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Entries in Hancock (19)

Uh...Oops! Another 'Hancock' Marquee Mistake

This is just too good to pass up. It's not the first marquee miscue involving Hancock, but for my money, it's the funniest.

We found this image at Hollywood Elsewhere, although it was provided to that site by Oregonian critic Shawn Levy, who is not the same guy that directed Night at the Museum. But the story goes back even further; the photo was on Flickr almost three weeks ago. I dunno, maybe I'm a dope and you've already seen this. I've been the last to know before. I simply had to share it.

"This is an actual photo -- not Photoshopped -- of a second-run Portland movie theater, the Cinemagic, changing its marquee over from Hancock to [The Dark Knight]," wrote Levy. "As the fellow who sent it to me said, 'Sometimes it's better to work right to left.'"

You simply couldn't ask for better found porn, could you?

Posted on Sunday, August 3, 2008 at 11:29PM by Registered CommenterColin Boyd in , | Comments2 Comments

Box Office - 'Dark Knight' On Top on Friday, 'Step Brothers' Surging

While I wouldn't go so far as to say The Dark Knight's bubble has burst, I must admit that when I went by my local megaplex last night at 7:30, I just walked up to the ticket window with no line whatsoever. And the film's Friday night box office, while still incredibly impressive, may signal the coming of The Dark Knight's last big payday.

Earning $23 million on Friday night, I'd say that The Dark Knight is now in the $65 million ballpark for the entire weekend, about $10 million behind our projections of $75 million (and we had one of the more conservative forecasts for the weekend). Of course, with a ridiculous $261 million in total domestic box office to this point, according to Box Office Mojo, the movie only needs to make $38 million and change to hit $300 million in ten days, and I'd say that's almost a certainty.

What is less certain is what a decline of possibly 60% from its record-shattering debut means over the long haul. The comparisons to Titanic seems less viable, because that was a movie that remained in theaters for over seven months and never earned under a million a weekend. The Dark Knight is an instant impact kind of movie, not a lasting impact kind of movie. It won't be in theaters at Christmas (it won't be in theaters on November 1st, for that matter). I expected more repeat business this weekend than I think it's getting, and while the film could step it up on Saturday and make $27 million, putting it back on track for a $70 million-plus second stanza, this weekend will still probably be its last hurrah.

As for $400 million, the only significant number between the Batman sequel and Titanic, it's still a possibility, but if The Dark Knight loses half of the audience it already lost from week one, then you're looking at a movie that would need to make $30 - $40 million in about six weeks after the number of theaters gets scaled back and the commercials stop running. It's still entirely possible, and we'll have a better gauge on it after next weekend. It does make you wonder how in the hell Shrek 2 made well over $400 million, though.

The other big surprise in my mind was the performance of Step Brothers, which is on pace to jump up to $30 million in its opening weekend, well ahead of most estimates, which had the Will Ferrell comedy landing around $25 million. It is clearly the new release selling all the tickets, as The X-Files: I Want to Believe will be lucky to break $15 million this weekend, really hurting the chances of future projects for Mulder and Scully.

Elsewhere, Mamma Mia! is halfway to $100 million in seven days, and since only a handful of musicals have ever made $100 million, that's actually quite a feat. Hancock has surpassed $200 million in ticket sales in less than a month, giving Will Smith back-to-back $200 million movies in the past year, and Wall-E continues to close in on that figure, too, needing only $10 million more to get there, and it should accomplish that feat by next weekend.

Posted on Saturday, July 26, 2008 at 10:55AM by Registered CommenterColin Boyd in , , , , , , | Comments9 Comments

Box Office - 'Hellboy' More Super Than 'Hancock'

We knew it would be a dogfight for the top spot at the box office this weekend, and it turned out to be closer than we even expected. Hellboy II: The Golden Army, which opened strong on Friday, needed that leverage to fend off a charge from Hancock on Saturday and Sunday. Although Hellboy finished right around $36 million for the weekend, according to Box Office Mojo, it only won the battle on Friday and Sunday; Hancock outgrossed the new Guillermo del Toro film on Saturday and finished the weekend with $33 million, which I believe makes this the closest finish of the summer.

For Hancock, the weekend puts Will Smith closer to another $200 million movie; it has now earned over $165 million in 12 days. Hellboy still has a decent shot to break $100 million, although a lot of that depends on how it can weather the storm once The Dark Knight arrives next weekend. If it can put up a $15 million second stanza, it should be on its way.

The other new releases, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Meet Dave, are headed in opposite directions. Journey did better than expected and was the weekend's third $20 million earner, not bad at all considering the family-friendly competition it's facing with Wall-E and Kung Fu Panda. Meet Dave, as we touched on yesterday, is a tax write off. $5.3 million is a terrible way to start if your movie costs $100 million, although the good news for Eddie Murphy is that it made $2 million on Saturday. Woo hoo!

Where does this put Meet Dave historically? We'll go into more detail later today on just how a big a bomb we're dealing with.

The Top Five

1 - Hellboy II ($36 million)

2 - Hancock ($33 million)

3 - Journey to the Center of the Earth ($21 million)

4 - Wall-E ($19 million)

5 - Wanted ($12 million)

Posted on Sunday, July 13, 2008 at 10:30AM by Registered CommenterColin Boyd in , , , , | Comments7 Comments

Box Office - 'Hellboy' Rules Friday, Nobody Wants to 'Meet Dave'

There's good news all around with the Friday box office estimates. We'll begin at the top and work our way down.

It appears that Hellboy II: The Golden Army may be headed towards the $37 - $40 million range this weekend, which a near $14 million Friday, according to Box Office Mojo. That should mean a $100 million run for the Hellboy sequel, maybe upwards of $120 - $130 million depending on how it plays in the next couple of weeks. This number may be a touch higher than projections, although the Saturday numbers will tell us a lot not just about the weekend in particular but well this might play down the line.

Hancock finished in second place on Friday, and should wind up with another $30 million or so after its second weekend, proving Will Smith's new movie isn't just critic proof, but to a large extent, it's audience proof, too. Average to below average reviews may have hurt it a little bit, but Hancock will still be a $225 million movie.

Journey to the Center of the Earth, which is a slightly better show than it lets on, did slightly better on Friday than I would've thought. With nearly $7 million in ticket sales, this film should reach $20 million for the weekend, not bad when you consider the 3-D feature only cost $45 million. Wall-E, Wanted, and Get Smart continue to do nice business. If I had to forecast U.S. totals based on what we've seen so far, I'd say Wall-E - which will have the longest life of the three because of the way it plays to family crowds - will wind up with about $215 million, Wanted will finish in the $130 - $140 million range, and Get Smart might hit $125 million. Wall-E, of course, is the biggest investment, with production costs exceeding Wanted and Get Smart combined, so its bar is set quite a bit higher. Both Wanted and Get Smart have made their money back already, and Wall-E still needs help.

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Posted on Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 10:26AM by Registered CommenterColin Boyd in , , , , , , , , , | Comments11 Comments

Fearless Forecast - Raising Some 'Hell' at the Box Office

I'm not sure, if I had a movie, I'd want it to come out right in between a Will Smith movie and The Dark Knight. Call me crazy. But three big name films are gunning for your wallets this weekend, and only one of them will have any significant impact. Surprisingly, it's not the 3-D flick or the Eddie Murphy comedy.

Instead, look for Hellboy II: The Golden Army to narrowly defeat Hancock this weekend. The first Hellboy made $23 million in its debut four years back, and I don't think the new one will double that total, but the overall box office take for the sequel should be substantially higher. There's little doubt that the first film has gained fans over the years and the higher profile of director Guillermo del Toro is bound to bring in some bucks.

As for the other new releases, it will not be a big weekend for Journey to the Center of the Earth, but with a reported $45 million budget (how?), it doesn't really need much. I agree with the Village Voice that it's more a demo reel for the 3-D than it is an actual story, but the appeal of the live action 3-D should draw in families. Meet Dave, on the other hand, won't draw too many people at all. In fact, it seems destined to lose money, with its $100 million budget and lack of effective marketing. Combine that with the fact that people don't really like Eddie Murphy right now, he's not doing a lot of interviews to promote it, and the general impression that the trailers don't make this look funny, and you have a swirling failure in 3,000 theaters.

That brings us to the movies still in theaters. The only ones with significant punch left are Wall-E and Hancock, which has already made $204 million around the world in a week. We say that the Fourth of July is Will Smith's weekend, and it's true: Just looking at domestic grosses, his seven Fourth of July films have generated over $620 million...in their opening weeks!

The Top Five

1 - Hellboy II ($36 million)

2 - Hancock ($32 million)

3 - Wall-E ($20 million)

4 - Journey to the Center of the Earth ($18 million)

5 - Meet Dave ($12 million)

Posted on Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 01:52PM by Registered CommenterColin Boyd in , , , , , , , | Comments8 Comments
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