By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com
Friday Estimates by Resident Klady
So…
This is a good weekend for an object lesson. Right at the top of the charts, you have two films – one aged franchise and the other a 3D relaunch of an animated classic – that exist primarily because of the international market. In the case of Resident Evil: Enough Already, there is one key stat that is as staggering as last year’s most staggering figure, the Fast Five international number. Fast Five did improve about $55m domestically on the flagging F&F franchise… but at the cost of adding a lot of expensive talent. International, however, went from a series-best $208 million to $416m… double. And let’s not forget Ice Age 3 leaping 50% internationally, from IA2’s $460m to $690m… and IA4 holding remarkably steady near the same worldwide number. (For people reading Tom Rothman tea leaves, look closer at this film’s history… then recall Titan A.E. for some historic perspective.)
Now… look at the international number for Resident 4… $236m after a previous high of $97m for the franchise.
We are not alone.
#4 almost doubled #3’s worldwide gross, putting the whole franchise in a difference weight class. Those are Shutter Island/Salt numbers vs This Means War/Tower Heist numbers.
Likewise, Finding Nemo 3D may not have excited many at Disney as a worldwide theatrical based on the Lion King numbers. Adding $180m in gross to The Lion King is a nice number. But it’s not a huge number at all. They paid for a restoration and a conversion and will make some profit in the end. But the international ($83m) didn’t even match the domestic ($94m) even while internationally 3D is much hotter than here at home. But Titanic 3D rekindled the fire. Paramount managed a not-too-thrilling $58m domestically. (They knew they were on the less exciting market from the start.) Remember, the original release of Titanic did double overseas what it did here. But in this case, international did 5 to 1 over domestic… $285m international. (Another Fox breadcrumb, Sherlocks.)
No one expects Nemo 3D to do $285m international or even in total. But $60m domestic and $150m international would make it a cash cow for Disney. Even $120m international would be a big win.
Can’t overlook 2016: Obama’s America which is about to pass Chimpanzee (the off-camera jokes about this at Fox News are all too imaginable) to become the year’s highest grossing doc and the #3 grossing non-concert doc of all-time. (Note: AJ Schnack would put 5 more older “non-fiction” films in the highest group, above 2016… not sure how many are concert films, which I see as irrelevant to this conversation) A few million people have paid to see this thing. And I suspect that by November, the results of the election will put it in a clearer perspective (As it did F9/11).
Speaking of cults… ha… actually I despise seeing leads about The Master that reference Scientology… disrespectful of the film, the artists involved, and journalism. Huge, perhaps record-breaking, “5-screen” launch of The Master. And unlike Brokeback Mountain, for instance, the 70mm situation disallows last minute extra screenings to creep into the stats. That said, as best I can tell, the film is actually in 4 theaters on 11 screens. (Village East 1, Angelika 2, Arclight Hollywood 5 – including The Dome – and Landmark Westside Pavilion 3).
Still, a $750,000 – $1 million weekend on even 11 screens is remarkable. The question for The Master is how wildly and how financially successfully it can expand. I believe The Cult of PTA (of which I consider myself a charter member, even if I had major issues with the third act of TWBB), has $10m – $15m in box office to offer. After that, it requires the selling genius of Mr. Weinstein. I gently remind you all that PTA has never had a film gross as much as $41m domestic or $77m worldwide. And brilliant as it is, The Master isn’t exactly an opiate for the masses.
And so it goes…
OK, if I’m reading this right, Barfi! (in 132 theaters) made $260,000 yesterday, while Stolen (in 9 more theaters) made $62,720. This tells me that either (a) the North American audience for Indian films is growing even faster than I figured, (b) Nicolas Cage is no longer a box-office draw, and may actually be a box-office repellent, or (c) both. Yikes.
Both, but based on my anecdotal experience #1 definitely holds true. When one of my local theatres went all-Desi 10 years ago, I was generally the only non-Indian in attendance. That’s shifted in a major way the last decade (and I’ve done my part in “Bolly-converting” fellow film fans), and now there’s a more varied crowd at the theatre, especially on opening weekend for big titles such as this. In the specific case of BARFI!, there also two more interesting factors in play: it’s UTV’s first official release under complete Disney ownership (end credits repeatedly list “Disney UTV”), plus co-star Priyanka Chopra is making major crossover moves in music, her first single launching on no less than NFL Thursday Night Football this week and will be its theme song for the season. On top of that, the film is just a complete charmer.
I have found that when I describe some Bollywood movies to friends, they suspect I have experienced drug-induced hallucinations. Can’t say that I blame them. Just try getting your buddies who aren’t familiar with Bollywood fare to believe you actually saw films like these:
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117943809?refcatid=31
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117939297?refcatid=31
It’s good to see that Barfi has been thrown up on the chart…
Higher profile Bollywood titles like “Barfi!” seem to have marketing campaigns that work like dog whistles for their core demographic: anyone/everyone predisposed to going knows about it and they show up en masse.
I didn’t see a single TV spot (or trailer) for “Stolen” (admittedly, it’s not playing anywhere near me), and Millennium didn’t even bother opening in NYC. (How pathetic is that?)
Gotta admit to feeling a tad sorry for Cage.
I think he’s still capable of greatness (Herzog’s “Bad Lieutenant” anyone?), he just needs to pick better material/projects, even if it means taking the occasional supporting versus lead role.
Glorified straight-to-dvd fodder like “Stolen” (and “Ghost Rider” sequels) might pay a few bills, but they’re not going to help burnish the “legacy.”
Stolen didn’t open in Los Angeles either (though Cage’s other quickie burnoff this year, Seeking Justice, did).
@movieman – indeed re: the core, but I’ve noticed that the core has substantially grown past ethnic boundaries. The real clincher for me was a few years ago when I was at one of those Bollywood stars’ live dance concert tours (which used to happen every year, but oddly enough there hasn’t been a major one in about 4 years) where I was in line with a group of young non-Indian fangirls who drove from *Utah* to L.A. to catch the show. With Disney now 100% owners of UTV, I’m wondering if they’re planning to push harder on select titles, for Barfi!‘s screen count was also higher than usual even for one of the bigger B’wood films.
@ Joe – technically Enthiran isn’t Bollywood. It’s Kollywood (Tamil). But oddly enough you linked reviews to two films that I’ve used to successfully Bolly(or Kolly-)-convert the unfamiliar. (I actually got my Ghajini DVD signed by Aamir Khan, who seemed to be impressed with my familiarity with his work and the Indian film industry during our interview that he wrote more or less a paragraph along with the signature)
And “barfi” is the name of an Indian sweet (one of my faves actually) though said sweet doesn’t show up in the film, for it’s the main character’s name (albeit with a second “i” at the end).
Anyone else here also see Last Ounce of Courage? Words barely begin to describe what a piece of work that is… (even more baffling than anything in Enthiran or Ghajini)
DP, The Master is at one other NYC theater: the 68th St AMC (in fact, pretty much the best place to see it of its three NYC locations), where they have a 70mm print running on one screen and a digital version on another.
You are right about the international appeal of these titles, although TITANIC had never played in China, which accounted for almost 50% of its international gross this time around. I must say it bodes poorly for the future, because as a whole, international audiences have even worse taste than domestic audiences. Look at the most recent Hollywood films (since ICE AGE 3) where the international gross made up more than 75% of the total:
ICE AGE 4
BATTLESHIP
AMERICAN REUNION
TINTIN
KUNG FU PANDA 2
PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN 4
GULLIVER’S TRAVELS
THE TOURIST
NARNIA 3
RESIDENT EVIL 4
2012
ICE AGE 3
Other than TINTIN, it’s like a rogue’s gallery of Michael Bay imitations, and make it stop sequels.
Kung Fu Panda 2 was one of the best films of 2011. You take that back etguild, you just take that back.
While Jack Black’s Gulliver had its moments, I was eventually stunned to see that it had ripped off the ending of Kung Fu Panda 2. “Eventually” because Panda came out afterward but had obviously been in production longer, so surely Black and/or someone associated with him took the ending with them to Fox.
Heck, Kung Fu Panda 2 was my favorite film of 2011 and a wonderful example of a superior sequel that successfully expands the mythology and actually makes you want to see many more stories in the given universe. And yeah, that ending is a heartbreaking gut-punch.