Studios have long been trying to turn niche properties into movies with broad mainstream appeal, which is never as easy as just adding a teenybopper star or providing a jumpy soundtrack. Most of the time, they overspend and over-market a film and that leads everyone to assume it will appeal to one and all. Advertising oversaturation adds to this misconception, creating an opening weekend demand that will be yesterday’s news by the time a month rolls around.
This confuses the story of “The Expendables,” of course. For all intents and purposes, Sylvester Stallone’s macho bloodbath was an homage to 80’s actioners, mostly a niche market that thrived on home video. Add to that the fact that Stallone wasn’t really known for those grunts-liberate-foreign-country flicks of the era (one could even say Stallone was above that sort of thing), and the fact that the sell (Schwarzenegger! Willis!) was an obvious bait-and-switch, and it seemed like “The Expendables” would be a top-heavy affair that slid 70 percent in weekend two.
Surprising everyone, ‘Expendables’ rules the roost again, slipping only 52 percent and looking like a strong play for $100 million domestic. The story beyond that is fuzzier, but it’s still pretty spectacular for ‘Expendables’ producers Millennium Films and Nu Image. Domestic rights were purchased by Lionsgate for $20 million, and they spent a good amount to market it nationwide, which should provide a generous return. Worldwide, the title is poised to explode, which is no surprise considering Stallone’s stronger brand overseas (not to mention the rest of the cast), though the picture was funded by selling overseas rights in pre-production. Of course, that funding was based on a reported $80 million budget, which conspicuously didn’t always look like it was onscreen. Long story short? Lots of people win. Some legally.
You’d think a plethora of options for every demographic would sink the latest from the cheap Jason Friedberg-Aaron Seltzer flophouse, but “Vampires Suck” still posted strong numbers. Those who felt the duo flatlined with the especially shoddy “Disaster Movie” were surprised to see their latest gross more than that dismal offering in its first five days. Chalk this up to a more focused ad campaign and subject matter, which surely drew from the most ardent of “Twilight” fans who, at this point, remain oblivious to the fact people laugh at them.
It looks like “Eat Pray Love” isn’t going to weather the prognosticators banging the women-don’t-go-opening-weekends drum. We kinda beat that drum for a while too, but hey, we like drums. A hefty slide suggests the crowd for this already showed up, which speaks volumes as to what kind of material should, in future, be turned into mass-market studio releases. The book (and apparently to a lesser extent, the film), places a strong focus on finding oneself spiritually in the wake of hardship. Chances are most people who connected with the “Pray” element in the original don’t necessarily equate higher spiritual meaning into sitting in a movie theater for two hours watching Julia Roberts eat gelato. Spirituality is a hard sell, which is why the ads played up the “Eat” and “Love” element, but can a movie with “Pray” in the title really pull good numbers?
Consider us mystified that “Lottery Ticket” couldn’t do $15-$20 million. The reasoning, of course, is pure numbers, as “Lottery” opened in slightly under 2,000 theaters, compared to 3,200+ for “Vampires Suck.” If it had a more sizable opening, it could have competed with the big boys, but as it is, it merely continues one of the more insidious mysteries of Hollywood releasing; even hugely successful movies with black casts rarely open at the requisite 3,000 locations, and often debut in far smaller engagements. Perhaps there are a number of audiences in multiplex-heavy towns uninterested in black protagonists, which… well, it’s the 21st century, guys. When not even someone like Tyler Perry can squeeze 3,000 nationwide theaters even once, well, some sort of arcane value system is being chosen over making money hand-over-fist. Ahem.
“The Other Guys” continues its trudge towards $100 million, which is good news considering that its credits slideshow about how corporate America gently screws the working man is something that everyone should be forced to watch. Meanwhile, we haven’t heard anything about The Weinstein Company for awhile, which is eerie since it seemed like a lot of gloom and doom over there for a while. “Piranha 3D” was considered by some to be their secret weapon, but the cheapie pulled weak numbers despite 3D inflation. It’s the latest in a line of 3D flops this summer, including that “Cats and Dogs” sequel and the latest “Step Up” film. ‘Piranha’ was destined to be a strong rental, but it wasn’t cheap to slap that trailer in front of nearly every movie this summer (and even at the tailend of last year – the damn thing got ad placement in front of “Avatar” for chrissakes). It was able to outdistance “Nanny McPhee Returns,” which completed a mandatory American release with a seventh place debut, though the movie has already made serious bread overseas.
Someone deserves a raise for the debut of “The Switch,” which is a victory considering how this thing was marketed. An ad campaign conveying nothing about the movie, starring two actors with their share of box office bombs, and a title that might as well say “Dispensable Movie.” They weren’t getting anywhere with the original title, “The Baster,” but still, it’s amazing what “Arrested Development” goodwill gets you, since Jason Bateman doesn’t feel like a leading man in any sense of the term. In a busy weekend, it outpaced “Inception,” which could keep hanging around near the bottom of the top 10 in its dash to $300 million.
Not so much good news for “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World,” which is the biggest failure an ad campaign can have. Judging by the Cinemascore rating, the core went and predictably loved it, but the ‘normals’ couldn’t be dragged into the theater to see this. A hefty second weekend slide could be bad word of mouth, or it could be some exhibitors seeing a bomb and acting prudently, cutting showtimes and shuffling the film to smaller venues. We are incredulous, of course, since it seems like this film could be roundly rejected by the mainstream and still at least crest $30-$40 million, but the numbers suggest otherwise, and there’s not enough evidence to say that people who saw it hated the film, as our comprehensive academic studies show that 98.6 percent of the online backlash is from people who haven’t seen it. Regardless, a flop is a flop, and this is one of the year’s biggest ones. Should have had more “Twilight” jokes.
The weekend’s highest per-screen average belonged to “The Tillman Story,” the documentary about the government’s cover-up regarding the death of US Ranger Pat Tillman in an effort to boost troop morale. Hoo-rah! The doc grabbed $52k on four screens, which hopefully bodes well for future expansion. Fellow doc “A Film Unfinished” debuted with $37k on four screens. The weekend’s biggest indie gainer was “Get Low,” which expanded to 146 theaters to grab $759k. Aussie thriller “Animal Kingdom” also pulled in strong numbers in weekend two, with $106k on 22 screens. Support your local art house, boys and girls.
1. The Expendables – $16.5 million ($65 mil.)
2. Vampires Suck – $12.2 million ($19 mil.)
3. Eat Pray Love – $12 million ($47 mil.)
4. Lottery Ticket – $11.1 million
5. The Other Guys – $10.1 million ($88 mil.)
6. Piranha 3D – $10 million
7. Nanny McPhee Returns – $8.3 million
8. The Switch – $8.1 million
9. Inception – $7.7 million ($262 mil.)
10. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World – $5 million ($21 mil.)