11,230) NEW 24.4
Dolphin Tale 2 16.6 (4,540) NEW 16.6
Guardians of the Galaxy 7.9 (2,550) -23% 305.8
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4.8 (1,630) -26% 181.1
The Drop 4.4 (5,480) NEW 4.4
Let's Be Cops 4.3 (1,570) -22% 73
If I Stay 4.0 (1,320) -28% 44.9
The November Man 2.8 (1,030) -36% 22.5
The Giver 2.5 (1,120) -26% 41.2
The Hundred-Foot Journey 2.5 (1,270) -21% 49.4