Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Release!!

Box Office Mojo predicts that DS will take in 7.5 million in the USA this weekend.

And that figure doesn't even include the estimate for Memorial Day Monday.

And speaking of box office -

movie attendance in general has been on the decline for years, since we now have so many more choices available to us nowadays (DVDs coming out so much more quickly, cable, on demand, streaming, etc. etc.). So even though there are breakouts like The Avengers, it's tough for a typical box office of today to compare with that of years ago.

- more recently the economy has to be factored in because fewer people are willing to pay to see a film in a theater when they can rent it on DVD/Blu-ray or even pay for on demand for a much cheaper price. And at the beginning of this year in particular, weekend box office figures were very low. I mean, many of the first place films for the weekend struggled to bring in $25 million, and at least a couple couldn't even bring in $20 million. The fact that DS is already one of the Top 15 films of the year so far and its run in theaters probably isn't even half over yet is a testament to how much more successful it has been than so many other films this year so far...

16 days 14 hours 11 minutes 36 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

Audience decline in theaters is very apparent (in my hometown, a few months ago, a six-screen theater shuttered its doors, leaving the other six-screen theater going, but that's a loss of half) and the reasons, as listed are obvious.  What it boils down to is that it is too expensive to see movies in theaters and fewer people have the money to see them.  One would think that the heads in the studios would grasp that, but they now have the corporate mind of if-we're-not-making-enough-money-charge-more.  Yeah, that works.  When I saw HoDS at the cost of 35 cents for admission for the first Saturday matinee (the evening one cost 50 cents), the line started two hours before, went out the door, down the block and around the corner.  There wasn't a seat left.  When I saw DS at $7.95 for the first Saturday matinee, we had not only our pick of seats, but our pick of rows. 

Hollywood needs to start chopping off some of those corporate heads.  They need to hire people like us who know how to bring the flocks back to the theaters.  We'll even do it for only 1% of what they are paying those heads.  Even at that salary, we'd all live according to a lifestyle to which we could become accustomed.  I don't know how much Johnny Depp made portraying Barnabas (and he did it perfectly), but even his name wasn't enough to bring in bigger bucks.  A true Hollywood head would tell him that his salary demands are way over the edge, that he's now - to repeat what was said to Joan Crawford - "box office poison."  When the actors and actresses demand an upper eight-figure salary for doing a film and are told they'll only get just barely seven, they'll still do it.  What other alternative do they have?  Putting on a blue vest and asking customers "how may I help you?"  They'll still have their lavish homes, yachts and lear jets.  Maybe not as fancy as they once got, but they'll still have them.  Again, what's their alternative?  Sharing a two-bedroom apartment with three roommates and driving a Yugo held together with rust and coat-hangers?  Let's be honest, they give us pleasure and enjoyment, but how much does that improve the human race?  I work with disabled children and get minimum wage.  I don't try to toot my own horn, but I think what I do is more valuable.  I'm not bitter, mind you.  I'd just like to know when was the last time Johnny Depp, or Michelle Pfeiffer tried to change the loaded diaper of a 300 pound cognitively disabled 17-year-old who was trying to punch and bite them for eight-something an hour rather than have all-expenses-paid trips to Europe to film a movie and still get mucho-millions on top of that to make a very good movie that, for now, is just barely struggling to break even.  Not that I'm bitter, mind you.  At least I can hold my head high and say, that at my job, I'm not "box office poison."

Gerard

Movie production costs are way out of line, but that's old news. I think another part of the problem is the way distribution/exhibition finances are done. The distributors take such an extremely high percentage of of the box office that the exhibitors need to charge higher prices in order to make a profit, which then results in people being more selective and cutting down on their moviegoing , which means less box office intake, which means higher ticket prices to make up the difference, which results in... (you get the picture). You would think that a lower percentage for the distributor, in addition to lower ticket prices, might bring more people back into the theaters, and make the exhibitors more profitable (and maybe even enable them to improve the exhibition itself).

I think the healthiest arena for the combination of cinematic arts and business is the premium cable sector. I'm not sure how much longer the traditional movie theater model can survive.

You just may be right, KMR.  Who knows how long it will be before the studio heads and moguls will price the existence of theaters right out of, well, existence and all movies will be viewed in the comfort of one's home at affordable prices again,which will mean less money for the studios, the moguls, the heads, the actors, the actresses, the directors, et. al.  But they'll survive.  A rapidly changing techno-market will force them to adapt accordingly.  Did anyone think, years ago, when our beloved DS went off the air, that the day would come when we could watch it again whenever we wanted by first slipping boxes into machines in our homes, and later circular discs?  The whole concept was even beyond Star Trek or Lost in Space.  One doesn't even need a cable/satellite channel (like SyFy) anymore to enjoy it.  There's even youtube where it can be watched totally for free (although someone by the initials of JP, hmmm-hmmm-hmmm, is still futilely trying to defy that).

Gerard

Movie tickets are like everything else these days--it's all going up. This trend isn't going to change any time soon, either. As long as corporate greed continues to rule the economy the prices of everything will continue to be jacked up in favor of making more profit. The difference between movie ticket prices rising and most everything else going up is that going to see a movie is a luxury and not necessary to live life. As a result, theater owners and Hollywood at large will continue to see a drop in audience members attending.

It's also interesting to note that within the last number of years, we've seen more films that have a laundry list of A-list actors in them (look at the Oceans movies, holiday themed movies like Valentine's Day etc). Why does this happen? Most likely it's because these actors surrender some of their normal salary in order to be part of a film after lots of studio convincing. The more actors there are, the more likely it is that people will go and see your film because one of your favorite actors is in it.

I remember a couple of years ago there was a big stink because Hollywood business was looking in to direct-to-home opportunities for new release movies, like On Demand and other services, to alleviate the time and planning it supposedly takes for someone to go to a theater and sit through a film. The idea was to make movies available to the audience in their home on premiere night, or at least within the first week, in order to generate more revenue. I could be wrong, but I also recall that the prices were going to be more than your normal On Demand for films (2 to 4 bucks) and be close to that of an actual movie ticket--all in the name of convenience. But this did not really get off the ground because theater owners cried fowl, claiming that Hollywood was giving up on them after years of driving revenue, and basically accused Hollywood studios of abandoning them and dooming their business if this occurred.

While this business model certainly would have cut into the profits of theater owners, I don't think it would have completely put them out of business immediately. Personally, it does sound convenient to be able to watch DS 2012 at home even now, having seen it twice. But movie purists like me enjoy going to the cinemas and watching it all play out on the big screen, with the sweeping sound systems. There is nothing like this anywhere else, unless you're one of those Hollywood corporate bigwigs who can afford to have a theater in his or her own home. Eventually the audience would dwindle down to nothing but these purists, and we might see the demise of cinema houses everywhere, but I don't think it would've happened for a long while.

The lack of an audience is also why there are more 3D films and "IMAX Experiences" being promoted, because those tickets cost significantly more than a $5 matinee during the middle of the day. It's been proven in business time and again that the model of convincing someone that they're paying for an "experience" means that you can eek out just a little more money from their wallet in exchange for promises that may or may not be fulfilled. I've seen several movies on IMAX screens, but I can say that there is a major difference between seeing a film that is shot on regular stock in IMAX and seeing a film that was shot in IMAX on an IMAX screen. For example, the IMAX sequences of The Dark Knight were much more clear and engrossing that those that were shot with regular film, and I plan on seeing The Dark Knight Rises in IMAX the first time I see it, as opposed to waiting for the second (or potentially third) viewing.

In relation, the lack of an audience is also why indie films are catching the eyes of corporate Hollywood more and more--because they are produced cheaply, have messages that resonate, and are very profitable when they connect with people.

As far as the box office success of DS 2012, I think it will make back it's budget if it hasn't already. We can't really know given the various reports of what the budget actually was. I am still shocked that the budget could have been as high as $150 million, because I simply cannot see where all of that money went. The only thing I can figure is that having to build all of those intricate sets, and a whole town really, drove the budget sky high. Truthfully, there have been movies that are just as visually stunning that have cost a lot less.

the imax sequences from MISSION IMPOSSIBLE were also impressive. i went to see MIB3 tonight. TIM BURTON has a cameo but u really got to look close (he is shown on a tv screen)to see it. i also peeked into a theatre showing DARK SHADOWS and it was about 95% full!

i also peeked into a theatre showing DARK SHADOWS and it was about 95% full!

Wow - that's certainly interesting. 

17 days 11 hours 31 minutes 21 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

I went to 1:50 showing yesterday that was about 50% full at least.  I was pleasantly surprised.

I usually confine my filmgoing these days to the Castro Theater here, where classic films and film festivals are screened. I find multiplexes unpleasant, though I did go see Depp Shadows twice.
Going to see it in Imax on Wed.

The only other new films I'll be seeing in cinemas this year are Woman in Black (LOVED THAT) and Dark Knight.
everything else can be seen at home.

I'd go more often if multiplexes weren't so damn ugly!
The Castro is a single screen, 90 year old beautiful palace--saw HODS & NODS there in 2008!

DS took in an estimated $9,405,000 for the 4 day weekend. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?view=&yr=2012&wknd=21a&p=

The international gross is at $106,000,000 as of May 27th but it doesn't seem to include major markets like Japan, Mexico etc and some totals like France and UK don't seem to include last weeks totals as well so the overseass total should be much higher.http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=darkshadows.htm

 

DS was predicted to be #6 this weekend, but it came in at 5!

I'm going to see it for the 3rd time, and I'm just as excited as the first!  I'm also interested to see what a 1:45 showing will look like on Memorial Day in Missoula, Montana ... I'd be totally cool if it were just my friend and I in the theatre. 

DS was predicted to be #6 this weekend, but it came in at 5!

Some sites were even predicting 7th. And what was most interesting was that they were very split over Chernobyl Diaries - but as the weekend progressed and it got a dreadful D+ rating from Cinemascore, they began to revise there predictions in DS' favor. Though some are still saying it will do better than DS, and honestly it looks too close to tell with just estimates because the two are only $105,000 apart. And when it comes to What to Expect When You're Expecting, Friday's estimates indicated that it may have brought in more money than DS on Friday, but it's looking like it might also be a case that it faded as the weekend progressed. But if the estimates hold, and if DS really does place 5th for the entire 4 day holiday weekend, that will be quite good. Though as I said Friday, even if it does place 7th, that wouldn't be anything to be upset about - especially if the actuals end up being as close as the estimates.

17 days 15 hours 48 minutes 36 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

just came back from seeing chernobyl diaries at the same complex where i saw mib3 last night. this was a late afternoon showing on a holiday. once again i checked the same theatre that was showing dark shadows last night. it was about 70% full! the theatre showing chernobyl was only about 25% full. i thought chernobyl was pretty good despite the negative reviews.

That' encouraging Joe. DS did finish in 5th. Monday estimates are already in. http://boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/