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it's obviously a little difficult to gauge something as big as this, but are people a little high on hype maybe?

Endgame made $3M more than TFA on previews, so highest preview ever yea. Even if Endgame beats TFA's records by say $10M each day, that puts it at $280M, yet i'm seeing numbers of $315M+, where's the extra $40M coming from?

Also, good on JAS and Nico for taking the film at the 27 and 31 pick on the draft. You think Marvel will permanently start the summer at the end of April now, or was just a 2 year Avengers fluke?

https://deadline.com/tag/avengers-endgame/

I'm out of superlatives, folks. I frankly wonder if we are EVER going to see this sort of "event" film theatrical penetration / dominance, again. This is more than a release -- it's a true cultural milestone, like "Star Wars" was, "Jaws", "Return of the King". This film redefines the notion of "blockbuster", and, I have to say, it's EARNED.

I think we may have hit Peak Theatrical Release, here. I don't believe "Episode IX" will approach this, nor any "Avatar" sequel. This is just unprecedented, incomparable, singular. There is NO film in the pipeline with this sort of potential. Yes, inflation will move the goalposts some, but I don't know that this OW frame is going to be replicated in my lifetime. Certainly not in the next half-decade.

As for redefining the "Summer movie season", yeah, I think that ship has sailed. If Disney's smart -- and there's NO ONE wiser, I don't think -- they will stake out this weekend in perpetuity for major MCU releases, make a tradition of it the way May used to be for Fox's "Star Wars" releases, Thanksgiving for "Harry Potter", Christmas for "LOTR" and Disney "Wars" is now. If they don't, others will try... And, well, I wish them good fortune in the studio wars to come.

No "fluke", that's not the right word: This was the right move for the right films at the right time. People are going to remember where and who and what they were, when they saw "Endgame" for the first time. It's going to be THAT impactful, the filmgoing event an entire generation will be defined by.

--Nico.

undeadmonkey wrote:
Also, good on JAS and Nico for taking the film at the 27 and 31 pick on the draft. You think Marvel will permanently start the summer at the end of April now, or was just a 2 year Avengers fluke?

I definitely think the last weekend of April is the new start of the summer for Marvel.

Wow, this post is jam packed with innuendo!

penetration / dominance

This is more than a release

Peak Release

Brockster wrote:Wow, this post is jam packed with innuendo!

penetration / dominance

This is more than a release

Peak Release

Endgame is so money that Disney probably doesn't even realize it. They're like a big bear, man.

"Endg4me" is now projected to earn more money by Sunday evening, than THE DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE HAS EVER EARNED IN A SINGLE WEEKEND.

Here's how crazy this is: My wife, Nicomissus, has NEVER before been so excited to see a film, that she has gone and seen a movie on her own, by herself, without me or one of the kids or a friend. She bought a last-minute ticket to drive 25 MILES to see it at 10:20 P.M. She just couldn't wait to see it with me and Nicoprincess. It was on her mind all day; she "couldn't stop thinking about it".

This movie, finally, made her a genre fan. And she's so straight, so practical, so much of a normie, she's actually terrifying. She is a nullity of me. She has been impervious to the fanaticism of "Star Wars", "The Lord of the Rings", "Harry Potter", "Star Trek"... EVERYTHING. A battleship of unimpressedness. UNTIL NOW.

This is a pop-culture moment that finally demanded she join the popular culture. It made her a fangirl.

Blown. Away. This is nuts. And getting nutser.

--Nico.

PostScript: The bigmouths are actually driving "Endgame"'s opening-weekend grosses higher. People are throwing up their hands and deciding not to wait, even, until Sunday night, because if they do they might have it spoiled.

--Nico.

...Ummmm, guys? Guys? We're headed north of $400M, now; maybe even higher. Possibly, to The Moon.

I suspect a MASSIVE second-weekend drop-off, but, this film is going to have $500M in the bank, or, near enough, by the end of this month. And that's just from North American grosses.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmende ... rd-friday/

--Nico.

I talked to an old friend who owns a small chain of indie / art house theaters on the West Coast a few hours ago. He says he's hearing that a $420M domestic opening weekend is possible, maybe even likely. Almost all major (digital) exhibitors are abandoning nearly ALL of their other advertised titles to screen nothing BUT "Endgame" until tomorrow afternoon. And he says his own theaters are seeing a holiday-esque "boomlet", up 50 to 70% for independent fare, as older audiences and non-MCU fans flee to see more adult and serious fare, and/or avoid the younger / fanboy crowds.

I also learned something I never knew -- because it only ever rarely happens, and only a few interests can afford it, anyway -- but ought to have suspected: When an exhibitor / cinema decides to forgo screening a film it has committed to, IT MUST PAY A FOREFEITURE FEE TO THE DISTRIBUTOR / STUDIO FOR THE LOSS OF THEIR INCOME / REPUTATIONAL DAMAGE TO THEIR PRODUCT. And most theaters won't cancel a screening that has even ONE ticket sold. Now, DISNEY won't be cutting those checks; AMC and Cinemark and Regal and Loews and Carmike will. And usually there are guarantees of remuneration, like, 70% of capacity.* So THAT means that EXHIBITORS ARE MAKING SO MUCH MONEY OFF CONCESSIONS, ETC., FROM "ENDG4ME", THAT THEY ARE WILLING TO REFUND AMOUNTS EQUIVALENT TO OVER TWO-THIRDS OF THE VALUE OF FULL-PRICED TICKET SALES BACK TO OTHER STUDIOS, JUST TO SHOW "AVENGERS" ON AS MANY SCREENS AS THEY CAN SHOEHORN IT INTO.

He also said that he knows of at least one major theater that set up an impromptu outdoor amphitheatre-style screening, at discount, just to accommodate the overflow crowds and ensure they wouldn't leave to seek tix elsewhere. THAT'S INSANE.

So, to recap: MAJOR THEATER CHAINS ARE CUTTING CHECKS TO WB SO THEY DON'T HAVE TO SCREEN "SHAZAM!" (AMONG OTHER FILMS.)

Buscemi2, Chien, Eoin, trans, etc., can you confirm any of this? Y'all have your fingers on the pulse of the industry, and I'd love to hear your take. And everyone else's.

--Nico.

* ...I ASSUME that that's 70% of whatever total revenues off ticket sales that would have NORMALLY been owed to the studio, but, I didn't think to ask.

Haven't heard any widespread reports, but all of that sounds correct to me. My local AMC in Danvers, MA, which was remodeled about 18 months ago to get recliners/reserved seating put in and now barely has any theaters outside of the IMAX that can hold over 100 people, canceled a couple of late night screenings (1 for Pet Sematary, 1 for Us) they had initially booked all weekend long so they could add a pair of midnight screenings for the night owls/people who got shut out of the 85 earlier showings, but nothing else was effected. The other AMC I frequent in Boston is the biggest theater in the city, so they've been prepared for this onslaught the whole time. They had screenings booked from 7:00 AM to 12:30 AM from the jump (it's playing in 13 of their 19 theaters) and had every other movie they were showing more than once or twice either start showing around 12:30-1:30 to accommodate all of the early showings (The Curse of La Llorona, Captain Marvel) or stop showing around 6:30-7 (Shazam!, Little, Breakthrough) to accommodate the later ones. Whoever manages their theater should share that insight with their peers so they're not caught off guard the next time a full blown sensation like this comes around (which clearly isn't likely to happen again anytime soon).

https://deadline.com/2019/04/avengers-e ... 120260244/

--Nico.

I can't confirm anything, Nico. My local Drafthouse on Thursday night showed nothing but Endgame but by the weekend, they had other movies playing (I might see Dumbo later in the week before it's pulled).

On Friday night, I was in Times Square and with 38 screens, there was no need to pull anything. Lots of screen-splitting though (I mentioned in another thread that I went to the only evening showing of Family and that was doing well).

Gotcha, boss. Appreciate it. I was in Times Square last Summer, my first time back in The Apple in over thirty years. Never knew how much I'd missed it until I was there again. Good times [heh].

--Nico.