Moviegoers stay away from multiplexes in worst weekend in more than a decade

The top twelve movies totaled just over $50 million this weekend, a sum so glum it necessitates a sad comparison. The last time this box office sank this low was in the two weeks after the attacks of September 11, eleven years go. What happened? The start of the football season and families busy with back-to-school hubbub help explain part of the slump. There were also no new good films. Gangster Squad was supposed to open this weekend, but was bumped for reshoots because of movie theatre shootout was judged too close for comfort to the Aurora shooting.

Of the two new releases, only The Words made it into the top ten with a paltry $5 million.
Lackluster reviews may sink this movie further, as word spreads this isn't a picture worth the ticket price. Above The Words, horror movie The Possession continued on top with $9.5 million, its 47% fall better than average for the horror genre. In second, Weinstein Co. showed its ability to do well even with a movie with mixed reviews. Lawless earned $6 million in second place, not so bad for the Prohibition-set tale of rural bootleggers.

Opening in 13th place was The Cold Light of Day with $1.8 million. Even with only a couple dozen critics weighing in on the movie, which didn't screen in advance, it only has 8% positive reviews. Audience members were a bit kinder, with
28% of Rotten Tomatoes voters giving it a "fresh" rating.

The Raiders of the Lost Ark re-release in IMAX grabbed $1.7 million. That's paltry compared to Titanic 3D, but in this case the re-release was more about promoting an Indiana Jones box set that will go on sale next week.

Specialty releases fared a bit better. Buoyed by "This American Life" fans, Sleepwalk with Me went up 6% as the comedy expanded from 29 to 73 locations, averaging $4,700 per screen.

Bachelorette was the big test for pre-theatrical VOD release, which after a month supposedly
earned over $4 million. But the comedy came up with just $191,000 at 47 theatres this weekend, a per-screen average of $4,000. People understand the higher rental price for VOD releases, since they "haven't hit theatres" yet, but that same mindset makes people think they are paying too much for a movie ticket when it's available at home.

Also featuring 20 to 30-something female friendships, For a Good Time, Call... gathered steam in its second week, going up 50% as it added 33 locations. Its total of $215,000 beat the debut of Bachelorette, though its per-screen average was slightly lower.

This Friday, the beloved Pixar film Finding Nemo will re-release in 3D. Resident Evil: Retribution will go for the adult portion of the audience with the next installment of the sci-fi action franchise.

 

Slow weekend ahead with 'The Words,' 'Cold Light of Day'

This weekend should be one of the slowest of the year. Both new wide releases, The Words and The Cold Light of Day, should finish under $10 million.

The Words (2,801 theatres) is the story of an aspiring writer (Bradley Cooper) who passes off a
found manuscript as his own. "Hardly as deep as it pretends to be," critic Kevin Lally notes, the movie is the "middlebrow" result of an "ambitious tri-level narrative of stories within stories."

The Cold Light of Day (1,511 theatres) hasn't yet screened for critics, and the Summit-distributed picture should end up with a blip-on-the-radar $2 million, despite a
recognizable cast list that includes Sigourney Weaver, Bruce Willis, and Henry Cavill. The thriller centers on a regular guy who becomes a wanted man all over a missing briefcase. Pretty familiar plotline, if you ask me. Early Rotten Tomatoes reviews for this movie don't look good.

"As toxic as a Drano cocktail," Bachelorette (47 theatres) released on-demand a month ago, so its theatrical performance will serve as a test for the pre-theatrical VOD release plan. Reviews have generally been giving the
comedy unfavorable comparisons to Bridesmaids, another wedding-themed movie revolving around female friendships. Our critic David Noh is one of the comedy's detractors, complaining that the "bitchiness" of the characters "becomes exhausting and airless," and just seems like an "increasingly
forced attempt to shock." Still, this movie has plenty of buzz behind it, which could help its opening weekend.

On Monday, we'll see how the wide releases fared, and if Bachelorette does well in spite of its mixed reviews and on-demand pre-release.

'Bachelorette' finds success by releasing on VOD before theatrical release

Theatre owners and moviegoers take note: Bachelorette has earned a half-million dollars, and it hasn't even opened in theatres yet. The Sundance Film Festival-approved comedy has been available on VOD and iTunes since August 10th, but it won't reach theatres until September 7th. On iTunes, rentals cost $9.99, and the movie debuted at #1, a first for a VOD release.

Normally, distributors don't disclose how much they earn from VOD releases, though it can equal and even exceed the theatrical portion. However, Radius-TWC, a new VOD-focused section of The Weinstein Co., is likely releasing these figures to drum up more publicity for the movie when it hits theatres. In fact, the co-head of Radius, Tom Quinn, says just that, explaining that the company views VOD as a "revenue-generating word-of-mouth screening program." I think there's some truth to that. The Internet encourages impulse buys. Early adopters who looked at star Kirsten Dunst's Twitter, for example, would have been clued into the release and, if they rented it, could have tweeted their own recommendations to people who ended up seeing the raunchy comedy in either theatre or on VOD. Because the film was produced by Gary Sanchez Productions, a co-creator of FunnyorDie.com, the red-band trailer had prime placement on the site, making it very easy for people to click "buy," which is a lot easier than gathering up a group of friends to go to the movie theatre.

While early word-of-mouth can help drive a movie to a successful release in theatres, bad buzz can hurt. Among the "most helpful" comments on Bachelorette's iTunes rental page are a number of comments that say "bad Hangover," "rip-off of Bridesmaids," and "don't let the cast fool you." Of course, comments like ayshleyo3's "Great movie--many laughs along the way! I will probably go see this again in theatres with my girlfriends" even out the criticism.

Although a number of indies like IFC and Magnolia have long been in the VOD-theatrical combo game, The Weinstein Co. (and by extension Radius) is known for its marketing acumen. With their highly publicized release of the movie's success so far, they're showing they're a force in the VOD game, and I'm sure they'll have more tricks up their sleeve in capitalizing on the VOD-to-theatrical release plan.

 

Promising indie films in Sundance 2012 lineup

By Sarah Sluis

Let's skip past awards season for a minute. The lineup for the 2012 Sundance Film Festival has been released. Surprisingly, none of the fifteen movies in the premiere section have distribution yet. Included in the lineup are plenty of romances, comedies, and offbeat premises that will be sure to connect with Sundance's youthful core demographic. Let's take a look at some of the projects that have me the most excited.

Bachelorette. This year's Bridesmaids showed just how much fun female-centered wedding comedies can be. Bachelorette is a bit more Mean Girls, centering on a group of friends who are miffed when their least popular member becomes engaged to an extremely eligible bachelor and then recruits them to be bridesmaids. Kirsten Dunst, Lizzie Caplan, and Isla Fisher star as the friends, in what looks like a cross of Bridesmaids and the upcoming Young Adult.

Celeste and Jesse Forever. Another entry in the unconventional, weird-timelined love story (think: (500) Days of Summer), this centers on a couple that's been together since high school. As they approach thirty, they decide to divorce while remaining best friends. Rashida Jones, who's been a rising star, plays one member of the couple in a screenplay she co-wrote.

Red Hook Summer. Spike Lee directs and co-writes this story of a boy who goes to live with his grandfather who he's never met. I love this premise, and I think it's a chance for Lee to return to the kind of astutely observed social drama he showed the world in Do the Right Thing.

Liberal Arts. This romance centers on a 30-something guy (Josh Radnor, who also writes and directs) who returns to his college only to hook up with a 19-year-old student (Elizabeth Olsen). Olsen's portrayal as a cult member in the 2011 Sundance entry Martha Marcy May Marlene was powerful but also largely mute. It will be interesting to see the "third Olsen" in what has to be a more dialogue-driven performance. With the focus on Radnor, could this movie be a kind of reverse The Graduate?

The Sundance Film Festival will take place from Jan. 19-29, 2012.