Weekend Estimates: LS - 38.5M | FZ - 15.1M | WoWS - 9M | Hercules - 8.6M | AH - 8.6M | Her - 5.4M

[baumer]

Here is another thing I realized.

 

No 2D film has out grossed ROTK thus far WW.

 

Except for Titanic.  Unless you mean since ROTK came out.

[MovieMan89]

Well it's not 1998 anymore. 58 days into a run and you're already getting previews for the streaming service and home media releases

 

When Titanic came out people said something couldn't play for 42 weeks like an 80's blockbuster. When Avatar came out people said something couldn't play for 34 weeks like a 90's blockbuster. That's why they're phenoms. They defied all the conditions of their box office climate.

[cory]

Trivia question for all of you.

 

WITHOUT LOOKING IT UP, what was Titanic's highest grossing day, how much did it make, and what day into it's run was it?  The answer is remarkable and perhaps something we will never see again.  

It was under $30m because I looked that up last week. 

 

edit: $30m adjusted

Edited January 11, 2014 by cory

[grim22]

The one thing that kept TITANIC interesting far longer than expected was it kept beating new releases. If FROZEN was beating LS today, that would be interesting.

Lost In Space and IIRC Dear John are answers to the question - movies that broke Titanic and Avatar's weekend number 1 streak.

[baumer]

It was under $30m because I looked that up last week. 

 

edit: $30m adjusted

 

Yea, that's insane.  But even unadjusted it's 13 mill.

[Lordmandeep]

Except for Titanic.  Unless you mean since ROTK came out.

 

 

That is what I meant

[MovieMan89]

It's interesting, looking at ET's original run on BOM, they have it stopping after 52 weekends, despite still having grossed over 1mil on that weekend. I wonder how much more it could have added to its gross if it had been kept in theaters?

[BoxOfficeFangrl]

Before it was released, Titanic was a lot like Avatar with there being a lot of negative press about how it was soooo expensive and would never make its money back, would it just be "Terminator on a ship", also the shoot was kind of a mess (lengthy, Cameron being a demanding director, injured stunt doubles, someone spiked chowder on the set with PCP--yes, for real), and the ultimate box-office what if, the release date was originally supposed to be July 4th weekend but it got pushed back obviously. No one expected it to become a phenomenon, but it was the most talked about movie the year before opening in theaters.

Edited January 11, 2014 by BoxOfficeChica

[cory]

Yea, that's insane.  But even unadjusted it's 13 mill.

A 46x single day multiplier.

We may never see that again.

[BadAtGender]

Oh, man. That Titanic run. I've still never seen the movie, but those numbers are amazing.

[baumer]

Before it was released, Titanic was a lot like Avatar with there being a lot of negative press about how it was soooo expensive and would never make its money back, would it just be "Terminator on a ship", also the shoot was kind of a mess (lengthy, Cameron being a demanding director, injured stunt doubles, someone spiked chowder on the set with PCP--yes, for real), and the ultimate box-office what if, the release date was originally supposed to be July 4th weekend but it got pushed back obviously. No one expected it to become a phenomenon, but it was the most talked about the year before opening in theaters.

 

I don't think the right thing to do is the berate your actors and crew, but when you realize what Cameron put into making Titanic, you can understand why he was on edge when making it.  He was almost like a mad scientist when making the film.  He had details down to the tiniest piece of minutiae.  He had three ships built, an 800 foot ship, 400 and one for the under water shots.  He had the same China as the Titanic and so on.  Then he was responsible for effects that had never been done before.  He had 2000 extras he had to direct.  And on and on and on.  Even when Kate Winslet talks about Cameron on the commentary of the disc, she mentions how much pressure he was under to make this film.  200 million dollars was an obscene amount of money in 2006, when the budget was approved.  And Cameron was in charge of it all.  He sometimes worked 20 hour days, so when he put that much effort into making it, he expected everyone to be as dedicated as he was.

[baumer]

Oh, man. That Titanic run. I've still never seen the movie, but those numbers are amazing.

 

If you want to have a good piece of nostalgia, go back and read Guru's first post about Titanic, up to his last.  It's a trip down memory lane.  Start here.  

 

http://www.boxofficeguru.com/122297.htm

[Chewy]

Oh, man. That Titanic run. I've still never seen the movie, but those numbers are amazing.

 

[BadAtGender]

What I love about Titanic most is the number of times people said a film was guaranteed to beat it.

 

Star Wars Episode 1 was guaranteed to beat it. Came up 170 million short.

 

Harry Potter 1 was guaranteed to beat it. Made a little more than half. (I fondly remember an argument with one guy who was a huge HP fan and insisted that it was unlike any film that had ever been made because of the size of the fanbase.)

 

Spider-Man was guaranteed to beat it. 200 million short.

 

The Dark Knight was guaranteed to beat it. And it was the first film to get within a hundred million.

 

600 million is hard, even with inflation on your side.

[BoxOfficeFangrl]

If you want to have a good piece of nostalgia, go back and read Guru's first post about Titanic, up to his last.  It's a trip down memory lane.  Start here.  

 

http://www.boxofficeguru.com/122297.htm

 

"Paramount's reported $65M investment for domestic distribution rights looks almost certain to pay off as the upcoming holiday weekend activity, strong word-of-mouth, and award consideration should all contribute to a prolonged domestic run that could see Titanic reach $150M."

 

Obviously, who could have known back in 1997 that it was going to make 4x as much, but that's still funny to see in retrospect.

Edited January 11, 2014 by BoxOfficeChica

[druv10]

These were Titanic weekends. 

 

1997

Date (click to view chart)	Rank	Weekend Gross	% Change	Theaters	Change / Avg.		Gross-to-Date	Week #
Dec 19–21	1	$28,638,131	-	2,674	-	$10,710	$28,638,131	1
Dec 26–28	1	$35,455,673	+23.8%	2,711	+37	$13,078	$88,425,009	2

1998

Date (click to view chart)	Rank	Weekend Gross	% Change	Theaters	Change / Avg.		Gross-to-Date	Week #
Jan 2–4	1	$33,315,278	-6.0%	2,727	+16	$12,217	$157,467,971	3
Jan 9–11	1	$28,716,310	-13.8%	2,746	+19	$10,458	$197,881,813	4
Jan 16–18	1	$30,011,034	+4.5%	2,767	+21	$10,846	$236,745,404	5
Jan 16–19	1	$36,014,544	+25.4%	2,767	+21	$13,016	$242,748,914	5
Jan 23–25	1	$25,238,720	-15.9%	2,771	+4	$9,108	$274,599,886	6
Jan 30–Feb 1	1	$25,907,172	+2.6%	2,853	+82	$9,081	$308,100,203	7
Feb 6–8	1	$23,027,838	-11.1%	2,956	+103	$7,790	$337,355,666	8
Feb 13–15	1	$28,167,947	+22.3%	3,002	+46	$9,383	$371,562,244	9
Feb 13–16	1	$32,876,424	+42.8%	3,002	+46	$10,952	$376,270,721	9
Feb 20–22	1	$21,036,343	-25.3%	3,006	+4	$6,998	$402,561,881	10
Feb 27–Mar 1	1	$19,633,056	-6.7%	3,035	+29	$6,469	$426,983,888	11
Mar 6–8	1	$17,605,849	-10.3%	3,103	+68	$5,674	$449,157,395	12
Mar 13–15	1	$17,578,815	-0.2%	3,116	+13	$5,641	$471,446,140	13
Mar 20–22	1	$17,165,239	-2.4%	3,169	+53	$5,417	$494,514,331	14
Mar 27–29	1	$15,213,500	-11.4%	3,233	+64	$4,706	$515,262,530	15
Apr 3–5	2	$11,533,480	-24.2%	3,265	+32	$3,532	$530,406,538	16
Apr 10–12	3	$8,558,241	-25.8%	3,265	-	$2,621	$542,853,691	17
Apr 17–19	4	$7,407,989	-13.4%	3,012	-253	$2,459	$554,067,203	18
Apr 24–26	4	$4,938,575	-33.3%	2,912	-100	$1,696	$560,615,350	19
May 1–3	6	$4,011,888	-18.8%	2,660	-252	$1,508	$565,736,531	20
May 8–10	4	$3,178,573	-20.8%	2,256	-404	$1,409	$569,820,413	21
May 15–17	6	$2,112,302	-33.5%	1,990	-266	$1,061	$572,713,894	22
May 22–24	-	$2,970,044	+40.6%	2,008	+18	$1,479	$576,357,353	23
May 22–25	7	$3,672,703	+73.9%	2,008	+18	$1,829	$577,060,012	23
May 29–31	9	$1,783,579	-39.9%	1,562	-446	$1,142	$579,419,474	24
Jun 5–7	8	$1,648,860	-7.6%	1,219	-343	$1,353	$581,889,889	25
Jun 12–14	10	$1,214,737	-26.3%	975	-244	$1,246	$583,885,184	26
Jun 19–21	13	$1,029,362	-15.3%	810	-165	$1,271	$585,544,027	27
Jun 26–28	14	$922,618	-10.4%	688	-122	$1,341	$587,071,239	28
Jul 3–5	15	$623,930	-32.4%	618	-70	$1,010	$588,205,118	29
Jul 10–12	15	$405,669	-35.0%	463	-155	$876	$588,931,878	30
Jul 17–19	13	$1,337,493	+230%	867	+404	$1,543	$590,489,873	31
Jul 24–26	12	$1,476,279	+10.4%	839	-28	$1,760	$593,234,448	32
Jul 31–Aug 2	15	$1,168,551	-20.8%	769	-70	$1,520	$595,467,018	33
Aug 7–9	16	$965,212	-17.4%	681	-88	$1,417	$597,285,686	34
Aug 14–16	-	$707,918	-26.7%	594	-87	$1,192	$598,614,980	35
Aug 21–23	-	$540,617	-23.6%	570	-24	$948	$599,657,813	36
Aug 28–30	-	$335,704	-37.9%	502	-68	$668	$600,374,192	37
Sep 4–6	-	$70,467	-79.0%	447	-55	$157	$600,541,628	38
Sep 4–7	-	$91,439	-72.8%	447	-55	$204	$600,562,600	38
Sep 11–13	-	$57,308	-18.7%	337	-110	$170	$600,638,309	39
Sep 18–20	-	$14,003	-75.6%	49	-288	$285	$600,674,693	40
Sep 25–27	-	$3,337	-76.2%	26	-23	$128	$600,681,921	41

 

[rockNrollaDIM]

Epic numbers for August and Lone Survivor.

[Plain Old Tele]

Epic numbers for August and Lone Survivor.

 

[Shawn Robbins]

Would love for this community to have existed back in Titanic's day. What a time that would've been.

Edited January 11, 2014 by ShawnMR

[Plain Old Tele]

Would love to have for this community to have existed back in Titanic's time. What a time that would've been.

 

Just think of the animated gifs.....