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Boxoffice Numbers for Oct 8 weekend

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Boxoffice Numbers for Oct 8 weekend

Old 10-08-05, 10:00 PM
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My 2 contributions:

1. Perkin: Although I haven't seen it, I highly doubt Serenity was crap. I also highly doubt that you saw the movie. Look at rotten tomatoes and notice all the good reviews? Most of them very good. This movie obviously wasn't crap. Maybe you should see it before you go calling it that.

2. Although the OP said some dumb things, the film bombed. Get over it. Not because nobody is going to the movies or because America is stupid or anything like that. The movie probably didn't look interesting to most people. If anything, blame the advertising.
Old 10-08-05, 10:31 PM
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Originally Posted by das Monkey
but I doubt anyone at Universal seriously expected much more than this. If they did, they're incredibly foolish, because this was an obvious gamble with a small chance of success...This isn't a binary situation where the only options are "flop" and "megahit".

das
Huh??? Your comments make no sense. You're saying Universal green lit this film fully expecting that it would lose money?!?! That would seem "incredibly foolish" to me. Nah, they knew it was a gamble but I'm sure they expected much more than this just on the fan base alone. The only reason they took the gamble was the relatively small budget but no studio green lights a film unless they feel it has a reasonable chance to make money.

When will you die hards admit that this movie flopped?!! It will probably make half it's production budget (not counting marketing costs). I mean I loved the show and the movie but at least I'm willing to admit defeat when its obvious.
Old 10-08-05, 11:14 PM
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I just don't understand Serenity's box office. Other movies with rabid cult followings have performed very well in the past. But apparently this film with such a huge internet fanbase equates to $15 million???

I would have loved to see Joss Whedon's film make over $100 million, even $50 million. It would have sent a message to Hollywood to stop giving us crap. But this kind of gross is usually for a big stinking goose egg of a film.

It would have been nice to see Whedon finally recognized for a film where he had creative control. But now, not only will we never see a Firefly franchise, but Hollywood will decide to make more of the stupid crap I loathe. Bummer.
Old 10-08-05, 11:25 PM
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The fanbase is loud but not necessarily "huge".

While I'd love to see sequels, what's most disappointing to me is that this is further reinforcement for the studios not to take chances on quality and to keep churning out uninventive and formulaic tripe. It's not like this is a niche plot that only diehards are going to like. This is a film for anyone, and it's pretty hard to find people who saw Serenity and didn't really enjoy it. And yet it's just not doing business, even with critical support and great word of mouth. As a movie fan of any kind, it's just so unfortunate to see these things happen again and again, and at some point we can't blame the studios for pandering to the audience's fickle nature.

das
Old 10-08-05, 11:33 PM
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I will say I don't think Serenity was marketed very well. Promoting it heavily on the Sci-Fi channel is pretty much preaching to the choir. And the movie's poster looks horrible. There is nothing in that poster that would catch my eye and make me want to see it unless I was already an internet fanboy.
Old 10-08-05, 11:36 PM
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I will always wonder if Serenity was released in April (as originally planned), would its box office be better or worse than being released at the end of September.

Last edited by Patman; 10-08-05 at 11:45 PM.
Old 10-08-05, 11:36 PM
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I've said this before, but I had to drag some friends to it who nearly refused to go after seeing the TV spots. Of course they loved the film like everyone else and now want to see the series, but it's validation that the marketing campaign was quite poor for non-fans.

das
Old 10-09-05, 12:04 AM
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Originally Posted by moocher
Huh??? Your comments make no sense. You're saying Universal green lit this film fully expecting that it would lose money?!?! That would seem "incredibly foolish" to me. Nah, they knew it was a gamble but I'm sure they expected much more than this just on the fan base alone. The only reason they took the gamble was the relatively small budget but no studio green lights a film unless they feel it has a reasonable chance to make money.

When will you die hards admit that this movie flopped?!! It will probably make half it's production budget (not counting marketing costs). I mean I loved the show and the movie but at least I'm willing to admit defeat when its obvious.
If the domestic take was the end of the revenue stream, you'd have a point. Simply put though, given a 25-30 million dollar domestic run, it seems logical the film will over the course of time break even. Throw in comparable international sales and DVD sales to match, you have an overall gross nearer to 100 million. Not enough perhaps to guarantee a sequel, but enough to recoup most of the costs for the studio. No, the studio didn't greenlight this hoping to lose money. But they also aren't stupid and didn't think this would make hundreds of millions of dollars. Had this film made money like...Resident Evil...then they would've been pleased. What did that movie make? 44 million...and it cost around 35 million.

That's why we're not calling it a flop. I call things like The Alamo and Pluto Nash flops. Those are movies that are in the red, and will always be. This film is in hazier territory...not a total flop, but not a success either. These things are just not black and white, and these numbers don't really justify calling this an out and out flop.
Old 10-09-05, 12:38 AM
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The reason for Serenity's drop is simple... cult-following films are ALWAYS heavily frontloaded. Most of the fans go opening weekend, inflating the box office unnaturally. Same thing with something like Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back.
Old 10-09-05, 03:31 AM
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Originally Posted by island007
What counts the most is the BOX OFFICE.
Well, I think that statement speaks for itself, really...
Old 10-09-05, 04:06 AM
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Originally Posted by island007
What counts the most is the BOX OFFICE.
Tell that to those crazy Oscar people.

*Titanic excluded.
Old 10-09-05, 07:59 AM
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Originally Posted by Matthew Chmiel
Tell that to those crazy Oscar people.

*Titanic excluded.
I'd exclude the three Lord of the Rings movies, too--though mind you, the fandom wanting to see these three movies was HUGE.
Old 10-09-05, 09:57 AM
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Originally Posted by das Monkey
I've said this before, but I had to drag some friends to it who nearly refused to go after seeing the TV spots. Of course they loved the film like everyone else and now want to see the series, but it's validation that the marketing campaign was quite poor for non-fans.

das
On this we can agree. Universal seemed unsure of how to market it. They did a lot of "preaching to the choir" by tieing it to JW and his TV shows. It's Mon morning QB'ing but I believe they should have marketed it as a straight-up action movie and distanced it's relationship to JW, Buffy, and Firefly. I think the general public felt that if they hadn't watched Firefly (or Buffy for that matter since they seemed to mention Buffy in a lot of spots), they would be lost.

Also, agreed, the poster was horrible.
Old 10-09-05, 10:03 AM
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Originally Posted by Jackskeleton
Yeah, it really isn't a matter of flopping, just a matter of expandable income I suppose. Gas to get to the theatre and general prices (oh yeah, that's the best excuse) Simply put.... there's no real big hits this time of year.
I think it's more that it's a scifi movie that's not named Star Trek or Star Wars, and those just generally don't do super well outside of the scifi fans.

The word of mouth has been great, and I still have little desire to see it as I hate scifi. Seems to be the general theme around my college. People I know that are Scifi fans that have seen loved it and are talking it up, the others I know who aren't into scifi like me still don't want to see it as the trailer didn't interest them.
Old 10-09-05, 10:15 AM
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Originally Posted by moocher
Huh??? Your comments make no sense. You're saying Universal green lit this film fully expecting that it would lose money?!?!
No, I believe das is saying that Universal wasn't expecting it to be a huge theatrical draw.
Old 10-09-05, 10:53 AM
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Originally Posted by jaeufraser
Throw in comparable international sales and DVD sales to match, you have an overall gross nearer to 100 million.
If the SERENITY DVD sales match FIREFLY, we are only talking about 10mil in sales.

I fully expect it to surpass that number, but I'm just keeping things in perspective.
Old 10-09-05, 11:39 AM
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Originally Posted by moocher
On this we can agree. Universal seemed unsure of how to market it. They did a lot of "preaching to the choir" by tieing it to JW and his TV shows. It's Mon morning QB'ing but I believe they should have marketed it as a straight-up action movie and distanced it's relationship to JW, Buffy, and Firefly. I think the general public felt that if they hadn't watched Firefly (or Buffy for that matter since they seemed to mention Buffy in a lot of spots), they would be lost.

Also, agreed, the poster was horrible.
I don't think they needed to distance the film from Whedon and his other shows all together. Marketing is sophisticated enough that they could have targeted niche audiences on the Whedon angle and more "mainstream" audiences on the action/sci-fi angle, like you suggest. Instead the same uncompelling commericals that were shown on Sci-Fi were shown during the NFL.
Old 10-09-05, 11:48 AM
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WEEKEND

1 Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit $16,100,000

2 Flightplan $10,788,000
$60,940,000

3 In Her Shoes $10,025,000

4 Two for the Money $8,380,000

5 The Gospel $8,000,000

6 Tim Burton's Corpse Bride $6,540,000
$42,145,000

7 Waiting $5,700,000

8 History of Violence $5,125,000
$16,697,000

9 Serenity $4,925,000
$17,594,000

10 Into the Blue $4,800,000
$13,873,000
Old 10-09-05, 12:00 PM
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The Gospel could have easily been #2 this week, if not #1, if it had been in more theaters.
Old 10-09-05, 12:03 PM
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9 Serenity $4,925,000

Well, that's more than the last Star Trek movie made in its second weekend...
Star Trek: Nemesis $4,415,081
Old 10-09-05, 12:08 PM
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Originally Posted by DRG
9 Serenity $4,925,000

Well, that's more than the last Star Trek movie made in its second weekend...
Star Trek: Nemesis $4,415,081
Um, Nemesis was widely considered to be a flop and part of what killed the Trek franchise (along with Enterprise)...
Old 10-09-05, 12:10 PM
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Originally Posted by William Fuld
The Gospel could have easily been #2 this week, if not #1, if it had been in more theaters.
Very doubtful. The film did big business because the theaters is played in were chosen well (urban communites with strong church ties). Going bigger would've meant going into populations that could not have cared less.
Old 10-09-05, 12:12 PM
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If the SERENITY DVD sales match FIREFLY, we are only talking about 10mil in sales.
I was going to say the same thing. Where are people getting these overblown, astronomical DVD sales numbers from. DVD is very profitable, but it's not as profitable as some are claiming. Like you said, if it matches Firefly numbers, we're talking 10 million bucks. That's still not enough to help gain a sequel. People are acting like the DVD will make them 100 million.
Old 10-09-05, 12:22 PM
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Originally Posted by Terrell
I was going to say the same thing. Where are people getting these overblown, astronomical DVD sales numbers from. DVD is very profitable, but it's not as profitable as some are claiming. Like you said, if it matches Firefly numbers, we're talking 10 million bucks. That's still not enough to help gain a sequel. People are acting like the DVD will make them 100 million.
Maybe not even that much. From what I have read, Firefly sold about 200,000 copies (which is excellent for a canceled TV show with only a partial season). The movie might sell more but if it equaled the series at $20 a pop (which is generous considering most won't pay that much) - that's $4 mil gross.

You guys make a good point. DVD sales is not going to salvage this. Universal is almost a lock to lose money on Serenity.
Old 10-09-05, 12:49 PM
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Originally Posted by DRG
9 Serenity $4,925,000

Well, that's more than the last Star Trek movie made in its second weekend...
Star Trek: Nemesis $4,415,081
I'm not quite clear how these two films compare...

But NEMESIS did open bigger, in a better time of year, and had TWO TOWERS breathing down its neck.

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