Posted on 12/09/2007 8:39:12 AM PST by keat
There was no Saturday miracle surge for New Line. The Golden Compass, an effects-laden family film starring Nicole Kidman with a reported budget of $200M, received a modest 16% increase from its opening day, posting an estimated $10.2M on Saturday. Assuming a Sunday drop of 33%, Compass will finish its opening weekend with a disastrous $25.84M. (For a comparison to other big budget, family-oriented films in this mold along with details about New Line’s dismal 2007 and Nicole Kidman’s box office cold streak, scroll down to my Friday Night report.)
Disney’s Enchanted blew past $80M domestic with a $4.9M Saturday, and the live action/animation hybrid with a sure-fire Oscar nomination for Amy Adams will cruise to an estimated $10.98M. This Christmas (Sony), Fred Claus (Warner Bros) and Beowulf (Dreamworks/Paramount) have finished 3-4-5 on Saturday and for the 3-day frame.
(Excerpt) Read more at slashfilm.com ...
That is an appeal to fear. That is another fallacy of relevance to this argument. Perhaps you would like to withdraw the fallacy and make a valid counterargument.
Because, just as there is with the anti-war movies there is an agenda here. Watching liberal propaganda crash and burn painfully where it counts (their pocketbooks) for Hollywood has been a hoot!
Can you explain why? Just curious, why not $250 mil to break even on $250 mil?
Try reading this book and see if you come away with the same conclusion. It is one of the few books in my life I have read that I am truly sorry I slimed myself reading. I threw the series away in the trash after the first book so that no kid would ever be exposed to it. I can not remember ever throwing an other book away before because of content I resale them if I do not like them.
I enjoyed reading the Harry Potter series even used it as a teaching tool in my home school program.
Can you explain why? Just curious, why not $250 mil to break even on $250 mil?
I'm not an expert on the movie business, but the I think the difference is between "Gross Revenues" and "Net Revenues". The box off revenues they report are theatre ticket sales. A lot of that money stays with the local theatre owner; only some of it goes back to the movie studio that has $250 million in production costs to cover. In the same way, with video rentals and DVD sales, a lot of the money stays with Netflix or the retailer. As a result, a movie has to take in a lot more "Gross Revenue" than the production budget to make the "Net Revenue" be profitable for the studio.
Then in your own words you are not qualified for this thread and your comments are uninformed.
Would you say the same thing to everyone else here who also hasn't seen the film or read the books? Maybe you haven't been following, but I've been raked over the coals for suggesting that people should withhold judgment about movies they haven't seen.
I always knew as a kid that that Disney scene with the animals cleaning the house, in real life would be scary. Just creepy! No animal maids for me.
Thanks!
I have read the book. The comments on this movie are mild for what it deserves. The pure evil intent of this author aimed at children can not be nor should it be ignored.
He had an agenda which he is very clear about. Getting on a thread where people have full knowledge of that intent and hold it in contempt and putting yourself fully in his films favor you bring that contempt down upon yourself.
Perhaps before you defend something you should actually read the books and know if you really uphold the authors propaganda intent where children are concerned. If you do then get on here and defend killing God and teaching children to ask demon's into their lives to your hearts content!
So let me get this straight:
Its okay for people here who HAVEN'T seen the movie OR read the books to say they're evil, but its not okay for me to say I haven't seen it, and will wait to see the movie myself to pass judgment.
Have you even been reading the posts here? I haven't defended the movie nor bashed it, I simply said that I don't think the failure of this movie is indicative of anything.
Size of the budget doesn’t matter, quality of the content does.
Most flicks are just special effects...nothing remotely interesting about seeing them again.
I read all the posts. I have not asked all if they have read the books, but you have stated that you have not read the books. Even now knowing what we are telling you is the intent of the author you are still here supporting the viewing of the movie without educating yourself. It leaves you vulnerable to scorn.
Most people commenting have educated themselves on the intent of the author concerning these books. Those people having educated themselves about the problem are now discussing it. Educate yourself by reading the books then come back and support going to the movie. Do not be surprised that if you support the books that people's opinion will turn from scorn to finding you despicable, but then teaching children that demon possession is a good thing is truly a horror for most normal people in America. Good people do not need to see it or read it to pass judgment on that type of thing, they just know it is evil and to not expose themselves or their children to it once somebody has warned them about it.
Go figure.
I think it’s kind of like the Vagina Monologues. I don’t need to go see it to know that is not a show I would want to see, and I would not want my kids to see.
I read that in the 3rd book of the Golden Compass trilogy that 13 year olds have sex.
I don’t get why this movie is being marketed to kids. That’s the very scary thing about the movie. It’s being billed as a kid movie, and it is not!!!
Have you read the National Council of Bishops review? They said:
"Despite the professed atheism of its author, and the more overt church connotation of this Magisterium in the novels, director Chris Weitz's film, taken purely on its own cinematic terms, can be viewed as an exciting adventure story with a traditional struggle between good and evil, and a generalized rejection of authoritarianism."
So even though it might be hard for you to fathom, not even all Christians agree on the subject. I also have acquaintances who've read the books that have a discinctly different take on the whole daemon concept in the stories, and they do not agree with your comparison of Exorcist-like demon possession.
I'm sure I'll be able to handle the earth shaking scorn that those who think like you will heap upon those who might happen to rent the movie from Netflix, but it's the same old stuff that is dished out against violent video games, rap music, and UFC.
I'm not likely to agree with the philosophy or worldview of a British atheist, but I certainly don't need anyone deciding what I should or should not see other than myself.
Here’s the official spin from the LA Times
From the Los Angeles Times
BOX OFFICE
‘Golden Compass’ points overseas
The film is No. 1 at the box office with a lower-than-expected $26.1 million, but its worldwide welcome is warmer.
By Josh Friedman
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 10, 2007
“The Golden Compass” topped the weekend box office with an estimated $26.1 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales, New Line Cinema said Sunday, although the costly fantasy film struck less gold than the studio had expected.
The picture, seen as the start of a potential blockbuster franchise in the “Lord of the Rings” vein, got a warmer welcome overseas, pulling in $55 million abroad for a worldwide total of $81 million, New Line said.
“We were hoping for a little better domestically but the international numbers were solid,” said Rolf Mittweg, New Line’s president and chief operating officer of worldwide distribution and marketing.
As of last week, the studio had been looking for a North American opening in the range of $30 million to $40 million for the film from writer-director Chris Weitz.
The PG-13 movie, based on the first book in British author Philip Pullman’s acclaimed “His Dark Materials” trilogy, was the only wide release to hit the marketplace, and it set the pace for another dismal weekend at the box office overall.
Results were down from the corresponding weekend in 2006 for the fifth straight time, according to Media by Numbers. It was not the kind of news Hollywood was hoping for in the face of an increasingly bitter writers strike that looks as though it could drag on for months.
Walt Disney Co.’s modern-day fairy tale “Enchanted” held up firmly in its third weekend, taking in an estimated $10.7 million to rank No. 2. The mix of animation and live action, starring Amy Adams, has racked up $83.9 million through three weekends.
“Conservative Christian films and liberal atheist films will both do well at the box office in the near future. Trying to use the success or failure of individual movies as a pulse on American society is more likely to be frustrating and fruitless than worthwhile.”
Ok, we get it. Your libertarian leanings are showing. The anything goes part of it that keeps any libertarian leanings I have myself in check when it comes to social issues.
The movie stunk for a variety of reasons...but the daemon concept is interesting.
In Pullman's alternate universe, human souls are not internal but represented externally by animal forms that match the characters of their owners. When the human dies, the daemon dies too.
An interesting concept...how easy it would be to know your fellow man. For example, you could see PIAPS Hillary campaigning with her pig daemon standing next to her, etc.
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