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'Poseidon' a Disaster
15 May 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Warner Bros.' Poseidon took a titanic dunking at the box office over the weekend, earning just $20.3 million. The film, which analysts estimate may have cost $150-200 million to produce, wound up in second place behind Mission: Impossible III, which also experienced a disappointing weekend, earning $25.5 million. But audiences did turn out to see Poseidon on the giant screen: although the 62 IMAX theaters playing the movie represented only 2 percent of its total number of screens, they accounted for 7 percent of the gross, or $1.4 million. Both Poseidon and Mission are expected to drop steeply next week with the arrival of The Da Vinci Code and the animated Over the Hedge. Other films premiering over the week also did poorly. The Lindsay Lohan starrer Just My Luck took in only $5.5 million, while the inspirational soccer movie Goal! barely kicked up dust as it scored just $2 million and failed even to make the top-ten list. In limited release, the comedy Keeping Up With the Steins was no My Big Fat Greek Wedding as it earned $621,000 in 138 theaters. Ticket sales for the weekend came to $81.7 million for the top 12 bills, 13 percent below the figure for the comparable weekend a year ago.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. Mission: Impossible III, $24.5 million; 2. Poseidon, $20.3 million; 3. R.V., $9.5 million; 4. Just My Luck, $5.5 million; 5. An American Haunting, $3.7 million; 6. United 93, $3.6 million; 7. Stick It, $3.2 million; 8. Ice Age: The Meltdown, $3 million; 9. Silent Hill, $2.2 million; 10. Hoot, $2.1 million.

When Is a $47.7 Million Weekend Take a Disappointment?
9 May 2006 (StudioBriefing)
A movie that earns $47.7 million in its opening weekend would ordinarily be greeted with rousing cheers by most studio executives. A clear exception is any film that stars Tom Cruise and, according to some reports, cost more than $200 million to make. Moreover, Mission: Impossible III opened in 4,054 theaters, one of the biggest openings in history. Reporting on the disappointing performance of the film, the Associated Press observed today (Tuesday) that 7.2 million tickets were sold for the movie, versus 10.3 million for the original Mission: Impossible and 10.7 million for Mission: Impossible II.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Mission: Impossible III, Paramount, $47,743,273, (New); 2. R.V., Sony, $11,004,706, 2 Wks. ($30,910,618); 3. An American Haunting, Freestyle, $5,783,508, (New); 4. Stick It, Disney, $5,479,658, 2 Wks. ($17,934,291); 5. United 93, Universal, $5,347,860, 2 Wks. ($20,192,305); 6. Ice Age: The Meltdown, 20th Century Fox, $4,161,724, 6 Wks. ($183,435,937); 7. Silent Hill, Sony, $4,013,871, 3 Wks. ($40,919,014); 8. Scary Movie 4, The Weinstein Co., $3,690,454, 4 Wks. ($83,644,761); 9. Akeelah and The Bee, Lionsgate, $3,369,630, 2 Wks. ($10,632,413); 10. Hoot, New Line, $3,368,197, (New).

'Mission' Accomplished -- Not
8 May 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Tom Cruise was being blamed Monday for the failure of Paramount's Mission: Impossible III to live up to analysts' expectations at the box office over the weekend. The film took in an estimated $48 million in its domestic debut, about $10 million less than Mission: Impossible II garnered in its 2000 premiere. Analysts maintained that Cruise's sometimes outrageous behavior in recent months, including his sofa-jumping on Oprah Winfrey's show, his defense of Scientology, his confrontation with Today show host Matt Lauer over psychotropic medication, and his seemingly non-stop promotion of M:I:III may have irked fans. Today's (Monday) New York Times commented that Cruise "has evolved into a kind of cultural punch line." The New York Daily News observed that perhaps the "real mission impossible was selling a movie whose star spent the last year jumping on couches." Variety remarked that "aud[ience]s seemingly grew weary of Tom Cruise's pervasive media presence." "The summer movie season started with a fizzle," is the way the Los Angeles Times led off its report on the film's debut. Nevertheless, whatever it was that slowed ticket sales of the movie in the U.S. and Canada had little effect overseas, where the movie launched with $70.3 million. Meanwhile, the box office for United 93 tumbled 55 percent in its second week.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. Mission: Impossible III, $48 million; 2. R.V., $11.1 million; 3. An American Haunting, $6.4 million; 4. Stick It, $5.5 million; 5. United 93, $5.2 million; 6. Ice Age: The Meltdown, $4 million; 7. Silent Hill, $3.9 million; 8. Scary Movie 4, $3.8 million; 9. (tie). Akeelah and the Bee, $3.4 million; 9. (tie). Hoot, $3.4 million.

9/11 Film Lands Safely
2 May 2006 (StudioBriefing)
After weeks of industry debate over whether Universal's United 93 would have sufficient commercial appeal, moviegoers finally voted at the box office over the weekend. The film wound up with the highest per-theater average as it opened with $11.5 million in 1,795 theaters. The film had cost about $15 million to produce. The top money maker was Sony's RV, starring Robin Williams, which took in $16.4 million on 3,639 screens, about twice the number showing United 93. Disney's Stick It opened in third place with $10.8 million -- far better than analysts had expected, while Lionsgate's Akeelah and the Bee fell below expectations in its opening with just $6 million.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. RV, Sony, $16,414,767, (New); 2. United 93, Universal, $11,478,360, (New); 3. Stick It, Disney, $10,803,610, (New); 4. Silent Hill, Sony, $9,336,399, 2 Wks. ($34,267,462); 5. Scary Movie 4, Weinstein Co. $7,805,568, 3 Wks. ($78,168,719); 6. The Sentinel, 20th Century Fox, $7,787,208, 2 Wks. ($25,728,548); 7. Ice Age: The Meltdown, 20th Century Fox, $7,204,960, 5 Wks. ($177,863,073); 8. Akeelah and the Bee, Lions Gate, $6,011,585, (New); 9. The Wild, Disney, $4,799,676, 3 Wks. ($28,510,753); 10. The Benchwarmers, Sony, $4,385,855, 4 Wks. ($52,768,049).

They Turned Out, After All
1 May 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Moviegoers turned out to see United 93 over the weekend in respectable, if not overwhelming, numbers. The film, which cost about $15 million to make, brought in an estimated $11.6 million, placing second to the Robin Williams comedy R.V., which earned about $16.4 million. However, United 93 opened in only about half the number of theaters showing R.V.. As a result its average per-theater take was far higher: $6,465 to R.V.'s $4,506. Prior to United's release, studio tracking surveys showed a high percentage of movie patrons were "definitely not interested" in seeing it. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Universal's marketing chief, Nikki Rocco, commented. "The American public spoke out this weekend, and clearly what it was saying was that it was not too soon for this film. People understand that it was well made and respectful, that it honors these heroes." She said that she expected the audience for the film to build on word-of-mouth. Some analysts were unimpressed, however, pointing out that the film had received a ton of free publicity and positive reviews and as a result ought to have performed better than it did. Overall, the top 12 films grossed $90.7 million, up 12 percent over the comparable weekend a year ago, according to Exhibitor Relations.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. R.V., $16.4 million; 2. United 93, $11.6 million; 3. Stick It, $11.3 million; 4. Silent Hill, $9.3 million; 5. Scary Movie 4, $7.8 million; 6. The Sentinel, $7.6 million; 7. Ice Age: The Meltdown, $7.05 million; 8. Akeelah and the Bee, $6.25 million; 9. The Wild, $4.7 million; 10. The Benchwarmers, $4.4 million.

Scary Movies Rule Box Office
25 April 2006 (StudioBriefing)
It has been a good year for scary movies. The low-budget, low-risk films have filled the coffers of several Hollywood studios even while costlier films have proved, well, costly. On Monday two scary movies led the box-office list. The premiere of Silent Hill, based on the popular video game, led in ticket sales with $20.2 million, while last week's top film, the spoof Scary Movie 4, placed second with $16.8 million. Today's (Tuesday) Los Angeles Times observes that of this year's 25 top-grossing films, a quarter have been horror films. In an interview with the Times, Exhibitor Relations chief Paul Dergarabedian commented horror films and family films -- another genre that has proved to be successful this year -- get people out of their homes because they are "genres that people don't necessarily want to wait for the DVDs." Paramount Pictures President Gail Berman put it this way, "When you give people something they want, guess what? They come."

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Silent Hill, Sony, $20,152,598, (New); 2. Scary Movie 4, Weinstein Co. $16,814,942, 2 Wks. ($67,478,181); 3. The Sentinel, 20th Century Fox, $14,367,854, (New); 4. Ice Age: The Meltdown, 20th Century Fox, $13,284,408, 4 Wks. ($168,348,135); 5. The Wild, Disney, $8,332,068, 2 Wks. ($22,240,635); 6. The Benchwarmers, Sony, $7,256,143, 3 Wks. ($47,101,418); 7. Take the Lead, New Line, $4,176,517, 3 Wks. ($29,482,613); 8. Inside Man, Universal, $3,748,955, 5 Wks. ($81,313,510); 9. American Dreamz, Universal, $3,667,420, (New); 10. Friends With Money, Sony Classics, $3,179,025, 3 Wks. ($4,960,765).

Movie Reviews: 'Silent Hill'
24 April 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Movie critics finally weighed in on Silent Hill over the weekend after Sony decided not to arrange advance press screenings of the movie for them. (On Friday we speculated that someone at the studio may not have gotten the word and screened it for Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times. Ebert responded that he merely attended a public sneak preview on Thursday night -- thereby suggesting a way that his fellow critics might avoid weekend duty and have their reviews published on Fridays along with all the others.) Nathan Lee in the New York Times gave the movie short shrift, observing: "The plot would take half a day to describe, which is approximately how long the movie seems to play." Lou Lumenick in the New York Post observed that the film runs far longer than the usual 90 minutes for a horror film. He calls it "a great-looking but stupefyingly incoherent supernatural thriller ... that ransacks the entire catalog of horror film tropes for more than two mind-numbing hours." Elizabeth Weitzman in the New York Daily News commented that "Silent Hill is the worst kind of horror movie: trash that takes itself seriously." (Ebert also informed us that he gave the movie one and a half stars and that the question mark we saw following the star was a typo.)

'Silent' Is Golden
24 April 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Sony's Silent Hill, the horror film based on the hit video game, was king of the hill this weekend, taking in an estimated $20.2 million. The Weinstein Co.'s Scary Movie 4 dropped to second place with $17 million. Twentieth Century Fox's The Sentinel debuted in third place with about $14.7 million, while the studio's Ice Age: The Meltdown fell to fourth place (from second) with around $12.8 million. All other films had single-digit grosses, including the debuting American Dreamz from Universal, which tanked with just $3.7 million to tie for eighth.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. Silent Hill, $20.2 million; 2. Scary Movie 4, $17 million; 3. The Sentinel, $14.65 million; 4. Ice Age: The Meltdown, $12.8 million; 5. The Wild, $8.05 million; 6. The Benchwarmers, $7.3 million; 7. Take the Lead, $4.25 million; 8 (tie) American Dreamz, $3.7 million; 8 (tie) Inside Man, $3.7 million; 10. Friends With Money, $3.6 million.

Movie Reviews: 'Silent Hill'
21 April 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Silent Hill , based on the popular video game, was not supposed to have been shown to film critics. Apparently the word never got out to whoever showed it to Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times. Ebert rated it with a single star followed by a question mark. Here is the opening paragraph of his review: "I had a nice conversation with seven or eight people coming down on the escalator after we all saw Silent Hill. They wanted me to explain it to them. I said I didn't have a clue. They said, 'You're supposed to be a movie critic, aren't you?' I said, 'Supposed to be. But we work mostly with movies.' 'Yeah, ' said the girl in the Harley t-shirt. 'I guess this was like a video game that you like had to play in order to like understand the movie.' I guess." The word apparently never got out to Canada, either, allowing Peter Howell in the Toronto Star to remark after seeing it that it was "dumber than a bag of coffin nails. ... It doesn't make a lick of sense."

Battle of the Scary Movies
21 April 2006 (StudioBriefing)
One scary movie will be doing battle with another for supremacy at the box office over the weekend. Neither the second week of Scary Movie 4 or the premiere of Silent Hill, based on the videogame, is expected to make much of an impression, with both expected to gross less than $20 million. Analysts aren't expecting the other two films opening this weekend -- Fox's The Sentinel and Universal's American Dreamz -- to hit it big either, but some suggest that Sony Pictures Classics' Friends with Money could make a surprising showing as it opens wide after doing two weeks of terrific business in limited release.