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Cloverfield [BLU-RAY] (Paramount Home Entertainment, 6.3.2008) Disguised under deliberately goofy, yet deliciously edible-sounding, aliases such as Cheese and Slusho, Matt Reeves' Cloverfield was produced and rushed into theaters under an equally appetizing shroud of secrecy. From last year's incredibly elusive Super Bowl ad to the film's viral marketing campaign, Cloverfield had everybody scratching their heads and drooling in anticipation. Aside from the as-yet untitled title and the Blair Witch-ian visual style, the film's biggest appeal was the enigmatic creature who was last (un)seen hurling the decapitated head of the Statue of Liberty onto the crowded streets of New York City. All we knew about the mysterious beast was that it was big and angry. Now that the highy-anticipated project has come and gone, one question has fortunately been answered: Cloverfield was a major success. (continued)

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Fantasy Moguls' Steve Mason is reporting that even though Will Smith, Akiva Goldsman and Peter Berg's Hancock was "flat" from Wednesday-to-Thursday with an estimated $17.1 million and a 2 1/2 day cume of just over $41 million, it's nonetheless on target for $100 million over the 5 and 1/2 day holiday weekend. But I say no to that.

The truth is that Hancock's ticket sales yesterday should have been more than its Wednesday business, which was estimated at $17.3 million. Instead it did $17.1 million -- flat-ass. A movie that's really happening with the public would have jumped to $19 or $20 million yesterday. This tells you the word on the street (i.e., that the third act is an out-and-out disaster) is probably catching up with it.

July 4th is always a dead day, so Saturday's business will tell the tale. But I'm figuring Hancock will do $80 to $90 million by Sunday night. And if this happens, anyone who reports that figure as an absolute box-office triumph will be less than honest in their assessment. Not that $80 to $90 million is anything to sniff at. It's just that you can't expect sales to be rocket-ship historic if the dogs don't like the dog food. If you make a movie that goes completely insane and blows itself up in the third act, sooner or later people will realize this and respond accordingly.

Kit Kittredge, sad to say for Picturehouse/NewLine, is a flat-out disaster. It did about $1.1 million on Wednesday in 1700 theatres, averaging $600 a theatre. And it $900,000 on Thursday for a $500 per theatre average. Complete wipe-out. Mason pussyfoots by saying it's "unlikely to top $10 million" by Sunday night. Gee, do ya think so?

Lose Your Mind<< previous | next >>No Reason

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 4, 2008 at 10:31 AM

comment #1

Mark G. says ...

Well, actually HANCOCK is following a similar pattern as TERMINATOR 3 five years ago (2003's Independence Day was a Friday as well):

$4,035,405 Tuesday Previews
$12,435,320 Wednesday
$11,875,296 Thursday -4,5 %
$13,036,305 Friday +9.8 %
$17,740,575 Saturday +36.1 %
$13,264,560 Sunday -25.2 %

If HANCOCK stays in T3's footsteps that's
$18.8m Friday
$25.6m Saturday
$19.1m Sunday
ergo $104.8m in 5 1/2 days...

Posted by Mark G. at July 4, 2008 11:39 AM

comment #2

joncro says ...

jesse helms is dead

Posted by joncro at July 4, 2008 11:41 AM

comment #3

joncro says ...

oops

Posted by joncro at July 4, 2008 11:42 AM

comment #4

Josh Massey says ...

Including Akiva Goldsman's name was just low.

Posted by Josh Massey at July 4, 2008 12:06 PM

comment #5

LYT says ...

What was the budget on Hancock? That surely affects how its grosses should be perceived.

I'm guessing it was more than it looked.

Posted by LYT at July 4, 2008 12:50 PM

comment #6

actionman says ...

It's sad that a unique and interesting big-budget film like this could get the cold shoulder from so many critics. It'll do just fine at the box office, however. It will do at least $225 million domestic and another $250-275 million overseas. Nobody will be upset with those numbers. I loved the film, I think it's easily the best film of the summer so far.

Posted by actionman at July 4, 2008 1:28 PM

comment #7

gruver1 says ...

Wells to Joncro: You're a tech genius -- no question about it. The life of Jesse Helms left a dark gravy stain on every person and institution he came into contact with. If there is a God, if there was any moral order to anything, Helms would be roasting right now on a spit in hell.

Posted by gruver1 at July 4, 2008 1:41 PM

comment #8

iamwhoiam says ...

Dark Knight and Indy, both sequels of course, are the only films that will beat Iron Man at the box office numbers this summer, and nothing will beat it in terms of smashing all expectations and getting a wonderful word of mouth to go with. And rightly so. So far, no summer film came even close to be as good as Iron Man. Definitely not Hancock (And usually i like Will Smith' movies).

Posted by iamwhoiam at July 4, 2008 1:42 PM

comment #9

rgmax99 says ...

Amen to actionman's comments. Along with WALL*E, HANCOCK is the best film of the summer so far.

The hatred for this flick from most critics is completely mind-boggling.

Posted by rgmax99 at July 4, 2008 1:55 PM

comment #10

cinefan says ...

I agree completely with Wells - good riddance to the homophobic, bigoted Grand Wizard from North Carolina. The world is a much better place without him in it.

Posted by cinefan at July 4, 2008 3:50 PM

comment #11

Noel Murray says ...

The KIT KITTREDGE release was a botch. When the reviews for it turned out to be surprisingly warm -- on a weekend with only THE HAPPENING or THE HULK to choose from, as I recall -- I considered going to see it, only to discover that it was in limited release. It finally opened here this weekend, when there's a lot more to check out (including the second weekend of WALL*E, which I'd rather see again then see KIT the first time).

I'll wait for video; I doubt it'll lose much at home.

Posted by Noel Murray at July 4, 2008 4:00 PM

comment #12