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Nicole Sperling on Box Office Misses:
On paper, they were destined to be mega-hits. "The Tourist," "How Do You Know" and "Gulliver's Travels" should have heated up the box office during the cold and snowy final weeks of the year, drawing audiences to the multiplex with the promise of A-list stars, romance and, in one case, family-friendly comedy.

Instead, all three films — each of which cost $100 million or more to produce — underperformed or downright flopped with critics and U.S. moviegoers, squelching holiday cheer at two of the major Hollywood studios as smaller-budget projects such as "True Grit" and "Black Swan" enjoyed sold-out Christmas-week runs.

The lesson for moviemakers?
People don't want to see bad movies they've already seen a million times?  People actually respond to positive recommendations, and maybe the movie review biz should actually try and push interesting movies?  The movie industry should try to make interesting movies?
These days, there's no such thing as a sure thing.
Oh.
"In all three cases, the films skew to the classic model for a financially successful movie: well-known names, large budgets, prime release dates. What really happened in each case is the movie missed the mark," said Bruce Nash, president of Nash Information Services, a movie financial tracking and research company. "In all three cases, it was a quality problem."

"Just because you've got a lot of people available doesn't mean you can put anything in front of them and they'll go," said veteran marketing executive Terry Press. "People have acted like Christmas is the promised land, and it can be, but the movies still have to deliver because audiences can always stay home and play with their new gadgets."
Hahaha.

Date: 2011-01-07 03:03 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cucumberseed.livejournal.com
So. Close. And. Yet.

Date: 2011-01-07 03:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cafenowhere.livejournal.com
Interesting that True Grit's "smaller budget" was still $38 million. "Black Swan" was indeed more modest, maybe $16 mil, tops. I just can't comprehend those figures.

Date: 2011-01-07 03:36 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] intertribal.livejournal.com
Good point. I can't comprehend how a movie about the old West and a movie about ballet are so much less expensive than a generic romantic comedy. Does it all come down to how much the headliners are being paid?

Date: 2011-01-07 05:24 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cafenowhere.livejournal.com
Maybe. Kind of disgusting when one considers the genre flicks had to worry about props, costumes, animals, and trainers, whereas the generic romantic comedies could be filmed in a mall. I wonder if the actors have marketing clauses in their contracts, that demand a specific amount of moolah be spent on prime-time/high-impact advertising to ensure their projects don't get thrown under the bus...?

Date: 2011-01-07 03:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nihilistic-kid.livejournal.com
Gulliver's Travels opened on Christmas Day, which is the day two kinds of movies open:

a. Oscar potentials, who need to squeeze in some screening dates before the end of the year.

b. The worst movies of the year. Christmas is the busiest movie day, and when a film opens on Christmas even the studio knows that word-of-mouth after the first day will be terrible. The closer a film opens to Christmas, the less confident a studio is about it. They're just hoping to make a bag of money before the film's own quality kills its box office.

Date: 2011-01-07 03:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] intertribal.livejournal.com
Interesting. There didn't seem to be any advertising for Gulliver's Travels either.

Date: 2011-01-07 03:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nihilistic-kid.livejournal.com
I saw a bunch, but I watch pro wrestling.

Date: 2011-01-07 03:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] intertribal.livejournal.com
They sure weren't on the Food Network!

Date: 2011-01-08 12:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] talea-st-amour.livejournal.com
I get very tired of the lack of quality movies coming out. We seldom go to the movies any more and get most of our entertainment via DVD on things we want to watch that don't make it to our theater. We've been waiting for "The King's Speech" since we heard about it and still a no show at our theaters. Another one we'll probably wait for on DVD at the library or netflix.

I liken the movie industry to the Colosseum in that they are both entertaining the masses to keep them distracted or occupied. I wonder if the movies flop are the masses getting restless, or more savvy?

Date: 2011-02-22 08:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] yamamanama.livejournal.com
I'd only see The Tourist if it was based on the Paul Park story.

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