Where are they now? "A Christmas Story"

NYDaily News ^ | 12/08/08

[pillut48]

Photo essay updating the actor who played "Ralphie" and the rest of the gang from the beloved Christmas movie. Triple dog dare ya to check it out! :-)

[Darkwolf377]

became an instant holiday classic

Seeing how it bombed at the box office, I don't think it qualifies as an instant holiday classic.

[cherry]

wowzer....that Ralphie grew up to be quite the hunk!

[mwyounce]

Triple dog dare ya to check it out! :-)

Pillut48 created a slight breach of etiquette by skipping the triple dare, and going right for the throat!

[stormer]

? Production budget of $3.25M; opened at #3; second week at #1: US gross at $20M.

[stormer]

And not to mention that Jean Shepherd was one of the funniest writers I’ve ever read.

[Jmouse007]

We just watched it the other night in high def. Very nice restoration. It is narated by the man who wrote the book you can tell most if not all of it were his personal recolections growing up. A lot of people can relate to many things in the movie, it always brings a smile to my face and some wonderful memories of my own. It is a national treasure.

[DieHard the Hunter]

Hey that was great! Thanks for posting!

[Dianna]

The house used in the movie has been restored and is open to the public. It’s in Cleveland, OH. More information can be found at www.achristmasstoryhouse.com

[scripter]

ping

[latina4dubya]

i remember seeing this back in 1983, and i don’t remember it being a bomb at the box office...

[latina4dubya]

we watch it about 3-4 times every Christmas Day... we spend Christmas morning at the Holiday Inn Express... (we leave my mom and dad's house on Christmas Eve, stay the night in the Holiday Inn Express and then head on over to my in-laws' on Christmas Day)... this movie is part of our Holiday Inn Express tradition... then after the celebration at the in-laws' we head back home... and watch it one last time until the following year...

whenever my son comes across the word, "FRAGILE," he pronounces it, "FRAJEELAY." it's funny...

[Darkwolf377]

? Production budget of $3.25M; opened at #3; second week at #1: US gross at $20M.

The info I have is a $4mil budget and US gross of $16 million, but I'll take your numbers.

The theaters take, conservatively, around 50% of that, considering that the longer the movie is in the theaters the more the percentage shifts to the releasing company's advantage. This was only tracked for three or four weeks (that's not good news) before it dropped below the one million per week mark and drops off the studio's radar, so I feel comfortable with the 50% amount, especially on a small film with no stars and no big director. That leaves $10 million going back to the studio--again, I'm being generous.

Prints and advertising, VERY conservatively, another $5 million, which brings the studio's investment up to $9 million. Subtract that from the rental returns.

A $1 million return on a $9 million investment is a big bomb by my estimation.

[latina4dubya]

wowzer....that Ralphie grew up to be quite the hunk!

was he Messy Marvin? i think he was in a Hershey's Chocolate Syrup commercial...

[Darkwolf377]

i remember seeing this back in 1983, and i don’t remember it being a bomb at the box office...

See my previous post. You remember incorrectly.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Darren McGavin = NIGHTSTALKER

Cool guy, good actor, and funny as hell. RIP

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Seeing how it bombed at the box office, I don't think it qualifies as an instant holiday classic.

"It's a Wonderful Life" was not a boxoffice hit either.

[Snurple]

LOL! Loved him as Kolchak!

[Darkwolf377]

opened at #3; second week at #1

BTW, plenty of movies have opened at #1 and been huge bombs. Take a look at some of these #1 openers.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/lowest1.htm

[Darkwolf377]

"It's a Wonderful Life" was not a boxoffice hit either.

Exactly--WIZARD OF OZ took a long time to earn back its costs, too. But WONDERFUL is THE Christmas movie of all time. (It's a particularly DARK movie, too, not the typical Christmas fare.)