Thanksgiving Weekend

[W]

It's like when the NHL went on strike and the owners complained about the players making too much money. Well, the owners are the ones that paid the players and they wanted people to think that even though they're great businessmen in other areas that they can't figure out how to no throw money at these things. Like they know how much to put into research and development in their tech firm or whatnot, but they can't figure out how much to pay the players because they have a man crush on them. They succeeded in an across the board cut of players salaries by some rather large number (40% comes to mind) because people don't understand this simple law of economics: you're not going to pay for something if you're not going to get what you pay out of it (or think you will). You're not going to buy a $50 video game if its only worth $30 to you, NHL managers won't spend $5 million on a player that they expect to bring the organization $3 million, and studios won't spend $1 million advertising a film that they think is going to benefit $300,000 from the ads.

Basically what you're saying about advertising is that they pick and choose what to advertise by how much they're advertising on other films. Think about it. These are businessmen. Do you think they give two craps about a film like Idiocracy if they don't believe they're going to make money at it? No. Do you think they'd have spent money advertising Idiocracy if they thought they could get some cash out of it? Yes. No matter what else they have going on at the time. If you believe anything different, you're the one being spoon-fed... by either the company or some conspiracy theorist.

The only films that they will advertise are ones where they get paid more than what they spend on the advertising in return. Why would you have it any other way? They're helping to increase awareness and hence increase demand of their product which will increase the equilibrium price (or in this case, the total amount made). Basically, if you know you can sell your house for $50,000 as is, but with $10,000 put into it (labor included) you're going to get $70,000 out of it, you put the money into it. If you're only going to get $55,000 out of it after the investment, you're going to sell it as is.

[Buscemi]

So if you were in the studio head's shoes, you would rather be a money-hungry monster releasing terrible movie after terrible movie rather than releasing good movies that are actually meaningful. If I were in those shoes, I'd rather lose money releasing good movies than make money on bad movies. At least with the good movies, people will find them in the long run and cherish them.

[W]

You act like the news that a studio head is expected to make money is a new concept. Their job is to make the cash. The really good films that win Oscars also normally make more money than the studio spends on them. Even a film like Doubt made 1.5x its budget.

Sometimes studios sacrifice a little cash for awards and sometimes they'll let people do their pet projects because that's the cost of doing business. Money isn't the only thing people make movies for, but it is the main thing if you want to be funded by the studio. Funding a picture you want to make expecting no (or little) money in return is like buying a painting that you really want or a car or whatever possession you want to put in its place and that's bad business. Sometimes a sports owner will know they're paying a player more than his monetary worth, but factoring in the owner's drive to win and how many wins that player is expected to bring in into the equation makes it worth it. Studios aren't owned by one person.

In short, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Sometimes they're going for good movies, but only when they're getting something in return. If you can make a profitable film that is good, you're set. If you've made them a profitable film in the past, will make them a profit in the future, or are making them a profit with the film in question then you're fine with them. Plus awards are worth something as well considering reputation is worth something and the words "Oscar Winning" or "Oscar nominated" bring in more gross. Hell, if you make a film people consider being "good," it'll normally make more than a film considered by most people to be "bad".

Basically studios are there to make money, just as McDonald's is there to make money. You think Wal-Mart gives money to the United Way and whatnot because they're generous? No, they have an image they want to build/maintain.

[Geezer]

So if you were in the studio head's shoes, you would rather be a money-hungry monster releasing terrible movie after terrible movie rather than releasing good movies that are actually meaningful. If I were in those shoes, I'd rather lose money releasing good movies than make money on bad movies. At least with the good movies, people will find them in the long run and cherish them.

Which is why a) you have a lot to learn about the way capitalism works, and b) you will never work in the movie industry. The fact that you wrote the sentence "I'd rather lose money" is just a statement on how ridiculous your entire argument is. No one is going to sacrifice money for their own foolish pride, unless they can afford to do so. Movie execs would have a lot of seriously pissed off workers and stock holders if they took your approach.

P.S. There is no such thing as a good movie, as they are all subjective. These movies make money because they have an audience that finds them good. Just because you are in the minority of opinion on them and think they are bad does not make you right. You are not the "master of quality" when it comes to films. Films like New Moon make 140 million dollars in their opening weekend because they are beloved by their audience. Are you a better person than their fans because you think its a "bad" movie? No. Because it is just your opinion.

[frendo]

http://blog.redbox.com/redblog/2009/11/ ... tinks.html

[Buscemi]

Let's just hope that these movies don't create a market for more Mormon horror films with terrible writing and acting.

Also, I see Summit going broke once this series ends due to the high volume of flops that they have had outside of Twilight. Their 2010 slate goes like this: Eclipse....and that's it.

The rest of their schedule features:
-a couple of sappy romance films (one with a non-vampire Pattinson)
-an environmental comedy from the director of Cruel Intentions
-a potentially unreleaseable film directed by Roman Polanski (I actually think that they will drop the film though due to the controversy surrounding him)
-a movie where Mel Gibson talks to a beaver puppet
-an action film from the director of People Who Fight Random Strangers For YouTube Videos, I mean Never Back Down
-a thriller with DTV regulars Val Kilmer and Ving Rhames
-a foreign film about Pope Joan
-and an adaptation of an obscure comic book (anyone remember the numbers on Surrogates?)

Seriously, this is not a good slate of movies.

[numbersix]

BOM 3-day weekend estimates

1 The Twilight Saga: New Moon $42,500,000
2 The Blind Side $40,125,000
3 2012 $18,000,000
4 Old Dogs $16,846,000
5 A Christmas Carol (2009) $16,003,000
6 Ninja Assassin $13,135,000
7 Planet 51 $10,200,000
8 Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" $7,090,000
9 The Fantastic Mr. Fox $7,020,000
10 The Men Who Stare at Goats $1,533,000

PTA
1 The Princess and the Frog
2 Broken Embraces
3 Me and Orson Welles
4 The Road
5 The Blind Side

New Moon is scarily popular, and in 10 days has earned $230 million!
Blind Side is also proving to be exceptional.
Old Dogs has underperformed.

[Buscemi]

In the process, New Moon has dropped 70% in its second week. I wonder how much bigger the third week drop will be?

And how is 2012 still performing well? Shouldn't this have died after the first week?

In other news, The Blind Side actually went up 18% from its first week.

[Shrykespeare]

Super League and Regular League Updates (FINAL CUT!!)


Ultimate FY Round Nine

Out: undeadmonkey, W, chugsthemonkey, Walleye413, A_Roode, mutard7
Bubble: none
Into the Final Round: JackO, jas_8382, Shrykespeare, thswrestler160, leestu, Donte77, geezer9687, codeslinger, Spectre, J-Man, Scripps, Aquamann2001


Ultimate HY2 Round Four

Out: chugsthemonkey, akibaali, J-Man, englishozzy, Ron_Burgundy, Donte77
Bubble: As of now, five players Joko, W, Nycguy84, Aquamann2001 and A_Roode) are within 1.5 points of each other. Only one of the five will move on to the final round, unless there is a tie. As it stands right now, Joko and W are tied for that final spot, and the rest are either 0.5 or 1.5 points behind. It will all come down to User Rating changes.
Into the Final Round: jas_8382, kblane, Shrykespeare, longhorn_419, JackO, geezer9687, thswrestler160, Spectre, Scripps, codeslinger, undeadmonkey


Box Office FY Round Nine

Out: thswrestler160, SuperShaan, JackO, Aquamann2001, Graywolf
Into the Final Round: W, JohnErle, Shrykespeare, wcrew2000, BarcaRulz, jas_8382, geezer9687, Keyser Soze, Scripps, Spectre, codeslinger, A_Roode, J-Man


Box Office HY2 Round Four

Out: SuperShaan, thswrestler160, Buscemi, delfinasu, SAMIAM1000, JackO, mutard7, Aquamann2001
Bubble: Dantic leads Graywolf by $2.8M, pending the final numbers.
Into the Final Round: W, Shrykespeare, JohnErle, BarcaRulz, jas_8382, geezer9687, Donte77, Chienfantome, Scripps, codeslinger, Keyser Soze, A_Roode


Ultimate Regulars "The Usual Suspects"

Winner: Shrykespeare
2nd Place: jas_8382
3rd Place: geezer9687


Box Office Regulars "Patrick Swayze (R.I.P.)"

Winner: Keyser Soze
2nd Place: BanksIsDaFuture
3rd Place: Shrykespeare

Keyser and Banks had identical slates, with only one difference. Banks' Princess and the Frog amassed an incredible $1.142M in only two theaters in only five days, but it wasn't enough to top Keyser's I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, which made $1,417,696 in its theatrical run. Result: Keyser wins by only $275K, the closest B.O. Regulars league ever.


It looks like only five players will be able to brag that they made it all the way to the end in all six tournaments this year:

geezer9687
jas_8382
Scripps
Shrykespeare

codeslinger makes it to the final round in five of six.

[undeadmonkey]

that really sucks that i got booted in the FY ULT....

[KeyserSoze]

Holy S*#t!!!! This is the first time I have ever won a league. In the words of the genie from one of the funniest Bugs Bunny cartoons ever made, "Three cheers and a tiger for me!!!!"

[J.I.]

In the process, New Moon has dropped 70% in its second week. I wonder how much bigger the third week drop will be?

The original's third weekend drop was a lot smaller than its second weekend drop.

And also, this was the third weekend in a row that two movies crossed $100 million. Two weeks ago it was Paranormal Activity and Couples Retreat, last weekend 2012 and New Moon made it there and this weekend it was A Christmas Carol and The Blind Side.

[Buscemi]

It's probably unlikely will see the process repeat this week, considering the lineup is basically disappointing Holiday holdovers, two Oscar bait remakes (one of which already looks like a relic compared to a certain summer release of its kind), a delayed thriller that is opening in fewer theatres than originally estimated and a horror/comedy that may or may not open.

Also, I could see some heads rolling at Disney due to the disappointing box office of Old Dogs. It looked like a can't miss hit but its $25 million five-day start has disappointed seemingly everyone (though it will make a profit due to its lower than average budget). I blame the marketing department for the disappointing box office, due to not releasing a second trailer before opening and because of the ghastly final poster with the actors in white backgrounds and Seth Green being held by a gorilla. It fails as art and it fails in trying to get people to see the film.

Meanwhile if The Princess and The Frog fails in wide release, the marketing department will be to blame again. Often, people only remember the final trailers of movies instead of the teasers (examples: The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button had a terrible teaser but a great final trailer and that film was a hit, while The Golden Compass had a great teaser but a terrible final trailer and it flopped). In The Princess and The Frog's case, the teaser was great but the final trailer was terrible as it put more emphasis on sophomoric humor than the fact that the film is Disney's big comeback. If people don't come to see the film, you can put all of the blame on the trailer.

[Geezer]

I also made it to the final round in 5 of 6 Shryke. I was cut one round before the final in BO HY 1.

So really, just 3 players can make that claim, but that's still 2 more than last year

Congrats to those three, including the hard working man himself.

[BanksIsDaFuture]

As well as P&F is doing in just 2 theaters, I doubt it'll have trouble finding viewers in wide release. Especially since it's the only movie opening on Dec. 11th.