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UPFRONTS 2013: TV Spinoffs’ Almost Perfect Year 
April 20-22 Weekend Actuals
1. Think Like A Man (Screen Gems/Sony) NEW [2,015 Theaters] PG13
Friday $12.1M, Saturday $13.2M, Sunday $8.3M, Weekend $33.6M2. The Lucky One (Warner Bros) NEW [3,155 Theaters] PG13
Friday $9.1M, Saturday $8.6M, Sunday $4.9M, Weekend $22.5M3. The Hunger Games (Lionsgate) Week 5 [3,752 Theaters] PG13
Friday $4.0M, Saturday $6.5M, Sunday $4.2M, Weekend $14.7M, Cume $357.1M4. Chimpanzee (DisneyNature) NEW [1,563 Theaters] G
Friday $3.5M, Saturday $3.7M, Sunday $3.4M, Weekend $10.7M5. The Three Stooges (Fox) Week 2 [3,482 Theater] PG
Friday $2.3M, Saturday $4.3M, Sunday $3.1M, Weekend $9.8M (-43%), Cume $29.9M6. The Cabin In The Woods (Lionsgate) Week 2 [2,811 Theaters] R
Friday $2.5M, Saturday $3.4M, Sunday $2.2M, Weekend $8M (-46%), Cume $27.2M7. American Reunion (Universal) Week 3 [3,033 Theaters] R
Friday $1.7M, Saturday $2.3M, Sunday $1.5M, Weekend $5.5M (-48%), Cume $48.5M8. Titanic 3D (Paramount/Fox) Week 3 [2,515 Theaters] PG13
Friday $1.4M, Saturday $2.2M, Sunday $1.5M, Weekend $5.0M (-58%), Cume $52.9M9. 21 Jump Street (Sony) Week 6 [2,427 Theaters] R
Friday $1.4M, Saturday $2.1M, Sunday $1.3M, Weekend $4.8M (-28%), Cume $127.2M10. Mirror Mirror (Relativity) Week 4 [2,938 Theaters] PG
Friday $1.1M, Saturday $1.9M, Sunday $1.3M, Weekend $4.4M (-36%), Cume $55.5M
SUNDAY AM, 4TH UPDATE: I’m still on vacation but the box office never rests, especially when 2012 delivers another hot weekend. Sony Pictures is in shock that its Screen Gems sleeper Think Like A Man based on the 
bestselling book by TV/radio comedian Steve Harvey and starring new comedy star Kevin Hart is North America’s #1 movie. But also by its gross through Sunday looking like double what execs predicted. And Saturday’s number was up +9% from Friday’s figure. The weekend total may finish as high as $33M. And yet this urban comedy — like it or not, that’s what the movie industry calls this genre — was playing in only 2,017 locations. It was aimed squarely at African-Americans ages 13 to 49 but then wound up crossing over big-time with all audiences regardless of race and sex. Opening weekend demos show that the campaign attracted an audience mix of 37% males and 63% females: 38% were under 30, and 62% were 30 and over. Pic earned an ‘A’ CinemaScore from audiences: ‘A+’ Males, ‘A’ Females, ‘A+’ under age 25, ‘A’ every other category. Big online ticket seller Fandango called this contest early when it reported that Think Like A Man was its top-selling movie grabbing a healthy 42% of Thursday’s sales. “The movie had a negative cost between $12M-$13M so we’re thrilled,” a Sony exec emails me. “Any weekend where you make back the negative cost in the first weekend is a good weekend in our books.”
I’m amused how everybody is getting in line now to tell me all the execs and talent responsible for the huge success of this movie. But, first, let’s not forget that Jeff Blake’s ace marketing and distribution team can sell virtually anything. And no doubt Clint Culpepper is on a hot streak: this is Screen Gems’ third #1 film of the year, and Sony Pictures’ fourth #1 in 2012. Besides Harvey, comedian Kevin Hart deserve credit for turning out his rabid fanbase by endlessly promoting the pic and dominating the social media conversation about it. Hart is still a fairly fresh film star: his 2011 standup comedy film Laugh At My Pain shocked the industry by making Top 10 numbers despite playing in very few theaters. Harvey’s and Hart’s and the cast’s popularity allowed Sony to take advantage of some 40+M social connections on Facebook and Twitter. And then there’s Tim Story (Barbershop, Fantastic Four 1 and 2) who directed the film. “How many prominent African American film comedy directors are there after all who have helmed a mainstream breakout hit?” one insider gushed to me. And then there’s African American producer Will Packer, whose small budget-big rewards hits include Takers, Obsessed, and Stomp The Yard. Besides Harvey, screenwriting credit went to David A. Newman and Keith Merryman.
Knowing that the story skewed towards women, the studio’s marketing strived to position the movie from a male point of view while not turning off the female audience. The trailer debuted with New Year’s Eve, and it also ran with The Vow, Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds, and Red Tails. The usual high-profile sports games were employed, as well as a ’Behind The NBA’ promotion featuring Kevin Hart, Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson, and Kevin Smith. The film took advantage of a lot of radio cross-promotion, including screening programs and flyaway promotions. It also took over Harvey’s morning show during the first week of April with the actresses on one day, and the actors the following day. Sony also reached out to radio DJs from top urban markets, inviting them to the press junket and hosting a special cast dinner with the biggest African American bloggers and websites. Studio also had a big presence on the campuses of historically black colleges and universities, and hosted special fraternity screenings in select markets. Other urban media outlets across TV, radio, print, and outdoor were saturated by Sony. BET created full blocks of programming dedicated to Think Like A Man, and all special programming attracting African American viewers were utilized including the BET Honors, the NAACP Image Awards, and America’s Next Top Model.
Warner Bros’ romantic drama from star author Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook, Dear John), The Lucky One starring Zac Efron is looking like $8.9M Saturday — about even with Friday – for a $22.8M weekend. This is another wild overperformer because the studio only expected $15M through Sunday. Playing in 3,115 theaters, it received a ‘B+’ CinemaScore from audiences. Warner Bros’ private tracking saw this film was at the high end for a Sparks film, which all have a good multiple of approximately 4x. So the studio marketed the movie based on the well-developed fan base for both Sparks and Efron. (Though Zac’s box office appeal is going down as his age goes up.) The campaign targeted females both by leveraging Zac’s appeal and the novelist’s pedigree. “The heart of our online marketing campaign was leveraging the celebrity and likability of Zac Efron in advertising, publicity and social media, while additionally leveraging the various social networks surrounding Nicholas Sparks and his previous films,” a WB exec told me. The sell was heavily focused on romance, and included aspirational messages like “What if you were destined to fall in love with someone before you even met?” (I know: barf. But this crap works, obviously.)
Both films right now finished the weekend ahead of Lionsgate’s four-weekends-in-a-row winner The Hunger Games which was playing in 3,732 locations and came in #3. The mega-blockbuster racked up a new international cume of $215.8M and domestic cume of $356.9M for a new worldwide cume of $572.7M. This first installment of Suzanne Collins’ book/film trilogy now has broken into the Top 20 domestic grossing films of all time this weekend (ahead of Transformers: Dark Of The Moon and Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers).
And nice matinee numbers came in for DisneyNature’s Chimpanzee which received an ‘A’ CinemaScore from audiences. The label’s 4th documentary is looking like $10.2M for the weekend from 1,563 plays. (Who can resist that cute ape face?) That beats last year’s African Cats which opened at $6M and made $15.4M, while Oceans in 2010 opened with $6M and went on to $19.4M. Fact that the second day of Chimpanzee went up from opening day is a first for a Disneynature film. Studio claims the label “enables us to sustain the company’s longstanding commitment to conservation. Through donations tied to the first three Disneynature films, Disneynature has planted three million trees in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, established 40,000 acres of marine protected area in The Bahamas, and protected 65,000 acres of savanna in Kenya.” The label launched in April 2008 and keeps turning out high-grossing feature-length nature films. For this simian pic, Disneynature joined forces with the Jane Goodall Institute for a special ‘See Chimpanzee, Save Chimpanzees’ program. For every moviegoer who sees the pic during opening week, the label makes a donation to Goodall through the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund to protect chimps.
More international numbers in the morning. For now Peter Berg’s military vs aliens actioner from Universal Pictures crossed the $100M milestone in its first 10 days of international release. Through this Sunday Battleship‘s first 12-day total should reach $126.7M. The pressure is on for the film to do well in the 50 territories where it’s now open — including China and Russia — because of its advance bad buzz and very expensive budget. (The studio claims the cost was $209M while outside sources say $250M.) Battleship doesn’t open in the U.S./Canada until May 18th because the studio set a strategy to open overseas first. It was the #1 opener in 16 territories this week bringing the film’s total Number One openings overseas to 37 in the last two weeks. It dominated the Russian box office with 78% of market share. In China, Battleship gave Universal its largest opening in history on Wednesday. Universal has 14 more territories to open.
Here’s the Top 10 based on Friday’s grosses:
1. Think Like A Man (Screen Gems/Sony) NEW [2,015 Theaters] PG13
Friday $12.2M, Saturday $13.2M, Weekend $33.3M
2. The Lucky One (Warner Bros) NEW [3,155 Theaters] PG13
Friday $9.1M, Saturday $8.5M, Weekend $22.8M
3. The Hunger Games (Lionsgate) Week 5 [3,752 Theaters] PG13
Friday $4.0M, Saturday $6.5M, Weekend $14.5M, Cume $356.9M
4. Chimpanzee (DisneyNature) NEW [1,563 Theaters] G
Friday $3.5M, Saturday $3.7M, Weekend $10.2M
5. The Three Stooges (Fox) Week 2 [3,482 Theater] PG
Friday $2.3M, Saturday $4.3M, Weekend $9.2M (-46%), Cume $29.3M
6. The Cabin In The Woods (Lionsgate) Week 2 [2,811 Theaters] R
Friday $2.4M, Saturday $3.3M, Weekend $7.7M (-47%), Cume $26.9M
7. American Reunion (Universal) Week 3 [3,033 Theaters] R
Friday $1.7M, Saturday $2.4M, Weekend $5.2M, Cume $48.2M
8. Titanic 3D (Paramount/Fox) Week 3 [2,515 Theaters] PG13
Friday $1.4M, Saturday $2.1M, Weekend $5.0M, Cume $52.8M
9. 21 Jump Street (Sony) Week 6 [2,427 Theaters] R
Friday $1.3M, Saturday $2.1M, Weekend $4.6M, Cume $127.0M
10. Mirror Mirror (Relativity) Week 4 [2,938 Theaters] PG
Friday $1.0M, Saturday $1.8M, Weekend $4.1M, Cume $55.2M
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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It’s a good thing that WB has Batman coming up, all spin aside, they keep missing their targets.
THE LUCKY ONE’s success has very little to do with Nicholas Sparks. It’s about Zac Efron’s appeal. This opened on the high end of other Sparks titles. The books have decent-to-good concepts, but they need star power to really broaden them beyond a nitch (though devoted) small fan-base.
Efron is good, but what’s the female CO-star? Chopped liver? Besides, THINK LIKE A MAN is a better movie, and it is justifiably # 1 at the box office. It’s better acted, and well, just better!
It’s hardly a surprise that THINK LIKE A MAN is the # 1 movie in America. After all it’s based on a # 1 bestselling book by comedian Steve Harvey! And while all bestselling books don’t translate well into the big-screen medium, enough of them HAVE for it not to be such a “surprise” when they do!
Zac Efron is a star. In the right romantic or comedic vehicle, his audience shows up big time.
Very surprised about the Think Like a Man numbers. This is yet another big weekend at the B.O.
I disagree, the movie is doing okay because it’s Nicholas Sparks not because of Zac Efron. Zac’s last movie, Charlie St. Cloud, bombed. And this is only doing half of other Nicholas Sparks movies, the Channing Tatum movie that was Nicholas Sparks Dear John did double this one. And there isn’t much competition this weekend.
Dear John did 30 million and it opened on Valentine’s day weekend.
Nicholas Sparks’ opening ranges from 12 to 16 million. The Lucky One should be one of the better Sparks openings. Zac Efron’s involvement certainly helped it.
Like a lot of comments on the internet, it feels like you are spouting random information with no data to back it up. Have you looked at the opening weekend box office for other Sparks’ films? Just go to BoxOfficeMojo. It’s all in a nice chart, so convenient.
$12.2 million – Walk to Remember
$13.4 million – The Notebook
$13.4 million – Nights in Rodanthe
$16 million – The Last Song
$16.5 million – Message in a Bottle
$30.4 million – Dear John
Sparks is not the thing propelling these films to big numbers. Channing Tatum and good marketing pushed Dear John so huge. Channing with Rachel McAdams got The Vow (not Sparks) to huge numbers. Both were aided by proximate dating to Valentine’s Day. Rachel got The Time Traveller’s Wife (also not Sparks) to $18.6 million. But that’s it for films over even $18 million in this treacly awful genre.
How much would those movies open at today now that Nicholas Sparks’ brand has been established and ticket prices have skyrocketed as well as intense promotion?
So how come his last movie New Years Eve also bombed and it had a big budget and lots of other big stars? So his previous 2 movies New Years Eve and Charlie st Cloud both flopped.
Everyone hated Valentine’s Day so it’s not surprising they avoided New Year’s Eve. And putting lots of big names was a bad idea. Even die-hard Zac Efron fans wouldn’t sit through two hours of bad movie to catch ten minutes of Efron.
As for Charlie st Cloud, not even Channing Tatum or Brad Pitt can make such a weird movie a success.
You have to look at the final numbers
A Walk to Remember – domestic Total Gross: $41,281,092
Nights in Rodanthe – domestic Total Gross: $41,850,659
Message in a Bottle – domestic Total Gross: $52,880,016
The Notebook – domestic Total Gross: $81,001,787
Dear John – domestic Total Gross: $80,014,842
The Last Song – domestic Total Gross: $62,950,384
Only last three should count because they had young and pretty stars. Nights in Rodanthe and Message in a Bottle had older cast and Mandy Moore is nobody. And it is Nicholas Sparks’ movie. Something tells me that Lucky One will not end up with $80 millions total.
I can’t believe that this movie went over 15 millions. Trailer looks so stupid and soooo boring and so predictable. I can’t believe that people went to see it. But it’s a huge win for Efron I guess. Hilariously he beat all those Twilight people. None of the Pattinsons, Stewarts and Lautners solo movies opened over 20 millions. The one that were after Twilight and the ones where they were lead actors. Because when Twilight showed up – it stole all the teen fans from Efron and he became irrelevant.
But I still don’t believe in his career. He is just boring. He is pretty and basically, just like twilight people, he has only one-two face expressions. Efron is usually sad, heartbroken and his eyebrows and eyes always show that he is surprised. I can’t imagine him playing drug addict or crazy person. He always looks like poster boy.
IA that you have to look at the cumulative as well, though studios care more about the opening weekend. But also let’s look at the adjustment for inflation. It doesn’t change Dear John or Last Song much but The Notebook goes up to $102.1 million. That really puts in perspective how impressive The Notebook was.
It is a win for Efron. With 17 Again this puts him with two films over $20 million OW. I’m not interested in quibbles with Twilight-star fans but as you said, nobody from Twilight has done that. I’m not holding that against them at all, they are all on their own paths. But off the top of my head, the only other star close to Zac Efron’s age who has delivered like this is Shia Labeouf with Disturbia and Eagle Eye.
I agree that The Lucky One will not get to $80 million. The quality is too poor. And that distinguishes Zac from Shia perhaps, Disturbia and Eagle Eye did well long-run. Though Wall Street 2 did not. I do, for the record, disagree that Zac has one or two expressions.
You clearly have not seen Liberal Arts in which Efron plays a somwhat of a stoner character in which he got excellent reviews from the critics.
I thought Zac was just another handsome, reasonably competent working actor until I saw 17 Again this past Easter weekend. I have to say I was impressed with what he did in that film…he was the best part of the movie…totally believable as a man in a teen’s body, with lots of charisma to spare…his performance deserved a better film. He was also quite strong in Me and Orson Welles (a great film by the way). Zac has talent and he is in it to win it.
Last Song and Lucky One essentially opened the same — Last Song was a Wed opening and had 25mil at the end of it’s first weekend, but this was two years ago. Be interesting to see if Zac and Miley can keep going as adults.
“The Notebook” was aimed upmarket/arthouse, a notoriously hard audience to reach. “The Last Song” was Miley Cyrus in her first “grownup” role. “Dear John” had a military/Iraq War hook.
It ain’t so much the author or screenwriter as it is the finished product.
Talk about just spouting information without doing you homework. The Time Traveler’s Wife is by Audrey Niffenegger
I’m sorry showfiz, did you just ignore the parts in the parentheses where I said The Vow and The Time Traveller’s Wife were not Sparks?
@Ann: I think the underlying issue here is that you just do not like Zac Efron because your arguments make no sense!!
This is actually an intelligent post, cuz his fans have proven they won’t show up just cuz its him. Anybody remember the failure that was Charlie St. Cloud?
It is doing well because of Zac Efron — charlie st cloud was a fluke because it’s story was rather depressing and kinda hard to bring kids to see because of the subject matter. He did open 17 again — all on his own. You put Zac and a great concept, in this case a nicolas sparks movie and you will get a winner. And it opened despite heavy competition from think like a man — why is it that movies geared towards african americans do not counter program? They opened Jumping the broom — which btw was an excellent film opposite Something borrowed, which was also good because of john krasinski — why do they always go head to head with another romantic-esque movie?
Maybe fans of the Hallmark Channel’s “A Christmas Card” went to see the movie. “The Lucky One” is incredibly similar to that movie and the Hallmark movie came out 2 years before Sparks book.
little early to say, but it definitely doesn’t hurt his chances. he just has to make good choices, work with cool directors, etc. then time (and $) will tell.
Not a fan of Efron, but regardless, I think “The Lucky One” would have done well regardless of who was starring in it. Nicholas Sparks movies usually do well regardless of who stars in them. Miley Cyrus’s movie is proof of that.
And both Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart have starred in hits outside of the “Twilight” franchise, so I wouldn’t compare.
Robert Pattinson is the best actor out of the bunch by far and water for elephants opened strong and did well — and that director is the director of catching fire.
They are all worst actors ever in Twilight. Lautner is worst-worst. And Stewart and Pattinson are just worst
Did you see trailer for Cosmopolis? Pattinson again wears this mask during the whole movie. He is not capable to show different emotions. Just like Jennifer Aniston he always plays different variations of the same character.
WTF?! Pattinson is amazing actor, completely different in each role, and trailer for Cosmopolis is just… WOW
Ephron is a good actor. And so is Meghan Good. Her movie is #1, just as her movie, STOMP the YARD opened at #1. Of course Gabrielle Union and the other actresses/actors are good in the movie, too. And it’s not really much of a surprise that it’s # 1 when you consider that the book the movie’s based on, THINK LIKE A MAN, ACT LIKE A WOMAN, was a #1 bestseller.
The photography in Chimpanzee looked fantastic. I rarely have any interest in this kind of movie, but I may actually end up seeing it on the big screen.
I enjoyed CHIMPANZEE. My kid even more so.
‘Think Like A Man’ has got some stone cold foxes in it… I may have to check it out.
You should check it out. I saw all the guys mouths drop open at the movie theater when they saw Megan Good in a couple of scenes. (Don’t want to spoil it by telling you what.)
Whatever Meagan Good does, it’s can’t be that scandalous since this is a PG-13 movie.
or nearly as scandalous as her arc on Californication
“Stone cold foxes”…Now there’s a phrase I haven’t heard in decades!! You are right though. Even the men are pretty in this film!
Good job Steve Harvey, Tim Story and writers. Wasn’t quite sure how they were gonna pull it off but they did. Mr. Harvey has the golden touch.
obvious plant
Sorry hon, not a plant. I just happen to spend my money on movies I think look good or hear are tracking well (like Think Like A Man). I am definitely not part of the “1 percenters of actors” who can just go to a movie anytime they feel. Rather, I’m part of the 99 percenters who have to manage their finances wisely to sustain in this biz.
Zac Efron is not the star, Nicholas Sparks is. Look up the box-office of each Nicholas Sparks adaptation. Audiences are going to see their favorite book come to life inspite of which stars you plug in each role.
Look at the OW Sparks movies posted above. Notice how most of them (minus Dear John) opened in the teens. Sparks has a loyal fan base, but Efron’s involvement did help.
“aimed squarely at African-Americans”??? Why? Because it has a black cast? No one’s saying THE LUCKY ONE is squarely aimed at Caucasians 13-whatever. Ridiculous.
Actually, yes, of course they are. Do you think that Hollywood studios don’t have an exact audience in mind when they greenlight a picture?
Of course studios have an audience to target but the point is films with a white, asian, or latino cast are never called “Asian themed, white themed, or jewish themed films, or asian themed.
“Of course studios have an audience to target but the point is films with a white, asian, or latino cast are never called Asian themed, white themed, or jewish themed films, or asian themed.”Ummmmmm thats because its understood.Everyone knows movie are geared to diffrent ethnicities or cultures.
TERMINATUS,
Are you dense or in denial? Brandon’s very obvious and correct point is, if “it’s understood” then why do they mention it with African American films but not anyone else’s.
Then if it’s “understood” for “white-” dominant movies, why isn’t it just “understood” for those with a predominantly black cast? They made a POINT of saying that it was allegedly “just” marketed to black people — which is kinda ridiculous. I’ve seen plenty of white people at movies like this. And you can tell that some white people high up in the “chain” watch them — because they use lines from “black” movies in later white ones!
Deadline,
This is not an urban comedy. I saw it already, and it’s a comedy about a book teaching women how to think like men so they can beat them in the game of love. Jennifer Aniston and a group of female friends could have easily been swapped into the cast regarding the cast of women. So the point is, it’s a universal movie for everyone, and funny at that. Plus, there are sexy scenes in it that everyone can enjoy! P.S.-There are a lot of caucasian men going to see it purely because they are Kevin Hart fans and “Turtle” from Entourage is in it.
Ah, yes “Turtle” from Entourage. I forgot about his vast box office draw.
Actor in LA..you are trying waaaay too hard to promote this movie.
Will,
Guess you didn’t know this, but a lot of women find Jerry Ferrara sexy. Not all women are into metrosexual, pretty boy, skinny jean wearing guys. Some girls just like cool guys who are comfortable with themselves. Did you forget he dated Jamie-Lynn Sigler?
As far as trying way too hard to promote this movie, that’s your opinion. I suggested to just as many people to go see “Hunger Games”. However, I didn’t feel like “Hunger Games” was being put in a stereotypical box. In fact, however, some of it’s viewers wanted it to be put into a stereotypical box of being an all-caucasian cast. Remember those angry twitter folks who were mad because Rue and her fellow district comrad were African-american in the movie? Strange isn’t it?
I agree! The phrase “URBAN COMEDY” stuck out to me as well. What as opposed to the “suburban comedy” the lucky one? Anyway, Think Like A Man is priceless. I enjoyed the entire cast and crew! Anyone regardless of their “social contruction” would enjoy this film!
I totally agree. The coded language critics are using when discussing the film really shows that the notion of post-racialism is ridiculous, especially when it comes to the entertainment industry. The lens of white privilege colors everything from the marketing to the reviews whenever a movie with a black cast is released. TLAM is the best rom-com of the past decade, period. There’s nothing “urban” or stereotypical about it. BTW, it was written by two white guys, which doesn’t matter to me, but it probably makes it easier for some of the industry types that read this site to digest.
And if you want a heavy-handed example of the coded language, check out the critic’s review at Time.com.
The script may have been written by white men, but the book it’s based on was written by comedian/actor/tv host/radio host/writer, Steve Harvey.
ActorinLA, Thank you for your insightful comments. Would that Hollywood listened! And if Woody Allen casts ONE more black woman as the “floozy,” and NO other black women in other kinds of roles in his movies, then he will go down in history as the racist he is!
Jenny, thanks for your compliment about my “insightful comments”. See, all actors aren’t dumb. Lol. No need to call Woody racist. Just don’t pay your money to support his work. I didn’t particularly care for the makeup of the “John Carter” cast, therefore, I didn’t pay my money to see it. Sometimes, you can talk till you’re blue in the face about changes you’d like to see made in Hollywood. However, those changes usually aren’t made unless they affect someone’s immediate bottom-line. Kudos for Clint Culpepper (Screen Gems) for selecting projects that are inclusive of African-americans and reflect them in a positive light. Bottom line is, support the type of “good” films you want to see more of; and that will increases the possibility of that type of film being made again.
what’s up man? over-reacting a bit aren’t we? they also target nerds, dweebs, single, lonely, women, and gays – don’t forget the gays.
WTF: Do I hear you saying that no one behind the camera had a black audience in mind for this movie? Are you entirely delusional or just lying?
Of course they did. Then the next time r witherspoon, aniston, et al are in a movie, then say it is for “white women 18-49″ with no ads appearing in Ebony, since that is the audience. Tell us the audience’s racial target for Avengers. The point is that it is only done for African American/Black targeted movies and that is what is odd.
Obviously, you’re missing the point. What makes this film geared towards a black audience? As stated in other comments the Bridesmaids, Hangover or any Judd Appatow comedy is never considered a white comedy aimed at a white audience. All people are saying is remove the race labels. It’s a romantic comedy.
If they remove the labels then they won’t be able to justify the low budgets for marketing that “urban” comedies receive. If they remove the labels, then cross casting will have to occur because their target audience will be broader. If they remove the labels we will be able to compete for the comedic film slots that are greenlit each year. Labels make executives comfortable. If an “urban” comedy performs low, they can save their job and their a** by saying, “Well, we didn’t expect it to perform as well as xyz mainstream.” Labels make people comfortable who have no desire to move out of their comfort zones into a true post-racial society, including the author of the article who mentioned African American FIVE times in the space of three paragraphs. Yes, Nikki, it also begins with you. Will Packer is a producer. WHO CARES if he’s African American? He’s an expert in the genre he produces. He’s no different from Judd Apatow. Labeling the color of his skin only makes it more obvious that you’re more comfortable with the great divide. As a writer in this town I hold out hope that the decision makers will realize there is room for great drama, comedy, horror, sci-fi and documentaries that employ all ethnicities and make room for more than 2-3% of all movies distributed in theaters each year. Salut!
Brilliant!
You’re more than a pretty girl, Pretty Girl!
Well said, “Pretty Girl.” Truly.
As somebody who is not American I have always found this practice “ridiculous” and perplexing. A film is a film, it’s good or bad, and when I ask American films if they’ve seen certain films and they say “no it’s not my demographic” It just bemuses me.
That said I do know that this is what happens and this is how many , / most films are planned and sold. It is ridiculous in essence, but in practical terns,, it is very much done thing, if perhaps more so in America than certain other countries.
Since the movie is doing well, I’m not going to balk at that characterization. Hollywood is skittish about black-led movies that don’t star Will Smith. If they see $$$ signs, maybe they’ll be more open to diversity, instead of always always wanting a white guy.
Same with Hunger Games. Great to see a female-led film with a big female audience do well. These demographics have been starved for movies targeted to them.
Hollywood has been assuming that women and African Americans will go see movies starring white guys, but that the reverse isn’t true. So the success of Think Like a Man is good for everyone.
If the execs who greenlit films weren’t frightened, ignorant, racist liars, I would agree w/ you. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Last year “Jumping The Broom” made $4M more than “TLAM” its opening weekend, Tyler Perry movies do solid #’s & it’s still nearly impossible to get a film w/ a lead of color made.
Until there are more executives of color nothing is going to change.
Correction. Jumping the Broom only made $15.2 mil it’s opening weekend and it grossed 37.mil. But you are correct when you say the only way it’s going to change the landscape of Hollywood cinema is when there are more executives of color greenlighting projects. Don’t hold ya breathe though because you might be seeing the “white light.”
Sorry UV, Efron is a star? That movie is on nearly 3200 screens – 1000 more than TLAM. Put Tatum or Hutcherson in the Efron role and Lucky One makes $40m – those guys are stars. Efron has had one okay opening (17 Again) and that’s it. He’s pretty, that’s about all.
I think you’re getting ahead of yourself with Hutcherson. Lawrence is the star of THG. Hutcherson hasn’t proven his box office draw at all yet. Plus, I think he may need to age a few years before he’s romantic lead material. He still looks so young, which is fine for a YA film, but not sure about a grown up romantic role.
Tatum may be a star, but his acting quality isn’t as strong as Efron’s. Hutchinson’s acting quality seems to be similar to Efron’s, but Hutchinson really hasn’t proven he can open a movie just with him being the biggest star in it.
Critics gave Efron excellent reviews for his roles in Me and Orson Welles and Liberal Arts. If Efron wasn’t a good actor, then his film The Paperboy wouldn’t have been selecting to be shown at Cannes. Even though The Paperboy stars Efron, Nicole Kidman, and John Cusack; Efron’s role in the movie is a tad bit larger in that movie being the movie is told from his character’s perspective.
Efron has had modest box office success. Nothing extraordinary, but DiCaprio didn’t have great box office success in the beginning either. It just took that one role for DiCaprio, and that’s what needs to happen with Efron, and The Paperboy may very well be that role for him.
Thanks Amanda — some people are such cynics or love putting people down. Can’t put down an opening of 25 million, pretty much making back the budget of the movie.
You can’t compare Leonardo DiCaprio’s early career, to Zac Efron’s early career.Leo starred in only low budget artsy film until Romeo + Juliet.He was a relative unknown among the public, even though he had received some critical acclaim.Zac Efron on the otherhand was a household name thanks to High School Musical before he ever step foot on a movie set.The “it just takes that one role” logic doesn’t apply to Efron because he aren’t had an audience.Something a young Leo didn’t.It just seems Efron’s audience has grown out of likely him.
As for you critics giving Efron” excellent reviews for his role in Me and Orson Welles”, that not true at all.The word “excellent” implies Efron performance was seen as great, or he recieved universal praise;neither of those options are the case.The reviews of his performance were mixed at best, and even the good reviews only gave him credit for being decent like A.O. Scott’s “While Mr. Efron may not conjure images of magnificence, he does well as the audience’s surrogate” from the nytimes.
“If Efron wasn’t a good actor, then his film The Paperboy wouldn’t have been selecting to be shown at Cannes.Even though The Paperboy stars Efron, Nicole Kidman, and John Cusack; Efron’s role in the movie is a tad bit larger in that movie being the movie is told from his character’s perspective”
You can’t be serious with that comment.It’s so ridiculous I don’t know where to start.I guess the first thing you need to know is that a film being pick up for Cannes is in no way an indicator of it’s quality or the quality of the acting in said film.You can easily check the list of pass films that have open at Cannes to know that.Furthermore, thinking that because a film is told from a certain character’s perspective somehow automatically makes that character role larger is not always the case;nor does that matter in what actor gets the marquee.You could replace Zac Efron with any actor and it wouldn’t change anyone at Cannes decision to pick The Paperboy up for the Film festival.The Paperboy has Nicole Kidman, an Academy Awards winners, along with director/producer Lee Daniels of Precious/Monster’s Ball fame, along with two actor with far larger and more significant film history in Matthew McConaughey and John Cusack.Do you believe among that much critical acclaim and star power that the Cannes Film Festival Committee thought of Zac Efron at all when the decision was made to pick up The Paperboy? Come on, really?
“Think Like A Man” looks like a winner! A great thing for urban cinema and the mainstream industry!
Let’s hope this is the end of Tyler Perry style buffoonery.
Madea’s “Witness Protection” is on its way….:-) Enjoy!
Yeah, and Kevin Hart didn’t even have to put on a dress in this comedy. Awesome.
It is a winner and funny at that. I saw it already! I wasn’t a big fan of Kevin Hart’s before, but he is so…funny in the movie. And well, Jerry Ferrara (“Turtle” from Entourage) seems sexy in the movie. Lol
Josh Hutcherson?!? I had to giggle at this one!
I havent seen a single commercial or even online ad for Think Like A Man. Granted havent seen much for The Lucky One either but at least I’d heard of it. Where in the world did Screen Gems/Sony advertise??
Uh what rock have you been under? I’ve seen billboards and commercials for TLAM for weeks.
I saw lots of trailer clips for it on tv which is why I went to see it. Not sure why you didn’t, but the movie is funny. I had me laughing and crying.
You obviously haven’t watched a basketball game recently.
If they aired during NBA games then nope I would not. Absolutely hate the NBA though college bb is fine. Im more of a football watching kind of gal (not that people cant be both)
But yeah, seriously, haven’t seen a single thing for it. No commercials at all and I havent seen any online advertising
The reason you may not have seen ads is that the ads were in publications, television and radio shows that are followed by black people. Some years ago the Nielsen Company published the top ten television shows watched by black Americans and white Americans. The list was totally different. The only show in common was Monday night football. People seen to be getting annoyed that the author of the article said a movie was aimed at Afro Americans. But business people have to know who their audience is.
And TLAM has had social media on lockdown for weeks. My Facebook news feed & Twitter acct has been flooded with invites & ads to see the movie. You have to see it. You won’t be disappointed.
Hutcherson a star? Thanks Josh’s mom. As much as I dislike Efron he is a movie star. Charlie whatever and 17 again may have not produced Potter like grosses, but they are modest hits.
Charlie St Cloud was not a hit. It lost money, its budget was 45 million and it made less than its budget. And Zac’s last movie New Years Eve was a flop too.
I do have to laugh about Josh Hutcherson though. He is not a box office draw at all.
Zac Efron can’t open. His fanbase was mostly there for Zanessa and HSM. They bailed when he tried to go outside of the box. It’s too early to say if JHutch is a box office star but he has a respectable record for someone so young. He got good reviews in The Kids are All Right and Journey 2 and Hunger Games both made over $300 million. He’s just nineteen. I can see him having a Joseph Gordon Levitt type career.
Weak release for Think Like a Man here in Canada, no showings in Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, and more.
That I’m not surprised about.
Canada – forever backwards
Think like a man looks like a winner!!!
It is a winner, and funny. It teaches women how to, well, think like men in order for the women to win their hearts. It sounds cliche, but the movie is not.
No one should really be surprised that “think like a man” is doing well. The African-American community always comes out to support films aimed at them, esp. if there are a few recognizable names in the cast. It will be interesting to see what kind of crossover audience it can find as the subject matter of the book was very popular with women from all backgrounds.
“The African-American community always comes out to support films aimed at them, esp. if there are a few recognizable names in the cast.”
are you insane? no it doesnt.
Yes, we/they do. You are living proof that there’s simply no way to beat clueless.
If you want to hate or troll please do so more quietly.
There are tens of millions of African Americans in this country. Speak for yourself. You do NOT speak for me.
Also, “Think Like A Man” is not like Tyler Perry’s “Why Did I Get Married”. TLAM is more light-hearted and comedic with a cast that mixes fresh newbie faces along with some veteran actors (like the funny Jennifer Lewis).
Think Like A Man was entertaining enough. Went to the noon matinee with some girlfriends today and was shocked to find the largest screen at my multiplex SOLD OUT! A lot of laughs and smiles, a few happy tears at the end. Beautiful cast. Nothing new, but a fun movie to see with a packed audience and easy to like. Don’t see it if you are easily offended, a lot of jokes against whites and gays, and numerous uses of the slang ‘n-gga’ and ‘g-ddamn’… I was a little surprised at the PG-13.
Checking out ‘The Lucky One’ on Sunday afternoon.
Efron is not a star. for someone who’s supposed to be the next big thing he can’t even beat a movie when his has the advertising advantage and double the teather count. Not to mention his last two movies have been critically panned. New years eve at 8% on rotten tomatoes getting a razzie nomination and this one dipping at 21%. He still has quite a bit to prove.
Your comment sounds like the same comment from up above (hmmm, maybe the same person). Whether or not Efron is a star should not be based on his last two movies. Charlie St. Cloud had a tough storyline to sell and it never clearly went after one demographic. New Year’s Eve was never billed as a Zac Efron vehicle–I didn’t even know he was in it. It was marketed as an ensemble “big name” cast and suffered from people generally disliking Valentine’s Day. I’d say the verdict is still out on Efron. A lot of the “big stars” we know today had far more limited box office power starting their careers than we often remember. Not everyone is handpicked like Shia LaBoeuf to star in movies that would make a ton with any actor.
“Not everyone is handpicked like Shia LaBoeuf to star in movies that would make a ton with any actor.”
LaBeouf’s first BO success was for the sleeper hit Disturbia, a movie for which he auditioned just like any other actor.
Shia was indeed hand-picked by Steven Spielberg to be the face of DreamWorks.
Spielberg nearly bet the studio on the kid, and he turns around and trashes him and says he’s ready to do serious, grown-up work and all that nonsense.
Scott Strauss is a rock star another hit good for you Scotty.
Gee Nikki, if TLAM is “urban comedy” “aimed at African Americans,” then can we count on you describing Bridesmaids as “suburban comedy aimed squarely at whites?” Because I notice that we never see Sex in the City, or any other white comedies being color-coded.
Time to knock it off with the coded language.
Seconded. Folks in the industry seem stuck in the 90s when it comes to race. I guess every Will Smith or Eddie Murphy movie was an “urban” film too based on that BS categorization. Really tired of all white cast films being seen as universal (4 quadrant BS) while anything with a “minority” cast is seen as genre or ethnic. Lazy reporting.
JaySmack: PLEASE stop insisting that everyone participate in your politically correct Fiction. It’s insane. Are you honestly and with a straight face denying that THINK LIKE A MAN was produced for — and is being marketed toward — a primarily black audience?
JaySmack’s logic is killing you, isn’t it, Classic Liberal? You sound like every studio flack I’ve ever known. Trying to justify your bigotry while smiling & pretending you treat everyone the same. Why not address the point JaySmack made? I’ll wait. How is TLAM targeted for a specific, racial audience & SATC or Bridesmaids aren’t? Answer the question?
I don’t know why people are still surprised that a non-Tyler Perry movie with a predominately black cast opens at #1.
When a criminally underserved market is finally served, people will come out for it. And if it’s marketed as a black movie for black audiences, then that’s Hollywood’s fault because just like black people will go out to see white movies, white people will go out to see black movies.
Besides, Steve Harvey has crossover appeal and the “Think Like a Man” is a universal them about how men and women treat each other in relationships.
Jesus Christ, Hollywood…WAKE THE FUCK UP!
I feel like the problem with aiming “black” movies squarely at black audiences or coded language in reporting is that white people want some ethnicity in their entertainment too. Filling up SO many shows with all white casts and maybe a black person sprinkled here or there is an outdated formula. Hollywood needs to mix it up a little. Duh. I think the Bachelor lawsuit along with the “not too dark actor” Acura mishap next to these #1 Box Office numbers might be a SIGN people? DUH!!!!????!!!!! PS Vanity Fair, throw some black actresses on the cover before I cancel my subscription. Unless you can’t find any pretty black starlets who are doing well in Hollywood at the moment. Hmmm.
The “Bachelor” lawsuit is inane and ridiculous. The people who are suing to appear on a REALITY show that is only going to showcase them in a negative light is not an effective way to stand up against racism.
I don’t have a horse in this race, no pun intended. I’m a white man and I don’t think there’s any coded language or whatever. Generally speaking, movies with all black casts are aimed at “urban” (i.e. black) audiences.
However, I badly want to see Think Like a Man because Kevin Hart is in it. Hart is hilarious and I trust he picked a good script.
Generally speaking, movies with all white casts are aimed at everyone, movies with black casts are aimed at black audiences. You see the difference?
If you don’t, ask yourself why Will Smith’s love interests/wives are white or Latina women.
He’s right. Movies with black casts ARE usually aimed at blacks. I’m black and I think it’s silly that people are so up in arms about this issue. You can’t deny that movies are aimed at certain demographics: horror films are usually aimed at teens/young adults…Oscar caliber dramas usually skewer older….a movie like The Hangover is usually aimed at young males. Yet, when people say particular movie is aimed at blacks, some people get upset about that. Strange.
In Enemy of the State, Will’s wife is black.
Kenny,
Sadly, your view on casting represents 90% of the white male view of decision makers in this industry. The Unspoken Executive Attitude, “All white casts = mainstream and every race should enjoy a mainstream comedy. Why wouldn’t they? It’s the general casting of who we consider the acceptable on screen presence: caucasian actors.” *ANCK* Wrong answer. America is more diverse than the mind of Kennies. Mainstream is actually an eclectic mix of mainly ethnicities. It’s also the reason George Lopez’s sitcom and Bernie Mac’s sitcom were well received by all races. The material is funny and the actors are funny. They were not aimed at Latino audiences or Af-Am audiences. They were aimed at people who like to laugh.
Is this really a surprise that the TLAM is doing so well? The film tracked quite well and I recall reading that it scored some of the highest marks ever recorded at audience research screenings.
As ridiculously cliched and cheesy ‘The Lucky One’ looks like (probably terrible, too), we have to give credit where credit’s due : Efron is doing (surprisingly) well. He is 24 and this weekend marks the second time he was able to open a film (20M+), he was part of a critically acclaimed BO-hit (Hairspray), the lead of a critically acclaimed arthouse fare (Me and Orson Welles) AND his other 2012-film ‘The Paperboy’ has been just confirmed for THE most prestigious film festival, Cannes.
There is definitely room for improvement in the acting department (although I only saw him in ‘Hairspray’ and ‘Me and Orson Welles and considering I hate Sparks-films (IMO, The Notebook was saved by the great leads), I won’t see him in ‘The Lucky One’, either), so he should focus on that AND on picking his projects with much more careful consideration : New Year’s Eve and Charlie St. Cloud were critical and financial flops and although he was clearly under pressure to deliver a new hit, he could have done probably better than the terribly reviewed ‘The Lucky One’. He has the luxury of being able to PICK his projects, and it’s logical he wants to stick to commercial films, but he should have pursued scripts that were not only commercial, but actually good/decent material, as well, like 21 Jump Street, The Cabin in the Woods, X-Men : First Class, Crazy Stupid Love, War Horse, Water for Elephants, Friends with Benefits, Source Code.
im sure zac is taking all this to heart.
Zac has said he wants to take the hard road in developing his career. He has said it would be easy for him to do some really commercial big budget film, but he’d rather take roles that would challenge himself as an actor. And to be honest, Charlie St. Cloud and The Lucky One have challenged him as an actor. He has proved he has good acting abilities; it’s now all about the right movie/director/and cast.
Think Like A Man had proper Promotion and advertising behind it. Plus Kevin Hart has about 1 million fans (of all races) that hes been promoting this movie to for the last 2 months. Plus Steve Harvey has a very large, loyal following ( of all races)as well. No surprise to me that this movie is doing well.