Posts Tagged ‘It’s Kind Of A Funny Story’
Sunday, December 26th, 2010
Grit and Bear It
Little Fockers and True Grit led the Christmas charge with respective opening debuts estimated at $34 million and $25.5 million that topped weekend movie going. The session also featured a Christmas day bow for the animated Gulliver’s Travels, which netted a two-day gross of $6.9 million.
Bollywood’s seasonal offering Tees Maar Khann rang up an impressive $700,000. However, several other Hindi, Telegu and Tamil releases were non-starters. China’s If You Are the One 2 opened up day-and-date (a first) with its Mainland release and chimed in with a potent $208,000 launch.
The frame also featured a clutch of last-minute releases for award season consideration. Best of the bunch was Venice-prized Somewhere with $148,000 from seven venues. The animated The Illusionist displayed comparable strength with a two-day tally of $52,600 on two screens and a four screen push for Barney’s Version in Canada proved effective with $64,400 (a single U.S. Oscar qualifying run was unreported). Lastly, Country Strong lilted $33,800 from two sneak peeks.
Overall the Christmas session got clobbered with calendar positioning that landed the eve on Friday (expect something similar with New Years). And while an estimated $155 million weekend provided an 11% boost from the prior weekend it translated into a pounding 45% drop from 2009. As the door quickly closes on the year, box office gross has slipped behind the prior year and admissions are approaching close to double digit erosion. A year ago Avatar’s second weekend grossed $75.6 million and debuts of Sherlock Holmes and The Alvin Squeakquel added $62.4 million and $48.9 million respectively.
All that said, tracking wasn’t exactly on target for new entries and holdovers. The third in the Fockers series was expected to render a first weekend of between $40 million and $45 million while the sophomore edition of TRON: Legacy was pegged at $25 million. Conversely True Grit outperformed pundits soothsaying that had it shy of $20 million.
Holiday crowds clearly voted for The Fighter, Black Swan and The King’s Speech as their Oscar favorites. Still there are seven additional slots to fill and the campaigning is apt to intensify in the upcoming weeks.
__________________________________________________
Weekend Estimates – December 24-26, 2010
| Title |
Distributor |
Gross (average) |
% change * |
Theaters |
Cume |
| Little Fockers |
Uni |
34.0 (9,610) |
NEW |
3536 |
48.2 |
| True Grit |
Par |
25.5 (8,360) |
NEW |
3047 |
36.6 |
| Tron: Legacy |
BV |
20.6 (5,960) |
-53% |
3451 |
88.7 |
| Chronicles of Narnia: Dawn Treader |
Fox |
10.9 (3,240) |
-12% |
3350 |
63.9 |
| The Fighter |
Par/Alliance |
8.6 (3,430) |
-29% |
2511 |
27.7 |
| Yogi Bear |
WB |
8.4 (2,380) |
-55% |
3515 |
36.3 |
| Gulliver’s Travels * |
Fox |
6.9 (2,700) |
NEW |
2546 |
6.9 |
| Tangled |
BV |
6.7 (2,590) |
-24% |
2582 |
143.8 |
| Fox Searchlight |
6.4 (4,390) |
-23% |
1466 |
28.9 |
| The Tourist |
Sony |
5.6 (2,020) |
-35% |
2756 |
41.1 |
| The King’s Speech |
Weinstein Co. |
4.6 (6,530) |
317% |
700 |
8.4 |
| How Do You Know |
Sony |
3.7 (1,480) |
-51% |
2483 |
15.1 |
| Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, Part 1* |
WB |
3.3 (1,920) |
-34% |
1732 |
273.1 |
| Tees Maar Khan |
UTV |
.70 (6,780) |
NEW |
103 |
0.7 |
| Due Date |
WB |
.37 (910) |
-71% |
404 |
98.3 |
| Unstoppable |
Fox |
.36 (920) |
-80% |
393 |
78.5 |
| Megamind |
Par |
.35 (460) |
-49% |
764 |
142.6 |
| Burlesque |
Sony |
.33 (660) |
-77% |
501 |
36.7 |
| The Social Network |
Sony |
.31 (1,230) |
9% |
249 |
92.3 |
| If You Are the One 2 |
China Lion |
.21 (9,040) |
NEW |
23 |
0.21 |
| 127 Hours |
Fox Searchlight |
.20 (1,720) |
-64% |
115 |
9.8 |
| * Christmas Day opening |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) |
|
$145.90 |
|
|
|
| % Change (Last Year) |
|
-45% |
|
|
|
| % Change (Last Week) |
|
11% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Also debuting/expanding |
|
|
|
|
|
| Somewhere |
Focus |
.15 (21,140) |
|
7 |
0.2 |
| Rabbit Hole |
Lionsgate |
88,700 (2,610) |
65% |
34 |
0.16 |
| Barney’s Version |
eOne |
64,400 (16,100) |
|
4 |
0.06 |
| Casino Jack |
IDP |
60,500 (4,030) |
75% |
15 |
0.11 |
| The Illusionist * |
Sony Classics |
52,600 (26,300) |
|
2 |
0.05 |
| Country Strong |
Sony |
33,800 (16,900) |
|
2 |
0.05 |
| The Tempest |
Miramax/Maple |
32,700 (2,520) |
-44% |
13 |
0.19 |
| Toonpur Ka Superhero |
Eros |
9,600 (400) |
|
24 |
0.01 |
| Isi Life Mein |
Rajshri |
4,500 (250) |
|
18 |
0.01 |
Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – Dec. 23, 2010)
| Distributor (releases) |
Gross |
Market Share |
| Warner Bros. (30) |
1861 |
18.40% |
| Paramount (19) |
1634.7 |
16.10% |
| Fox (19) |
1442.4 |
14.20% |
| Buena Vista (17) |
1349.1 |
13.30% |
| Sony (26) |
1239.1 |
12.20% |
| Universal (18) |
798.7 |
7.90% |
| Summit (11) |
522.2 |
5.20% |
| Lionsgate (16) |
519.3 |
5.10% |
| Fox Searchlight (8) |
105 |
1.00% |
| Overture (8) |
87.4 |
0.90% |
| Focus (7) |
75.2 |
0.70% |
| CBS (3) |
72.5 |
0.70% |
| Weinstein Co. (9) |
65.5 |
0.60% |
| Sony Classics (22) |
59.5 |
0.60% |
| MGM (1) |
50.4 |
0.50% |
| Other * (317) |
253.5 |
2.50% |
|
10135.5 |
100.00% |
| * none greater than .04% |
Top Limited Releases * (Jan. 1 – Dec. 23, 2010)
| Title |
Distributor |
Gross |
| Hubble 3D |
WB |
19,359,509 |
| The Ghost Writer |
Summit |
15,569,712 |
| The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo |
Music Box/Alliance |
11,287,817 |
| The Young Victoria * |
Apparition/Alliance |
11,131,232 |
| 127 Hours |
Fox Searchlight |
9,321,571 |
| Get Low |
Sony Classics |
9,106,802 |
| Fair Game |
Summit |
8,650,388 |
| A Single Man * |
Weinstein Co. |
7,935,872 |
| The Girl Who Played with Fire |
Music Box/Alliance |
7,848,496 |
| Cyrus |
Fox Searchlight |
7,461,082 |
| Babies |
Focus |
7,444,272 |
| The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus |
E1/Sony Classics |
7,394,171 |
| Conviction |
Fox Searchlight |
6,768,063 |
| City Island |
Anchor Bay |
6,671,036 |
| The Last Station |
Sony Classics |
6,617,867 |
| Waiting for “Superman” |
Par Vantage |
6,410,257 |
| The Secret in Their Eyes |
Sony Classics |
6,391,436 |
| It’s Kind of a Funny Story |
Focus |
6,362,514 |
| Winter’s Bone |
Roadside Attraction |
6,237,371 |
| Under the Sea 3D * |
WB |
5,732,362 |
| * does not include 2009 box office |
Tags: 127 Hours, A Single Man, Babies, Barney's Version, Black Swan, Burlesque, Casino Jack, Chronicles of Narnia: Dawn Treader, City Island, Conviction, Country Strong, Cyrus, Due Date, Fair Game, Get Low, Gulliver's Travels, Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, how do you know, Hubble 3D, If You Are the One 2, Isi Life Mein, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, Little Fockers, Megamind, Part 1, Rabbit Hole, Somewhere, Tangled, Tees Maar Khan, The Fighter, The Ghost Writer, The Girl Who Played With Fire, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Illusionist, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The King's Speech, The Last Station, The Secret In Their Eyes, The Social Network, The Tempest, The Tourist, The Young Victoria, Toonpur Ka Superhero, Tron - Legacy, True Grit, Under the Sea 3D, unstoppable, Waiting For 'Superman', Winter's Bone, Yogi Bear
Posted in MCN Originals, MCN Weekend, The Weekend Report | Comments Off on Weekend Box Office Report — December 26
Sunday, November 28th, 2010
Tangled Up in Blues … and Reds
A quartet of new releases for Thanksgiving failed to topple Harry Potter from the top of the charts during the gobble, gobble fest. The first part of the Potter finale — Deathly Hallows — grossed an estimated $51.2 million for the weekend portion of the holiday frame. Just a cluck behind was the animated Rapunzel of Tangled with $49.2 million ($69.1 million for the 5-days).
The other three wide release freshmen clustered in positions five to seven with indifferent results. The glitzy musical Burlesque crooned $11.4 million, rom-com Love and Other Drugs ingested $9.6 million and Faster added a tortoise-paced $8.2 million.
The big noise of the session proved to be the well positioned awards contender The King’s Speech that amassed a heady $86,000 screen average from just four venues. There was also an impressive $610,000 for local hockey comedy Lance et compte in Quebec, but a dull $212,000 for Bollywood entry Break Ke Baad. And a new seasonal Nutcracker in 3D was virtually D.O.A. with a $62,700 tally from 42 screens.
Adding it all up, Thanksgiving box office was a smidgen less than last year’s result.
Industry trackers generally predicted that Deathly Hallows would prevail at the box office but few anticipated that Tangled would be truly competitive with the Hogwart’s grad. They also generally over estimated the strengths of the remaining trio of new entries; especially Faster, which was given the edge over Love and Other Drugs.
Overall weekend numbers added up to roughly $187 million that translated into a 6% decline from the immediate prior session. It was also a slight 1% decline from Thanksgiving weekend 2009 when The Twilight Saga: New Moon and The Blind Side led with respectively $42.9 million and $40.1 million. The top new entry, Old Dogs, ranked fourth with $16.9 million.
The current session also saw expansions for 127 Hours and Fair Game that were encouraging but nonetheless displayed signs of fatigue. Still with critics groups just weeks away from announcements both films could well experience second winds. The potent arrival of The King’s Speech however has put that film in the forefront and its now vying with a real royal wedding as well as a smattering of pictures yet to be seen for late year honors.
__________________________________________________
Weekend Estimates – November 26-28, 2010
| Title |
Distributor |
Gross (average) |
% change * |
Theaters |
Cume |
| Harry Potter & the Deathly Hollows, Part 1* |
WB |
51.2 (12,420) |
-59% |
4125 |
221.2 |
| Tangled |
BV |
49.2 (13,660) |
NEW |
3603 |
69.1 |
| Megamind |
Par |
12.9 (3,770) |
-20% |
3411 |
130.5 |
| Unstoppable |
Fox |
11.7 (3,670) |
-10% |
3183 |
60.6 |
| Burlesque |
Sony |
11.4 (3,740) |
NEW |
3037 |
16.8 |
| Love and Other Drugs |
Fox |
9.6 (3,920) |
NEW |
2455 |
13.8 |
| Faster |
CBS |
8.2 (3,360) |
NEW |
2451 |
11.8 |
| Due Date |
WB |
7.2 (2,830) |
-19% |
2555 |
84.9 |
| The Next Three Days |
Lionsgate |
4.8 (1,860) |
-27% |
2564 |
14.5 |
| Morning Glory |
Par |
4.0 (1,630) |
-24% |
2441 |
26.4 |
| 127 Hours |
Searchlight |
1.7 (5,900) |
89% |
293 |
4.4 |
| Fair Game |
Summit |
1.6 (3,960) |
8% |
396 |
6 |
| For Colored Girls … |
Lionsgate |
1.4 (2,360) |
-38% |
605 |
36.6 |
| Red |
Summit |
1.4 (1,540) |
-43% |
914 |
86.2 |
| Skyline |
Uni/Alliance |
1.1 (900) |
-70% |
1189 |
20.1 |
| The Social Network |
Sony |
.73 (2,510) |
-22% |
291 |
90.4 |
| Secretariat |
BV |
.66 (1.310) |
-32% |
502 |
57.6 |
| Lance et compte |
Seville |
.61 (6,930) |
NEW |
88 |
0.61 |
| The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest |
Music Box/Alliance |
.36 (1,970) |
-10% |
184 |
4.2 |
| Despicable Me |
Uni |
.35 (1,320) |
31% |
266 |
249.7 |
| The King’s Speech |
Weinstein Co. |
.34 (86,030) |
NEW |
4 |
0.34 |
| Inside Job |
Sony Classics |
.31 (2,330) |
-9% |
132 |
2.6 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) |
|
$179.40 |
|
|
|
| % Change (Last Year) |
|
-1% |
|
|
|
| % Change (Last Week) |
|
-6% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Also debuting/expanding |
|
|
|
|
|
| Break Ke Baad |
Reliance |
.21 (2,500) |
|
85 |
0.33 |
| Nutcracker 3D |
FreeStyle |
62,700 (1,490) |
|
42 |
0.09 |
| Made in Dagenham |
Sony Classics |
62.500 (5,680) |
64% |
11 |
0.12 |
| The Legend of Pale Male |
Balcony |
11,400 (11,400) |
|
1 |
0.01 |
| The Unjust |
CJ |
7,200 (7,200) |
|
1 |
0.01 |
| Tere Ishq Nachaye |
Eros |
4,200 (200) |
|
21 |
0.01 |
Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – Nov. 21, 2010)
| Distributor (releases) |
Gross |
Market Share |
| Warner Bros. (27) |
1674.1 |
17.80% |
| Paramount (18) |
1578.1 |
16.70% |
| Fox (17) |
1333.8 |
14.10% |
| Buena Vista (15) |
1174.6 |
12.50% |
| Sony (23) |
1161.6 |
12.30% |
| Universal (18) |
793.9 |
8.40% |
| Summit (11) |
512.7 |
5.40% |
| Lionsgate (15) |
500.4 |
5.30% |
| Overture (7) |
81.8 |
0.90% |
| Fox Searchlight (7) |
81.4 |
0.90% |
| Focus (7) |
75.2 |
0.80% |
| Weinstein Co. (7) |
62.6 |
0.70% |
| Sony Classics (21) |
57.8 |
0.60% |
| MGM (1) |
51.2 |
0.50% |
| CBS (2) |
50 |
0.50% |
| Other * (296) |
242.7 |
2.60% |
|
9431.9 |
100.00% |
| * none greater than .04% |
Top Limited Releases * (Jan. 1 – Nov. 21, 2010)
| Title |
Distributor |
Gross |
| Hubble 3D |
WB |
18,355,494 |
| The Ghost Writer |
Summit |
15,569,712 |
| The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo |
Music Box/Alliance |
11,282,938 |
| The Young Victoria * |
Apparition/Alliance |
11,131,232 |
| Get Low |
Sony Classics |
9,080,285 |
| A Single Man * |
Weinstein Co. |
7,935,872 |
| The Girl Who Played with Fire |
Music Box/Alliance |
7,837,823 |
| Cyrus |
Fox Searchlight |
7,461,082 |
| Babies |
Focus |
7,444,272 |
| The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnasus * |
E1/Sony Classics |
7,394,171 |
| City Island |
Anchor Bay |
6,671,036 |
| The Last Station |
Sony Classics |
6,617,867 |
| The Secret in Their Eyes |
Sony Classics |
6,391,436 |
| It’s Kind of a Funny Story |
Focus |
6,350,058 |
| Winter’s Bone |
Roadside Attraction |
6,225,414 |
| Waiting for “Superman” |
Par Vantage |
6,130,466 |
| Under the Sea 3D * |
WB |
5,504,062 |
| Precious |
Lions Gate |
5,085,319 |
| I Am Love |
Magnolia |
5,002,411 |
| An Education * |
Sony Classics |
4,963,224 |
| * does not include 2009 box office |
Tags: 127 Hours, A Single Man, An Education, Babies, break ke baad, Burlesque, City Island, Cyrus, Despicable Me, Due Date, Fair Game, Faster, For Colored Girls …, Get Low, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Hubble 3D, I Am Love, Inside Job, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, Lance et compte, Love and Other Drugs, Made in Dagenham, Megamind, Morning Glory, Nutcracker 3D, Part 1, Precious, Red, Secretariat, skyline, Tangled, Tere Ishq Nachaye, The Ghost Writer, the girl who kicked the hornet's nest, The Girl Who Played With Fire, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnasus, The King's Speech, The Last Station, The Legend of Pale Male, The Next Three Days, The Secret In Their Eyes, The Social Network, The Unjust, The Young Victoria, Under the Sea 3D, unstoppable, Waiting For 'Superman', Winter's Bone
Posted in MCN Originals, MCN Weekend, Movie City News, The Weekend Report | Comments Off on Weekend Box Office Report — November 28
Sunday, October 31st, 2010
See … Saw … Ouch!
Saw 3D whipped into cinemas with an estimated $24.3 million to take top spot in weekend movie going. Distributors gave a wide berth to the Halloween frame when traditionally there are sharp drops in attendance; making the Saw finale the sole new national release.
A different sort of ghoul — the Millennium finale The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest — went limited wide to solid returns of $890,000, but otherwise the frame’s new entries were dominated by niche and exclusive launches. The best of the bunch was the Chinese trembler Aftershock with a single screen entry of $17,600. Other newcomers with good but not spectacular returns included indie drama Welcome to the Riley’s, Brit spy spoof Wild Target, Mexican prize winner Nora’s Will, Claude Chabrol’s final effort Bellamy and non-fiction entry Waste Land.
Overall box office saw a sharp fall from last weekend and a slight bump from 2009 results.
The seventh annual edition of the Saw franchise was hoping for an exit with bite with the addition of stereoscopic imagery. But pre-release tracking indicated that with or without gimmicks the mania was fading and its mid-$20 million weekend tally was pretty much in line with pundit’s predictions. The gore crowd would appear to be sated with current splatter fare but the past month has seen every segment of the audience unenthusiastic for the new crop of movies beyond their opening sessions.
The global juggernaut for the Millennium trilogy continued with the U.S. bow of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. The first installment, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, has racked up $99 million internationally and it and its second chapter are the top grossing foreign-language movies in America post-Pan’s Labyrinth.
Weekend revenues generated about $95 million in sales that translated into a 28% drop from the immediate prior session. It was a modest 6% improvement from 2009 when Michael Jackson: This Is It bowed to $23.2 million followed by Paranormal Activity with $16.4 million.
The fact-based Conviction expanded nationally to fair results and appears to be headed to the same sort of indifferent commercial returns as the rest of the early award season contenders. A sharp drop for last weekend’s Hereafter departs from the sort of holds associated with recent films directed by Clint Eastwood whereas the better than expected stamina of the geezer spies of RED has confounded box office mavens.
But apart from Jackass 3D (which passed a $100 million tally this weekend) such well-reviewed positive word-of-mouth entries as The Social Network and Secretariat have struggled to maintain a presence (forget about momentum) in a marketplace that has all but eliminated the possibility of a second wind.
__________________________________________________
Weekend Estimates – October 29-31, 2010
| Title |
Distributor |
Gross (average) |
% change * |
Theaters |
Cume |
| Saw 3D |
Lionsgate |
24.3 (8,660) |
New |
2808 |
24.3 |
| Paranormal Activity 2 |
Par |
16.4 (5,070) |
-60% |
3239 |
65.6 |
| Red |
Summit |
10.9 (3,250) |
-28% |
3349 |
59 |
| Jackass 3D |
Par |
8.5 (2,720) |
-60% |
3139 |
101.7 |
| Hereafter |
WB |
6.4 (2,630) |
-47% |
2424 |
22.2 |
| Secretariat |
BV |
5.0 (1,610) |
-28% |
3108 |
44.7 |
| The Social Network |
Sony |
4.7 (1,690) |
-36% |
2767 |
79.7 |
| Life As We Know It |
WB |
4.1 (1,440) |
-33% |
2860 |
43.6 |
| The Town |
WB |
2.0 (1,250) |
-27% |
1608 |
87.7 |
| Conviction |
Fox Searchlight |
1.8 (3,220) |
501% |
565 |
2.4 |
| Legend of the Guardians |
WB |
1.8 (880) |
-46% |
2010 |
52.7 |
| Easy A |
Sony |
1.1(880) |
-37% |
1262 |
56.3 |
| The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest |
Music Box/Alliance |
.89 (5,830) |
New |
152 |
0.89 |
| Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps |
Fox |
.78 (840) |
-37% |
933 |
51.2 |
| Waiting for “Superman” |
Par Vantage |
.52 (1,580) |
-33% |
330 |
4.6 |
| Devil |
Uni |
.51 (800) |
-21% |
635 |
33.1 |
| Alpha and Omega |
Lionsgate |
.48 (710) |
-34% |
676 |
24.1 |
| It’s Kind of a Funny Story |
Focus |
.46 (960) |
-32% |
477 |
5.8 |
| You Again |
BV |
.41 (610) |
-37% |
673 |
24.7 |
| You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger |
Sony Classics |
.33 (1,022) |
-24% |
323 |
2.4 |
| Toy Story 3 |
BV |
.31 (920) |
-34% |
337 |
413.9 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) |
|
$89.70 |
|
|
|
| % Change (Last Year) |
|
6% |
|
|
|
| % Change (Last Week) |
|
-28% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Also debuting/expanding |
|
|
|
|
|
| Stone |
Overture |
.22 (1,760) |
-39% |
125 |
1.2 |
| Nowhere Boy |
Weinstein Co. |
.13 (840) |
-62% |
153 |
1 |
| 10.50 |
Alliance |
55,800 (4,290) |
|
13 |
0.06 |
| Welcome to the Riley’s |
IDP |
41,600 (4,160) |
|
10 |
0.04 |
| Nora’s Will |
Menemsha |
25,300 (4,220) |
|
6 |
0.03 |
| Wild Target |
FreeStyle |
23,200 (5,800) |
|
4 |
0.02 |
| Bellamy |
IFC |
19,700 (9,850) |
|
2 |
0.02 |
| Monsters |
Magnolia |
18,100 (6,030) |
|
3 |
0.02 |
| Aftershock |
AMC |
17,600 (17,600) |
|
1 |
0.02 |
| Waste Land |
Arthouse |
10.300 (10,300) |
|
1 |
0.01 |
| Walkaway |
IABA |
9,400 (360) |
|
26 |
0.01 |
| Strange Powers |
Variance |
4,800 (4,800) |
|
1 |
0.01 |
| The Kids Grow Up |
Shadow |
4,600 (4,600) |
|
1 |
0.01 |
Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – Oct. 28, 2010)
| Distributor (releases) |
Gross |
Market Share |
| Warner Bros. (25) |
1436.3 |
16.40% |
| Paramount (16) |
1389.1 |
15.90% |
| Fox (16) |
1289.8 |
14.70% |
| Buena Vista (15) |
1155.5 |
13.20% |
| Sony (23) |
1142.4 |
13.10% |
| Universal (17) |
774.3 |
8.90% |
| Summit (10) |
473.3 |
5.40% |
| Lionsgate (12) |
412.7 |
4.70% |
| Overture (7) |
80.6 |
0.90% |
| Focus (7) |
74.1 |
0.80% |
| Fox Searchlight (6) |
73.4 |
0.80% |
| Weinstein Co. (7) |
61.9 |
0.70% |
| Sony Classics (21) |
54.7 |
0.60% |
| MGM (1) |
51.2 |
0.60% |
| CBS (2) |
50 |
0.60% |
| Other * (277) |
229.7 |
2.70% |
|
8749 |
100.00% |
| * none greater than .04% |
Top Limited Releases * (Jan. 1 – Oct. 28, 2010)
| Title |
Distributor |
Gross |
| Hubble 3D |
WB |
17,246,918 |
| The Ghost Writer |
Summit |
15,569,712 |
| The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo |
Music Box/Alliance |
11,270,373 |
| The Young Victoria * |
Apparition/Alliance |
11,131,232 |
| Get Low |
Sony Classics |
8,980,294 |
| A Single Man * |
Weinstein Co. |
7,935,872 |
| The Girl Who Played with Fire |
Music Box/Alliance |
7,768,761 |
| Cyrus |
Fox Searchlight |
7,461,082 |
| Babies |
Focus |
7,444,272 |
| The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus * |
E1/Sony Classics |
7,394,171 |
| City Island |
Anchor Bay |
6,671,036 |
| The Last Station |
Sony Classics |
6,617,867 |
| The Secret in Their Eyes |
Sony Classics |
6,391,436 |
| Winter’s Bone |
Roadside Attractions |
6,204,696 |
| It’s Kind of a Funny Story |
Focus |
5,342,641 |
| Under the Sea 3D * |
WB |
5,256,073 |
| I Am Love |
Magnolia |
4,982,446 |
| An Education * |
Sony Classics |
4,963,224 |
| The Hurt Locker * |
Summit |
4,531,548 |
| Solitary Man |
Anchor Bay |
4,360,548 |
| * does not include 2009 box office |
Tags: 10.50, A Single Man, Aftershock, Alpha and Omega, An Education, Babies, Bellamy, City Island, Conviction, Cyrus, Devil, Easy A, Get Low, Hereafter, Hubble 3D, I Am Love, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, Jackass 3D, Legend of the Guardians, Life As We Know It, Monsters, Nora's Will, Nowhere Boy, Paranormal Activity 2, Red, Saw 3D, Secretariat, solitary man, Stone, Strange Powers, The Ghost Writer, the girl who kicked the hornet's nest, The Girl Who Played With Fire, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Hurt Locker, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The Kids Grow Up, The Last Station, The Secret In Their Eyes, The Social Network, The Town, The Young Victoria, Toy Story 3, Under the Sea 3D, Waiting For 'Superman', Walkaway, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Waste Land, Welcome to the Rileys, Wild Target, Winter's Bone, You Again, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger
Posted in MCN Originals, MCN Weekend, Movie City News, The Weekend Report | Comments Off on Weekend Box Office Report – October 31
Sunday, October 24th, 2010
Back to Paranormal
Paranormal Activity 2 exceeded pundit expectation (though not necessarily fans) with an estimated $41.6 million to lead weekend movie ticket sales. The session’s only other national bow was Hereafter, which shot up to $11.9 million following last weekend’s limited opener.
Niche and regional bows included a solid $212,000 (in Hindi and Telegu versions) bow for the Indian crime saga Rakhtcharitra. Fans won’t have to wait long for its second part conclusion that’s scheduled for late November. Meanwhile up in Canada the Toronto fest curtain raiser Score: A Hockey Musical failed to live up to its name with a discordant $143,000 from 127 rinks.
Exclusives included good though unsensational debuts that included non-fiction Boxing Gym with a $6,100 TKO in its solo bout and Taqwacores — the tale of an Islamic rock band — grossing $5,500 also in a single outing.
Though there was a marginal dip from last weekend’s box office, the frame saw its first uptick from 2009 in a month with industry mavens already predicting expanded revenues through the end of the year.
Critical response to sleeper sensation Paranormal Activity 2 was at best tepid with the more negative reviews viewing it as a cynical rehash of its inspiration. Nonetheless avids were cueing up to provide Thursday midnight shows a record preview for an R-rated film. It lost traction as the weekend proceeded but the fast start was sufficient to speed past tracking that suggested an opening salvo of not much more than $30 million.
Exit polls for both Paranormal Activity 2 and Hereafter were disappointing. The latter film pretty much brought in the anticipated older crowd and filmmaker Clint Eastwood’s films have a history of hanging in for longer than typical runs and much higher multiples than is the industry norm. Still, this yarn could well stray from that trend.
Weekend revenues amassed roughly $130 million in torn ducats. It represented a slight 2% dip from seven days back but the unexpected Paranormal Activity 2 and overall strong holdovers translated into a 13% box office boost from 2009. A year ago the first Paranormal Activity (in its initial wide weekend) led with $21.1 million followed by Saw VI and Where the Wild Things Are with respective tallies of $14.1 million and $14 million.
With the exception of Waiting for “Superman” it’s been a brutal season for Oscar hopefuls trying to set an early footprint on the awards landscape. Granted, very few have received a wholehearted critical embrace, but even by niche standards the likes of Nowhere Boy, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger and Jack Goes Boating among others have been comparative under-performers when measured against past films that have employed this tactic.
__________________________________________________
Weekend Estimates – October 22-24, 2010
| Title |
Distributor |
Gross (average) |
% change * |
Theaters |
Cume |
| Paranormal Activity 2 |
Par |
41.6 (12,930) |
New |
3216 |
41.6 |
| Jackass 3D |
Par |
21.5 (6,920) |
-57% |
3111 |
87.1 |
| Red |
Summit |
15.1 (4,620) |
-31% |
3273 |
43.6 |
| Hereafter |
WB |
11.9 (5,450) |
|
2175 |
12.2 |
| The Social Network |
Sony |
7.2 (2,450) |
-31% |
2921 |
72.8 |
| Secretariat |
BV |
6.9 (2,210) |
-26% |
3108 |
37.3 |
| Life As We Know It |
WB |
6.1 (2,010) |
-32% |
3019 |
37.5 |
| Legend of the Guardians |
WB |
3.1 (1,390) |
-26% |
2236 |
50.1 |
| The Town |
WB |
2.7 (1,390) |
-33% |
1918 |
84.6 |
| Easy A |
Sony |
1.7 (1,050) |
-35% |
1632 |
54.7 |
| Wal Street: Money Never Sleeps |
Fox |
1.2 (960) |
-49% |
1255 |
50 |
| My Soul to Take |
Uni/Alliance |
1.0 (600) |
-68% |
1689 |
13.9 |
| Waiting for “Superman” |
Par Vantage |
.76 (2,620) |
2% |
290 |
3.7 |
| Alpha and Omega |
Lionsgate |
.71 (980) |
-14% |
727 |
23.5 |
| It’s Kind of a Funny Story |
Focus |
.66 (1,180) |
-46% |
560 |
5.1 |
| Devil |
Uni |
.63 (980) |
-35% |
642 |
32.4 |
| You Again |
BV |
.61 (680) |
-50% |
901 |
24 |
| N Secure |
FreeStyle |
.53 (1,190) |
-55% |
445 |
1.9 |
| Toy Story 3 |
BV |
.42 (1,211) |
-21% |
350 |
413.4 |
| You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger |
Sony Classics |
.40 (1,060) |
46% |
381 |
1.8 |
| Case 39 |
Par Vantage |
.38 (530) |
-69% |
721 |
12.7 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) |
|
$123.90 |
|
|
|
| % Change (Last Year) |
|
13% |
|
|
|
| % Change (Last Week) |
|
-2% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Also debuting/expanding |
|
|
|
|
|
| Stone |
Overture |
.34 (3,030) |
49% |
113 |
0.76 |
| Conviction |
Fox Searchlight |
.30 (5,420) |
192% |
55 |
0.34 |
| Rakhtcharitra |
Viva/Happy |
.21 (6,230) |
|
34 |
0.21 |
| Nowhere Boy |
Weinstein Co. |
.21 (870) |
-39% |
215 |
0.76 |
| Score: A Hockey Musical |
Mongrel |
.14 (1,130) |
|
127 |
0.14 |
| Jhootha Hi Sahi |
Viva |
64,700 (1,350) |
|
48 |
0.06 |
| My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend |
Fiftyfilms |
10,300 (5,150) |
|
2 |
0.01 |
| Boxing Gym |
Zipporah |
6,100 (6,100) |
|
1 |
0.01 |
| Taqwacores |
Rumanni |
5,500 (5,500) |
|
1 |
0.01 |
| Inhale |
IFC |
5,600 (2,800) |
|
2 |
0.01 |
Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – Oct. 21, 2010)
| Distributor (releases) |
Gross |
Market Share |
| Warner Bros. (25) |
1403.9 |
16.30% |
| Paramount (15) |
1310.6 |
15.30% |
| Fox (16) |
1287.9 |
15.00% |
| Buena Vista (15) |
1144.7 |
13.30% |
| Sony (23) |
1129.9 |
13.20% |
| Universal (17) |
771.4 |
9.00% |
| Summit (10) |
453.6 |
5.30% |
| Lionsgate (12) |
411.5 |
4.80% |
| Overture (7) |
79.7 |
0.90% |
| Focus (7) |
73.2 |
0.90% |
| Fox Searchlight (6) |
72.7 |
0.80% |
| Weinstein Co. (7) |
61.6 |
0.70% |
| Sony Classics (21) |
53.7 |
0.60% |
| MGM (1) |
50.4 |
0.60% |
| CBS (2) |
50 |
0.60% |
| Other * (271) |
226.9 |
2.70% |
|
8581.7 |
100.00% |
| * none greater than .04% |
Top Domestic Grossers * (Jan. 1 – Oct. 21, 2010)
| Title |
Distributor |
Gross |
| Avatar * |
Fox |
476,726,209 |
| Toy Story 3 |
BV |
413,013,123 |
| Alice in Wonderland |
BV |
334,191,110 |
| Iron Man 2 |
Par |
312,445,596 |
| Twilight: Eclipse |
Summit |
300,531,751 |
| Inception |
WB |
289,881,124 |
| Despicable Me |
Uni |
247,148,995 |
| Shrek Forever After |
Par |
238,667,087 |
| How to Train Your Dragon |
Par |
218,685,707 |
| The Karate Kid |
Sony |
176,797,997 |
| Clash of the Titans |
WB |
163,214,888 |
| Grown Ups |
Sony |
161,942,598 |
| The Last Airbender |
Par |
131,733,601 |
| Shutter Island |
Par |
128,051,522 |
| The Other Guy |
Sony |
118,236,912 |
| Salt |
Sony |
118,229,865 |
| Valentine’s Day |
WB |
110,509,442 |
| Sherlock Holmes * |
WB |
106,967,985 |
| Robin Hood |
Uni |
105,425,146 |
| The Expendables |
Lions Gate |
103,068,524 |
| * does not include 2009 box office |
Tags: Alice in Wonderland, Alpha and Omega, Avatar, boxing gym, Case 39, Clash of the Titans, Conviction, Despicable Me, Devil, Easy A, Grown Ups, Hereafter, How to Train Your Dragon, Inception, inhale, Iron Man 2, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, Jackass 3D, Jhootha Hi Sahi, Legend of the Guardians, Life As We Know It, My Girlfriend's Boyfriend, My Soul To Take, N Secure, Nowhere Boy, Paranormal Activity 2, Rakhtcharitra, Red, Robin Hood, Salt, Score: A Hockey Musical, Secretariat, Sherlock Holmes, Shrek Forever After, Shutter Island, Stone, Taqwacores, The Expendables, The Karate Kid, The Last Airbender, The Other Guy, The Social Network, The Town, Toy Story 3, Twilight: Eclipse, Valentine's Day, Waiting For 'Superman', Walt Street: Money Never Sleeps, You Again, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger
Posted in MCN Originals, MCN Weekend, Movie City News, The Weekend Report | 1 Comment »
Thursday, October 21st, 2010
|
BEST PICTURE
|
|
|
Picture
|
Studio
|
Director
|
Stars |
Comment
|
| The Ten, If I Had To Pick Today |
|
Dec 25
|
True Grit |
Par
|
Coens
|
Bridges
Brolin
Damon
|
|
|
Nov
24
|
The King’s Speech |
TWC
|
Marshall
|
Firth
|
|
|
Dec 1
|
Black Swan |
FxSch
|
Aronofsky
|
Portman
|
|
| Oct 1
|
The Social Network |
Sony
|
Fincher
|
Eisenberg
|
|
|
Dec 10
|
The Fighter |
Par/Rel
|
O. Russell
|
Wahlberg
|
|
|
Nov 5
|
127 Hours |
FxSch
|
Boyle
|
Franco
|
|
|
Oct 22
|
Hereafter |
WB
|
Eastwood
|
Damon
|
|
|
June 18
|
Toy Story 3 |
Disney
|
Unkrich
|
–
|
|
July 16
|
Inception |
WB
|
Nolan
|
DiCaprio
|
|
|
July 9
|
The Kids Are All Right |
Focus
|
Cholodenko
|
Bening
Moore
|
|
| The Next Tiers Of Likely |
|
Dec 17
|
Everything You’ve Got |
Sony
|
Brooks
|
Witherspoon
Nicholson
|
|
|
Nov 24
|
Love & Other Drugs |
Fox
|
Zwick |
Hathaway |
|
|
Dec 29
|
Another Year |
SPC
|
Leigh
|
Broadbent
Staunton
|
|
|
| June 11 |
Winter’s Bone |
RdAtt
|
Granik
|
Lawrence
|
|
|
Feb 19
|
Shutter Island |
Par
|
Scorsese
|
DiCaprio
|
|
|
July 30
|
Get Low |
SPC
|
Schneider
|
Duvall
Spacek
Murray
|
|
|
Sept 15
|
Never Let Me Go |
FxSch
|
Romanek
|
Knightley
Mulligan
Garfield
|
|
|
Sept 17
|
The Town |
WB
|
Affleck
|
|
|
|
Nov 19
|
Made In Dagenham |
SPC
|
Cole
|
Hawkins
|
|
|
|
Oct 8
|
Secretariat |
Dis
|
Wallace
|
Lane
|
|
| Dec 25
|
Somewhere |
Focus
|
Coppola
|
|
|
|
Dec 10
|
The Tempest |
Mir
|
Taymor
|
Mirren
|
|
|
Dec 31
|
Blue Valentine |
TWC
|
Cianfrance
|
Gosling
Williams
|
|
|
Dec 29
|
Biutiful |
RdAtt
|
Gonzalez-
Inarritu
|
Bardem
|
|
|
Dec 29
|
The Way Home |
NewMkt
|
Weir
|
Farrell
|
|
by David Poland
Previous Chart
Tags: 127 Hours, Another Year, Biutiful, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Conviction, Due Date, Eat Pray Love, Everything You've Got, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, Get Low, Godfather III, Hereafter, Inception, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, Love and Other Drugs, Made in Dagenham, Miral, Morning Glory, Never Let Me Go, Nowhere Boy, Roadside Attractions, Secretariat, Shutter Island, Somewhere, The American, The Fighter, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, The Social Network, The Tempest, The Town, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter’s Bone
Posted in 20 Weeks to Oscar - Charts, Awards Watch | 10 Comments »
Thursday, October 21st, 2010
|
BEST ACTRESS
|
|
Actress – Film
|
Comment
|
| Natalie Portman – Black Swan |
|
| Anette Bening – The Kids Are All Right |
|
| Carey Mulligan – Never Let Me Go |
|
| Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone |
|
| Reese Witherspoon – How Do You Know |
|
|
| Nicole Kidman – Rabbit Hole |
|
| Anne Hathaway – Love & Other Drugs |
|
|
| Lesley Manville – Another Year |
|
| Sally Hawkins – Made in Dagenham |
|
| Michelle Williams- Blue Valentine |
|
| Kimberly Elise – For Colored Girls… |
Hard to really know who will be the film’s choice for Lead |
| Diane Lane – Secretariat |
|
| Hilary Swank – Conviction |
|
| Helen Mirren – The Tempest |
|
| Rachel McAdams – Morning Glory |
|
|
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
|
|
Actress – Film
|
Comment
|
| Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech |
|
| Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit |
|
| Sissy Spacek – Get Low |
|
| Barbara Hershey – Black Swan |
|
| Whoopi Goldberg/Thandie Newton/Kerry Washington – For Colored Girls… |
Hard to really know who will be the film’schoice for Supporting |
|
| Julianne Moore- The Kids Are All Right |
|
| Melissa Leo – The Fighter |
|
| Sandra Oh – Rabbit Hole |
|
| Mila Kunis – Black Swan |
|
| Miranada Richardson – Made in Dagenham |
|
Tags: 127 Hours, Another Year, Biutiful, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Conviction, Due Date, Eat Pray Love, Everything You've Got, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, Get Low, Godfather III, Hereafter, Inception, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, Love and Other Drugs, Made in Dagenham, Miral, Morning Glory, Never Let Me Go, Nowhere Boy, Roadside Attractions, Secretariat, Shutter Island, Somewhere, The American, The Fighter, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, The Social Network, The Tempest, The Town, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter’s Bone
Posted in 20 Weeks to Oscar - Charts, Awards Watch | 3 Comments »
Thursday, October 21st, 2010
|
BEST ACTOR
|
|
Actor – Film
|
Comment
|
| Colin Firth – The King’s Speech |
|
| Jsmes Franco – 127 Hours |
|
| Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network |
|
|
| Jeff Bridges – True Grit |
|
| Robert Duvall – Get Low |
|
| Mark Wahlberg – The Fighter |
|
|
| Jack Nicholson – How Do You Know |
|
| Javier Bardem – Biutiful |
|
| Ryan Gosling – Blue Valentine |
|
| Leo DiCaprio – Inception |
|
| Kevin Spacey – Casino Jack |
|
| Robert DeNiro – Stone |
|
| Aaron Johnson – Nowhere Boy |
|
|
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
|
|
Actor – Film
|
Comment
|
| Geoffrey Rush – The King’s Speech |
|
| Matt Damon – True Grit |
|
| Josh Brolin – True Grit |
|
| Andrew Garflied – The Social Network |
|
| Christian Bale – The Fighter |
|
|
| Armie Hammer – The Social Network |
|
| Paul Rudd or Owen Wilson – How Do You Know |
|
| Jeremy Renner – The Town |
|
| Bill Murray- Get Low |
|
| John Malkovich – Red/Secretariat |
|
| Due Date – Zach Galifianakis |
|
| Harrison Ford – Morning Glory |
|
by David Poland
Previous Chart
Tags: 127 Hours, Another Year, Biutiful, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Conviction, Due Date, Eat Pray Love, Everything You've Got, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, Get Low, Godfather III, Hereafter, Inception, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, Love and Other Drugs, Made in Dagenham, Miral, Morning Glory, Never Let Me Go, Nowhere Boy, Roadside Attractions, Secretariat, Shutter Island, Somewhere, The American, The Fighter, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, The Social Network, The Tempest, The Town, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter’s Bone
Posted in 20 Weeks to Oscar - Charts, Awards Watch | 2 Comments »
Thursday, October 21st, 2010
Tyler Perry was on Oprah this week. After all, it’s a little more than two weeks until his award aspirant, For Colored Girls, goes into theaters. But he didn’t say more than a couple of sentences about the film. Hmmm… But he’s going to be on again on his film’s opening day, November 5. And that episode was described by Oprah as being like no Oprah episode before. Interesting. So the movie… oh… no… the show will have 200 grown men who were molested as children, including Perry himself.
And that is how this Oscar season feels so far.
Not like molestation. It’s a great thing that Tyler Perry and Oprah are doing, trying to bring light to a shame that men are loathe to ever admit and therefore find it harder to heal.
What it is like is waiting for something exciting, something expected, something that shocks and surprises and makes it all fun. And not getting quite what we expected. What we get isn’t bad. It may even be incredibly valuable and worthwhile. But it’s just not exciting.
Toy Story 3 and Inception are both likely nominees, both are big commercial hits, and neither is likely to get much further than their nominations. TS3 can’t even hope to win Best Comedy at the Golden Globes, since the HFPAers like to segregate the animation. Even being nominated for Best Picture with 10 nominees feels like it’s The Pixar Slot after just one year getting nominated.
The Social Network is a hit and a likely nominee. But is it really the experience to stir (older) men’s souls? The King’s Speech, which isn’t open yet but is being given frontrunner status by some, is wonderful… but can anyone really say they have never been on that journey before?
The are a number of tiny indies that are terrific, from Never Let Me Go to Winter’s Bone to The Kids Are All Right to Get Low to Biutiful to Another Year to Rabbit Hole. I don’t know that we have seen any of these films before, really. They all play on ideas we have of older films, but each is really fresh in its own way, loaded with some great performances.
But is any one of them capable of becoming The One, even if they fight their way to nominations?
It now seems that the excitement of the season comes down the to small handful of films that are not yet in play. They may or may not be better than the films already out there, but there is something pulsing beneath the surface.
The glorious madness of Black Swan feels like it could blow audiences away, especially the actors, who will identify with the pain and paranoia of being a performer. Aronofsky has made an incredibly sophisticated horror film, which is going to make it a shooting star or somewhat earthbound by resistance of an older Academy.
The deceptive simplicity of 127 Hours and the audience’s pleasure in spending all that time with James Franco is a singular event this year. Of course, some people are already whining about one event in the last 15 minutes making the movie hard to take. But I would argue that the skill with which Boyle and his compatriots get through that one event, in a film of enormous tension that commands the compassion of the audience is a far greater achievement than any discomfort that is created.
Paramount, which is marketing and distributing The Fighter, has started to convince the talkers around town that they have a game changer. A new 2 minute ad – not a trailer – is turning heads and looking like Raging Rocky On The Waterfront. And it doesn’t help that Mark Wahlberg has become a working class hero in Hollywood, matched only by Matt Damon in his generation.
And then there is the film that is the last to start revving its engine – it started this week – The Coen Bros version of True Grit. John Wayne won the Oscar in the role played by last year’s winner, Jeff Bridges. Can he pull a Hanks? The original was not nominated for Best Picture. Nor were Kim Darby, Glen Campbell, or Jeff Corey, who played the roles now handled by Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon, and Josh Brolin. Yet…
It was 27 years between How The West Was Won being Best Picture nominated and two westerns in three years winning, Dances With Wolves and Unforgiven. That was 17 years ago, with no Westerns being nominated in the interim.
So even though there was plenty of Southwestern dust in No Country For Old Men, True Grit may offer the excitement of a true throwback. Or not.
And what of The Way Back, which has replaced Tree of Life, now officially relegated to 2011 (along with Miral), as the Popular, But Unsure, New Distributor Wildcard Choice?
Where else can we look for excitement? Well, James Franco is a newcomer to the awards circuit, as is Jesse Eisenberg. And will voters find the idea of nominating the dual role played by Armie Hammer fun? Personally I think it is a bit ugly that Tobey Maguire hasn’t been Oscar nominated yet… but will voters be amused by the idea of sending the new Spider-Man to his spandex suit with an Oscar nomination in tow?
And how about “second time’s the charm?” Colin Firth. Natalie Portman. Josh Brolin. Mark Wahlberg. Ryan Gosling. Anne Hathaway. Carey Mulligan.
There are veterans we love and don’t see enough of in front of that camera these days, from Robert Duvall to Sissy Spacek to Barbara Hershey to Miranda Richardson to Annette Bening, and even Jack Nicholson, who has gone three years without a movie since The Bucket List.
Then there’s this year’s rocket girl, Jennifer Lawrence.
Okay… now I am getting interested… a bit excited even. I want to hear Academy members debate the subtexts of Black Swan and discuss whether they remember the real events of The King’s Speech and try to remember the first True Grit and to consider the actors and filmmakers who are going to take us into the future, from Fincher to Nolan to Aronofsky to Hooper to Granik to Romanek to Russell and embracing the veterans they’ve honored over the years like Jim Brooks and Scorsese and Boyle and Eastwood and The Coens.
Things are just a little slow out of the blocks this year. But we’re almost there. And it could be fun. It may not be as fresh or unexpected as some years… but away we go, dudes, party on.
by David Poland
Previous Column
Tags: 127 Hours, Another Year, Biutiful, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Conviction, Due Date, Eat Pray Love, Everything You've Got, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, Get Low, Godfather III, Hereafter, Inception, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, Love and Other Drugs, Made in Dagenham, Miral, Morning Glory, Never Let Me Go, Nowhere Boy, Roadside Attractions, Secretariat, Shutter Island, Somewhere, The American, The Fighter, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, The Social Network, The Tempest, The Town, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter’s Bone
Posted in 20 Weeks to Oscar, Awards Update, Awards Watch, MCN Originals, Movie City News | 17 Comments »
Sunday, October 17th, 2010
Jack’use!
Jackass 3D was better than all right with an estimated $49.3 million that easily ranked it at the top of the weekend movie going charts. Another freshman, the seasoned action-comedy Red, ranked second with $21.9 million. The session’s third national debut in medium-wide release was the inspirational N Secure with an OK $133,000 bow.
Among niche and regional bows the polemical documentary I Want Your Money failed to bring out the vote with a $236,000 tally from 537 screens. Telegu-language Brindaavanam rang up an impressive $10,320 average from 20 venues while Bollywood entry Aakrosh was a washout with a $46,400 gross from 24 screens.
Among the week’s exclusive newbies the clear favorite was Hereafter with a $37,380 per screen from six early peeks. There were also impressive openings for the three-hour plus portrait of a terrorist Carlos of $33,700 from single dates in Manhattan and Montreal and a sturdy $101,000 gross for the ripped from the headlines Conviction at 11 cells.
Overall weekend box office revenues topped $130 million for a sizeable 42% boost from seven days back. However, it fell 4% below last year’s tally and the 2010 box office has shrunk to just 2% better than the prior year’s gross for the same period.
Industry trackers had pegged the stereoscopic version of Jackass at roughly $30 million prior to its opening. But they obviously were deaf to bygone wag Henry Mencken’s observation that “no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” The recently under-served young male audience were eager to don Polaroid glasses and see the aging stars of the reality skein making fools of themselves and others up close and personal.
Pundits also undervalued Red with early estimates in a $15 million to $18 million range. The single joke premise of over the hill spies conscripted back into service (more intentionally mawkish than The Expendables) skewed older but obviously had some appeal for a younger crowd in search of something marginally less mind numbing that required optical gimmicks.
The glacial expansion of Waiting for “Superman” continued to display stamina but it’s clear that Never Let Me Go has peaked and that the rapid expansion of Nowhere Boy left the early years of John Lennon stranded outside the Cavern Club. Stone was experiencing a better than expected hold as it increased its exposure from six to 41 venues.
The frame’s two award contenders – Hereafter and Conviction – constructed solid foundations for their platform bids. Still the early signs suggest a better than anticipated commercial run for the former with the latter yarn requiring a lot of TLC to reach a wider audience.
Among holdovers the second lap for Secretariat showed signs that audiences were discovering the heartfelt saga and The Social Network continues to be propped up by award buzz rather than Facebook fascination.
__________________________________________________
Weekend Estimates – October 15-17, 2010
| Title |
Distributor |
Gross (average) |
% change * |
Theaters |
Cume |
| Jackass 3D |
Par |
49.3 (16,010) |
New |
3081 |
49.3 |
| Red |
Summit |
21.9 (6,740) |
New |
3255 |
21.8 |
| The Social Network |
Sony |
10.8 (3,910) |
-30% |
2771 |
63 |
| Secretariat |
BV |
9.4 (3,070) |
-26% |
3072 |
27.4 |
| Life As We Know It |
WB |
9.2 (2,910) |
-37% |
3150 |
28.8 |
| Legend of the Guardians |
WB |
4.2 (1,670) |
-39% |
2502 |
46 |
| The Town |
WB |
4.0 (1,700) |
-37% |
2368 |
80.6 |
| My Soul to Take |
Uni/Alliance |
3.1 (1,240) |
-54% |
2529 |
11.9 |
| Easy A |
Sony |
2.6 (1,140) |
-39% |
2314 |
52.3 |
| Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps |
Fox |
2.3 (1,110) |
-50% |
2045 |
47.8 |
| N Secure |
FreeStyle |
1.3 (2,730) |
New |
486 |
1.3 |
| It’s Kind of a Funny Story |
Focus |
1.3 (1,660) |
-38% |
757 |
4 |
| You Again |
BV |
1.2 (750) |
-53% |
1588 |
22.7 |
| Case 39 |
Par Vantage |
1.2 (840) |
-56% |
1406 |
11.9 |
| Devil |
Uni |
1.0 (1,100) |
-46% |
891 |
31.6 |
| Let Me In |
Overture |
.83 (690) |
-66% |
1211 |
11.1 |
| Alpha and Omega |
Lions Gate |
.81 (840) |
-46% |
969 |
22.6 |
| Waiting for “Superman” |
Par Vantage |
.74 (4,060) |
17% |
182 |
2.5 |
| Toy Story 3 |
BV |
.52 (1,480) |
-6% |
350 |
412.8 |
| Inception |
WB |
.35 (1,180) |
-29% |
297 |
289.7 |
| Resident Evil: Afterlife |
Sony/Alliance |
.34 (780) |
-73% |
438 |
59.7 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) |
|
$125.70 |
|
|
|
| % Change (Last Year) |
|
-4% |
|
|
|
| % Change (Last Week) |
|
42% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Also debuting/expanding |
|
|
|
|
|
| Nowhere Boy |
Weinstein Co. |
.33 (1,550) |
554% |
215 |
0.41 |
| Never Let Me Go |
Searchlight |
.32 (1,390) |
-7% |
232 |
1.65 |
| You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger |
Sony Classics |
.27 (2,440) |
1% |
112 |
1.26 |
| I Want Your Money |
FreeStyle |
.24 (440) |
|
537 |
0.24 |
| Stone |
Overture |
.23 (5,780) |
199% |
41 |
0.34 |
| Hereafter |
WB |
.22 (37,380) |
|
6 |
0.22 |
| Brindaavanam |
Blue Sky |
.21 (10,320) |
|
20 |
0.21 |
| Buried |
Lions Gate |
.13 (1,270) |
-41% |
103 |
0.76 |
| Conviction |
Fox Searchlight |
.10 (9,200) |
|
11 |
0.1 |
| Aakrosh |
Eros |
46,400 (1,930) |
|
24 |
0.05 |
| Carlos |
IFC |
33,700 (16,850) |
|
1 |
0.03 |
| Knockout |
Eros |
18,100 (700) |
|
26 |
0.02 |
| A Better Tomorrow |
CJ Entertainment |
5,800 (5,800) |
|
1 |
0.01 |
| Down Terrace |
Magnolia |
2,900 (1,450) |
|
2 |
0.01 |
| Samson and Delilah |
Ipix |
2,300 (1,150) |
|
2 |
0.01 |
Domestic Market Share – January 1 – October 14, 2010
| Distributor (releases) |
Gross |
Market Share |
| Warner Bros. (24) |
1380.1 |
16.40% |
| Fox (16) |
1284.6 |
15.30% |
| Paramount (14) |
1242.3 |
14.80% |
| Buena Vista (15) |
1129.6 |
13.40% |
| Sony (23) |
1111.7 |
13.20% |
| Universal (17) |
765.4 |
9.10% |
| Summit (9) |
425.1 |
5.10% |
| Lionsgate (12) |
410.1 |
4.90% |
| Overture (7) |
78.2 |
0.90% |
| Fox Searchlight (5) |
72.1 |
0.90% |
| Focus (7) |
71.4 |
0.90% |
| Weinstein Co. (7) |
61.1 |
0.70% |
| Sony Classics (20) |
52.9 |
0.60% |
| MGM (1) |
50.4 |
0.60% |
| CBS (2) |
50 |
0.60% |
| Other * (266) |
222.3 |
2.60% |
|
8407.3 |
100.00% |
| * none greater than .04% |
Tags: A Better Tomorrow, Aakrosh, Alpha and Omega, Brindaavanam, Buried, carlos, Case 39, Conviction, Devil, down terrace, Easy A, Hereafter, I Want Your Money, Inception, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, jackass 3-d, Jackass 3D, Knockout, Legend of the Guardians, Let Me In, Life As We Know It, My Soul To Take, N Secure, Never Let Me Go, Nowhere Boy, Red, Resident Evil: Afterlife, samson and delilah, Secretariat, Stone, The Social Network, The Town, Toy Story 3, Waiting For 'Superman', Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Walt Street: Money Never Sleeps, You Again, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger
Posted in MCN Originals, MCN Weekend, Movie City News, The Weekend Report | 1 Comment »
Sunday, October 10th, 2010
Nobody Nose Anything
The Social Network surprised pundits with a better than expected hold and won the weekend movie going chase with an estimated $15.3 million. Three national debs were on its tail with lackluster returns. The rom-com Life As We Know It faltered in the clutch with $14.6 million while the much ballyhooed turf saga Secretariat posted $12.4 million, and there was a lack of stereoscopic shock for My Soul to Take with $6.9 million.
There was also a lack of oomph for the comic oddity It’s Kind of a Funny Story with $2 million tally-woo from 742 engagements.
In the niches Telegu-language Khaleja had a buoyant bow of $343,000 from 24 screens and OK returns of $72,700 for French thriller L’Immortel in Quebec. There were also a raft of exclusive bows with Darwinian winners that included the young John Lennon of Nowhere Boy grossing $51,300 at four venues, the squeezed of non-fiction Inside Job with $37,500 at two interviews and psychological thriller Stone with $71,400 from six couches.
Overall business once again took a dip with 2010 box office now less than 2% ahead of last year’s pace and industry mavens sweating out a quick reversal of fortune.
Tracking reports had pegged the uplifting tale of racing Triple Crowner Secretariat as the weekend’s odds-on favorite with estimates in the range of $16 million to $18 million. But its appeal to women and an older demo that remembered the four-legged wonder of the early 1970s failed to bring ‘em out in its maiden performance despite a considerable marketing push.
Life As We Know It was expected to be about a length behind Secretariat but pulled ahead right from the opening gate. It opened ahead of the pack on Friday with a $5.2 million bow but quickly lost ground to The Social Network as the weekend advanced.
And My Soul to Take fell smack in the middle of estimates in the $6 million to $8 million range. All three of the newbies skewed toward distaff viewers and there’s little question the marketplace is in dire need of something for the boys.
Weekend revenues pushed to roughly $92 million that represented a 4% dip from seven days back. It was a considerably steeped 16% fall from 2009 when the launch of Couples Retreat topped the charts on a $34.3 million first salvo.
On the expansion track, the “what’s wrong with our education” doc Waiting for “Superman” is holding up well and Woody Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger continues to draw in aficionados. But the dour Never Let Me Go appears to have peaked early in the awards season. Among the new entries the highly enjoyable Tamara Drewe proved to be the surprise commercial disappointment with a dull $4,300 engagement average from four initial exposures.
__________________________________________________
Weekend Estimates – October 1-3, 2010
| Title |
Distributor |
Gross (average) |
% change * |
Theaters |
Cume |
| The Social Network |
Sony |
15.3 (5,520) |
-32% |
2771 |
45.9 |
| Life As We Know It |
WB |
14.6 (4,630) |
New |
3150 |
14.6 |
| Secretariat |
BV |
12.4 (4,050) |
New |
3072 |
12.4 |
| My Soul to Take |
Uni/Alliance |
6.9 (2,670) |
New |
2572 |
6.9 |
| Legend of the Guardians |
WB |
6.8 (2,100) |
-38% |
3225 |
39.2 |
| The Town |
WB |
6.3 (2,310) |
-36% |
2720 |
73.7 |
| Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps |
Fox |
4.5 (1,600) |
-55% |
2829 |
43.6 |
| Easy A |
Sony |
4.1 (1,450) |
-39% |
2847 |
48.1 |
| Case 39 |
Par Vantage |
2.6 (1,160) |
-55% |
2212 |
9.5 |
| You Again |
BV |
2.4 (1,030) |
-58% |
2332 |
20.7 |
| Let Me In |
Overture |
2.4 (1,160) |
-54% |
2042 |
9.1 |
| It’s Kind of a Funny Story |
Focus |
2.0 (2,670) |
New |
742 |
2 |
| Devil |
Uni |
1.7 (1,210) |
-51% |
1442 |
30 |
| Alpha and Omega |
Lionsgate |
1.4 (890) |
-51% |
1616 |
21 |
| Resident Evil: Afterlife |
Sony/Alliance |
1.2 (1,210) |
-56% |
1012 |
58.8 |
| Waiting for “Superman” |
Par Vantage |
.63 (6,120) |
54% |
103 |
1.4 |
| Toy Story 3 |
BV |
.55 (1,400) |
140% |
393 |
412 |
| Inception |
WB |
.52 (1,290) |
-43% |
403 |
289.2 |
| Takers |
Sony |
.39 (950) |
-50% |
412 |
56.8 |
| Catfish |
Uni/Alliance |
.37 (2,590) |
-37% |
143 |
2.2 |
| Khaleja |
Ficus |
.34 (14,290) |
|
24 |
0.39 |
| Never Let Me Go |
Searchlight |
.33 (1,990) |
77% |
167 |
1.1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) |
|
$86.30 |
|
|
|
| % Change (Last Year) |
|
-16% |
|
|
|
| % Change (Last Week) |
|
-4% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Also debuting/expanding |
|
|
|
|
|
| You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger |
Sony Classics |
.25 (3,380) |
15% |
73 |
0.84 |
| Buried |
Lionsgate |
.21 (2,300) |
118% |
92 |
0.5 |
| L’Immortel |
Seville |
72,700 (3,030) |
|
24 |
0.07 |
| Stone |
Overture |
71,400 (11,900) |
|
6 |
0.07 |
| Nowhere Boy |
Weinstein Co. |
51,300 (12,820) |
|
4 |
0.05 |
| Inside Job |
Sony Classics |
37,500 (18,750) |
|
2 |
0.04 |
| Route 132 |
Alliance |
37,300 (1,430) |
|
26 |
0.06 |
| I Spit on Your Grave |
Anchor Bay |
30,800 (2,570) |
|
12 |
0.03 |
| Tamara Drewe |
Sony Classics |
17,200 (4,300) |
|
4 |
0.02 |
| Ghetto Physics |
IDP |
10,700 (1,190) |
|
9 |
0.01 |
| Budrus |
Balcony |
8,400 (8,400) |
|
1 |
0.01 |
| It’s a Wonderful Afterlife |
UTV |
5,500 (770) |
|
20 |
0.01 |
| As Good as Dead |
First Look |
1,850 (1,850) |
|
1 |
0.01 |
Domestic Market Share – January 1 – October 7, 2010
| Distributor (releases) |
Gross |
Market Share |
| Warner Bros. (23) |
1340.5 |
16.20% |
| Fox (16) |
1277.7 |
15.40% |
| Paramount (14) |
1237.4 |
15.00% |
| Buena Vista (14) |
1107.4 |
13.40% |
| Sony (23) |
1081.3 |
13.10% |
| Universal (16) |
753.6 |
9.10% |
| Summit (9) |
425.1 |
5.10% |
| Lionsgate (12) |
407.1 |
4.90% |
| Overture (6) |
74.5 |
0.90% |
| Fox Searchlight (5) |
71.5 |
0.90% |
| Focus (6) |
68.4 |
0.80% |
| Weinstein Co. (6) |
60.9 |
0.70% |
| Sony Classics (19) |
52.3 |
0.60% |
| MGM (1) |
50.4 |
0.60% |
| CBS (2) |
50 |
0.60% |
| Other * (260) |
217.3 |
2.60% |
|
8275.4 |
100.00% |
| * none greater than .04% |
Top Global Grossers: January 1 – October 7, 2010
| Title * |
Distributor |
Gross |
| Avatar * |
Fox |
1,948,069,404 |
| Toy Story 3 |
BV |
1,047,492,510 |
| Alice in Wonderland |
BV |
1,024,537,295 |
| Twilight: Eclipse |
Summit |
691,330,829 |
| Inception |
WB |
803,799,128 |
| Shrek Forever After |
Par |
732,163,289 |
| Iron Man 2 |
Par |
622,718,660 |
| How to Train Your Dragon |
Par |
494,288,254 |
| Clash of the Titans |
WB |
489,778,913 |
| Sherlock Holmes * |
WB |
367,796,599 |
| Despicable Me |
Uni |
367,194,481 |
| The Karate Kid |
Sony |
357,206,535 |
| Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time |
BV |
335,020,929 |
| Robin Hood |
Uni |
311,610,747 |
| The Last Airbender |
Par |
310,375,125 |
| Shutter Island |
Par |
301,977,955 |
| Sex and the City 2 |
WB |
301,158,934 |
| Salt |
Sony |
287,626,258 |
| Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel |
Fox |
264,341,533 |
| Grown Ups |
Sony |
261,324,243 |
| The Expendables |
Lionsgate |
257,529,373 |
| Resident Evil: Afterlife |
Sony/Alliance |
244,795,280 |
| Knight and Day |
Fox |
229,686,302 |
| Percy Jackson & the Olympians |
Fox |
226,497,209 |
| Valentine’s Day |
WB |
217,596,116 |
|
|
| * does not include 2009 box office |
Tags: Alpha and Omega, As Good as Dead, Budrus, Buried, Case 39, Catfish, Devil, Easy A, Ghetto Physics, I Spit on Your Grave, Inception, Inside Job, It's a Wonderful Afterlife, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, khaleja, L'Immortel, Legend of the Guardians, Let Me In, Life As We Know It, My Soul To Take, Never Let Me Go, Nowhere Boy, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Route 132, Secretariat, Stone, Takers, Tamara Drewe, The Social Network, The Town, Toy Story 3, Waiting For 'Superman', Walt Street: Money Never Sleeps, You Again, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger
Posted in MCN Originals, MCN Weekend, Movie City News, The Weekend Report | 3 Comments »
Saturday, October 9th, 2010
Life As We Know It|5.2|3150||5.2
The Social Network|4.8 |2771|-40%|35.4
Secretariat|4|3072|New|4
My Soul to Take|2.6|2572|New|2.6
The Town|1.9|2720|-41%|69.3
Legend of the Guardians|1.8|3225|-31%|34.1
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps|1.4|2820|-58%|40.4
Easy A|1.3|2847|-41%|45.3
Case 39|0.8|2212|-57%|7.8
Let Me In|0.75|2042|-61%|7.5
Also Debuting
It’s Kind of a Funny Story|0.6 5|742||0.65
Khaleja|32,500|22||32,500
L’Immortel|22,800|24||22,800
Stone|21,300|6||21,300
Nowhere Boy|12,700|4||12,700
I Spit on Your Grave|11,100|12||11,100
Tamara Drewe|5,100|4||5,100
Ghetto Physics|4,990|9||4,990
Budrus|3,450|1||3,450
It’s a Wonderful Afterlife|1,500|18||1,500
||||
*in millions|||
Tags: Case 39, Easy A, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, khaleja, Legend of the Guardians, Let Me In, Life As We Know It, My Soul To Take, Nowhere Boy, Secretariat, Stone, Tamara Drewe, The Social Network, The Town, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Posted in Friday Box Office Estimates, MCN Originals, MCN Weekend, Movie City News | Comments Off on Friday Estimates – October 9
Friday, October 8th, 2010
I had mixed feelings about It’s Kind of a Funny Story, directed by Half Nelson and Sugar directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. They were so mixed, in fact, that I ended up doing something I’ve never done at a fest before — I saw the film twice, once at a P&I screening and once at its public premiere.
(more…)
Tags: anna boden, Emma Roberts, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, keir gilchrist, ryan fleck, Zach Galifianakis
Posted in Festivals, Film Essent, Film Fests, MCN Blogs, MCN Weekend, MCN Weekend Reviews, TIFF Originals, Toronto Film Festival, Voynar | 2 Comments »
Thursday, October 7th, 2010
Secretariat|Yellow|Yellow||Yellow|Green
Life As We Know It|||||Red
Inside Job||Green|Green|Green|
It’s Kind of a Funny Story |Yellow|Yellow|Green|Green|
Letters to Father Jacob ||||Green|
Marwencol |||Green||
Stone |Red|Green|Green||Yellow
Nowhere Boy |Green|Green|||Green
Tamara Drewe |Green|Green|Green||
Tags: Inside Job, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, letters to father jacob, Life As We Know It, marwencol, Nowhere Boy, Secretariat, Stone, Tamara Drewe
Posted in MCN Critics Roundup, MCN Weekend | Comments Off on Critics Roundup – October 7
Wednesday, September 29th, 2010
I was going to write about how tight the Oscar race already is as we enter the month of October. But looking back at last season’s post-Toronto column… 8 of 10 of the eventual nominees were already well in focus. And had I not been so stubborn about believing that District 9 could make it, I would have had every film except The Blind Side in my Top 13 possibles at the time.
The point is not to ring my own bell, but to pay tribute, really, to how early and how strong the Oscar push efforts are these days. They are still stealth. No one is supposed to notice that a campaign has been going on for months. In fact, no one wants to be up in front, towards the head of the pack, this early. You can be sure that a lot of competitors are giddy that The Social Network has such heat around it RIGHT NOW.
The biggest news coming out of Toronto, aside from films that were non-starters, was that we now have only seven films, by my count, that are in any way contenders that have not been widely available to be seen by The Press and some public. And the only one that seems to be an inevitable nominee – scary words, those – is True Grit.
That is not to say that the other unseen films are not serious contenders. Four are comedies – Due Date, How Do You Know, Love & Other Drugs, and Morning Glory – three from very serious directors and one from the director of one of last year’s commercial phenoms, The Hangover. The Fighter is from revered David O. Russell… who has never made it into the Oscar race. And another, For Colored Girls…, is from critically reviled Tyler Perry, who is a commercial sensation and is working from a play that was one of the most widely seen in the 70s and 80s.
And then there are the films that have already garnered a lot of love. Movies like The Kids Are All Right, Winter’s Bone, and Get Low have many fans and supporters. The Town has had a few weeks as the hot title to discuss, to be followed this weekend by The Social Network. Shutter Island is Scorsese’s biggest worldwide grosser ever, slightly ahead of Best Picture winner The Departed. And what of Oscar faves Clint Eastwood, Mike Leigh, and Alejandro Gonzalez-Inarritu?
I am pretty comfortable that at least 6 of my 7 Most Liklies will be there in the end. The only real question, to me, is whether both Black Swan and 127 Hours, both masterful, artful, commercial films will make the cut. And that’s when distributors have to decide how they are going to craft their efforts. Does a Sony Classics move forward on all fronts or do they decide which of their films is the most realistic nominee? Does a Roadside Attractions, which has very strong candidates in Best Actor and Best Actress, push for more… aside from maybe screenplay nods? Does Lionsgate believe that either of their actor-nom chasing films are BP candidates? And how does Sony balance what feels like a lock for The Social Network when they have a Jim Brooks movie with Oscar winners Reese Witherspoon and Jack Nicholson in the hopper?
But the thing that really, really strikes me at this moment is that it is a very competitive race for a dozen or so movies looking to fit into a few slots (anything can happen in Phase II… there is no such thing as a frontrunner to win at this point), GREAT is not necessary. In fact, GREAT may be a problem for some of these films. This is the Oscar season of Really Good.
There is no The Hurt Locker… no film offering itself up as one. There’s no deep underdog like Precious. There is no Avatar. Toy Story 3 and Inception will be the highest grosser amongst BP nominees (assuming TS3 makes it). But neither film has had the kind of impact that Avatar had and will be two of at least five $700 million worldwide grossing films this year.
So we may be back to the best liked movies over the best movies. How lovable is Made in Dagenham? Is Ed Zwick at an advantage making his first comedy in almost 25 years instead of another drama? Do Academy members really want to wrestle with the heaviness of Never Let Me Go and Winter’s Bone and Biutiful and Rabbit Hole when Black Swan and Shutter Island feel both a little weighty, but are also movie movies that leave you leaving the theater excited by the craft of filmmaking?
I’m really curious. All six of the still unseen non-Coen films could be left on the sidelines. Or they could represent 3 or 4 of the final 10.
In any case, we’ve all been whining about the first half of 2010 and I have to say, there are a lot of good times at the movies coming down the pike. And if even half the unseen films are Really Good, it’s kind of a thrilling year… all of a sudden… out of nowhere.
Cool.
Tags: 127 Hours, Another Year, Biutiful, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Conviction, Due Date, Eat Pray Love, Everything You've Got, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, Get Low, Godfather III, Hereafter, Inception, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, Love and Other Drugs, Made in Dagenham, Miral, Morning Glory, Never Let Me Go, Nowhere Boy, Roadside Attractions, Secretariat, Shutter Island, Somewhere, The American, The Fighter, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, The Social Network, The Tempest, The Town, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter’s Bone
Posted in 20 Weeks to Oscar, Awards Update, Awards Watch, MCN Originals, Movie City News | 6 Comments »
Wednesday, September 29th, 2010
|
BEST
PICTURE
|
|
Picture
|
Studio
|
Director
|
Stars |
Comment
|
The Films
Most Likely (by release date) |
|
June 18
|
Toy Story 3 |
Disney
|
Unkrich
|
–
|
|
| July 16
|
Inception |
WB
|
Nolan
|
DiCaprio
|
|
| Oct 1
|
The Social Network |
Sony
|
Fincher
|
Eisenberg
|
|
|
Nov 5
|
127 Hours |
FxSch
|
Boyle
|
Franco
|
|
|
Nov
24
|
The King’s Speech |
TWC
|
Marshall
|
Firth
|
|
|
Dec 1
|
Black Swan |
FxSch
|
Aronofsky
|
Portman
|
|
|
Dec 25
|
True Grit |
Par
|
Coens
|
Bridges
Brolin
Damon
|
The only film in this category that hasn’t been seen. |
| Duking It Out For 3 or 4 Slots (by release date) |
|
July 30
|
Get Low |
SPC
|
Schneider
|
Duvall
Spacek
Murray
|
|
|
Feb 19
|
Shutter Island |
Par
|
Scorsese
|
DiCaprio
|
|
| June 11 |
Winter’s Bone |
RdAtt
|
Granik
|
Lawrence
|
|
|
July 9
|
The Kids Are All Right |
Focus
|
Cholodenko
|
Bening
Moore
|
|
|
Sept 15
|
Never Let Me Go |
FxSch
|
Romanek
|
Knightley
Mulligan
Garfield
|
|
|
Sept 17
|
The Town |
WB
|
Affleck
|
|
|
|
Oct 8
|
Secretariat |
Dis
|
Wallace
|
Lane
|
|
|
Oct 22
|
Hereafter |
WB
|
Eastwood
|
Damon
|
|
|
Nov5
|
Due Date |
WB
|
Phillips
|
Downey
Galifianakis
|
|
|
Nov 5
|
For Colored Girls… |
LGF
|
Perry
|
Elise
Goldberg
Newton
|
|
|
Nov 12
|
Morning Glory |
Par
|
Michell
|
McAdams
Ford
|
|
|
Nov 19
|
Made In Dagenham |
SPC
|
Cole
|
Hawkins
|
|
|
Nov 24
|
Love & Other Drugs |
Fox
|
Zwick
|
Gyllenhaal
Hathaway
|
|
|
Dec 10
|
The Fighter |
Par/Rel
|
O. Russell
|
Wahlberg
|
|
|
Dec 17
|
How Do You Know |
Sony
|
Brooks
|
Witherspoon
Nicholson
|
|
|
Dec 17
|
Rabbit Hole |
LGF
|
Mitchell
|
Kidman
|
|
|
Dec 29
|
Another Year |
SPC
|
Leigh
|
Broadbent
Staunton
|
|
|
Dec 29
|
Biutiful |
RdAtt
|
Gonzalez-
Inarritu
|
Bardem
|
|
The
Rest Of The Contenders (by release date) |
|
Mar 26
|
How to Train Your Dragon |
DW/Par
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 13
|
Eat Pray Love |
Fox
|
|
J Roberts
|
|
|
Sept 1
|
The American |
Focus
|
Corbijn
|
Clooney
|
|
| Sept 24
|
It’s Kind Of A Funny Story |
Focus
|
Boden/
Fleck
|
E Roberts
|
|
|
Sept 24
|
Wall Street 2 |
Fox
|
Stone
|
Douglas
Mulligan
|
|
|
Oct 15
|
Conviction |
FxSch
|
Goldwyn
|
Swank
|
|
| Dec 25
|
Somewhere |
Focus
|
Coppola
|
|
|
|
Dec 1
|
Miral |
TWC
|
Schnabel
|
–
|
|
|
Dec 10
|
The Tempest |
Mir
|
Taymor
|
Mirren
|
|
|
Dec 31
|
Blue Valentine |
TWC
|
Cianfrance
|
Gosling
Williams
|
|
Tags: 127 Hours, Another Year, Biutiful, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Conviction, Due Date, Eat Pray Love, Everything You've Got, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, Get Low, Godfather III, Hereafter, Inception, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, Love and Other Drugs, Made in Dagenham, Miral, Morning Glory, Never Let Me Go, Nowhere Boy, Roadside Attractions, Secretariat, Shutter Island, Somewhere, The American, The Fighter, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, The Social Network, The Tempest, The Town, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter’s Bone
Posted in 20 Weeks to Oscar - Charts, Awards Watch | 8 Comments »
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
