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Saturday box-office
10,000 B.C. did $12.5 million yesterday and will wind up with close to $32 million by Sunday night. (It may do slightly better than this, but the word-of-mouth is far short of ecstatic.) Martin Lawrence's College Road Trip, a piece of shit according to Rotten Tomatoes, will do about $12.5 million and $4000 a print.
The almost completely dreadful Vantage Point actually came in third and will do about $7.6 million for the weekend. What kind of idiot would pay to see this a film of this calibre on its third weekend? Wlll Ferrell's Semi-Pro has dropped 51% for a likely weekend haul of $5.9 million....off to the showers! The Spiderwick Chronicles...$4,990,000.
Roger Donaldson's The Bank Job -- easily the weekend's best opener -- will come in sixth with $4,980,000 at $3100 a print, which isn't very good. What's wrong with people out there? They'd rather pay to see crap than a solid, well-crafted heist film? Is it the rote-sounding title? Is it because the Jason Statham fans, as I hypothesized the other day, prefer to see dumber, more intense action films in which the violence is more pronounced and the pace is more accelerated? The Bank Job, after all, is a kind of '70s film.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on March 8, 2008 at 9:49 AM
comment #1
actionman
says ...
Seeing The Bank Job today or tomorrow (hopefully today). Can't wait.
Posted by actionman
at March 8, 2008 10:16 AM
comment #2
Dave
says ...
Jeff, if all the Jason Statham fans gathered in a theater, you'd get about a $5M opening weekend. It sounds to me that they're the ones who showed up, the rest of the world is who is staying home.
Posted by Dave
at March 8, 2008 10:17 AM
comment #3
christian
says ...
Ook.
Posted by christian
at March 8, 2008 10:18 AM
comment #4
cinemascopian
says ...
1) After seeing "10,000 BC" yesterday it was clear to me this movie will do less business than expected (after dragging truck loads of teens based on nifty high energy trailers). No one in their right mind would recommend this movie to their friends. This is actually a German movie with a Hollywood release, and it's almost lacking in any pulse (never mind the lack of brain). I saw the disappointing box office coming in my review yesterday: http://cinemascopian.com/review-10000-bc/
2) Waiting for the launch of the new design, Jeff. Hope it'll have trackbacks.
Posted by cinemascopian
at March 8, 2008 10:36 AM
comment #5
rockne
says ...
So what exactly does it mean when movies like this do, sorry for the quotes, "boffo" box office overseas? (Not saying this definitely will, but its chances are good.) Are Americans just not going to the movies? I may be incorrect, but I read an article once where a movie released on 3,000 screens and making 30 million has like, 1/4 full theaters, with all taken into account. That seems dreadful. (Or maybe I'm reading it wrong.)
When I lived in Japan, I went to the movies all the time...(In absolutely AMAZING theaters) and the theaters were always packed, even in smaller suburban towns. So why does domestic box office even matter anymore? Do they just count on America for the dvd revenue? Is this a titanic shift in the way movies are presented, or has that shift already occurred?
Just wondering...
Posted by rockne
at March 8, 2008 10:47 AM
comment #6
calraigh
says ...
Mr. Wells, what with the Hillary bashing and wittering on about Saffron Burrows 'melancholic beauty and the quite alarming crush you have on Roger Donaldson and/or Jason Statham I fear you are finally entering your On Golden Pond years.
The Bank Job is a very boring,below-average, charmless movie with a very tiresome expository script.With Saffron Burrows.That's why nobody is going to see it.End of.
Posted by calraigh
at March 8, 2008 10:50 AM
comment #7
appleman
says ...
Well, speaking of 10,000 B.C. - It is clearly one of the biggest disasters of the year, if not all time considering the budget and the filmmakers.
Last night's audience was demo perfect with a kiss of death silence at the credits with scattered booing and hooting. One thing - Camilla Belle is breathtakingly knocked out. We'll see her in Vanity Fair, I'm sure.
Posted by appleman
at March 8, 2008 11:18 AM
comment #8
Brian O
says ...
Cute job linking to only the "top critic" page on RT, Jeff.
I guess the rest of us don't have a high enough thread-count?
Posted by Brian O
at March 8, 2008 11:24 AM
comment #9
George Prager
says ...
There's a line that has to be drawn somewhere and if it involves one that separates the wheat from the chaff, all the better. Just because you have a laptop and a seat in a Starbucks doesn't make you a critic. Then again, Stephanie Zacharek, David Denby, Anthony Lane, Welsey Morris...who really cares what those schmucks think? I take it all back.
Posted by George Prager
at March 8, 2008 11:32 AM
comment #10
K. Bowen
says ...
There are more than a few of the chaff that I would take over some of the wheat.
Posted by K. Bowen
at March 8, 2008 11:55 AM
comment #11
Jeffrey Easter
says ...
How is it one of the biggest disasters of the year let alone all time? It will make over 30mill this week with a budget of 75mill. Plus it is expected to be a big overseas earner. We will probably see at least 180-200 mill worldwide with the dvd release being nothing but gravy. Yes, it might be crap but it will make plenty of money.
Posted by Jeffrey Easter
at March 8, 2008 1:21 PM
comment #12
gruver1
says ...
Wells to Brian: You're saying it was disingenuous or dishonest in some way not to link to the general crop of critics at Rotten Tomatoes? You're a fairly disgusting person...has anyone ever told you that?
Posted by gruver1
at March 8, 2008 1:31 PM
comment #13
Brian O
says ...
Just my wife.
Dishonest? No. Disingenuous? Closer, but not quite.
Tactical. Silly, really, but I understand your point.
Thanks for the kiss.
Posted by Brian O
at March 8, 2008 1:45 PM
comment #14
gruver1
says ...
Wells to calraigh: You're a dick, and limited in your perceptions to boot.
Posted by gruver1
at March 8, 2008 2:31 PM
comment #15
Undercover Brother
says ...
Let's answer all of Jeff's questions. Even though I suspect he already knows the answers.
1. What's wrong with people out there? A: A lot.
2. They'd rather pay to see crap than a solid, well-crafted heist film? A: Yup.
3. Is it the rote-sounding title? A: It didn't help
4. Is it because the Jason Statham fans, as I hypothesized the other day, prefer to see dumber, more intense action films in which the violence is more pronounced and the pace is more accelerated? A: Duh.
"The Bank Job, after all, is a kind of '70s film."
Well then I look forward to seeing it.
Posted by Undercover Brother
at March 8, 2008 2:43 PM
comment #16
Undercover Brother
says ...
At least "CRT" didn't make any real money. There's some silver lining.
Posted by Undercover Brother
at March 8, 2008 2:45 PM
comment #17
Undercover Brother
says ...
At least "CRT" didn't make any real money. There's some silver lining.
Posted by Undercover Brother
at March 8, 2008 2:46 PM
comment #18
The Winchester
says ...
There really aren't any words for 10,000 BC. I just saw it, and WOW! I could feel my thread count dropping with each passing minute. Such a terrible film. I can't believe it made that much money. And why was I the only one laughing through the whole movie? What is wrong with the world today, indeed.
Posted by The Winchester
at March 8, 2008 4:08 PM
comment #19
calraigh
says ...
Awww, Jeff, did I hurt your feelings?It must hurt to be called out on your frankly apalling taste but to resort to name-calling?I thought you thought that was 'vile'...
The Bank Job is a crap film and as for having 'limited perceptions', one has to work very hard to develop a perception of it at all it's that mediocre.
Ha!!I have an image of you sticking your tongue out when you said that..''You're a dick.'' Hilarious!
Thanks though,because I was wondering why I was still coming to this site...
Posted by calraigh
at March 8, 2008 7:08 PM
comment #20
Terry McCarty
says ...
George Prager wrote:
There's a line that has to be drawn somewhere and if it involves one that separates the wheat from the chaff, all the better. Just because you have a laptop and a seat in a Starbucks doesn't make you a critic. Then again, Stephanie Zacharek, David Denby, Anthony Lane, Welsey Morris...who really cares what those schmucks think? I take it all back.
As irony would have it, Denby gave VANTAGE POINT a positive review in THE NEW YORKER.
Posted by Terry McCarty
at March 9, 2008 12:49 AM
comment #21
lazespud
says ...
For what it's worth, I saw the Bank Job tonight and was fairly underwhelmed. I think the word "serviceable" was coined for movies like this. there's not a single bad thing in the movie, and also not a single transcendent thing. It tells a very complex story economically and we are never confused (which is a good thing) but it still just sort of "is." It's like the honda accord of films; it doesn't stand out in any way and could be praised for be solid and reliable in every way; but you don't brag on the thing...
Posted by lazespud
at March 9, 2008 3:03 AM
comment #22
oakling
says ...
Hold the phone. I don't think we've heard enough here about how horrible College Road Trip is. Let's see some slamming! For starters, I didn't realize until the week before it opened that Raven was supposed to be the kid going off to college. The poster for it makes her look every inch the obsessive-compulsive work-driven corporate executive mom hauling her kids around in the backseat and mugging for the camera at how insane they are. College student, my ass: she's secretly forty if she's a day.
Posted by oakling
at March 9, 2008 9:48 PM
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