Saturday numbers

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Last Thursday's tracking got it wrong. Disturbia hasn't been neck-and-necking (or slightly edging out) Perfect Strangers -- it has left that poorly reviewed Bruce Willis-Halle Berry drama in the dust. Disturbia is being projected to do $24,131,000 (2925 theatres, $8200 a print) by Sunday night, while Perfect Stranger will come in fourth with roughly $11,163,000, at $4000 a print.

Blades of Glory will be #2 with $15,442,000, and Meet The Robinsons will be in third place with $12,447,000. Are We Done Yet -- the fact that this complete piece-of-shit comedy did $15 million last weekend says something about the taste buds and guillibility of mainstream auds -- will come in fifth with $8,801,000. Wild Hogs is sixth with $4,708,000. Redline will be seventh with $4,604,000. Pathfinder will rank eighth with $4,500,000. The Reaping will come in ninth with $4,477,000, and 300 will be tenth with $4,327,000.

Grindhouse,, off 65%, with come in with $4,036,000. The Quentin Tarantino-Robert Rodriguez film is down to $1500 a print, and will start losing theatres next week. The rumble says it cost over $60 million (closer to $70 million, some say) before marketing, and it may end up with $23 or $24 million before petering out -- the cume is $19,496,000.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters will make around $3,626,000, and Slow Burn will take in $800,008,000 -- $600 a theatre in 1100 theatres.

Mel and Buck made right<< previous | next >>Tarantino is a wanker

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on April 14, 2007 at 9:13 AM

comment #1

Mark G. says ...

Gee, I wonder why Paramount bought DreamWorks...
Top 2007 releases Paramount as of Sunday:
1. $42m SHOOTER
2. $37m FREEDOM WRITERS
3. $33m ZODIAC
Top 2007 releases DreamWorks as of Sunday:
1. $95m NORBIT
2. $91m BLADES OF GLORY
3. $24m DISTURBIA

Posted by Mark G. at April 14, 2007 10:15 AM

comment #2

Mike Ock says ...

Jeff is being generous, it looks like Grindhouse dropped 74% from opening night to last night.

http://www.leesmovieinfo.net/Weekend-Box-Office.php?chart_id=3373

I guess all of you who blamed Grindhouse's failure on the fact the fact that it opened on Easter, had a point. Ditto for all who said it was gonna have legs due to the great word of mouth.

Grindhouse aint even gonna be in the top 10 this weekend. It got beat by Pathfinder,Redline, Wild Hogs (in it's 8th week), and the Aqua Teen movie!!

Check out the per screen average, $494 per screen last night. It's gonna start losing theaters today.

Time to man-up and face the facts folks, audiences hated Grindhouse cuz it's a piece of shit. If they didn't, there wouldn't be a 74% drop from one Friday to the next.

Most people I know, who don't work in the industry, walked out during Death Proof befcause poorly acted, badly written, tired, and desperately in need of an edit.

Death Proof was like a spoof of Tarantino films, not the slasher film that audiences were promised. Shots of feet, check. Talky characters, check, but let's give em some shitty dialogue and since I'm known for stunt casting, why hot cast a STUNT WOMAN this time!!

Posted by Mike Ock at April 14, 2007 10:37 AM

comment #3

Rob says ...

"It's gonna start losing theaters today."

Uh, do you know of any theaters that change their lineup on Saturday based on Friday's attendance?

Posted by Rob at April 14, 2007 10:56 AM

comment #4

Bob Violence says ...

Slow Burn will take in $800,008,000

!!!

Posted by Bob Violence at April 14, 2007 11:12 AM

comment #5

Mike Ock says ...

Uh, do you know of any theaters that change their lineup on Saturday based on Friday's attendance?

Do you know any who don't? Ask any theater manager in the country and he'll say of course. Instead of playing in 5 auditoriums, maybe it'll play in 3. Maybe less.

It's supply and demand. If there's no demand to see the movie, why should they keep it on that many screens?

It is a business after all.

I've seen movies bomb so badly on Friday, that they pulled them they either pulled them out of the theater the next night, or drastically reduced the amount of showtimes, and put them in the smallest auditoriums.

Like I said, ask any theater manager.

Posted by Mike Ock at April 14, 2007 11:23 AM

comment #6

jeffmcm says ...

Theaters don't change their Saturday lineup based on Friday's performance because their weekend schedules have already been publicized and they'd get sued by the studio.

Grindhouse's failure is the audience's fault and the marketing's fault, not the movie's.

Posted by jeffmcm at April 14, 2007 11:43 AM

comment #7

Mike Ock says ...

"Theaters don't change their Saturday lineup based on Friday's performance because their weekend schedules have already been publicized and they'd get sued by the studio."

That's absurd. Call your local theater manager and he'll tell you how it works.

Yeah it's the audience's fault for not liking Grindhouse. I love it. I guess it's the audience's fault that Uwe Boll movies suck too right?

Posted by Mike Ock at April 14, 2007 11:56 AM

comment #8

RoyBatty says ...

Nitpickers - it's obvious he meant that starting today the decision will be made to dump the film from as many auditoriums as they can, a decision that will not take effect until next Friday (although individual managers might make up their own minds to move it to even smaller auditoriums, if they haven't already).

HOLY SHIT - $800M in one weekend?! Boy is that some kind of fucking record. Or some kind of typo...

Batty to Wells: just to clarify, does that mean the tracking as of Thursday was screwed up to begin with or did you have the wrong info? Because I was very surprised to read that it was even close between DISTURBIA and PERFECT STRANGERS.

DISTURBIA seemed to be a lock for the core "young male" audience. After dissing GRINDHOUSE and laughing their asses off at BLADES OF GLORY, they seemed ripe for a return to the viseral thrills not tapped since 300 reigned.

Posted by RoyBatty at April 14, 2007 11:57 AM

comment #9

martindale says ...

Actually, I think Disturbia was able to attract a young female audience. There's absolutely nothing else for them to see right now (if they've already seen Blades of Glory).

Posted by martindale at April 14, 2007 12:03 PM

comment #10

Wrecktum says ...

Mike Ock, you're wrong. Schedules are set by Thursday. Theatres will add screens but rarely take them away. Too many people pre-order tickets on the internet or over the phone to allow theatres the flexibility you describe. Plus, what would the theatres replace the showtimes with? Nonexistent prints of other movies? Please get your facts straight.

That said, Weinstein will have a hell of a Monday trying to hold over prints for next weekend. Would hate to make those calls.

Posted by Wrecktum at April 14, 2007 1:06 PM

comment #11

goodvibe61 says ...

Hey Mark G.: Most people you know walked out of Death Proof?

Nice exaggeration.

I loved Death Proof. It's one of Quentin's most interesting works. I've seen it twice in a theater now, and both times the audience was absolutely riveted through the whole thing, once in west L.A., and once the South Bay.

Where do "most people you know" live anyways?

The movie is a financial failure, no question. Theorizing that it's because of Tarantino's skills is an absolute joke.

Posted by goodvibe61 at April 14, 2007 3:30 PM

comment #12

Mark G. says ...

When did I say that?

Posted by Mark G. at April 14, 2007 4:42 PM

comment #13

Mike Ock says ...

"Theatres will add screens but rarely take them away."

This is one of those rare occasions where a theater would reduce showtimes. Theaters always have an extra print of every movie opening that weekend, and they normally go with whatever the "hot" movie is on Friday, in case they have to do that.

Posted by Mike Ock at April 14, 2007 6:37 PM

comment #14

Wrecktum says ...

Wrong again, Mike. Theatres don't keep extra prints around just for the hell of it. Why are you talking out of you ass?

Posted by Wrecktum at April 14, 2007 7:37 PM

comment #15

Mike Ock says ...

They don't keep them "for the hell of it" they keep them as a backup. Call your local theater Einstein.

Posted by Mike Ock at April 14, 2007 7:43 PM

comment #16

christian says ...

yes mike, it will be a triumph to see GRINDHOUSE replaced by KICKING IT OLD SKOOL and DISTURBIA and...

Posted by christian at April 14, 2007 11:30 PM

comment #17

Wrecktum says ...

Mike, do you really think a distributor would spend hundreds of thousand of dollars on back-up prints just in case exhibitors decide to break their rental agreements with competitive distributors? You really have no idea what you're talking about.

Posted by Wrecktum at April 14, 2007 11:52 PM

comment #18

Mike Ock says ...

Every exhibitor has a backup print for 2 reasons:

1) Just in case something goes wrong with the original.

2) If for some reason, there's an unexpected demand for the film, they have the option of showing it on more than one screen.

The theater can also request more prints if a movie is doing unexpectedly well.

I'll give you a few examples of each scenario. A couple of years ago there was a film released with Ed Burns and Ben Kingsley, that stiffed so bad on Friday, that by Saturday it had been released to a couple of showtimes. Same for a little movie like Gigli. I don't remember it losing a ton of theaters from Friday to Saturday, but I know it lost a ton of theaters from opening night to Monday.

There was a movie called Whore, starring Darryl Hannah and Denise Richards, released a few years ago at the Village East here in NYC, that opened on a Friday, and had been taken out of theaters the next day

I know this because I worked in exhibitor relations for a distributor here in NYC, and I'm cool with a lot of theater managers.

You can believe it or not, that's up to you. That's my last post on this subject.

Posted by Mike Ock at April 15, 2007 6:44 AM

comment #19

Wrecktum says ...

I'm sure you're really good at sending one-sheets and checking banners but that's really not the same thing as film sales. I think I know a little bit more about sales than you do, and I can promise you, 100%, that distributors do not send back-up prints to every theater. You gotta trust me on that one, big guy.

Posted by Wrecktum at April 15, 2007 9:47 AM

comment #20

Mike Ock says ...

They send backups to those theaters that request them, and most theaters do. Again, just for the simple reason that prints break, and they need a backup.

Posted by Mike Ock at April 15, 2007 10:07 AM

comment #21

Mike Ock says ...

FYI, for the record, I was AMAZING at sending one sheets, and every other aspect of my job in exhibitor relations.

Posted by Mike Ock at April 15, 2007 10:19 AM

comment #22

Wrecktum says ...

Replacement reels and prints are handled by local depots. Rarely are back-up prints left at theaters. Maybe occasionally for high profile releases in huge grossing houses, but that's the exception to the rule.

Posted by Wrecktum at April 15, 2007 4:03 PM

comment #23