The Hot Blog Archive for July, 2005
A Blogged Response To The "Christian/Hollywood" Story That Is Worthy Of Its Own Thread
“I think most people are missing the point with all this religious stuff. I have worked in very liberal and very conservative churches over the years (as a pastor, educator, and youth director), and I think that this talk of offending Christians and catering to them with religious themes is a little off.
Christians go to movies. That’s a fact. Many young, conservative Christians will even go to R-rated films, if it appeals to them. Obviously, there are some films, say The Exorcist, which actively professing Christians will tend to stay away from, but for the most part except for a small group that has no interest in movies (remember, there are non-Christians that have no interest in movies too) Christians tend to go to movies just like the rest of the population…they may just complain about sex/violence more.
So why did the Passion do so well, and why is the Narnia film going to be HUGE (potentially $300M+)? It’s simply because it’s based on source material that millions are already familar with and would like to see translated into a modern film. This isn’t much different than the reason for Harry Potter’s success or any major comic book film for that matter.
The only real difference is that with these films is because of the Christian community’s reverence for the source material, the marketers can effectively utilize Christain communities (which are relatively tight and largely based on trust of their leaders) as a tool to get people into theaters. Christians would have seen The Passion even if Mel Gibson hadn’t directly gone to churches to sell his wares…but by bringing the sell job to the church, Mel was able to get pastors passionate about it and they in turn were able to get people excited about it and wanting to shell out $10 NOW instead of waiting for the DVD…which is the popular response of most people (Christian and non-Christian alike) when they hear about an interesting movie.
Posted by: Eric at July 18, 2005 03:19 PM”
Keeping An Eye On The Times
Another trend story about a trend that isn’t happening… even inside the story. The Passion of the Marketers
How does Doug Liman saying, “It’s literally in there for no other reason than I thought, This is cool,” suggest a trend piece about Hollywood trying to
Later Weekend Analysis
Saturday was a key question mark for both Charlie & The Chocolate Factory and Wedding Crashers. For the first, the question was whether there would be any hesitancy amongst parents of small children to go see the dark chocolate. For the second, it was whether two guys chasing wedding cake would be a date movie. Both movies seem to have found affirmative (if distressing for WB) answers to these questions.
Now we can start thinking about the next weekend, even if finals may vary from the estimates. (Klady has both studio estimates as a little high… we
Early Box Office Analysis
1. Charlie & Chocolate Factory – $20.8m
2. Wedding Crashers – $10.8m
3. Fantastic Four – $6.5m
4. War of the Worlds – $4.4m
5. Batman Begins – $1.6m
6. Mr. & Mrs. Smith – $1.5m
7. Dark Water – $1.5m
8. Herbie Fully Loaded – $1.1m
Well, it
Charlie & The Chocolate Factory…
… is probably the best movie of the summer so far.
People who can’t get past the first film are missing a great joy.
This may be the best of all of Burton’s commercial efforts.
And I love the first movie. I just love this one differently.
More to come…
I Don't Know What's Been Going On…
… but people seem to be very upset about personal attacks on the response section of this blog.
I, for one, feel it would be very sad if I had to shut down the comments section of this blog.
But I am not going to babysit either.
There is no reason to call other participants names. When you disagree, you can assert your position without attacking others. And if you can’t we’ll just have to pack it in.
Who Is Next At Paramount?
The suddenly hot name on the street for the Rob Friedman job is Rob Moore.
Moore has been an equity partner in Revolution Studios since the company launched. Before that, he was the executive vice president operations & finance for Walt Disney Studios.
During Moore’s 13-year career at Disney, he was instrumental in putting together numerous strategic relationships for the studio including Disney’s output agreement with Pixar Animation Studios, the acquisition of Miramax Films and the financing/production agreement with Spyglass Entertainment.
If Moore comes on next, it is likely that he will not be the one changing the face of marketing or Home Entertainment, but securing the financial base of the company.
ComiCon Is Coming
Just cause I’m on the web doesn’t mean I am true geek. Yet somehow, for the fourth year in a row, I am on my way to Comicon in San Diego.
My primary purpose is to host a chat with the great David Cronenberg, who has made what I consider his best film ever, A History Of Violence.
Of course, how can that compete with a giant Transformer truck, being used to announce a release date for the film… which Michael Bay has not been willing to talk about while doing press for The Island. sigh.
Meanwhile, Kong is King, but Mr. Peter & Madame Fran will remain in NZed… but expect some footage. And the Jack Black/Kyle Gasser team Tenacious D will premiere their “Love Theme For Kong” from which Howard Shore will build the Kong score.
Is It Cool?
From Movie City Indie:
Following the in the august steps of Harry Knowles and the New York Times, Rachel Abramowitz of the Los Angeles Times reviews the script of a movie that has not yet been shot
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(nothing to write today)
Rob Friedman Falls Off The Mountain
This is inside baseball… but who cares and who’s next?
11 Comments »Tueday THB Preview/Question
If a multiplex showing, say, Star Wars, on 6 or 14 screens for the first weekend, making it possible to get a ticket, but still drawing a thousand or so people each hour
73 Comments »Hate To Be On Defamer Turf, But…
If this photo of Mrs. Federbush at the Charlie & The Chocolate Factory premiere speaks to the growing child in her belly, what will it mean when Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan wears it sans pregnancy? (Note the arrow.)
Horn Blows For Slump Continuation
Where is John Horn coming up with this stuff?
War of the Worlds didn
On The Island
I am surprised by how many opinions about this film are turning up here… here are my spoiler-free comments from THButton
69 Comments »