Box Office: Post Nomination Bump and Faulty Marketing Hooks
Sunday, January 17, 2016 at 2:00PM Ride Along 2, the umpteenth consecutive hit for the inarguably bankable Kevin Hart (and to a lesser extent Michael Bay's latest explosion filled thriller) serves as our monthly reminder --as if we needed one -- that the bulk of moviegoers would rather watch shoot-em-ups than Oscar nominated films. But congrats to Kevin Hart. He's on his fifth year of consistently big opening weekends now. If he's not one of the highest paid stars out there he needs to find new representation.
Meanwhile in alternate universe Oscar land: The Revenant showed amazing legs in its second wide release weekend, suggesting that Leonardo DiCaprio has yet another gargantuan hit on his hands. Leading the Oscar nominations surely didn't hurt. [More after the jump...]
BOX OFFICE WIDE
Estimates January 15th-17th
01 Ride Along 2 $34 *new*
02 The Revenant $29.5 (cum. $87.6) The Costumes, The Production Design
03 Star Wars: The Force Awakens $25.1 (cum. $851) Review & Podcast & BB-8
04 13 Hours $16 *new*
05 Daddy's Home $9.3 (cum. $129.2)
06 Norm of the North $6.6 *new*
07 The Forest $5.7 (cum $21.1)
08 The Big Short $5.2 (cum. $50.5) Reviewish, Review & SAG Ensemble
09 Sisters $7.1 (cum $74.8) Review
10 The Hateful Eight $6.3 (cum. $41.4) Hated It & Podcast
BOX OFFICE LIMITED
excluding previously wide
01 Carol $1.3 (cum. $6.9) 790 screens Podcast, Oscar Snub, Greatest Pick-Up Line, Adapting Patricia Highsmith, First Impressions
02 Room $.7 (cum. $5.9) 293 screens Brie's Globe Win, First Impressions
03 The Danish Girl $.6 (cum. $8.6) 479 screens Podcast, Screenplay, & Eddie Interview
04 Anomalisa $.2 (cum $.8) 37 screens Podcast & Review & Festival Capsule
05 Detective Chinatown $.2 *new* 33 screens
06 Youth $.1 (cum. $2.2) 94 screens Reviewish, Campaign, & Podcast
07 Son of Saul $.1 (cum. $.3) 21 screens Review, Interview, Foreign Film Nod
08 45 Years $.1 (cum $.4) 14 screens Capsule, Podcast
09 Mustang $.09 (cum. $.3) 57 screens Interview, Review, Foreign Film Nod
10 Trumbo $.08 (cum. $7.3) 66 screens on SAG's Ensemble
Also getting a post nomination bump this weekend were The Big Short (dipping only 15% which is pretty incredible considering it lost 700 screens) and Room (which added back 205 screens it had lost and managed its best weekend yet) and to a lesser extent Brooklyn and Spotlight.
Nomination morning didn't help everyone moving into the weekend. The Weinstein Company in particular had it rough (mostly because they keep relying entirely on Oscars as their box office hook). The Hateful Eight was already sinking when it missed in all but three categories and though Carol continuted its expansion and received a healthier six nominations -- it's almost wide now -- without the all important Best Picture nomination or the nice gimmick of a double Best Actress nod it doesn't have as much of a hook for marketing as it otherwise might have. It would be nice if being a masterpiece were enough of a marketing hook but... well... F*** YOU, REALITY.
Reader Comments (25)
Isaw Creed,I know now why Stallone is winning the Oscar.
just saw TRUTH! Powerhouse Blanchett!
I hadn't thought about how a double nomination would be a neat marketing hook, and I was already so mad at the Oscar campaign for screwing that up - Mara would have been a shoo-in for best actress.
I saw The Revenant. A bit gruesome but I enjoyed it. It's beautifully photographed. Leo was very believable (except at the end when he started running, after barely walking the day before). I am very impressed with Domhnall (sp?) Gleeson. Very interesting and capable actor.
Finally saw "The Martian", which was fun but strange for an Oscar movie. It really is "Space Macgyver Fixes Everything", a movie full of scenes where people state a problem and then immediately solve it with minimal fuss. More than once they even solve it mid-sentence. Count me among the people who consider the "comedy" designation for this to be total category fraud.
Caught up with "American Ultra" because of Amy Nicholson's recommendations; sort of wish I hadn't bothered.
Watched Amy and now binge-watching Mr. Robot. The Good Wife after going to the theater tonight, Revenant tomorrow a.m., Trumbo Tuesday evening. Rehearsals and research in between. Ready for the psych ward Wednesday a.m.
Just caught up with Room, which has just been released in the UK. Thought I was OK until walking out of the cinema, when I heard someone say 'Bye-bye, Room' and I just dissolved into a mess of tears. Tremendous movie, which really creeps up on you.
Saw Creed yesterday. Great film, won't have any arguments if Stallone wins an Oscar, but why was the brilliant Michael B Jordan not even nominated? I hope it was just because the very, very old people at the Academy hadn't heard of him instead of, you know, the other reason
Saw The Revenant. Felt like I had been trapped in the woods for days and nearly died. And not in a good way.
OKAY, I just noticed that Revenant poster. Hilarious! I love those Honest Posters.
I finally saw Room yesterday. The theater was only showing it at one time a day and I guess the Oscar buzz helped because it was a packed house. It played really well, too, which is interesting because I noticed multiple people (including the family of three sitting next to me) being very unsure of whether they could finish the movie or not. Ultimately, no-one left early and I think those who considered it were happy they stayed until the end. It's a pretty harrowing experience but I didn't necessarily find it hard to watch...I don't know what that says about me.
Saw Carol yesterday, and I adored everything about it. Easily my favorite film of 2015, beautiful and quietly moving. I think this might be my favorite Todd Haynes film, which is saying a lot.
Is being fucked by a bear supposed to be a bad thing? Because I hate to differ.
Tom Ford: Eh, even if he's not bad, because of the very publicized nature of this production, I don't know if I'd actually put any performance in this in my top 12.
"The Fury" (1978) on blu ray- DePalma's sci-fi/horro/ spy thriller- has a couple of his best set pieces and that explosive climax is still both shocking and hilarious
Mary & Matt - no arguments from me either for Stallone's nom and maybe win, and I share the wonder about what happened to MBJ.
I saw 'Carol' for the second time. It is so rich and lovely, and will be an easy movie to rewatch - it seems like a movie that will pay off more and more each time. Fun viewing reportings: the same guy said 'What did she say?' both times Carol said 'Flung out of space' (the first time is when she has lunch with Therese and calls her a 'strange girl' and Therese asks her what she means, the second is when they have sex for the first time). And then on the last close-up of Blanchett, with a smile coming across her face, and then it cuts to black - someone else exclaimed 'That's it'? For my money, it's not so much a 'That's it?' as a perfect ending.
forever1267 -- LMFAO
rebecca -- agreed. my god that ending.
Matt -- i think people have GREATLY exaggerated racism as the cause. or that it's an old people problem. Honestly the precursors didn't nominated Jordan either (i don't know why either -- he was brillant)... like the Broadcast Film Critics Association for example. They are not "old" demographically and they still ignored him. Ii guess i'm so burned out on Oscar taking all the blame when barely anyone was honoring him and then everyone's mad at Oscar for doing what they did. but yeah, i loved him in the movie too.
so true about Room's cumulative effect.
Saw Son of Saul. I kind of didn't like it - it's brutal/horrifying to watch but that aspect ratio KILLED me and the main character was honestly just so, so lame tbh. I'm really over this anti-hero, singular minded male that does what he wants as a character in movies. Maybe it went over my head?
Man wtf are they even doing with that Carol roll-out. The Weinsteins screwed the pooch on this one big time. If they had released Carol in bigger spurts and gotten to major markets earlier than after Christmas (especially when everyone in LA/NY had already seen it for like 2 months) MAYBE it would've caught on more because it's such a slow burn/think about it a lot kind of movie. And it's really ruined it for people when they go in with grossly overblown expectations. Smh all around - what a waste.
I tink Mike B Jordan juz lacked the star power. The Golden Globes did nom Will Smith (which I tink they wld have picked Jordan if he's more famous)
A lotsa of my male frenz had trouble understanding the ending of Carol & were disappointed (That's It???). One told me he was waiting for the big emotional showdown & tearful/happy climax but it never happened! Years of Hollywood conditioning had turned viewers to expect sometink MORE. They can't accept that sometime less IS more.
My theory on Michael B. Jordan missing out everywhere is they wanted to keep Best Actor intentionally weak for Leo to swoop in and snag it. HOW could he win so many critics awards - at this point I feel everyone wants him to have it more than he does.
It really seems like a concerted effort by the powers that be to flood the category with your Cranstons, Redmaynes leaving out Michael B. Jordan, Michael Keaton, and various others.
I saw "Hateful Eight". Meh. It's fine but hardly Tarantino's best and the three hour run time is excessive. After the embarassing speech he gave accepting the Golden Globe for Ennio Morricone, it's clear his ego is out of control.
I saw Anamolisa which I enjoyed quite a bit; not nearly as dark as Kaufman's work, but funnier and (at least for a small portion) heartwarming.
I saw Joy. I'm glad I did because I really really liked. It has problems, yes, but also a remarkable gallery of female characters played by actresses I don't see as much as I would love to: Madsen, Ladd, Rossellini, Rohm...
Lawrence has excellent chemistry with Cooper (as usual) and Edgar Ramírez (yum).
Not sure why you have such a "drooper" (my creation for a "non-boner") for The Revenant. A beautifully executed movie. Granted, I'm also somewhat disconcerted by the comments of Leo, as I live in the area where it was filmed. But, it is a great movie deserving of all its nominations. Had Hugh Glass been gay and been portrayed as gay, would your reactions be different? Just wondering.
RJL: 1. They never would have done that. The last time anarchic experimentation with actual history was attempted, we got the reaction to Walker. 2. If they did? I'm guessing it might get a half letter grade of improvement (actually staying at the B- initial reaction), but that's it. It's still a movie that embraces misery above all else.
Saw "The Revenant" - I will give props to 4 really well-done sequences (the opening battle, the bear attack, the fall off the cliff and the final fight) but besides those it was really repetitive, I couldn't understand at least half the dialogue and I don't think it had anything interesting to say about revenge, fatherhood, or any other themes it's supposedly exploring. The cinematography was impressive in parts (but in some ways, you'd have to be a total amateur NOT to be able to capture a few well-composed shots in that environment) but everything else - the score, the costumes, the performances - just felt...fine.
Also caught up on some other non-Oscar-y movies:
It Follows - fun and suspenseful (loved that it was creepy without being graphically violent) and while I kind of agree with Tarantino's criticisms, I also kind of don't.
Chi-Raq - man, what an interesting mess of a movie. Trying to combine scenes of over-the-top farce inspired by a Greek classic with scenes of straightforward, heartfelt drama just did not work. Unfortunately I don't think he really explored his story, instead choosing clever set-pieces over dealing with tough questions the film raises. But man was Teyonah Parris fun to watch and overall there was something just so fascinating about the whole endeavor.
Do I Sound Gay? - an interesting doc that's basically what you'd expect, but at least it does explore its subject in a thoughtful way. I was worried the narrator's narcissism was all it had to offer but he at least digs into cultural trends (I never realized how often Disney's animated male villains seem to have a stereotypically gay voice), self-loathing and self-perception.