2013 02 22 – Dark Skies, Snitch

Today we have two openings.

This one, Dark Skies, is a thriller/suspense movie. MPAA rating is PG-13.

If it was published as a book, it would a great reading. I can easily imagine Stephen King-ish passages of small town's shops, streets, and social conflicts. Or Dean R. Koontz-ish seamless blending of supernatural events and sympathetic characters.

Movies of this kind have problems, mostly because actual appearances of aliens tend to suck. Example? Signs, by M. Night Shyamalan. When a danger is invisible, it better be as scary as the Alien in the first Alien movie.

Overall, a story is weaker than January's Mama, but it is still good fun for fans.

Shots:

Perri Nemiroff from Shockya goes for 17 mln.
I go for 14,75 mln opening.     (2950 cinemas, $5000 per cinema)
BoxOffice staff go for 11 mln.
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo goes for 10,2 mln.
C.S. Strowbridge from The Numbers goes for 10 mln.
Gitesh Pandya from BoxOfficeGuru goes for 10 mln.
HSX go for 10 mln.
Damon Houx from ScreenCrave goes for 9,5 mln.
Bill Bonfanti from FilmGo goes for 9 mln.  (number taken from HSX article)
The movie went for 8,85 mln.     (2313 cinemas, $3826 per cinema)
Movie Critic Assasins from BreitBart go for 7 mln.
Laremy Legel from RopeOfSilicon goes for 7,2 mln.
Donald Shanahan from Examiner goes for 7 mln.

This one, Snitch, is a thriller/suspense movie. MPAA rating is PG-13.

In this story, The Rock (or Dwayne Johnson, as he is known in official places) infiltrates a crime ring, trying to save his son from long prison stint. There are muscular bodies, car chases, blow-ups, fist fights. The hero has a burning need to do what he does, his physical appearance is also convincing enough. The question is: Why should I care about him and his story?

The same problem I had when watched trailer for Sly's Bullet to the Head. That movie bombed hard.

I put some trust in The Rock's fan base, so my shot is higher in comparison to other muscle movies of this year so far (A Good Day to Die Hard excluded).

Shots:

Donald Shanahan from Examiner goes for 18 mln.
I go for 13,2 mln opening.     (3300 cinemas, $4000 per cinema)
Bill Bonfanti from FilmGo goes for 13 mln.  (number taken from HSX article)
The movie went for 13 mln.     (2511 cinemas, $5177 per cinema)
BoxOffice staff go for 12,8 mln.
C.S. Strowbridge from The Numbers goes for 12 mln.
Gitesh Pandya from BoxOfficeGuru goes for 12 mln.
HSX go for 12 mln.
Damon Houx from ScreenCrave goes for 11,9 mln.
Movie Critic Assasins from BreitBart go for 11,4 mln.
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo goes for 11,2 mln.
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya goes for 11 mln.
Laremy Legel from RopeOfSilicon goes for 10,5 mln.

2013 02 14 – A Good Day to Die Hard, Beautiful Creatures, Escape from Planet Earth, Safe Haven

Hello! It's the second movie weekend at my blog and the first one that starts on Thursday. This should rise viewing numbers, but for all movies, or just for those related to Valentine's feelings? Exciting!

Today, we have four openings.

This one, A Good Day to Die Hard, is an action movie. MPAA rating is R.

I'm very curious about this movie.

First, I wonder how much US and Canadian public has missed John McClane character. We saw that James Bond had been missed very much. And we saw that new characters from Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Last Stand) and Sylvester Stallone (Bullet to the Head) didn't get that much audience love.

Second, I think it is the first movie to hit 200+ mln domestic level. It will be a challenge, of course. But straight-to-the-point blowings, that don't require too much thinking, are in such a shortage these days. Trailer of this movie unveils great popcorn flick and I think it will pay off.

Shots:

3-day weekend 
I go for 63 mln opening.     (4200 cinemas, $15000 per cinema) 
Gitesh Pandya from BoxOfficeGuru goes for 42 mln.  (I'm not entirely sure)
BoxOffice staff go for 41,3 mln.
HSX go for 41 mln.  (I'm not entirely sure)
C.S. Strowbridge from TheNumbers goes for 40 mln.
Donald Shanahan from Examiner goes for 40 mln.  (I'm not entirely sure)
Laremy Legel from RopeOfSilicon goes for 34,1 mln.
Damon Houx from ScreenCrave goes for 28,5 mln.
The movie went for 24,84 mln.     (3553 cinemas, $6990 per cinema)
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya goes for 21 mln.

4-day weekend
BoxOffice staff go for 49,3 mln.
C.S. Strowbridge from TheNumbers goes for 49 mln. 
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo goes for 44,9 mln.
The movie went for 33,07 mln.     (3553 cinemas, $9309 per cinema) 
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya goes for 27 mln.

5-day weekend
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo goes for 56,5 mln.
Movie Critic Assasins from BreitBart go for 44 mln.
The movie went for 36,88 mln.     (3553 cinemas, $10380 per cinema)

I don't have any numbers from FilmGo.

This one, Beautiful Creatures, is a thriller/suspense movie. MPAA rating is PG-13.

Sure, it tries to get back in cinemas fans of Twilight series.

Sure, it has lots in common with The Secret Circle, TV series cancelled after just one season.

And sure, the main boy character is not Robert Pattison, in terms of teen hotness potential.

Lead heroine seems okay, the rest of support characters are quite good. But this boy... oh, boy...

Shots:

3-day weekend 
I go for 29,70 mln opening.     (3300 cinemas, $9000 per cinema) 
Gitesh Pandya from BoxOfficeGuru goes for 20 mln.  (I'm not entirely sure) 
HSX go for 19 mln.  (I'm not entirely sure) 
Laremy Legel from RopeOfSilicon goes for 18 mln.
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya goes for 16 mln.
BoxOffice staff go for 14,2 mln.
Damon Houx from ScreenCrave goes for 12,3 mln.
The movie went for 7,58 mln.     (2950 cinemas, $2571 per cinema) 
Donald Shanahan from Examiner goes for 3 mln.  (I'm not entirely sure)

4-day weekend
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya goes for 22 mln.
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo goes for 19 mln.
BoxOffice staff go for 18,2 mln. 
The movie went for 10,13 mln.     (2950 cinemas, $3433 per cinema)

5-day weekend
Movie Critic Assasins from BreitBart go for 26,2 mln.
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo goes for 25,2 mln. 
C.S. Strowbridge from TheNumbers goes for 22 mln.
The movie went for 11,49 mln.     (2950 cinemas, $3895 per cinema)

I don't have any numbers from FilmGo.

This one, Escape from Planet Earth, is an animated, family adventure movie. MPAA rating is PG.

When animated movie doesn't get distributed by Disney, it simply means less cinemas for box office. And I think this is the only thing that matters here. On top of that, the movie in itself doesn't seem to be as great as other monster-based ones (Monsters Inc., Monsters vs Aliens).

Shots:

3-day weekend 

BoxOffice staff go for 17,1 mln. 
The movie went for 15,89 mln.     (3288 cinemas, $4834 per cinema)
I go for 15,75 mln opening.     (2250 cinemas, $7000 per cinema)
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya goes for 15 mln.
C.S. Strowbridge from TheNumbers goes for 15 mln. 
HSX go for 14,5 mln.  (I'm not entirely sure) 
Laremy Legel from RopeOfSilicon goes for 11,6 mln.
Gitesh Pandya from BoxOfficeGuru goes for 10 mln.  (I'm not entirely sure)
Damon Houx from ScreenCrave goes for 7,5 mln.

4-day weekend
The movie went for 21,11 mln.     (3288 cinemas, $6419 per cinema)
Movie Critic Assassins from BreitBart go for 21 mln. 
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo goes for 11,3 mln. 

I don't have any numbers from FilmGo, Examiner.

This one, Safe Haven, is a drama movie. MPAA rating is PG-13.

This is the only grown-up romantic movie that opens at Valentine's Day. It is destined to do nice at box office. In comparison to the genre, of course.

Shots:

3-day weekend
Gitesh Pandya from BoxOfficeGuru goes for 27 mln.  (I'm not entirely sure) 
BoxOffice staff go for 25,8 mln. 
Laremy Legel from RopeOfSilicon goes for 24 mln. 
Donald Shanahan from Examiner goes for 23 mln.  (I'm not entirely sure) 
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya goes for 22 mln.
The movie went for 21,40 mln.     (3223 cinemas, $6641 per cinema)
I go for 21,20 mln opening.     (2650 cinemas, $8000 per cinema) 
HSX go for 18,8 mln.  (I'm not entirely sure)
Damon Houx from ScreenCrave goes for 15 mln.

4-day weekend 
BoxOffice staff go for 35 mln.
C.S. Strowbridge from TheNumbers goes for 32 mln.
The movie went for 30,23 mln.     (3223 cinemas, $9380 per cinema)
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya goes for 30 mln.
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo goes for 21,7 mln.

5-day weekend
Movie Critic Assasins from BreitBart go for 35 mln. 
The movie went for 33,30 mln.     (3223 cinemas, $10332 per cinema)
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo goes for 29,2 mln.

I don't have any numbers from FilmGo.

  

2013 02 08 – Identity Thief, Side Effects

Today is Friday, and we have two openings.

This one, Identity Thief, is a comedy movie. MPAA rating is R.

As you can see on a poster, the two leads are played by well known comic actors: Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy.

The trailer for this movie is fine: Melissa seems to be sparkling in her role, while Jason is in his usual "don't-really-know-what's-happening" persona.

Comedies usually don't perform very good in box office, due to moderate number of cinemas at opening weekend.

Shots:

The movie went for 36,59 mln.      (3141 cinemas, $11650 per cinema)
BoxOffice staff go for 27,8 mln opening.
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo goes for 25,5 mln.
C.S. Strowbridge from The Numbers goes for 24 mln.
Donald Shanahan from Examiner goes for 24 mln.
Movie Critic Assasins from BreitBart go for 24 mln.
Laremy Legel from RopeOfSilicon goes for 22 mln.
HSX go for 21,1 mln.
Gitesh Pandya from BoxOfficeGuru goes for 18 mln.
Bill Bonfanti from FilmGo goes for 17 mln.
Damon Houx from ScreenCrave goes for 16,8 mln.
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya goes for 14 mln.
I go for 11,8 mln.     (2950 cinemas, $4000 per cinema)


 

This one, Side Effects, is a thriller/suspense movie. MPAA rating is R.

There are four strong actors/actresses as leads. But none of them is known for that intense performances. I think it can try to woo viewers of TV-series American Horror Story.

I find the trailer confusing: at first I thought Rooney Mara's character is the main lead, but in the second part of trailer Jude Law's character gets more second on screen.

I used to read and like medical thrillers (penned by Robin Cook, mostly),so this kind of story doesn't feel too awkward.

Still, it is clearly not a movie I would describe as "cinema entertaining". Especially if in a room next door The Last Stand is being screened.

Shots:

Bill Bonfanti from FilmGo goes for 16 mln.
C.S. Strowbridge from The Numbers goes for 15 mln.
BoxOffice staff go for 13,2 mln opening.
HSX go for 12 mln.
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo goes for 11,7 mln.
Gitesh Pandya from BoxOfficeGuru goes for 11 mln.
Laremy Legel from RopeOfSilicon goes for 10,9 mln.
The movie went for 10,02 mln.     (2605 cinemas, $3845 per cinema)
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya goes for 10 mln.
Damon Houx from ScreenCrave goes for 10 mln.
Donald Shanahan from Examiner goes for 10 mln.
Movie Critic Assasins from BreitBart go for 9,8 mln.
I go for 9,28 mln.     (2650 cinemas, $3500 per cinema)

 

A word on catching up

The weekend of February 8 is the first one I have posted on this blog.

I made earlier predictions for weekends of January 4, January 11, January 18, January 25 and February 1. I will post have already posted them all.

A summary post for 2013's January will be published in a few days as soon as I catch up with individual weekends.

The last one to catch up... – 2013 02 01 – Bullet to the Head, Warm Bodies

February 1 was the fifth weekend of a new year.

We had two openings.

This one, Bullet to the Head, was an action movie. MPAA rating was R.

When doing movies driven by a star power of lead actor, the most important question is: What does (s)he bring to the table, that doesn't bring anybody else?

If a star brings a lot, the movie becomes branded by him(her). Think of The Hunt for the Red October, Missing in Action, The Terminator (By the way, who comes to your mind now? Arnie? Right...).

Sylvester Stallone's character in this movie is so bland I can imagine that design of all his tatoos was taken from the first free source on the web, run by some 9-year old.

Jason Momoa seems to be a sweet guy, but he lacks of The Rock's feeling of punching a stone with one's fist and tearing one's skin. If he couldn't find this when getting prepared to play the lead in Conan the Barbarian, he certainly won't find it in this typical villain role.

Also, after two parts of Taken franchise, rescuing one's kidnapped daughter needs more invention in fighting scenes than before.

Shots:

C.S. Strowbridge from The Numbers went for 8 mln.
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo went for 7,9 mln.
Damon Houx from ScreenCrave goes for 7 mln.
Bill Bonfanti from FilmGo went for 7 mln.
Laremy Legel from RopeOfSilicon went for 6,6 mln.
Movie Critic Assasins from BreitBart went for 6,3 mln.
I went for 6,10 mln.     (2650 cinemas, $2300 per cinema)
BoxOffice staff went for 5,2 mln.
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya went for 5 mln.
The movie went for 4,50 mln.     (2404 cinemas, $1872 per cinema)
I had no numbers from HSX, BoxOfficeGuru, Examiner.

This one, Warm Bodies, was a romantic comedy movie. MPAA rating was PG-13.

I wanted this movie to earn as much as possible.

Even if it is umpteenth shot at filming William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

The trailer was funny, surprisingly warm, but also featured few buckets of blood and really not eye-plucking zombies' CGI.

I just didn't know how much zombie theme would scare off potential audience. Vampires are sexy and mysterious. Werewolves play on our inner fear/desire of hiding something monstrous inside every one of us. But zombies... they were dumber than blonde in jokes, they lacked a spark of individual persona, they were not attractive in physical terms. Deciding to go to this movie required courage. And that was not a trait associated with a movie entertainment.

So my shot was low, even though I loved this movie.

Shots:

Laremy Legel from RopeOfSilicon went for 25,6 mln.
Movie Critic Assasins from BreitBart went for 22 mln.
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya went for 20,9 mln.
BoxOffice staff went for 20,7 mln.
The movie went for 20,02 mln.     (3009 cinemas, $6655 per cinema)
C.S. Strowbridge from The Numbers went for 19 mln.
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo went for 17,7 mln.
Bill Bonfanti from FilmGo went for 17 mln.
Damon Houx from ScreenCrave went for 15 mln.
I went for 14,75 mln.     (2950 cinemas, $5000 per cinema)
I had no numbers from HSX, BoxOfficeGuru, Examiner.

 

Catching up – 2013 01 25 – Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, Movie 43, Parker

January 25 was the fourth weekend of a new year.

We had three openings.

This one, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, was an action movie. MPAA rating was R.

Last year we had Snow White and the Huntsman, children's tale retold in a modern visual style.

Hansel and Gretel didn't have that much star power: Jeremy Renner was not Chris Hemsworth, Gemma Arterton was not Kristen Stewart, Famke Janssen was not Charlize Theron. So, mass appeal looked a bit worse.

It was a good movie, though, judging by the trailer. I enjoyed previous work of director Tommy Wirkola, Dead Snow. Full colors of sets, sharpness and cleanness of blood and fire visuals. I found the same qualities here.

The only thing that bothered me was the answer to question "How many ways can you kill a witch?" (asked in the trailer as well). So, how many before it gets repetitive? In Dead Snow, zombies were killing in enjoyable ways to the very ending, due to limited means. Here an arsenal was richer: and it could mean laziness showing her ugly head about two-thirds in the movie.

Still, I thought it was a good offer, so I shot quite high.

Shots:

Laremy Legel from RopeOfSilicon went for 27 mln.
I went for 23,10 mln opening.     (3300 cinemas, $7000 per cinema)
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo went for 21,9 mln.
The movie went for 19,69 mln.     (3372 cinemas, $5840 per cinema)
Damon Houx from ScreenCrave went for 19,5 mln.
Movie Critic Assasins from BreitBart went for 19 mln.
C.S. Strowbridge from The Numbers went for 18 mln.
BoxOffice staff went for 17 mln.
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya went for 15 mln.
Bill Bonfanti from FilmGo went for 13 mln.
Donald Shanahan from Examiner went for 9 mln.
I had no numbers from HSX, BoxOfficeGuru.

This one, Movie 43, was a comedy movie. MPAA rating was R.

Would you go to a cinema to see a series of comedy sketches? Or would you choose to see a movie instead, and watch sketches in TV or at a comedy club?

Ensemble movies were great for actors, because they could play characters they couldn't play normally. So, they didn't want big money to show up. But viewers came to theaters with certain expectations - and comedy to be the most effective had very strict rules of being delivered. I think this movie violated these rules, so my shot is quite low.

Shots:

BoxOffice staff went for 11,1 mln.
Donald Shanahan from Examiner went for 11 mln.
C.S. Strowbridge from The Numbers went for 10 mln.
Laremy Legel from RopeOfSilicon went for 10 mln.
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo went for 8,9 mln.
Bill Bonfanti from FilmGo went for 8,5 mln.
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya went for 8 mln.
Movie Critic Assasins from BreitBart went for 7,5 mln.
I went for 6,10 mln opening.     (2650 cinemas, $2300 per cinema)
The movie went for 4,81 mln.     (2023 cinemas, $2376 per cinema)
I had no numbers from HSX, BoxOfficeGuru.
Damon Houx from ScreenCrave didn't cover this one.

This one, Parker, was an action movie. MPAA rating was R.

Betrayed robber wanted to get revenge on former partners in crime. Cool.

Jason Statham walking in Texan outfit, the hat and everything? Not cool.

Jennifer Lopez as a hero's girl? Did she really need this kind of job?

I think this movie was slightly better than Bullet to the Head (the revenge motive is more intimate than rescuing daughter motive), but easilt forgettable as a whole.

Shots:

BoxOffice staff went for 9,4 mln.
Movie Critic Assasins from BreitBart went for 8,4 mln.
Bill Bonfanti from FilmGo went for 8 mln.
C.S. Strowbridge from The Numbers went for 8 mln.
Donald Shanahan from Examiner went for 8 mln.
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya went for 8 mln.
Damon Houx from ScreenCrave went for 7,7 mln.
Laremy Legel from RopeOfSilicon went for 7,7 mln.
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo went for 7,6 mln.
The movie went for 7,01 mln.     (2224 cinemas, $3151 per cinema)
I went for 6,10 mln opening.     (2650 cinemas, $2300 per cinema)
I had no numbers from HSX, BoxOfficeGuru.

Catching up – 2013 01 18 – Broken City, Mama, The Last Stand

January 18 was the third weekend of a new year.

We had three openings.

 

This one, Broken City, was a thriller/suspense movie. MPAA rating was R.

Russell Crowe looked ridiculous with his haircut. If you ever wanted to see a man feeling uncomfortable wearing a toupee, he was a perfect example.

The story was meant to be twisted, but telling about two major U-turns in trailer was not a good move. The problem was also the lead character of Mark Wahlberg. Why should we care about him? He is a good cop, ok. What else? Was that it? Not very interesting, really.

Shots:

Donald Shanahan from Examiner went for 29 mln.
Bill Bonfanti from FilmGo went for 21 mln.
Damon Houx from ScreenCrave went for 19,3 mln.
C.S. Strowbridge from The Numbers went for 16 mln.
Movie Critic Assasins from BreitBart went for 16 mln.
BoxOffice staff went for 15,8 mln.
I went for 14,85 mln opening.     (3300 cinemas, $4500 per cinema)
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo went for 13,2 mln.
Laremy Legel from RopeOfSilicon went for 12,2 mln.
The movie went for 8,27 mln.     (2620 cinemas, $3156 per cinema)
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya went for 8 mln.
I had no numbers from HSX, BoxOfficeGuru.

This one, Mama, was a horror movie. MPAA rating was PG-13.

This movie had Guillermo del Toro as a producer name attached to it. That name always meant good supernatural entertainment and rich visuals. The trailer confimed both of these things. Watching it, I got vibes similar to The Ring (american remake).

The story was really nice. Authorities found two wild children and gave them to a family. They got to know and to love each other, only to find that their wild mother wanted them back. Great premise and lots of great questions: how two ordinary people could fight supernatural creature? would children help their new family or help creature-mother? This was really good storytelling, and that was the reason I gave my shot so high.

Also, Jessica Chastain in a black wig? Super hot!

Shots:

The movie went for 28,40 mln.     (2647 cinemas, $10730 per cinema)
I went for 26,40 mln opening.     (3300 cinemas, $8000 per cinema)
Damon Houx from ScreenCrave went for 22,5 mln.
Donald Shanahan from Examiner went for 20 mln.
BoxOffice staff went for 19,3 mln.
Movie Critic Assasins from BreitBart went for 18,2 mln.
C.S. Strowbridge from The Numbers went for 18 mln.
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo went for 16,9 mln.
Laremy Legel from RopeOfSilicon went for 15,6 mln.
Bill Bonfanti from FilmGo went for 13 mln.
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya went for 12 mln.
I had no numbers from HSX, BoxOfficeGuru.

 

This one, The Last Stand, was an action movie. MPAA rating was R.

I really liked story in this one. Old cop in a small town didn't want any big troubles. But when in his direction went a police chase after dangerous robbers, he had no choice but to stand and fight. It was a hell of a reason to not to run or hide away. Support characters, small town crooks, were quite memorable, at least visually in trailer.

The problem was showing the actual big city robbing (I judged from the trailer). If we needed to get to care about old sheriff, we should start the movie watching his normal life and only then introduce the danger - a classic approach to starting a story. But if the movie started with big city robbing (thus setting the tone for the rest of the story) and then switching to small town atmosphere, people could be disappointed.

The second thing: a poster of this movie. The official version (to the left) seemed like a teen beach movie. The second version (to the right) put emphasis on the hero and was so much better telling potential audience what kind of entertainment it offered.

And these two problems were reasons I shot so low, even though I liked the whole idea of this "modern western movie" very much.

Shots:

Bill Bonfanti from FilmGo went for 16 mln.
C.S. Strowbridge from The Numbers went for 15 mln.
Damon Houx from ScreenCrave went for 14,7 mln.
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo went for 14 mln.
Movie Critic Assasins from BreitBart went for 14 mln.
Donald Shanahan from Examiner went for 13 mln.
Laremy Legel from RopeOfSilicon went for 11,2 mln.
BoxOffice staff went for 11 mln.
I went for 9,28 mln opening.     (2650 cinemas, $3500 per cinema)
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya went for 9 mln.
The movie went for 6,28 mln.     (2913 cinemas, $2156 per cinema)
I had no numbers from HSX, BoxOfficeGuru.

Catching up – 2013 01 11 – A Haunted House, Dark Zero Thirty (wide), Gangster Squad

January 11 was the second weekend of a new year.

We had three openings.

This one, A Haunted House, was a comedy movie. MPAA rating was R.

Comedy spoofs seemed to have a loyal audience. They went to cinemas and had fun, no matter what experts or reviewers said.

I watched some comic TV programs made in US, but to be honest didn't know American audience taste in humor. I was okay (and I still am) to be wrong in predictions for this genre.

Shots:

Movie Critic Assasins from BreitBart go for 19 mln.
The movie went for 18,1 mln.     (2160 cinemas, $8380 per cinema)
BoxOffice staff went for 17,9 mln.
Donald Shanahan from Examiner went for 15 mln.
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo went for 13,7 mln.
Damon Houx from ScreenCrave goes for 13,5 mln.
C.S. Strowbridge from The Numbers went for 13 mln.
Laremy Legel from RopeOfSilicon goes for 13 mln.
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya goes for 13 mln.
Bill Bonfanti from FilmGo went for 12 mln.
I went for 6,1 mln opening.     (2650 cinemas, $2300 per cinema)
I had no numbers from HSX, BoxOfficeGuru.

This one, Gangster Squad, was a drama movie. MPAA rating was R.

The cast was really solid in this movie. Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Emma Stone, they all were actors able to deliver interesting performance.

On the other hand, nothing stood out in the story, telegraphed in the trailer. Cops, crooks, a girl of a gangster - nice to see once, I guessed, but really, been there, done that.

Shots:

Bill Bonfanti from FilmGo went for 22 mln.
I went for 21,45 mln opening.     (3300 cinemas, $6500 per cinema)
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo went for 21,4 mln.
Donald Shanahan from Examiner went for 21 mln.
C.S. Strowbridge from The Numbers went for 18 mln.
BoxOffice staff went for 17,8 mln.
Laremy Legel from RopeOfSilicon goes for 17,1 mln.
The movie went for 17,07 mln.      (3103 cinemas, $5501 per cinema)
Movie Critic Assasins from BreitBart go for 17 mln.
Damon Houx from ScreenCrave goes for 15 mln.
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya goes for 15 mln.
I had no numbers from HSX, BoxOfficeGuru.

 

This one, Zero Dark Thirty, was a wide release of a drama movie that went limited in December 2012. MPAA rating was R.

This movie should have been named as "How we tracked and killed the leader of terrorist organisation". Its value was totally media-dependent: one should go and see it, to have an opinion he/she could share in a water tank conversation or on Facebook. Transcribed into box office: a solid number.

Shots:

Laremy Legel from RopeOfSilicon went for 27 mln.
I went for 26,40 mln opening.     (3300 cinemas, $8000 per cinema)
C.S. Strowbridge from The Numbers went for 26 mln.
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo went for 25,7 mln.
Movie Critic Assasins from BreitBart went for 25 mln.
BoxOffice staff went for 24,6 mln.
The movie went for 24,44 mln.     (2937 cinemas, $8321 per cinema)
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya went for 24 mln.
Bill Bonfanti from FilmGo went for 21 mln.
Damon Houx from ScreenCrave went for 19,5 mln.
I had no numbers from HSX, BoxOfficeGuru.
Donald Shanahan from Examiner didn't cover this one.

Catching up – 2013 01 04 – Promised Land, Texas Chainsaw 3D

January 4 was the first weekend of a new year.

We had two openings.

This one, Promised Land, was a drama movie. MPAA rating was R.

It certainly felt like a TV movie for a slow evening.

In trailer, the story pitch was quite engaging, but conflict was obvious love-vs-job obligations and the lead character was totally bland.

Shots:

I went for 9 mln opening.     (2250 cinemas, $4000 per cinema)
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo went for 5 mln.
Movie Critic Assasins from BreitBart went for 5 mln.

The movie went for 4,05 mln.     (1676 cinemas, $2416 per cinema)

C.S. Strowbridge from The Numbers went for 4 mln.

Bill Bonfanti from FilmGo went for 3,5 mln.

BoxOffice staff went for 3,2 mln.

I had no numbers from BoxOfficeGuru, HSX, Examiner, RopeOfSilicon, ScreenCrave, Shockya.

This one, Texas Chainsaw 3D, was a horror movie. MPAA rating was R.

The trailer was a surprisingly good entertainment. Stylish, crispy, full of gore, as we should suspect. It was not Cabin in the Woods, just straight slasher, but I thought that only could help getting viewers.

Shots:

I went for 26,4 mln opening.     (3300 cinemas, $8000 per cinema)
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya went for 23 mln.
The movie went for 21,74 mln.     (2654 cinemas, 8193 per cinema)
Ray Subers from BoxOfficeMojo went for 19,7 mln.
BoxOffice staff went for 17,5 mln.
C.S. Strowbridge from The Numbers went for 17 mln.
Bill Bonfanti from FilmGo went for 16,5 mln.
Movie Critic Assasins from BreitBart went for 15,2 mln.
Laremy Legel from RopeOfSilicon went for 15 mln.
Damon Houx from ScreenCrave went for 14 mln.
Perri Nemiroff from Shockya went for 23 mln.
Donald Shanahan from Examiner went for 10 mln .
I had no numbers from BoxOfficeGuru, HSX.