comment #1

breadlymoore says ...

I caught SAW III yesterday, and was stunned to find it booed at the very end by the full house.

I mean, it made me happy to hear that, but I figured the type of people that enjoy these films would swallow ANY tripe the producers decide to shovel down their throats.

It might open huge, but I'm not sure this SAW will have the legs to match the other two films.

comment #2

MattM says ...

If "Saw III" isn't already profitable, and it probably is, it will be by Tuesday night (I expect Monday and Tuesday audiences to be solid with Halloween). Even assuming it doubled the budget of "Saw II," that's an approx. 8M production budget (though P&A for it are assuredly sizable).

Seriously ugly openings all around except for Saw, though. Scissors isn't finding any audience, Catch A Fire isn't finding anything, and if the audience I saw it with last night is any indication (less than 60 folks), "Shut Up And Sing" is going to be another miss for the Weinsteins, due in no small part to the dumb ad campaign, which makes a film that's about the creative process into "Bush Sucks!"

comment #3

RoyBatty says ...

In the words of Mr. Wolf in regards to BABEL'S projected box office: "Let's not start sucking each other's dicks yet."

A film with that much international attention AND with a high-profile cast is not exactly a sure bet opening on only 7 screens at $54K per. Surprised Wells made such a neophyte's mistake as to project out from such a limited screen count (all in major metropolitean cities). It supposedly is going wide on Nov 10th, but there are no screen counts as of yet. 500-800 screens with just a third of that number and you can start popping corks.

I also like the spin that somehow the insignificant difference in drops for THE PRESTIGE and FLAGS means different outcomes. I would say both are losing too much of their audience to suggest word-of-mouth hits, but not enough to be alarming. Yet, 2nd weekends are meaningless. The proof is always found in the pudding of the 3rd week.

comment #4

Bandersnatch says ...

I attended a screening of The Prestige on Wednesday night and an older couple (early 60's, maybe?) walked in about 25 minutes into the film and sat in front of me. When the movie was over they turned around and asked what happened at the beginning. The wife explained that they had tried to see Flags of Our Fathers but "It was just awful. It was nothing but people blowing each other up." Jeff, of course, would use that comment as an excuse to rail about how female audiences are destroying the movie industry, but the real clue is the couple's age: Eastwood's recent movies have worked by applying to an older, more thoughtful crowd that has the patience to follow slow-paced movies like Mystic River or Million Dollar Baby from start to finish and then recommend them to their friends. If Flags alienates those older viewers with its violence, then Clint can kiss his box office and his Oscar nod goodbye.

comment #5

Pinko Punko says ...

Roy B, it depends on how many screens The Prestige added- if it didn't add any, and dropped on 39%, and Flags added hundreds of screens and dropped 41%, those numbers are a lot different.

comment #6

MattM says ...

The Prestige screen count was flat this weekend, per Mojo. More surprising on the screen count was that somehow "Man Of The Year" has managed to pick up another 100 screens.

The interesting question for next week is that 7,000 screens have to get freed up for the three big releases. Safe to assume that 2000 of them come from Grudge, 1,500 to 2000 of them from Flicka, and about 1,500 from Chainsw but where do the rest come from. Will theatres drop Flags for Santa Clause, Flushed Away, and/or Borat?

The following week looks equally nasty. On 11/10, you're looking at another nearly 9,000(!) screens (Good Year 2,500, Harsh Times 1,500, Return 2,650, Stranger than Fiction 2,000). Sure, there's stuff festering in theatres that'll go away (Employee of the Month, Man of The Year, The Marine, and The Guardian all still have 1,500 or more screens), but Flags is going to start feeling pinches VERY quickly.

comment #7

Craig Kennedy says ...

Everywhere I look reports Babel playing on only 7 screens but by my count it was on 7 screens in LA alone. 3 at Arclight where I saw it last night then at least 2 more in Century City and 2 at The Grove. I don't know how many screens it played on in NY but according to Moviefone it was at least 3 different theaters.

Is my understanding of Per Screen Average incorrect or are the numbers for Babel inflated?