'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.

 

Could 'Prometheus' be this summer's biggest adult popcorn movie?

I'm not going to discount The Dark Knight Rises, but Prometheus looks like it could be this summer's best adult-oriented popcorn movie. Directed by Ridley Scott, the June 8th release is a kind of prequel to Alien, sharing some of the DNA from the series while not alluding directly to anything in Alien. As I understand it, the originality and strength of the script made those involved decide not to taint the project by giving it an Alien title, given the poor quality of some of the franchise's sequels.

In a superb bit of marketing, 20th Century Fox released a three-minute video of Guy Pearce hamming it up as overconfident businessman Peter Weyland. His character gives a TED (technology, entertainment, design) talk in 2023 (thirty years before the film itself is set). Weyland appears to rule over a Terminator-esque Skynet corporation that's creating artificial life forms. I'm a big proponent of studios using materials like this to develop awareness and knowledge without giving away more and more of the footage. After seeing The Hunger Games last night, which had no footage of the actual games in the promotional material, I can vouch for the success of this method. When you have fans who are going to obsessively pore over all the advance media released, it's nice to save them a few surprises for the actual feature.

 

The trailer for Prometheus itself is adrenaline-filled and looks like a nice mix of sci-fi, action, and horror. In the vein of Stargate or Jurassic Park, it pairs up old knowledge, via an archaeologist, with cutting-edge scientific advancements. Noomi Rapace (the original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) plays an archaeologist who discovers multiple civilizations share the same "map," which she and others use to explore another planet. There they discover alien life forms. Surprise surprise, they aren't so friendly and welcoming after all. Idris Elba of "The Wire," Michael Fassbender (Shame) and Oscar winner Charlize Theron add considerable talent to the cast.

The "ancient text leads to modern quest" backstory that underpins the whole project has been used dozens of times before. In fact, using an ancient, mystical object for futuristic, sci-fi purposes is an iteration itself of adventure serials that focused more on discovering and battling for special objects rather than putting them to use. If what I've seen so far is half as good as the actual movie, I'm betting that Prometheus will be the strongest film in the franchise since Alien and Aliens.

Who exactly will be buying tickets to 'What to Expect When You're Expecting'?

I don't have particularly high hopes for the box office of What to Expect When You're Expecting, a comedy based on the pregnancy how-to book. It looks funny-ish, but I predict it will do its biggest business on Netflix and DVD, not at the box office. Why? The people who will find the most humor in the situation are probably young parents, exactly the people with the least amount of time, energy, and money to hire a babysitter to see the latest movie. They are television's favorite audience, not exhibitors' favorite audience. Look how badly the Sarah Jessica Parker movie I Don't Know How She Does It bombed. The movie was about a busy corporate mom who has no time to make something for her child's bake sale. Is that the kind of person who has time to see a movie with her fellow moms in order to laugh at their lot? No.

Lionsgate just released a new trailer for What to Expect that focuses entirely on the dads, hoping to draw in the male audience. That doesn't seem like much of a stretch, but I'm worried about the majority of moviegoers, who have only a tenuous connection to or interest in parenthood.

There are so many demographics that won't want to see this movie. Teens, I hope, unless they're unhealthily obsessed with "16 & Pregnant." Singles. Parents of older children. Empty nesters who feel alienated by the talk of competitive parenting and the most recent declarations of what modern pregnancy is supposed to be like. And for couples without children, doesn't this sound like the worst possible date night movie?

Thinking about movies about parenting young children that have done well with a broad audience, my first thought was Look Who's Talking. I actually saw that quite young, enchanted by the talking baby concept. This was a movie that made almost $300 million in 1989. It had some of the parenting young children moments, but also a romance, and, of course, the talking baby gimmick. It appealed to parents, but it wasn't a "parents" movie, which is exactly what What to Expect is trying to be. It's possible that the upcoming release's ensemble cast of diverse, popular stars will draw audiences despite the subject matter. But this is a movie commenting on a pretty stage-specific event that doesn't seem to have much to offer to people who haven't gone through this life stage or said good-bye to it a long time ago. If Lionsgate manages to pull off the marketing of this May 18th release, I will be very, very impressed.

 

Rooney Mara cast in Steven Soderbergh's 'Side Effects'

Didn't director Steven Soderbergh say he was retiring? In March he announced he was done with it all, but then in September he backtracked and said something about a sabbatical. I'm not exactly sure when that would take place. Soderbergh's one of the most prolific directors in Hollywood. Contagion came out in September, and Haywire in January--both to critical success. He has yet another film completed, Magic Mike, and now he's cast Rooney Mara in his next project, Side Effects.

Mara will play the wife of a man who is about to be released from prison. She's taking large amounts of depression and anxiety pills to cope with her feelings surrounding his release. There's also going to be a bit of a love triangle between Mara's character, her husband, and her doctor. Mara actually replaces Blake Lively, who IMDB suggests was a second choice to begin with. I'm curious how this role will tweak Mara's star image. After playing a regular college girl in The Social Network, Mara's looks went to extremes for her role as the Swedish punk hacker in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The look has been maintained for her publicity tours. She's currently on the cover of Vanity Fair's Young Hollywood with a vampy look--a severe bob, dark lipstick, and piercing expression. I'm not sure what look she'll go for with Side Effects, but it probably will be more natural. That's a good thing. I won't miss seeing her without those weird blunt-cut, jet-black bangs.

Channing Tatum, Jude Law, and Catherine Zeta-Jones round out the cast. That means that Tatum must be the prisoner, and Law the doctor. I really can't imagine it any other way. Soderbergh's frequent collaborator, Scott Z. Burns, wrote the screenplay and will produce. Knowing Soderbergh's lightning-fast schedule, the drama will shoot this year and release the next. Maybe all that talk of retiring fired Soderbergh up, because after the uneven The Informant! he's had a couple of winners, Contagion and Haywire, at least in my book.

As for Mara, IMDB's currently ranking her #1 on its StarMeter. She's just been nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress. She may be one of my favorite up-and-comers. Her lead in Side Effeccts will certainly be the first of many roles she'll be cast in as she cashes in on her success.

Trailer for long-delayed 'Margaret' shows promise

By Sarah Sluis

Filmed in 2005 and since held up by not one, but two lawsuits related to director Kenneth Lonergan's (You Can Count on Me) incredibly long cut of the movie, Margaret will finally release on September 30, 2011. After watching the trailer, I think this is the rare film that might actually benefit from the long delay between filming and release. Anna Paquin starts as a high schooler who feels she has contributed to a bus accident that resulted in a woman's death. The synopsis describes her journey as such: "She has been confronted quite unexpectedly with a basic truth: that her youthful ideals are on a collision course against the realities and compromises of the adult world." Now, Paquin is six years older and has a lead role in the racy drama "True Blood." She's far since passed the age of being cast as a high schooler. This is a story about youth lost, told using an actress who has since aged six years. What's more poignant than that?

The supporting cast includes Matt Damon, Mark Ruffalo, Matthew Broderick, and Allison Janney, all actors who have maintained their star power. Compare this to the disastrous, long-delayed 2008 animated film Delgo, which had a voice cast populated with faded young wonders like Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt (sorry, folks). Margaret has achieved something of a legendary status among those who saw initial cuts of the movie (reported to be over three hours). Martin Scorsese called it a masterpiece. He eventually sent in his editor Thelma Schoonmaker to help pare the movie down to a more normal running time. With its late-September release date, the movie is not in a time slot that screams "awards push," but there may be another reason for the timing. Lonergan's initial goal was to use the film to meditate on the aftermath of 9/11, and this year marks the tenth anniversary of the tragedy.

Early Oscar Buzz: Natalie Portman for Best Actress in 'Black Swan'

By Sarah Sluis

Since Black Swan debuted at the Venice Film Festival, the movie has been getting pretty consistent raves. It's no Toy Story 3, with a 99% Rotten Tomatoes approval rating, but the divisiveness engendered by the film seems to mostly fall in the "quibble" category, or evidence of serious engagement with the movie. And five out of six reviewers gave it a positive review at the festival.

Natalie Portman's acting in the movie has received the most buzz. Her "bravura performance," according to Kirk Honeycutt at The Hollywood Reporter, serves the kind of intensely psychological role that the Oscars love to reward. She has delusions, scratches nervously until she bleeds, and deals with a creepy, domineering mother (Barbara Hershey, who I'll always remember for her role in Boxcar Bertha). She also studied ballet for months for the part, which is almost enough to put her in that "physical alteration for-the-win" category. It worked for the fattened, uglied Charlize Theron in Monster and Nicole Kidman with a fake nose piece in The Hours!

It's also worth noting that the director, Darren Aronofsky, helped both Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei land acting nominations for his last film, The Wrestler. At this point, no one is screaming "Oscar" for the film itself, although it could be a contender depending on the competition.

As an actress, Portman has received one nomination before, for Closer--a so-so movie, in my opinion. She's shied away from light,

poufy roles (the closest she's come to a romantic comedy is Garden State and Where the Heart Is, both of which are more romance-comedy-dramas). Besides Closer, she starred in last year's Brothers, a would-be awards film that never took off. She may be getting to the point where an Oscar is due to her if she keeps making such serious, well-acted films.

If Portman doesn't win an Oscar for Black Swan, it looks as if her performance may line up other Oscar-worthy roles for her. Alfonso Cuaron reportedly wants her to replace Angelina Jolie in Gravity, a 3D space movie that would involve her spending long periods of time on screen alone, like Tom Hanks in Cast Away.

Black Swan opens December 1st through Fox Searchlight.

Aim low this weekend with 'The Back-Up Plan' and 'The Losers'

By Sarah Sluis

Audiences looking for entertainment this weekend will be hard-pressed to find a new offering with rave reviews. Leading the pack is CBS Films' The Back-Up Plan (3,280 theatres), a tired romantic comedy

about a woman (Jennifer Lopez) who falls for the perfect guy just as she becomes pregnant with a child conceived with a sperm donor. When I reviewed the movie, I concluded that there's "nothing to see for anyone who's already viewed their fair share of formulaic romantic comedies." Still, for those that enjoy that kind of film, the experience will be "a not very good and yet painless waste of time," as A.O. Scott of the The New York Times so aptly put. The movie is expected to open in the teen millions. A debut on the low end of expectations could put it behind How to Train Your Dragon, which should also post a teen-million figure.

An action-adventure film with an intriguing cast and not much else, The Losers (2,396 theatres), also comes with a caveat emptor. FJI critic Ethan Alter cautions that "the real losers are those folks tricked into forking

over good money to see this dumbed-down adaptation of the popular comic book." The adaptation follows a group of CIA special operatives who are ordered killed by someone in their own agency. They escape death and turn to wreaking vengeance on the hit man. The cast includes action alums such as Zoe Saldana (Avatar) Chris Evans (Star Trek) and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen). Unfortunately, they seem stuck in a movie that seems disorganized and extensively re-worked. This movie is expected to barely cross over into the ten-million range.

After opening yesterday, Earth Day, Oceans will go into the weekend on 1,206 screens, a high number for a nature documentary. The film has already earned $54 million overseas, boding well for its U.S. release. Last

year's Disneynature Earth Day release, Earth, earned $8.8 million its opening weekend on a similar number of screens, so Oceans will probably open in line with those numbers.

The specialty releases this week are a mixed bag. Daniel Eagan despised the "sloppy, thoughtless" documentary Behind the Burly Q (NY), which tries to glorify burlesque while glossing over the drug and sexual abuse that goes along with the profession. Those in the mood to see people with questionable morals would be better served by viewing the "gaggle of (take your pick) hugely rich, greedy, sneaky, promiscuous, self-serving, coke-indulging, desperate denizens of the contemporary art world" in Boogie Woogie (NY). Then, out of left field, there's Paper Man (NY/LA), an uber-quirky tale of a man with an imaginary superhero friend.

On Monday we'll see if the relatively weak films The Back-Up Plan and The Losers were able to bring in their "teen million" figures or if fourth-weeker How to Train Your Dragon tops one or both movies.

'Precious' gold at the box office

By Sarah Sluis

The weekend was one for the record books. Opening in 18 locations, Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire earned an unheard of $100,000 per location. Most strong specialty releases open between $10,000 and $25,000 per location. Last year's indie standout Slumdog Millionaire opened at $36,000 per location at ten engagements, which was considered an unusually high number. How did Precious bring in so much money? Every theatre played the movie between nine and fourteen times each day, devoting more than one screen to the movie. The movie opened in New York, Los Angeles (the two specialty release standards) as well as the Atlanta and Chicago metro areas. Executive producers Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey hail from these two cities, which also have robust African-American populations, so they were able to work off their strong local fan bases. Lionsgate has a huge hit on their hands, but scaling this release will still be tricky and require some deft handling to ride this incredibly strong wave of interest.

The number one film of the weekend was A Christmas Carol, which rang in the holiday season with a $31 million gross. With seven more weekends until Christmas, the movie will have plenty of time to share its Christmas cheer. The movie is also the largest 3D release to date, a welcome sign of exhibitors' progress in digital conversion.

The Men Who Stare at Goats opened at number three with $13.3 million, kicking off the fall and winter of George Clooney, who has two other films opening within the next month and a half (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Up in the Air)

The Fourth Kind ($12.5 million) drew in almost twice as many viewers as The Box ($7.8 million). It seems that The Fourth Kind registered as scarier than The Box, which is more of a convoluted thriller. The Fourth Kind also used vrit-type techniques, like hit Paranormal Activity, to tell its story.

In its second weekend, Michael Jackson's This Is It dropped 40% to $14 million. Its domestic and foreign total will easily clear the $60 million paid by Sony, which also has a stake in other Jackson-related material. Plus, the movie will stay in theatres beyond its planned two-week release, which will add to its profits.

After its spectacular wide release two weeks ago, Paranormal Activity settled down and dropped 47% to $8.6 million amidst the horror/sci-fi competition. Through the weekend, the movie's cumulative gross reached $97.4 million, a sure sign it will cross the $100 million mark within the week.

The films in the seventh to tenth spot of the top ten dropped a below-average amount. Couples Retreat dipped just .5%, Law Abiding Citizen fell 16%, and Where the Wild Things Are a slightly larger 28%, and Astro Boy 25%. Each of the films had something different to offer their audience than the new releases, so the lack of competition helps explain their above-average staying power.

This Friday, disaster romp 2012 will blanket the marketplace, while comedy Pirate Radio opens smaller, along with a four-location rollout of Wes Anderson's stop-motion animated Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Tis the (early) season for 'A Christmas Carol'

By Sarah Sluis

Despite opening nearly two months before the holiday, A Christmas Carol will roll out in 3,683 theatres, including 2,050 3D screens, 141 of which are IMAX. The movie is expected to earn in the $25-$35 million range. As the holiday season approaches, it should pick up even more business, though it will lose 3D screens once Avatar releases on December 18th. Our critic and executive editor Kevin Lally called the movie "Dickens for the ADD

generation," noting "[director Robert] Zemeckis' penchant

for rollercoaster-like 3D action" seems tailored for a "videogame-nurtured audience." To each generation, their own. (I count myself among the Mickey's Christmas Carol generation)

Two horror-thriller-sci-fi movies will battle at the box office this weekend: The Box (2,635 theatres) and The Fourth Kind (2,529 theatres). Neither has accumulated much acclaim. In an effort to punch up The Box, which was originally a short story about a simple choice ("If you open this box, you will receive $1 million and someone will die"), director Richard Kelly created a convoluted plot that "winds its way through suspense, psychological thriller, science fiction, conspiracy theory and horror genres with an overlay of Christian religious motifs and a dab of existentialism." Wow. The Fourth Kind follows Paranormal Activity by purporting to show real events--case studies of people who were abducted by aliens. The trailer is pretty frightening, but critic Michael Rechtshaffen found "the gimmick proves more distracting than disturbing."

The Men Who Stare at Goats (2,443 theatres) is a light war romp about a reporter who discovers the U.S. Government sponsored a unit to try to investigate the use of psychic powers for combat. Unfortunately, the movie includes one scene where a soldier is given LSD and starts firing shots into a crowded military courtyard, only to put the gun in his mouth to kill himself. Because of yesterday's military shooting, audiences may not be able to flip back to comedy so soon after seeing such an eerily similar event. However, the older-skewing satire is expected to play well for several weeks in an open field for comedies, so this should not be the death knell for the movie, especially given George Clooney's spot-on performance.

Budding awards favorite, Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire, is opening in 18 theatres. While most specialty films will open in a mix of multiplexes and arthouses, Precious is debuting in multiplexes and theatres in primarily African- American neighborhoods. In New York, it's playing in Harlem. In Los Angeles, it's playing in Crenshaw. The movie has already drawn a wave of controversy, with many critical of reviews and cries of racism being thrown around. Not only is the movie powerful and violent, but it opens up a dialogue about race that incites incredible emotion. With its disenfranchised child in the lead and the resulting social critique (including that of exploitation), this movie is the Slumdog Millionaire of '09. Just don't presume it ends up with Precious winning a million dollars.

Unconventional titles and releases populate box office

By Sarah Sluis

Where the Wild Things Are opened this weekend to the tune of $32.5 million, on the high side of projections. However, the movie is rumored to cost around $100 million. Once you add in the marketing budget, it could be awhile before the film breaks even. After taking the Twitter pulse of the people, it appears that some found the movie to be slow and squirm-inducing, but others were pleased to see something so unconventional at the box office. While I enjoyed the movie, I think the budget was way too big. The production notes mention expensive choices like clearing a beach full of kelp and helicoptering the footprints out of a desert between takes--things a filmmaker with a smaller budget would be forced to work around. By comparison, its competitor, Fox's upcoming adaptation of the children's book Fantastic Mr. Fox, was made on a "medium-sized" budget, and also boasts a rollout distribution. It will release in New York and Los Angeles for two weeks before expanding (oddly, on the same weekend Disney's The Princess and the Frog opens wide). Their respective directors, Spike Jonze and Wes Anderson, can each be characterized as indie-crossover successes, and I suspect that Fox's release strategy will better serve their film.

The other unconventional release of the week was Paranormal Activity, which expanded its release to 760 theatres and racked up $20.1 million at the #3 spot. Its per-screen average was $26,530, down 50% from last week's $49,379. If the per-screen average drops another 50% next week, when it expands to about 1,800 screens, the movie will still gross about $23 million. Not so bad for a movie that cost around $10,000 with a reported marketing budget of $10 million. Next week it will contend with Saw VI, but it's worth noting that it didn't seem to have any problem with the competing horror title The Stepfather, which debuted this weekend to $12.3 million.

Going back up the list to #2, Law Abiding Citizen earned $21.2 million, a big win for its distributor, Overture. With a diverse cast and its appeal to adult males, the movie helped fill a neglected niche.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs brought in another $8.1 million to bring its box-office total to $108.2 million. Even with Where the Wild Things Are and Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D, it dropped just 29%, yet another week with an extremely strong holdover. Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D, however, a week past its advertised two-week engagement, dropped 61% to bring in $3 million. While a $28.5 million gross for a re-release is quite healthy, Disney spent an unknown but sizable amount remastering the movie in 3D, paying for prints, and marketing. Last week, it pushed back its re-release of Beauty and the Beast in 3D from February 12, 2010 to 2011, perhaps a sign it is rethinking its 3D re-release strategy.

Among specialty releases, The Maid had the highest per-screen, $18,000. New York, I Love You did light business, $3,000 per screen, but by opening at 119 locations it netted a third of a million dollars. A Serious Man, in its third week of release, added 60 locations for a total of 82, with a strong $10,400 per screen. An Education, in its second week, went from 4 to 19 locations, and drummed up $14,000 per screen.