Quentin's already much maligned Weinstein Company/Universal pic is getting 50s in "'definite interest" from men. And women are stronger on Inglorious Basterds than on District 9, even though the Sony pic opens a week earlier. (That movie's "looking really good, too," a rival studio exec tells me. "It's gotten some movement over the last few days.") The only competing movie tracking higher with young guys right now is G.I. Joe. Yes, that much maligned Paramount pic coming out August 7th. It is 86 overall, with males in the 90s (just to give you a relative comparison). For weeks, Paramount's claims that the movie works have fallen on deaf ears. But now a rival studio even tells me, "Paramount is doing a good job ignoring the sniping and snarking. It's come on tracking really strong. It's looking to open at $50M-$60M -- which is a great result."
Now for the bad news: Since most marketing say "unaided awareness" is a more important data point (that's when you tell the pollster that you are aware of a certain film coming out without being given the title), Basterds' aided awareness is very low ("1" overall, with a "2" for males). The unaided awareness numbers for District 9 are good but not great ("4" overall, with "7" for younger males, and "5" for older males).
Meanwhile, I've confirmed that Inglorious Basterds, to be released August 21st, is still the same length it was when it screened at the ... Read More »
Paramount keeps crowing about all the records that Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen keeps breaking. How it's now the 2nd fastest film in history to earn $300M in U.S. ticket sales after The Dark Knight. (It just passed Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest by two days.) 2007’s Transformers earned $319.2M in its theatrical run, and more than $700M worldwide. The sequel has already taken in over $600M worldwide to date, besting several records (including what I think has to be one of the Top 10 worst reviewed blockbusters of all time):
•Biggest Wednesday-Sunday opening of all time.
•Biggest Wednesday opening of all time.
•Paramount’s biggest international opening of all time.
•3rd biggest worldwide opening weekend of all time.
•4th biggest international opening of all time.
I'm told that Monday's haul was $14.8 million for Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen for a new $214.9M domestic cume. Internationally, it made $14M foreign Monday for a new $204M overseas cume. Worldwide, the total is now a whopping $419M. (Previous: 'Transformers 2' Opens To $390.4M Worldwide!)
Imagine/Sony's Angels & Demons this weekend became the No. 1 grossing global hit released to date this year. Of it's $409M, Angels & Demons has generated $292.9M in the international marketplace, including $22.2M this weekend from overseas. It also has a new North American cume of $116.1M after making $6.5M this weekend. Best performing territories for the film include the United States, Germany, Japan, Italy, UK and Russia. "No one ever expected to replicate the success of Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code, which was a cultural phenomenon. But for his sequel to hit $400+M and continue climbing is really quite an achievement," a Sony exec said. Especially since this wasn't a cheap sequel to make what with all the top dollar and/or gross players involved like Tom Hanks, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer. Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman received $4 million, a new high for a book adaptation, then another marquee name, David Koepp, rewrote the screenplay. But the film took in more than its production budget in its first few days of release, and the studio expected a good multiple. Angels & Demons also was the 2nd highest live-action debut of Tom Hank's career with an opening greater than Castaway. The Da Vinci Code sold twice as many books as Angels & Demons with a similar Vatican mystery storyline. The 2006 film phenom did $77M domestic its opening weekend for $758M worldwide -- $217M domestic vs $540M international.
SUNDAY PM/MONDAY AM UPDATE: Box Office Cliffhanger: Sunday Numbers Show 'The Hangover' Caught 'Up' For #1
SATURDAY PM/SUNDAY AM: Some of the fun of summer box office reporting is that, every now and then, a low-brow sleeper comes out of nowhere and challenges for the No. 1 film crown during a weekend. "I guess there's no reason to do this if sometimes crazy things don't happen," marveled one rival studio exec. At first, Friday's domestic grosses indicated that Warner Bros' well reviewed Bachelor Party goes wrong comedy The Hangover might top Pixar/Disney's Up after opening for $16.5M from 3,269 theaters. Then on Saturday, the R-rated laffer slid to $14.8M Saturday for a $43.3M weekend with Sunday's estimate of $12M. That's without stars, too. Instead, credit a hot concept (directed by Old School helmer Todd Phillips) and marketing plan combining word-of-mouth with heavy TV ad rotation. It was the 3rd best R-rated comedy opening ever.
Instead, The Hangover finished No. 2 and Pixar CGI toon Up, because of this four-quadrant pic's usual Saturday crowded matinees for kiddies repeated as No. 1 with an impressive hold around -35%. Up was a strong No. 2 Friday with $13.1M from 3,818 plays, then jumped to #1 by adding $17.8M Saturday and an estimated $13.3M Sunday for a $44.2M weekend. Pixar's 10th straight smash, Up will post a $137.3M cume, so that's two success stories this weekend.... Read More »
Fandango reports that, as of 10AM this morning, Disney/Pixar’s Up continues to lead with 44% of all online ticket sales and should enjoy a strong second weekend. Warner Bros' The Hangover opening Friday is gaining momentum, now representing 21% of all online ticket sales. Holdover Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonium is scooping up 9%. Advance tickets for Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (opening July 15) are selling 6% of all online tickets -- the same amount as Universal's Land Of The Lost in theaters Friday.
Paramount is gonna call me screaming any moment. But rival studios are telling me they expect Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen to open with a high of $175M for its 5-day opening from Wednesday, June 24 to Sunday, June 28. Because the sequel came onto tracking HUGE today. Paramount will try to lower expectations. But here's what can't be argued: Spider-Man 2 opened on Wednesday, June 30, 2004, and did $152 million for its first 5 days. So Transformers 2 feels like at least it should be in the $160+M range. (See my box office report on Transformers 1.)
Fandango Five , Ticket Sales (as of 3/13/09 9:00 AM PT)
Watchmen (52%)
Race To Witch Mountain (16%)
The Last House On The Left (8%)
Slumdog Millionaire (2%)
Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience (2%)
SUNDAY AM UPDATE: Warner Bros' superhero doomsday thriller with no stars and lots of violence opened to a $25.1 million Friday and $19M Saturday for a blockbuster $55.6M weekend with Sunday's estimate of $11.5M. But that's lower than the $60sM which the studio was hoping for Watchmen. 
Exit polling showed that 65% of the audience was male, and of those 65% over the age of 25. But moviegoers didn't necessarily like the movie as shown by a Cinemascore of only "B". However, pumping up Friday's total was the $4.5M from 1,600 Thursday midnight and Friday 12:01 AM shows including all 124 sold-out Imax screenings. (IMAX even added about 20 more 3 AM shows to accomodate the big demand.) And Watchmen has the highest location count for an R-rated opening -- 3,611 theaters -- more than even the record-setting 3,603 venues for the studio's The Matrix Reloaded. This marks the most anticipated superhero movie debut since last summer's The Dark Knight. Only it's not a sequel or remake but a long-awaited big screen retelling of a widely admired and highly creative graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.
Yet big questions remain: Is the complex story too murky? Is the rampant violence too noxious? Most importantly, will the pic have legs?
Overseas, Paramount is distributing it day and date in 45 major territories for $28M in grosses there. Japan and 14 markets are left to open. (Warner Bros was targeted in a lawsuit by 20th Century Fox to gets its legal piece of ... Read More »
Watchmen doesn’t open until Friday, but online ticket sales are on fire. MovieTickets just reported that the pic is outpacing Zack Snyder's previous 300 at 4-to-1 right now. but 300 sold more than 80% of its advance tickets on the Wednesday and Thursday prior to its release. Meanwhile, purchases for 124 IMAX screens now account for 1/3 of all Watchmen online ticket sales. Overall Watchmen ticket sales doubled Sunday to Monday. Fandango is already seeing the film snap up 61% of the online ticket site’s sales. Dozens of Thursday midnight showtimes for the film are already sold out from New York City to Dallas to San Diego.
Over the weekend, Fandango surveyed moviegoers planning to screen Watchmen
-- 60% have read the Watchmen graphic novel
-- 85% say the online clips and trailers made them more excited to see the movie
-- 57% plan to see Watchmen with a group of friends
-- 71% are planning a get together before or after the movie
-- 85% had seen director Zack Snyder’s previous movie 300 on the big screen
-- 73% are male
-- 65% are aged 18 to 34
Well, I'd take $1 billion over a Best Picture Oscar any day. Warner Bros made the announcement late Friday. Helped by its relaunch on January 23rd, the Batman sequel is only the 4th Hollywood movie to do this (not adjusted for inflation or higher ticket prices), behind Titanic, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. The Dark Knight's current grosses break down to $533.1 million domestically and $468 million overseas. (Box Office Mojo says it's the only movie in the Top 20 of the all time worldwide chart where the domestic gross exceeds the foreign gross, which is a common trait among comic book-based pictures. On the all time domestic chart, The Dark Knight ranks second to Titanic, while it stands at No. 22 on the all time foreign chart.) Warner Bros noted that The Dark Knight's box office total includes the highest-grossing two-dimensional re-mastered IMAX release ever at $49.6 million domestic and $15.3 million overseas.
SATURDAY AM: Cross-dressing Tyler Perry's alter ego grandma may be reviled by movie critics and those who think Madea represents the worst in racial stereotyping. ("A life sentence..." and "Throw away the key..." were just some of the insulting headlines about the film Friday.) But the public sure loves her. So writer/director/actor/producer Perry is heading for his biggest branded film ever as Lionsgate's Madea Goes To Jail opened #1 Friday to $14.7 million domestic from 2,032 theaters. Tracking showed really even numbers across the board in awareness and interest, with first choice weighted on the older female side. The PG-13 laffer could come close to $40M for this Oscar weekend. Overall, Hollywood has a lot to celebrate Sunday because of what's shaping up to be another huge weekend at the North American box office with total grosses around $135M-$140M, up 35% from last year. The only other new film debuting was Screen Gems/Sony's PG-13 cheerleader comedy Fired Up! which eked out $3 million Friday from 1,810 venues for no more than an $8M weekend. "Don't know who is 'fired up' to see this one beyond knucklehead males and females under 25," a rival studio exec told me. Meanwhile, Best Picture Oscar shoo-in Slumdog Millionaire from Fox Searchlight could easily cross $100 million this Sunday at the same time it's picking up its award after starting its 15th week in release.
Friday's Top 10
1. Tyler Perry's Madea Goes To Jail (Lionsgate) OPENER $14.7M Fri [2,032 Theaters], $40M Wkd
2. Taken (20th Century Fox) $3.4M ... Read More »
Online ticket seller Fandango's Top 5 bestsellers going into this weekend:
He’s Just Not That Into You (56%)
Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience (10%) [opening February 27th]
Coraline 3-D (6%)
Pink Panther 2 (4%)
Push (4%)
WEDNESDAY PM: Big movies, big stars, big holiday weekend, and, if the weather cooperates, there's a certainty of big box office grosses. But there's still more snow and ice storms forecast for up and down North America threatening to lower yet another weekend's movie ticket take overall and prevent 2008 from having a banner year. Here are Christmas weekend predictions:
#1. First up, Disney's Bedtime Stories starring Adam Sandler, kids, gumballs... C'mon, this is gonna be huge, and it's got the widest release of all five pics. Who cares about the awful reviews? The pic looks like fun for kids and their parents, and it's only 99 minutes long. The very strong family tracking looks a lot like this holiday season's Night At The Museum, which also starred a funnyman to draw in general audience (Ben Stiller), had stinky reviews, but made $575M around the world. Playing in 3,681 theaters, Bedtime Stories should open to $40+M over the 4-day holiday, according to my box office gurus.
#2. Right behind it is 20th Century Fox's heavily marketed Marley And Me based on the bestselling book. All my movie analysts don't dare bet against a dog movie. (Remember how well another PG pic about a pooch, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, debuted earlier this year? How about $29.3M on its opening 3-day weekend, all for the cost of canine food.) This is undoubtedly Owen Wilson's comeback pic. The movie is tracking big with females of all ages, and well with (Old Yeller-fixated?) ... Read More »
With five films opening on Christmas Day, and Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler, Owen Wilson, and Tom Cruise slugging it out, pre-sales really count:
Fandango Top 5 Online Ticket Sales (as of 12/24/08, 1:00 PM PT)
Marley & Me (Twentieth Century Fox) 26%
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Paramount) 15%
The Tale of Despereaux (Universal) 11%
Bedtime Stories (Disney) 6%
Valkyrie (MGM) 5%
With Will Smith’s Seven Pounds from Sony, Jim Carrey’s Yes Man from Warner Bros, and a heroic mouse's The Tale of Despereaux from Universal all opening today, it's somewhat surprising that Fandango big onlineticket seller reports that the rodent is leading weekly ticket sales, apparently due to families making their holiday/weekend plans. Meanwhile, 64% of moviegoers on Fandango say they would see Will Smith in any new movie regardless of the subject matter. MovieTickets.com reports that Sony's Seven Pounds will be this weekend's biggest opening. 
"The latest Will Smith flick is garnering the attention of moviegoers across all demographics; however, the 25- to 34-year-old crowd is showing the most interest in seeing the film over the holiday weekend. More than 55% of moviegoers in that age bracket who are aware of Seven Pounds said they intend to see the movie opening weekend, according to MovieTickets.com. Fox's Marley & Me is already showing up on the sales chart even though it doesn't open until Xmas, according to Fandango. Also, MovieTickets.com reports that Lionsgate's The Spirit which opens Xmas Day is doing well among its core demographic of Under 25s and the 25-34s, as 46% and 48%, respectively, of consumers in those age groups who are aware of the film tell MovieTickets.com they plan to see it opening weekend.
Fandango Five – Weekly Ticket Sales (as of 12/18/08)
The Tale of Despereaux 19%
Seven Pounds 11%
Yes Man 8%
Marley ... Read More »
The breakdown for Quantum Of Solace, the second MGM/Sony actioner starring Daniel Craig and the 22nd film in the 46-year franchise, is domestic $151.4 and international $357.7. Playing in 74 markets, both foreign and North American numbers are on track to exceed the box office performance of Casino Royale.
MGM/Sony's Quantum Of Solace goes into this weekend with an overseas total of $272.9M. In North America, it finished Week One at $82.1M (vs $63.2M for Casino Royale, so +30%). That makes its new worldwide number $355M. Yowza!
Summit Entertainment will be running the pic in 3,386 theaters and has arranged with the major theater circuits for Thursday midnight or Friday morning shows. As of noon ET today, Twilight has already sold out 389 performances at MovieTickets.com, including more than 140 this past weekend alone. Four days prior to its release, Twilight is already No. 20 on MovieTickets' Top-20 Pre-Sale List of All-Time. The pic has accounted for 85% of tickets sold on the site today. Meanwhile, Warner Bros is using Twilight to debut its new Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince trailer which aired first on the net this weekend. You may recall that Potter vacated the November 21st release date which Twilight grabbed.
'TWILIGHT' ZONE: Fans Camp Out Day Before Premiere; Is $60M Wkd Possible?
Any day now, 2008's biggest blockbuster The Dark Knight will be topping $1 billion worldwide. Warner Bros tells me that it's already reached $997.5 ($528.5 million domestically and $469 million internationally) since its North American release on July 18th. It's already the 2nd highest domestic grossing pic of all time behind only the $600.8 million domestic haul of 1997/1998's Titanic. And it's the 4th highest worldwide grossing pic behind #1 Paramount/Fox's Titanic ($1.8B), #2 New Line's The Lord of the Rings 3: The Return of the King ($1.1B), and #3 Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest ($1.0B). (None of these rankings are adjusted for inflation or ticket prices.)
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