« byob on the road... | Main | BO Add »
August 16, 2008
Friday Numbers
Once again, iPhoning it in means less detail. But...
Tropic Thunder is making excuses for rolling out slower than a Pineapple Express, the most bizarre one - especially for a movie that chose a release date during the Olympics - being that Michael Phelps is slowing the movie's roll. Or could it be... uh... that a comedy about arrogant people in Hollywood appeals more to the geeks and the older critics who are enraged by Holllywood excess than anyone else?
The big problem is not the marketing - the thing has been shoved down America's gullet endlessly for months - or even the number - though the arrogance of this and Pneapple on back-to-back weeks is breathtaking - but the price tag. Pineapple will cover its $30m pricetag and much of it's marketing in theatrical. At 100m+, Tropic will be sweating international, hoping against hope to do What Stays In Vegas numbers overseas.
Speaking of Fox, another exciting non-centenian, unripe opening for Fox... but even P-Goldy must admit that $10m+ for Mirrors is a positive surprise.
As is a good start for Vicki Cristina Barcelona on just 693 screens.
All of Klady's estimates are on the front page...
Posted by dpoland at August 16, 2008 11:15 AM
Comments
Saw Tropic Thunder Thursday night. Liked it more than you without necessarily disagreeing with you about its problems.
But I suspect the red band trailer scared off some women and sensitive souls. Lots of blood, gore and carnage mixed with the comedy -- not a combo that screams mass appeal (I think Pineapple Express sold the action more than the violence). And much of the comedy is satire -- another red flag, as you suggest.
Downey is fantastic -- if Kevin Kline could win an Oscar for A Fish Called Wanda, I don't see why Downey wouldn't have a shot at a nod for this.
Posted by: yancyskancy ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/nav-commenters.gif)
at August 16, 2008 01:11 PM
Downey's this month's Oscar talk Ledger!
I still think out of the two performances, I prefer Ledger. Then again, on a whole Tropic Thunder's sum isn't as good as its parts. I laughed a lot, but yeah, at the end of it I didn't really care. Maybe that's the point.
Posted by: Aladdin Sane at August 16, 2008 01:25 PM
Saw Tropic Thunder at a matinee. Laughed my ass off. Borat had brilliant parts, but overall TT was consistently hilarious. "I was wrong! I was wrong!" ROTFLMAO.
Posted by: doug r at August 16, 2008 04:48 PM
VCB = Rebecca Hall = complete, total and wholesale ownage. This chick needs to star in EVERYTHING.
With those immediate Thursday drops and underwhelming weekend numbers, can "Pineapple" and "Thunder" be officially considered ONE-DAY WONDERS?
Posted by: LexG at August 16, 2008 05:03 PM
Caught TT here in the heart of the midwest thia afternoon. The theater was less than 1/3 full. A few chuckles. The only time I laughed out loud was when Stiller did that thing in the jungle. Yeah. RDJ was great, but, as we all have known for years, he's great in everything.
Posted by: EOTW at August 16, 2008 06:07 PM
I wish Keifer Sutherland had done a Dane Cook and complained about the key art for Mirrors. Those were some of the ugliest posters I've ever seen.
Here's hoping Vicky Cristina Barcelona has a big uptick on Saturday just to make it a bit more solid.
Posted by: KamikazeCamelV2.0 at August 16, 2008 06:48 PM
Who so much like I hopes that Downey's "bone" does grow with the color of change in his skin.
Who want to make bet that he get more of the womans, because once you grow black you never glow back!
Posted by: DaneCookForLife at August 16, 2008 10:34 PM
"Tropic Thunder" is skewing older per Variety. At least DreamWorks is using star power to promote the film.
For the geeks out there "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" might be the first Woody Allen title available in DLP.
Posted by: Chucky in Jersey at August 18, 2008 09:41 AM
"Skewing older": 25-39.
Posted by: Cadavra at August 18, 2008 10:58 PM
"At least DreamWorks is using star power to promote the film."
...why?
Posted by: jeffmcm at August 19, 2008 12:19 AM
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)