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June 1-3 Weekend Actuals
1. Snow White And The Huntsman (Universal) NEW [3,773 Theaters] PG13
Friday $20.5M, Saturday $21.0M, Sunday $14.7M Weekend $56.2M2. Men in Black 3 (Columbia/Sony) Week 2 [4,248 Theaters] PG13
Friday $8.1M (-54%), Saturday $12.2M, Sunday $7.8M, Weekend $28.1M (-49%), Cume $111.1M3. The Avengers (Marvels/Disney) Week 5 [3,670 Theaters] PG13
Friday $5.6M, Saturday $9.0M, Sunday $5.8M, Weekend $20.5 (-44%), Cume $553M4. Battleship (Universal) Week 3 [3,144 Theaters] PG13
Friday $1.4M, Saturday $2.2M, Sunday $1.4M, Weekend $5.1M (-54%), Cume $55.4M5. The Dictator (Paramount) Week 3 [2,649 Theaters] R
Friday $1.4M, Saturday $2M, Sunday $1.3M, Weekend $4.7M (-49%), Cume $50.8M6. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Fox Searchlight) Week 5 [1,294 Theaters] PG13
Friday $1.3M, Saturday $2M, Sunday $1.2M, Weekend $4.5M (-30%), Cume $25.4M7. What To Expect When You’re Expecting (Lionsgate) Week 3 [2,907 Theaters] PG13
Friday $1.4M, Saturday $1.8M, Sunday $1.1M, Weekend $4.4M (-38%), Cume $30.7M8. Dark Shadows (Warner Bros) Week 4 [3,002 Theaters] PG13
Friday $1.1M, Saturday $1.7M, Sunday $971K, Weekend $3.7M (-51%), Cume $70.7M9. Chernobyl Diaries (Alcon/Warner Bros) Week 2 [2,433 Theaters] R
Friday $1.0M,Saturday $1.2M, Sunday $844K, Weekend $3.1M (-61%), Cume $14.5M10. For Greater Glory (Arc Entertainment) NEW [757 Theaters] R
Friday $589K,Saturday $657K, Sunday $639K, Weekend $1.9M
SATURDAY PM, 6TH UPDATE: Based on new numbers coming in, my sources now say Universal’s #1 film Snow White And The Huntsman (3,773 theaters) came in at $20.3M 
Friday and bumped up to $21.5M Saturday. That makes for $56.1M this domestic weekend. The result is better than expected for the 2D original fantasy actioner that cost $172M and didn’t have the benefit of a 3D premium or franchise recognition. Despite decent reviews, audiences gave the PG-13 movie a so-so ‘B’ CinemaScore which could have affected word of mouth but didn’t. (As evidenced by the Friday to Saturday jump.) There’s a palpable sense of relief around Universal Pictures and even Hollywood now that the Charlize Theron-Kristen Stewart-Chris Hemsworth starrer directed by first-timer Rupert Sanders and produced by Joe Roth is showing promise at the domestic box office. Because it follows on the heels of May’s very disappointing domestic on Universal’s Battleship and April’s The Five Year Engagement – two films specifically criticized by parent company Comcast chief Brian Roberts to Wall Street as big “misses” affecting earnings.
Here’s the the Top 5 based on North America’s weekend estimates:
1. Snow White And The Huntsman (Universal) NEW [3,773 Theaters]
Friday $20.3M, Saturday $21.5M, Weekend $56.1M, International $39.3M
2. Men In Black 3 (Columbia/Sony) Week 2 [4,248 Theaters]
Friday $8.1M (-54%), Saturday $12M, Weekend $28M, Cume $111M
3. The Avengers (Marvels/Disney) Week 5 [3,670 Theaters]
Friday $5.6M, Saturday $9.0M, Weekend $19.8M, Cume $541.5M
6. Battleship (Universal) Week 3 [3,144 Theaters]
Friday $1.3M, Saturday $2.1M, Weekend $4.7M, Cume $55.0M
5. The Dictator (Paramount) Week 3 [2,649 Theaters]
Friday $1.4M, Saturday $1.9M, Weekend $4.6M, Cume $50.0M
My sources say that overseas Snow White opened in 45 territories and was the #1 movie in 30 territories and especially strong in Latin America and Asia. It will gross $39.3M this weekend, which is on a par with The Hunger Games‘ $38M and better than Twilight‘s $30M, for a $95.1M worldwide cume. Highlights include Mexico $1M at 588 dates and 48% market share, ($900K at 393 dates and 51% market share), Germany ($1.5M at 618 dates in 2 days), UK ($1M at 476 dates and with previews total is $2.6M (where the movie was overwhelmed by Fox’s Prometheus. See below). ”The UK has two national holidays and school holidays next week and 5 weeks as counter-programming to the Euro Cup, so we expect the film to have a long run,” a Uni exec emailed me. Snow White has 18 territories including Australia, France, Italy, Japan and Russia to open over the next two months. It’s now safe to say that Snow White is breaking the post-Avengers early summer slump which has claimed 5 straight major studio releases so far because the Marvel mega-blockbuster was sucking all the air out of domestic box office. Insiders now expect the movie’s internationalcume to ultimately earn $250M-$275M all-in. “We’ll make money with the movie which we really care about. No one can rag us this week,” a Uni exec said to me this morning.
Snow White’s midnight screenings in 1,092 theaters bear that out: they grossed an encouraging $1.383M. That’s a far better per-screen average for the non-3D/non-sequel movie than last weekend’s slow-to-start Men In Black 3 which took in $1.550M midnights from 2,232 theaters even with the 3D premium and sequel marketing advantage. Universal had done an excellent job in lowering expectations for its big early summer tentpole. Tracking for weeks now had been underperforming and the studio kept telling everybody it expected only a $38M-$42M domestic opening weekend. That result would have been devastating to the studio and its execs. But tracking has been hinky for months and even a year now, as true sages of Hollywood box office know well. This morning Snow White‘s tracking took a dramatic uptick at the end of this week and finished strong. ”Given the way the tracking has been, it was very difficult to project the scope of any opening for any film in the marketplace this season: good, bad, or indifferent,” a Uni exec tells me today.
Fox’s Prometheus is having “a fantastic start” internationally this weekend before it opens in North America next Friday, according to the studio. The scifi film opened head-to-head with Snow White in the UK. Today Fox said Prometheus is 319% of the Snow White opening there, and 161% of both Snow White and holdover Men In Black 3. It’s also the biggest opening day for a Ridley Scott film ever in the UK. “We have had a superb start with Prometheus opening a clear No. 1 grossing £2.2m ($3.39M). This includes an estimated £200k ($306K) from special midnight screenings on Thursday.” A high 76% is from 3D, which includes 6.74% from IMAX. Most of the IMAX shows were only playing one evening performance on top of MIB3 because Sony had a 2-week agreement with IMAX digital. The two x70mm IMAX sites (Southbank in London and Manchester) played all day and reported every show including lates were sold out in advance. The foreign cume for Wednesday and Thursday in the eight markets released there was $5.5M. In addition to the UK, countries Turkey, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Latvia opened Friday.
Related: Marvel’s The Avengers #3 Film Of All Time
Disney announced this morning that Marvel’s The Avengers became the third highest grossing film yesterday domestically passing The Dark Knight ($533M), and the third highest grossing film globally passing Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($1,328M). But these records are not adjusted for higher ticket prices, inflation, or 3D premiums. The Avengers‘ estimated cumulative performance to date as of Friday is international $793.2M and domestic $538.1M for a worldwide cume of $1,331.3M. It currently stands as the #5 film of all-time internationally (#4 is Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides with $803M). Domestically, it crossed $500M in just 23 days, setting a new speed record overtaking Avatar which took 32 days.
Other new movie grosses were Arc Entertainment’s For Greater Glory (575 theaters) with $580K Friday for an estimated $1.5M weekend. The Weinstein Co/Dimension’s Piranha 3DD (86 theaters) opened with $69K Friday for a $179K weekend. And Brian & Barrett/Cinedigm’s Battlefield America (180 theaters) debuted with $40K Friday for a $118K weekend. As for overall moviegoing, the weekend is looking like $135M, down -13% from last year.
Here’s the rest of the Top 10:
6. What To Expect When… (Warner Bros) Week 3 [2,907 Theaters]
Friday $1.4M, Weekend $4.5M, Cume $31.1M
7. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Fox Searchlight) Week 5 [1,294 Theaters]
Friday $1.2M, Weekend $4.4M, Cume $25.7M
8. Dark Shadows (Warner Bros) Week 4 [3,002 Theaters]
Friday $1.0M, Weekend $3.6M, Cume $70.6M
9. Chernobyl Diaries (Alcon/Warner Bros) Week 2 [2,433 Theaters]
Friday $1.0M (-70%), Weekend $2.8M, Cume $14.2M
10. For Greater Glory (Arc Entertainment) NEW [575 Theaters]
Friday $585K, Weekend $1.5M
FRIDAY 4:30 PM, 2ND UPDATE: Universal just upped its North American box office estimates for Snow White And The Huntsman to $19M-$21M for today and $50M-$56M for this weekend.
FRIDAY 1 PM UPDATE: My sources are estimating that Friday’s opening looks like $17M to $19M, and the three-day weekend is shaping up as $48M to $52M. Snow White And The Hunstman‘s midnight screenings in 1,092 theaters bear that out: they grossed a promising $1.383M. That’s a far better per-screen average for the non-3D/non-sequel movie than last weekend’s slow-to-start Men In Black 3 which took in $1.550M midnights from 2,232 theaters even with the 3D premium and sequel marketing advantage.
For more estimates listed by title, see box office results here...Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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opening weekend record going down!
SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN marks another pricey summer flop for Universal. Is Ron Meyer on his way out?
SNOWHITE & THE HUNTSMAN SOARS PAST MIB, FIRST BONAFIDE SUMMER SMASH!
It was the ONLY wide release this weekend, of course it was going to be #1 with a budget of 170 million and 80 million in marketing. IT HAD NO COMPETITION. But it will lose money with that big budget since it needed to open with at least 60-80 million to break even.
Bill you are totally wrong. this movie will make money, it’s just a matter of how much. foreign will be a multiple of domestic and so i think they get to 400m WW with their eyes closed now; just a matter of how much more than that.
How much competition did MIB3 have, Bill, and what was it’s budget again?
Your argument is weak sauce at best, champ.
Please tell which of the following $150 million dollar Universal films was profitable:
Battleship
Cowboys And Aliens
Wolfman
Green Zone
Land of The Lost
None.
Snow White will not be profitable.
“How much competition did MIB3 have, Bill, and what was it’s budget again?
Your argument is weak sauce at best, champ.”
And MIB3 is widely considered to have UNDERperformed, the studio was disappointed with its box office too. With such huge budgets, the studios for BOTH were hoping for 70-80 million OW.
Sure, because SWATH is one of those movies.
The difference between those UNI films you mention and Snow White is that those films opened under 30 mill while SW opened higher.
If by “soars past” you mean “looks like it will barely make it over.”
MIB3 made $55mil in the three day, AND had the benefit of the Memorial Day holiday to add another $14mil.
If SWATH is looking at just over $55 for the three day, without that holiday boost, it doesn’t seem like it would even meet MIB3′s 7-day total.
In which case, I really don’t understand how this is somehow considered “breaking past the box office slump” when it wasn’t so for MIB3. (Because lets face it, the “slump” itself is defined by how much films are making, not by the relative loss vs. gain.)
Yeah, somehow Battleship and MIB3 (and to a lesser extent, The Five-Year Engagement) are apparently being held responsible for this so-called slump. Which I don’t quite understand — Battleship had bad buzz from the minute it was announced, hardly anyone had interest in MIB3, a movie that’s about 7 years too late and chose to EXCLUDE one of its principals from 2/3 of the film.
If expectations weren’t low on those two films, then a WHOOOLE bunch of people weren’t being realistic.
Where do you over reactors come from? Second hand embarrassed for you.
>>>>>>>>> JOHN CARTER WORLDWIDE = $ 282 MILLION
>>>>>>>>> BATTLESHIP WORLDWIDE = $ 284 MILLION
Their budgets and running times are almost identical too.
First, this is a high estimate and will come down over the weekend.
Second, this movie still loses between $75-$90m for Universal two weeks after the $100m write down on Battleship.
Third, why not just break down the production cost and marketing budget vs. the worldwide gross estimates. When you do that, it becomes clear that this is a very expensive flop.
Opening #1 at $40-5m does not mean anything with a negative cost (production and marketing) of $250m.
This is in the same leagues as Robin Hood and Cowboys and Aliens and no spin on earth can change that.
From what I read a film is usually considered to be profitable, but not always, if it makes twice in box office receipts of the total negative cost of production. However, that doesn’t assure profitability for the studios as it all depends on the way the picture was financed. One studio, two studios, distribution rights, prints, marketing, exhibitor cut, how long a film plays in theaters etc.etc. Its all complicated but rest assured that if they weren’t making money they wouldn’t be in business. Oh, and like most chain stores, small budgeted films that are successful can make up for a tent pole failure.
All I know for sure is Peter Berg sucks.
Funniest comment on here. Angry, bitter, straight-to-the-point.
Boy, did that movie bomb.
Tom/Bill (you are obviously the same person, maybe from Relativity). You are totally FOS. I read what Vulture wrote, but they are flat out wrong on several fronts. In fact, a couple of people are calling them out on their bs. That’s the problem with most blogs (excluding Deadline, of course), they don’t get held to same standards and often are wrong. First of all, the theaters keep 50% AFTER about 4 weeks on average. During the first few initial weeks, the theaters keep about 20% to 25%. If you ACTUALLY worked or knew something about the industry, you would know that. If all films were held to Vulture’s stupid ass standards, half of the films released would be huge bombs.
WTF, you are the one who is mistaken. The reason the 50% rule is applied for theatres is because overseas, the studio even takes less so the 50% rule is the average percentage of what the studio takes when you factor in the various percentages. Do you really think the studio gets 100% and the theatres and distributors get nothing?
Ummm, you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Also, you ask the question: “Do you really think the studio gets 100% and the theatres and distributors get nothing?”
DID YOU NOT READ WTF’S COMMENT? He/she is not saying or implying that at all. In fact, WTF talks about the varying percentages involved in the split, so I have no idea where you came up with that accusation.
Feel free to re-read the comment and process the information in your head. It’s the comment right above yours.
I love it when Hollywood blames ‘the slump’ on Avengers’ success…
The REAL reason for ‘the post-Avengers slump’ is that THE MOVIES SUCK.
Make better product. A good story, well told is what people want. Not crap like BATTLESHIP. Cynically developed as a commercial ploy. Poorly told. Derivative visuals. Bad acting. And some wonder why?
It’s not rocket science.
Just clear all the useless, craftless studio and production executives in this town out and stop making fear-based greenlight calls. Let writers write and directors direct without meddling.
You have a good point. No matter how big and splashy the film is, or what big stars you have in the film, if it’s crappy, people are’nt going to be interested in seeing it. Moviegoes can get sick of mediocre films just like anyone else, they would just rather see “The Avengers” again like i did,or stay home until another worhty film hits theaters.
Exactly! Audiences aren’t stupid. We want original, bad ass storytelling. Especially now when a trip to the movies for two is going to run upwards of fifty bucks. Who wants to spend that much on canned Hollywood mediocrity? At least Snow White is different and has a vision. I enjoyed it and next week, Prometheus is going to SLAY. Original, inspired storytelling! Learn a lesson, Hollywood.
The best thing for prodexecs to do is GET OUT OF THE WAY and LET THE ARTISTS WORK!
I’d suggest lowering your expectations for PROMETHEUS, it’s no ALIEN.
Especially when people are much more selective of what gets them out due to the ticket prices, and cell phone lights in the theater.
The film has a budget of $170 mil. It should have made at least $75 mil opening weekend. Alice in Wonderland made over $100 mil opening weekend.
That’s a pretty good hold for MIB3, all things considered.
And Battleship is falling below The Dictator?
Sacha Baron Cohen must be thrilled that at least his movie will break even, unlike most of the May releases, it’s not exactly a big victory, but it still must feel like he walked away from a plane crash at this point.
The Box Office would do gang-busters if we got rid of CAA, William Morris and ICM.
These 3 agencies are killing the film business.
Seriously.
Nikki, WTF is up with the way you interpret opening weekends? Last week you dog MIB III, saying it’s not living up to expectations, doing $202M world wide, which is pretty damn good I would say. Now this week, SNOW WHITE only does $56M US (against MIB’s 70M) and you make it sound like it’s doing good. WTF?
Just because SNOW WHITE cost a little less than MIB III, $56M on a $172M budget (does that include marketing?) ain’t good in my book.
So Snow White barely makes nearly $100 million worldwide and it’s broken the box office slump while MIB 3 which did over $200m worldwide LAST week did not? Universal’s PR person must be in overdrive to make sure this doesn’t look like a mess so they don’t get fired. This movie cost $170 million to produce and $80 million to market. With the studios only getting half of the revenues there is no way $100 million is a good figure. What a joke. This doesn’t look like a movie with great legs and even if it triples it’s opening weekend it will only make $300 million. Not enough to cover its costs.
Agree 100% I love this tie but sometimes the bias is a bit much. MIB3 only underperformed based on overly optimistic expectations. The Avengers, Titanic, Dark Knight, Avatar, HP series, TOLR series, Transformers, these are the exceptions when it comes to big blockbuster success. most blockbusters make less than $500MM worldwide.
Typo fix to the above. Should read: “…I love this SITE but sometimes…”
I think this film will be fairly frontloaded, sounds like a a percentage of the twi hards have been and will be out, im hearing this film is all looks no depth, very twilight….though charlize theron looks excellent.
Word of mouth will kill this film. It looks amazing, but they needed a real director and script.
This movie looks awful.
Always a good thing when a female lead project tops the box office. It’s so hard getting a greenlight on them in this industry, but when one actually goes forward, and succeeds, it’s great for all those coming after.
+1
Two female leads! Success like this makes a huge difference, and I hope breaks the trend that any successful female film is considered an anomaly by the men who control the green light. Give girls heroes instead of bimbos and you will create a generation of women who grew up going to the movies, and will continue doing so for years to come.
More, please!
Wow. Kind of surprised that Snow White and the Huntsman made $1.38M last night. I seem to be in the minority of those who enjoyed it. It’s not a perfect film, but it was an enjoyable 2 hours (minus a saggy midsection). Excellent production design. Great job Dominic Watkins & team.
I have a feeling this movie will be very front-loaded though. And with 170 million budget and 80 million spent on marketing, it needs to double that to break even (50% kept by universal) and that means 500 million just to break even. So this looks like loss for Universal.
Did Universal admit to 80 mil marketing? That just seems incredibly high and not correct. If I had to estimate, I would think about 60 mil at the very most. Seriously, are these numbers actually coming from Universal? I just have a hard time grasping that they spent more money on this film than Prometheus, Captain America, Thor, etc.
Where are you getting eighty million for marketing? That does not seem right. Did Universal actually admit to spending that much?
Marketing is usually at least half of budget costs and in this case the budget is 170 million. And even if the marketing were less and were 60 million, that would still mean the costs are at least 230 million, and that means at least 460 million just to break even. Based on this opening, it looks like a loss.
Marketing is never half the budget. That’s something you just pulled out of your ass. When you have tent-poles like Indiana Jones and Spiderman 3 spending 50 million on world wide marketing, how would it make sense that Snow White spends 80 mill? Until someone finds a credible source and can post it, then that 80 mill is bull.
Bill seems to be getting his “data” from that joke of an article over at Vulture. It was specifically called out by David Poland earlier today, citing it’s lazy and illogical assumptions and disguising them as facts.
Marketing is usually at least half the budget and often more. You don’t think those billboards in Times square are cheap do you? Uni spent over $200 on this thing and another $100 on the market side. It should have opened to $80 or more to have a chance of being profitable.
I believe they are talking about the worldwide marketing cost.
Had a feeling the opening weekend predictions might have been a little low, though with so many movies underperforming recently, it kinda made sense. I hope SWATH does well, though, mostly because it looks like a style-AND-substance film, and because I like Rupert Sanders (who did live-action Halo short, which was pretty beast).
But even moreso, I’m looking forward to Prometheus next weekend. If fucking Fox doesn’t spoil every last second of the damn thing before I get a chance to see it for myself.
Huh. That’s really very surprising. Men in Black was in twice as many theaters with 3D to boot and only grossed about 200 K more in midnight openings? I know Memorial Day and all, but still…I can actually see Snow White and the Huntsman doing about $60 mil this weekend, while before I was thinking it would do about $35 to $40 mil. $60 mil isn’t bad at all. I’m sure Universal would have wanted more, after the horror that was Battleship, but $50 mil plus domestic opening weekend isn’t a bomb.
Exactly , that non 2D sequel is still gonna do way better than the 3D sequel MIB in 3 days that could have benefited of memorial day WE . I say it’s great and i have no doubt Universal is happy with that right now.
the studio was announcing low-mid 30s yesterday. I hope those were just eager twi fans and this mess flops!
A mess you must love since you spend endless amount of time researching those details? Don’t you a job to tend to?
I think everyone has already seen Avengers at least once at this point.
“The Avengers”…more like three to six times or more by this point. And it seems the fanboys still haven’t gotten their fill as the film is projected to do another $24 m this week.
Saw this the other night and loved it. Great visuals and direction with a really empowered Snow White that women will love – she’s no longer sitting around waiting for the Prince to save her (thank God). Really strong performances all round, and this film will solidify Chris Hemsworth’s growing leading man status. Audience applauded at the end and word of mouth is strong. Solid revamping of the story all round too – all the elements are there but tweaked in some places in ways that I really enjoyed.
Well done all round to the director, writer, editor, costumes (Charlize’s costumes are gorgeous – thanks Colleen!) and actors.
This will do very well.
Word of Mouth is going to sink snow white. Since it is HORRIBLE. WORST 13 dollars I’ve EVER spent.
You are a Robert Pattinson’s fan, so your taste is really bad.
no, i’m not. he’s a horrible actor.
i assume everyone who thinks snow white was crap is a robert pattinson fan then?
I saw that movie and while it wasn’t flawless it was very entertaining and i had a great time, my theater was packed at 10 AM and people clapped at the end.
#SWATH for the win! Saw it last night!! Badass!! Seeing it tonight with Friends!
The movie was too long and got boring. What is editing for?
lol 90% of the public reactions for that movie have been pretty positive so far so i don’t know what you are talking about . It may not please your bitter self but it’s enjoyable
Even if the opening weekend hits mid to high 40s (the result of a last minute $20m panicked ad buy from execs with their jobs on the line) it means very little to the bottom line. It will help with PERCEPTION only and only for those non informed people who believe a studio keeps 100% of what it makes — as if the theater owners work for free and there are no marketing costs.
–Robin Hood (similar cost, similar marketing budget) opened to $38m and was a $100m write down for Universal. If Snow White grosses an additonal $10m for $48m opening weekend Universal is STILL looking at a $90 to $100m write down.
–Same for Cowboys & Aliens which opened at $37m and ultimately grossed $100m domestic and was still a $100m write down for Universal.
Would $10m more on opening weekend for either of those pictures changed their massive losses? No. Not at all.
Universal has stated the film cost $175m. Add $80m to market it and you realize that the cost to make, market and distribute Snow White requires that the film gross $500m worldwide just to BREAK EVEN and it will not do that.
Therefore – while it will be #1 for the weekend and MAY have a weekend gross with 4 in front of it – the picture will still lose between $75 and $90m for Universal two weeks after they lost $100m+ on Battleship.
That is just simple math.
SW Hunts is a bonafide HIT. Quit pulling numbers are out of your asss’Tom,’ – ESP those marketing numbers, the spend was nowhere NEAR that. The movie is a HIT, bottomline.
The budget of 170 million is listed right on Box Office Mojo. And you don’t think they spent less than that on marketing for a movie with 170 million, do you? and the marketing figure was reported by Vulture and other sources and is generally at least half of budget.
All that math takes only theatrical run into consideration. I know DVD/Blu-Ray sales are dwindling but it’s still SOMETHING, right? And then there are TV rights and stuff. So even if the movie is a write down is it really as big as you’re saying?
But films don’t have to break even. If they do reasonable box office, they can be ten or twenty million in the hole at the end of their theatrical run and still be short-term profitable, e.g. premiere rights to one cable network can net over $10M.
Tom,
Your entire post works under the assumption that Snow White will play out exactly the same as Robin Hood did overseas which is highly unlikely. Snow White is poised to open stronger domestically and you conveniently forget to add that it had a smaller budget by over 30 million. Realistically, if it hits 300 million overseas (which is entirely possible) there will no loss for Universal.
Mike,
That is simply not accurate. Here is the actual math:
PRODUCTION COST: $175m
It actually went over $200m but we’ll just accept the number Universal admits to.
WORLDWIDE MARKETING: $160m
Domestic $80m
Foreign $80-100m (but we will take the lower number)
TOTAL UNIVERSAL COST: $335m
Let’s say the film makes $125m here and $250m overseas:
WORLDWIDE GROSS: $375m
They keep half. Theater owners take the other half.
GROSS AFTER 50/50 SPLIT = $187m
=$148m dollar LOSS theatrically. (And actually more since the foreign ad buy will definitely be higher than $80m.
A shrinking DVD market and TV will not make that deficit up.
They will have to admit this at the next stockholders meeting just as they had to yesterday with Battleship.
Are you insane? You think they spent 335 million on this? You think they spent 170 million bucks on world wide marketing? It doesn’t work like that. How do you possibly think Universal would spend that much money on an original film..ie not a sequel or a built in property. Some of you posters here are morons. 170 mill on marketing…what a joke.
Dan or whomever,
Back it up! What would be an more accurate worldwide marketing cost?
Print and advertising in some 55+ film-going nations/territories.
Gotta imagine, what, at least $10mil per major Eurasian country… maybe less for the African/Oceanic/South American territories…
“How do you possibly think Universal would spend that much money on an original film..ie not a sequel or a built in property?”
Snow White is an original property with no built-in name recognition? No wonder Mirror, Mirror flopped earlier this year.
Dear Dan,
Both tom & bill are totally insane and know jack squat about this business. According to their psychotic estimates SnowWhite needs to hit 670 million worldwide to break even (b/c as they love to say over and over and over, half goes to the distributors).
The problem is they don’t understand the percentage splits and how they vary depending on length in theaters, and they have absolutely ZERO knowledge on marketing costs.
If you listen to these guys, Avatar was the last thing to make a profit. Just barely.
LOL! Not sure what fantasy world you’re living in, but no way in hell would the advertising costs be the much. That would be almost as much as the actual production budget. Not a chance
lol this is ridiculous and desperate from you. I feel like people with an agenda are spreading lies on this board for obvious reasons. Why are you mad ? That it’s doing better than what the tracking boards predicted ? That movie is doing good in the USA and will do even better internationally . Stop with alll these silly lying numbers
Glad somebody on this site knows something about the movie business. Well said, although, the reality is an unfortunate one for those of who are actually in the business.
Can someone clarify this for me. Is Tom correct?
I thought popcorn and candy was so expensive b/c the movie theater doesn’t get a cut of the ticket sales. I thought all their money came from concessions. Is he saying they get HALF the ticket sales? Is that right?
When I worked at a theater long ago we received a phone call every night from one of those tracking companies to report our ticket sales. I don’t ever remember reducing the number (except what I personally skimmed off the top).
Anyone in the know?
The studio has to split half with the distributors.
Opening weeks, theaters see the lesser of about 10% after house expenses vs. a negotiated minumum floor amount. Split starts rising for theatre as the movie holds. Six or seven weeks out you get to around 50 – 50, screens still showing The Hunger Games are probably there now. Exhibitors that get a bomb dropped on them a la John Carter can sometimes re-jigger the terms a bit.
Thanks Marko! That’s an eye-opener.
Finally, somebody who knows the movie business for real. Thanks Marko.
Actually Marko, your numbers are incorrect. The latest rage among the film companies is a % aggregate over the run of the film. They give you a scale before the film opens and you pay that percentage for the entire run of the film. The floor usually starts somewhere in the mid-50′s and escalates as the film grosses more. If a film runs for a decent length of time ala “Avengers” or “Hunger Games”, the exhibitors are getting it in the piehole. Can tell you flat-out, Disney & Lions Gate all kept better then 60% on “Avengers” & “Hunger Games” for the entire length of run while Uni floored high 50′s scales on “Battleship” & “Snow White”. Only studio which hasn’t adopted the scale method yet is Sony and exhibitors were cringing over those 70% and down on MIB3.
Thanks for the insight JJ Evans.
$10 MM additional opening weekend makes a big difference beyond the $10 MM – opening weekend is a significant predictor of all the possible revenue streams a movie can make
Wasn’t too impressed but it wasn’t too bad either. Saw it with my girlfriend; I’d say middle of the road.
snow white is amazing!
@meow. Just because it’s number one doesn’t mean it’s going to do well in the long run at all. This will be seen as either a bomb or just an “alright” movie. With a budget nearing 200 million, there is no way this will be as successful as they hoped.
An “acceptable” finish? Wow that is damning with faint praise. Time for Universal to clean house and regroup.
Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth… the cast alone is enough to make me want to see this movie! I’m not a fan of Twilight, so Kristen’s presence alone is not what draws me to this movie. I never liked the story of snow white because I thought the queen was not evil enough and snow was just pathetically helpless. Now there seems to be a truly sinister queen, and a bad ass snow white.. this looks exactly how I always wished to see the story so I’m quite excited!! So dark and warlike.. I can’t wait! The imagery looks mesmerizing.. I’m sure that even if the film lacks in story, I will not regret spending the money to see it just based on the visuals
You must work for one of the actors, because Universal’s marketing is much, much better than this attempt. Embarrassing. Leave this to the pros and stop hindering Universal’s efforts.
You’re a jerk. She’s obviously a real moviegoer an actual fan of movies and she’s eager to see this new take on Snow White. Stop being such an arrogant know it all. Not everyone who posts here works in the movie biz. I do and I welcome people who come here to learn how it really works. She posted an honest and enthusiastic opinion and even though I have no interest in seeing this movie I hope she loves it as much as she thinks she will. It was made for people like her so stop being a jerk.
The chemistry between Bella and Thor is nonexistent.
it’s nonexistent cause they actually never interacted. They said maybe four sentences to one another overall.
Sometimes expectations weight heavy. It may have a decent 1st weekend. It might not. Everything depends upon how fast twitter word of mouth, and exit word of mouth, get out to the masses to kill waning interest caused by the weak trailers.
everyone sounds like they hate it .I liked it. The costumes will win the Oscar this year. They are amazing. Atwood deserves it this year. Production values are great. Of course Kristen Stewart can’t act but it doesn’t hurt the film.
I hope the studios take note that people don’t want to see stupid fx driven movies. If I take the fam to see a movie in 3D it costs $100. MIB and Battleship are LAME and I’m not spending $100 on the shit.
MIB3 was so forgettable. Nothing sticks with those movies. They’re the equivalent of an ok Saturday morning cartoon. Snow White needed a better script. Everything else on the production was stellar. Rupert Sanders is the true heir to Ridley Scott. He didnt take a turd and polish it, he took an average, mediocre, uninspired script and polished it into an A level looking and acted picture.
I was expecting a cool movie and was not dissapointed. Actually enjoyed it more than Avengers as the tone was darker, more adult. Can’t wait for Prometheus next week.