Was It Worth It - The Films of September

[Shrykespeare]

I used to do this, kind of a Monday-morning quarterback report on the films of the past month, but I stopped doing it because of lack of time and interest. However, out of sheer boredom, I'm bringing it back.

F
Legendary - no PTA points in any league and a 5.0 Rating. A complete waste.
Bran Nue Dae - no PTA points in any league and a 6.2 Rating. Not much better.
Alpha and Omega - one Top 5 point and a 3.5 Rating. A turd and a waste of $8.

D
Going the Distance - Two Top 5, 2 PTA in the Sep-Nov leagues only. 6.4 rating. Its only redeeming quality was its cheapness.
You Again - Only one Top 5 and a 5.5 Rating for $9. Gack.

D+
Jack Goes Boating - A good Rating (7.6), but only one measly PTA point for $4.

C
Devil - Three Top 5, 6.5 Rating, $28M. Not that good for $7.
Legend of the Guardians - Eight Top 5 points (so far) and decent rating (7.3), but it won't even do half what I was expecting in box office. A $16 mirage.

C+
Buried - A terrific 8.0 Rating but only two PTA points and now no hope of a wide release. It was cheap, but we expected more for $6.

B-
Machete - Six Top 5, four PTA, and a 7.5 Rating. Decent pick for its price tag in every category but fell short in dollars earned ($26M).
Resident Evil: Afterlife - Seven Top 5, four PTA, and a 6.5 Rating. $58M is a pretty good take, but with the 3D aspect, we expected more for $15.
Logan - Three Top 5 points, not bad for $3, but was hampered by its 5.7 Rating.

B
Kings of Pastry - Two PTA points and a 7.0 Rating. Not bad for $3.
The American - Eight Top 5 points, five PTA in the Sep-Nov leagues (only one in the others) and a 6.8 Rating, but a below-average take ($35M).

B+
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps - Eight Top 5, a 6.8 Rating and about $40M (so far), but no PTA. Pretty good for $11.

A-
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger - Seven PTA, 6.8 Rating. Pretty darn good for $7.

A
Easy A - No PTA, but seven Top 5 points, an awesome 7.7 Rating, and $44M. Easily exceeded $7 expectations.
Catfish - Seven PTA and a 7.0 Rating, for $5? That's a heck of a deal.
Never Let Me Go - Ditto. Nine PTA and a 7.4 Rating for not much more. Solid pick for $5.

A+
The Town - Ten Top 5 points, three PTA, an 8.1 Rating and $67M? From Ben Affleck?! Who expected that?! Awesome stats for $7.

A++
My Dog Tulip - Ten PTA for $3. 6.6 Rating, but that's more than enough.
Waiting for Superman - a 6.8 Rating and TEN Top 5 points (possibly more). Stellar pick for $5.



And here's how my predictions for September panned out for the wide-release films.

HITS
The American - Predicted $14M OW, $38M overall. Actual $13M OW, $35M overall.
Machete - Predicted $11M OW, $25M overall. Actual $11M OW, $26M overall.
Resident Evil: Afterlife - Predicted $27M OW, $63M overall. Actual $27M OW, $58M overall.
Alpha and Omega - Predicted $9M OW, $20M overall. Actual $9M OW, $20M overall. (NAILED IT!)
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps - Predicted $19M OW, $50M overall. Actual, $19M OW, $39M overall (so far).

MISSES (low)
The Town - Predicted $14M OW, $32M overall. Actual $24M OW, $67M overall (so far).
Easy A - Predicted $11M OW, $25M overall. Actual $18M OW, $44M overall.

MISSES (high)
Going the Distance - Predicted $13M overall, $28M overall. Actual $7M OW, $18M overall.
Devil - Predicted $18M OW, $44 overall. Actual $13M OW, $28M overall.
Legend of the Guardians - Predicted $31M OW, $100M OW. Actual $16M OW, $32M overall (so far). Ugh.
You Again - Predicted $14M OW, $35M overall. Actual $8M OW, $18M overall.

[Brockster]

Thanks Shryke...I've always enjoyed these.

[BanksIsDaFuture]

Still don't know what you were thinking with Guardians doing $100M.

I do like "Was It Worth It?" even if I don't play the game anymore.

[Donte77]

I got sucked into Guardians too. I figured some of the 300 hype, a bit of kid's movie legs and 3D money would be a lock for 80M. People made a good effort to stay away and that sucks. On the other side of the coin, I didn't go see it either even though I talked about it for a month.

[Brockster]

I think for the most part I stayed away from the September films. Which I'm fine with except I wish I would have picked up Superman on my slates instead of Buried (got sucked into the wide release possibility) and I wish I would have picked up The Town on all of slates instead of none of my slates.

[W]

I only put Guardians and Resident Evil on some slates because I was extremely under budget. I probably should have listened to myself...

[Buscemi]

I replaced You Again in most leagues with The Social Network (good) or Let Me In (worse than You Again). The lack of advertising killed that one (that would have grossed $20 million opening weekend had Dick Cook stayed at Disney, he had a talent to get people to eat up dumb comedies like that).

[numbersix]

Great to see this make a return. It's great for looking back and seeing what worked and what didn't. Interesting that beyond the Town there's very little in terms of bang-for-buck wide releases

[Shrykespeare]

Well, it's September, not exactly a hotbed for unbelievable potential. You'll usually find one breakout hit, like Eagle Eye or Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, or, in this case, The Town. I don't imagine there will be more than one blockbuster in October, either.

[numbersix]

Yeah October is looking pretty poor. Jackass 3 is looking to be big. Red could do moderately well, and perhaps Paranormal Activity 2, but there's certainly no one breaking 100 mil. Hell, 75 mil will be a stretch for most.