Memorial Weekend Thread: 4-Day Actuals - Aladdin $116.81M | John Wick 3 $30.97M | Avengers Endgame $22.06M | Pokemon DP $17.25M

[Maximum Avery]

21 minutes ago, baumer said:

 

I'm probably not going to be able to convey this properly over voice to text but the remakes and other film properties that are already known, are basically the only movies that really make money for Hollywood right now. I had a discussion about this with a somewhat well-known producer about a year ago and he explained that in order to get a film made and to get a decent sized budget into almost guaranteed in audience is going to show up you almost have to make remakes or sequels and so on. I know there's always exceptions to the rule but generally speaking it's a difficult position that Hollywood is in right now.

I cant even try to explain how i feel for the last 2 decades but i learned 1 important thing needed for a happy survival.. lowering of the bar

 

TTVOMJ

[Menor the Destroyer]

5 minutes ago, MovieMan89 said:

There are almost no relevant comps for Aladdin in terms of well received family aimed MD openers. Kung Fu Panda 2 I guess? Though it did open on Thursday, but its Thursday gross was very small. If we assume a 3m or so higher OD if KFP2 had opened on Friday, Aladdin could creep near 100 3 day with similar weekend holds.  

Thing is KFP2 is much more a pure family film than Aladdin, which hits a broader audience. I would expect a weaker bump than that, but stronger than the last couple of years Memorial Day openers at least.

[cannastop]

26 minutes ago, baumer said:

 

I'm probably not going to be able to convey this properly over voice to text but the remakes and other film properties that are already known, are basically the only movies that really make money for Hollywood right now. I had a discussion about this with a somewhat well-known producer about a year ago and he explained that in order to get a film made and to get a decent sized budget into almost guaranteed in audience is going to show up you almost have to make remakes or sequels and so on. I know there's always exceptions to the rule but generally speaking it's a difficult position that Hollywood is in right now.

So I wonder why animated movies that aren't based on properties or sequels get made.

 

Captive family audiences?

[Jake Gittes]

7 minutes ago, MovieMan89 said:

There are almost no relevant comps for Aladdin in terms of well received family aimed MD openers. Kung Fu Panda 2 I guess? Though it did open on Thursday, but its Thursday gross was very small. If we assume a 3m or so higher OD if KFP2 had opened on Friday, Aladdin could creep near 100 3 day with similar weekend holds.  

Night at the Museum 2 was the biggest PG-rated memorial day opener until now.

[BoxOfficeZ]

10 minutes ago, Jake Gittes said:

Hollywood put itself into that corner. Nothing actually stops them from creating, promoting and encouraging the audience to be interested in something original and exciting, except for their own fear of not making as much money doing that. 

Well, capitalism means film companies want to chase stuff that'll give them guaranteed profits (they might go risky if they're sure a big name like Nolan would guarantee some success). So that means for now remakes and sequels are king. It's easy brand awareness and avoids the risk of having to build up a new movie background. 

 

[cannastop]

2 minutes ago, Menor said:

Thing is KFP2 is much more a pure family film than Aladdin, which hits a broader audience. I would expect a weaker bump than that, but stronger than the last couple of years Memorial Day openers at least.

Nah. KFP2 is four quadrant too. It's just that the Hangover sequel took all the adult audience.

[Valonqar]

Aladdin overall number is great but that PTA ain't impressive. I hope it improves today. There's some connection between PTA and legs from what I've seen.

[cannastop]

Is Christopher Nolan the only director who can make a movie with a $100m budget and a original screenplay?

[filmlover]

It only feels like remakes/franchises have completely taken over because other genres have simply dried up to balance it out. For example, R-rated comedies were considered by Hollywood to be a goldmine for a period of time after surprise successes like The Hangover and Bridesmaids and look where they are today. 

[cdsacken]

17 minutes ago, ScoobyDoo21 said:

What i am glad is that Aladdin isn't putting a bullet through Pikachu's legs like i worried it might.

Saturday's jump is gonna be small just a heads up

[Krissykins]

Dumbo up over 1,000% from Thursday

 

 

Avengers also had the second highest increase. Hmm. 

 

Maybe the split the “double features” between both. 

[Jake Gittes]

8 minutes ago, BoxOfficeZ said:

Well, capitalism means film companies want to chase stuff that'll give them guaranteed profits (they might go risky if they're sure a big name like Nolan would guarantee some success). So that means for now remakes and sequels are king. It's easy brand awareness and avoids the risk of having to build up a new movie background. 

 

Naturally. Doesn't make it any less exasperating. (It's almost as if capitalism sucks.)

[MovieMan89]

13 minutes ago, Menor said:

Thing is KFP2 is much more a pure family film than Aladdin, which hits a broader audience. I would expect a weaker bump than that, but stronger than the last couple of years Memorial Day openers at least.

Maybe, though I'd argue Aladdin is getting stronger audience reception than KFP2 got. Think WOM is gonna do wonders for it. 

[TalismanRing]

12 minutes ago, TServo2049 said:

With how much movies cost to make these days, it’s also a fear of losing money.

That and the cost of marketing movies is usually more than making them unless it's a $175m+ tent pole.

 

Marketing more than budget is what really hurt the mid budget original movie.   That and the collapse of the home video market though now streaming is filming the void.

 

Even with low cost movies like $6m Brightburn.  Marketing for a small budget wide release horror just in the U.S. averages $30-35m

 

This is part of the reason why Netflix can outbid a studio for indies.  It doesn't have to factor in a sizeable Marketing budget (often a guaranteed minimum spend) - unless it goes crazy like with Roma pushing it for Awards consideration - where it wound up spending 2-3 times what it cost to film.

[cdsacken]

1 minute ago, Krissykins said:

Dumbo up over 1,000% from Thursday

 

 

Avengers also had the second highest increase. Hmm. 

 

Maybe the split the “double features” between both. 

Probably. End Game on its own is going to have a very nice jump. Probably equaling IW Saturday. Dumbo is having it's last fudge before plummeting. What a sad failure

 

[sfran43]

WIDE (1000+)

#	TITLE	WEEKEND		LOCATIONS		AVG.	TOTAL	WKS.	DIST.
1	Aladdin	$84,000,000	—	4,476	—	$18,767	$84,000,000	1	Disney
2	John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum	$23,600,000	-58%	3,850	0	$6,130	$100,238,941	2	Lionsgate
3	Avengers: Endgame	$17,200,000	-43%	3,810	-410	$4,514	$798,531,736	5	Disney
4	POKÉMON Detective Pikachu	$13,000,000	-48%	3,824	-424	$3,400	$115,822,622	3	Warner Bros.
5	Booksmart	$7,400,000	—	2,505	—	$2,954	$7,400,000	1	United Artists Releasing
6	Brightburn	$6,800,000	—	2,607	—	$2,608	$6,800,000	1	Sony Pictures
7	A Dog’s Journey	$4,200,000	-48%	3,279	12	$1,281	$15,030,535	2	Universal Pictures
8	The Hustle	$3,800,000	-38%	2,377	-700	$1,599	$29,824,969	3	United Artists Releasing
9	The Intruder	$2,300,000	-43%	1,612	-619	$1,427	$31,965,541	4	Sony / Screen Gems
10	Long Shot	$1,600,000	-52%	1,354	-756	$1,182	$28,728,097	4	Lionsgate
11	The Sun Is Also A Star	$745,000	-70%	2,073	0	$359	$4,231,824	2	Warner Bros.
12	UglyDolls	$560,000	-69%	1,090	-940	$514	$18,780,142	4	STX Entertainment

LIMITED (100 — 999)

#	TITLE	WEEKEND		LOCATIONS		AVG.	TOTAL	WKS.	DIST.
1	Dumbo	$1,100,000	256%	346	-69	$3,179	$112,755,413	9	Walt Disney Pictures
2	Poms	$670,000	-69%	911	-1839	$735	$12,383,111	3	STX Entertainment
3	Breakthrough	$440,000	-59%	551	-824	$799	$39,908,247	6	20th Century Fox
4	The Curse of La Llorona	$420,000	-53%	359	-292	$1,170	$53,769,225	6	Warner Bros. / New Line
5	Captain Marvel	$380,000	-48%	300	-426	$1,267	$425,802,352	12	Disney
6	Shazam!	$285,000	-57%	283	-253	$1,007	$138,520,556	8	Warner Bros.
7	Tolkien	$162,000	-78%	189	-1312	$857	$4,354,650	3	Fox Searchlight
8	Little (2019)	$155,000	-45%	183	-131	$847	$40,461,710	7	Universal Pictures
9	How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World	$110,000	-30%	157	-20	$701	$160,516,630	17	Universal / DreamWorks Animation
10	India’s Most Wanted	$100,000	—	110	—	$909	$100,000	1	FIP
11	Pet Sematary	$87,000	-50%	133	-93	$654	$54,683,905	8	Paramount Pictures

 

Top 10 (4-Day Estimates)

1. Aladdin ($104 million)
2. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum($29.8 million)
3. Avengers: Endgame ($22.2 million)
4. Detective Pikachu ($17.1 million)
5. Booksmart ($9.0 million)
6. Brightburn ($8.0 million)
7. A Dog’s Journey ($5.8 million)
8. The Hustle ($4.9 million)
9. The Intruder ($3.0 million)
10. Long Shot ($2.1 million)

[cdsacken]

1 minute ago, TalismanRing said:

That and the cost of marketing movies is usually more than making them unless it's a $175m+ tent pole.

 

Marketing more than budget is what really hurt the mid budget original movie.   That and the collapse of the home video market though now streaming is filming the void.

 

Even with low cost movies like $6m Brightburn.  Marketing for a small budget wide release horror just in the U.S. averages $30-35m

 

This is part of the reason why Netflix can outbid a studio for indies.  It doesn't have to factor in a sizeable Marketing budget (often a guaranteed minimum spend) - unless it goes crazy like with Roma pushing it for Awards consideration - where it wound up spending 2-3 times what it cost to film.

Netflix also gives no backend deal.

[MovieMan89]

When's the last time we've even seen a big MD opener with truly good audience reception? Days of Future Past I guess, except it doesn't really count because that franchise is frontloaded no matter what. 

Edited May 25, 2019 by MovieMan89

[TalismanRing]

2 minutes ago, Krissykins said:

Dumbo up over 1,000% from Thursday

 

 

Avengers also had the second highest increase. Hmm. 

 

Maybe the split the “double features” between both. 

AEG increase is the same as AIW increase and comparable to every Marvel movie for MD w/e

 

If AEG benefited from double features the w/e drop would be 10-20% rather than near 40%

 

Dumbo - yeah that's getting double features.  That's a no brainer.

[Alli]

2 minutes ago, TalismanRing said:

That and the cost of marketing movies is usually more than making them unless it's a $175m+ tent pole.

 

Marketing more than budget is what really hurt the mid budget original movie.   That and the collapse of the home video market though now streaming is filming the void.

 

Even with low cost movies like $6m Brightburn.  Marketing for a small budget wide release horror just in the U.S. averages $30-35m

 

This is part of the reason why Netflix can outbid a studio for indies.  It doesn't have to factor in a sizeable Marketing budget (often a guaranteed minimum spend) - unless it goes crazy like with Roma pushing it for Awards consideration - where it wound up spending 2-3 times what it cost to film.

why is marketing still so expensive? nobody watches TV anymore. everybody is on the internet where marketing shouldn't be expensive