Woohoo!
That, and the Simpsons Season 5 on the same day…it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Finally the UK gets something first:
Shaun
Top movie. 
Yeah…I’ve deliberately not bought it from the UK, as I figured it would be out over here before Xmas, in order to cash in on the unexpected popularity of the flick.
Besides, if I bought the UK DVD, I could watch it, but not lend it to any of my friends without region-free machines. This way I don’t always have to be the host!
Did it do well over there?
Canada I can almost understand but I would have thought it was fairly British humour for the States.
Having said that Monty Python went down well over there as well, didn’t.
Anyway, glad to see it was a success.
According to Box Office Mojo, it did as well in the US as it did in the rest of the world combined.
I didn’t get a chance to see it in the theaters, but it’s on my “to buy” list.
If it has the same extras, you’re in for a treat. Possibly the best collection of extras I’ve seen on a DVD - several subtitle tracks (including an entertaining ‘trivia’ one), four full commentaries (at least two of which are excellent), making-of documentaries, cast video diaries, extra video diaries, out-takes, deleted scenes, storyboard comparison, plot hole explanations and more.
Pretty much a cult hit, but a biggish one: there are lots of Americans who enjoy the “Office-AbFab-Python” type humour.
Here’s the data on the box office:
Lucky you. I would have much rather seen it on DVD than have paid ten dollars to see it in the theater. It’s one of those movies.
Yippee! I am so there.
As quintessentially British as the movie is, it’s not so much that it can’t transcend cultures. I think that’s one of its hugely positive aspects, amongst so many others.
Except maybe for “Cornetto”.
Speaking as an American “Shaun” fan…
“Shaun” did pretty well in the U.S. It wasn’t a blockbuster by any means, but it found a sizable, appreciative cult audience.
The problem was NOT the peculiarly British nature of the humor, by the way. The problem was really the subject matter. Even a superb film about flesh-eating zombies has only a limited potential audience in the U.S. Women just aren’t interested in seeing such films, and kids aren’t allowed to! That’s why even the great George Romero had only modest hits with his zombie flicks here in the States.
Ironically, I think a lot of women would love “Shaun,” if they could overlook the subject matter and give it a chance. It’s very funny and even surprisingly touching at times.
Well, as I’ve been telling sceptical women friends: “it’s a romance story…with zombies.”