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lilmac

What boxoffice runs are unbelievable in retrospect?

By lilmac, in Classic Box Office Runs

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Melvin Frohike Sleeper Hit

Melvin Frohike

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in retrospect you get why Frozen did so well. It's a fairy tale Disney film using a time tested formula.

But not all of these movies even meet their baseline expectations at the box office, much less explode like this, and there were some key ways in which Frozen pointedly deviated from the "formula" as well. I knew the movie was going to be huge when I first saw it, based on certain aspects of the movie itself as well as the audience reaction, although even I didn't predict it would become this huge. So while I agree with you that we can see why now, it's not for the reason you gave.

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BadAtGender Global Phenomenon

BadAtGender

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After listening to Scriptnotes, I realized that Ghost made 217M domestic and 505M Worldwide, in 1990, for an adult oriented supernatural romance. That is 427M Domestic and 900M+ Worldwide.

 

I don't think you can inflation adjust the WW numbers like that. Too many variables. But it was an amazing performance regardless.

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Rudolf Box Office Gold

Rudolf

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It's only one venue, so not real a "run", but "Pretty Woman" was playing for more than a year at my cinema and is still the most successful movie there, in front of stuff like Titanic or Avatar!

Of course a holy country like Tyrol is interested in a hooker.

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TServo2049 Box Office Gold

TServo2049

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Zyzzyx Road was a contractually-obligated theatrical release. The SAG rules for low-budget, non-straight-to-video films required that the movie had to have a U.S. theatrical release, so to fulfill the contractual obligation they put it in one theater for one week. I think the same thing happened with that Jennifer Love Hewitt movie Trojan War, WB put it in one theater in Los Angeles for one week because going straight to video would have been a breach of contract.

I don't know if this stuff still applies for theatrical/VOD stuff (this may actually be why straight-to-VOD films get a token theatrical run, sometimes also just a week).

I almost don't count those films as theatrical releases at all. A Troll in Central Park made only $71,000 in theaters, but it was only released in a few theaters in a few markets for a week or two, with no advertising. If a film is buried like that, it's not "unbelievable" for it to make almost nothing.

Edited by TServo2049
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Infernus Box Office Gold

Infernus

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I am surprised nobody thought of this before but - "Snow White" !! I mean the movie was reallu believed to be "Disney's Folly' before its release what with it having an enormous budget of 1.5 mln$. And in 1937, when there were much lesser theaters and when this was the first full length animated feature of all time, it grossed 643 m$ adjusted!!! Then, 80m in 1983, 98m in 1987 and 83m in 1993 for a total adjusted gross of 904 m $ !! The movie is still the 10th highest grossing Dom on adjusting for inflation.

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Infernus Box Office Gold

Infernus

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Also, what about SW? I mean of all the runs i have closely read about Titanic's seems to be like the most unbelievable and extraordinary one. The more I look at its grosses - Dom, Os, Weekends, weeklies, dailies or its legs or the buzz that surrounded it or the way it took the world by storm, the more amazed I get. And yet its pretty much clear that Star Wars' run must have been even more unbelievably unbelievable, extraordinarily extraordinary and amazingly amazing. Its possibly the most culturally significant piece of entertainment media of the entire 20th century and definitely the most culturally significant and impactful film of all time.

And to think that yet, released ~40 years before this and thus facing all the hardships I previously mentioned, Gone with the Wind is still almost a full unadjusted Shrek 2 ahead of even it (based on only their initial earnings) .... !!! ..........

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Infernus Box Office Gold

Infernus

Posted
Posted

Also, what about SW? I mean of all the runs i have closely read about Titanic's seems to be like the most unbelievable and extraordinary one. The more I look at its grosses - Dom, Os, Weekends, weeklies, dailies or its legs or the buzz that surrounded it or the way it took the world by storm, the more amazed I get. And yet its pretty much clear that Star Wars' run must have been even more unbelievably unbelievable, extraordinarily extraordinary and amazingly amazing. Its possibly the most culturally significant piece of entertainment media of the entire 20th century and definitely the most culturally significant and impactful film of all time.

And to think that yet, released ~40 years before this and thus facing all the hardships I previously mentioned, Gone with the Wind is still almost a full unadjusted Shrek 2 ahead of even it (based on only their initial earnings) .... !!! ..........

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