Rodriguez is a very canny film maker. Even his bigger movies like Sin City are made for a price. Machete had a rumoured price tag of $20m and took over half of that in the opening week. All things considered it should be a very profitable movie.
Let me break it down to you guys. Machete cost $20. Worldwide P&A was another $50 to $60 mil. So we're up to $80. Let's say $70 to be fair. Since exhibitors take about half the profit, give or take, the movie has to make $140 at the worldwide BO to break even. Maybe it will, but I don't see it happening. It will probably recoup its investment on homevid and auxiliary markets, but as far as a profitable movie, the jury is still out.
Now, the movie has 71% on rotten tomatoes. Good number, but not great. CinemaScore gave it a B, which is about average. I personally haven't seen it, and I won't, since I don't like Rodriguez (aside from El Mariachi, which showed unfulfilled promises). I don't see much talent in him, but that's a personal taste. I think Tarantino is lightyears ahead of him. You guys may disagree, more power to him.
What I know, however, is that expectations for Machete were much higher. So in that sense, the movie is a failure. Not as much of a financial failure as Scott Pilgrim, which was a disaster for Universal, but a lot of people are probably upset over it.
That's all I'm saying. Based on what I've said above, the general feel is that the movie will not be well remembered. Some movies fail at the boxoffice but score amongst the people who saw them. For instance, Scott Pilgrim generated an A- from CinemaScore, and audiences under 25 gave it an A. That movie has more potential to become a cult classic than Machete, simply because its core audience loved it. It didn't translate into success, but in the long run, these people will keep the trend alive.
T
