Posts Tagged ‘box office’
16 items.
I think for a lot of you, panel two will be worth the price of admission alone. But let’s keep our eye on the ball here, people! Kangaroo Jack was the number one movie in the country last weekend! WHAT HAPPENED?!
I swear, you go away to Minneapolis for ONE weekend…
Honestly, I about dropped a stone when I read how this dung heap stole the top spot in box office. $17.7 million dollars in three days. That’s pretty good by anyone’s rule book. Just think of all the quality films that will never see that in an entire theatrical run. The Pianist, for example. Right now, Jerry O’Connell is somewhere laughing at all of us.
I’d like to think people paid good money for this dreck because there was some sort of national amnesia that prevented consumers from remembering other celluloid turkey’s from “Down Under”. The faint recollection of any Paul Hogan movie should have jolted any sensible movie-goer into screaming out of the theater.
Maybe ol’ George Dubya is spiking the water supply in preparation for war with Iraq. This weekend was just a test run to see how well the masses follow orders. Just now I can picture television sets across the nation broadcasting hidden subliminal messages behind an episode of Friends.
“You will see Kangaroo Jack. You will enjoy this fine piece of cinema.”
At this point, all I can muster is a sick shudder.
In other news…
I decided to update the poll there in the upper right hand corner of the blog. In our previous poll, I asked “What Do You Like Most About Theater Hopper?” Of the 153 of you that replied, a whopping 73% like the strip the most. 8% like the blog, 7% like the consistency, other 7% liked the writing, 3% enjoy “other” (care to elaborate?) and about 1% like the art – which is kind of redundant if you like the strip.
The remaining options – the reviews, bonus material and about page – all raked in a fraction of a percent. Meanwhile, the lonely links section scored a big goose egg.
I wasn’t really expecting anyone to say that the links section was their favorite part of the site. So maybe it would have been more scientific to inquire what you like LEAST about the site. It would also seem to make sense that I would run that poll today so I’d know where to trim the fat off of the site. But I’m not doing that, because that would be predictable.
What I was most surprised by was how much writing and consistency was valued. To say you like “the strip” sort of implies that you like the whole package. But to say you appreciate the writing or the consistency says “These are specific aspects of the strip that I value. I want more of this!” So that’s something I’m going to stick to over the long haul.
In regard to the new poll, I’m beginning to explore revenue-earning options. The site is at the stage now where I feel we have a pretty strong following. I’ve exhausted just about every available resource in terms of making the site known to the public (trading links, crossovers, making my presence felt on message boards) and am thinking about producing some extra material for the fans.
How this will shape up, I don’t know. I can say that I like the way Penny Arcade does things with their Club PA promotion. Donate what you think is fair, and we’ll send you something extra. At this point, I’m just asking if you could donate, what would you like in return. Click the link beneath the poll for more information.
Thanks again for making this all worthwhile.
[ No Comments ]
I don’t really know what to say about today’s strip. I wish I had a big rant ready for you, but my batteries are kind of low.
All I know is, when I heard Darkness Falls was the number one movie last weekend, I was very, very disappointed.
I mean, this is different than Kangaroo Jack taking the top spot. KJ had some serious advertising muscle behind it. Meanwhile the makers of Darkness Falls send three commercials to MTV, and it’s number one. I’ve come to the conclusion that Americans are not the pawns of agressive advertising, but rather, the victims of their own poor choices. You have no one to blame but yourself, people!
I don’t think I can count on one hand the number of people excited to see this movie, much less know what it’s even about. There are no name actors. No well-known director or screenwriters attached. It’s only pedigree is that Stan Winston (and Academy Award winner for Jurassic Park, Terminator 2 and Aliens) did the special effects. What’s the fuss about?
I guess the stat that really floored me is that this movie only cost $11 million to make. That’s steal by Hollywood standards. How much did it rake in it’s first weekend? $12 million. By all intents and purposes, this movie should have been released DIRECTLY to the bargain bin at Blockbuster. Go figure.
Industry annalists said the strong turn-out may have been due to the film’s PG-13 rating which in turn admitted more teenagers. They say the disposable cash teens bring to the box office make tracking results unpredictable on weekends when there are no movies worth seeing. Basically the theory is they will watch anything.
It’s my strong feeling that parents are not doing enough to keep their kids away from poor film making. Drugs and gangs, sure. But where are the child safety locks on something like Just Married?
Why can’t people give some of the better films a second pass? Sure, the buzz has faded on films like Adaptation or About Schmidt since they got their big push for Oscar contention in December. But a lot of these films are just now releasing wide across the country! Go see one of those! God, ANYTHING but Darkness Falls. What does that say about our culture?!
[ No Comments ]
First things first. Can’t forget to feed the monkey. Please vote for Theater Hopper at BuzzComix. We’ve slipped down the list a little ways after being in the second spot on the list for a short while. I know we can rally the troops! And I think you’ll be extra-pleased with today’s incentive voting graphic!
Not much going on with this comic other than how I’m still flabbergasted that such a ridiculous movie like You Got Served could claim the top of the box office this weekend. It’s like I said in Monday’s blog, it’s the Kangaroo Jack of 2004. A film that has no business being foisted upon a mass audience and here it is raking in the dough.
I think the only reason You Got Served did any business is because of the lousy winter weather across the country affecting people’s judgment. I know I’m a little loopy after shoveling my driveway 8 times in 8 days. My forearms are screaming in pain.
Hopefully Barbershop 2 can knock it off it’s perch this weekend. I never got around to seeing the original, but it looks funny as hell. I hope the sequel doesn’t disappoint.
Everyone should take a moment to visit our newest sponsor Exterminatus Now! Using character models from the Sonic the Hedgehog game series, it has a great hand drawn style – very cartoonish, but sharp and detailed. It’s a web comic I think is well worth your time. It updates every Friday. Check it out!
That’s it for now. Sorry I don’t have more amusing anecdotes, but I think all the Excedrin I’m taking for muscle pain is thinning the blood going to my brain.
[ No Comments ]
Considering all the controversy of last weeks’ Fahrenheit 9/11 strips, I thought I would share the information that Michael Moore’s movie broke box office records for a documentary’s opening weekend.
Fahrenheit 9/11 took in $21.9 million this weekend making it the number one movie in the country.
Now for my two cents:
Cami and I saw the movie this weekend in Ames, which is about an hour away from Des Moines. It’s also home to Iowa State University, so you know there was a lot of liberal college students in attendance.
We would have seen the movie in town, but the only theater that was showing the movie was the same one we had all the trouble with when we went to see Lost In Translation. Sorry, but it’s one of many establishments I won’t grace with my business anymore. CompUSA, I’m looking your way, too!
Anyhow, from a pure movie-making perspective, I think Moore told a very engrossing tale about the Bush administration. Funny, shocking, sad… ultimately you left the theater with plenty of food for thought. This is never a bad thing.
A lot of the facts that Moore severed up I already knew. But he packages them in a way that serves the most impact. Watching the movie defiantly leaves and impression.
There were parts of the movie that were a little overwrought and you can tell where Moore’s ego gets in the way. Blind-siding Senators and asking them to sign up their kids for service in the armed forces is a little shady. So was his parading of a mother who’s son died in the conflict.
Don’t get me wrong. I am sorry for her loss and thank her family for their sacrifice, but it felt emotionally cloying and a little more than manipulated.
Is everything Moore says in the movie 100% truth? No. He’s defiantly pushing his own agenda. But if anything, it’s prompted me to ask more questions and do more of my own research – which is also a good thing.
I think if anyone is walking into this movie expecting the unfiltered truth to be spoon-fed to them, then they’re walking into the theater with the wrong idea. Because it’s no better than to accept what Moore says at face value any more than what the current administration tries to get you to believe.
Bottom line: Regardless of your politics, everyone should see this movie. It’s too important and too timely to ignore.
[ No Comments ]
I couldn’t really think up an appropriate incentive sketch that fit the them of today’s comic. So instead, I just did a few quick facial studies. Click here to vote and view them. You might get a kick out of it.
Quick note on the voting – you guys are a dynamo! Yesterday we were at number 8. I placed the call and you guys answered! Now we’re number 2. That’s amazing! Keep up the great work!
Having recently celebrated Labor Day and the “official/unofficial” conclusion of summer, industry big wigs are left to pour under the numbers and try to come up with the reason that this year’s crop of so-called blockbusters returned some of the lowest attendance figures in nearly 10 years.
Several among them will try to pin the blame on a diversified market where video games and satellite television are stiff competition for the Hollywood dream factory. But I don’t buy that jive.
A cynic like myself might be quick to point out the increasingly difficult conditions audiences must endure in order to even enjoy a movie these days. Trailers that give away the plots to movies, television commercials in front of the feature, rude people on cell phones, crying babies in rated “R” movies, exorbitant ticket and concession prices and over-all lousy service.
But the fact of the matter is, your average audience member will put up with quite a lot of the content is worth putting down the money and the time for.
Example: In the fall of 2003, when I was desperate to see Lost in Translation, the only theater showing it at the time was a small (yet ancient) art house called The Varsity just off campus from Drake University downtown. The conditions in this theater are deplorable. Some may argue that’s part of their charm. I argue these are people who don’t wear shoes in winter and consistently reek of patchouli.
But I digress. I sat on a busted seat with a spring up my ass while the image was out of frame for two hours. I complained, sure. But not nearly as loud as I would have if I were forced to sit in similar conditions and watch Nick Cannon in Underclassman.
My point? If the film is quality, the rest of those distractions don’t matter.
Clich
[ No Comments ]
Reflecting on King Kong’s box office "failure" on Wednesday got me thinking about this noise I’ve been hearing about a software program that can predict a movie’s success. Have you guys heard of this?
Apparently, some egghead at Oklahoma State University wrote a software program that can predict whether or not the next Hollywood turd-burger is going to be hit by applying seven criteria to each movie and averaging them out – rating by censors, competition from other films at the time of release, strength of the cast (or Star Pow-ah!), genre, special effects, whether it is a sequel and the number of theaters it opens in.
Using a "neural network" (shades of Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation, here) to process the results, films are placed in nine categories. A "flop" meaning less than $1 million at the box office. A "blockbuster" meaning more than $200.
The study proved that 37% of the time, the network accurately predicted which category a film fell into. 75% of the time it was within one category of the correct answer. Spider-Man and Shrek were correctly identified as blockbusters. Waking Up In Reno and Running Free were pegged as flops. I guess it must be right, because I’ve never heard of either of those last two movies.
Professor Ramesh Sharda has been working on the program for over seven years and has analyzed more than 800 films before publishing a paper appearing in the journal Expert Systems With Applications, set to be published in February 2006.
Naturally Sharda is already in discussions with a "major Hollywood studio" (he wouldn’t say which one) to further refine the system to improve its accuracy.
I think any movie fan with a heart and a mind knows that this specific leap in technology can only mean bad things for audiences. Clearly Sharda is someone who actually HATES movies and doesn’t want you to have a good time spending your entertainment dollar. Apparently he believes your discretionary income should go to more college scholarships. Or perhaps the athletic program. GO OSU, COWBOYS!
A program like this could turn movie marketing on its ear. Think about all the little brain trusts studios currently hire to handicap the success of a film. It’s understandable to a degree. Studios and producers make increasingly larger investments. They want to protect those investments. But by using the criteria outlined in Sharda’s program, Hollywood money-handlers could potentially deep six a movie before even one roll of film is shot. If our good friend H.A.L. doesn’t think your movie has enough star power, you’re done. Too much potential competition at the time of your film’s release? We’ll bury it in September.
Film’s are already being treated more like disposable product and less like art. I’m not taking the shallow view on this. I know that as long as there has been entertainment, there are pictures out there that will be treated as such – nothing more than a mild diversion.
But at the same time, would a movie like Apocalypse, Now or even Citzen Kane be made today with all the market research and bottom-line thinking that seems to have poisioned the industry? Films for adults are dumbed down to PG-13 so studios can reach further into the pockets of teens with disposable income. Potentially great films are rushed into theaters prematurely without much care because, "Hey, we can always make it up on the back-end with DVD sales!"
A program like this will continue to shift the balance away from thoughful expression and more toward commerce. The two can exist side-by-side if given room to flourish, but that doesn’t seem to be the industry focus anymore. Movies will end up looking more and more alike. Celebrity status rather than good stories will play a larger factor into what films get made. There will be less films for adults who are seeking serious and intelligent options and the overall artistry of cinema gets dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. Culture evaporates and America continues to earn its stripes as the home of dum-dum entertainment and overweight popcorn jockeys.
People wonder how films like Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo can continue to be made. It’s seeds like Sharda’s program that force us to reap the harvest of mediocrity.
[ No Comments ]
Whether or not one could truly categorize at $48 three day take as "underwhelming" is probably subjective. For most movies, that would be an impressive haul. But I am happy to report with little shame that the media is already starting to pick appart Tom Cruise’s ability to draw a crowd at the box office with articles about Mission Impossible 3 failing to perform this weekend. As a sidebar, Entertainment Weekly has a cutting article questioning if Cruise is really worth what he’s being paid. Ouch!
Like I said, $48 million isn’t a bad take. But when compared to $58 million take of Mission Impossible 2 and the $65 million take of last year’s War of the Worlds, it’s not encouraging. If you factor inflation into the six-year period between Mission Impossible 2 and 3, it’s actually more like a $40 million take – which is even more sobering.
Since this percieved "failure" will strongly be making the media rounds for the next couple of days, Paramount Studios already has a few facts and figures thrown out to quell the storm. According to them, Mission Impossible 3 is Cruise’s third largest opening and it’s world-wide take was somewhere north of $118 million – up from Mission Impossible 2.
Personally, as much as I like to read about how Cruises antics has caused him to suffer in the minds of audiences, I think it’s probably a lot of hullaballo over nothing at this point. Reviews for Mission Impossible 3 have been positive. Some have called it the best of the series. So, who knows? Maybe positive word of mouth will turn it around.
Even if it doesn’t and the media succeeds in dropping Cruise to his knees, it’ll only serve to make a more remarkable comeback later on down the road. Would Cruise stop making films if Mission Impossible 3 became the financial indicate of his weakening draw? Of course not. He’d fine smaller movies. Bounce back. Maybe even win some awards.
In a perverse way, I’m wondering if this whole public erosion of audience confidence in Cruise as an action star wasn’t pre-meditated. Maybe I’m giving him too much credit, but can’t you picture Cruise hatching a plan to "kill" his action star persona so that he might re-invent himself as a different kind of actor? I think he’s dropped clues in performances from Born on the 4th of July and Magnoila that he’s capible of more than just running from explosions in slow motion. I think he’s trying to avoid becoming Harrison Ford – the guy who stuck around doing action pictures slightly past his prime. Maybe we’ve all been played for fools.
Then again, maybe not. I mean, Tom went on BET’s 106 & Park to promote Mission Impossible 3. Check out those dance moves!
WHAT?
At any rate, please keep in mind that the book pre-order is still going on. We’ve gotten a lot of orders, but we still need several more to raise the money for production costs! The faster you get your order in, the faster you’ll get your books!
In case you forget what you’re getting when you pre-order your book, it’s 200 pages in full color. 156 comics from the first year of Theater Hopper bring in production. BRAND NEW commentary on each comic that reflects on the evolution of the strip and how I got started. You won’t see this content appear anywhere else. This if for the book only! There are also 11 guest strips from that era and a six-part crossover I did with Movie Punks, as well.
DON’T FORGET! Each pre-order comes with a signed, original and numbered sketch from yours truly! Only a limited number of these sketches will be produced!
Additionally, I’m still taking guest strip submissions for a three week period that Cami and I will be out of the country. I plan on running the strips starting next Monday, May 12. At the very least, I need 9 strips to run with. Right now I have 4. So I need 5 more. If I end up with more than 9 strips, I’m going to run them along with the others. Maybe a full week of guest strips the last week we’re gone. Don’t worry – I give full credit plus links to any web sites to those that contribute, so it’s a good publicty opportunity for you up-and-comers out there. Anything you have, feel free to send along to theaterhopper@hotmail.com
Last, but not least, I just wanted to send out a quick "Hello" to the readers coming over here from Real Life. I know I dropped you on the book order page (it’s a bit of a priorty right now, as you can see) but hopefully you found your way to the front page. If you have time, be sure to check out our archive! Type in any movie you can think of. Chances are we’ve made fun of it!
Take a look around. If you like what you see, please consider buying a book. I know it’s a lot to ask if you’re new to the site, but Greg told me you guys are really good about supporting web comics in print – what with the book he had out for a while.
Thanks for giving Theater Hopper a chance!
[ No Comments ]
I kind of felt like I was shirking my duty not talking about Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest incredible first weekend at the box office. When you stop to think about it, the accomplishment is pretty crazy.
I mean, sure, there’s always going to be debate about box office records. What with inflation and the increased number of theaters across the American strip-mall landscape. But when you frame Pirates three day take of $132 million against Superman Returns take of $52 million (ignore the bloated numbers from the extended 4th of July "holiday weekend)… well, to paraphrase Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction – we’re not in the same ballpark, the same league or even the same sport. I mean, Superman Returns had one of the largest domestic releases ever – 4,065 screens. Now Pirates sweeps through and everyone is like "Superman, who?" Just goes to show how fickle we can be, I suppose.
I know Pirates 2 has its detractors, but I’m just glad that the numbers were better than X-Men 3’s Memorial Day weekend take of $102 million. Superman Returns was supposed to knock it off it’s throne as *the* summer blockbuster. When it didn’t, it gave validity to the Brett Ratner’s of the world at the expense of what I felt was a sincere and thoughtful adaptation of The Man of Steel. Superman Returns at least had something on it’s mind and it was being punished for it. Meanwhile, I disorganized noise-fest like X-Men 3 takes home all the cash? Not fair.
If a balls-out action/adventure movie is going to take the brass ring this summer, I would rather it be Pirates 2 than X-Men 3. That’s all I’m saying.
[ No Comments ]
It’s hard to say if I’ll get in trouble for this joke or not. The last time I made jokes with a homosexual connotation, some of you weren’t very happy about it. Of course, I was contrasting it against Jesus Christ and Superman. So maybe that’s what put it over the top.
I know it seems a little outlandish that I would assume that the producers of 300 were courting the homosexual male demographic. In all truth, I have nothing to support the claim except for small article I came across at Hollywood Elsewhere weeks ago. Actually, the original observation was made by Variety critic Todd McCarthy and I don’t know if it’s really picked up any steam elsewhere. But I felt it was an interesting, if somewhat comical observation that might rankle the comic book faithful. So I thought it was fertile territory for comedy. I may be a comic book geek myself, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t know how to have fun!
In regards to 300, I was originally kind of neutral to the idea. I saw the trailers and thought to myself “Oh, that looks cool. But didn’t Sin City mine this territory a few years ago?” Obviously 300 wouldn’t have been made without the success of Sin City paving the way. So I don’t fault Hollywood for returning to the well and adapting more of Frank Miller’s vision to the big screen. I’m sure for most producers, it looks like a pretty sweet deal. Use Frank’s comics as the storyboards, shoot the whole thing on a green screen in 28 days, toss it over to an effects house and wait a few months for the money to roll in.
Still, for the most part, it looked like director Zack Snyder was reheating Sin City director Robert Rodriguez’s sloppy seconds.
But as time goes by and I absorb more and more of the television commercials, I’m starting to warm up to the idea of 300. The Nine Inch Nails song that plays over the commercials that used to annoy me now invigerates me. Whereas I used to snicker at Gerard Butler’s ridiculous beard, I now think he looks pretty bad ass. I mean, this was the guy who played the Phantom in the big-screen adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera? Okay! Impressive!
Of course, I can’t get too excited about it. Obviously, since we’ve had Henry, that limits our free time for going to the theater. Cami and I have our 7th wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks and I’m sure we’ll be able to get out of the house for a few hours then. My parents can watch Henry. But I doubt I can talk her into seeing 300. I’ll have to wait for video.
That said, I feel a little behind the curve when it comes to the hype surrounding 300. The commercials are making some pretty bold claims about how visually arresting it is and how it’s “the best movie in 10 years!” (I swear I saw that one somewhere.) So I put it to you guys – How excited are you for this movie? How long have you been anticipating it? Do you think it will live up to the hype? And – more importantly – do you think that is director Zack Snyder cand maintain faithfulness to Miller’s original graphic novel what will that mean for his interpretation of the long-awaited film version of Watchmen?
Leave your comments below!
[ No Comments ]
Hey, guys. Sorry – no big blog post today. I stayed up late Saturday night getting a comic ready for later this week since I will be out of town for a few days on a business trip.
I’ll try to come back and write some more tonight. But between packing and our weekly broadcast of The Triple Feature talk cast tonight at 9:00 PM CST, I probably won’t have time. So check out the show tonight if you want my opinions on this week’s big release – Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix. I’m sure Joe and Gordon will have opinions, too. “PING!”
I know my sketch of Harry sucks gillyweed, but I think I can get a pass on my Snape. He’s the most interesting character in the series to me anyway. I don’t care if they’re drawing back his screen time from movie to movie. Alan Rickman should have his own reality show where he reads the phone book or the menu at Chinese take-out places. I could listen to him talk for hours.
I might be able to drop more of a note once I’m holed up in my hotel room after all-day meetings, bored out of my skull and missing Cami and Henry terribly. But for now, this is what I can spare.
Apologies for the lack of content. Hopefully thing will level out soon!
[ No Comments ]
