DELLAMORTE DOES BOX OFFICE 1/4/08

I think if this year can be summed up in to one title, it would be this:

2007: THE YEAR STUFF MADE MONEY

So let’s get on with it, shall we?

HOORAY FOR ORIGINAL IDEAS!

– Seven of the top fifteen are sequels.
– Of the rest: one is a remake, two are based on pre-existing material/toys/cartoons, one is a spin-off of a still-popular TV show, while another is based on a comic book, but isn’t a sequel.
– The most “original” films on this list (in that they were conceived for the big screen first) are Ratatouille, Wild Hogs and Knocked Up.
– With the Rat, it got over partly on the pedigree – or branding – of the Pixar label.
– Wild Hogs got over on playing to the quadrants with well known actors getting hit in the nuts.
– Knocked Up got over partly based on The 40-Year-Old Virgin.
– I am Legend got over because it has one of the few movies stars in the world in it.

This downplays the success of both 300 and I Am Legend, which can’t be said to have gone over based on public interest in the material. But both offered the thrills their trailers promised. Knocked Up also played to word of mouth. People laughed and liked it. Same can be said of Ratatouille. But – for the majority of this list – it would be fair to say that people went to have a good time. Many did not deliver that, as only Bourne, 300, Ratatouille, Wild Hogs and Knocked Up can be called more WOM hits (in that their opening weekend represents less than 1/3 their opening gross). That said, I am Legend and Alvin should also fit under that qualification, while Live Free, Transformers and Harry Potter are left off this as they did not have Friday openings, and so their five days (or in the case of Transformers, seven days) offers a more lopsided picture.

That said:
– Three films charted among in the top 25 of MCN’s Top Ten Big Ass Chart, with Ratatouille #9, Bourne #20 and Knocked Up #22.

HOORAY FOR INTERNATIONAL AND ANCILARIES!

– Spider-Man 3 has a listed production budget of $258 Million.
– Pirates of the Caribbean 3 has a listed production budget of $300 Million.
– Rush Hour 3 has a listed production budget of $140 Million
– Live Free or Die Hard has a listed production budget of $110 Million.

None of these numbers can be trusted to be accurate, and when it comes to films like this, they tend to be low-balled. So it’s fair to say most of these films were not profitable due to stateside grosses (if we go with the standard 2x cost to profit, which doesn’t factor in advertising, prints or synergetic tie-in marketing and product placement). But no one is calling these films losers (well, maybe Rush Hour 3).

HOORAY FOR GOOD TASTE!

In a year that has been compared to 1999, 1974 and 1939, 2007 ranks as one of the great movie years of cinema. Many of these films heralded as great won’t make a lot of money. Of the Movie City News top ten, only Ratatouille ranks. No Country for Old Men may hit fifty plus, Juno has a shot at a nine digit figure, and Sweeney Todd could concieveably pick up some heat and do over $60.

Some of the most memorable films of 1999, which include Eyes Wide Shut, Fight Club, The Insider, and Office Space were not all that successful, whilst box office champions include The Phantom Menace, Austin Powers 2, Toy Story 2, The Sixth Sense, Tarzan, The Matrix and Big Daddy. That could be said to be a more diverse year of successes, but perhaps not.

It was a year, wasn’t it?

2008: WHAT TO LOOK FORWARD TO

More of the same but different. We’ve got sequels (Indy IV, Hellboy II, The Dark Knight), but look at the directors helming them. We’ve got comic books and sequels, but it’s good to be optimistic, and we’ve got at least a handful of Judd Apatow films in the works. Be Hopeful, there’s no point not to. It’s 2009 you’ve got to worry about. Seriously. That year’s going to suck balls. Stee-rike!

PREDICTIONS CAN BE HARMFUL IF SWALLOWED. MAY CAUSE LOOSE STOOLS (THOUGH IT’S FAIR TO SAY THE STOOLS WERE LOOSE TO BEGIN WITH. TWO DRINKS. SERIOUSLY, A LITTLE RUBBER CEMENT TALK AND THEY’RE RARING TO GO)

Zzzzz.

Zzzzz I say? Why’s that? Oh yeah, it’s a new year and there’s really only one major release. One Missed Call. Feel free to guess the Variety headlines on it not cracking the top five: “Audiences Miss Call” “Miss for Missed Call” "Audiences Hung Up on Person to Person Collect Call,” “My Penis is Nick-Named ‘Pierre-August Renoir.’” That’s Variety for you, though, always announcing their penis names. Stealing their jokes from Anchorman, sorta.

1. National Treasure 2 – 19.9 Million
2. Alvin and the Chipmunks – 15.6 Million
3. I Am Legend – 14.4 Million
4. Juno – 12.9 Million
5. One Missed Call – 8.8 Million

And Sunday I yak more. About stuff. And things.