Posted on 09/05/2007 1:14:22 PM PDT by Stoat
Ha! I never thought of it that way.
He spends more than that on lunch...of course that includes limo rode to the airport, private jet to NY, limo ride to Spago, etc...
Who said this is a “well known” documentary? How often had you heard of it before you saw this article? Your “guarantee” is crap, the distributor put it in four theaters opening weekend the results are predictable with that opening, if they are disappointed then they should have opened it wider, the fact that they didn’t shows they’re getting what they expected. Most 4 theater openings don’t turn into March of the Penguins, 99.9% of them make a couple hundred grand and go away. This movie is performing to what any sane person would expect, if performing to expectations is disappointing to anyone involved in the movie then that person is an idiot.
The public would be more facinated if DiCaprio did a soft-porn film on his private jet while polluting the sky.
The Global Warming alarmists simply cannot get traction because their hypocrisy is on parade.
The real goal for scare tactic documentaries is to feel superior. It provides a poster for all the principles to put in their office that shows they care. If the goal was to alert the populace then why open in only 4 theaters? To alert the populace you need to hit at least 1000 theaters.
I don’t give a crap about the artistic intent, I’m looking at the MARKET intent. You can tell a lot about what they wanted to do with a movie by it’s theatrical pattern. Opening in 4 theaters any time other than December is a clear market intent of not making a whole bunch of money (you get some tiny releases like that in December when movies are gunning for Oscars then a bigger release in January for the money). There’s simply no indication they thought this was going to be a cash cow of a movie, and if they didn’t think it was going to be a cash cow it’s hard to imagine they thought it was going to alert the populace, it’s hard for movies that don’t make any money to move the masses.
I don’t think this will go DVD...but maybe I’m wrong. At best...it might sell 5,000 DVDs...mostly to far-left environmental groups who want a coffee DVD to show who guests come over to the house to visit. But he has to be scared that some folks might buy the DVD and make cuts from it to use for comical youtube episodes.
I’ve known about it for quite a while as I follow movies on boxofficemojo.com almost daily. I am fully aware most indies don’t make March of the Pengiuns or Bowling for Columbine, etc. Most of them also don’t have an A lister name with it either. The 4 theatre opening weekend is just to build buzz in big cities and to give it a huge PTA average they announce. The #s are quite sad whether you want to admit it or not.
Most 4 theater openings have nothing to do with building buzz. They’re because they know the movie isn’t going to make a lot of money and prints are expensive. The #s are quite average and if you hit boxofficemojo daily you know that. 173 out of 404 this year puts it average.
It is about building buzz. Trust me. If the buzz is good and the #s are solid, they release it in more theatres. 173/404 doesn’t mean crap, sorry. Many probably cost 30k to make and a few screens at regional theatres. Most of those liberal cause indy films have at least done several million, if not 20-70 million. This film will be lucky to break 1-1.5 mill. You’re entitled to your opinion but I firmly disagree with you.
No it’s not all about building buzz, sometimes it’s about realizing this movie won’t make serious money and getting what you can out of it. I doubt highly this movie cost more than a quarter million to make. It’s not just opinion it’s working with the facts available, and the FACTS say it’s highly unlikely anybody thought this movie was going to make big money, the FACTS point to a deliberate small release with very little attempt to build momentum towards the big big money. You’re just guess they targeted something bigger but the facts say that’s just a guess. Heck the movie hasn’t even been released internationally yet, if they were gunning for the big big money it would be out in at least part of the rest of the world by now.
It’s all ifs though. Most movies that open in 4 theaters don’t build big, they noodle around in a small number of theaters for a few make hardly any money and go away. I doubt Leo cost them a penny, he probably listed his price as over a million and donated his time, remember he’s a true believer.
Inconvenient Truth was another exception movie, not the rule. Look at the other movies in Boxofficemojo’s list around 173 this year, those are the rules for a 4 theater opening. Those are how it usually goes. Those are the FACTS. I doubt high Warner Independent spent millions on the distribution rights, that’s the small release arm of Warner and they know these movies don’t make that much money, most of the movies they’ve distributed topped out around $2 million in revenue, if they’re regularly spending multiple millions getting the rights to these movies they’re killing Warner’s bottom line.
I’m not saying they aren’t disappointed, there’s always going to be somebody that hopes for more money. I’m saying it’s not bombing, that parring for the kind of movie and release schedule is not a bomb. And that’s what it’s doing, par. It’s a fairly average performance for a documentary opening in 4 theaters. Par is NEVER a bomb.
We can go round and round like this for days. Let’s just say you and I have different point of view on this and call it a day.
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