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Jan. 6-8 Weekend Actuals
1. The Devil Inside (Paramount) NEW [2,285 Theaters] R
Friday $16.8M, Saturday $11.8M, Sunday $5.2M, Weekend $33.7M2. Mission: Impossible 4 (Paramount) Week 4 [3,555 Theaters] PG13
Friday $6.1M, Saturday $9.0M, Sunday $4.7M, Weekend $19.9M (-33%), Cume $169.6M3. Sherlock: Game Of Shadows (Warner Bros) Week 4 [3,603 Theaters] PG13
Friday $4.2M, Saturday $6M, Sunday $3.4M, Weekend $13.7M (-34%), Cume $157.0M4. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Sony) Week 3 [2,950 Theaters] R
Friday $3.5M, Saturday $4.9M, Sunday $2.9M, Weekend $11.4M (-23%), Cume $76.9M5. Alvin & The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (Fox) Week 4 [3,425 Theaters] G
Friday $2.3M, Saturday $4.5M Sunday $2.7M, Weekend $9.5M (-42%), Cume $111.6M6. War Horse (DreamWorks/Disney) Week 3 [2,783 Theaters] PG13
Friday $2.6M, Saturday $3.8M, Sunday $2.2M, Weekend $8.7M (-40%), Cume $56.9M7. We Bought A Zoo (Fox) Week 3 [3,170 Theaters] PG
Friday $2.4M, Saturday $3.8M, Sunday $2.1 M, Weekend $8.3M (-37%), Cume $56.4M8. The Adventures Of Tintin (Paramount) Week 3 [3,006 Theaters] PG
Friday $1.8M, Saturday $3M, Sunday $2.0M Weekend $6.7M (-41%), Cume $62M9. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Focus Features) Week 5 [809 Theaters] R
Friday $1.7M, Saturday $2.4M, Sunday $1.3M, Weekend $5.5M (+405%), Cume $10.1M10. The Darkest Hour (Summit) Week 3 [2,163 Theaters] PG13
Friday $1.1M, Saturday $1.4M, $660K, Weekend $3.1M (-25%), Cume $18.7M
What It Means To Get An ‘F’ CinemaScore…
SUNDAY AM, 5TH UPDATE: This ‘found-footage’ exorcism film surged for the normally slow post-holiday weekend and pushed 2012′s first official moviegoing weekend to gross $144M overall, +28% from last year. Paramount’s fledgling Insurge label’s The Devil Inside scored the biggest opening for the first weekend of a new year and the 3rd biggest January opening (behind Cloverfield and the Star Wars reissue). Even rival studios were saying hooray for the genre winner. But not without snark. “The industry starts out the year with a big number — and a people pleasing ‘F’ CinemaScore,” one rival studio exec snorted. But there’s no arguing that Paramount may have another Paranormal Activity mega-profit project in theaters this weekend. (FYI, Steven Schneider from the Paranormal Activity team is exec producer on this pic as well.) Insurge made a $1M acquisition of The Devil Inside and scored a big $34.5M opening weekend, including larger-than-average $2M midnights from 1,400 theaters. There fears that ‘F’ word-of-mouth for this genre film playing very young and very ethnic would be frontloaded. But it’s rare for a studio to recoup its cost from just the midnight shows.
The win pushed down into 2nd place Paramount’s Christmas and New Year’s topper M:I4 co-funded by David Ellison’s Skydance Prods. Meanwhile Sony Pictures’ The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo had the smallest drop of top pictures all week, demonstrating its adult audience is still out there after a slow start. Among Oscar-buzzed films, DreamWorks/Disney’s War Horse holds for the Top 5 while Focus Features’ Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy expanded into 809 locations and snuck into the Top 10 for the first time since its limited release five weeks ago:
1. The Devil Inside (Paramount) NEW [2,285 Theaters]
Friday $16.8M, Saturday $11.7M, Estimated Weekend $34.5M
It’s the second film for Paramount’s low-budget Insurge label. And much like the studio’s Paranormal Activity franchise, the studio focused on marketing designed to trick audiences into believing this nonsense. So the campaign made the low production values The Devil Inside into the film that “The Vatican Doesn’t Want You To See”. (At what point do naifs wise up? Maybe now because audiences gave this crapfest an ‘F’ CinemaScore and single digit Rotten Tomatoes kudo.) It was a no-brainer for the studio to debut the trailer on October 21st with Paranorm
al Activity. The Halloween time period also proved key online, with viral scare videos and 911 calls pushed to fans. Since the film was acquired for just $1m, Paramount also kept the marketing cheap, cheap, cheap. The TV ads kicked off during AMC’s The Walking Dead finale November 27th. There was a big ethnic push. The Hispanic campaign included English and Spanish language nets, wild posting, digital boards, and radio in the top 12 Hispanic markets. Branded horror programming roadblocks were placed on Sify, Chiller, AMC’s Fear Friday, and IFC Fright Night. Select targets for high-profile finales included Terra Nova and American Horror Story. And getting into the holiday spirit, the studio made a red band trailer as well as 10-sec scary radio spots to counter-program Christmas and New Year’s Eve across all 6 live network and cable late night shows covering festivities. (No wonder the heartland hates Hollywood…) There was Viacom’s usual MTV synergy, this time featuring reactions to the film from Jersey Shore numbskulls Deena and Vinny. The spot also aired on the show’s premiere the day before the film’s opening. ”The Devil Inside iPad and iPhone application served as another opportunity to scare unsuspecting fans,” an exec tells me. “The application is presented as a test to find out how possessed you are, that in turn surprises fans with a scare from the film. Since its launch in late December, the app continues to see 4-star rating on iTunes from a global user base.” As for the midnight shows, Paramount organized radio DJs, food trucks, and prize giveaways to make each screening seem special. Using Twitter as a tool, the studio on Friday morning sent out tweets about “an unexpected theater possession” where the film broke down and a contortionist from the film scared a packed theater of fans. The lengths to which Hollywood has to go to market horror these days. Ugh.
2. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (Paramount) Week 4 [3,555 Theaters]
Friday $6.2M, Saturday $9.1M, Weekend $20.5M, Cume $170.2M
3. Sherlock: Game Of Shadows (Warner Bros) Week 4 [3,603 Theaters]
Friday $4.3M, Saturday $6M, Weekend $14M, Cume $157.4M
4. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Sony) Week 3 [2,950 Theaters]
Friday $3.5M, Saturday $4.9M, Weekend $11.3M (-24%), Cume $76.8M
5. Alvin & The Chipmunks (Fox) Week 4 [3,425 Theaters]
Friday $2.3M, Saturday $4.5M, Weekend $9.5M, Cume $111.5M
6. War Horse (DreamWorks/Disney) Week 3 [2,783 Theaters]
Friday $2.7M, Saturday $3.6M, Weekend $8.6M (-40%), Cume $56.8M
7. We Bought A Zoo (Fox) Week 3 [3,170 Theaters]
Friday $2.3M, Saturday $3.8M, Weekend $8.4M (-36%), Cume $56.5M
8. The Adventures Of Tintin (Paramount) Week 3 [3,006 Theaters]
Friday $1.7M, Saturday $2.9M, Weekend $6.6M (-42%), Cume $61.8M
9. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Focus Features) Week 5 [809 Theaters]
Friday $1.6M, Saturday $2.3M, Weekend $5.7M, Cume $10.4M
10. New Year’s Eve (Warner Bros) Week 5 [1,864 Theaters]
Friday $1.1M, Saturday $1.4M, Weekend $3.2M, Cume $52M
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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$1 million to make but our media agency says they’ve spent more than $35 in marketing. Still, a great start to 2012 for the movie industry!
I’m glad to see “Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” doing well. It shows, once again, that quality wins every time.
Clearly that’s why the “Sherlock Holmes” numbers are so disappointing. The movie is a complete snooze.
“Mission Impossible” satisfied the audience and has great legs.
Also surprised to see “Tintin” staying strong since the movie ends on a weaker note.
Did anyone understand “Tinker Tailor”? I was confused…
“Sherlock Holmes” is not disappointing. It is closing the gap that it had with the original. Also, it was one of the best sequels in years, better than the original. It will match the original gross of the first movie, mark my words.
Uh, SHERLOCK sucked. You might like to call people “snobs” but as an innocent bystander, I thought the movie was pretty bad and very slow. I haven’t seen GIRL…TATTOO yet because the book was overrated, so I can’t speak to that one. Sorry dude.
Sherlock Holmes was SLOW?? Clearly you didn’t see the same movie I did. I found it witty, brilliantly paced and exciting. I enjoyed the first Sherlock movie but this one is far better.
Sherlock sucked AND the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo book was overrated? Funny, I enjoyed both and I’m pretty damn discerning when it comes to both movies and books.
I have to say I’m constantly amazed at how many experts there are on this site, and how they seem to have the time to tell us what is good and what isn’t. Many thanks.
It’s funny to see the studio employees in these comment boards aggressively defending their movies. “People are loving X!” “Theaters are packed for Y!” “This movie has legs!” “Word of mouth is great!”
I saw Devil Inside last night and I’m not embarrassed to say that it’s not AS bad as people have said. It’s not great either, believe me, but it has a couple of memorable moments. I’m psyched to see that audiences will still show up for a random film. Many case studies will be done on Devil Inside (by rival studios).
It’s not that “…you can’t speak”, it’s that you shouldn’t. But I will. You’re an idiot.
Went to see Sherlock 2 tonight for the second time (yes, it is that good!), and the theater here in L.A. Was packed for the 7 pm showing. In its fourth week. Word is spreading how great the film is, and it is building by word of mouth (and social media). I think the studio erred in releasing it the week before Christmas instead of waiting one more week. This movie has legs.
Do you guys honestly believe that by saying this stuff you make it true?
Just saw Sherlock, and I quite liked it. I guess to a rampaging cinesnob ass like you, everything commercial’s a bore.
Love the spin on this site (especially from Nikki) trying to make “Rape a Girl with a Dragon Tattoo” a hit when the thing’s tanking and will be lucky to hit 100 million.
I’d expect no less from the weekly “analysts” on this site. Many of whom were screaming “bomb” when Tron opened a year ago and later did 172 million (with a sequel coming soon) — who think Clash of the Titans HAD to be a bomb because it didn’t follow proper Greek mythology — Super 8 was a bomb because they hate JJ Abrams.
Piss. Off.
So a movie that hits 100 million is a bomb. You’ve just made a disqualifying statement.
No, they haven’t.
Cowboys & Aliens and Green Lantern both managed to clear $100 million US and both are definitely bombs.
$100 million is a bomb when the studio spent more than that on marketing. Don’t forget to add in the budget. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo isn’t doing well by any means. The spin is ridiculous and no one’s buying it.
“Quality wins every time?” THE DEVIL INSIDE has halved TGWTDT’s gross in its first weekend. A weekend that is one of the worst to open a film of any kind.
“A great start” ??? Only 3 out of 40+ movie critics gave this film a passable grade, and of those 3, they admitted it was pretty bad.
Eric Snider of Film.com said this: “Bell directs with all the enthusiasm of a guy who was called into work on his day off.”
Damn, that had to hurt.
And the overall synopsis from RT is this: “The Devil Inside is a cheap, choppy unscary mess, featuring one of the worst endings in recent memory.”
The only people saying this movie is good either have no taste or have some financial connnection.
The film has an F on cinemascore. Anyone who thinks this will have a tiny drop next weekend is an idiot.
I agree 100%. The only movie I liked this holiday was The Descendents. I never saw a single commercial for Devil Inside. I’m probably not in the right age demo.
Sherlock was terrible. Look how desperate people are in these comments to defend it…
Stacy, the day YOU sell a film that will gross at least 400 million worldwide, on a 125 million budget is the day you can make such pronouncements. The Holmes franchise will go to film three.
And as for the crapfest at number one this weekend, Nikki, don’t you realize there has ALWAYS been a market for crap? Sometimes, people like a little cheese with their popcorn. Making crap never hurt AIP, Hammer, and of course, the late, great Lawrence W. Wollsey.
What are you smoking? You think because a film makes a lot of money it means it’s a good film?
Anotherwgamember, so by your logic, until the day YOU have been President you will be unqualified to vote for a President?
People everywhere have these crazy little things called…what’s the word I’m looking for?…oh yeah, opinions. Good word for a WGA member to look up if you are unsure of the meaning.
Saw this movie last night and going to see it again with a bunch of friends- SO GOOD!!
People were booing at our showing. I thought they were going to riot. Worst movie I have ever seen!!
At the show I went to everyone was booing including the projectionist. But I am going back and bringing my grandchildren and grandparents.
My favorite post on this site ever. I hope all five generations of your family enjoy bonding over this fine film.
You are bringing your grandchildren to an R-rated horror film???
This is the film for the whole family to love and embrace. It’s like Meet Me In St. Louis or Swis Family Robinson except with demons.
I hope you wouldn’t pay to see it twice. I caught the FREE screening last night and still feel like I should get some money back. Business will die on this one quick once word gets around…
Lionsgate had the absolute BEST version of these kinds of films called VATICAN TAPES. James Marsh was supposed to direct it. Anyone know what happened to that project? When is it coming out? I thought the plan was to release one each year like the SAW franchise?
@LoveTheseFilms: RE Vatican Tapes status: Two years ago, Lakeshore and Lionsgate hired(or were about to hire?) someone to rewrite..i can say definitively they & Marsh interviewed writers; now looking on IMDBPro, neither Lionsgate nor Marsh is listed as still being involved so appears Lionsgate put into turnaround at some point.
The big thing about this ‘found footage’ movie is it is so cheap, there’s minimal risk–it’s just having to recoup P & A. But wouldn’t surprise me to see V.T. be reactivated someplace or maybe this cheap version kills it for good..we’ll see!
It is fairly difficult to boo the end of a movie without sitting through the whole thing. Reminds me of a time years ago watch “Salo” in a theater. The movie gets more progressively rough as it goes along. At one point, a guy stands up from his seat and storms out yelling, “O.K. That’s it! When I see people eating human shit, THAT’S when I leave!!!”
I expect a higher level of reporting from Deadline Hollywood which for the most part has excellent analysis
A 2M gross does not net $2M to Paramount. The theatre is taking
money, there are digital fees or prints There is advertising
and transaction costs before you recoup costs.
1,400 locations averages $1,500 a screen. Lets see what week two
does.
This is clearly interesting depending on advertising and will have good VOD potential but this kind of analysis is not helpful to
understanding the economics of the business
If P/A is $35 mil which is really what it takes to open a movie – over the life of its various revenue streams it will need to do $65+ to break even let alone make $
If its still going after $40 mil theatrical in total then we can break out the champagne
I don’t know where you learned film finance – but that’s simply not true.
Dan. You sir are a moron who unfortunately is sullying my name, Dan. No fucking way it was $35 mil P/A first of all and secondly No fucking way it was $35 mil P/A. Thirdly if P/A was $35 mil your math is still wrong. You are not only ignorant of film finance but basic mathematics. Go back to your 5th year of community college and try again.
Maybe you should read movie sites longer before making comments that are embarassing like this. Still, a note in your favor is people usually don’t consider studio overhead when considering overall profitability for a film.
Good for them. That’s the way to go: a good concept and no major actors!
So a good concept with an F in cinemascore is better than a movie with well knowns on principle alone.
Wow, you’re a hit at parties, aren’t you?
Seems like that precious Cinemascore really doesn’t mean anything, except to maybe Hollywood snobs, with there artsy fartsy films. Cinemascore just might be a big joke.
What really matters is paying butts in seats, while I wish War Horse would be doing much better, because of the Disney connection, good for Paramount.
Remember in Hollywood its all about the money, NOT what is on the screen, we aren’t living in the 1940’s. These aren’t studios they are media companies.
It means that people are hating the movie. The first weekend is about hype… look at how much it drops next weekend, and that’ll tell you how people really like it.
Your belief that “butts in seats” on opening weekend is enough to legitimize a movie as a crowd-pleaser is remarkably narrow. You refer to Hollywood snobs, but I think you’re referring more to “people who have the ability to employ critical thought.”
This underclass nobility shit only works if you don’t out yourself as a dumb rube.
It’s also a horrible film. Paramount will no doubt make back its investment and P&A this weekend, but the poor word of mouth will quickly kill it. From what I’m hearing (as well as at the press/public combined screening I attended last night) is that the audiences in several theatres loudly booed the ending and at some midnight screenings demanded their money back.
That is so immature to ask for your money back. You pay to see the movie, not to like it. That’s your risk.
Agree. If you are dumb enough to pay for this movie, you are dumb enough to then try to get your money back when it sucks.
Is getting your money back an American thing? It’s never, ever done here in Australia, I’m wondering if other countries do it as well. Does it only apply if you ask before the movie is over? Seems a bit off to ask for it after seeing the whole thing.
Most movie theaters in the U.S. would not give someone their money back if they didn’t like the film. Maybe if they walked out before the thirty minute mark they might get passes to another movie. It’s definitely not a common thing. People just exaggerate here.
I agree. I saw The Darkest Hour yesterday and it sucked. But I paid to see it, so even if I wish I could get my money back I certainly wouldn’t ask for it. It’s not the theater’s fault I went to this movie.
ME THINKS THE “F” CINEMASCORE CONFIRMS
THE BOOING STORY IS LEGIT!
This booing story sounds like its coming from competing big studio trying to start something negative against this little movie.
There is nothing wrong with asking for your money back. If you Aussie’s are dumb enough to get taken so be it, but I’m not descended from prisoners so I’m not a glutton for punishment.
The rules are (and theaters know this) you can ask for your money back if you watched less than half the film and hated it and it usually helps ease the pain if you ask for a free pass instead of your money back. All theaters are willing to make it good to a customer. And they should!
Usually i don’t engage trolls but you had a go at my country so i’ll have a go at yours!
You probably have to see the film for free otherwise you can’t afford it! Your the stupid country that pays your workers so poorly they rely on tips.
The minimum wage here is just under $15.00 dollars an hour so work one hour & we can afford a movie. considering our dollar is worth more than yours right now It kind of looks like all the prisoners descendents get the last laugh.
Enjoy your crumbling empire sweetie.
Apologies to all Aussies reading the post from Bill. Americans follow a long tradition of being ignorant, rude, blowhard, uneducated assholes.
Bill, you so easily could have made your point without saying anything negative regarding Australia. My guess if you have never been there as Americans are the worst travelers on the planet – hence your ignorance of how other places work.
Firstly, there is no rule about the ‘half-way point of movie you can get your money back’ – but yes, it’s doable depending on how badly the high school student working behind the counter feels for the sorry loser who demands $12 back after choosing to a bad that in his opinion was worth a walk-out.
The reason there is no such rule, you dick, is that tastes in film varies. I walked out of Tower Heist – but people were certainly enjoying it. Who’s to argue it is so bad, I deserve my money back.
You, my fellow American, are a loser.
Arthur: If you have a problem with Bill’s comment you should concentrate on that and not generalize by making vile insulting comments about your fellow Americans. You are more of a detestable idiot than Bill is by far.
To the dumbasses calling Americans stupid: there are 300 MILLION PEOPLE in this country! Calling every single one (or even most) stupid, just shows how stupid YOU are.
Seriously, take a look in the fucking mirror before you speak.
No, the booing story is for real. I was at one of the first showings and saw/heard it happen.
My screening was a free advance screening, so people only ironically asked for their money back, but they did indeed loudly boo the ending. I heard the some patrons in New York began harassing theatre ushers as they were leaving the midnight screening, asking for their money back.
I’ve only asked for my money back once, and that was only 20 minutes into the film, so I felt like I had every right to do so. To watch the entire thing, and then ask for a refund is akin to doing the same at a restaurant after eating everything on the plate.
Since then, if I don’t like a movie enough to consider asking for a refund, I just walk out and look to see what other movies are playing in the other theaters, such as I did most recently with Hugo. My kids were begging me to leave before even a half hour had passed, so we got up and went to the theater down the hall that was showing The Muppet Movie. Some folks might take issue with this practice, but as far as I’m concerned, I’m damn well going to get some value out of the 50-70 dollars I spend everytime I take the wife and kids to a movie.
Most theatres are happy to return money or exchange tickets within the 1st half hour. Although it may take a few minutes, I would recommend it over sneaking to another movie. First, you should want your money to go to the film and the studio who released the film you enjoyed. In the Hugo/Muppet case the customer paid paramount but went to a Disney film. It is also problematic if the Disney film is selling out, or if the exhibitor is deciding which film to hold over based on film gross. Finally if you sneak from one to another, you risk the embarrassment of security/employees catching and removing you and your children.
If some pimple-faced theater employee tried to bounce my wife and kids from an establishment I dump anywhere between $1200-1500 into yearly, simply because we chose to watch a different movie than the one on our ticket stub, THEY would be the one embarrassed, and I’d have a written apology along with free ticket vouchers from their boss’s boss before the popcorn was cold. I don’t ask for refunds because it’s time consuming for both parties, and completely unnecessary as long as common sense is applied. I know that may be asking far too much from the average individual these days, but I still like to think some small part of humanity deserves that sort of faith.
That sounds like fuzzy math when you calculate the ticket percentage theaters retain and the insane marketing money thrown at this abysmal piece of $hit syfy movie.
“Dammit, Janet”
LMAO!
Recoup its cost LOLOL. They spent more on P&A than on acquiring it. They’ve got to be at least 15mm in on this one. However 2MM in midnights on one of the worst weekends of the year is mind blowing.
“plays very ETHNIC”???
“What-what-WHAT..!”
I like how everybody gets “offended” by references to ethnicity. And you know these moral arbiters are overeducated caucasians.
“Fox News Alert: Black, Mexicans and Young Whites enjoy horror movies!”
Try actually seeing a movie with “Urban” or “Ethic” audience some time. If your movie works, especially a genre picture, they go crazy. They raise the roof. They will rename your lead character “Bitch.” As in, “Don’t go in the house, Bitch!” If your movie works, there is no better experience in filmgoing.
Hate to break it to you, but everyone has an ethnicity, not just those you named.
You could also say that Mission Imp played to older, ethnic audiences. The ethnicity just happened to be most likely white europeans who went home to the burbs and made lattes and vodka martinis then turned on Fox News. See, you can come up with stereotypes for any group.
HAHA, this is so true. Last year I saw “The Roommate” and the audience was full of Hispanics, my friends and I were the only white people there. Needless to say it was a blast. They get so into the movie. Maybe some people think that’s distracting but I like watching a film with people who are actually engaged in it, so much to say things like “Damn that b—ch is CRAY!”
Indeed it does, I live in a latino/black neighborhood and this film is doing quite well at the two local movie theaters we have.
best horror movie i’ve seen in a long time. worth seeing. sure, there are holes in the story…but go into it for what it is…not expecting Malcom X…and you’ll have fun.
I’ll lower my expectations when they start lowering their ticket fees.
I wish I could “upvote” This. I would be so much more willing to “lower my expectations” if a $1 million movie and a $200 million movie didn’t cost the same $11.50 to go see
Just because a movie’s not Godfather doesn’t mean it has to suck you “it’s either for snobs or people who like fun” ignorant fartknocker.
The abrupt ending left the audience in shock… but the film held the rapt attention of the very, young mostly ethnic audience attending that I was at ..the boos werew not about the ending but the abrupt, scarey ending. class act in the low budget documentary genre I think word of mouth actually will be quite good despite the shocker ending ….
Its not Shakespeare, but its a fun film. The movie is going to do solid numbers, and everyone involved will make their money. Kudos to Paramount for taking risks and finding ways to keep themselves in the #1 studio slot during a time when attendance is at a 16-year low, and when many films aren’t earning the money they should. THE DEVIL INSIDE was a smart business decision.
It may be a bit premature, but you have to give credit to Schneider and his camp for pulling it off yet again. PARANORMAL 1-3, INSIDIOUS, and now this? Haters can hate, but the guy is a mensch, his camp is great at what they do, and his success rate is unmatched. He’s minting money. Excited to see what he does next.
“It’s not Shakespeare…”
Really?! Dammit! I so thought it was.
THIS is why attendance is at a 16 year low. It’s disguised by the fact that cinemas are jacking up their prices to cover for the horrible movies most of the public is rejecting.
I don’t care if this movie made 30 million this weekend. It’s hovering around 6% on Rotten Tomatoes. And WOM from the working man is “This movie SUCKS…”
Nikki’s very wrong about these numbers. Beneath the surface there are some dangerous signs for the industry.
This movie has some of the worst WOM ive ever seen. it will fun to see how quick this movie goes away
WOM is already spreading that this picture is a total disaster. It’ll be interesting to see the slide downward from Friday to Sunday.
Did Paramount include 9pm showings with the number?
Re “The genre film plays very young and very ethnic”… Possible pull-quote for the home video release!!!
“The genre film plays very young and very ethnic”
Well, everyone has an ethnicity so what is that supposed to mean?
It’s code for “blacks and latinos,” or more loosely, “anyone that’s not white.”
I passed on this movie a while ago because it was simply awful. The fact that it can be marketed so effectively to create the buzz it’s generating is a testament to the creative team at Paramount. This movie is no franchise, it’s not even a fun, bad movie. It’s a first week earner that will die quickly, if everyone is lucky. If I’m wrong (wouldn’t be the first time) so be it…it still sucks…and the worst part of it is, as bad as it is…i’d be smiling like a kid in a candy store if I had made it. Go figure.
The studios whine and fuss the public isn’t giving them BO numbers. Then we get the PR hype, the ratings and fake stories of ‘greatness’, even paid-for critic praise… only to be disappointed again and again in the theaters with mediocre crap. Folks have caught on… we can watch good stuff in foreign films, watch a known franchise winner or stay home… the problem is that public WOM is the only thing you can trust anymore. Hype is just business and nothing to do with how good a movie is.
Well said Suzy! The fact is that the reason the audience is staying away in droves is because of the MAIN thing hurting this INDUSTRY! The studios and television is often becoming far too INSULAR! Instead of harping about the obvious drop off in attendence… Look at the movies that have succeeded. Anyone with a clear vision, who is not caught up in the Insular hype of a failing system will see that the movies that are succeeding the most are movies of vision and specificity. Audiences are tiring of committee made films that are attempting to be all things to all people. The main problem is the deal is often becoming more important than the material. The audiences just aren’t buying that anymore. There are too many other options for entertainment. The KEY is a clear vision, entertaining story and premise and managing to keep your budget on a par with the reasonable roi. Also… It’s CRUCIAL to have good acting. THE DEVIL INSIDE is very well performed by it cast of mostly new faces… which is VERY REFRESHING! The INDUSTRY is being EATEN from the INSIDE OUT by closed minded, frightened individuals that think there is a FORMULA for art. And because many are not ARTISTS themselves, but have only studied ART have been told how to think about it, they actually believe that ART has a standard. It doesn’t. Every true artist’s expression is unique and different. If you hate chocolate cake, you won’t appreciate the best chocolate cake in the world. AUDIENCES JUST WANT TO BE ENTERTAINED and STIMULATED! DO THAT AT THE RIGHT COST and you will reap a RETURN!
Wish I could agree on more than principle, but…the sad fact is that most of the top grossers last year were sequels and franchise movies, both good (HARRY POTTER) and bad (TRANSFORMERS, TWILIGHT). No matter how many such movies bomb, they will continue to be made as long as the studios see enough of them pay off this way.
WOM is a mixed bag in my world. I’m hearing lots of great things about the rest of the movie. I kind of think those that are saying they hated the movie because it ended abruptly should really be saying they cared enough and were invested enough to want a happy ending vs an open ended abrupt mystery.
I mean would Inception have been “Inception” if that top fell over?
“I mean would Inception have been “Inception” if that top fell over?”
Yes.
Wait, the top fell over?
Yes.
Yes…yes it would.
Schneider is the story here. and Paramount’s ability to market the hell out of what is obviously not as good a picture as Paranormal Activity. The amazing thing is finding a genre picture that movie-goers (kids and ‘ethnics’!) want to see IN THE THEATER. will it be have a number two? of course. the PA franchise has earned well over 500 million now. And schneider has his name on this , Insidious, and all three PA pictures. when will people realize it’s him and Peli, not Blum who knows horror? Can’t wait for the Rob Zombie Picture!
As someone who has worked with them, this is 100% true.
Get Seth to give math 101 film distribution to your reporter no mater the gross the studio is not going to recoup Nick
Garbage. Teenagers losing their money this weekend coast to coast. It’s movies like this that are killing the theater going experience. Burn teens too many times, they will stop coming.
Nah, teenagers are dumb. They’ll keep coming to see the same old garbage time after time.
Same goes for idiot families who’d rather see the Uwe Boll of kids movies (Chimpmunks) instead of Tinitin.
Another dumb comment. Teens have been soaking this kind of garbage up since the 50′s. That’s what has kept the business going. Yeah, let’s give them more Yugoslavian-language art films, that’ll help. “Anonymous” is a moron.
(Un)fortunately, the great thing about teens is they keep making more of them.
I tend to avoid movie theaters and audiences that make such comments during a film because I invariably miss some dialog and just end up frustrated with the experience. I guess that makes me a cranky old white guy – clearly not the target audience for this film. Which is a shame because I kinda wanted to see it…
If you go on twitter right now and search #devilinside, its getting panned by pretty much everyone. Forget a one weekend wonder, this thing is a one DAY wonder. Guess the Fri to Sat dropoff…
wait! devil inside is not the new citizen kane! i’ve been lied to! where’s my money back?!? maybe just settle for some congratulations that these guys could get a film on in these shit times, wish them the best of luck, maybe see it, maybe not, and then shut the fuck up. when your masterpiece comes out, we’ll all bow down to the new king.
exactly, thank you. if that 15mil friday figure sticks than it’s a better single day take than mi4 has produced since it’s prime holiday release. and for the experts who wants to talk p/a costs for devil, should we compare it to par’s p/a spend on mi4 (and then compare respective rois)?
the only thing to say is congrats to those involved.
Obviously you were chiefly involved in making this movie.
The congratulations you get is in the form of money. If you’re looking for any other pat on the back, you’re not going to get it. Why? Maybe it’s because people are bitter and unhappy, but why does that result find footing? It’s because the majority of the film-going public feels cheated by the experience you gave them, and the majority of teenagers in film school have more talent than you do. Ballerinas who aren’t getting their shot say, I paid for this movie, why is it made by people with no talent, who didn’t bother to try to craft something worth seeing?
If this movie were a 65% on Rotten, I would still think it’s a waste of everyone’s time. But it’s in the single digits. Along with ABDUCTION and JACK AND JILL and other trash. You should stick your head in the sand and apologize to every filmmaker, actor, writer, producer you meet.
Enjoy your money, but if you’re going to complain that people hate your work because it’s not Citizen Kane, you deserve all the bile that’s spewed on you. You have basically stolen people’s money, as even terrible films get A’s on Cinemascore.
Please stop making entertainment. You’re not good at it, you’re not even bad at it. You’ve made one of the most terribly reviewed films in the history of cinema.
actually, i had nothing whatsoever to do with this film. as a matter of fact, i’d never even heard of it until reading about it here on deadline.
nevertheless, i will attempt your suggestion of sticking my head in the sand and apologizing to every filmmaker, actor, writer and producer i meet. they might have some difficulty understanding me, however, if my head is in the sand.
on a more pressing issue, i am not exactly certain who these ballerinas you speak about are, but am always open to meeting ballerinas, as any of my friends will tell you. so, send ‘em over.
Nice comment. As for the ballerinas, I suggest you offer to buy them coffee. If you mention lunch, or worse, dinner, they will PANIC as they can’t afford to gain any weight:)
I worked with Steven Schneider on a horror pitch a couple years ago — he had some very creative and interesting ideas and more importantly was a nice fellow.
Steven is a great guy and deserves a lot of credit here… but no one is giving the guys at Generate any credit for this and they were showing this film around before anyone was involved, Steven included, and CAA had all but given up on the director and the film 100%. The managers at Generate were telling everyone around town how great the film was, they truly believed in it and the filmmakers, and even took part in a few test screenings around town way before it was bought. No one wanted it, ask anyone, but they kept pushing HARD. Generate kept it alive so Steven could find it and then give it to the right people (i.e. producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Paramount).