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SUNDAY AM: As July ended, three opening studio movies -- Dinner For Schmucks, Charlie St Cloud (which collapsed 32% from Friday to Saturday because Zac Efron's High School Musical fans frontloaded the grosses), Cats & Dogs 3D: The Revenge Of Kitty Galore -- made for a crowded summer box office what with holdovers Salt, Inception, and Despicable Me still going strong. Here are Friday, Saturday, weekend, and cume U.S. and Canada grosses. This weekend will be the first since June 4th without a $30+ million grossing pic. But overall ticket sales still look to total $135M a point or two ahead of last year:
1. Inception (Warner Bros) Week 3 [3,545 Dates]
Friday $8.1M, Saturday $10M, Weekend $27.5M (-36%), Cume $193.3M
Look at those dreamy legs... Chris Nolan's original film for Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures just keeps going, and going, with great holds. It's the No. 1 movie for the 3rd straight weekend after briefly giving way to Dinner With Schmucks Friday.
2. Dinner For Schmucks (Paramount) NEW [2,911 Dates]
Friday $8.4M, Saturday $8.3M, Weekend $23.3M
TParamount, DreamWorks, and Spyglass all financed a third of the $62M budget. (This is the first movie new DreamWorks invested in.) Paramount has worldwide distribution and will roll out international in the fall. The behind the scenes maneuvering to turn this comedy from a mediocre grosser to average moneymaker makes for an always interesting but far from atypical story. Back on June 9th, I reported that the buzz had been "it's not working" on this pic so Paramount, DreamWorks, and Spyglass delayed Dinner For Schmucks originally scheduled for release on July 23 to the younger-skewing weekend of July 30. Well, within minutes of my writing that, I was told no less than "129 people involved with the film lost their minds" as only Hollywood types can. I received panicky calls and emails admitting why the buzz was bad and explaining why it wasn't anymore. What happened is that the movie's first test screening last March in Thousand Oaks produced only average scores. Excellent was 35, the top two boxes were 70, and the definite recommend was 50. "Literally, right on the norm. But not where you expect for a high-profile movie directed by Jay Roach and starring Steve Carell," an insider told me. "Everyone felt a sense of disappointment."
So the studio, the producers, Carell, and Roach huddled. Roach worked to fix the tone "making sure the movie didn't play in mean-spirited fashion because the audience found that line had been crossed," the insider explained. The result was that, at the next screening a month later, the scores had improved: Excellent was 60, the top 2 boxes were 90, and the definite recommend was 75. "So you see how far the movie moved as Jay worked on it," said an insider, praising Roach for being so "malleable". (Is that a compliment for a film director?) Despite poor reviews, the film with its "B" CinemaScore this weekend now is meeting Hollywood's mid-$20sM expectations. It tracked very well among young males and balanced across all age and gender ranges, and the audience was, too (55% male/ 45% female, 46% under 25/54% over 25) -- similar to Carell's last film Date Night (which opened to $25M and went on to gross over $100M).
3. Salt (Sony) Week 2 [3,612 dates]
Friday $5.9M, Saturday $7.7M, Weekend $19.2M (-47%), Cume $70.8M
Sony thinks this holdover starring Angelina Jolie has locked up $100M for sure, and probably at least $110M. It grossed an estimated $24.5M for the weekend abroad, bringing the international cume to $32.8M and a worldwide total of $103.6 million in a little more than a week.
4. Despicable Me 3D (Universal) Week 4 [3,602 Dates]
Friday $4.6M, Saturday $6M, Weekend $15.5M, Cume $190.3M
Still surprising people with its strength. Remember this was a cheap $69M toon, and it's heading well past $200M domestic. ($230M? $240M?)
5. Cats & Dogs 3D: Kitty Galore (Warner Bros) NEW [3,705 Dates]
Friday $4.2M, Saturday $4.6M, Weekend $12.5M
Big box office disappointment even with those higher 3D ticket prices because the original 2D Cat & Dogs back in 2001 debuted on the Fourth of July with a $21.7 million first weekend. Sequel only mustered a "B-" CinemaScore, and only a +9% matinee bump from Friday to Saturday. For weeks now, the family tracking was not as strong as the studio hoped. What a stupid ad campaign, and those cats looked scary even to me.
6. Charlie St Cloud (Universal) NEW [2,720 Dates]
Friday $5.6M, Saturday $3.8M, Weekend $12.1M
Rival studios thought Friday's result for this Relativity/Universal drama was frontloaded by Zac Ephron's High School Musical fans. So right. The pic fell a jaw-dropping -32% from Friday to Saturday, which is either a big error or proof that Zac needs to stick to light comedy. Actually, weeks of tracking had indicated a $13M weekend, in line with other movies of this genre. (Miley Cyrus' The Last Song debuted Easter weekend and its 3-day was $16M as a result.) Zac did everything publicity-wise including envelope openings to push this pic. But the marketing stupidly gave away the whole plot in the ads. Moviegoers gave it a "B+" CinemaScore overall but under-18s upped that to an "A-".
7. Toy Story 3D (Disney) Week 7 [2,107 Dates]
Friday $1.4M, Saturday $2.3M, Weekend $5M, Cume $389.6M
At $826.1M globally, Toy Story 3 now stands as the 4th biggest animated title and 23rd biggest movie on a worldwide basis.
8. Grown Ups (Sony) Week 6 [2,269 Dates]
Friday $1.4M, Saturday $1.8M, Weekend $4.5M, Est Cume $150.7
9. Sorcerer's Apprentice (Disney) Week 3 [2,524 dates]
Friday $1.3M, Saturday $1.7M, Weekend $4.3M, Cume $51.8M
Jerry Bruckheimer's domestic disappointment has now opened in 28 territories representing 30% of the international marketplace where it's made $40.8M. Right now it's global cume is $92.7M.
10. Twilight Saga: Eclipse (Summit) Week 5 [2,334 Dates]
Friday $1.3M, Saturday $1.5M, Weekend $3.9M, Cume $288.1M
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Just got back from DINNER WITH SCHMUCKS. They’re lucky to get a $25 mil opening weekend with this bomb. Unbelievably unfunny, painful to sit through…Paul Rudd looked like he wanted to be anywhere else.
Dinner for Schmucks was sold out at the Grove in LA. Played well. Many laughs. Carell and Rudd were great together, as usual. Doc Michaels, which theater did you attend?
I was at the Grove to see DWS last night and LOVED it! I was concerned with the meanness factor but thought they handled it very well. I saw it at 8:30 and the audience laughed out loud many many times throughout. My husband said the moment he saw the opening credits and he works at Disney so his opinion is questionable (j/k) he thought this is a gonna be a funny film. At the end he said he wanted the DVD for sure. All in all a good movie and I for one will miss Steve Carrell when he leaves TV…Paul Rudd has nothing to be ashamed of.
My buddy at work went to see it with some friends, some place that served beer to go with the popcorn, and he told me it was one of the most painful movies he’s ever sat through.
If that’s with friends and booze…
…it must have been really bad.
Why is it weird for Paul Rudd to look like he would want to be anywhere else when dealing with the weird characters in the movie/ sorry but isn’t that his character? its called acting.
I’m not saying the movie doesn’t suck, maybe it does, but please…
Definitely agree on all accounts. When Darla came on, I heavily contemplated leaving. Yet, the audience I was with absolutely ate it up… they even applauded at the end…
Unless the cast is there, if you applaud at the end of ANY movie, you’re officially an a$$hole.
Why?
oh my god! That was a great movie. The whole theater laughed all the way to the end. This was the best comedy I have seen in a long time. I highly recommend this movie!!
I recommend it as a rental. It’s not worth the full ticket price.
Jane, there, works for the studio.
You can spot their comments everytime.
This is called damage control, everyone.
When they say everybody just roared … but they don’t say why … you can bet the poster is a plant.
THIS MOVIE SUCKED!!!
There was only one time the we laughed – and that was the stripper girlfriend joke by the elevator. ONE funny scene! That’s it. The rest of it was trivial and contrived.
And Rudd definitely looked like he was wishing the movie would end sooner.
What huge waste of Carrell’s eager machismo.
So, if we agree with you, cool. But if we disagree with you, we’re studio plants?
Not everybody is a bitter hater.
I loved the movie. I had a blast watching it. I was in a packed house of people who loved the movie, especially Carell, Rudd, Galifianakis and Clement. The beginning was slowish, but the third act dinner played HUGE. Like no other third act in a comedy I’ve seen since Something About Mary.
Have you really even seen the movie? If you haven’t YOU’RE the plant.
Most of the negative reviews have focussed on the issue of it being a remake. It’s not. Doesn’t pretend to be. I recommend see it, judge for yourselves. Some of Carell’s best work. Jemaine Clement is amazing.
I haven’t seen the movie so have no opinion. But why is it that someone doesn’t like something they’re a “bitter hater?”
He’s not a plant. Someone who incessantly hates on a movie is called a troll.
A plant, or studio plant, is someone working for the studios who publicly and anonymously posts having seen a particular movie, usually one that looks like crap, and claims it’s the second coming of Christ to try and convince people that it’s worthwhile, but the plant barely says how it’s good. And that guy above is not working for the studio.
This film was a rental, a matinee price at best, and it’s not worth a second viewing. The director and stars deserve better.
“the third act played huge”? who talks like that who doesn’t work for the studio? whatever you are attempting really isn’t working.
btw, there is no stripper girlfriend, and no stripper girlfriend joke by the elevator, proving you haven’t seen the movie…
In the scene by the elevator, Rudd’s boss gives him the Swiss mogul’s investment account to handle because he’s “the only one here who’s not divorced or dating a hooker.” Okay, not “stripper.” But you get the idea…
DFS was so bad that I got up in the middle to wander around the theater for about 10 minutes. My friend to the left was asleep the entire show – the rest of us tried to make the best of it by playing pattycake. What a piece of shit. I liked this movie the first time, when it was called “The Cable Guy.”
probably the worst unfunniest movie I’ve ever seen.
Dinner was sweeter than I thought it would be. I just wish Carrell hadn’t made his character so damn broad. He played it as a cartoon buffoon with big teeth who is completely out of touch with reality.
Needed to be more “Being There” and less “purty laaadddddy!”
It felt like Carrell was embarrassed by the role and hid behind false teeth and Jerry Lewis tics instead of giving an earnest portayal of a nerdy schlub. If they’d let a decent writer smooth the rough spots they could have had something. Instead it comes off as “In The Company Of Men and Morons”.
This def shows Efron can pull in an audience, no matter what anyone says.
considering the bad buzz for Schmucks this def shows paul rudd is box office star.
Unfortunately for Efron, if these estimates hold, he has lost half of the audience that came out to see HSM4, errr, 17 Again, in its opening weekend.
But 17 again was an outright comedy whereas this one deals with death, which may not be something parents want to bring younger kids too. Efron definitely can open a movie — he is flying solo on this one and I had expected this movie to do a little better — good it’s playing in the summer — where I saw it — it was nearly sold out.
I skipped this one, because I tend to avoid sad movies.
I skipped this one because I tend to avoid bad movies.
LOL…
sorry Ana. You left yourself wide open for that one.
Point to Mr. Ian.
“Every night I play catch with my dead brother.” Who greenlights this shit?
Uh…it’s number 4 on its opening weekend.
I don’t think you understand how the business works. Who cares what # it is at the box-office. What matters is what it cost versus what it made. Charlie st. Cloud was real cheap to make so opening to 14 mil is a good number. It spanked Remember Me which had THE Robert Pattinson. I’m sure universal is pleased with the result.
remember me did 8M on 2100 screens, charlie st. cloud did 12M on 2700 screens.
the robert pattinson flop was a total mis-reading of the success of the twilight franchise. the fans are only commited to the character in the book. it’s like with harry potter. daniel radcliffe can’t open a film either.
zac efron i think will be around for a while. he should try to stick to comedies. but everyone will forgive him trying his hand at drama. brad pitt survived Meet Joe Black and numerous other flops.
I heard that Charlie st Cloud had a budget in the mid thirties, hopefully it will make it back. Pattinson’s was 16M and it made 3x with foreigns. St cloud I believe had a huge marketing budget as well. I wonder how much was spent on this movie? Efron maketed the hell out of this one, ads everywhere, too many commercials turn people off. It will do Ok overseas.
Let’s just say I am not part of any target audience for High School Musical or those vampire films. That said, I truly believe from the little I have seen, (trailers and excerpts) that if Zac Efron can make sage choices between lead, supporting, ensemble, character, independent, big-budget, comedy, drama, etc., he could have a very successful career. He is not without talent and not without presence. So far I think his choices have been good. I won’t watch this film in the theaters but I will watch it some day.
How ’bout we agree that Efron and Pattinson both suck equally and leave it at that?
Thanks for the early ballpark estimates. I have to think that Charlie St. Cloud will be more front loaded than the studio weekend estimate indicates. The Last Song started with a $7.2 million friday and ended with a $16 million opening weekend. And it had two days to bleed off some of it’s front loadedness. So maybe $12 million for Zac, I’m guessing.
I don’t think Paul Rudd is much of a box office star… I struggle to differentiate him from all the other secondhand comedians. What probably carried Schmucks this high is “From the director of Meet the Parents.” That alone almost got me to the theater, but then I heard all the bad buzz and backed off.
And mfan, The Last Song wasn’t front-loaded; it opened on Easter weekend, so obviously Friday was going to make up a large part of the total. Anyone who would pay to watch Charlie St. Cloud obviously doesn’t put much stock in critical-thinking, so it’s unlikely the film could be too sappy… the sappier, the better!
The Last Song’s first Friday was Good Friday. Not a just comparison.
I had forgotton that The Last Song opened on Easter Weekend.
I hope the numbers for CSC is higher than this. From the twitter and the FB comments, the fans love it. Despite what the critics say, its what the fans think about the movie that is most important.
The Last Song pulled in that 7.2 million on Good Friday, which is generally a strong movie day, and dropped over 50% on Easter Sunday. There were also two other movies in the top 10 that had bigger Friday-to-Saturday drops. I think its performance is more indicative of the effects of the holiday weekend.
But yeah, I still don’t think Charlie St. Cloud will have a great multiplier.
keep guessing, you moron.
I’m not sure what your issue is. Right now, Universal is predicting a $15 million weekend based on an estimated $5.6 million friday. That’s a 2.68 friday to weekend ratio which is right in line with The Lake House which had a $5,079,658 friday.
So basically, Universal is saying Zac Efron will frontload this movie to the tune of a half a million dollars. But if he has pulled in, say one million extra on friday, then a 2.68 multiplier on $4.6 million would be $12.3 plus the one million for a $13.3 million weekend.
And if he has pulled in $1.5 million worth extra on friday, then 2.68 X $4.1m = 11 + 1.5 = $12.5 million.
So this is just a difference of opinion on how popular Zac Ephron is, and how many of his fans rushed to see him on friday. I believe the studio is being too conservative on that score.
i was wrong. i apologize.
Well vince, it looks like the “anonymous moron” was on to something.
Charlie st. cloud looks like the sappiest movie ever. i cringed both times during the trailer when i saw inception twice
Yeah, well you’re not the target audience. Not everyone has your high standards.
Not everyone can tolerate movies with substance like you. Don’t you have a talking animals movie to jerk off to?
There are so many sad and wonderful things about Jack’s post.
So Inception has a shot at being #1 three weeks in a row? That’d be interesting. Of course when the estimates are coming in this early they could wind up anywhere. Salt’s apparently going to continue on similar to Robin Hood. I guess that’s a little disappointing, but since it only had half of RH’s budget it’s hardly worst-case scenario.
I sure hope not, Salt is a whole lot better than RH. Jolie rocked it.
If you think Jolie rocked it, you must have low standards.
(Thank God they make movies like Inception for the smarter people..)
Condescending much?
Inception was made for a mass general audience, hence all the car chases, gun fights and explosions. If you think that makes it a movie for “smarter” people, you must have low standards.
Actually I think think the opening was due to Steve Carell and the heavy reliance on him and “the wacky guy from The Hangover” more than Rudd.
Inception is having good holds considering the summer mid week numbers are strong..however, expected a smaller drop than this.
it’s word of mouth is terrific and so is the desire to see the film again. expected it to pull off a terrific hold.
maybe next weekend.
Charlie st cloud is the worst movie of the year, am surprised it did this well. It is sad that the Tweens have no taste
Efron will continue doing these crappy movies until the teens latch on to the next guy with abs or a pretty face, and then he will thankfully be gone
You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. He’s 22 with a first look producing deal @ Warners. They’re throwing all kinds of movies at him with good adult roles like THE LUCKY ONE. Name another young 20’s studio friendly actor with leading man potential. Besides Shia there’s not much.
“This def shows Efron can pull in an audience”
Not if he can only come #4 on opening weekend. He needs to come higher than that if he wants to show he can pull in an audience.
well that’s not fair — this is summer, you don’t have to open at number 1 to show you can open a movie — 15 million Plus for a movie that is all on Efron’s shoulders — pretty solid and I’m sure he will get a lot of solid weekday numbers as well. All of Efron’s movies should play in the summer, because that’s when his audience is free. I still thought it was a mistake to have opened high school musical 4 in September.
Except the last film that was all on Efron’s shoulders opened with a bigger gross…and number one. Sorry but this isn’t a triumph. It may not be an out and out failure, but I don’t think Universal is celebrating these lackluster numbers.
Terrible numbers for Cats and Dogs. Cost $85 million to make and I’ve been seeing so many ads everywhere, I have to think it cost another $100 million to market.
“Dinner For Schmucks” has the potential to be the worst movie of the year. Shockingly bad. With all that talent, its a shame! Its almost worse because of the cast. WOM will kill this movie!
Saw Schmucks at The Arclight. Sold out three shows. Laughing like idiots. Shrieks of laughter. Applause and yells at the end. The whole place was rocking. I don’t get it. What am I missing? What’s so funny?
Applause and yells at the end? I’ve been to many, many, many movies in my life, as we all have. I can count on one hand the number of movies that actually really got applause at the end beyond a few sparse claps, and no one has ever, ever yelled. I think all these applause anecdotes, that we read every single weekend on Deadline, are fake.
Agreed! Perhaps a dozen films during my moviegoing career. I like Carell and Rudd, but this,no.
Actually in L.A. almost every movie gets some applause at the end due to the immense number of industry folks in the audience.
They are really clapping for themselves and their own selfish pretentiousness.
People who try and use audience numbers or audience reactions at the Grove or Arclight as proof of a movie’s quality or financial success need to remember that the moviegoers at those theaters are about the most unrepresentative sampling group possible. They do not reflect the tastes and behaviors of the majority of moviegoers across the country – they are outliers in every respect.
ehhhh… zac. so not taylor lautner. this shows he has no audience. he USED to, but they all moved on to taylor. to kids, its just not hip to love zac. he needs to stop thinking like a leading man, take two steps back, do a bunch of ensemble pieces and re-emerge in 5 years as a leading man.
Hmmm, I smell a PR rep here. Can you tell me which movie Taylor Lautner has opened? Um, oh, gee, yeah, he hasn’t even starred in a film yet. Did you get your Quija board out to guess Taylor Lautner’s BO totals on the films that haven’t come out yet, or are you just making stuff up.
I’m guessing from the BO totals for Zac Efron, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart that the stars of the HSM series and the Twilight series are the series themselves. Which is why it is so incredibly stupid for Hollywood to overpay the actors who have little or no intrinsic value whatever.
Taylor hasn’t even had a movie on his own and efron — opened 17 again with 22 million — what is with all the efron haters?
Uh, I like Taylor as much as the next pedophile but the last movie he headlined was Sharkboy. Efron has the classic makings on a movie star and he’s shouldering his own movies. Why didn’t you at least bring up Rob Pattinson. Oops, Remember Me died. That’s why.
“…I like Taylor as much as the next pedophile…” is the line of the day.
i HATEEEE TAYLOR LAUTHNER WITH ALL MY HEAT
ZAC EFRON ALLL THE WAY
I’VE BEEEN ZACS FOR FOR ALMOST 5 YRS NOW AND NOO SHITTYYYY TAYLOR LAUTHNER CAN CHANGE THAT..
dnt give advices to ppl..
The weirdest post of all time.
The average movie star has a five year career lifespan; teen stars less. Seen any great Hilary Duff movies lately? How ’bout them Olsen twins? All the money to be made on Efron was made in the HSM franchise. Once they run out of Twibooks Lautner should file for social security. Sad but true; kids don’t go to college with their HSM posters.
I’m surprised Charlie St. Cloud was able to pull in $5.3M, despite being clobbered by critics. Well, that crowd doesn’t care about reviews anyway. I guess Zac Efron really can draw a crowd. Salt is slightly disappointing, but will probably still reach $100M, which is still pretty damn good. Dinner with Schmucks did about as well as I expected.
finally saw inception. hate to use a 20 dollar word. but there’s too much exposition in this film. it thinks it’s smarter than what it is. i hated the use of the edith pilaf track in the movie with marion cotillard in the film. it was like someone wanted to scream ‘look how smart we are with our references.’
and why is it that french women are excused their bad english accents and lispes in movies but french men are rarely given the chance to do the same thing? and has pete postlethwaite been like pushing 70 for 30 years?
none of this means i don’t like chris nolan. i’m a huge fan. i just could not get lost in this movie. i hated that in the end this film was a love story. i hate that. why can’t someone write at least one f**kin mainstream film that doesn’t have a love story or bromance at it’s core?
and the whole james bond snow sequence at the end was extremely annoying.
Totally agree. The exposition got too tedious for me. It tried to be too deep and profound with the dream talk that they forgot to write an actual story. I feel like hitting people who say the film is so smart. The story never explained why those bad guys were bad. Sure, they are big and powerful and they can take control of the energy industry. And…? Totally glossed over it seems in favor of endless exposition scenes talking about Inception. What about this film is so genius? My ears are open, so please enlighten me. I do admire that it tried to be more ambitious and challenges the audience, but in the end it didn’t amount to much for me.
What made the film a lot of money were the great images in the trailers/commercials.
yes, that’s exactly right. where the hell was the story?
and yes, the trailers were genius. but then when we got to the room with the floating people, i was completely disappointed. i kept hoping the van driver would get shot in the head.
and can’t someone somewhere find a brazilian actress to cast as a lead in a movie or set a film in sao paulo instead of paris? it’s a much bigger market than france. latin accents are sexier. and the women age better. there must be some brazilian film fund somewhere if the country has money to fund the olympics and the next world cup.
I’ll agree with the accent, and the film was a bit too expositiony at points. But it definitely wasn’t distracting and it definitely wasn’t a bad thing. And you have to have a proper mix of things to be a great film. And I HIGHLY doubt that you could call what was in this a romance. You could say it was more of a redemption story because of the shame and sorrow the lead had about his wife. . . but that’s really it. There wasn’t much of “romance” in it at all. . .
And I don’t see how the snow scenes annoyed you because they were pretty amazing. I feel like the whole movie was just a mash up of all the best parts in most other great movies. But yeah, you have yours and I have mine.
I couldnt have said that any better. Way too much talking and not enough sci-fi action stuff. Completely agree with you on that snow scene, little bit too much seasoning of bond there. Nolan has the talent and creative vision, but he needs a lot more schooling in the art of creating a well made, well rounded action film.
i kinda agree. i’m not a hater either, and i didn’t hate inception or anything. i would summarize my impression of the movie in one word–OVERHYPED.
i think people are just used to watching such dumbed down and stupid movies that when inception came along people forgot what it meant to think during a movie. but i remember coming out of the matrix and being blown away. i came out of inception a little ticked off that i had seen the ending coming.
Would be awesome if inception won three straight weeks the middle of the summer. An original idea for a movie, an empowered filmmaker, a studio handling marketing and distribution (and not creative), not some ex-studio head producing and collecting millions of dollars to add nothing creatively….maybe studios would start to follow that formula. As opposed to a remake, with 10 different writers, a director who is a shooter, and a producer who has no opinion other than whatever it takes to get the movie made, and a studio making all the creative decisions.
Well the reviews for St. Cloud terrible, and the marketing was awful for it. And i don’t know if any one can say he can pull in box office, that’s a shitty number in my opinion, but whatever.
Saw Schmucks tonight, HORRIBLE. I really liked Salt (and Inception), Jolie is excellent in this role. I must say Salt is getting a raw deal, obviously it could not compete with Inception in it’s second weekend, but for it to be shut down by this Schmucks nonsense this time around is a crime.Seems like the movie going public is split between wannabe intellectuals (Inception) and brain dead sleepwalkers (Schmucks).
Cats & Dogs 2 should get way more than $12 million for the weekend with a $4.3 million Friday. As a kiddie/family film, they don’t open too high on the first Friday (as it’s a weekday) usually as rule. Probably will jump to $6 million(ish) for the Saturday and $4 million for the Sunday for more like $14 million I think…
Wow! I just saw Dinner for SUCKS and I must say
It was a more painful experience then THE LAST AIRBENDER!
I did not laugh once and a few people walked out, god how
I wished I had joined them.
The Worst Film of the year!
I saw Dinner for schmucks in a packed house at the urging of a friend who told me she couldnt stop laughing when she had seen it earlier in the day. It was a great, funny movie. The whole theater was laughing during many parts of this movie and even clapped at the end. This was a laugh out loud movie and from the reaction of the audience I was with I know Im not the only one who thinks this.
What’s up with all the studio plants?
Was it really that great? Was it? Was the whole audience, like, doing back-flips down the aisle, pi$$ing their pants and dumping buckets of popcorn over their heads?
Are their husbands definitely going to go out and buy the DVD when it comes out? (See above comment)
You guys are so freaking obvious.
Zefron opening at #3 or #4 isn’t stellar but I bet it’s better than anything Taylor Lautner does, that isn’t named Twilight. Neither of them appeal to males, but Zefron is shrewdly cementing his teen girl base, with weepies and romances. Lautner is relying on action movies, when the male action movie base won’t turn out for him.
The danger with “cementing the teen girl base”, and depending solely on it, is that those teen girls eventually acquire boyfriends.
When the couple sits down to select a weekend movie to go to, the male is almost always going to veto anything with Zac Efron in it.
I think you’re exactly right. If they are trying to push Lautner as an action star they are in for a very rude awakening. Guy who like action films despise Lautner and all he represents. Which is too bad for him in a way, because I have heard he is a very accomplished martial artist. No dudes will every see Lautner as an action hero.
The biggest news is that Toy Story and Grown Ups are still in the Top 10, at weekend 7 and 6. Toy Story is truly a monstrous hit.
Grown Ups has had almost zero competition this summer. It is like everybody forgot about the adult comedy genre.
Grown Ups is an adult comedy ?????
Funniest (and saddest) comment I have read here in a long time.
I think last song opened on a wed so it’s Friday was smaller. It had a 5 day of 25 I believe. Miley is bigger than Zac.
“Salt” and “Robin Hood” are on totally different points; Salt crosses $100M domestically and it is a better then break even. Robin Hood needed about $225M domestic to really be a profitable enterprise. “Salt” might top out between 100-150, but it’ll get a sequel; RH no way. (I say this as someone who didn’t really like Salt, which I thought was kind of a mess all the way through).
Toy Story 3 looks as though by end of run it’s going to top $400M. Which makes it the biggest hit of the summer. Take that Twilight fans.
I’m trying to look at the slate and see if there is anything else on the boards left until the end of the year with a legit shot at $400M, and outside of HP7 part1, I don’t see anything else out there with the potential to catch it. So that’s a great performance for Pixar.. I’m trying to think of the last time an animated was in contention for #1 in a year, I think that was Lion King?
Sorcerors Apprentice is absolutely doing dreadful business. Charie St. Cloud will be front loaded, but even if it’s just an $18M weekend, the film was super cheap to make, so no one really loses there.
It was Shrek 2 in 2004, the last animated film before that to be top for the year domestically was Toy Story in 1995.
The Lion King was #2 for 1994.
I understand that perfectly. My observation was about the pure numbers being almost identical on the opening weekend and the second weekend hold, if estimates are accurate. Robin Hood’s crazy budget obviously means that the films are going to define “success” at completely different levels.
I think TRON has a chance at $400M, opening Dec 17.
It won’t earn all of that in ‘10, though.
The Tron trailer looks good! Not interested in any of the new releases this week. I’m thinking The Other Guys might get me to the theater next week.
“I’m trying to look at the slate and see if there is anything else on the boards left until the end of the year with a legit shot at $400M, and outside of HP7 part1, I don’t see anything else out there with the potential to catch it.”
Huh? No Potter film has ever grossed anywhere near 400M domestic. Unless you’re counting on a 3D bump?
You’re correct that no potter film has broken 400M. Then again, HBP crossed $300M, and looking at the slate, there are no other real “tentpole” films out there that can say they have that in their belt. I was saying unless something crazy happens, TS3 will be the box office champ for the year. Out of all the films I’ve seen this year, only 3 really stand out (TS3, Inception, Temple Grandin.. though that’s HBO, but damn, too bad that didn’t get a theatrical).
So HP7 with some 3D bump. But I’m thinking what we really saw this weekend is that audiences have either been burned out or aren’t sold on the 3D bit. See: Cats & Dogs2. Studios throwing out absolute crap in 3D doesn’t sell as much, meanwhile TS3, which now is in 3D nowhere still clicks along.
I think the audience is coming to the conclusion the crazy increase in cost for 3D isn’t worth it unless a film is fundamentally designed for it.. and Avatar was the exception to the rule.
I don’t see HP7 getting a big enough bump to go over $400 million on 3D alone.
The box office performance of the films is relatively solid, the audience has been established and isn’t likely to grow massively with the upcoming film so at best I think you will get only what the addition of 3D will give.
If – as has been reported – that 3D adds about $18 million for every $100 million gross then based on a rough average of $300 million for the Harry Potter films (which is actually slightly rounding up) then HP7 may get to about $350/$360 million with the 3D factor involved, assuming it earns about the same as the last couple of films.
However, that should give it a shot at being the first Harry Potter film to then top $1 billion global take once you also add on international 3D dollars.
Zac Efron fans will love him in CHARLIE ST. CLOUD. He is starting to show some great acting chops and should have a solid career post HSM.
He needs to do less CHARLIE ST. CLOUD and more ME AND ORSON WELLES.
“Salt” has good word of mouth and will stay in the Top 5 for the next few weeks. Older audiences are checking it out and a lot of people I know are seeing it during the week. It should have no issues making $125 here and a boatload overseas. Also expect it to do well on DVD. Good for AJ.
There’s nothing wrong with a director being “malleable.”
The studio gave him a lot of money to make a movie people would want to see. Why is it a crime for the director to rework the movie towards that goal when his first pass fails to deliver? Anything less is irresponsible and disrespectful.
It’s a business. The best directors blend art and commerce to everyone’s satisfaction. Those prima donnas who whine and bitch about their artistic integrity would do well to not accept assignments from studios.
Being malleable doesn’t always work.
Ridley Scott was ‘malleable’ with Kingdom of Heaven. He opted to butcher his excellent 3+ hour cut into a subpar 2+ hour cut.
Just wait till STEP UP 3D opens…it will show them all whose boss!
75 million opening, at least!
I doubt it. Unless they triple 3D ticket prices. And I liked the last film.
Thank you for this post. 100% true on everything you say.
Why would you admit to being involved with studio films? That only makes you seemed biased.
Schmucks was a rental. It was nothing special. And it most likely won’t reach what Date Night made. 24M is hardly amazing when you take into account past grosses by Carell and Roach.
Get Him to the Greek was much better than Schmucks.
re: KITTY GALORE. ‘producer’ andrew-i-screamed-at-george-clooney-lazar is on a roll: JONAS HEX and KITTY GALORE. WB must really value that tool.
Reporting on the results of the first test screening is not hating. By your thinking, reporters would be banned from reporting that a director was asked to do additional reshoots, as well. While I agree that film criticism in America is deeply in need of some professional standards, I think it’s also pretty clear that you might want to attend some anger management classes.
Note to dudette:
Allow me to introduce you to Edith Pilaf’s sister, Rice.
And their cousin, Quinoa.
So where are all the people who said that “Inception” wouldn’t make $200 million, or even $150?
Hmmmmmmmmmm?
Were real (not flacks) people really saying that? If so they’re insane. Coming off of the Dark Knight Chris Nolan could have done 150 minutes of him dancing in his underwear and people would have stormed the theaters. I think he’s overrated, particularly on the story side, but he’s got more street cred than anyone else out there right now.
Salt had a budget of 110 million–sooo—how does doing 100 million in the US put it in the win column? To the poster that said Salt is now being seen by “older” people–what? By “older” do you mean, in their 30″s? Keep telling yourselves what a GREAT hit Salt is.
Salt is an international movie so domestic will probably makeup a third of it’s overall collect. Bring in ancillaries and you got a winner. Do the math. Angelina is the only true international female star who can open a movie on her own.
Both times I went to see Salt, most of the audience was middle-aged and up. It surprised me. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad sign for business, though–with a PG-13 rating I thought it would have gotten a bump from a more youthful crowd but there were barely any teenagers or even twentysomethings from what I saw.
I saw Salt twice also, at two different theaters. And I noticed the exact same thing both times! I thought Salt would get a better hold this weekend because the younger crowd would migrate from Inception to Salt. Regardless, it should have a better third weekend hold.
Why should it surprise you? AJ looks like she’s middle-aged now, frankly, so I can appreciate people loving an action star who looks like them.
Hopefully not too many middle-aged people are delusional enough to think they look half as good as Jolie.
He is a legit box office player….knocked up, I love you man, role models
Seriously. You’re trying to sell Knocked Up as a Paul Rudd film? Come on. And Role Models and I LOve You, Man weren’t exactly boffo at the BO. Rob Schneider used to go over 100 mil for his crappy films a decade ago so 60 mil for a Paul Rudd film isn’t exactly killing it. Especially since these films have zero overseas BO.
Schneider has never gone over 100 mil. You’re an idiot.
You’re right – he’s only done 93 mil -
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=deucebigalowmalegigolo.htm
and 84 mil
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=animal.htm
So, what’s your point? Are you claiming Rudd is a big star because he’s doing Rob Schneider numbers ten years later? Because I Love You, Man did 91 mil and Role MOdels did 92. Who’s the idiot. Rudd isn’t a star. And this film is already showing a downward curve as the weekend goes on. Out of theaters in three weeks.
Bill,
My point is your an idiot. You tried to discredit another poster by making a false claim. You didn’t even bother to look it up which makes you lazy too. You’re a lazy idiot. And I don’t think Paul Rudd is a big box office draw. I never said he was. I only said that you’re an idiot which i backed up with a fact. You should stick to watching Schneider flicks, you derp-dee-derp idiot, and stay out of the talkbacks.
Also, Dinner With Schmucks — as godawful as it is — will not be out of theaters in three weeks. The world may wishes it was, but it won’t be. Only an idiot would think otherwise.
Dude,
The film went from 8.4 to 8.3 to 6.5 over the weekend. Bad word of mouth. It will be gone. In fact most films are all but gone after three weeks.
As for calling me an idiot. Typical of the kind of industry jackasses on this board. Sorry my basic point was lost on you since you’re busy playing the third grade school marm. Maybe you can high five one of the other folks in the Agency mailroom tomorrow.
Bill,
Sorry. I’m not in the industry. I’m 3,000 miles away. And I guarantee you Schmucks — as crappy as it may be — will still be at the AMC in 4 weeks time.
You’re an idiot.
First off, I haven’t seen Dinner For Schmucks. I do know, however, that the two best critics in the land in my opinion – Ty Burr and Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe – gave it a lukewarm thumbs up and a hard “stay at home” on there video blog.
As for Nikki’s articles. She has her biases but saying she doesn’t know the film business sounds like a statement from someone with a vested interest in the film. This comment page actually appears to be infested with Schmucks insiders and studio plants today. With 8.5 on Friday for a film that appears to be heavily front loaded I’m guessing this film with be an average to underperforming summer comedy. Which is probably what it deserves.
Make a better film and more folks will go see it.
Ty Burr gave it a lukewarm thumbs up. Wesley Morris gave it a massive thumbs down.
Never mind. I didn’t read it properly. You meant Burr gave it the lukewarm thumbs up while Morris gave it a hard “stay at home”.
Steve needs to go back to The Office before he ruins his so-called “career”.
Haven’t Carrell’s movies all been hits? I can’t think of one that was a bomb. He’s better of sticking to movies and I say this as a fan of “The Office”. Strike while the iron is hot.
Evan Almighty. A pretty famous bomb, but I agree he’s proven himself enough to leave TV successfully.
Inception is the best movie of the year.
No. Older as in my friends who are 40+ status updating on FB that they finally got around to seeing “Salt” and are talking about how good it is. Expect to see it in the Top 5 for a few weeks on its way to 125 million at least.
omg how could zac be #4????? wooow
i went a supported and id my part..ppl plz GO SEE CHRALIE ST CLOUD
u WONT regret it trust meeeeee..
its my #1 movie pick…it was reallly goood
Don’t worry. Usually, dramas don’t make as much money as comedies, romantic comedies, or action movies. This is a good result for Zac. And you can be assured he will be a star in the future, because he’s doing the best of the young male stars, and Hollywood needs someone to step in and succeed.
It’s odd to me that there’s so much back and forth about whether Paul Rudd is a draw. I thought Schmucks was being marketed primarily on Steve Carell. The trailers are certainly focused mostly on him and his oh-so-zany antics.
Everyone – rent the original from Netflix (in french) called “The Dinner Game” – it’s fantastic.
In fact, the cast of The Dinner Game should invite the cast from Schmucks to a dinner as their idiots.
Most comedies are previewed, right? And most good comedy directors learn from how the films play at the previews and use that to improve their films. So are you implying Nikki that a director should stick to a version that’s “not working”? Your original slag on the film was that “it’s not working.” Then the director made it work much better, but now you think by doing so he’s worthy of your derision for being open minded and nimble enough to change it and make it work? You imply directors should be above that, yet your whole website is devoted to measuring who’s scoring best (box office, buzz or previews). I like your site, but that just seems hypocritical.
Whether you liked the film or not, I think we can ALL agree that a $24 mill opening weekend is a HUGE disappointment. All down hill from here.
Where are all the “Inception” haters now? Huh? No credibility, no taste. Have fun watching “Step Up 3-D”, you losers.
inception budget: 160-200 m. + ads. Wake up!
Um. The budget was $160 million. And even with advertising, it’s already going to make at LEAST $250 million – and that’s just domestic. It’s a complete hit. Deal with it.
Well considering that ‘Inception’ even with a budget of $160Mil – is already at $194Mil in the US and another $170 in International receipts.. $364Mil by anyone’s accounting method makes that movie a hit.. also ‘Inception’ has legs.. it could (and probably will) do $600Mil US/Foreign.
I knew it. I could tell from his infantile name calling in the above posts that right was a Nolan/TDK/Inception fanboy. You can spot them by their vile immaturity. Laughably, they think they are smarter than everyone else but everytime they post they reveal how intellecually, emotionally and psychologically deficient they are. Don’t let them perpetrate the same puerile fascist bullying they attempted with TDK. Call them on it everytime.
Whoa. I’ve never seen so many people get their panties in a bunch defending Zac Effron’s b.o. or worrying if Angelina Jolie has a hit or not. This is sad.
sadly, some of his tweeny fans have infiltrated this site and they don’t get film, so to them its the next ‘Oscar buzz movie’. most of them can’t even articulate what they saw. Sure, lets take our shirt off and stare at the camera so my tweeny fans can have an ‘O’ cause that’s good filmmaking..It’s mild tween porn…the movie was horrible, Burr should be ashamed, and I hope efron learned a huge lesson from this. He actually has a ton of talent but you don’t see it in this, it totally gets missed.
Looks like 2010 is Carell’s year with a three-for-three so far. I just hope he doesn’t blow it like Ferrell.
Cats & Dogs 2: The Revenge of Kitty Galore was made by the same production company and Producer that bought us such fine fare as… Jonah Hex. Just sayin’.
Jonah Hex was made by the same production company that brought us such fine fare as… Inception. Just sayin’.
Simply put, Jonah Hex was made by Legendary Pictures, while Cats & Dogs 2: The Revenge of Kitty Galore was made by Village Roadshow Pictures.
Next time, get your facts straight.
The previous poster is correct. Same producer, and production company on Cats and Dogs as Jonah Hex. He is the glue that binds those incredible cinematic masterpieces.
Also I just discovered… The producer of Cats and Dogs 2 and Jonah Hex is producing AKIRA too.
Please.
God.
No.
There’s a common producer on both projects, Andrew Lazar who’s outfit is responsible for primary development. He’s a cool guy. The original poster was correct and YOU are wrong. Next time you ought to be the one to get their facts straight.
There’s nothing incorrect about my post. The production company (Legendary Pictures) which produced Jonah Hex is also responsible for producing Inception. Cats and Dogs 2 production company (Village Roadshow Pictures) doesn’t have anything to do with the production of Jonah Hex.
You can clearly see that my (previous) post doesn’t mention anything about the producer of either movies, and that’s because I knew both films were sharing the same producer, but C&D2 had three different producers on board, so I don’t it’s fare to only blame the main producer and ignore the others like they have never involved with the project.
So, unless Warner Bros is being referred to as THE production company for both pics, I am being correct here and the first poster is incorrect (about the production company behind both pics).
Geez, I think I ruined my post by over-explaining, but I did that because I can’t exactly tell someone’s comprehension level of thinking by just seeing an incorrect claim being made by that poster.
Can’t believe ‘Cats & Dogs 2′ had a budget of $85Mil.. cause it doesn’t look like it did.
Went to see “Dinner for Schmucks” at the Saturday 7 p.m. show. The theater was packed and the audience laughed a lot. I thought it was fun, wacky, and entertaining. Loved the scenes with Steve Carrell and Zach Galifianakis interacting.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Carrell’s character Barry narrating the little mouse dioramas. Frickin’ hilarious.
Right
Unless you have a financial stake in “Inception”, its BO results
should be of no consequence to you. Leo’s only decent performance was when he went “full retard” in Gilbert Grape. As for Nolan, his most recent effort pales in comparison to “The Dark Knight”. Hell, it’s not even as good as the gloriously overpraised “Memento”. You keep slurping, though. It suits you.
Right on glen. You said it like I would.
Glen,
You keep “slurping”, whatever the hell that means. Inception’s BO disproves every one of your points. Leo is on fire and so is Nolan. How do I know this? Inception’s Box Office, that’s how. Enjoy “Step Up 3-D”, you loser.
Say Franck, what’s all this hullabaloo about this “Goose step”?
What’s that you say Ernie? They’re making a movie about Nazis marching?
Uhm, I think so, and would you believe, they’re making it in 3d!
-Sigh- Oh well, there are worse things.
There is nothing worse than “Step Up 3-D”. Nothing.
glen, this is a film industry site, and a movie like Inception’s box office does affect this industry; subsequently it will affect (at least in a small part) individuals who are trying to get original material off the ground. Who the fuck are you to tell other people what’s of consequence to them? Inception’s B.O AND critical reception indicate that people have really been enjoying themselves seeing it. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, as long as you realize that’s all it is and not fact.
“Shutter Island” and “The Departed” spring to mind.
Don’t hate Leo because he was in the biggest money-maker of all time!
“”Why didn’t you at least bring up Rob Pattinson. Oops, Remember Me died. That’s why.”"
Oh, if by “died” you mean more than tripled it’s budget and made about $57 million then yeah, it really died. LOL
Try again.
Oooh, looks like Brian’s Team Edward.
8M opening weekend on 2100 screens = DOA
Truth, Truth, Truth. Comedy is subjective, clearly, but if you think Get Him to the Greek is one of the worst movies of all time, you are, in addition to being entitled to your opinion, out of your mind. Wilder or Sturgess-esque it is not, but in spots it’s laugh out loud funny. Talk about “stodgy critic.”
Disappointing Saturday gross for Charlie St. Cloud but i hope it will have good legs as it’s twitter and flixster ratings are quite high as compared to “Dinner for Schmunks” and “C&D2″.Also it’s target audience is adults who usually don’t rush in to see the movie.
LOL. No movie that stars Efron has a target audience of adults.
I’m afraid that the only “adults” that Charlie St. Cloud is targeted to are those men who usually attend movies wearing raincoats…….
Um, Mr. The Truth…. “Get Him to the Greek” is like a Billy Wilder epic comedy in comparison to the celluloid drivel that is “Dinner for Schmucks.”
If “Schmucks” was even 1/2 as good as, say, “I Love You Man” then you wouldn’t sound like such a blithering idiot/ignoramus of epic proportions.
I see the Twitards are out sh*tting all over everything again.
Carell is very talented, but does anybody think he may be risking overexposure? I mean, a big star only has to put out one movie every year or two to keep a fan base happy. Carell might do himself a favor by slowing down a bit, and keeping the fans waiting in anticipation for his next project.
Everybody laughed at me last week when I said this was the summer of original films. Look at the top ten. There are seven original films, two sequels, and one adaptation.
The top four films are all original.
I say it again: The summer of original films.
Dinner for Schmucks is a remake. Sorceror’s Apprentice is an adaptation. So that means only five of the top ten are original screenplays.
There are three sequels, one remake of a french film, one adaptation of a book and one film based on a cartoon.
Dinner For Schmucks is based on a french film.
@ Jolon and Jacques
Didn’t even realize that about Dinner for Schmucks. I am a spec writer, but comedy is kind of outside my area of interest, and I just assumed it was original. So four out of ten are original, Inception, Salt, Despicable Me, and Grown Ups. The spec market still seems to be better than people make it out to be, and there is still a measurable hunger for original films.
I don’t think the glut of non-original films even has much to do with the market. I think it has more to do with equity investors who are nervous, and who get reassured by a pre-established property. I mean, I doubt most people who saw Dinner for Schmucks follow French cinema, and people who are very passionate about foreign films tend to reject Hollywood anyway. So how exactly did the established property help the new film?
Once again, I am a spec writer, so maybe I am just trying to comfort myself.
That’s cool. I didn’t realize Schmucks or St. Cloud weren’t original IPs until others mentioned it here, either.
I actually think you may be on to something, that maybe the tail end of this summer will reassure investors that original works can survive after all. Inception is pulling in great numbers, and Salt is defeating its competition within the genre. The Expendables is tracking well enough to be a nice hit, too. This will be in good contrast to the glut of big budget movies springing from purchased “properties” that underperformed, like The A Team, Prince of Persia and Robin Hood, among others. So maybe it won’t be “the summer of original films” so much as “the summer that saved original movies.” At least the optimist in me is hoping so.
@ Jacques
Your analysis is deeper and better than mine.
It is strange though that the movies the studios were confident about, like the ones you mention, all underperformed, while the movies they were nervous about, the original ones, mostly beat expectations.
Johnathan – just because a film isn’t based on another property doesn’t mean it came from a spec script.
Um. A remake, three sequels and an adaptation in the top ten does not make a “summer of original films”. Sorry.
Charlie St. Cloud isn’t proof of what genre Efron needs to do but that he needs a better movie.
it isn’t fair to miley to compare the last song with charlie st cloud..last song opened on wed and had a 25 mill 5 day weekend where charlie has a 3 day weekend of 12 mill…true miley had easter on her side but still the last song > charlie also it made almost 90 mill ww which i doubt charlie can make
the last song did much better it made 25 mill in a 5 day weekend (but it was easter)cuz it opened on wed and ended up making 90 mill worldwide and obv charlie can’t pull those numbers…a better comparison would be remember me yea it bombed domestically but it made 57 mill ww ..i think charlie can pull those numbers esp cut it will have a better domestic run
We r just talking if efron can open a movie and he can. Truthfully when I first heard he was doing this I thought it would be just a small art house movie instead of him choosing the potentially higher grossing footloose. I think that this will do better in weekday grosses. How did the trailer give away the movie — it is what the movie is about. BTW all you Robert pattinson fans and non fans must catch remember me which is out on blu ray. He gives a great performance and u would never guess that this is the same twilight Guy.
Fellow Posters: observe as Pattinson and Efron’s respective teams engage in board warfare. Don’t you know a pixie dies everytime you do this?
Like, Kim Deal and Frank Black? Or the other kind of pixie? I’m all confused.
So Charlie St Cloud will even be at number 6? It’s gonna be really hard for Efron to grow up from teen fame. But what can you expect from fake star? Let’s remember how he got famous. Oh yes, he was walking with that silly haircut to every event in Hollywood, his face was at every gossip site. And then someone decided to bring High School Musical to big screen and teens went to see it. And somehow Efron became box-office star.
But then he decided that he is ready to outgrow his teen fame and he cut his hair and became ordinary. And his silly hair was the reason of his success. It was the reason why every gossip site was laughing at him. And then Twilight has suddenly became teen obsess, and then that Bieber thing came out. And poor Zac was forgotten. His teen fans left him for Twilight and Justin Bieber. The adult people (after 20) don’t care about him.
It’s not that easy to became new DiCaprio and Depp as Zac Efron and Pattinsons fans thought. They thought they gonna make sad faces in some sad romantic movie and gonna be new DiCaprio and Depp. You need to choose better scripts boys.
I thought I was done commenting, but COME ON! Leo Dicaprio made his career as the epitome of a pretty faced, pretty boy actor. Maybe you just can’t tell anymore because he’s older now.
I like Zac Efron and am one of his older fans. I’ve seen all his television shows and movies. I am impressed with his acting, he shows great emotion. Charlie St Cloud main plot is more of how he deals with the death of his brother and the choices he makes. Of course, death is a sad state and I felt it was dealt with well in the movie. I believe if his former HSM fans don’t get the movie is because they are way to young. The movie was filled with lots of humour, lighthearted comraderie and is a great film to see….I admit looking at Mr. Efron show his muscles and grand physique didn’t hurt either. I believe he can do drama and needs to make a bigger cross over, he has proved he can do it. Having read the book Charlie St Cloud and Zac Efron only read the script….I think he may have considered roughing up his characters outwards appearance more. I thought he looked too clean yet handsome no doubt. In the book the character is a bit more deshevelled looking. Anyway, I like all types of films and from seeing the prmos for DWS did not prompt me to want to see it, it looked unbelievable and lacked humour, but hey, that’s me. On a Friday night people want to chillax and laugh at impossible realities…..Charlie St Cloud has humour, sadness, romance and redemption…..Zac Efron showed all these emotions and pulled it off really well. And I’m viewing this from an acting perspective, not a fan perspective. He’s willing to sacrifice himself as an actor to bring classic films for a young generation to enjoy….he doesn’t need to do films like DWS.
I think Zac will have a long career. He may not have the “mega popularity” of Taylor Lautner right this minute, but Zac has more talent than Taylor could ever dream of. Zac is growing up and moving on to more mature roles. Studios will be relying on Taylor’s Twilight crowds to up his box office, but they will be sadly mistaken. Robert’s ‘Remember Me’ didn’t do that well in the box office and it was an excellent film AND Robert can act. So, Taylor doesn’t stand a chance (I hope – his acting is still cringe-worthy after all these years). As a side note, I still have a nervous twitch anytime ‘Sharkboy and Lavagirl” is mentioned. Taylor was truly one of the most HORRIBLE child actors imaginable in that traumatically wretched movie.
I agree about the trailer for Charlie St. Cloud – it really gave away nearly the entire plot of the movie. BUT, I went to see it yesterday and it was very well done, I’d recommend it to anyone.
The only folks that liked st cloud also read the book, or wanted to stare at abs. so sad Lautner, now Efron selling his body for a film. These film makers ahould be ashamed to be marketing bodies to young girls. I guess it is no different than selling Megan Fox to the teenboys, but she doesn’t take her shirt off.
@Cali you think Robert Pattinson can act so you lost all credibility there. Remember Me has below 30% on RT and we all know the Twilight films suck. Pattinson was nominated for a Razzie for New Moon and he was barely in the film. Neither Zac Efron or Robert Pattinson will have much of a career outside of their franchises. I would say Taylor Lautner has the best chance. He’s using what talents he knows that he has. He can’t act either, but I would say he can reach Keanu Reeves level or higher. He’s not trying to do broody romantic dramas for teenage girls, he’s doing action films that show his body.
I just watched ‘inception’ and you know what i am gonna watch that again. Thats really a masterpiece. Salute to Nolan.
So let me get the straight. They moved beastly which stars zac gf bc they were afraid it would affect charlie’s number? So with it openin poorly what’s the excuse now?
44mil is cheap yeah? But opening at 12 mil on that budget not so much
So, if we agree with you, cool. But if we disagree with you, we’re studio plants?
Not everybody is a bitter hater.
I loved the movie. I had a blast watching it. I was in a packed house of people who loved the movie, especially Carell, Rudd, Galifianakis and Clement. The beginning was slowish, but the third act dinner played HUGE. Like no other third act in a comedy I’ve seen since Something About Mary.
Have you really even seen the movie? If you haven’t YOU’RE the plant.
Most of the negative reviews have focussed on the issue of it being a remake. It’s not. Doesn’t pretend to be. I recommend see it, judge for yourselves. Some of Carell’s best work. Jemaine Clement is amazing.
Right
So just how does Inception’s BO “disprove” my points about my points about the quality of the film. Alice in Wonderland (BTW,
Depp is a far better actor and a bigger BO draw than Leo will ever be) grossed 334m in the US. Would anyone argue that it was a masterpiece? Inception is a decent film, nothing more. As for Leo being on fire; hey, I’m just glad he got off of Marty’s nutsack long enough to try something new.
Glen,
Inception’s box office disproves your points because it shows that not only the critics back the film but so does the public. You’re just one idiot against millions.
I think Johnny Depp is a badass, but if you look at his filmography and Leo’s there’s no way you can say he’s a bigger box office draw. He’s got Pirates and whatever he does with Tim Burton, but he’s got a ton of misses too.
And nice comment about Leo and Scorsese. I’m sure you were saying the same thing about Scorsese and De Niro. You would be that stupid. If you total up all of Leo’s collaborations with Scorsese they come out to a billion internationally, each film doing better than the last. Only an idiot like you would think it’s a good idea for them to stop working together.
You have zero taste, and zero credibility. Have fun watching “Step Up 3-D”, you loser.
Right
The mere fact that you chose to compare the actor that gave us Travis Bickle, Vito Corleone, and Jake La Motta to a bit player on
Growing Pains tells me all I need to know about your movie knowledge. But, still I’ll address your ridiculous premise. When De Niro worked with Scorcese, Marty was in his absolute prime. Mean Streets and Taxi Driver are widely regarded as among the best films of the 1970’s. Raging Bull and Goodfellas are top contenders for the best films in their respective decades. Marty also directed Ellen Bursyn, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci to Oscar gold. Since his last Deniro collaboration, Marty has directed one, count ‘em one, award worthy film, The Departed. Of course, in that film Leo was out-acted by a former rapper. As for the 1 billion dollars that Leo and Marty have generated with their 4 collaborations, that’s about equal to whatt Depp garnered with Alice and Wonderland. Hey, thanks for making my point for me. Hilarious.
You’re ridiculous.
Um. Most of that box office for “Wonderland” – which, by the way, is NOT AN ORIGINAL FILM, but an adaptation of something that’s been made many times and that everyone already knows – was from 3-D or IMAX sales.
“Inception” will be at $250 million by the end of next weekend.
Just deal with it.
Mark
Inception is at $193 miilion now. It will likely be at $205-210 million by the end of the day on Thursday. That means that it will need a 50%+ increase over last weekend to reach $250 million. Either you’re a fucking idiot (entirely possible), or a Leo slurper.
Either way “Ding, Ding, we have a winner”.
Um. Glen? Check Box Office Mojo, please.
“Wonderland” made $334 million domestic after EIGHTEEN WEEKS of release.
“Inception” is just shy of $200 million domestically right NOW, after only THREE weeks.
It’s already made over $393 million worldwide.
Seriously, what is your problem with facts?
Mark
My reference to Alice in Wonderland was regarding the quality of the film. I simply pointed about to one of your slurper buddies that BO performance does not equal quality. The Transformers sequel grossed $400+. See my point, dipshit. But why we’re on the subject of total grosses, Inception will have to pick up the pace to even catch Depp’s latest. I realize that you’re not good at math, so let me help you out. If Inception continues to drop 30% each weekend, it won’t even catch Alice in Wonderland, much less the far superior Toy Story 3.
“Depp is a far better actor and a bigger BO draw than Leo will ever be”
Uhh, Leo was one of the biggest draws in box office history. You’re probably too young to remember when a little movie called Titanic came out way back in the 1990s. Depp might draw better now, but probably will never be a “bigger BO draw than Leo” was.
you could not pay me enough to watch Steve Carell or DWS.
I’m glad to see Schmucks semi-tank. Wish it had tanked more. It’s exactly the kind of stupid movie that keeps Hollywood doing stupid shit – hacky by-the-numbers director, dumbed down idea, an idiot star mawking for the camera (sorry Steve, you seem like a nice guy, but wtf are you bothering with this?), jamming in the latest “it” funny guy (Zack Galifianakis) to try and suck on some of his current street cred, etc. I can see why the studio would want to do a movie like this – they know idiocy will play for a week or two, so as long as they keep the costs down things are all right. What I wonder is why anybody, anybody else would want to be involved, unless it’s purely for the money. When Paul Rudd dies (I like you too Paul, why are you doing this crap?) do you think they’re going chisel “Starred in Dinner for Schmucks, 2010″ on his tombstone? It’s crap, this movie is absolute crap, and every creative piece in it should feel ashamed, which underneath they probably do. This is why you wanted to act? Direct? I can only assume you all got paid.
Josh. Pour Josh. Don’t you wish you could make people laugh? Those who worked on the movie did it because they love making comedy. This cast and crew got millions of people to laugh their asses off. Did you read Nikki’s column? Schmucks scored a 90 in previews, 75% definite recommend. It made 23.5 million. Got great reviews in the NYT, from Roger Ebert, from USA Today and Variety, among many others. There’s been a campaign against it, mostly about comparison with the original French film, attacking the current film. But also troll people who never saw it, like yourself. Maybe it’s not for everybody, but millions saw it, loved it, lost their minds laughing with it. That’s a pretty good reason to make a film. Harold and Maude was trashed by critics and audiences, too. Didn’t make it less good. This movie is no Harold and Maude, but every person who worked on it can feel proud of triggering a few laughs.
Cats and Dogs is a disaster. While it will hurt WB, how much longer can Village Roadshow stay afloat? Who had the dumb idea to make a sequel ten years later for 100 million????
what is up with zac’s fangirls using this as a personal blog for him.
Girls, this is an intelectual site not a site for horny girls to post about his range. The movie sucked end of….intelligence is lacking on all of you. YOu all need to admit that he needs to stay away from dramas cause he cries like a little girl, and that maybe instead of trying to play the lead, the boy needs to audition, then take a smaller role working with actors of note. That sounds like a ‘Leo’ move to me.
Learn about the industry a bit before you post, or stick to your fan blogs, this isn’t the place, since most of us here understand how things work.
and how the hell has inception managed this take over? It’s good, but damn.
Inception managed to take over, because it’s the smartest movie around. Even if you don’t think it’s brilliant, it’s brilliant compared to everything else that’s been out there in a long, long time.
Where Zac Efron belongs is in college. Matriculating didn’t seem to hurt Jodie Foster, to name one teen actor who went on to much bigger things. He could still work between classes, a la James Franco.
Efron has presence and a natural ease in front of the camera – important gifts that anyone who saw his small but charming turn in ‘Hairspray’ could detect. Back it up with some training and some better thought-out role choices, and he might reach his potential.
.
Saw DFS saturday night. Sold out show, very enthusiastic crowd. Laughter all throughout and the audience cheered and applauded when it ended. Hands down best comedy of the year. If you liked carrell in date night, you’ll love him here. I definitely recommend this to anyone looking for lighter summer fare…… big laughs good story, brilliant chemistry between the leads.
Please stop posting glen. You just look more foolish with each thing you say. Inception will make more than $250 million in the States and it’s now at $170 million in the foreign markets, for a total of $363 million worldwide. After just three weeks. It’s going to be a massive hit. Keep eating that crow.
Chris
How do I look foolish? Please point out where I suggested Inception wouldn’t make money. The problem with most of you tards is that you have no reading comprehension skills. I simply stated that the film was not the masterpiece you all seem to think it is.
And Josh is a picture perfect example of everything wrong with a film goer nowadays. A full on elitist that very likely thinks Slumdog Millionaire is “great cinema”.
Zac flopped. 12 mill that’s it? Haha stick to musicals or com.
I like Zac but my money is on Pattinson. Remember Me had a budget of 15 million and made 8 or 9 milion opening weekend. It had an indie feel and was a drama about two families dealing with loss. Rob Pattinson’s next co – stars are Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz who are Oscar winners. He’s working with Francis Lawrence. I would not count him out. Actually, I would not count Zac out either. They are both finding their way through a blizzard of scrutiny. And both seem humble and hardworking
I enjoyed Inception by the way. But Wilcox Theatres has missed the mark in bringing in the blockbusters. Like Ironman 2 didn’t open here at all and SALT didn’t either. But locals have caught on to that fact that this local operator brings second run films. But it likes to still to holdover films for months at a time. Some films which locals don’t even want to see nor does bring it indie films. I wonder if will open with Wall Street 2 since it has the poster but that’s questionable. But this summer it has been real poor mark here for blockbusters. Since this paticular operator hasn’t upgraded to 3d it has lost the teen market already. And one my friends told me that people would come if they brought in better films. But I took offense when Ironman2 didn’t open.
Why do get young actors like Efron hold to higher standards than established stars? This makes no sense at all.
Let’s have a look at recent studio-released dramas with a wide opening (I haven’t included dramas with significant action/adventure elements because those are a much, much easier sell):
The Soloist: $9.72M (Robert Downey Jr and Jamie Foxx – more stars who should probably just go home considering that opening weekend)
1) Invictus: $8.61M (Considering that Eastwood, Damon and Freeman couldn’t open a *good* movie, they should probably all go home and stop making dramas altogether)
2) Extraordinary Measures: $6.01M (Frasier and Ford couldn’t together get even half the people into the theater compared to Efron and they have been playing to their existing audiences)
3) Brothers: $9.53M (Three stars and a very respected director in a awards-nominated, ie good movie and then they couldn’t even hit $10M?)
4) My Sister’s Keeper: $12.4M (This movie is probably comparable since it also tackles a serious topic… but it had with Diaz and her co-stars a much higher profile cast and they came in with the exact same opening weekend. I guess that means their careers are all over too)
5) The Informant!: $10.5M (Soderberg and Damon and only $10M? And it was even a lighter theme with some humor? That’s Damon’s second “failure” – he should probably retire asap)
6) Time Traveler’s Wife: $18.6M (Rachel Adams and Eric Bana could open it a bit higher but it’s based on a very, very popular book and it’s still in its teens, not worlds better)
7) Everybody’s Fine: $3.85M (Awards-nominated drama with De Niro, Beckinsale, Barrymore and Rockwell and they can’t even open it to $4M? Wow)
9) Seven Pounds: $14.9M (This is from 2008 but damn. Not even the holy Will Smith can open this movie above $15M. What should normal actors do then?)
Seriously, there are only a very few exceptions in the last 18 months where a drama opened above $20M. And with the exception of “Dear John” every single one of those dramas was a good movie with good reviews and a much more established cast with several name actors. Plus, most of them opened in fall where auidences are much more open to serious fare. But young actors like Efron are held responsible for the entire budget and BO, like there is no producer, director and other cast who has to contribute too. Why are they are failure if they don’t open a movie *above* average? Efron might get paid more than your average supporting or unproven lead actor but he doesn’t get even close to what the stars above get. Why does nobody question their entire career when they can’t open a movie big? They don’t even have the added difficulty to prove themselves to new audiences and critics.
Charlie St. Cloud was a sad/depressive looking movie which was a) released in the wrong season – it should have been a fall and not summer release, b) it wasn’t good and had bad reviews, c) it had ZERO names with any draw in the cast outside of Efron (the cameos by Basinger and Liotta don’t count, plus they might have credibility but no star power) and d) it was badly marketed (there have been plenty of reports that people were laughing at the trailer in the theater).
Taking all this into account, a $12.4M opening weekend isn’t bad. Was it fantastic? No. But why is he expected to open *this* movie higher than established stars who don’t have the added obstacle to gaining new audiences or credibility in the first place? By no means does it mean that Efron’s career is over or he can’t transition into adult-fare and other genres imo. To say this, he would have to headline several failures in a row imo. I haven’t heard anyone here say that one of the above mentioned actors should refrain from making any dramas. They had a bad or mediocre BO and the same applies to Efron. As someone at The Playlist said, this movie should have opened much, much lower considering how bad it looked and only Efron managed to get it to $12.4M.
And everyone claiming that after this one movie (after he contributed significantly to the Hairspray BO and opened HSM3 and 17 Again) he can’t transition or move into certain genres is just stupid tbh. He does however need to stick to better movies because otherwise his box office will never improve.
The Zac Efron female fans are as annoying as the Robert Pattinson female fans. They think these guys can act because they want to sleep with them. I’m glad Charlie St. Cloud and Dinner for Schmucks tanked. I wish we lived in a world where innovative movies like Inception made more money than the Twilight Saga: Eclipse, but we don’t. It’s not all about box office, it’s about making quality films. Generation after generation re watch classic films. Most of the films Hollywood has released this year, with a few exceptions, are forgettable by the time you leave the parking lot. If this is all Hollywood has to offer, I hope people keep staying home. Hollywood only understands something when you hit them in the pocket.
Say what you will about Evan Almighty, and it was quite the stinker, but it grossed 100 mil in the us and 75 mil overseas. Maybe it was flop in proportion to it’s budget but cleary Carell put butts in the theater seats.