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SATURDAY PM/SUNDAY AM: Here are the weekend numbers (Sunday estimates):
1. The Final Destination 3-D (NL/WB) NEW, Fri $10.9M, Sat $10.2M, Wkd $28.3M
2. Basterds (Weinstein/Uni) WK 2, Fri $5.8M, Sat $8.1M, Wkd $19.5M, Cume $73.2M
3. Halloween II (Weinstein) NEW, Fri $7M, Sat $5.6M, Wkd $17M
4. District 9 (Sony) WK 3, Fri $3M, Sat $3.9M, Wkd $10.7M, Cume $90.8M
5. G.I. Joe (Paramount) WK 5, Fri $2.2M, Sat $3.5M, Wkd $8M, Cume $132.4M
6. Julie & Julia (Sony) WK 4, Fri $2.1M, Sat $3.2M, Wkd $7.4M, Cume $70.9M
7. Time Trav Wife (WB) WK 3, Fri $2.1M, Sat $2.8M, Wkd $6.7M, Cume $48.1M
8. Shorts (WB) WK 2, Fri $1.2M, Sat $2.1M, Wkd $4.8M, Cume $13.5M
9. Taking Woodstock (Focus) NEW, Fri $1.1M, Sat $1.4M, Wkd $3.7M
10. G-Force (Disney) WK 6, Fri $710K, Sat $, Wkd $2.8M, Cume $111.8M
As the summer winds down, studio execs needing a vacation are getting punchier (and their quotes to me snarkier). But even Hollywood is embarrassed by the fact that this weekend’s Top 4 competing films featuring horror, death, gore, mayhem, war, Nazis, aliens, and sci-fi all did so well at the box office. “What a sad statement on movie-going humanity,” a top studio exec emailed me. “And let’s look at the ratings for the top 4 movies at the box office tonight: ‘R’, ‘R’, ‘R’, and ‘R’. Yikes.” While Final Destination 3-D and Halloween II were playing in almost the same number of theaters (3,121 vs 3,025), 3-D made the big difference in gross receipts at 1,678 outfitted dates. 
Sure, The Weinstein Company has been claiming that the sequel to its Rob Zombie horror reboot cost half ($15M) what New Line/Warner Bros’ suspense thriller did ($30M). But the fact that these two movies stayed on the same weekend to battle for the same horror fans stunned marketing experts — especially when this Friday through Sunday is traditionally weak moviegoing-wise as college kids head off to school again. ”How stubborn/stupid can two distributors be?” one promotion pro asked me. (It’s Chinatown, Jake…) And it’s just as inexplicable why The Weinstein Co would compete one week later with its own Inglourious Basterds; the Quentin Tarantino World War II pic wound up beating Halloween II for second place because of a better-than-expected -49% hold — hardly the -70% expected. But The Weinstein Co has been in such dire financial straits that it couldn’t even hold Halloween II until October. Ang Lee’s comedic Taking Woodstock for Focus Features platformed in 2 theaters — NY and LA — Wednesday but opened in 1,393 venues Friday. Nice bit of upcoming Labor Day weekend counter-programming; then again it was co-written by Focus chief James Schamus so he’s especially protecting the pic.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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The problem is that Rob Zombie made this film to INTENTIONALLY piss off the people who dared to dislike his remake to begin with. Remember, it’s not about the movies, it’s all about Rob. The Weinsteins allowed Rob Zombie to use their money to film a “F*ck You! Letter” to his critics. Bob… Harvey… what didn’t you get or understand after the first film dropped nearly 70% it’s second week???
You deserve this one boys. Right in the kisser.
I, for one, am glad to see some R-rated films at the top of the box office. We need more weekends like this with R-rated actions, comedies and horror.
Why did the Weinsteins release H2 so close to IB? Cannibalizing much?
What is that exec babbling about. It’s a sad statement on the studios that this is the type of movie released four fold. If studios would release something other than gore [or frat boy movies. comic book heroes or remakes of everything not nailed down] the movie audience would be better rounded
The Halloween remakes to me are nothing more than cash grabs. Cynical attempts at pandering to the Horror crowd by just serving up sadistic violence without any tangible substance to support it. Its obvious by the lazy plotting, amateurish acting, and blunt sadism for shock value’s sake that the makers just don’t care about their product.
I don’t understand how one can craft a fairly engaging and I dare say ‘smart’ Horror movie with the “Devils Rejects” and come out with two sub par efforts two years out? I guess Zombie caught the ‘FUCK YOU PAY ME! I DON’T GIVE A SHIT’ syndrome.
And I mean ‘shockingly’ sub par efforts.
As many have pointed out already, why didn’t the weinsteins give IB more breathing room? And furthermore, IB was good but that has nothing to do with the weinsteins. Quentin can do no wrong where Harvey’s considered so harvey didn’t have a chance to get in there and muck it up. can’t say the same for most of their other stuff. they don’t let filmmakers be. they bring in writing teams and “fix” scripts that don’t need it. then they test the movies and have to “fix” them some more because they killed whatever was good about the original in the first place and people hate the movie. they’re like cockroaches– I’m beginning to think even nuclear fallout wouldn’t stop them– so I doubt they’re going anywhere soon. they’ll cling on for as long as they can.
I though Zombie’s first Halloween reboot was brilliant. He went under the basic story to show how in the modern age a maniac is made.
It had scares, laughs and a depth that no other horror film in recent history had. I feel it was a better film than the original in this regard.
The only failing of the film was that you could not credibly make a sequel from it. It was so grounded in reality that any attempt to resurrect Meyers would seem silly.
Zombie himself on the Howard Stern Show said that he didn’t want to do the sequel and was forced into by TWC who were going to STD the sequel (that’s Straight-To-DVD people, keep up)
Zombie should have listened to his conscience. I haven’t seen H2 and don’t plan to. I know it’s shit because of the superior film he made the first time.
But I disagree with the notion that Zombie should not get a chance at another franchise. He is a great filmmaker and has a love of the genre.
Sorry Rob. I love you but you sold out on this one.
“What a sad statement on movie-going humanity. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to finish snorting blow off the naked corpse of the 15-year old runaway I killed last week.”
Up yours, Hollywood. If no one was going to these films, you’d be crying “WHY WHY WHY OH LORD, WHY ISN’T ANYONE SEEING THESE FINE R-RATED FILMS!?!!?”
I’m just wondering why no one has commented on the absurdity of releasing a movie named “Halloween II” in August? Talk about a good reason to move the release date… Wouldn’t it be a rational thought to think you just might get more butts in the seats in October??
“What a sad statement on movie-going humanity,” a top studio exec emailed me tonight.
totally agree. what the movies need are more recylced rom-coms like ugly truth and the proposal that sell empty happily ever afters and juvenile toy-action porn like GI Joe and Transformers that only exist to sell your kids more shit they don’t need. bravo hollywood!
I’m confused in what universe is a film like Taking Woodstock “agenda driven”. Pray tell, Drudgebots, what is the “agenda” of that movie that you find so intolerable?
It’s not like the actual Woodstock festival had the issues of, oh, Altamont.
Maybe you ought to watch the excellent Michael Wadleigh documentary on Woodstock.. THAT film probably had more to do with the historical perception of the festival than anything else. Without it, I suspect that it wouldn’t have the cache it does with Baby Boomers.
I wonder who was on this date first WB or TWC, if it was TWC somebody is saying something. Plus why would they(TWC) even think of putting 2 in a row. Its not like they have so many movies they couldnt spread them out. At least WB has a full schedule. Bob and Harvey I know are smart or should I say used to be smart
I would be curious to know the average age of the people commenting. There are plenty of Wilshire Blvd politically correct movies being released every year. Thank god for the Weinsteins and their desire to bring something edgy and raw to the table two weeks in a row. These are the only two movies which have gotten me out of my own home theater two weeks in a row for as long as I can remember. Long live edgy counterculture entertainment.
@ Nick
In some ways Inglorious Bastards was a remake: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076584/
At least Tarantino is being a bit more honest about the exploitation films he rips off….
Releasing H2 against FD4 in 3-D is a really boneheaded move – the week after Basterds, especially so. FD4 had to come out now, between other 3-D pics, but H2 could easily have come out later in the year. WTF is right.
I agree with “Matt C”‘s comments about H2 and FD. FD was fun, not as good as part two but on par with 3 and better than one (I never cared for its attempts to be scary, the dark comedy vibe of the subsequent films fits the premise better). H2 was terrible. What was Rob Zombie thinking and who in their right mind would now give him the task of remaking The Blob? Why do we need a remake of that, let alone from him?
The fact that your source is lumping those four films together because one has Nazis, one has aliens and all have profanity and violence tells you exactly what is wrong with American films. (Hint: It isn’t the audience.) This might be news to him or her, but some of the greatest films of all time have been about Nazis or aliens. Why, I believe some of them were even rated R.
District 9 is a fantastic film–moving, imaginative, exciting and far more thoughtful than any Kate Winslet sobfest I’ve ever seen. (No offense to Winslet, who is of course very talented.) I’ve yet to see IB, so I can’t offer my own opinion, but it has an 88% on RT and I can’t imagine that Tarantino would make a film that wasn’t at least entertaining and imaginative.
“I, for one, am glad to see some R-rated films at the top of the box office. We need more weekends like this with R-rated actions, comedies and horror.”
Indeed. The hell with the pompous trophy hunt wankery. Bring on the entertainment!
Does anyone else think that this has been one of the worst years for movies in recent memory? I’ve only seen 1 movie this year (Terminator and it wasn’t good at all), which is a record low for me. And, besides Hurt Locker, the Hangover,and Public Enemies, I’m not really interested in seeing any other movie that’s been released so far in 2009.
Why should anyone be so surprised that “films featuring horror, death, gore, mayhem, war, Nazis, aliens, and sci-fi all did so well”? This has literally been the Summer of Death — going right into this weekend with Ted Kennedy, Dominick Dunne and DJ AM joining a three-month period which took Ed McMahon, David Carradine, Billy Mays, Robert Novak and, of course, Michael Jackson (whose birthday was Saturday, BTW). No wonder folks decided to take in absurdist views of death given what REAL reality is showing them.
Justin,
Yes.
And it’s fixin’ to get even worse (does the world really need a Karate Kid remake or a Stretch Armstrong movie?)
I disagree Justin. While there have been the usual disappointments here and there, 2009 has had some really terrific movies thus far, including UP (completely original story and emotionally satisfying) STAR TREK (an excellent reluanch of an old clasic property) MONSTERS VS ALIENS (another excellent animated film with a great concept, good humor and story), WATCHMEN, (An excellent and original experience) and one of my fovorites of the year, KNOWING. A film that I believe will be recognized as the great film that it is. And we still have AVATAR, THE LOVELY BONES, and THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG to look forward to. Alll films by excellent flmmakers with some classic films to their credit. And who knows? SHERLOCK HOLMES might be good too. And hell, I want to see 2012 too!
On the other hand, if you really want to be depressed about films coming out, look at Summer 2010′s line up. Outside sequels to IRON MAN and TOY STORY, you are looking at like 4 to 8 films a month, and very few looking like big winners. I’m already looking ahead to Summer 2011 when some of the really promising titles will be arriving.
HURT LOCKER was way overrated by the way. Mediocre at best.
Good for QT that Basterds is holding fairly strong. Anyone who bitches about Transformers and all the intelligence insulting, cookie cutter, 4 quadrant baiting nonsense that’s been churned out by this town this summer, they MUST see Basterds as an encouraging sign. You may hate the people behind it (Weinsteins, QT, etc), but you cannot deny that they had balls to make their last stand with something this bold and transgressive, and deserve not only whatever success they get but, gulp, our admiration as well.
Um, the Weinsteins released the first Halloween on the same date two years ago, so clearly they were trying to catch lightning in a bottle again. Yes, the FD movies are utterly pointless, but they are entertaining, especially in 3-D, and Warners did a great job selling it. Nikki- since when did you become Jerry Falwell with the R-rated issues??? Basterds is a fantastic movie, and District 9, while long and uneven, is worth seeing. It’s f-ing August for God’s sake…be glad that people are going to the movies right now.