Anyway.
It's a good thing I'm not an executive because I super suck at predicting the Box Office. It was a weekend filled with new movies, yet nothing made any real money. I thought Piranha 3D and Nanny McPhee Returns were going to take the weekend and The Expendables was going to drop to number 3. I was pretty sure Vampires Suck was going to tank.
Instead Piranha and Nanny came in 6th and 7th respectively, with Piranha making just enough to stay afloat and Nanny pretty much a bomb. Are the kids all back in school? They aren't around here, but I'm guessing in many other states this was the first week of school, or that everybody spent their movie money on backpacks. Usually kids movies do well, and a sequel should do even better, but not this time, clearly.
I almost wanted to see Piranha 3D just for the sheer joy of watching what is essentially a Syfy movie with better effects on the big screen, but 1) I HATE 3D and 2) I was busy getting ready for my trip. Plus I'd already decided that if I saw something this weekend it would be Scott Pilgrim. But I doubt that was everybody else's reason for avoiding this film. Since it made 10mil in opening weekend and had a budget of 24mil, I'm sure the studio will survive it. But I just thought it would do better. Maybe it lost its crowd to The Expendables.
The Lottery Ticket coming in at #4 I totally get. It's a great idea for a story, something everyone can relate to, and it's so rare that we get a film aimed at black audiences that when one comes along it generally cleans up.
But Vampires Suck? Did Twilight fans really go see this? I know that's what the actors in the film kept saying, but I thought it was pretty obvious this film was poking fun at them all. Are they that starved for vampire love stories that they'll even go for the spoofy kind?
All in all, it was an interesting weekend at the movies with so many opening so close to the end of summer. What are your thoughts?
It's surprising to me that Vampires Suck is even a movie. Sure, once something like vampires so oversaturates the cinema, it's inevitable that parody shall arise. Nonetheless, such derivative and obvious mocking barely seems above its subject. Maybe now people will stop writing vampire movies. Since apparently The Vampire's Assistant just didn't prove the point.
ReplyDeleteI'm also surprised that Piranha 3D didn't make more. Perhaps it should have opened weeks earlier. The target audience is headed back to college at this point, right?
ReplyDeleteDid you see Scott Pilgrim yet? Would love to know your thoughts.
I can't think of a single year from 1990 to the present when summer movie offerings have been so dismal. It's just pathetic and the one or two diamonds (Inception) can't even come close to off-setting the crap fest that moviegoers have been subject to.
ReplyDeleteKim I really wanted to see Scott Pilgrim but I just never had the time. I'm sad that it tanked, and I suppose I am partly to blame.
ReplyDeleteI do so love Edgar Wright.
Emily: Ditto on the love for Edgar Wright and Scott Pilgrim tanking. Did you see the Vanity Fair article about this? I should have skipped Eat Pray Love (yes, I know, the travelogue called to me, should have known it was a siren song) and watched Scott Pilgrim the first weekend it opened; I'm going asap.
ReplyDeleteBTW - Check out Wright & Pegg's Spaced series (if you haven't already). It's great.
Yeah if I'd known Scott Pilgrim was going to tank I probably would have seen it opening weekend.
ReplyDeleteAnd Spaced has been creeping up my queue. I keep hearing about how good it was.
Spaced should be creeping up your queue quicker. Trust me. It's the only thing I watch once a year without fail. :)
ReplyDelete