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MONDAY 2ND UPDATE: Here are the actuals for this weekend. Sony/Screen Gems’ Takers won despite a 668 locations advantage in The Last Exorcism‘s favor. I hear Joe Drake at Lionsgate phoned Jeff Blake this morning to congratulate him.
#1 Takers (Screen Gems/Sony) -32% Sunday for $20.5M
#2 The Last Exorcism (Lionsgate) -45% Sunday for $20.3M
SUNDAY AM/SUNDAY PM: Overall the weekend is looking at $110M, down -20% from last year as the summer box office comes to a close. Below is the Top 10 with Friday’s, Saturday’s, weekend, and cume numbers for North American grosses. 
Coming in 11th was The Weinstein Co/Dimension’s Piranha 3D (-60% from last week, so how does that qualify for a sequel?) and in 12th was Fox’s re-release of Jim Cameron’s Avatar: Special Edition with an extra 9 minutes of footage. It was booked into 812 IMAX and 3D theaters in the U.S. and Canada. It made $1.2M Friday and $1.5M Saturday for a $3.8M domestic weekend despite the higher 3D ticket prices and a new domestic cume of $753.5M. As one rival studio exec tells me, “No tears shed” for this pittance considering the original Avatar holds the biggest worldwide box office record of $2.7B. Fox, move on…
1. The Last Exorcism (Lionsgate) NEW [2,874 Theaters]
Friday $9.4M, Saturday $7.1M, Est Sunday $4.8M, Weekend $21.3M
Lionsgate had 2 films in the Top 3 this weekend and ruled the box office for 3 straight weeks thanks to a pair of niche acquisitions. As expected, The Last Exorcism won the weekend with a slightly lower than hoped for $21.3M after Saturday’s domestic box office fell -25% from Friday’s. But it beat Takers only because of its theater count advantage because moviegoers gave Last Exorcism a really rare CinemaScore of “D”, meaning they hated it. Then again, Lionsgate acquired domestic distribution rights to the pic for under $1M. It was PG-13, and not Eli Roth’s Hostel torture porn Hard “R”, so it sold more tickets. Interesting that Roth had told me he’d sworn off horror films. Yet here he was producing this shaky cam film from a script by Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland (formally titled Cotton) about a minister who permits a documentary crew to cover his final exorcism. German director Daniel Stamm did duty. Lionsgate is still in the throes of a hostile takeover attempt by Carl Icahn, so it’s trying to position this weekend’s win ”as a coup given its context”. It’s spinning that it’s back to its “do more with less” origins (“fraction of the big studio budget, fraction of the staff,’ as an LG staffer told me). But has anyone explained that to big spender Joe Drake who dismantled a lot of Lionsgate’s low-budget, high-profit franchises? Lionsgate has been using a lot of outside vendors for its marketing, which led to out-of-the-box thinking on The Expendables. To promote Last Exorcism, the studio pulled a stunt on a random video chat site that generated almost 2.5 million viewings on YouTube and other sites. ”Chat Roulette is virtually untouched by corporate marketers so far because of its inherently unfiltered/impossible-to-control nature,” a Lionsgate exec tells me. “And this has been widely cited as an example of guerilla marketing at its absolute best: getting a film without recognizable stars on people’s radar quickly and for almost no money.”
2. Takers (Screen Gems/Sony) NEW [2,206 Theaters]
Friday $7.5M, Saturday $7.7M, Weekend $20.3M
Sony/Screen Gems’ Takers on Saturday was up +4% from Friday which put the crime thriller at $20.3M for the weekend if Sunday holds. That’s a surprisingly close second-place finish considering it had been tracking so weakly prior to release. The genre film label thought all was lost, especially after it had waited years for filmmaker John Luessenhop to take care of his ill son. But this is why Sony Pictures pays marketing/distribution czar Jeff Blake the big bucks: He sent rap star T.I. on 10-city, 20-day tour to promote the pic. According to my sources, Matt Dillon was scared to do publicity for it, Hayden Christensen hated the pic, Chris Brown was otherwise engaged, and Paul Walker was busy making Fast & Furious 5. So that left Idris and T.I., who’d just signed a 3-picture deal with Sony and whose Grand Hustle Entertainment was Taken‘s producer along with Wil Packer’s Rainforest Films. “Screen Gems told T.I., ‘We’re going to market this movie on your back.’ He went and busted his nuts.” Idris personally hosted nearly 15 screenings in major cities around the country in the days leading up to the opening. The pic’s CinemaScore was only “B” and its budget was one of Screen Gems’ most expensive (around $30M). Sony has 3 films in the Top 5 this weekend, capping an amazingly successful summer because of Blake’s brilliant efforts.
3. The Expendables (Lionsgate) Week 3 [3,398 Theaters]
Friday $2.7M, Saturday $4M, Weekend $9.5M, Cume $82M
With a -44% hold, Sly Stallone’s action ensemble romp just keeps going, and going… Nice.
4. Eat Pray Love (Sony) Week 3 [3,108 Theaters]
Friday $2.1M, Saturday $2.7M, Weekend $6.8M, Cume $60.5M
With a -43% hold, Julia Roberts is looking less like a has-been by the week. Sony says it’s ahead of Julie & Julia.
5. The Other Guys (Sony) Week 4 [3,181 Theaters]
Friday $1.9M, Saturday $2.7M, Weekend $6.2M, Cume $98.9M
6. Vampires Suck (Fox) Week 2 [3,233 Theaters]
Friday $1.6M, Saturday $2.3M, Weekend $5.3M (-56%), Cume $27.9M
7. Inception (Warner Bros) Week 7 [2,070 Theaters]
Friday $1.4M, Saturday $2M, Weekend $5.1M (-44%), Cume $270.7M
8. Nanny McPhee Returns (Working Title/Universal) Week 2 [2,798 Theaters]
Friday $1.3M, Saturday $1.9M, Weekend $4.7M (-17%), Estimated Cume $17M
9. The Switch (Miramax) Week 2 [2,017 Theaters]
Friday $1.4M, Saturday $1.9M, Weekend $4.6M (-45%), Cume $16.4M
10. Lottery Ticket (Warner Bros) Week 2 [1,973 Theaters]
Friday $1.1M, Saturday $1.7M, Weekend $4M (-62%), Cume $17.4M
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Takers was incredible! Go see that foreal!
Forealz? With a 4.9 out of 10 rating on IMDB I’ll ‘take’ or just leave my money in the bank.
You’ve really got to take IMDb scores with a grain of salt. Haven’t seen the movie, but every movie with a majority black cast gets rated down. It’s probably more of a 6.
YAHOO NEWS – AUDIENCE ANGER AT “THE LAST EXORCISM”
“The Last Exorcism” got a strong start on Friday, but apparent toxic word of mouth led to a striking 24% drop in ticket sales by Saturday night. According to the market research firm CinemaScore, audience members gave the “The Last Exorcism” a D.
So what was the problem? Perhaps it’s the film’s jarringly abrupt ending. The audience was audibly annoyed when the credits rolled, shouting profanities at the screen.
Avatar was only showing at 700 screens to keep it out of the top 10. Is it expanding at all?
Avatar will not be expanding because Sony Pictures’ fourth Resident Evil movie will be taking the IMAX, REAL D 3D, digital 3D and X-PAND 3D on Aug. 10th
What about The Expendables now passing
The A-Team’s entire domestic run after only 2 weeks!
wow,those are great numbers.Much better than what most analysts expected.
The Expendables in 2 weeks is already ahead by 5 million
of the total for The A-Team after 80 days!
Those numbers can’t be attributed to bad or good marketing.
Congratulations Eli Roth and the whole cast/crew of THE LAST EXORCISM! It was a great ride. I am so happy for your #1 opening. You guys did a great job delivering something that was different then was advertised but in a great way! It was very funny and very scary at times!
Glad to see the hard work pay off for all you guys. I hope your actors Patrick & Ashley get other great jobs because of this film! They were incredible!
Can’t wait to see what you guys come up with next! This was a great way to end the summer movie season!
Cheers,
Fred
Are you kidding? If tomatoes had been provided, the entire audience at the showing I went to would’ve painted the screen RED when the credits rolled!
HORRIBLE, plus they committed the ultimate “reality horror flick” faux pas of tacking on a Blair Witch ending! Jeez!
It’s “Takers,” not “THE Takers.” And if it does $20 million, that’s going to be an awfully big win for actors like Paul Walker and Hayden Christensen, who are routinely dismissed — yet continue to have enduring appeal with general audiences. Wow. Impressive.
Ninja please. More people, no matter their stripes, turned out to see TI, Idris Elba, Chris Brown and Mike Ealy than Walker and Christiansen – but it’s doing extra gangbusters because of it’s significant black/urban audience. So pardon me, but I think it’s hilarious to see some ‘white’ suit from some agency, come on here and try to spin this as the two white boys ‘comebacks.’ LMAO
False. Sorry the world revolves around you, but the white boys helped this movie’s appeal. Otherwise it could have been another “Lottery Ticket” in it’s limited ‘urban’ audience. I’ve heard it FROM filmmakers that want to round out their otherwise predominantly black cast with familiar ‘white’ faces to expand it’s appeal. I had zero interest in TI and Chris Brown, I really went with my boyfriend because Paul Walker was in it.
And I personally got 10-tickets, NOT because of “THOSE WHITE BOYS,” but because, I ONLY wanted to support CHRIS BROWN!!!! And if YOU went to the ‘Montgomery Royal Theatres’ in Silver Spring, Maryland and saw ‘Takers’ as I did, you’d have seen for yourself – it was 90% an “URBAN AUDIENCE!!”
I ALSO purchased his current Billboard #2, soon-to-be-#1-song ‘Deuces’ a BUNCH OF TIMES. As good of a song, as it certainly is, I ALSO wanted to show MY support for Chris ..!
Now now, kiddies. Cant we all just get along? Like a great big old black and white cookie? Shocking as this may be for you to understand Ali, not EVERYONE makes their movie choices for the reasons YOU do. But thanks for enlightening us with your sociological expertise and informing us that any movie with an all-black cast will be a guaranteed failure. I’m sure that’s news to the black folks at “Precious,” who made $62 mil on a $10 mil budget AND garnered 6 Oscar nods.
Logic dictates that, yes, urban audiences came out specifically to see TI (because of his huge popularity), while I seriously doubt many white moviegoers are rushing to theatres JUST to see Paul Walker. The fact is, the mixed casting helped bring in both black and white audiences, but in the end, all Hollywood cares about is that they all paid with money that was “green.” Is it a good movie? I have no idea, since I am opposed to the notion of paying to see convicted felons on screen. But I’m glad Idris Elba and Paul Walker seem to have a small hit on their hands, since I like them both.
Yes, let’s bring Precious into THIS conversation.
And I don’t believe I said ‘a guaranteed failure’.
That’s my point XY and Z…you and I both went to see the same movie, in different cities, and different theaters, for different reasons. Precisely my point. Thank you.
@Hasbeen Aniston Sunday Aug 29th, 2010 -
“Logic dictates that, yes,urban audiences came out specifically to see TI, because of his huge popularity” So, given YOUR rational T.I. is more popular than Chris Brown ?! … ARE YOU STUPID..??
“Huge Popularity?!” … Er… Wayne/Gucci ..? 0_o
In the clubs, in the cars and yes, ON THE RADIO, their bumpin’ Chris “Deuces” … HARD…!!!!! When you get a chance, go to the Urban Blogs, hang out, just read what’s been written/said; no-one cares bout Rihanna, she’s a lying, no-talent HACK!
“Felons/Criminals …?!” … Well what about that rapist, Roman Polanski, his GOOD-friend,his enabler Jack Nicholson? Sean Penn, didn’t he kick Madonna’s azz, back in the day? … Got an Oscar for “Milk”, didn’t he?
And what about the more popular, better known …”Felons/Criminals”:
Mel Gibson, Charlie Sheen? Charlie Sheen, whose been beating-on-women for DECADES ..!! YES! Charlie Sheen has a DECADES-long history/record of misogyny! And ‘Ol Charlie is currently, even after ALL THAT DRAMA, TV’s HIGHEST-PAID actor!
… And Mad Max? … Not-to-worry, he’s put his vast fortune to good-use(what’s left, that is). He’s gone and got the best media/crisis consultants money can buy! He won’t get any jail time, they’ll cut a deal and he’ll get some GOOD camera/photo-op time in Port-Au-Prince and it’ll be ALL-good. Just like the good-’Ol-days ….
(… T.I. more popular than CBReezy(?) ….Bwahahahahahahah!! Old Folks shouldn’t be allowed up-on these industry blogs! Maybe the Huffington Post of something..)
Calm down, XYZ and go slobber over your Chris Brown posters while I feed you a little helping of “Truth Syrup.” Mel Gibson hasn’t been arrested or convicted, so he’s neither a criminal nor a felon. But TI has been in and out of jail so often the wardens have his attorneys on speed dial. And YES, he IS a CONVICTED FELON so I choose NOT to patronize his films any sooner than I would the rapist Polanski’s. This isn’t about whether the FELON is black or white. It is about how I choose to spend MY movie-going dollars. (You are free to patronize the entire population of the LA county jail if you so desire. That is YOUR decision.)
And yes, I DO think TI was a bigger urban draw than Chris Brown. TI was far more prominently featured in the promotional ads for this film than was Brown (who was barely seen).
@Hasbeen Aniston Sunday August 29, 2010 @ 8:10am PDT –
It’s either you’re back-pedaling or your “captive to your inane witticism”; but the two appears, on-in-the-same!
Now, on Sunday August 29, 2010 @ 5:14am PDT YOU SAID — “LOGIC DICTATES that, yes, urban audiences came out specifically to see TI (because of his huge popularity)”
So THIS(?!)is your “logic”(dictated with all the “pomposity and detachment” of someone whose obviously FAR-REMOVED from popular-culture;at least, street/urban/rap/hip-hop culture): “And yes, I DO think TI was a bigger urban draw than Chris Brown. TI was far more prominently featured in the promotional ads for this film than was Brown (who was barely seen).” …So you think that because he was, in YOUR mind, “better placed” in the Takers promotional-ads, that he’s a bigger Urban draw …?!? 0_o
Then I guess, all the blog/twitter traffic ’bout Chris and his role(particularly that chase scene) was all for naught? If you’d checked the blogs, T.I.’s web-traffic/presence, from his recent marriage to Tiny, didn’t get half the comments/attention that ANY of Chris’ recent posts drew! T.I. no-longer has “free-reign” as the “King of the South”…! That moniker belongs to “Gucci mane”! <-REAL TALK ..!! I'm NOT trying to "diss" T.I. but it-is, what-it-is! He certainly has more end$ than Gucci, but as far as name/cred and straight "spit-skills" … nope, gotta give it to Gucci! But then again, this is "common knowledge," if you weren't so "safely ensconced in the suburbs," figuratively and/or literally, you'd ALREADY known this!
When that clip of Chris and his chase scene was first shown on the Urban blogs, IT WAS ALL THE RAGE;DREW THE MOST COMMENTS/CLICKS/WEB-TRAFFIC; NOT T.I.'s recent marriage, NOR his recent charting-collab with Keri Hilson! But, being the mental shut-in, THAT YOU ARE, you'd not have known this!
So,your "logic/reasoning" that T.I.'s "huge popularity", is the driving/overriding reason for the films success, when placed against a readily-verifiable matrix, the aforementioned blog/web-traffic and club/street chatter/knowledge, quickly becomes unraveled, frail, faded and fast fails! If you were at the viewings I attended, the scenes that drew the MOST audience-reaction: 1.)Chris' first appearance; his chase scene.
2.)Paul Walker getting into the pool.
3.)Idris Elba getting out of bed(if you saw the film, you'd know what I'm talking about) ..!
"LOGIC DICTATES," that after hearing damning phone admissions, pictured-evidence of a violent-encounter and medical-provider-as-witness statements, not to mention Mad Max's very own anti-social near-pathological/deranged caught-on-video/audio rants, that HE DID perpetrate the crime, of knocking-out the teeth/dental-work, by force of his fists, upon his baby-mama's/X-girlfriend …!!
"LOGIC DICTATES" that due to "technicalities in the law," evidence may not be admitted into court, that is obviously-damning, if not convicting!
But you've omitted Charlie Sheen, in YOUR retort. And what a "shining example of chivalry and marital bliss," he is..?? So while I, and those of "my persuasion," choose to "freely patronize the entire population of the LA county jail," you, with your "affirming damning-silence" of Hollywood's preeminent "Bad Boy", give tacit approval to his decade's-long misogyny, his thumbing his nose at society, and the continued double-standard revealed in "black and white"! … A fact that, I did NOT make-mention, that was YOUR subconscious/conscience/guilt drawing THAT conclusion….!!
In closing, your "truth syrup" is nothing more than snake oil, sold under shade-tree, just out-of-reach of a vertical-sun in a "heavy and wet-sky," by a dastardly fast-talking;contemptuously in-denial, character…!!
X,Y,"and Z" — OUT…!!
Whatever. That’s how the game is played, so quit crying about it. Now, I have a Ralph’s to go rob for some beer, a bank to hold up, perhaps some hostages to take, and a big punch to somebody in the face because they walk too slow, before getting caught for my good times, going to jail, and then getting my film deal. See you on the silver screen, sucker.
TI is definitely more popular than Chris Brown. Record sales indicate this. Singles charts (including radio airplay) indicate this. The fact that the trailers for Takers prominently featured TI, who is not even the main character, and avoided showing Chris Brown indicate this. And the fact that Takers opened so strongly entirely on featuring TI indicates he’s the big draw.
XYZ, you’re so completely off on this one it’s not even funny, and despite that you’re being cocky in declaring that others shouldn’t be allowed to comment because they don’t agree with you. Maybe you should actually go and look up Brown’s numbers since he beat up Rihanna, and then compare them to Rihanna’s and TI’s. Your personal preference is Chris Brown–that’s fine. Declaring it to be everybody’s personal preference in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary is not.
And get your facts straight. Deuces is not the #2 song on Billboard, it’s #29. And Rihanna, the one you claim “no-one cares about,” is featured on the #1 song. You’re really on the wrong blog to be doing character hits and fanboy territory-marking. For the purposes of this discussion, which is about which movies opened and why, TI is the far bigger star. What your “Urban Blogs” say doesn’t matter, just like comic book geek blogs praising Scott Pilgrim didn’t matter here, either.
When will I learn to stop trying to have logical discussions with Community College grads. Let me go slowly so as not to lose you too soon, XYZ.
My position has remained COMPLETELY unchanged since the outset. I said TI is hugely popular in urban areas and was therefore used to market the film (to the near-complete exclusion of the LESS popular Brown). Since the studio has now CONFIRMED my thesis by stating that they marketed the film “ON TI’S BACK,” I fail to see why you continue to babble inanely about Brown. If HE were the bigger draw, doesn’t that tiny little corner of your brain capable of rational thought understand that BROWN would have been sent on the promo tour instead of TI? (Do they even TEACH a course in logic at your community college, or is this all just an exercise in futility on my part?)
As for “criminal” behavior, you can ramble on about Gibson and Sheen and anyone else you want to bring into the mix, but it is TI who has a film in theatres and TI remains a CONVICTED FELON. Nothing you say will change that. I do not patronize CONVICTED FELONS. Period. I make my money so I and I alone decide how I will spend it. And my decisions are not madeon the basis of which songs are played most often on a radio station.
You seem to think that, because I do not wish to subsidize the lifestyle of a recidivist criminal, it means I have no connection to “urban culture.” How insulting that you believe (and Hollywood concurs) that blacks are somehow automatically predisposed to accepting criminality. I’ve been black longer than you’ve been alive, but I don’t happen to think that lionizing recidivist criminals is the best we can do in terms of standards. There are immensely talented black actors all over this country, so I don’t see why Hollywood needs to resort to using Penitentiary Lockdown Lists as casting sheets.
Every time I read the comments section of the box office report, I get bummed out and regret it.
“XYZ” and “Hasbeen Aniston”… good grief charlie brown. Some 45 paragraphs wasted on a genre film’s cast. Nuts.
Excuse me, you need to learn to read, the poster was responding to a previous poster who claimed this was some kind of a “a big win,” for Christiansen and Walker, and proved their “enduring appeal.” To that, we all laughed in said poster’s face. I mean really, that’s just short of crackpipe logic. The poster at 9:35pm was right to set them straight – in doing so, they in no way are saying they didn’t help ‘expand appeal,’ but to say they’re responsible for these numbers is ridiculous. That’s like saying the actors who play the white cops who arrest Tyler Perry’s Medea, are responsible for his movies all going #1. Of course two whit actors help expand appeal — much in the way, any two white guys would have. Maybe a latino, and asian actor would have expanded it even more. It didn’t have to be Walker and Christiansens, it could have just as well been James Franco and Topher Grace or Adam Brody and Peter Facinelli.
I actually turned out to see them all! It was a very well crafted film! I am tired of the fake media trying to control the outcome of movies, music award shows and the like. Let people live their lives and let the fans enjoy the talent. If certain media outlets don’t get their usual kickback from a movie they downplay it. I am tired of the media gmaes! TAKERS was a great film. Remember ppl The Last Exorcism open in more theaters and on Thursday night! Takers opened on Friday! Takers is truly the winner but WHATEVER AMERICA!
Ed, HasbeenAniston and the other one are going to have to drop this.
NOBODY went to see Takers because of the white actors. I didn’t even know Heyden Christiansen was even in it until a week ago. The marketing emphasized only T.I. and Idris. I thought it was an all-black cast, with a couple of white faces making cameos only for “presence.”
The way Tyler Perry or Spike Lee add a couple of token whites in their movies with throwaway roles so they can pull in a few crossover dollars.
The article says it all. This film was made off the name-recognition of it’s black cast. The white actors were MIA when it came time to push it to the masses. Are you going to argue with Nikki on THAT?
Jesus, simply crediting a movie’s success to black actors brings out the worst in some folks.
Either be glad the movie will be a success or stop whining about why.
“Ed, HasbeenAniston and the other one are going to have to drop this.”
What is it exactly that I need to “drop?” Assuming you have the ability to READ, here is what was in my initial post:
“Logic dictates that, yes, urban audiences came out specifically to see TI (because of his huge popularity), while I seriously doubt many white moviegoers are rushing to theatres JUST to see Paul Walker. The fact is, the mixed casting helped bring in both black and white audiences, but in the end, all Hollywood cares about is that they all paid with money that was “green.” ”
Since I was the FIRST to say that urban audiences went specifically to see TI and that the film was marketed with TI prominantly in the promotion, it seems that Nikki and the studios are merely buttressing my point. But if YOU are now arguing that NO ONE — not a SINGLE person — went to theatres because of even ONE white actor in the film …well… I trust you DO realize how absurd that is.
Hayden Christiansen was in a modern classic, so surely he has a fan base. As does Walker, who is in a successful franchise. I don’t think whites would RUSH to the theatres for these two actors as blacks would for TI, but to say they played NO PART in the success of the film is simply preposterous. I fully understand that no one whom YOU know went to see the film because of them, but I trust you realize that the world extends beyond YOUR personal interactions.
As I said before, the producers wisely benefitted from cross-racial casting.
RIP Piranha 3D and Scott Pilgrim!
I love how all the Avatar fanboys actually thought their movie was going to pull in a lot of money this weekend. Probably won’t even make the top 10.
I love how all of the Avatar hater cocksuckers thought the movie they loved to hate wouldn’t pull in any movie at all and would flop. Then Jim Cameron rolls in damn near $3 billion and 9 Oscar noms.
Oh, and for a movie that’s already been released, and then re-released in only 800 theaters, pulling in anything over a $1 million on a Friday is decent.
I love how Jim Cameron spent over $500 million to make crap that has been made a million times before and the world still gave him money. I also love how his more talented ex wife completely beat him at the 2010 Oscars. But I really love the fact the fact that Scott Pilgrim can’t even make as much money as a Twilight spoof movie. All the nerds lose.
Yeah, 9 Oscar ‘nominations’.
AVATAR has nothing to prove anymore. They did it already.
Last Exorcism didn’t necessarily just win because it is on more screens. There comes a point at which more screens don’t equal more dollars. It could just mean a lower per-screen average. Do you think THE SWITCH would have made $20 million its opening weekend if it had been on 4,000 screens? As long as the people who want to see a movie have easier enough access to a screen, they will see the movie.
Last Exorcism also got excellent reviews – whereas Takers were shyte!!!
Yet cinemascore – gave last a D and Takers a B — takers was awesome. And the switch would have made more money, had it had more screens was not dumped in advertising because of the in transition Miramax. It will make it’s money back because it was done rather cheaply and it’s a moving film that is actually worth watching.
Stop trying to perpetuate the notion that Switch was a low budget film. It wasnt’t. It cost $30m if it cost a dollar. THAT, or Aniston’s people LIED when they said she was paid $8m for it (and she tumbles from her #5 spot on Forbes). So which is it? Can’t have it both ways.
you’re a deep idiot “hasbeen” the switch was made for 17million and anistonn cut her fee. i love how you think her “people” can lie about that and have it not challenged by the studio.
The film was sold for 16 million; that’s not how much it cost to produce. If J. Lo’s Back-Up Plan was made for 32 million, then it’s reasonable to assume The Switch was made for much more than what people are saying. Its stars aren’t free, it was filmed in New York City, it had two directors–you’re telling me all this cost nothing? This number doesn’t include all the marketing costs, either. And, Aniston did take 8 million for that film, since it was part of her yearly earnings as listed in Forbes. No matter how you spin it, the film isn’t a great success. It doesn’t look like it will break even. Yelling at people and calling them idiots, doesn’t make you look that bright in comparison. It just makes you look like one of those nutty, delusional fans.
Now now, name-calling is unnecessary between adults — well, one adult and one Aniston apologist. So, Aniston cut her fee. When did this occur, before or after Forbes reported her earnings at $27 by including $8 for what was then called Baster? Also, since you seem to “KNOW” this was a low budget film, what is your source, since the producers aren’t revealing the numbers. (“Lottery” with NO stars cost $17, “Slumdog” shot in a poverty-stricken nation, cost $15, yet somehow, “Switch” with Aniston, Bateman and Goldblum was shot in NY for only $16. Yes, that’s believable.)
Hey, you know who would LOVE to know your inside money info? Woody Allen, because HE can’t film in NY with his low budgets since it’s TOO EXPENSIVE TO FILM HERE! Yet now that Switch is a FLOP, suddenly it was a low budget shoot (with the 5th highest paid actress, other named stars, NY UNION crews at NY wages, lodging in NY hotels, equipment rental at NY rates). All this on what is now being claimed was $16m.
As I said, do run and tell Woody Ms. Aniston’s secret so that he can return here to the city he loves and work the same aritmetical magic that the “Switch” seems to have worked.
more screens always means more dollars! except NOBODY watches the movie on the added screens..
How much did Eat Pray Love cost? It’s doing steady business, but I heard it has a way to go to break even.
Scott Pilgrim is out of the top 10 after only three weeks. Fanboys are weeping right now.
I got really turned off by Julia’s promotion of the film. She only spoke of her family and their experience rather than her excitement to bring this very popular book to life. She didn’t hype it at all. I was so excited to see it when I knew they were filming and for whatever reason I haven’t gotten myself into the theater for this one.
Surprisingly good for Takers, i only expected it to open to about 12-15 Million Max.
Also slightly better than i though The Last Exorcism would do as well.
Good to see openers pick up since last weeknends lackluster returns.
It looks like The Expendables might be able to eek out a $100 Million total give or take a few.
Eat Pray Love doesnt look like its gonna be able beat Julie & Julia’s final tally.
And yet ANOTHER $100 Million dollar hit for Ferrell/McKay meaning well have to sit through yet another movie where Will Ferrell plays the same unfunny role sometime in the near future.
And as a final completely moronic note, I’m still upset to see that Scott Pilgrim hasnt pulled an impossiblity and had a massive increase in its next weekend making it the hit it deserves to be, and this is coming from someone who hates Michael Cera in just about everything else he is in.
I just hope eat Pray Love squeaks past Bounty Hunter.
It will, it’s only like $7 Million away from Bounty Hunters final total
I’m happy a horror movie is doing well. Good for them, the genre needs it. Sad Piranha didn’t do better, does this mean campy horror is dead and people only want reality styled horror?
just saw last exorcism at arclight. what a horrendous film. won’t have legs.
doesnt need it, already got your and everybody else’s money.
Not surprised to see AVATAR:SE not in your initial numbers there.
I think it’s a case of ‘a little too late’
On a personal note: I’d have paid to see it again up here (in Calgary) if they had kicked Inception off the IMAX screen and played A:SE in IMAX. Here it’s just in regular 3D again and I saw it that way back in December. Never got into the sold-out IMAX showings though…
I went to see Takers tonight and was really impressed. The cast was great, and it was action-packed, suspenseful, and lots of fun! Chris Brown and T.I. are movie stars!
Wow, maybe you can polish their helmets!
Audience reviews for Exorcism have been awful, whereas repeat business for Takers is seemingly surging from audiences loving the Chris Brown heist flick. (Note: I do see a comeback in this kid’s very near future.)
I wouldn’t be surprised if Takers has a surprise upset this weekend, in spite of the theater count difference. It’ll be interesting too, considering early calculations had both films set at grossing less than 15 million this weekend. Both are already outperforming.
Hey MyLee the reviews for Takers were worse than Last Exorcism. Folks loving Takers? lol.
WookieWhore Takers is a clsoe #2 at the box-office. Brown’s name is on the marquee. Folks loving Takers?
YES!
Austere “mockumentary” approach in Last Exorcism is only sporadically effective. A lot of the time, it just annoys and leaves you wishing they’d ponied up the extra dough to film it as a traditional narrative. Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity going this route I understand, since they were done by shoestring-budget amateurs, but Lionsgate and producer Eli Roth applying the technique reeks of “cutting corners to save our ass in case it bombs worse than Hostel: Part II.” They also probably felt this aesthetic gimmick would’ve prevented it from being labeled a direct ripoff of the William Friedkin classic. As a horror fan, I found the setup too slow – and the third act too vague and unsatisfying – but the midsection has some admittedly gasp-worthy moments.
Eli Roth is the biggest hack in Hollywood. It’s hilarious to hear him slam past great film directors when his films consist of Cabin Fever and these fucking torture porn Hostel movies that now includes number 3.
Lionsgate only came on board as distributor after the film was produced. It only had a $2 million budget and Lionsgate picked it up for $1 million.
I saw it at a film festival, but I’m assuming they haven’t altered the it was 2 weeks before the release. I though it worked really well as a psychological thriller and as an entertaining movie in general. Patrick Fabian stole the show, before this I thought of him as a hack. I do wish the film had ended about 120 – 180 seconds earlier. The final minutes were right out of Blair Witch.
I think the main reason for the D score was the misleading marketing. But on the other hand they probably wouldn’t have opened so high with a more honest approach. There’s a reason Top critics on RT have given this 71%.
Normally I’d be disgusted that another PG-13 “horror” movie did so well but this one actually seems to be at least decent. I’ll still wait to rent it though.
DON’T RENT IT. Seriously.
$20 Million for Takers….really?!?!? Cmon America!
I’m so sick of people judging movies AND NOT SEEING THEM. Takers was super and that is very unexpected that I would say that having gone in with no expectations.
Takers has the following going for it:
*It’s the only mob flick out there.
*Its cast includes actors famous from film (Hayden “Anakin Skywalker” Christensen), TV (The Wire’s Idris Elba), and music (Rihanna’s ex-boyfriend Chris Brown).
*It’s relatively low budget.
So, the film’s haul shouldn’t have been considered impossible.
You really shouldn’t exclude TI, considering he was the focal point of the trailers. Other responses to this blog make it clear that Brown still has followers but the marketing avoided showing him too much, as a lot of people would prefer not supporting him.
Everything else you said was spot on. This had all the ingredients to be a sleeper hit from the start but the predictors keep underestimating original screenplays that are effectively marketed.
SoCal Whining about a movie’s take? Grow up. Nobody’s forcing you to see it. Hate it if you want but don’t whine about it.
“Come on America!”
LOL Keep hollering. Think if you tell loud enough “america” will ever listen one day?
Dear America
You have the worst taste in movies
most of the time…
THE LAST EXORCISM was horrible, the
ending was a blatant rip off of every
Cinéma vérité cheap horror flick of the
past years CAMERA DROPS!
ELI ROTH you are a JOKE! Hyping the movie up
and then dropping the ball with a lame ending
that had people booing in my theater!
Seriously?
Sure the trailers spooked all the kiddies &
the chat roulette thing was genius but That
and TAKERS along with THE DEPEND-ABLES
good grief, are theaters taking food stamps now?
There is no integrity in films 90 pecent of movies
at the theaters, even a campy over the top show
like TRUE BLOOD looks like Citizen Cane compared
to the crap that is out there
Wanna see a good movie? GO EXPERIENCE ANIMAL KINGDOM
Wanna see a good actor? How about GUY PEARCE!
Thank god Fall Season has arrived, a few more
weeks of shiteous flicks & my brain shall be rewarded
I know who needs a last exorcism
the person who green lights crap like that!
So America has “the worst taste in movies”, yet you went and saw the Last Exorcism on opening day?
I think you misread much of David’s post. He’s pissed that he was fooled into going out to see it on opening night (as was I) by the excellent marketing.
Yet, you contributed to the problem by paying money to see the Last Exorcism. They’re not going to stop green lighting crap like that until people stop seeing it.
DUDE, it’s the end of the summer. A traditional time when hollywood emptys out it bowels before the holiday/oscar season. Chill the F out. A bad film is still better than the best of TV. Because it’s ART. And TV exists to sell SOAP. Period.
Well, the only tv show he mentioned was True Blood, which exists to sell HBO subs and dvds.
All movies are art? Right. The best of TV is of a higher quality than film today. As TV has become increasingly international and sold to teenagers, it has become less verbal and more attuned to spectacle. My Netflix list is increasingly filled with TV shows rather than film. How many decent films have come out this summer?
Last Exorcism has a budget of $1.8 mil. Lionsgate is already celebrating. America has the worst taste? New Moon made over $400 million dollars overseas. Transformers 2 also did incredibly well in foreign markets. Keep eating up American crap. Our country appreciates the support
TV in the past years has been consistently more entertaining and compelling than what’s come out in the theaters.
Sign me up for Direct TV any day over spending money at the theater.
You can read right? The box office is for US and Canada.
Animal Kingdom was a derivative mess.
DavidBishop
I don’t know if they’re accepting “food stamps” but given your pointless, frothing tirade I think they’re obviously giving a “special needs” discount to some folks.
And to recommend “Animal Kingdom?” Please don’t rant again until you’ve watched some good movies.
And, for the record, it’s Citizen Kane. With a K, not Cane with a C. If you’re going to dry and drop knowledge, at least do it right.
Didn’t expect Takers to do so well. Cool.
I knew that all the predictions for “Takers” were too low. BoxOfficeGuru even said a low 7 million for the weekend. There are too many actors in the cast that appeal to younger audiences (and urban audiences) for it to not debut with over 15 million. So I’m not surprised it did well.
Also I saw “The Last Exorcism” earlier this week. The movie is definitely not a Horror film as it’s not too scary. It’s effective though, right up until the out of nowhere ending. Not surprised it opened well, but I don’t know if word of mouth will be too strong. People seemed to either like or outright hate the ending.
Wait a minute. The amount of theaters doesn’t necessarily reflect on box office grosses. And I’m not talking about exceptions here and there. There are numerous examples of movies with lesser theaters grossing more than another movies in more theaters.
Could you imagine if the formula for making money on a film was simply, more movies equals more money?
Both of the top two films did better than I thought, especially Takers. Paul Walker can’t open anything except for the Fast and Furious movies.
Wow, two 20 million plus openings at the end of August — is that a record for new releases? I’m sure that Sony was not expecting to get that much — i’m just wondering why Matt Dillon is not in any of the previews, yet he is the first name billed. anyways, this is just further proof of screen count vs gross.
It’s “Takers”, FYI. Adding “The” assigns a sort of importance to it; it’s a Chris Brown film. Jesus.
TAKERS with TI was fun! king of the south kills it.