Box Office Report...

[bob_barron 0]

Most of the movies though to be fair were arthouse releases and therefore got little if any hype. Do you know many of these were wide releases, Bob?

 

Slow Burn opened on 1,163 screens.

The Abandoned opened on 1,000 screens.

DOA was on 500 screens.

Skinwalkers was on 800 screens.

 

Everything else was sub-500.

 

GI Jesus (pronounced Hay-Soos)-

 

A Mexican national, Jesus Feliciano, returning to California from Iraq where he had soldiered in exchange for grant of US citizenship, suffers trauma related to his battle experience and imagines his family life threatened.

[King Kamala 0]

I could have sworn The Tripper was a wide release for some reason. It opened on the same weekend as Hot Fuzz here in Portland, which probably stole almost all of its potential audience here.

[bob_barron 0]

It wasn't tracked by boxofficemojo which leads me to believe that Shortcut to Happiness (Alec Baldwin movie that he took his name off of and was delayed for 5 years) also didn't reach $1,000.

[King Kamala 0]

It wasn't tracked by boxofficemojo which leads me to believe that Shortcut to Happiness (Alec Baldwin movie that he took his name off of and was delayed for 5 years) also didn't reach $1,000.

 

 

Was that the one based on The Devil and Daniel Webster?

[LivingLegendGaryColeman 0]

Out of Bob's list I've heard of...

Funny Money

The Last Sin Eater

Nomad: The Warrior

Slow Burn

Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror

Blind Dating

DOA: Dead or Alive

Dynamite Warrior

Skinwalkwers.

 

I have yet to see any of them, but most of them I only associated with the video.

 

Funny Money I heard was alright, it is based off of a play.

 

Nomad I heard was a cross between Gladiator and 300.

 

Slow Burn has a decent enough cast (Liotta, LL Cool J, Taye Diggs), but I don't remember too much advertising for it when it came to the theaters. The only advertising I remember for it was Blockbuster had signs in the window saying "See this in theaters" and I think it came out against some big competition IIRC.

 

Blind Dating I saw a TON of promos for. I thought it was a joke at first, but after seeing the it over and over accpeted it was in fact a real movie, but I never realized when it hit theaters.

[LivingLegendGaryColeman 0]

It wasn't tracked by boxofficemojo which leads me to believe that Shortcut to Happiness (Alec Baldwin movie that he took his name off of and was delayed for 5 years) also didn't reach $1,000.

 

 

Was that the one based on The Devil and Daniel Webster?

 

Yes. With him, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Anthony Hopkins, Dan Aykroyd and a few others.

 

http://imdb.com/title/tt0263265/

[bob_barron 0]

Devil and Daniel Webster had a tortured history.

 

The film was seized in a federal investigation and was in limbo for years. The Yari Film Group (which specialises in buying up indie movies with recogniseable names) picked up the movie and totally recut it.

 

Baldwin disowned their cut of the movie and a pseudonym was used. He even urged people to "boycott" the movie. The film was released in Fort Myers, Rochester, Las Vegas, Columbus and somewhere in California. It had mostly negative reviews and as I said, Yari Film Group did not track its box office.

 

Slow Burn was filmed in 2003. It didn't even have a premiere until it was shown at the Toronto Film Festival. It was shown all over the world before the US picked it up. It looked intriguing, as I like those kind of movies, and Ray Liotta constantly yelling FIVE AM WHAT'S GOING DOWN made me laugh

[Smartly Pretty 0]

I'm also surprised Hot Rod's not doing that well. I read somewhere the script was originally written for Will Ferrel. Not sure what that has to do with anything, but I enjoy mentioning it.

[King Kamala 0]

I'm also surprised Hot Rod's not doing that well. I read somewhere the script was originally written for Will Ferrel. Not sure what that has to do with anything, but I enjoy mentioning it.

 

Smart idea he turned it down. Not just because it bombed but probably a bunch of people would have thought he was ripping off himself ( Talladega Nights)

 

 

I'm kind of intrigued to see Shortcut to Happiness, I'll definitely give it a rental if it comes to DVD.

[Gary Floyd 0]

From what I remember, Lionsgate was really pushing for "The Abandoned". It won Horrorfest (Though I wish the winner had been "Gravedancers", since it was the best one), had plenty of commercials, and was advertised on tons of websites. In spite of all that, it tanked, which is a shame.

[Hank Kingsley 0]

I thought some of the best parts of Hot Rod were the things The Lonely Island guys added in. Hoobastank, Cool Beans, the Footloose homage. The script itself had actually been around since 1999 so they did a lot of uncredited rewrites.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

I saw Hot Rod. It was awful.

[bob_barron 0]

Hooray for Skinwalkers!!!

 

After Dark Films woefully underestimated its box office take. It actually grossed $753,520 giving it a per screen average of.....

 

 

$1,011!

 

Hot Rod was originally designed as a Will Ferrell vehicle, but the studio decided not to go ahead with it. He stayed on as producer, the Lonely Island guys got a hold of the script and the rest is history

 

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

I think I said this in that "Best Movie of 2007 (so far)" thread when I ranked all the movies I had seen that, unfortunatley, I did see Rise: Blood Hunter. I kept complaining to the group I had never heard of the film but they insisted there were commercials, plus we were late for Knocked Up (the movie we were supposed to see). I'm fairly certain the driver was late on purpose so we had no choice in the matter (and it was his girlfriend that wanted to see it instead of Knocked Up) but he blamed his brother for not saving his game fast enough. Whatever, it's all of their fault.

[bob_barron 0]

Was the movie really lowbudget and just happened to somehow draw some names or what?

 

I can't believe instead of seeing Knocked Up, you had to see that

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Yeah, we left the movie wondering how the movie managed to attract that cast and have nude scenes to boot. It was almost as if they had planned this to be some big summer vampire movie then had their funding cut. They didn't even bother cleaning up Lucy's reflection on glass doors in post.

[haws bah gawd 0]

Since we're on the subject of abysmal box offices, I have a couple of questions. What are the biggest bombs of all time when it comes to budget-to-ticket sales, and just low ticket sales in general?

[bob_barron 0]

Zzyx Road is the lowest grossing movie of all time, grossing $30.

 

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20011268,00.html

 

There's an article about it.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._box_office_bombs

 

There's a list of massive bombs, just going by their US gross.

[bob_barron 0]

Yeah, we left the movie wondering how the movie managed to attract that cast and have nude scenes to boot. It was almost as if they had planned this to be some big summer vampire movie then had their funding cut. They didn't even bother cleaning up Lucy's reflection on glass doors in post.

 

It was produced by Ghost House Pictures (which specialises in horror movies) and Destination Films (which does low budget movies)

 

It looks like one of those movies that was filmed two years ago, everyone realised it sucked, and Sony Pictures probably has some deal with Ghost House and Destination where they had to distribute it.

[haws bah gawd 0]

Zzyx Road is the lowest grossing movie of all time, grossing $30.

 

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20011268,00.html

 

There's an article about it.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._box_office_bombs

 

There's a list of massive bombs, just going by their US gross.

 

Zzyx Road sounds rather interesting. Tom Sizemore not only has the distinction of being one of the biggest drug addicts in all of Hollywood, but he is also attached to the lowest domestic-grossing film of all time to boot. Good job!

[bob_barron 0]

Because in Hollywood, no movie is released without a similiar movie being released at the same time....

 

We have Zzyx which was released straight to video in May.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0420346/

 

It looks like Zzyx was made before Zzyx Road

[Longdogger_Pete 0]

I've heard of Zzyx Road.

 

Oh, and I saw DOA. Not in theaters either. Not much to see.

 

And NO THEY DIDN"T - yes they did include a beach volleyball scene. Groan.

 

[AndrewTS 0]

I've heard of Zzyx Road.

 

Oh, and I saw DOA. Not in theaters either. Not much to see.

 

And NO THEY DIDN"T - yes they did include a beach volleyball scene. Groan.

 

Plus Mortal Kombat 2 (video game)'s Lui Kang as a pirate rapist.

[bob_barron 0]

The movies that I was somewhat familiar with:

 

Funny Money

 

Fired

 

The Last Sin Eater

The Abandoned

 

Full Of It

 

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

 

Slow Burn

 

The Tripper

 

Civic Duty

 

The Hip Hop Project

 

Casting About

 

Hollywood Dreams

 

Rise: Blood Hunter

 

Pierrepoint- The Last Hangman

 

DOA: Dead or Alive

 

Macbeth

 

The Trials of Darryl Hunt

 

and Skinwalkwers.

 

Since I have nothing to do today, I'll try to compile a list of 2006's PSA of Shame

[bob_barron 0]

DOA was fine as a so bad it's good movie until they stopped fighting and teamed up to take Eric Roberts. I mean, no one cares about Eric Roberts, they just want to see Joy from My Name Is Earl fight Miho from Sin City.

 

They never even finished the tournament, or showed how Kasumi made the semis!

[Ripper 0]

I heard of the hip hop project, but I really didn't care about a hip hop documentary. I heard it was okay though. I just couldn't make myself care.

 

I guess I really am getting old.

[bob_barron 0]

2006 movies to open with less then $1,000 PSA-

 

Live Freaky! Die Freaky! (a cartoon)

Suits on the Loose (Christian family movie)

Zyzzx Road

Doing time for Patsy Cline

El Seuno de Regresso (foreign movie)

Beyond Honor

The Big Question (a documentary featuring Mel Gibson. That can't be good)

The Surfer King (Alan Thicke is in this movie)

Herbie Hancock: Possibilities (everyone knows it's Herbie Hancock)

Standing Still (this movie actually has a cool cast: Amy Adams, Colin Hanks, Ethan Embry)

In Her Line of Fire (I do remember seeing ads for this in the paper. It's a lesbian action movie)

Killer Diller

One Last Thing (Ethan Hawke is in this one)

The Fall of Fujimori (a documentary)

Coastlines (A crime drama with the villain of Live Free or Die Hard and Josh Lucas)

Psychopathia Sexualis (these movies have amazing titles)

The Long Weekend (poor Chris Klein)

Dog Lover's Symphony (this movie was released by Dog Lover's Symphony productions)

Uncut (foreign flick)

Rank (documentary)

The Color of Olives (documentary)

Jailbait

Hair High (a cartoon)

The Ordeal (foreign flick)

The Trouble with Men and Woman

Idiocracy (poor Mike Judge)

Rolling Family (foreign)

Feast (this was the Project Greenlight winner. Although to be fair, it only ran at midnight)

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (horror movie)

Love's Abiding Joy

Zindagi Rocks (foreign)

So Goes the Nation (documentary)

Issues (Todd Bridges is in this!)

Masai: The Rain Warriors (foreign)

Color of the Cross

Soap (foreign)

A New Day in Old Sana'a

The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes (foreign)

Opal Dream

Christmas at Maxwell's (Christian movie)

Dreamland (John Corbett, Gina Gershon and Justin Long!)

Ever Again (a doc narrated by Kevin Costner)

The Empire in Africa (doc)

Words of my Perfect Teacher (doc)

The tiger and the snow (Roberto Benigni really fell off the face of the earth)

Unconscious (foreign)

 

I've probably heard of about 5-6 of those movies, and have not seen any. I believe the lesbo action flick had the lowest PSA.

 

 

 

[King Kamala 0]

I've only heard of five and have seen none. Though I might DVR Idiocracy if it comes on one of the premium movie channels. I'm a big fan of Mike Judge and Luke Wilson but the mixed reviews turned me off from even spending $3 to rent the DVD.

[LivingLegendGaryColeman 0]

I'm surprised because I figured I would be more familiar with some of the 2006 titles than the 2007 ones, as most of the 06 should be on DVD now.

 

I did enjoy Idiocracy and had been looking forward to it. It never showed up in any theaters near me, so I was a bit surprised when it was coming to DVD.

 

Standing Still and Coastlines both look like they could be decent if I ever got around to watching them. Standing Still not only has the people Bob mentioned, but there are a couple of the "I know their face, but not their name" people in it too.

 

From this year's list, I did realize that earlier I didn't mention the Abandoned, as I thought the title was familiar but wasn't sure. After hearing it is a horror movie, I realize I know that one too, but since DVD. I was surprised to see a new movie with Elisha Cuthbert, but another one I did not even know was in theaters.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I really liked Idiocracy.