'Possession' wins long weekend, and 'Oogieloves' sets new record for worst opening

The Labor Day weekend is usually a quiet one at the box office, and this year was no exception. The Possession scared up $21.3 million over the four-day period, performing well for the time period. The horror movie actually posted the second-best debut ever for the end-of-the-summer
holiday. Audiences gave the Jewish-themed devil possession a "B" rating, which is good for a genre that usually tops out in the "B+" range.

The Weinstein Co. made a wise decision with Lawless, the Prohibition-set picture that earned $13 million over the long weekend. Despite the top cast, which includes Shia LaBeouf, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska, Gary Oldman, Guy Pearce and Tom Hardy, I wasn't so warm on the super-violent picture.
Rotten Tomatoes critics gave is a 65% positive rating, while Metacritic had a lower 58% rating. Even the good reviews were full of caveats. An opening on the Wednesday before Labor Day has been a hot placement for adult-themed pictures in the past two years. Lawless opened ahead of The Debt (which had a five-day total of $14.7 million to Lawless' $15.1 million), but behind The American, which earned $19.8 million during the same period in 2010.

The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure unseated 2008's Delgo from its #1 spot on the list of worst openings on more than 2,000 screens. The preschooler-targeted feature earned $601,000 over the four-day period. Its per-screen average of $278 would put an average of ten people in a theatre per day--which
means just one or two people showed up at each screening. That's pretty bad, especially for a movie that encourages viewing tykes to get up and dance.

2016: Obama's America stayed in the top ten with another $5.5 million as it added another 656 theatres. So far, the conservative picture is holding similar to its left-of-center counterparts, like Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11.

Hope Springs, which held on to the last spot in the top ten, is confirmed as a sleeper success. Pulling in $4.7 million, the Meryl Streep-led picture has earned $53 million to date. The week-to-week drop tightened up from the 30% range to just 17% over the three-day period. Strong holds like this week's will give this light-hearted romance an extremely long tail.

The fun and irreverent For A Good Time, Call... gambled a bit with a wider, 23-screen release. The $8,000 per-screen average exceeds all of the movies in the top ten, but it's on the low side
for specialty releases. However, most specialty releases only open on a couple of screens, so the future of this comedy is harder to gauge.

Flying Swords of Dragon Gate posted a similar per-screen average, $8,300, opening on fifteen screens. Because the release was in 3D and IMAX, which charge higher prices, this Chinese epic actually performed a bit worse than For A Good, Time, Call... Still, America is probably one of the smaller markets for the fight scene-heavy feature, which has already earned many times that in Southeast Asian markets.

This Friday, an author steals an unknown's work in The Words, Bachelorette moves from VOD to theatres, and guns are drawn in The Cold Light of Day.

'Lawless' and 'Oogieloves' close out the summer

Leading the box office is the chiller The Possession (2,816 theatres), a "Jewish-themed Exorcist" with "cheap scares." THR's Frank Scheck cheekily predicts that "if nothing else," it should "discourage the practice of buying antique wooden boxes at flea markets." A nice teen-million debut
should be in store for the movie, which hopefully has better luck than The Apparition, which opened last weekend to a lackluster $2.8 million.

The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure will be competing for the title of biggest flop this weekend. The movie, which targets kids from ages 3-5, opened to a shockingly low $47 per-screen average on Wednesday. The release on 2,160 screens is way too big for this kind of movie. It will probably earn something in the $5 million
range over the four-day weekend. That's still a pittance compared to the $55 million marketing and production budget. How does a movie featuring nobodies in costumes cost that much money? I'm seriously confused about this tot-centered picture, though I bet it will do well in the home video market, where parents can let their kids watch the movie in the other room without being forced to devote their whole attention to content that's way above them.

The uber-violent Lawless (2,565 theatres), which opened on Wednesday to $1.1 million, should end up in the teen millions. With the popularity of "Boardwalk Empire," I was excited to see another Prohibition-set movie, but I found
the shoot and knife 'em ups to be unnecessarily gruesome. FJI's Daniel Eagan faults the "glum, pompous drama," and also notes there are far better TV shows (he mentions "Breaking Bad" and "Justified") that elicit more powerful reactions in viewers.

Also not to be overlooked is 2016: Obama's America. The political doc has earned $12.3 million to date, $10 million of which came after last Friday's expansion. Most trackers aren't used to predicting a movie with these kinds of demographics, so another big weekend could be in store for the conservative movie.

To lure infrequent moviegoers who may not be caught up on this summer's blockbusters (or who want to see them again), Disney is expanding the releases of The Avengers and Brave. The superhero movie will play in 1,700 theatres, up from 123. Brave will also move into 1,700 theatres, from 423 locations.

For a Good Time, Call... (23 theatres) is the tale of two enemies-turned-friends who start a
phone-sex line business in their apartment. It sounds raunchy, but it's actually a surprisingly engaging story of twentysomething female friendship (with some sex-toy sight gags thrown in). FJI's David Noh agrees, dubbing the "carefree and affectionate" movie a "rather winning little female-fueled comedy." Ari Graynor is particularly sharp in her role, in a rare upgrade from the supporting roles she usually plays.

On Tuesday, we'll give a rundown of how everything did in what's usually one of the slowest holiday periods for the box office.

Female-driven western 'Jane Got a Gun' secures financing

Since her Best Actress win for Black Swan in 2010, Natalie Portman hasn't played another meaty role, instead appearing in blockbusters like Thor, the romantic comedy No Strings Attached, and the stoner comedy Your Highness. She's wrapped work on a Terrence Malick project, but chances are that
performance won't be seen for some time. Her next big appearance may be in Jane Got a Gun, a western that will film early next year. Portman would both star and produce. The production just secured financing, and the sales agents will be looking for buyers at the Toronto Film Festival in a few weeks.

Portman would play a woman who has to ask her ex-lover for help in order to save her current husband, an outlaw. The husband comes home riddled with bullets, almost on his deathbed, and a gang of Confederate soldiers is after him to finish the job. That forces Portman's character to seek out her ex, who can help her defend the family farm. It had been reported that Michael Fassbender was considering playing the role of the ex, but those rumors were later squashed.

Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin) is directing, making this truly a female-driven picture. There really aren't many films to draw on for comparison. Civil War and farm-set Cold Mountain comes to mind, but I see more differences than similarities. Though the western genre has long since passed its heyday, the right kind of project can bring people back, like 3:10 to Yuma or the more contemporary No Country for Old Men, for example. With a farm wife starring in what's normally a cowboy picture, Jane Got a Gun may be just that.

'Black Swan' writer pens 'XOXO,' a social media thriller

I love movies that take advantage of new technology. Remember Sandra Bullock in 1995's The Net? The Internet-induced identity theft in that movie felt very cutting-edge. More recently, The Social Network actually pulled off a scene that made an all-night coding session feel just as thrilling as it must have for Mark Zuckerburg. Most cell phones in horror movies go bust, but in the summer release Paranorman, a character uses his cell phone while being chased by zombies, enlisting a friend to help find out how to beat the undead. That's exactly the kind of innovation that should be more present in movies, but when scripts sit around for years on end, perhaps screenwriters either
don't want to date their script by inserting a soon-to-be-outdated technology, or their technology inclusions seem old by the time the movie comes out. When it comes to using new technology in movies, two things are important. The technology should be used correctly, and it should be current. Both of those things are incredibly obvious, but it's so easy for screenwriters to fall back on answering machines and outdated equipment when they don't want to think their way out of a plot hole in an original way.

The screenwriter of Black Swan, Mark Heyman, has decided he's up to the task of a technology-focused movie. He's written a screenplay titled XOXO. It centers on an engaged, successful man who also likes to flirt online. He hooks the wrong girl and the online relationship turns into a threatening offline one. The script apparently has similarities to the famous 1987 Glenn Close-Michael Douglas pic Fatal Attraction. Now Lionsgate has hired George Nolfi (The Adjustment Bureau) to rewrite and direct the picture, a sign that it's revving up to enter production--provided the script tweaks go well.

Even if the project is a bit campy (I heard an earlier version of Black Swan was purposely more over-the-top), and maybe even because it sounds so juicy, I'll be adding this to my look-out-for list. Lionsgate should take a note from Sony, which had a lightning-quick turnaround with The Social Network, and greenlight the project fast. In three years, the time it takes many fast-moving projects to go from development to release, technology changes so much. Facebook's interface could be completely different. New Internet security measures could be in place that need to be addressed in the plot. All the more reason to get moving and give us a fictional, more deadly version of Catfish.

 

In late summer slump, 'Expendables 2' leads with $13 million

This week was bad for new wide releases. The three new releases finished seventh, tenth, and twelfth. Those are dismal debuts across the board.

Many expected Premium Rush would have a chance at beating The Expendables 2, but instead the action hero picture topped the box office with a $13.5 million weekend, a 52% drop
from opening, on par with the percentage drop of the original. In seventh, Premium Rush earned just $6.3 million. I guess bike chases just don't have the same allure as mechanical smash-ups. Along with Lance Armstrong's decision to not fight against allegations of doping anymore, it was a bad weekend for bike enthusiasts.

Cracking tenth place, Hit & Run's $4.6 million made it a huge hit for indie standards, but some had predicted the well-reviewed picture could have soared even higher. Still, this low-budget movie is already in the green and because it stars TV favorites Dax
Shepard and Kristen Bell, it should do well in the home entertainment environment.

In twelfth, horror offering The Apparition reeled in $2.9 million. With a wisely limited release of 800 theatre, the per-screen average of $3,600 was actually higher than all but two of the movies that placed above it. That means distribution costs weren't too high and people had the benefit of seeing the movie in a packed theatre, where screams can be contagious.

The surprise hit of the weekend was the conservative documentary 2016: Obama's America, which expanded on the eve of the Republican National Convention. Many estimated the movie would earn in the $2-3 million range, on par with other right-leaning docs, but instead it pulled in $6.2 million with a strong per-screen average of $5,700. The weekend tripled its total gross to date, which stands at $9 million. That makes it the highest-grossing conservative doc ever. Ads on talk radio helped support the political picture, which also benefits from heightened interest thanks to the upcoming election.

New Specialty releases fared much better than wide ones. Sleepwalk with Me, which had Ira Glass and the "This American Life" audience in its corner, debuted to $65,000 per-screen. Glass hosted a midnight screening of the movie in Manhattan this weekend, which was one reason the movie earned the title of "best per-screen average opening ever from a first-time filmmaker." Mike Birbiglia writes, directs, and stars in the autobiographical work, which will expand into twenty markets next week.

Samsara, a meditative travelogue, opened to $75,000 on two screens. Our filmmaker profile
reveals just how much work went into the non-fiction picture, which visits 100 locations in 25 countries on five continents. That sounds well-worth the price of admission.

This Friday may kick off a three-day weekend, but it's one of the few holiday periods where Hollywood suffers. With many people trying to get one last weekend outdoors in, the time period is a dead zone. On Wednesday, the violent Prohibition-set picture Lawless will get a head start on the weekend. On Friday, The Possession will open wide and try to pull in horror fiends.

'Premium Rush' will try to coast ahead of 'Expendables 2'

In an end-of-the-summer sprint, Premium Rush (2,255 theatres) will try to grab the last of the hot weather box office. The Manhattan-set actioner about a bike messenger trying to outwit a dirty cop should earn in the teen millions this weekend, but lackluster marketing support could see it
debut to less than $10 million. If that's the case, the number won't be enough to beat the second weekend of The Expendables 2. Critics are generally warm on the movie, giving it a 71% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I white-knuckled some of the chase scenes, but had a harder time buying into the motivation behind the constant and sometimes unnecessary racing and evading. But most action-driven plots don't have that much depth, so in that context, Premium Rush is quite good. It's unclear whether smash-'em-up audiences will want to trade in car chases for bike ones, but this is one premise that's actually original.

Hit & Run (2,870 theatres) is a car chase movie, but it's also a low-budget indie and a bit of a comedy and romance. It opened on Wednesday to $625,000, and it's expected to settle at $7-8 million through the weekend. That's not a ton, but the production and marketing cost just $2
million, so there's definitely a profit in store. Engaged couple Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell star in the feature, which was written and co-directed by Shepard. David Noh praises the chemistry between the two stars, explaining that "you are almost fully willing to revel in whatever caper
befalls this eminently likeable and fun couple, so pleasurable is
their company." The "laugh riot" is also "seriously romantic" and " has something for the girls as well as the boys."

The anti-Obama documentary 2016: Obama's America will expand into 1,090 theatres, timed to the Republican National Convention. The politically charged picture has already earned $2.6 million, mainly in Texas. The conservative movie is topping Fandango's advance sales chart.

Sweltering audiences in need of a chiller can check out The Apparition (810 theatres), which
stars Twilight's Ashley Greene but doesn't have much else going for it. In fact, advance reviews are giving it a 0% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Ouch. Without much marketing traction or a thumbs-up, it's set to earn in the $2 million range.

On the specialty front, Mike Birbiglia expands his one-man show into a movie in Sleepwalk with Me (1 theatre), a "supremely self-deprecating delight," according to Noh.

On Monday, we'll see if Premium Rush outraced The Expendables 2 and Hit & Run. With the Republican National Convention in danger of being washed out by a hurricane, maybe 2016: Obama's America will pick up the slack.

Is Hollywood really encouraging piracy?

Scientific American isn't usually where people go to hear about what's going on in the movie industry. But columnist David Pogue weighs in on the subject in an article, "How Hollywood Is Encouraging Piracy." His observations aren't exactly new; he argues that consumers want to download and stream content because it's easy, but most movies aren't available legally. In fact, of the top ten pirated movies in 2011, none were availabe for online downloading.

I think Pogue makes a fair point. The music industry went through this first, because music files were smaller and faster to download. Now they have gone from rejecting technology to embracing it, and they make money from downloads and concerts of successful artists. I came of age in the Napster era, not the iTunes era. Most of my peers downloaded music because it was the easiest way to get the latest singles. Now, preteens have their parents' credit cards and use those funds to buy the same music legally. Because it's easier. With music, people hear songs on the radio, buy the music, then attend a concert. Their biggest outlay is for the concert, at the end. Movies are a bit different. In this model, people spend the greatest amount of money at the beginning, for a $10-14 movie ticket. DVDs usually cost less than two movie tickets, so they have value on their side, especially for families and repeat viewers. Rentals can go for 99 cents at Redbox or in excess of $9.99 on iTunes. If you compare box office to DVD and Blu-ray rentals on sites like The Numbers, box office wins, by far.

Pogue has a list of ways that the viewing experience can be improved. I agree that more rentals should give a window of 72 hours instead of 24 hours, for example. But #4, eliminate windowing? I think the movie industry is moving into the future while it's also defending its rear, the traditional sources of revenue. Small indie releases, for example, are deploying theatrical/VOD releases that maintain the higher "first window" price while giving consumers more options, like watching at home. But we are a ways away from major releases doing the same thing.

The music industry may be earning money from online downloads now, but it's a lot less than it used to be, and now concerts are picking up the slack. If Hollywood ever eliminates windowing and some its other distribution measures, it will lose money. I can't imagine it any other way. I do think there will be a time where the changes Pogue suggests will be inevitable. But we're not there quite yet.