Weekend Estimates (Page 28): Magnificent 7 35M | Storks 21.8M | Sully 13.8M | Bridget Jones 4.5M

[CoolioD1]

1 minute ago, Jayhawk said:

Flight was completely sold on Denzel. As are the vast majority of his movies. Just because they generally aren't in the top 10/15 of the year doesn't mean they aren't major successes for the studios. Why else would he consistently get $20m paychecks?

 

Doesn't mean anything. Look at sully. People fucking love watching planes land.

[TalismanRing]

3 minutes ago, grim22 said:

This has to be my favorite bit of news this weekend. So many scriptwriters in Hollywood struggle to get even one of their ideas on the screen, and a 4-year old gets a 125M budgeted movie greenlit

 

 

That explains a lot about the movie for sure.

 

 

Sure, blame it on the 4 year old who probably would have made a better movie without studio interference. 

[RandomCat]

I enjoyed Mag 7 a lot. Though spent most my time trying to compare the 7 to their counterparts in Seven Samurai, and in essence trying to figure out who would die. I was mostly correct.

[Jonwo]

4 minutes ago, grim22 said:

This has to be my favorite bit of news this weekend. So many scriptwriters in Hollywood struggle to get even one of their ideas on the screen, and a 4-year old gets a 125M budgeted movie greenlit

 

 

That explains a lot about the movie for sure.

 

I imagine they saw how successfull Transformers was and thought what they could with other automobiles and came up with Monster Trucks. 

[Goffe]

13 minutes ago, TalismanRing said:

How did Sully prove that Washington wasn't a draw?  Because a feel good PG-13 drama of a recent known figure and event made more than a downer R Rated Flight  that opened to almost $25m in just under 1900 theaters? 

2

oh yes, because the youngsters were DYING to see both films. Sully was sold as the carbon copy of Flight, so the nature (downer Flight and feel good Sully) of both films don't come into play. And Flight actually had the advantage of being the first of the two. Plus 1900 theaters is still a wide release, I would give you that point had it done something like 30m on opening weekend.

Edited September 23, 2016 by Goffe

[Fancyarcher]

26 minutes ago, Goffe said:

What was the last time Washington starred in a difficult to sell film? 

 

He's good at selecting people and projects he's going to work with, but that's it. He's not a draw, I thought Sully had proved that. 

 

There aren't such things as draws anymore.

 

Somewhat likable actor doing what he's known for, paired with a fresh concept and talented people is a winning combo, but that shouldn't be confused with anything else, really.
 

 

I agree there are no more draws, but Washington's started becoming a draw in the mid 90's, so he's a from different era of drawing power altogether, when actors not concept still mattered.

[trifle]

6 minutes ago, Goffe said:

oh yes, because the youngsters were DYING to see both films. Sully was sold as the carbon copy of Flight.....

 

 

That's not the marketing I remember.  It was sold on 'the story behind the Story On The Hudson', and also on Tom Hanks. 

 

Last year Tom Hanks was number one on the Harris poll of 'favorite celebrities' (where you have to come up with your own name).  The year before, Denzell was (and he may have been number 2 last year.)  I'd argue they were both draws, and Sully was a more attractive story.  I sure wasn't moved to see Flight.

Edited September 23, 2016 by trifle

[WrathOfHan]

23 minutes ago, Nutella of Arabia said:

 

Yeah, Denzel was able to open FLIGHT to a 20m+ OW. He's not enormous overseas, but he's definitely reliable and can open a movie here in the States. SULLY opened bigger because it's based on a best-selling book and a very high-profile incident that everyone knows about. (And of course you could argue that Eastwood is a way bigger name than Zemeckis.)

Plus it had a much bigger TC

[Jonwo]

Flight was a much more difficult sell even with Denzel at the helm and I think a lot of people weren't sure if Zemeckis could pull off his first live action film in over a decade. 

 

 

[Dementeleus]

5 minutes ago, Goffe said:

...Sully was sold as the carbon copy of Flight

 

What? SULLY was sold on the event itself. "The Miracle on the Hudson". Yes, they hinted at the "true story behind the story", but that's not what generated specific buzz. I mean, for better or worse it was one of the most iconic famous news moments in the last 10 years -- at least here in the US. There's a big difference between a 100% fictional story and one that's based on a famous recent incident.

 

FWIW, FLIGHT actually had a better PTA average than SULLY, without the benefit of IMAX.

[grim22]

9 minutes ago, Goffe said:

Sully was sold as the carbon copy of Flight,

 

 

Sully was sold on the real life event and featured the story of one of the most well liked real life personalities in the US currently. The marketing pretty clearly sold it as the story of the miracle on the hudson.

[MrPink]

Not sure if this is a lack of understanding by not being in the US, but Sully is absolutely sold on the real life story.

 

Looking at opening weekends, the movies that I could spot that opened in the same vicinity as Flight's theater count (or less) and actually grossed more than Flight OW was The Blair Witch Project, Borat, Hannah Montana, and a couple movies like Think Like a Man and No Good Deed. I'm sure there's others, but the point is, it's pretty rare for a movie to open under 2000 theaters and make over 20 million, let alone near 25 million.

 

 

Edited September 23, 2016 by MrPink

[Maxmoser3]

Next year at this point it should be interesting to see how well The Equalizer 2 does. 

[cannastop]

It's been a while since something really entertaining happened here.

 

I hope that Storks still beats Mag7. We have to have some drama, no?

[YM!]

1 hour ago, grim22 said:

 

No good comps unfortunately. None of the September animated movies had previews. Lego had 400k but that was only 10pm onwards. Spongebob had 560k in February, but by and large not too many preview comps for non-summer animated openings.

Croods did $265K.

[James]

I'm wondering it Storks could win the weekend. I'd love to see the meltdowns.

[Jonwo]

1 minute ago, James said:

I'm wondering it Storks could win the weekend. I'd love to see the meltdowns.

 

It wouldn't be the first time an animated film beat a big live action film e.g BH6 and Interstellar, Madagascar 3 and Prometheus, 

[cannastop]

3 minutes ago, James said:

I'm wondering it Storks could win the weekend. I'd love to see the meltdowns.

Exactly what I was thinking. It's a bit doubtful at this point, which would make an upset that much more sweet.

[Maxmoser3]

Not bad for an original family movie, I hope it makes north of $30 million and makes $100 million domestic. 

[MrPink]

7 minutes ago, Jonwo said:

 

It wouldn't be the first time an animated film beat a big live action film e.g BH6 and Interstellar, Madagascar 3 and Prometheus,