competition for serenity on release day

POSTED BY: est120
UPDATED: Tuesday, March 29, 2005 08:24
VIEWED: 6498
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CALIGARI

Friday, March 25, 2005 7:38 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by est120:
according to the schedule i looked at (which may be completely inaccurate), serenity is opening against two movies that are limited release and a roman polanski version of oliver twist. in fact, there does not appear (at this time) to be another action/sci fi movie opening in the month of september.

According to Box Office Mojo, who seems to have a handle on such things, yes, it does seem that _Serenity_ will open with very little competition. The week before, however, there's _Tim Burton's Corpse Bride_ and _The Pink Panther_ remake and a Al Pacino drama, and the week after is the _Wallace and Gromit_ movie. Opening day is important, and assuming that Burton or _Panther_ doesn't undercut overall attendance, _Serenity_ has a good shot at #1 for that week.

Legs at the box office are also important, 'cause a theater, what's more, a theater _chain_, can cut a film loose pretty quickly. Go opening weekend, of course, but I think going, say, the weekend that _Zorro 2_ comes out, three weeks later, can send a particular message to All Concerned....

TETHYS

Friday, March 25, 2005 7:59 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Malicious:
I just pictured all of us Browncoats at the starting line and the gun going off then everyone running and pushing to be the first one to be serene.

It was funnier in my head.

Mal-licious

Co-Holder of the Red Bell from Hell

Does this mean I get to knock ya to the ground at the cinema IN PERSON?!?!

LOL :P

"Your mouth is talking. Might wanna look to that"
I am: http://redwing.hutman.net/%7Emreed/warriorshtm/bigcat.htm

ZEEK

Friday, March 25, 2005 8:01 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by est120:

i understand your point of view. i would, however, like to add that in my opinion, there are very few movies that have a built in audience. there are plenty of movies that are reasonably original (such as original is truly original these days) that do quite well in the theatre in their particular genre.

I don't know. I tend to think most movies that do well at the box office are those that have pretty well defined genres. Shoot em up action movies have a set of people who will go see them. Romantic comedies have a set of people who will go see them. Dramas have their group. I guess we get the scifi group at best. Though I don't even see Firefly really appealing to the whole scifi community. It's not a big war in space with aliens. I usually try to tell potential converts that Firefly is about the people not the setting.

Bah maybe I'm just worried because I've run into a few potential converts who just can't seem to get past the western in space thing.

SALTYGOODNESS

Friday, March 25, 2005 11:24 PM

I think your concerns are valid, ZEEK, but I also have never seen such chatter about a movie so far in advance....FFFans are truly dedicated! I forsee my dilemma as being "how do I satisfy my curiosity about how well the movie is doing when I am sitting in the theatre watching SERENITY over and over again?" I am going to be dying to know how much the film is making on opening day/weekend/week, etc. Guess I will have to bring a laptop?

CALIGARI

Saturday, March 26, 2005 5:55 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SaltyGoodness:
I am going to be dying to know how much the film is making on opening day/weekend/week, etc.

www.boxofficemojo.com has functions that allow you to track a film's take on nearly a daily basis, averages per screen, and where a film stands compared to other releases. It's a filmgeek timesink....

http://www.livejournal.com/users/tomehoarder/

TOMANTA

Saturday, March 26, 2005 7:32 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SoupCatcher:

*editted to add: Although I am concerned that either The Corpse Bride or The Pink Panther may have staying power (they open the week before).

I'm more concerned about second-week openings competing with Serenity.

Corpse Bride I don't think will be a problem. It will do well the first weekend, but its second weekend most of Serenity's audience that want to see it likely will have.

Pink Panther...depends on the critic reviews. This summer is LOADED with sure-to-be-horrid remakes, mostly of TV shows. By September people will be sick of them. But I don't think PP's audience is the same as Serenity's first-week, so I don't see a problem there.

I think the BDM needs two good weekends at the box office. The first weekend is not a problem, the fanbase is large enough to support it. Second week is the word-of-mouth week... that's the weekend that needs to be free of competition.

"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."

NYWOE

Saturday, March 26, 2005 7:35 AM

Quote:
I also have never seen such chatter about a movie so far in advance

Lord of the Rings was comparable. Of course, that's a good sign.

I have heard of a place where humans do battle in a ring of Jell-O.
--Teal'c

PIGEON

Saturday, March 26, 2005 9:27 PM

I think Serenity will appeal to a lot more than your standard sci-fi audience. I have been talking up the Firefly DVDs on a women's online group and getting more FF converts...because they all think Mal is a major hottie! (It probably helps that a couple of us post pics of him on the board).
So don't discount the non-sci-fi movie-goers. Serenity has a great chance at being big.
Talk it up to your "normal" friends, especially online buddies.

Pigeon
Newly converted to FFFandom Feburary 2005

DIETCOKE

Saturday, March 26, 2005 9:59 PM

So does that mean I have to start working out to get in shape for the starting line? ;) I think everyone who goes should wear something Fireflyish so we can all seat together like one big happy extended family.

DIETCOKE

Saturday, March 26, 2005 10:20 PM

Even Firefly fans like me love the show and I'm not into Science/Fiction. So yes, it definately will appeal to others.

We just have to make sure we bring our friends to see the show the second week.

Can't wait!

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