Posts Tagged ‘The Dark Knight’
January 3, 2010 - 2:00 pm
By Jay A. Fernandez
OK, so “Avatar” is fiercely clawing its way up the box-office charts. It burst into the top ten grossers of the decade Sunday, and seems poised to push well into the all-time list within the week, when it passes “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” at $380.3 million.
But given how long it took to reach the decade list at $341.8 million – 17 days – can we predict just how high it will go?
Cameron’s “Titanic,” which opened December 19, 1997, took almost eight weeks to cume $341.8 million in mid-February 1998. Granted, “Titanic” ran for three hours and 14 minutes, which minimized the number of shows theaters could jam in each day. Tickets were also cheaper then, of course, but the film’s tragic romance beckoned repeat viewings unlike any film had before.
More comparably, “The Dark Knight” – the No. 2 all-time grosser – opened July 18, 2008 and crossed $341.8 million on its 13th day, July 30. On Day 13, “Avatar” was still at $268.9 million. It took Cameron’s film another four days to cross the $341.8 million benchmark. “Avatar” is only 10 minutes longer, so running time won’t make a difference, and both films – for different reasons – encourage repeat viewings.
The No. 4 all-time grosser, “Shrek 2,” also got there in less than three weeks in the summer of 2004. So did “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (#7) in 2006, and “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (#9) got there on its 20th day, July 13, 2009.
“Spider-Man” (#8) took more than three weeks. “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” (#5) took almost a year in 1982-83, and the original “Star Wars” (#3) required two re-releases to get there. “The Phantom Menace” (#6) took almost five weeks in 1999 and “Revenge of the Sith” (#10) almost four weeks in 2005.
Had Imax 3D theaters been more widespread these last three weeks, “Avatar” undoubtedly would have gotten there faster – Cameron’s film grossed just $2 million less in its second weekend than in its first, indicating that demand was constant. With its additional word-of-mouth appraisals (e.g. “you have to go see it”), “Avatar” is likely to continue a fairly lengthy climb with less-than-typical drop-off each week.
My prediction? Top five of all time, easy. With a nice nest prepared for it at No. 4, just under its inspirational ancestor, “Star Wars.”
August 18, 2008 - 1:11 am
By Steven Zeitchik
Now that “The Dark Knight” has finally been knocked off its month-long perch, assuring that it will merely share the title of most durable summer hit with “Saving Private Ryan,” it’s back to business-as-usual for August movies — here one week, next week the way of the Chinese track team. Tropic Thunder (aka the movie that rode pseudo-offensiveness to real box office), scored $26m and pushed “Knight” down to a $17 million opening. Even in these soft late August days, it’s going to be hard for the rubberized one to rebound.
Even assuming Knight can maintain or slightly grow its numbers in the coming weeks, the schedule won’t be forgiving. Next week sees Knight squeezed from both the action side with Paul W.S. Anderson-Jason Statham chase-core remake “Death Race.” (Universal moved it up from September, and look for a big weekend; Anderson’s last three pics averaged $28m openings.) And Knight will feel heat on the comedy side, where Peter Cattaneo’s mid-budget “The Rocker” should take a bite out of Knight’s male repeat viewers.
The following week it doesn’t get easier, as Lionsgate goes wide with “Disaster Movie.” Arguably the only film that has ever spoofed monster movies and a former vice president (its tagline: “Al Gore was right”) at the same time, the movie comes in with a surprisingly strong commercial pedigree: writer-director team Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer have opened their two previous helming-scribbling collaborations at #1.
Of course there’s no need to send condolences to Warners or Chris Nolan. It’s been a good ride for Knight, and not just for the usual reasons. The Batman pic showed endurance in a summer so without legs it was practically a dwarf. Exhibit A on this point came this weekend, when all returning movies that had been out less than a month –four in total — dropped by at least 40%. On the comparable weekend last year, only one in five did that.
But there are limits even to Knight’s power to carry over. To wit: Given how much intrigue has surrounded Heath Ledger, you’d think distributors would be salivating over his final pic, Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus,” the way NBC has drooled over Michael Phelps. But conversation with sources indicate the movie (whose footage has yet to be seen by buyers) could have a tough go in completing a desirable domestic sale.
On the one hand, after all, it’s a chance for buyers to pick up an indie that will allow them to market not only Ledger but Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law, who of course stepped in to play Ledger’s role. But on the other hand, you have the surrealness of Terry Gilliam — the movie is, indeed, about parallel worlds, immortal doctors and traveling theater troupes — and, well, Gilliam. His last three directorial efforts averaged $16 million in total domestic box office.
And you may not exactly be picking up the movie at an indie price either: The budget for “Parnassus” is said to be north of $20 million, which means financier Grosvenor Park and producer Sammy Hadida would possibly be looking for a tidy low-mid eight figures. Perhaps that’s why one buyer said that ”in this market, unless I have a reason to think a movie like this is going to be a slam dunk I’m not going to take a flyer on it, even with Heath Ledger.”
But look for Lionsgate to make a play for domestic rights to the film. The minimajor already has international on the pic, so a U.S. buy could offer some welcome synergies on this marketing puzzle. And if Gilliam’s effort is really that kooky, Lionsgate could feature some of the scarier elements in “Disaster Movie 2.”
August 11, 2008 - 12:49 am
By Steven Zeitchik
With “The Dark Knight” winning its fourth straight weekend and climbing the all-time box office charts– this weekend’s performance puts it at number seven with $442 million — the talk continues about whether it can reach the $600 million of all-time record-holder “Titanic.” It probably won’t — you need teen heartthrobs and (repeat-viewing) teenage girls to land that prize.
But here’s a record that is within its reach: most consecutive weeks at the top spot for a summer movie.
In the modern era of the one-and done summer pic (which we’ll say roughly began with “Independence Day” in the mid-’90’s), no movie has stayed on top for longer than four weeks. But with a win next week, “Dark Knight” would usurp the reigning record-holder, “Saving Private Ryan,” which ruled the box office for four straight weeks when it came out a decade ago. (Incidentally, there are a lot of three-week-champions — “Pirates 2,” “Shrek 2,” the first two Mission: Impossible movies, the Star Wars reboots” — and a few monthlongers from the holidays, but no others equaling the feat from the summer crowd.)
Both the “Titanic” and “Ryan” records are notable, but for very different reasons.
“Titanic” represents sheer G-force, a movie’s ability to push out on to the public consciousness and dominate. That movie, after all, earned the bulk of its $600 million over the course of four months, but they were the four mostly uncluttered months of winter and early spring. What “Ryan” — and now “Knight” — have done is to keep an audience at a time when you’re not supposed to do that. Despite the fact that there’s something different being thrown at moviegoers each weekend, these pictures can outmaneuver them.
Put another way, “Titanic” may have captured more ticket-buyers. But by winning moviegoers over in a time of other summer blitzes, “Ryan,” and “Knight” have captured more attention spans.
Next week will tell the tale of whether “Knight” can succeed in its Michael Phelps-like bid for summer stamina. (Our prediction: “Tropic Thunder” finally takes it down.)
If “Knight” fails in its drive for five, it will rep some poetic justice, and prove that the box-office gods do gave a black sense of humor. When “Saving Private Ryan” was knocked off the top spot after four weeks in 1998, it was by the vampire-action movie “Blade,” which was written by…”Dark Knight” scribe David Goyer.
July 21, 2008 - 12:52 am
By Steven Zeitchik
If you told someone who was directing a microscopic indie feature — only on weekends, no less — than in less than a decade he’d helm the movie with the biggest opening in Hollywood history, he’d either laugh at you or smack you, depending on his disposition.
We don’t know if anyone made that prediction to Chris Nolan back in the late 90’s when he was making “Following,” his debut that fractured time and aimed to disorient much in the manner of his sophomore release, the backward-moving “Memento.” But there was at least one person who would not have been surprised: Chris Nolan.
As Bob Berney, who worked with the director on “Memento,” told us for a piece in today’s THR about Nolan, the helmer had his sights on big studio pics even back in his ultra-indie days. “He exuded self-assurance and confidence that he’d be where he is today,” Berney says. “He wanted to be doing movies like ‘Batman.’ “
What’s most amazing is that, like Paul Greengrass and Martin Scorese, Nolan has managed to make the transition to studio movies on his own terms.
In fact, judging by the word-of-mouth, “The Dark Knight” succeeded because of, not despite, his ambition and authorship. “He’s not a product of Hollywod, and I think that makes him a better studio director,” said Andrew Kosove of Alcon Entertainment, who produced Nolan’s “Insomnia” back in 2002.
Strange times in Hollywood — non-Hollywood directors woking on indie movies struggle to get them small theatrical deals out of Sundance. Non-Hollywood directors working in Hollywood have $150 million opening weekends.
July 20, 2008 - 11:56 pm
By Steven Zeitchik
And when it was all over, the numbers matched the hype, which sent the hype up even further. Final totals: $155.3 for the weekend, with Saturday repping a 29% drop over Friday and Sunday clocking in at 18% less than Saturday.
Besides the records that have been poured on us endlessly — biggest one-day gross in history, biggest three-day non-holiday, etc. — are some other interesting demographic footnotes, as Carl DiOrio outlines in his Monday box-office story. One of the most telling: the number of people over 25 who saw the film this weekend is split almost exactly 50-50 with those under 25, a striking rarity in the stratified world of big studio pictures.
Even more improbably, women made up 48% of the audience — a function no doubt of the Heath intrigue, but still amazing when you consider the usual skew in superhero pics. Will the upcoming Comic-Con feature as many plays to women as men?
Okay, so we wouldn’t count on that necessarily, but what will be interesting to see in the wake of these numbers is how studios might get aggressive in areas they’d previously been more passive. Obviously the 30 minutes of Imax footage helped tremendously, both in word of mouth and ensuring that people absolutely needed to book tickets in advance. Will Imax production increase? Also possibly on the agenda — established characters and brands getting the moody and complex treatment.
Now, we’re not expecting the long dark midnight of the soul to be explored in, say, a “He-Man” adaptation. But don’t be surprised if longer movies with auteurish directors start becoming even more common to comic-book tentpoles. The morning meetings, they will buzz.
July 19, 2008 - 1:06 am
By Steven Zeitchik
Friday’s numbers are still not official and probably won’t be until Warners issues a release Saturday, but a number of reports (like this one from Steve Mason, via Jeffrey Wells) have the first-day totals clocking in at a superheroic $66 million ($48m if you exclude the midnight screenings).
The rampant sell-outs will also cause the per-screens to sail off-the-charts, possibly putting them in the $25k-$30k range. And with so much anecdotal evidence that moviegoers long ago booked Saturday and Sunday tix to ensure a seat on opening weekend, don’t expect a big falloff as the weekend continues.
Since everyone else is guessing how many jellybeans are in the jar, we’ll take a stab too and say the movie earns $168-$172 million by the time the weekend’s out, ensuring it trounces the $151 million of previous record-holder “Spider-Man 3.” Step right up and make your own predictions.
July 18, 2008 - 1:53 pm
By Steven Zeitchik
Get ready for the spate of breathless news reports all finding ways to say “really, really, big.” Warners just put out its “Dark Knight” numbers for the midnight Thursday screenings, and it’s a whopping $18.4 million, the highest ever for than slot and of course more than many successful movies earn all weekend. Dan Fellman: “From our earliest screenings, the buzz on the film has been white hot and it hasn’t let up.
Just to rub it in, the studio notes, “That total does not include the grosses from the subsequent 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. showings.”
The news — and, more specifically, the announcement of said news — means that box-office has officially migrated from a Monday story to a Sunday story to a Saturday story to a Friday afternoon story.
And it means that a weekend filled with “gargantuan, colossal, ginormous” and other thesaurus-enabled words is officially upon us.
Us, we’ll just stick to the ‘night’ puns.
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