James Cameron previews footatge of 3D 'Titanic'

By Sarah Sluis

"Are you ready to go back to Titanic?" In advance of the movie's spring re-release, director James Cameron and producer Jon Landau previewed eighteen minutes of 3D-converted footage in New York City today for journalists. Cameron is currently shepherding the film through a sixty-week, $18 million, 2D to 3D conversion process. Set to open April 7, 2012, the re-release will commemorate the hundred-year anniversary of Titanic's voyage and sinking (April 10th-14th, 2012). But what about the 3D? The answer may be that it's beside the point.

As the re-release of The Lion King in 3D has shown, audiences went to the theatres primarily to revisit a classic, beloved movie. The 3D was an afterthought, and a significant percentage of ticket-buyers opted for 2D. I think viewers will approach Titanic in 3D the same way. While I mostly enjoyed seeing the footage in 3D, what I most connected to was the movie itself. I had forgotten what an immersive, emotional experience the film was--and how much of a difference it makes to see it on the big screen. Cameron hopes the movie will be a success because of its "nostalgia component," people remembering who they saw it with at the time, "the relationships they were in," and otherwise connecting to where they were when the movie came out. He said that the teen girls who saw Titanic multiple times (that would include me and all the other girls in my 7th grade class) were in the minority, maybe "only $200 million" of the movie's $1.8 billion box office. If the movie played from "eight to eighty" the first time around, Titanic should have similar broad appeal in the re-release.

Cameron noted that increasingly, people are making choices about which movies they want to see in theatres and which ones they want to see on Netflix. It's a "contract with yourself" to see a movie in a theatre, because it means you're deciding that film deserves to be seen with your full attention and no multitasking. It's also a social experience. People saw Titanic twelve weeks in because they were making a point to see the movie with valued friends and family, and it "takes time" to coordinate schedules. I agree that Titanic played best in theatres. I myself bought the two-VHS box set but couldn't bring myself to rewatch the movie more than a few times. Each time I saw the future Oscar winner in theatres, once with a friend and a few weeks later with my Mom, the theatre was sold-out, packed with ooh-ing audiences. That kind of experience makes going to the theatre worthy.

Cameron, who has long been an advocate of 3D, also commented on the direction the medium has been taking. He was fine with Titanic queuing up behind a number of other re-releases. In early 2012, Disney tries its luck again with Beauty and the Beast 3D (Jan. 13) and George Lucas re-releases Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (Feb. 10), all before Titanic's April re-release. Cameron's in favor of 3D re-releases of library titles--they're the "only reason" to choose conversion. He lambasted "Hollywood bean counters" who would opt for an $8 million conversion over the $10 million to shoot native 3D when the first would be only "half as good." He also gave a nod to director Martin Scorsese's upcoming 3D Hugo, citing it as an example of an "auteur" who sees 3D as just another color to paint with.

Will Titanic see the same success as The Lion King? I think the movie should do at least as well. We're talking about the #6 domestic movie of all time, using adjusted box office figures. The movie will be marketed with at least as much energy as a new release, according to Cameron and Landau. The campaign will also have to correct for the vagaries of people's memories. For example, he mentioned that a lot of people remember the movie as a sappy love story (I'll put myself in that category), but the marketing will remind people of how much was at stake: This is also a disaster movie in which people die terrible deaths, freezing and drowning in the icy waters. During the clips, I was reminded of just how suspenseful the original movie was. The scene where Rose frees Jack from his handcuffs as the icy waters rise, for example, had me on the edge of my seat. During other sequeneces, I had to hold back tears--from one-minute scenes! Cameron has heartstring-pulling down to a science.

The re-release of Titanic will definitely reignite nostalgia for the movie and introduce a whole new audience to the romance-disaster epic. Some of the effects may look dated, and Kate Winslet's black-undertoned dye job looks more 1990s than 1920s, but their performances show why they're still top actors today. If Lion King could do $80 million, it would be a tragedy if Titanic's re-release reaches port before earning at least $100 million.

'Real Steel' crowned box-office champ

By Sarah Sluis

The father-son-robot boxing movie, Real Steel, trounced its competitors this weekend for a $27.3 million finish. The movie did very well for a sports drama, but only so-so for a robot movie, according to the insanely specific charts provided by BoxOffice Mojo. "Fanboy" males under 35 comprised the majority of the audience. Though a young, male audience usually indicates that a movie will play best its opening weekend, the futuristic movie's 'A' CinemaScore rating could keep it playing strong in coming weeks. A sizeable 12% of the weekend gross came from IMAX screens, even without the added bonus of 3D.

In the VP spot, The Ides of March finished with $10.4 million. The opening was slightly off from Clooney's last star vehichle, The American ($13.1 million), though roughly around the debuts of some of his other self-directed films, like Michael Clayton, which opened to $10.3 million. Ides corralled the opposite audience of Real Steel, playing mainly to women (58%) and over-35's (60%).

The third, fourth, and fifth place finishers all had minimal dips compared to the rest of the top ten, allowing them to keep their top ranking. Dolphin Tale dove 34% to $9.1 million. Moneyball, in its third week, fell 37% to $7.5 million. Finally, cancer dramedy 50/50 fell 36% to $5.5 million.

Playing to sold-out midnight screenings The Human Centipede 2 (The Full Sequence) averaged $3,000 per screen at eighteen locations. Strand's French confection The Women on the 6th Floor had the highest average of a new specialty film, $4,300 per screen. The unsettling storm-centered drama Take Shelter, in its second week, averaged $5,000 per screen as it moved from three to eleven locations.

This Friday, bird-watching comedy The Big Year goes up against sci-fi remake The Thing and 1980s teen dance remake Footloose.

'Real Steel' set to dominate Columbus Day weekend box office

By Sarah Sluis

Family-friendly films have been doing well in recent weeks, from the G-rated re-release of The Lion King to the PG-rated Dolphin Tale. Now the PG-13-rated Real Steel (3,440 theatres) is aiming for family audiences. Hugh Jackman stars as an ex-boxer who discovers he has a ten-year-old son. They reconnect by training a robot boxer for the championships. Critic Frank Lovece dubbed it "a science-fiction family film in which nine-foot-tall boxing robots are greased not with oil but with schmaltz." The movie, however, is not without flaws. "Something's not quite right when the robots have more soul than the leads," Lovece concludes. The support of family audiences and higher-priced IMAX screens should earn Real Steel over $20 million this weekend. With a third of kids out of school on Monday, Columbus Day, the feel-good robot tale should also experience a fourth-day boost.

The opposing candidate is The Ides of March (2,199 theatres), which stars George Clooney as a presidential contender in a movie he also directed. The ensemble piece, adapted from the play Farragut North, also features Ryan Gosling as a whipsmart press secretary. Unfortunately, "like a good politician," the movie "promises more than it delivers," according to critic Daniel Eagan. "Good intentions" don't make up for the "trite" moments that will create "inevitable bad word-of-mouth." Still, ticket sales from men and women over 25 should bring this movie above $10 million.

I'd rather not dwell on The Human Centipede 2 (The Full Sequence), which is opening in 18 theatres. "Strictly for fans of the original, and you know who you are," THR critic Frank Scheck warns. This is a movie so vile, just thinking about the plot description grosses me out, but it's also become something of a pop culture talking point. So just so you know: The sequel was banned in the U.K., and the first film was parodied on "South Park."

Also on the specialty front is Dirty Girl (9 theatres), which features a teen girl (Juno Temple) behaving badly and her overweight gay sidekick. Critic David Noh championed the "totally engaging road movie," but critical opinion has been less enthusiastic. Just 23% of critics gave the movie a positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

On Monday, we'll see how Real Steel fared and if audiences voted for The Ides of March.

'Tower Heist' to be available for just $59.99 three weeks after opening

By Sarah Sluis

If most city dwellers pay at least $10 for a movie ticket, it would take six people just to equal the price of watching Tower Heist on-demand for $59.99. The fee, which is more than six months of Netflix's streaming services, is part of a test being carried out by Universal and its parent company, Comcast. For that price, viewers can watch the film three weeks after its theatrical release in the comfort of their own homes. But who's buying?

A lot of people don't even have six comfortable seats on their couch, let alone the ability to wrangle so many friends together to watch a movie and share the cost. Do executives at Universal and Comcast expect people will invite friends over to watch the movie? Will couples gather older children (the movie will be rated PG-13) around the television? Will the teens themselves hit the "buy" button to the consternation of their parents? Or will this be a status thing for the people on MTV's "Cribs" with home theatres?

Comcast plans to test the VOD concept in two markets, Atlanta and Portland. Atlanta, with its high population of affluent black citizens and ex-pro sports players, seems like a good fit for the test, especially since Tower Heist has a couple of prominent black cast members (Eddie Murphy and Gabby Sidibe of Precious fame). Portland may be the counterpoint to that test, with a liberal, tech-savvy populace but not as much of a reputation for McMansions. Because the McMansion segment, presumably, has enough money to rent a movie for ten times what it used to cost at Blockbuster.

It's doubtful that Universal and Comcast would release the data from the test, so the best indication of this working would be if this idea of high-priced on-demand continues to flourish. So far, the exhibition industry and NATO have not spoken out on this issue. The audience for high-priced on-demands is probably small. It's hard to see the value proposition in paying so much to see a movie at home when a theatre provides more of a guarantee of good technical specs and an "event"-like experience.

Is this high-priced product intended to figure out the upper limit people will pay to watch a movie? Or is it simply a bit of a bait-and-switch? If the industry plans on offering more reasonably priced, $29.99 on-demands in the future, maybe this is just a way to gain a foothold and flout current windowing guidelines without prompting the ire of the exhibition industry.

Disney plans more 3D releases in wake of 'The Lion King'

By Sarah Sluis

The Lion King's re-release in theatres was initially considered little more than a ploy to promote the movie's upcoming Blu-ray release. The fact that the movie was in 3D didn't seem to mean much to viewers, many of whom just aren't that into 3D anymore. However, the movie landed in first place for two weeks in a row and has since extended its run and earned $80 million. Now, Disney has announced four more re-releases, but will they experience the same success as The Lion King? Probably not.

In late 2009, Disney had Beauty and the Beast 3D on its schedule to release Feb. 2, 2010. That never happened. The movie was pushed to a few more "TBD" release dates before being taken off the schedule completely. Now Disney has the movie back on its schedule for a Jan. 13, 2012, release. Most likely, Beauty and the Beast was taken off the schedule after the double feature of Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D earned $30.5 million in its five-week run. That's not shabby for a re-release, but perhaps it wasn't enough for Disney. Now that Lion King is a success, it appears the studio is more optimistic. In fact, I predict that Beauty and the Beast will be one of the animated movies to do well in re-release. Many of The Lion King's viewers were nostalgic young adult/college student audiences who wanted to experience a childhood classic together. I even heard chatter online of people going and singing along to all the songs. Beauty and the Beast released three years before The Lion King, in 1991, so it's definitely going to be a sentimental pick for the same demographic. For similar reasons, I think the re-release of 1989's The Little Mermaid on Sept. 13, 2013 will perform strongly. Just look at the turnout and excitement for this Little Mermaid sing-along at a Brooklyn bar last year.

The other two new releases on Disney's schedule are from the CG animation era, and they will likely suffer the same fate as Disney's Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D release. The re-release of Monsters Inc. on Jan. 18, 2013, is little more than a promotion for the upcoming Monsters University. Finding Nemo's release on Sept. 14, 2012, also seems strained--it will re-release just nine years after it first opened. I don't think that's enough time to generate nostalgia or make people wistful to see the movie on the big screen.

3D re-releases of classic 2D animated films may be an easy way for Disney to make a few extra bucks, but I don't think every movie will be a success. Older, hand-drawn animated films like Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid will fare better than newer, CG-animated films. And can I have a call for a re-release of Aladdin?

Turning a TV show into a movie: 'Arrested Development' and '24'

By Sarah Sluis

At a time when movies are dealing with waning returns from the home entertainment side of the business, television shows have experienced the opposite. Thanks to Netflix, DVD sets, Hulu, iTunes, Amazon Prime, and DVRs, more people are interested in seeing series on their own time, not at 8pm on a Tuesday. They've also helped unlikely shows become hits. I never saw "Arrested Development" on television. I couldn't even tell you what time it aired. Like millions of other viewers, I discovered the show after the fact thanks to word-of-mouth. I gobbled up multiple episodes at a time, and was sad that the show was cancelled after just three seasons. The cult success of "Arrested Development" didn't keep it on the air, but it will result in a movie. It's not the only successful television show to be rewarded with a big-screen treatment. "24," which left the air last year, is also being developed as a feature.

What's interesting about "Arrested Development" is that the series will go back on the air for a mini-season that will allow viewers to catch up with the characters (and add some publicity). Then, there will be a movie that finishes up the characters' trajectories. I think the show will have no problem attracting high Nielsen ratings on television, since viewers like me will actually watch the show live and boost the ratings beyond what the show received when it was on the air from 2003-2006. Plus, many of the stars have risen in popularity since the show ended, including Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, and Alia Shawkat (upcoming Damsels in Distress), and Jeffrey Tambor, who had a supporting role in The Hangover Part II. That kind of star power may be able to overcome the problem of getting television viewers into the theatre (as seen in the dismal returns for the last X-Files movie).

"24," which just went off the air last year, also has plans for a movie. Recently, star Kiefer Sutherland announced that the script had gone through a number of rewrites before the writers were able to find the right formula."You have to remember that we have 24 hours to explain the stories in '24' and so trying to condense that into a two-hour film version has been a real shift in gear for us," Sutherland said in an interview with The Telegraph while promoting Lars von Trier's Melancholia. His role in that movie has received positive feedback from critics and could pave a way for his career post-"24." As for the film itself? Earlier this year, Imagine Entertainment had planned to shoot by the end of 2011 for a summer 2012 release. If the script is done, the movie may be on track to meet that deadline.

Both "24" and "Arrested Development" were successful television shows, but one was a ratings winner and the other a cult, after-the-fact hit. Which one will produce the more successful movie?

'Dolphin Tale' swims ahead of new releases

By Sarah Sluis

Despite four new movies opening wide, the top three spots at the box office were taken by holdovers. Dolphin Tale rose to first place, dipping just 25% to $14.2 million. The PG-rated inspirational film attracted families and faith-based audiences. Since The Lion King was billed as just a two-week run, the animated 3D re-release dove 50% to $11 million as many family viewers opted for Dolphin Tale instead. The re-release of the animated classic has added nearly $80 million to the film's box office and will likely spawn more re-releases.

Moneyball finished in third with $12.5 million. As one of the few male-driven movies in the marketplace, the Brad Pitt/Jonah Hill sports stats drama should continue to hold well, as its 35% drop attests.

By a lone, un-radiated hair, the strongest new release of the bunch was 50/50, which underperformed with an $8.85 million opening. The cancer-themed comedy/drama is a tough sell, but the movie's A- CinemaScore could translate to positive word-of-mouth. Reluctant audiences may be persuaded by friends that seeing a movie about a deadly disease can actually be a touching, uplifting experience.

The fatih-based drama Courageous overperformed with $8.8 million. THR critic Frank Scheck praised the "growing expertise" of Alex and Stephen Kendrick, who together contribute to the directing, writing, acting, and producing credits. "These enterprising Baptist filmmakers clearly know their audience," he observed after seeing the movie in a theatre packed with faithful moviegoers. Sherwood Pictures (Fireproof, Facing the Giants) has been growing in profile with a number of successes aimed at underserved audiences. 2008's Fireproof grossed five times its opening weekend. A similar multiple could bring Courageous' cumulative total above $40 million.

If most horror movies are seen by teen girls, why would they see middle-aged Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz fear for their lives in Dream House? The ambitious film, budgeted at $50 million, finished with $8.2 million. For a horror movie, that's a particularly bad opening. Its 7% positive approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which confirms this movie is not The Shining, may have had something to do with it.

Anna Faris is a lovely star, but she must be disappointed after What's Your Number? debuted to a paltry $5.6 million. The movie seemed like a pretty typical romantic comedy, which audiences have been shunning in recent years. Perhaps the star can strut out her comedy skills to a broader audience when she appears opposite Sacha Baron Cohen in The Dictator next year.

Take Shelter boasted an $18,700 per-screen average at three locations. The Michael Shannon/Jessica Chastain movie could results in an Oscar nomination for Shannon. Years of delay didn't help Margaret, the post-9/11 pensive drama starring Anna Paquin. The movie's $3,700 per-screen average does not bode well for Fox Searchlight's planned expansion.

This Friday, the George Clooney/Ryan Gosling political ensemble drama The Ides of March will go up against the father-son-robot bonding movie Real Steel.