Here’s Box Office Prophets’ extended analysis of the weekend.
Some notes: There was indeed a reviewer embargo on at least AE. So, not in the not-prescreened-for-critics category, but in the we-don’t-want-early-buzz category.
Apparently the overseas rights to NYSM were sold off for $50M. For a $75M film, it’s going to be making money really soon, even after taking PR costs into account.
The Big Story about the weekend is the Bollywood movie Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani $1.6 million at 160ish locations. (It’s playing at 2 theaters within a short distance of me.) A superb per screen average around $10k. The film reunites stars Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone.
A Bollywood movie in limited release finished 9th place folks. And in early summer, not in the winter dead zone. This is going to get a lot of people’s attention.
Is it OK if I’m actually saddened by AE not being very good? I mean, I like the basic concept, and it if wasn’t loaded down by Will Smith’s ego, M. Night’s ego, and probably several other egos along the way, well… wishes and horse and beggars and all that, I guess.
All I’ve seen of AE was one side-of-bus ad featuring Smiths *pere *and fils and my exact reaction was to roll my eyes and say “Give me a fucking break”. So well done to The Onion for once again hitting the nail of truth on the head with the hammer of parody.
I think that metaphor works. Does it work? I think I got away with it…
Note that After Earth hasn’t even opened outside the US. So it might still prove to be a money maker, even if the US opening was weak.
Remember last year when John Carter (based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs novels) was considered a major disaster for Disney? Its failure was so bad that the studio chairman lost his job over the fiasco. In the end, the film did much better overseas. It still lost money but wasn’t even in the top ten of money losers last year.
You’re right, it still could be profitable once it opens everywhere. But even if it is, it will still be considered a disappointment. John Carter and After Earth were both supposed to be the beginnings of new franchises, but that’s unlikely to happen for either.
I believe you were the one who got whooshed there. But whooshers gonna whoosh. Then again both of you could be kidding and I could be falling into some kind of whoosh rabbit hole.
Given the huge and growing international market, you have to produce a serious dog to lose money in the end. Many recent films considered flops here end up turning a tidy profit once the overseas box office is calculated.
Nzinga, I’m sure the Power of Jaden will pull him through this familial disappointment. I’m sure if he plays his cards right, he could be the Charlie to his dad’s Martin Sheen!
It’s fairly likely that this film will lose more than $150M, perhaps as much as $170M. Partially that’s the budget, but it’s also the fact that they spent an insane amount of money on prints and advertising.
It lost well over $100M and was either #1 or #2 last year (I can’t recall where Battleship ended up).
Boxofficemojo says that as of June 13th, After Earth has taken in $99 million total, foreign and domestic. Production budget was $130 million (not sure if that counts advertising and all that crap).
