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SATURDAY PM/SUNDAY AM UPDATE: Oh, the glory of being the only new movie in the multiplex, even if it’s an unfunny laugher. Universal’s Couples Retreat opened to $12.3M Friday and +10% for $13.5M Saturday from 3,000 North American theaters for a $35.3M weekend. Wow, Vince Vaughn’s latest piece of dreck will make geniuses out of Universal’s newly installed chairpeople. “Reason? Movies always do business after the studio heads get fired,” one studio exec emailed me tonight. [Universal Pictures chairmen Marc Shmuger and David Linde were replaced by Adam Fogelson and Donna Langley this week.] Couples Retreat is a PG-13 “comedy” but I use that term loosely since even the studio thought it worse than mediocre. But that’s what happens when Vaughn cuts loose to star in, co-write, and produce a dumb idea that was an excuse to film in Bora Bora with pal Peter Billingsley as first-time director and other pal Jon Favreau as fellow writer and actor. Yet the pic did even better than Universal or its rivals thought possible. With only a “B” CinemaScore, it’s leading in interest and first choice among females over 25, followed by males over 25, and then females under 25. (They really like Vince’s about-to-be-40 bloat?)
But the real story this weekend is one I told you about last Sunday. (See my ‘Paranormal Activity’ Gets Freakishly Good Gross Playing Only After Midnight.) Remember The Blair Witch Project? Even rival studios are salivating over the box office potential of the Paramount pickup Paranormal Activity, which opened September 25th playing only midnight shows. But it did so well that Paramount expanded Friday, and the pic rewarded that confidence with a per screen average Friday of $15,875. That gives it $2.5M on Friday and $2.6M Saturday from a paltry 159 locations, or $7M for the weekend! “it’s pretty amazing,” a paramount exec tells me. “We assumed the film would perform like most genre movies and fall Friday to Saturday. Instead the movie looks like it will do more.” It’s now officially a pre-Halloween phenomenon. “Look out cuz there’s a freight train coming, and Paramount is going to make a TON of cash on this pickup. Cuz they ain’t spending anything on it, and who knows where the ceiling is!” one rival studio exec gushed to me. I’m told this #5 pic could make the most gross of any non-3D film on less than 200 screens. Limited releases not adjusted for inflation or ticket prices were 1986′s Platoon $3.7M on 174 screens, 2000′s Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon $3.4M on 172 screens, and 2007′s No Country For Old Men $3.1M on 148 screens.
As for the rest of the Top 10, nothing but holdovers on a fall weekend oddly missing new titles. It’ll definitely be a $100+M weekend up, +8% from last year:
1. Couples Retreat (Universal) NEW [3,000] $12.3M Fri, $13.5M Sat, Wkd $35.3M
2. Zombieland (Sony) Week 2 [3,038] Wkd $15M, Cume $47.8M
3. Meatballs (Sony) Week 3 [2,992] Wkd $12M, Cume $96.2M
4. Toy Story 3D (Disney) Week 2 [1,752] Wkd $7.6M, Cume $22.6M
5. Paranormal Activity (Paramount) Week 3 [159] Wkd $7M, Cume $8.2M
6. Surrogates (Disney) Week 3 [2,992] Wkd $4.1M, Cume $32.5M
7. Invention Of Lying (Warner Bros) Week 2 [1,743] Wkd $3.3M, Cume 12.3M
8. Whip It (Fox Searchlight) Week 2 [1,738] Wkd $2.8M, Cume $8.7M
9. Capitalism: A Love Story (Overture) Week 3 [995] Wkd $2.7M, Cume $9M
10. Fame (MGM) Week 3 [3,110] Wkd $2.5M, Cume 20M
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Couples Retreat was the only movie in wide release. Same thing with 4-XMas. Vaughn’s career is turning into Adam Sandler’s. Used to be really funny but now makes really bad movies that his childhood friends write, direct, and produce. The more successful his movies are, the more control his crew gets and the worse the movies are. Sandler is a nice guy and his movies appeal to kids, Vaughn is a horrible person and his movies don’t appeal to kids so I assume his career will not have the legs that Sandler’s does.
“Couples Retreat” makes money…not exclusively because of marketing. Don’t overthink it: it’s a comedy with several comedians in it and the public likes going to the movies, especially with comedy. This is a large demo pic and will do serious boxoffice the first weekend b/c many people under 30 don’t care what RT has to say. Besides, that’s maybe 2% or 3% of the population going (200 million US citizens x .2 = 2 million x $10 ticket = $20 mil).
Do you really think it isn’t a larger demo than would go to see a by-definition-exclusively-sci-fi aud “Surrogates?”
A seemingly harmless film (as most in the Vaugh-Favreau cannon have been) will always do decent boxoffice when not surrounded by any noticeable competition.
Silver Lining: However, when a genuinely well-made, well-acted, small little actionner is made and released without competition, it may not make initial big boxoffice but WOM will carry it to $145 (See “Taken”).
It’s ALL ABOUT RELEASE DATES & COMPETITION…LESS ABOUT MARKETING–DON’T OVERANALYZE. No one ever lost an election underestimating the intelligence of the American public.
Even though I agree that movies do well in less crowded markets, “Taken” had a very good ad showing the scene with Liam Neilson on the phone with his daughter and her being dragged from under the bed. It was aired during the high rated BCS National Championship game. Don’t underestimate how effective that was.
Yeah, even the Paranormal haters should rally behind the film on the basis that it could finally put a stop to the vomitorium that is the Saw series.
Massive hype + marketing = “Paranormal Activity”.
Word of mouth should kill this film quicker than Woody Harrelson dispenses with a crippled zombie. If this is what passes for a good film on college campuses then this country is in big trouble and I fear for the future of America’s youth.
At the screening I was at at least five people walked out before the movie was half over.
This movie is so mind-numblingly, infuriatingly slow and relentlessly uninteresting that the audience probably loses IQ points just by watching it.
It looks like a really bad “Film Production 101″ course video with the director thinking he’s the next Spielberg, or at least the next Tobe Hooper, when in fact he’s closer to the next Ed Wood.
Curse you, Balir Witch Project!
An aspiring film maker made it for 10 grand. I’d take it and 20 clones over a “Saw” movie any day.
What does that have to do with anything? The first ‘Saw’ was made by aspiring filmmakers with a 10k budget as well.
Nikki, if America can make Transformers 2 a massive blockbuster then this should be no shocker. America loves crap.
I don’t see how Paranormal Activity can be called fresh and original, the gimmick is reheated and the third act falls flat. It’s also a classic amateur production featuring a female lead who tries too hard (it’s the last we’ll ever see of her, apart from her needing to lose 20-30 pounds).
For college audiences only.
You are so out of touch with what people like. You take cheap pot shots with the same level of meanness that we see from young men on the internet who are usually anonymous. Why can’t you except that people want to see comedies and shouldn’t be made to feel like an idiot for doing so. Enjoy your know-it-all elitism.
Bravo~
you know everyone at paramount is clamoring to take credit for this weekend and whoever the hell drove that internet campaign will get no credit. figures.
That “rival exec” gushing over Paranormal sounds like a moron. “Aint”, “cuz” – do grown-ups really talk like that?
HaHa, the jealous zeroes who couldn’t get any of their own ideas for threadbare projects off the ground are seething with bitterness that they didn’t come up with the story conceit for PA and they’re now coalescing together in a pathetic attempt to undermine the film with an envy-motivated smear campaign! Why can’t any of you miserable creeps once, just once, tip your hat to a “little film that could” and commend its creators for coming up with a recipe for success that you would’ve concocted yourself if you actually had the talent? Any time a nothing-budget movie becomes a sensation, the same armchair Kubricks whose dreams of filmmaking never came close to materializing predictably start bellyaching in thousand-word blog entries that nobody reads about how their brilliant perception for the cinematic quality the film in question lacks exceeds the public’s misguided affection for it. As a person who takes pride in not being a passive-aggressive internet cliche with schadenfreude for lifeblood, I’m going to relish in the intensification of the rancor from these also-rans in the game of life as the viewership for PA goes through the roof and the dollars continue to pour in, because I know it’s simply a hilarious matter of hateful posturing from people with ulterior anxieties. The same people onboard with the PA backlash are those who always piss and moan about how every horror movie nowadays is a PG-13 remake, and now that a unique one comes along that’s truly effective in its aim to scare, they’re uncomfortable about giving credit where it’s due in the area of its proficient execution because it actualized the storybook scenario of upstart, overnight success that they thought they were entitled to as aspiring filmmakers. You have to earn it, which the creative force behind this film did through sheer assertiveness and tack. Give him his just due, instead of turning up your nose up at him and presupposing that you could’ve possibly done a better job, because if that were the case you would’ve done it by now and you wouldn’t be languishing away in the wasteland of the internet.
…blah blah blah, Sam. Really, you had to write all of that?
As for your ‘unique’ movie, it’s 1) a standard haunted house pic, which has been done hundreds of times. 2) Looks and feels like Blair Witch 3) Is Exactly the Same as the A & E reality show
Yeah, that’s Unique all right! It’s called a “fluke”.
well said. I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m always happy for a little film that goes beyond what anyone thought was possible.
Re: “Fat older guys with hot chicks” … comedies like Couples Retreat are male oriented, besides young “hot” actors can “smolder” like a Calvin Klein ad but are not funny. Vaughan may have put on years and pounds but still has skill. So too did Piven (who was hysterical in PCU) but his ego corroded his undeniable talent (Piven was amazing in “Cupid.”) Kristen Bell is quite funny, was amazing in Veronica Mars. And yes Middle America as opposed to Santa Monica/Malibu loves Vince Vaughan.
I don’t know if Paranormal will be what execs think it is. Stuff like Blair Witch only comes around every once in a while, a Halloween movie is certainly timely, but I’m more impressed with District 9. Shot on a tiny budget its as beautiful as any Michael Bay extravaganza. Done by professionals too, btw. Probably more hype than quality.
I don’t know Nikki, Vaughn has a solid list of recent movies that either did well or above expectations — provided that he toplined them (like “Wedding Crashers”, “The Break-Up” or “Four Christmases”). Even the reviled “Fred Claus” brought in a decent $72 million domestic. The guy has an audience, and he brings them in. For a studio like Universal still smarting from their crop of summer duds, they’re lucky to have him. Especially after the supposed Apatow hit “Funny People” tanked at the box office.
And as for “Couples Retreat,” it’s rather blah. There’s some funny scenes (most of them spoiled in the advertising), but everything else was “been there, done that.” Wasn’t a bad movie but not good either.
I am not sure why people are so surprised about the success of PA. It is utterly manufactured. To limit inventory and build demand is basic business. And more to the point, it’s the way films used to be released. This blockbuster bullsh*t doesn’t work anymore. I can only hope that studios return to this slow growth model. But even as I say it, I know it won’t stick…sadly.
[SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!] the problem with PARANORMAL ACTIVITY is that the creator and backers of the film think pointing the camera at something for two seconds to four constitutes as scary. the door closing and moving, the chandelier swinging, the electronic noise when micah is recording himself in the room, katie suddenly waking up, katie catatonic — there are so many techniques to make that stuff scarier and not just like some animal at the zoo you observe. you can build upon the sequences, do some more sound design, get another camera angle (micah mentioned getting two. god that wouldve been nice. one close up and one wide and that wouldve helped the scares immensely).
to make matters worse, we have to listen to micah and katie in the day which had some funny banter but 10 minutes of that with two seconds of scares afterward and repeat this formula for the first 50 minutes gets old really quick. the camera keeps fading up and out to show us that 2 seconds of scare that isn’t scary! also, doing this made me lose total track of time and made the movie and moments until the better creepy stuff start seem an insufferable wait.
bottomline: the movie, while admirable, is just not scary. it rises to a sorta/kinda creepy note the last 15 minutes but by then it’s too little too late. the scares were a 2 or 3 on a scale of 10.
p.s. having it called one of the scariest movies of all time is a slap in the face of every above average horror movie ever made.
- the girl’s acting, while decent at parts, failed at the bigger moments. she couldnt carry the movie.
- despite all my criticisms, i thought it was a decent and had a good premise. the interactions between micah and katie were authentic and micah is a great character. it just needs to be scarier.
Caught COUPLES RETREAT this afternoon, I’m pretty sure there were more laughs on the Hindenburg.
I could never see a Vince Vaughn movie; and it might be a great movie, but his characters constantly grate on my nerves. Some might call that entertainment. Not for me.
Saw Zombieland today with my son and we both loved it. Very well done with enough quirks and interesting twists. It was a lovely coming-of-age movie too.
I’ll wait for Paranormal Activity on DVD. It might be scary or not. But whenever something looks like a home movie, then why would I pay to watch a home movie in a theatre? I’ll watch a home movie at home.
It’s nice to see pissed off agents who aren’t making a dime off these actors (well $13) chime in and really put their personalities to work for once! About freakin’ time.
@ Sam:
I want to agree with you. I really do. But I don’t. It’s a rule: Every time a film is met with commercial success, someone has to come to a board and bash it. But it has less to do with unrealized dreams and more to do with disappointment and the need to vent that disappointment.
Last weekend is a perfect example: Zombieland and Whip It both received great reviews, but Zombieland was the box office smash and WI failled. On this board, almost everyone was praising Zombie, but a few people came along and bashed it to no end. To me, it seems a failed filmmaker would use words like “pedestrian” and “tripe,” but these people were criticizing the poorly-developed romance between Stone and Eisenberg and the ending that, in their opinion, did not resolve much.
Those are valid criticisms, but why the need for people to be loud and call everyone else a sheep? Because, to them, Zombieland is NOT the cinematic miracle everyone says it is, so the public comes across as sheep-like (Which they are). And this, wrong as it may be, fuels their dislike for the film, and what to them may be a 6/10 instead becomes a 3/10 because they’re fed up with the hype. You can see this really come into play around Oscar time.
Whip It, on the other hand, did not find an audience, so web surfers felt the need to defend it because no one was there to say anything differently. Had WI opened to $25 million, there would have been a lot of backlash. Remember Juno? If that movie had stuck to a limited release and only grossed $2 million, there would still be people insisting it’s a great movie instead of all the people bashing it. “$150 million for what,” etc, etc.
Is Bandslam REALLY a great movie? I doubt it. But we’re inclined to be more sympathetic towards it because it tanked. Example: If someone asks me whether they should watch Knocked Up or Sex Drive, I’m inclined to say Sex Drive because it was actually a pretty funny movie that didn’t make any money. Knocked Up already has all the dough it needs 8X over. Why not spare a little change for the movies that don’t get attention?
I haven’t seen Paranormal Activity; I probably won’t get the chance until the 26th, so I’ll be back to discuss it. But I usually give critics the BOTD because I’ve been called out for the same thing when it wasn’t true. I really liked The Bourne Ultimatum, but on IMDb, I pointed out a really huge plot hole towards the end, and people jumped on me, saying I was a snob who couldn’t enjoy a good movie, etc. And I LIKED that movie.
Don’t get too passionate about a movie. You’re bound to be blinded by it.
zombieland was piss funny hysterical. I highly recommend it.
[MINOR SPOILER]
havent been to a flick in awhile where the audience really got into a movie & this was it. at only 1hr 27secs it scores its points and leaves you wanting more…after credits there is a tiny concluding scene with the cameo star of the film.
..and there was also this coming of age vibe to it, as another poster mentioned.
as one reviewer put it, the movie is a “road movie/horror flick/dark comedy/earnest romance/action film hybrid.”
very well done by all involved. i think i may try a 2nd viewing in the coming weeks.
So you know, Couples Retreat DID NOT break the record for biggest October live-action comedy opening day or even weekend. That still belongs to Scary Movie 3.
I think it is time for you to step out of your closed “hollywood” box and touch base with the rest of America. This was a decent movie to watch and was funny. The box office totals reflect that and people are going to see it based upon word of mouth.
The economy is in the toilet right now…people are out of work. Movies like this allow the viewer to escape the world around them and laugh. This is one of the reasons you are seeing a resurgence of half hour sitcoms on the networks. People want to laugh!
I’m sorry that you did not enjoy it…but there are a lot of movies that rank poorly by critics (Which is a term I use loosely), but are enjoyed by a lot of people. Movies are for entertainment…and if they accomplish that…they are successful. Plus, it has a happy ending. I think critics only enjoy movies where someone dies and it ends on a bad note. You are seeing a resurgence in everything 80′s. Guess what type of movie came out of the 80′s? Campy romantic comedies. There are some great actors that do comedies well today, and you are seeing them in movies like this.
Just sit back, turn off your Hollywood blinders, and take in the movie for what its worth. A campy romantic comedy that lets the audience sit back and laugh.
Paranormal was the biggest waste of time in recent memory. I was going to demand my money back – but the queue of people doing likewise was so long I didn’t even bother.
The hype is astonishing for this movie…and the end result is absolutely pathetic – not scary or in any way redeeming. Watch the trailer – save your money.
I just got out of the theater seeing Paranormal Activity, and it was packed at 3pm on a Sunday afternoon during the Eagles game (in a Philly theater).
I, along with the majority of the audience, am college age and absolutely loved this movie:
1- the above posts got it right in that it’s like a long YouTube video, which makes it all the more realistic to those of us that post on a regular basis, i.e. young America.
2- It rewards patience by having the plot be a slow boil, right up until the closing seconds.
3- In the school of Speilberg with Jaws, and M. Night with Signs, it’s more what you don’t see that makes the scare that much more creepy.
And most importantly to me, 4- This movie has the “Cool” factor. I heard about it from my friends, so I checked out the website. I told people about it, and we went to a showing. We felt like we were ahead of the curve, and I can see this movie exploding in a few weeks just because so many people are talking about it, and you don’t want to be left out (kinda like when I relectantly read The DaVinci Code to see what the buzz was about.)
I also appreciate that a movie studio isn’t shoving the marketing down my throat with another birdbrain Transformers / Surrogate / another stupid rom com. Also there isn’t any disgusting blood / guts / gore that would turn me off (Along with most other females). Girls like scary movies too, but it’s so hard to find any that are effective without being so goddamn bloody and disgusting.
Make more movies like this!!!!
(Unfortunately it’s prob because hollywood DIDN’T make this, that it’s so great!!)
question…what are you smokin…
Josh Greenstein didn’t believe in PA and wouldn’t give it any marketing $$. Yet somehow he’ll be hailed as a genius come Monday morning. Failing upwards has never been so easy, eh Joshy?
Friends in Atlanta during the initial free sneak previews of PA reported the same thing: Initial excitement in the theater, then a collective let down you could feel with conversation in the lobby afterwards being the film was awful.
It’s a great marketing campaign. Old fashioned ballyhoo. William Castle would be proud.