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Lionsgate-Summit Offers Discounted Tickets For Films This Weekend
EXCLUSIVE: To movieogers on the coasts, the Marcus Theatres chain isn’t a household name. But people in flyover country go to the more than 50 first-run theatre locations in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. So Midwest audiences won’t see Lionsgate’s One For The Money in a Marcus Theatre because the theater chain and the studio couldn’t come to financial terms. It’s always about the money — in this case, I hear the chain objected to Lionsgate’s deal with Groupon this weekend for discounted movie tickets to One For The Money. It may not matter. Hollywood doesn’t expect th pic to gross over $5M even though it’s based on Janet Evanovich’s bestselling novel. (Time for Katharine Heigl to fire her Momager.) Meanwhile, the trailer had to play three times before I realized that brunette was the blonde actress
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Please, that trailer had to play 3 times before I realized that it wasn’t a lifetime movie…
Wait…. Are they actually releasing this vomit film in THEATRES??! When will the fly over states start demanding actual QUALITY material from Hollywood??
I had to play it 3 times before I realized it wasn’t a remake of Jennifer Aniston’s “Bounty Hunter”. How about creating a dollar movie chain?
I thought she DID fire her momager? Hopefully Katherine picks better projects, I lol her.
Heigel’s problem is not her projects or her management. These are the same kinds of movies that 3 years ago she could lead to $100m.
Her problem is her brand…she destroyed it with her Greys Anatomy antics.
Thats the diff between a movie star and an actor…a movie star has a brand!
How many people outside of Hollywood really know that much about her Grey’s Anatomy antics? The average movie goer would know nothing about it. And the reason her movies fail is because they’re well, horrible. And people are starting to catch on.
Do a quick Google search on Heigl and GA and you’ll find these among the top hits:
Katherine Heigl Has ‘Thought A Lot’ About Return To ‘Grey’s Anatomy’
MTV.com? – 271 related articles
Katherine Heigl regrets leaving ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and would love to return…TheCelebrityCafe.com? – 196 related articles
So, sorry to break it to you and the other self-appointed experts and coastal snobs on this site, but thanks to the Internet, the entertainment press, and people’s obsession with celebrity gossip, the “average moviegoer” knows everything from her enemies to her nail color.
As for her movies being horrible, there you may be on to something…
….or better luck, better taste, more versatility, better judgement when dealing with people and hence more projects to choose from? I bet you’re a branding person. Just admit that you’re almost a con man. Hey, no objections here! Good gig if you can stomach it.
Hopefully SHE picks better projects?
This movie is going to be a giant fail precisely because Heigl is in it. Lionsgate blew an opportunity at a potentially long-running, fairly inexpensive series of films by casting the absolutely wrong person to play the lead.
I kind of find this a bit surprising (not the film barely grossing 5mil part- I totally believe that). Please, correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought that theater revenue from ticket sales is minimal, that the real money is in the ridiculously overpriced concessions. Based on that, wouldn’t a theater welcome the groupon deal with open arms? It leaves the audience with more money in their pockets to spend on concessions, right? Pay less for tickets and suddenly that giant, half empty $6 box of Mike & Ike’s doesn’t seem so ridiculous.
Well said.
The rev may be minimal but it is still there. So when the studio gives $5 discounts on each ticket, I could see why the chain does not want to suck it up all by themselves.
Conversely, you could say that someone who goes to see a movie like One for the Money by buying a discounted movie ticket isn’t the type of person who would spend 6 bucks on candy.
But they are probably more likely to spend $6 on candy than some one (ie me) who wouldn’t go see that film if they paid me $6 to do so.
old rule of thumb, ticket revenues pay for things like rent and to keep the lights on. Concession revenues pay staff and the rest anything left over goes to profits.
I saw her movie tonight, and it was better than I expected! Unfortunately, I think some people still see her as an ungrateful actress (due to her past comments/actions), and they can’t seem to forget that. It seems like she’s trying to repair her image and start over. And if doing that includes publicly reflecting on her past mistakes and returning to Grey’s (as she has said she’d like to do), then maybe, just maybe that’s what she needs to re-ignite her career. Everyone makes mistakes, she made some, but most of us deserve a second chance.
If more of Heigl’s films would flop at the box office, MAYBE this country could pull itself out of this recession!
If Lionsgate could get a few more chains to refuse to show their movies, they’d finally have an excuse for their continual awful box office. How does any studio in town strive for $8-10 million openings? Those would be decent numbers, if it was 20 years ago.
LGF looks good to me…..
Lions Gate Entertainment Corpor (LGF)-NYSE
10.36
Closed 10.27 today, down 6% in a single day, no doubt in anticipation of this stinker. Happy I sold yesterday…
“Closed 10.27 today, down 6% in a single day, no doubt in anticipation of this stinker. Happy I sold yesterday…”
…So let me get this straight. YOU SOLD LGF on the BO projections of a Katherine Heigl piece of fluff with HUNGER GAMES opening 8 weeks away?
You, Sir, are a moron.
Yes, that’s ALL about how strong their theatrical performance has been. Or maybe it has something to do with their acquisition of Summit? No, you’re probably right… Their stock price is a reflection of how happy the market was with the theatrical numbers for Conan, Warrior and Abduction.
Do you know what was #1 20 years ago this weekend? The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. It’s weekend take? $8 million, and that was it’s THIRD weekend. That anyone would say One for the Money is over-performing at a $12-14 opening is pathetic. You know which studio is happy with $12 million dollar openings? None of them. In their history, Lionsgate’s only had 2 releases that have grossed more than $100 million (Fahrenheit 9/11, which they only released because Disney refused to, and The Expendables). Universal had 4 last year alone. Disney was able to take a movie that’s been out for nearly 18 years to almost $100 million. Paramount had 7 last year and was able to take a genre that was supposed to be the wheelhouse of LG (the yearly Halloween horror release) and make it far more successful than Lionsgate ever did with Saw. They’re a little fish in a big pond and until they get serious about the films they are producing and how they are marketing them, they’ll never sit at the grown-up table. They’re like that guy everyone knows who’s always bragging about how skilled and talented he is and how many things he has “in the works,” but he’s always broke and out of work. I weep for what they’ll do to Hunger Games and hope the new Summit guys actually have the sack to shake things up.
I just don’t understand where this mentality of $10-14 million opening weekends being something to be proud of was born. Those numbers (especially as often as LG sees them) should be an embarrassment.
Bradley….LGF stock is UP 30%. Remember, your buddy, Carl Ichan wanted to acquire LGF at $7.00 a share a few months ago?
By the way….I am shocked you have yet to mention your favorite subject: TIM PALEN.
LMAO!
“I just don’t understand where this mentality of $10-14 million opening weekends being something to be proud of was born.”
It’s TIM PALEN’s fault of course…..
Hey, If a movie doesn’t open. Who’s fault is it? Marketing’s job is to get asses in seats, PERIOD!! Curious if you’ve heard of a movie called Devil Inside? That movie was HATED by audiences (to the point where Nightline ran a story about it) and Paramount still pulled $33 million opening weekend and $52 million overall.
The Ugly Truth (July 2009 Katherine Heigl Rom Com) – $27 million opening weekend
Killers (June 2010 Katherine Heigl Rom Com) – $16 million opening weekend
If you have a strong trailer and a great marketing campaign, things like Groupon become irrelevant. I’m all for unique and clever marketing, but things like Groupon seem desperate. Do you think Warner will be issuing Groupons for The Dark Knight Rises this summer?
I’m not too worried about Palen anymore. With the Summit acquisition, Palen and the rest of marketing knows they are on borrowed time. I’ve heard the vibe in their department is like walking through death row. They’re all just waiting for the guillotine to drop. I would be amazed to see most of them last until the end of summer (or late April to be more precise). But don’t fool yourself… Palen’s ego and arrogance are going to cost a lot of people their jobs very soon.
Really, you couldn’t tell that was Katharine? It’s called a wig. And acting. Most of us would have no problem telling that was her. Especially since the ads and credits make her the selling point of this really cool script and book. Heigl is lucky to have a momager she works so well with and who is doing an absolute fine job for her daughter.
… and she’s lucky to have the momager’s best friend ready to defend her on the internet
Heigl and her mom didnt just pick ONE FOR THE MONEY, they pick every movie for the money. She’s going to unemployable soon if she doesnt start workng with quality directors in quality films…
Actually, it’s called hair dye.
Why cut deals with some theaters that you are not going to cut with others? If it drives some people into the movie because of the cheap tickets isnt that going to be off set by the theaters that will not carry the movie at all?
And did anyone ever see Heigl as Stephanie Plum? The books are okay fast-food reads. Not as good as the Jan Rubino Cat Austen series that are set in Atlantic City (Evanovich sort of writes about NJ like an outsider so the stuff seems written by someone who gets her idea of what NJ is like from Jerseylicious and Jersey shore) But these books are basically a TV series and sometimes i think that the authors who held out too long or nixed TV like Grafton and Evanovich and Cornwell missed the boat.
But Nikki – only $5 million? Thats pretty sad projection.
I saw the trailer and thought it was a cable channel show, like Lifetime of something. I think the problem isn’t Heigl’s manager, it’s Heigl herself–her snottiness and arrogance has damaged her and no one wants to see her.
this movie does look pretty abysmal. with that said, i really like heigl, and think that if she chooses the right pictures, with the right talent attached (aka stop producing your own stuff with lesser talents and start picking projects with good directors and casts) she could really reclaim the destiny everyone thought she had ahead of her in 2009. everyone forgets that sandra bullock was like a plague to movies back in her heyday, starring, similarly, in crappy slapstick romantic comedies and saccharine romance dramas (ehem, hope floats???). it wasn’t until 2009 that she really got the respect that she had coming to her with a slate of decent pictures, and even that was tarnished slightly with all about steve. so, heigl get your act together! you’re young enough that you can still change!
I really enjoyed the series & am looking forward to this movie.
I hope it exceeds expectations so they can make the other books into movies too.
The saddest part of all this is Nikki had to watch the “One For the Money” trailer three times.
If I was Lionsgate, I’d withhold The Hunger Games from them, if they didn’t play this film. They have leverage, they should use it.
I have nothing against Heigl, but she has a HORRIBLE ability to choose projects. She’s turned into the next Kate Hudson (who I loved in Almost Famous).
My wife is dragging me to see One For The Money because she loves the books. It does sadden me that such a beloved series can be thoroughly killed by creating such a bad movie. Another example is the Percy Jackson movie that is so bad I haven’t been able to watch more than ten minutes. My daughter absolutely LOVED the book series but was lukewarm on the movie.
Well, they replaced Alec Baldwin as Jack Ryan with Harrison Ford, and that worked out, until they brought in Ben Affleck. If this tanks, maybe they’ll recast and try with the next book?
But the Hunt for Red October was a good movie and it did well. In fact, I liked it better than the Harrison Ford ones that came after.
If this tanks, who is going to finance a sequel?
Katherine is very talented however like anything in life you need to surround yourself with smart advisers. She’s at an agency that doesn’t have a lit. department to help develop and create material. Paradigm has NO directors or writers and they certainly don’t have access to great material on a studio level because by the time Paradigm finds out about it, CAA, WME and UTA has already had two months with the studio, producer and director talking about their clients. Therefore, she’s forced to do movies that everyone passed on. Paradigm put together My Week With Marilyn and never discussed Katherine instead gave a great project with an incredibly juicy role to Michelle Williams. Time for a change on every level but start with not just taking movies for the pay day!!! and get back to the work. Paradigm time for you to become a music agency and merge with a real talent agency.
Oh my! Have the cinema executives taken notice of the fact that Katherine Heigel DOESN’T sale? Then do something about it and keep her away from cinema projects.
Still trying to squeeze out the last of the Knocked Up good will.
Since I am a bit of a psychic, I pre-emptively avoided all Katherine Heigl movies so far, in support of the Marcus Theaters struggle for higher profit margins.
If you compare the sales of Evanovich’s eighteen Plum books to the upcoming massive failure of this film….the blown opportunity here is really staggering…(since every studio looks for a long running cash-cow franchise it can milk for years) Instead of launching a multi-million dollar potential series…Lionsgate produces something that already belongs at the very bottom of the $5.00 Wal-Mart DVD bin.
Moviegoers on the coast should count their blessings…
Katherine Heigl is simply not a movie star. The world has spoken.
Hey Groupon, 2-for-1 tickets to go see “One for the Money” is not a “deal”.
Let me sum this up: Katherine Heigl is unlikeable. Period. Men and Women alike just don’t like her.
The trailer’s out-of-touch “Golly gee, a cute little girly like me gets to have a gun and chase bad guys (giggle giggle)” sensibility was the immediate turn-off. Way beneath worthy of Lifetime.
She needs to do something that totally changes the perception people have of her as an actress. Has FX started casting the second season of American Horror Story? That’s the type of thing she needs.
Why make this about Heigl or even the epic failures at Lionsgate? While I haven’t seen the film I am willing to bet there have been far worse films with successful smoke and mirror campaigns that reeled in an audience and had success at the box office. What this story is about the erosion of the movie-going audience and the need to develop distribution and marketing strategies (particularly in rough economic times) that gets butts in seats. Set your genre and actresses with a bad hair day prejudices aside and discuss the relevant issue at hand – how to stimulate audiences in a down market to see movies in a theatre instead of at home on their 55” flat screen lounging on their faux-suede sectional.
Marcus is the only circuit taking a stand? Doesn’t anyone find that curious? The two largest circuits Regal or AMC are honoring these tickets – why is that? I’m of the mindset that they are watching and waiting and mark my words if the metrics bear out they’ll cut out Groupon and do their own deals. Reason? Their auditoriums are EMPTY mid-week and expensive to staff and maintain. This type of program could be an interesting stimulus to the industry and particular film genres. The real test will be when a major studio does it successfully – that’s if they give it a try. I’d like to see them do this M-Th specifically with films geared towards adults and leave the weekends to the fan boys in short pants. This could give life to films like The Artist, The Descendants and War Horse who’s combined box office won’t touch that of a Mission Impossible (no disrespect to that film).
With all due respect to the Marcus chain in the scheme of things your stand just DOES NOT MATTER and the only thing it will bear is zero runs of Hunger Games and that is the one movie in a few years that Lionsgate you could have made money from and frankly are owed.
To me, when they Groupon a movie, they’re basically screaming we have no faith in this film. Think it’s a bad strategy overall. As for Ms. Heigl, she is not a big talent and she has alientated a lot of folks so I’m not sure what the future holds for her. But, in fairness, it is so so hard to be a female movie star these days. There’s Angelina and then who? Sandra B. had a dry spell for years before she did the Blind Side. Not easy for the ladies…
“To me, when they Groupon a movie, they’re basically screaming we have no faith in this film.”
WRONG…Lionsgate ALSO “Grouponed” LINCOLN LAWYER..check out LL’s BO total.
Groupon sells 190,000 tickets to ‘Lincoln Lawyer’
March 18, 2011 | 6:12 pm 530
“The Lincoln Lawyer” has attracted about 190,000 clients through the discount e-mail service Groupon.
A person familiar with the situation confirmed that independent studio Lionsgate sold that many tickets to the Matthew McConaughey thriller in its 48-hour promotion, which allowed users to pay $6 to see the movie no matter the price at the theater.
@WoWMoM I just spoke with your employer, and informed him that I made deal with Groupon to have you work unlimited time Friday, Saturday, Sunday for half your normal wages. Oh and you have to pay him back for the time you lost. I guess you will have to sell your OVERPRICED services to someone else in your off hours to make up for all that lost money.
I bet you think that is “unfair,” yes? Yet, you have no problem thinking it’s OK for an outside party to set prices at a theater? I bet you think Buffet’s secretary pays more income tax than he does.
The US is doomed if people actually think like this.