The Box Office Thread

[redman]

i just checked and in UK JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 [Trailer 1] is certificate 15 and AVENGERS: ENDGAME is 12A so they wouldn't be shown together here and assuming same certificates in USA then your cinema messed up okie. your 11year old couldn't watch it here but i guess lots of 10/11year olds sneak in
bigger mistakes have happened here https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/apr/09/horror-trailers-shown-before-screening-of-peppa-pig-festival-of-fun-ipswich

[Harry Caul]

And to think that Perelman only bought Marvel 20 years prior to that for under $85 million.

Nice ROI 

[okiehawker]

We didn't get either of those trailers when we saw it Okie.
We had Star Wars, Godzilla, X-men, and MIB

Weird!  We did have MIB, too, Crow.  I don't know what the heck happened. Do theatres get to choose the trailers these days?  Hmmm, something we need to perhaps talk with our theatre owner about.  Redman's UK trailer ratings are interesting as well.  Okie

[crowzilla]

Endgame is holding remarkably well.
$30 mil+ dailies in the US, with another $100 mil a day worldwide, word is that China Wednesday will be close to $75 million alone.
It will probably start the weekend right around 1.75 billion worldwide, meaning a weekend of "only" $430 million will put it right at Titanic for #2 all-time.

Not sure what Pikachu will do the following week, but right now it's hard not to say this will have the legs to make it to #1 all-time.

[eatbrie]

So Endgame will most definitely not pass Force Awakens domestically, which made sense given the fanboy enthusiasm #7 generated following 32 years of an excruciating wait.  But it did beat Titanic, even though it's not an apple to apple comparison.  Ticket prices in 1997 were at $4.59 vs $9+ today.  Still, it is a feat, a feat James Cameron recognized in the trades, as did Spielberg when SW passed Jaws, Lucas when ET passed SW, and so on.  I have to find those.  They were pretty funny.



Endgame still has a shot at passing Avatar internationally, but that again is not really a fair comparison.  Ticket prices in 09 were at $7+

T

[Zorba]

Have never seen Avatar.

Just looks fucking stupid.

[eatbrie]

Here are a few trade ads that I've kept.

Jaws to Star Wars


Star Wars to ET


ET back to Star Wars


Star Wars to Titanic


T

[Neo]

R2D2 wouldn't have reeled that sharky very far with the hook like that, though. 

I wonder how good Avatar 2 and 3 will be.

Great illustrations 

[erik1925]

R2D2 wouldn't have reeled that sharky very far with the hook like that, though. 

I wonder how good Avatar 2 and 3 will be.

Great illustrations 

So true, Sir B... so very true.... LOL And a worm should have been on that tiny hook, too. 

[redman]

clever ads

[crowzilla]

So Endgame will most definitely not pass Force Awakens domestically, which made sense given the fanboy enthusiasm #7 generated following 32 years of an excruciating wait.  But it did beat Titanic, even though it's not an apple to apple comparison.  Ticket prices in 1997 were at $4.59 vs $9+ today.  Still, it is a feat, a feat James Cameron recognized in the trades, as did Spielberg when SW passed Jaws, Lucas when ET passed SW, and so on.  I have to find those.  They were pretty funny.

Endgame still has a shot at passing Avatar internationally, but that again is not really a fair comparison.  Ticket prices in 09 were at $7+

T

it was obvious 3 weeks ago (on the 2nd Monday) that passing Star Wars domestic was not going to happen. a $10 mil daily 2nd week, vs a near $30 mil daily 2nd week for Star Wars.

I like the Japanese style of reporting, where it's mainly attendance numbers. Makes it much easier to compare older films with today when ticket prices can be 2x, 3x, or more than 4x what they were in the past.
Pretty sure attendance for something like Gone With the Wind is mind-blowing - especially when compared to the population as a whole back then.

[Simes]

I like the Japanese style of reporting, where it's mainly attendance numbers. Makes it much easier to compare older films with today when ticket prices can be 2x, 3x, or more than 4x what they were in the past.
Pretty sure attendance for something like Gone With the Wind is mind-blowing - especially when compared to the population as a whole back then.

I have to disagree sir.

GWTW was released in an age where one didn't hear; 'Nah, I'll see it when it comes out on DVD / streaming / terrestrial / pirated version.'

One saw it at the cinema, or one didn't see it at all.

[crowzilla]

I have to disagree sir.
GWTW was released in an age where one didn't hear; 'Nah, I'll see it when it comes out on DVD / streaming / terrestrial / pirated version.'
One saw it at the cinema, or one didn't see it at all.

Not a bad point, and makes a good argument. Kind of emphasizes the why Pixar would make a Cars2, when at the time it was the worst performing Pixar film of all-time at the box office, until you find out it is also the 2nd best selling DVD of all-time and then it makes perfect sense.

Looking at box office results alone though doesn't seem to be quite a fair gauge of success either though (and not even going to get into factoring in the cost of the film). If we use the GWTW example, we see it was out-grossed by Ralph Breaks the Internet last year. Somehow, I feel the anticipation, excitement, and impact of the two is quite different.

Not sure what a fair comparison between ages would be. 

[okiehawker]

Not a bad point, and makes a good argument. Kind of emphasizes the why Pixar would make a Cars2, when at the time it was the worst performing Pixar film of all-time at the box office, until you find out it is also the 2nd best selling DVD of all-time and then it makes perfect sense.

Looking at box office results alone though doesn't seem to be quite a fair gauge of success either though (and not even going to get into factoring in the cost of the film). If we use the GWTW example, we see it was out-grossed by Ralph Breaks the Internet last year. Somehow, I feel the anticipation, excitement, and impact of the two is quite different.

Not sure what a fair comparison between ages would be.

Hi Crow and Simes. Also, how do we factor in the allure of air conditioning in movie theatres on a hot day/night pre-home air conditioning?  Maybe a factor, my parents said they were given 25 cents and sent to the theatre most of the day sometimes as sort of a babysitter substitute (not sure if that included any first run movies?).  Okie

[eatbrie]

I have to disagree sir.

GWTW was released in an age where one didn't hear; 'Nah, I'll see it when it comes out on DVD / streaming / terrestrial / pirated version.'

One saw it at the cinema, or one didn't see it at all.

It’s actually much more complex than that.  Yes, GwtW was released at a time when ancillary markets didn’t exist.  Money was made in theaters, period.  Worldwide distribution was also very spotty.  Movies would hit theaters in Europe years after the US distribution. 

And then there was the re-release factor.  GwtW was in theaters for 5 years uninterrupted.  Nowadays, a movie is lucky to have a 10 week window.  Then it was re-released a dozen times, always making a lot of money since it was not available on any other platforms.  New generations discovered it in theaters, and it was still an event. 

Then one of the networks, I think it was NBC, bought the rights for a single showing in the mid 70s.  The first time the movie made money outside of theaters. 

So yes, it is by far the biggest hit of all time, but the Boxoffice figures are way, way off.  They were added with zero consideration of ticket prices or inflation.  And a lot of them are simply made up.  No computers to check them out, just the word from the distributor. 

So how does it compare to an Avatar which made so much more money on home video, international TV sales, etc...  it doesn’t and it shouldn’t.

Most countries go by attendance, which makes comparisons much easier.  It’s complete BS in the US.

T

[Simes]

It’s actually much more complex than that. 

Oh, I completely agree.  I was only going for the short sharp hit of a point.

I could also have said the competition for other forms of entertainment were not as great in the 50's.  Now, to distract the 18-30 year age group from the cinema are video games, tv in its 400 channel form, phones, youtube, drugs and kicking in bus shelters.  Back in the day, all you had was ice cream and Friday night dances.

Bottom line, I reckon it is really only worth comparing figures with the decades.  Otherwise, forget it.

[erik1925]

Oh, I completely agree.  I was only going for the short sharp hit of a point.

I could also have said the competition for other forms of entertainment were not as great in the 50's.  Now, to distract the 18-30 year age group from the cinema are video games, tv in its 400 channel form, phones, youtube, drugs and kicking in bus shelters.  Back in the day, all you had was ice cream and Friday night dances.

Bottom line, I reckon it is really only worth comparing figures with the decades.  Otherwise, forget it.

Drug usin' & abusin' has been happening since day 1. That's nothing new... LOLOL   

[Simes]

Yeah, I know.

Was kinda going for the humorous angle as opposed to purely the veracity.

[Tang Lung in Rome]

Ancient history but i dont buy that Way of Dragon was a flop when you consider Big Boss and Fist of Fury were huge hits , supposedly Chow had two books for Way , was he funneling cash to the triads ?

Also Bryanston the US distributor  had mob ties (this is fact , TX Chainsaw actors were cheated out of royalties until the 80s)