Weekend Box Office 8/27 - An All-Time Low

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AndyDursin
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Weekend Box Office 8/27 - An All-Time Low

#1 Post by AndyDursin »

All-time record low for the box-office as the top 10 movies gross a total of $12 million on Friday night combined.

Here are the weekend estimates....YIKES
1.). Hitman’s Bodyguard (LG), 3,377 theaters (0) / $3.17M Fri. (-61%) / 3-day cume: $10.4M (-53% to -56%) / Total cume: $39M to $40M / Wk 2

2.). Annabelle: Creation (NL/WB), 3,565 theaters (+23) / $2.5M Fri. (-49%) / 3-day cume: $7.7M (-51%) / Total: $78M / Wk 3

3.). Leap! (TWC), 2,575 theaters / $1.6M Fri. (includes $210K previews) / 3-day cume: $4.8M / Wk 1

4./5) Wind River (TWC), 2,095 theaters (+1401) / $1.38M Fri. (+36%) / 3-day cume: $3.9M to $4.1M (+30%) / Total: $9.2M to $9.5M / Wk 4

Logan Lucky (BST), 3,031 theaters / $1.25M Fri. (-53%) / 3-day cume: $3.8M to $4.2M (-45%) / Total cume: $14.6M /Wk 2

6.) Dunkirk (WB), 2,774 theaters (-497) / $1.17M Fri. / 3-day cume: $3.7M (-44%) / Total: $172.2M / Wk 6

7.) Birth of the Dragon (BHT), 1,618 theaters / $1M Fri. (includes $200K previews) / 3-day cume: $2.7M / Wk 1

8 ). Spider-Man: Homecoming (SONY/MARVEL), 2,122 theaters (-219) / $780K Fri. / 3-day cume: $2.5M (-40%) / Total: $318.6M / Wk 8

9). Girls Trip (UNI), 1,777 theaters (-233) / $760K Fri. / 3-day cume: $2.3M (-41%) / Total: $108.2M / Wk 6

10.). The Emoji Movie (SONY), 2,374 theaters (-417) / $615K Fri. / 3-day cume: $1.9M (-57%) / Total: $76M+ / Wk 5

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AndyDursin
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Re: Weekend Box Office 8/27 - An All-Time Low

#2 Post by AndyDursin »

Roger Friedman's editorial is worst-case scenario ,but I've said before if they don't improve the product, people will be used to staying home -- with all the options and in many instances superior presentation they might have -- and just not going out to a theater altogether. For some, we're already there:

http://www.showbiz411.com/2017/08/26/bo ... mbers-ever
I took a while. but this is the summer when digital delivery did to the movie business what it already did to the record industry– killed it.

Since Napster and everything that followed, the record biz has seen its weekly numbers grind down to nothing. Digital delivery destroyed the physical business. There are no record stores left anywhere. The ones that are still out there sell dozens of other items as well.

Now digital delivery has killed movies. Last night’s box office follows a three month trend. With a couple of exceptions– “Wonder Woman”–the audience has not shown up in movie theaters to see movies. They’ve stayed home to watch “Game of Thrones,” Netflix, and Amazon.

Last night’s top 10 barely made a total of $12 million. That should be a Friday night take for one movie. But nothing is doing business, except “Wonder Woman,” which was released back widely and made $475,000. But the top movie, “Hitman’s Bodyguard,” a holdover, made $3.3 million last night.

Movie theaters are going to go the way of record and book stores. It took a long time, but here it is. And this is tragic. Once the trend starts, it’s impossible to reverse it. So the studios better think of something fast.
That thinking is product. This has been a craptastic summer.

Eric Paddon
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Re: Weekend Box Office 8/27 - An All-Time Low

#3 Post by Eric Paddon »

We are reaching a point where it will no longer matter if the films are good or bad. Hollywood's contempt for one half of the country is reaching epic proportions that there is increasingly little reason why average Trump voters should feel compelled to shell out their money to subsidize an industry that hates them.

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Monterey Jack
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Re: Weekend Box Office 8/27 - An All-Time Low

#4 Post by Monterey Jack »

You can't even use the excuse that Hollywood needs to make better movies...even movies as well-reviewed as War For The Planet Of The Apes -- the third entry in a popular and critically-acclaimed franchise -- have underperformed. :? I shudder to think of a night out at the movies becoming a niche activity for an ever-decreasing pool of aging hipsters, but it seems like this will become a reality within my lifetime. :cry:

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AndyDursin
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Re: Weekend Box Office 8/27 - An All-Time Low

#5 Post by AndyDursin »

It's a combination of bad and/or repetitive product and viable viewing options at home causing audiences, especially older ones, to stay home. If the product improves, that will get some fannies back into the seats, but there's going to be a section of viewers -- and seemingly already are -- who just don't care anymore, and who will prefer to wait a few extra weeks for the convenience of staying home, avoiding the crowds, plus the cost of gas and tickets.

Attendance is probably never going to recover to older levels, simply because viewing at home not only yields better convenience but -- more importantly -- superior product. Add in that the home viewing experience matches or in some cases surpasses what you can get in theaters and that choice is even easier to make.
You can't even use the excuse that Hollywood needs to make better movies...even movies as well-reviewed as War For The Planet Of The Apes -- the third entry in a popular and critically-acclaimed franchise -- have underperformed.
I think that ties into the repetitive product angle. People are seemingly just getting tired of "franchises" and "interconnected universes" -- it appeals to the nerd fanbase, but the casual viewer is being turned off.

Sequels in general are all going to suffer declines at some point, they are easy money for the studios, but keep going back to the same well and you'll end up with SPIDER-MAN HOMECOMING -- which will sell the least amount of tickets of all those films (despite doing "well," it hasn't been this end-all, be-all smash that was anticipated). Yet should it be a surprise? It's the SIXTH Spider-Man movie in the last, what, 15-16 years? Been there, done that, even if it's an "improvement" on the Andrew Garfield movies.

WAR is still a sequel too -- third one in on an old franchise that people are very familiar with. I said from the very start that WAR was going to have a problem because it looked so similar to the last one, and audiences in general seemed to share my lack of enthusiasm. I did see the movie last week, and I liked it, but I didn't love it.

Technically it was fine but I just didn't care for the overall direction they went with this series. Instead of making PLANET OF THE APES, they essentially built an entire trilogy around remaking (conceptually from a broad angle, anyway) CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, which was the darkest, most "realistic" and also most depressing film of the old series.

Not really my bag, and I think they ended up painting themselves into a corner with the 3rd entry. I saw it coming after DAWN and said they needed to advance the story further -- and they didn't do it. Big mistake IMO.

KevinEK
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Re: Weekend Box Office 8/27 - An All-Time Low

#6 Post by KevinEK »

The problem with the movies is not a political one, so I'd strongly disagree with that post.

But it is true that Hollywood has gone to the well too many times with its current model of summer dinosaur blockbusters and winter awards bait.
The more interesting material is found in home programming these days - with HBO series and movies, with streaming series, even with some cable series.
Even network television hasn't been that interesting in years, simply because the choices tend to be homogenized down to oatmeal by the time they get to us.

What's needed is more imagination and less of the studios' attempts to have a guaranteed home run.
Star Wars was a risk when Fox bankrolled it in the mid-70s.
Smokey and the Bandit was a decently budgeted Burt Reynolds comedy when it was made, but nobody thought it was going to be a runaway hit.
The Sixth Sense was a well-made thriller that struck a chord with the audience.

I honestly believe if we see more interesting projects being looked at and produced, more people will wish to go out and see them.
And if we see the networks try to use more interesting new performers and producers, we'll see the same with network programming.
Until then, the good stuff will almost completely be on premium cable and streaming services.


Andy is also correct to note that many people are choosing to stay home because of the costs involved in an evening at the movies.
A friend of mine has repeatedly told me that it will cost him over 100 bucks to have a Saturday night at the movies, when you factor in babysitter, parking, gas, tickets, and popcorns and sodas. A weekend afternoon movie with the kids can cost him up to 200 bucks for all the tickets and all the kids' popcorns and sodas. Whereas he could choose instead to buy the Blu-ray when it comes out for about 30 bucks on Amazon, and host a viewing party at his house on his big-screen 65" set. And maybe he spends another 15 bucks on soda and Orville Redenbacher and he's done. For him, it's a no-brainer to stay home unless the movie is REALLY special.

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Re: Weekend Box Office 8/27 - An All-Time Low

#7 Post by mkaroly »

I think politics play a small part of it (at least for me). There are filmmakers who have been very vocal whose product I do not want to support, so I refuse to pay for what they are selling. But more than that is cost for me as well as product. It is cheaper to buy a Blu-Ray on sale and relax in my own home than it is to go out, pay for a movie, and have to deal with rude people and obnoxious food prices. I don't have to eat or drink anything there (which I realize), but if I am at home I can eat and drink whatevet I want...another advantage. It is rare that I go to the movies at a theater anymore; I think this year I have gone twice.

As far as the product goes, film scoring is just awful. There is very little out there that intetests me or that I feel compelled to see (i.e. an event movie). And the desire to do reduxes and reboots, while something not new in Hollywood, is a big turn off because the product isn't good. I do not have cable or any pay stations, so I am probably one of a handful of people who have walked away from the entertainment industry a fair distance. Just my basic thoughts on why I have stopped spending the money.

jkholm
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Re: Weekend Box Office 8/27 - An All-Time Low

#8 Post by jkholm »

I think we're seeing "going to the movies" disappearing as a pastime. A lot of that has to do with quality, as has been said. A mediocre movie can't hope to compete with a high quality TV series. And for many people, even a mediocre TV series is better than a mediocre movie.

Gen X-ers may be the last generation for whom going to the movies was a regular pastime. It's been replaced by other activities. My kids are 8 and 10 so they may be too young to represent a generational change but they are much more interested in playing games and watching YouTube than going to the movies. When my kids hang out with their friends, they don't watch movies, they play games.

I don't think movies themselves are going to disappear and there will still be a segment of society that enjoys watching new movies, but the theatrical experience is dying.

Eric Paddon
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Re: Weekend Box Office 8/27 - An All-Time Low

#9 Post by Eric Paddon »

How much of a percentage the political problem is is an open question but it is a problem that does exist. I wouldn't ascribe it 100% but neither can it be said that it is 0%. In an era of social media where we can't shut out and separate the public celebrity from the professional work in a way we could in an earlier era, it is more and more impossible to suspend disbelief and separate the fact that the people who make these end products hold attitudes that go beyond simple disagreement and into the realm of outright hatred and contempt.

Yes, the quality is down but it's no worse this year than it was last year. If the numbers are really dropping then we should start factoring in another x-variable and just as the NFL lost viewers because of the grandstanding antics of a certain Quarterback, then it is going to have a ripple effect after all that has happened this past year politically for average voters with bills to pay throwing up their hands and saying enough.

KevinEK
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Re: Weekend Box Office 8/27 - An All-Time Low

#10 Post by KevinEK »

I strongly doubt that the average audience member in Atlanta or Nashville or Los Angeles or Des Moines is thinking about politics when they see a preview for an Iron Man or Spider Man movie, or for the umpteenth sequel to Fast & Furious or Pitch Perfect, or for the newest CGI cartoon movie for kids. I'm sure there are some people who are more driven by politics, but they'd be more inclined in that direction in any case. For the average moviegoer, this is a far simpler issue - the movies are mostly unimaginative and pre-packaged oatmeal. They're either wildly overbudgeted franchises in the making, or they're wildly underbudgeted Oscar bait indies. Most average moviegoers are losing interest in both of those ideas. And that's why most people are choosing to stay home and watch HBO or the streamers instead.

My hope is that movies aren't dying out or becoming a new laserdisc idea in the offing. I'm hoping that more imaginative stories will inspire people to want to come out again. But posters here may well be correct - we may have hit a turning point where the group experience is reserved for live sports events or concerts.

I'd be curious to hear about how many people have cut the cord completely from cable TV and other outlets. Are people more interested in just reading at this point? It's possible, but is that a trend we're seeing more and more of? Or is it a matter of the younger generation preferring to play video games? I honestly don't know these answers myself. I only know that low quality product being inflicted usually results in less people wanting to spend coin to endure it.

mkaroly
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Re: Weekend Box Office 8/27 - An All-Time Low

#11 Post by mkaroly »

I have not had cable TV for years (if not at least a decade). I do not have Hulu, Amazon Prime, or any of the pay stations. The only TV I am able to watch is free TV, so my choices are limited. While I miss some of the access cable gave me, I don't miss paying obnoxious prices for garbage I don't want to see (i.e. why pay for 300 channels when I only watch five of them consistently)? I don't want to "subscribe" to a pay channel either as I am not interested in the large majority of stuff I see coming out. I will spend money on Blu-Rays and DVDs, but even that has diminished significantly in my life.

I do read A LOT...I teach at my church so I am reading through commentaries and academic stuff to prepare. I am in a work-related book club and am also reading through the works of Kierkegaard and, generally speaking, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (will be reading through Prison Letters soon). At this point in my life (I am 47 years old) I find reading so much more edifying and rewarding - it is like body building for the brain. Lol...I do play video games as well (The Golf Club 2 is addicting as is The Elder Scrolls series), but when I am not working or doing something related to life responsibilities I am reading.

If there is a movie that comes out which I really, really want to see I will go see it. Otherwise, on the whole, I will wait for BR/DVD sales and pick it up cheap (as I am doing to fill out my Godzilla collection at this time).

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