Box Office Outlook

I always wonder what prompts moviegoers to see one movie over another every weekend. Is it the trailers? Advertising? Franchises? Stars? Word of mouth?

Well, it always seems to be a simple answer in hindsight that’s complex in foresight.

Let’s take The Dark Knight. Take Heath Ledger’s tragic death, add in some superhero hype along with a dash of franchise and lots of advertising and you get one of the biggest hits of the decade.

What about The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, AKA the movie that almost knocked TDK off it’s mantle? Take some franchise recognition and add in trailers and some advertising and you get some success…

…though maybe it didn’t translate to success. Maybe, just maybe everyone who saw TDK already just wanted something else to watch. And considering Swing Vote made a measly 6 million this weekend it’s easy to see The Mummy was the only viable alternative.

The Seth Rogen and James Franco starrer, Pineapple Express, comes out this week and looks to top TDK’s crown at the box office this week. Will it happen? Probably. Do we no for sure? Not until next monday.

What will you watch this weekend? Aug 1st, 2008 Edition

Ahh, Friday… that day of the week where tinseltown unleashes new movies for us to watch. This week’s biggies are Swing Vote and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Now, honestly… The Mummy looks… old and Swing Vote looks… preachy and un-funny… if that’s even a word.

So, which will you watch? The Mummy opens up in 3,759 theatres while Swing Vote opens in 2,213. So, how will you know if they’re actually good? Is it possible the trailers lied and they really aren’t as bad as they look? Well, no… they are. Per Rottentomatoes, The Mummy is at 11% and Swing Vote is at 32%.

Who knows, if you’re feeling nostalgic you may enjoy The Mummy… or enjoy Swing Vote if you’re really into the Presidential Election… or hell, take a chance on Midnight Meat Train (opening in 102 theatres this weekend)!

Forget it, just go watch The Dark Knight again. You know you want to.

Iron now worth $100 million.

Iron Man completely obliterated the competition this weekend and blew past everyone with a weekend gross of $100.7 million. To give some perspective, the number two movie was Made of Honor with a quaint $15.5 million.

Certainly, the mass amounts of advertising and the quality of the movie contributed to it’s absolutely astounding weekend.

There’s been a box office slump recently with most movies not pulling in over $20 million in their opening weekend, but it looks like Iron Man has completely blasted the doors off of the summer blockbuster season with it’s opening numbers.

The next couple weeks bring some more heavy hitters to the table, some being heavier than the others obviously.

Speed Racer: May 09th

Chronicles of Narnia: The Prince Caspian: May 16th

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: May 22nd

Sex and the City: The Movie: May 30th (though don’t be surprised if this movie absolutely fails).

You Don’t Mess with the Zohan/The Love Guru: June 06th (Adam Sandler vs Mike Myers)

The Incredible Hulk: June 13th

Get Smart: June 20th

Wall – E/Wanted: June 27th (Pixar vs Jolie. Pixar will win… easily)

Hancock: July 02 (Will Smith always brings a crowd)

Hellboy II: The Golden Army: July 11th

The Dark Knight: July 18th

Step Brothers: July 25th (Will Ferrell’s next)

Mummy: Tomb of the Emperor: Aug 01st (another one that will probably fail)

Tropic Thunder: Aug 15th

Prom Night? Really?

So, the super teen horror movie Prom Night made 22.7 million this box office… and I’m both not surprised and utterly disappointed.

Disappointed because I’d think we’d eventually get tired of these movies… and not surprised because… well, we didn’t get tired of these kinds of movies.

I mean come on… how many times does a killer have to escape a prison!? Okay, to be fair I haven’t seen the film yet, but it looks bad… and it sounds bad… and… well… I suppose if you need an hour and a half of entertainment it’s perfectly fine.

Okay, on Rottentomatoes.com users rated the movie at 50% while critics gave it 13%

That would make it at least average… if not that then very, very bad. I just don’t think we should reward film makers with an opening weekend gross of 22.7 million if it gets that kind of score… isn’t that fair?

Although who knows, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe there is no way to prevent it. Maybe marketing creates too much hype for movies. Maybe thousands or millions of guys wanted to see Britney Snow run around and scream in a prom dress (perhaps enacting a fantasy they’ve had?).

Whatever.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall comes out next week and it looks like fans of Knocked Up, Super Bad, and 40 Year Old Virgin will enjoy it.

Will Ferrell misses an open shot.

Will Ferrell’s ‘Semi-Pro’ only pulled in 15.2 million this past weekend. It was a weekend full of duds too. Could this be the beginning of a trend?

I say that because I’ve heard increased negative criticism of Ferrell. That he plays the same roles(which he does), and that his characters are too absurd and loud. Blades of Glory, Ferrell’s last movie, raked in 33 million at the box office. Semi-Pro did less than half. I don’t seem to remember anything special about this weekend either.

Maybe it’s the economy? Well… that might be true, but Vantage Point pulled in 22.8 million in it’s opening weekend last weekend.

There’s two possibilities here… and it’s very, very simple. Either people already saw Jumper and Vantage Point and just weren’t interested in Semi-Pro, or people all of a sudden ran out of money cause they all went to see Jumper and Vantage Point.

Now, Ferrell’s movies are hilarious, at least in my view. But, they are getting less appealing.

Anchorman speaks for itself.

I wasn’t excited for Talladega Nights, but enjoyed it in theatres.

I didn’t even see Blades of Glory until December.

I have no plans to see Semi-Pro.. at all.

Are my sentiments shared by the American people, and on a bigger scale, the world? Maybe.

Fact is, Semi-Pro was set up and had an open look to knock down an easy 3. And it failed. There was nothing else to watch, unless you wanted to see The Other Boleyn Girl(drew in 8.2 million).

Are we getting tired of Ferrell? Probably.