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First a dog movie is No. 1. Then a Zac Efron movie will top the box office this weekend with what my gurus tell me should be be a $40-plus million opening. This is why serious screenwriters weep. (While Peter Barsocchini laughs all the way to the bank.) Not only did High School Musical 3: Senior Year move into MovieTicket.com’s Top-20 Pre-Sale List of All-Time Tuesday night, and currently sits at No. 20. As of 12 PM ET, HSM3 accounted for 83% of tickets sold today at MovieTickets.com. Additionally, the film has made up 85% of the site’s ticket sales this week. Meanwhile at rival ticketseller Fandango.com, HSM3 is eating up 86% of all its online ticket sales. So it’ll be interesting to see how HSM2‘s huge Disney Channel ratings translates into HSM3‘s theatrical ticket sales. After all, no one can recall a TV movie (as opposed to TV series) that has been made into a theatrical motion picture sequel. One for the record books.
If HSM3 is merely lumped into the musical genre category, then it has to be compared against the under-$30M North American opening weekend grosses of Mamma Mia and Hairspray which went after predominantly younger and female audiences. But, get this: Disney thinks there could “a very tough competitive weekend ahead” because of Lionsgate’s Saw V which also has a built-in fan base that consistently opens that revolting franchise in the $30sM.
Somebody’s smokin’ something on Dopey Drive… Different genres, different audiences, no overlap. Female teens and over-18s who are the audience for musicals as well as horror flicks are increasingly demonstrating that they’re repelled by the content of hardcore gorefests which are no longer suitable for Date Night, especially if they contain torture porn. That’s one reason why pics like Saw V are quickly becoming a thing of the past in favor of Soft R and PG-13.
Meanwhile, it’s incredible how the fabled Walt Disney PR machine, which used to be so formidable, has completely collapsed. It used to be that Disney would have at the ready all sorts of advance business info about their upcoming films, down to the smallest detail about marketing and psychographics. Now it’s like pulling teeth. I know it only seems as if Disney is making 6 pics a year when it’s really 12 to 13. But has Bob Iger slashed his publicity and marketing departments to the bone? Or is Disney’s infamous penchant for secrecy interfering with its ability to sell effectively?
- PR Shift: Gina Hoffman Exiting PMK/HBH For BWR With Client Zac Efron
- Clean Wholesome ‘HSM3′ Fun?
- ‘High School Musical 2′ Breaks TV Records
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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You think getting tortured by one of Jigsaw’s deadly contraptions is torture?
Watching High School Musical, now that’s real torture!
OH MY GOD! There’s a TWELVE UNICORN PILE_UP ON THE INTERSTATE! SPARKLES AND HEARTS EVERYWHERE!!!
I have to say that depending on how audiences like HSM 3 — if they like it, I say it’ll probably dominate the B.O. until “Twilight” comes along. And if they don’t, it’ll just have a big opening weekend (although that’ll be more than enough to greenlight ANOTHER movie) and just fade from sight.
I’m not against wholesome family entertainment, but give me the Pixar flicks any day of the week. HSM is just… it just doesn’t resonate with me. It’s aimed at a different demographic other than college students, namely Efron fangirls and die-hard HSM fans.
Two words: Dennis Rice
“this is the same generation that thinks “No Country for Old Men” sucks while cheering on for HSM and Twilight.”
Are you serious? Those are two completely different demographics. You might as well try finding common ground between Ingmar Bergman and Ed Wood.
Ugly Punk Girl,
Can’t tweens and teens actually be TWEENS AND TEENS? They are after all – KIDS. Instead of rejoicing in the fact that KIDS are excited about a movie geared for and about happy, fun-loving KIDS you’ve got to mock them.
Not sure why you feel the boast your film prowness over 11 year olds but Jeezus! It’s an effing MOVIE.
Is every movie made meant to be seen and appreciate by every demo? Lord I hope not! I enjoyed No Country but that movie is in NO WAY meant for KIDS to see. It’s bad enough these same 11 year olds we are talking about are walking around drinking lattes and punching “play dates” in their blackberrys while wearing sexed up attire. Now you want them giggling in line to buy tickets for Frost/Nixon?
Come the eff off! Pretend you were 11 once – it shouldn’t be that hard to do – as it appears it wasn’t that long ago that you were 11 given your sophomoric position on this film.
We get it – you are broken inside – but I beg of you…dig out that stuffed Unicorn from your closet (be honest you know you have one) and give it a big ol tough girl squeeze. You know you want to. No one will ever know. You can do it…go Punk Girl…hug away!!!!!!!!!!
I don’t think Disney needed to do much marketing and publicity for HSM3. The audience levels are probably higher than The Dark Knight for this demographic and age group. Why waste the extra effort?
Warner congratulates itself on TDK’s marketing campaign, but all they had to do was show a picture of Batman draped in shadows and the movie’s opening date and it would have sold itself. Warner Bros still doesn’t understand the power of Batman, but hopefully it won’t allow it to turn into self-parody as Joel Schumacher did.
Also, Disney should be able to do the marketing and publicity for most of their films in their sleep. Half their films are kid films! They should know the market cold. They’ve conditioned millions of parents to take their kids to see a Disney or Pixar film during school holidays, so what kind of marketing do you have to do? Pick a holiday and buy the advertising time. And Beverly Hills Chihuahua — this comes from a long line of talking animal films. This isn’t exactly brain surgery.
What I hate the most are films that the marketing guys don’t know how to market. The marketing for Fight Club was promoting an entirely different picture than the one released. Zodiac’s marketing gave no indication on how good this film was. I guess David Fincher is a hard director to market because he doesn’t do the standard action film except for Panic Room.
But for HSM3? Disney should be able to market it in their sleep.
I don’t know how much more PR they needed to do.. it seems as though the ads are on every show on tv and even I as someone WAY out of their target demo for this one am interested.. but that’s also because I read a really good review of it.. sometimes something like HSM is exactly the kind of movie people like to see.. fun, bouncy, light, no violence, etc. After suffering through Nights in Rodanthe I feel like Hollywood owes me one.
All I know is my lil’ nieces got these moves down and our choreography improves with each holiday visit. I would think Freestyle will be a good departure for Bleu.
With all the great news in the market, the light, bouncy stuff works. There is nothing wrong with making money in this business. We have enough examples of films no one wants to see.
First off 12 year olds don’t have stock portfolios to be worried about. Second no one under 30′s dates in the old fashioned sense. (meaning what boomers did or do). It been this way since the mid 1980′s. They usually go in large groups of friends. Only bored married couples have date night.
Second Saw V will beat HSM3 on Sat & Sun because its matinees here on out for HSM3. The weekend B.O. counts but profitability matters more. HSM3 cost about $18 mil more to make & promote which means it needs to make $36 mil more just to be even with Saw V.
Third who do you think is going to win Halloween weekend?
Fourth Saw V is the fifth time people have shelled out $ for the franchise, for HSM3 its the first. Saw VI will open with about the same weekend B.O. Because all the leads are leaving HSM4 will be direct to video just like the first three.
Fifth Saw V will clean up the global B.O. Will HSM3 even be released in Asia & Latin America
Gorefests have been around since the early 1970′s and usually been very profitable. It has its ups & downs just like other genres (more ups & fewer downs compared to most genres). Musicals have been dead since Grease 1978(& no Saturday Night Fever & Footlose weren’t musicals) until Chicago 2002. Musicals were suppose to be back then also but three expensive bombs later (Rent, Hairspray & Mamma Mia). Mamma Mia was a hit globally but in NA it was a huge failure.
FWIW, I like both No Country for Old Men and High School Musical. Probably because I realize they are completely different kinds of movies and enjoy them at different levels.
The kids who were at my HSM showing thought the movie was awesome so will probably see it again. I thought it was great too… it has weaknesses no doubt, but on the whole is entertaining (some of the choreography is amazing in fact) and is a great form of escape. Zac Efron does a pretty good job of leading man. His acting has become much more nuanced from the first HSM.
The timing of the release is a little bit odd, but I think they didn’t want to risk the franchise cooling off too much. I wonder if they’d known Harry Potter would move, if they would have put it in November.
In a way, having watched it with some teens, I think it might actually be good timing. Children and tweens will connect to the songs and dismiss plot weaknesses at any release date. High schoolers though will see through the plot but will connect emotionally with Troy’s conflict over his future especially now because that feeling of uncertainty is strong in the fall, when kids are applying to colleges, etc.