Ten people in the theatre

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Right after this morning's 10 a.m. Ratatouille screening at the Arclight, I slipped into the theatre across the hall playing Evan Almighty. It's tanking in relation to expectations, but I wanted to see for myself how many bodies were inside. There were ten people in the seats -- a family of five, a couple, and three singles. Holy shit, I said to myself.

I went out and asked a female usher, "If a film is doing pretty well on its opening weekend, how many people usually show up for the first show of the day on Saturday?" The 11 am show, I explained. The first Saturday show draws about 50 or 60 people, she replied. For a first-weekend film that's doing well, she meant. Of course, a theatre located on Hollywood and Cahuenga isn't going to draw many Christian red-state types, and the Arclight's prices are probably going to scare off parents with big families. Still...

"Ratatoille" at the Arclight<< previous | next >>Weekend numbers

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on June 23, 2007 at 3:27 PM

comment #1

George Prager says ...

You're forgetting that it's St. Abernathy's Day.

Posted by George Prager at June 23, 2007 3:48 PM

comment #2

Wrecktum says ...

LOL. Good one.

Posted by Wrecktum at June 23, 2007 3:55 PM

comment #3

tholl-yung says ...

Was anyone in the theatre laughing at the poop jokes? I don't remember that in the bible. The story's about as biblical as Debby Does Dallas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnT7nYbCSvM

How do I download it?

Posted by tholl-yung at June 23, 2007 4:31 PM

comment #4

FarleyC says ...

I just saw it out in the 'burbs of San Fernando Valley with my kids. It was packed to the max and the audience absolutely loved it. I gotta say, I had a good time myself. (Don't stone me, please.)

Posted by FarleyC at June 23, 2007 5:20 PM

comment #5

christian says ...

the air is a little thicker in the valley so you're forgiven.

hard to water a plant out there tho.

Posted by christian at June 23, 2007 6:06 PM

comment #6

Mcflyboy says ...

I think everyone can agree the weekend number is low in relation to budget yet not the total disaster it could have been. But the number is the same regardless of the fact that 10 people were at one of the many Saturday afternoon shows at the Arclight. So what exactly does this mean? Maybe Jeff is implyiing the numbers reported for Evan Almighty were really the numbers for A Mighty Heart and vice versa.

Posted by Mcflyboy at June 24, 2007 5:25 AM

comment #7