Weekend Box Office Report

[RedJed 0]

So, yeah, holy shit, Babylon AD really was THAT bad as someone else already mentioned. Although it's definately on that "so bad its good" mess of a movie, so I was still entertained and I think it does need to be seen to believed how shitty this really is, granted wait for DVD. But there definately was some parts that were either hard to understand (I still am confused on alot of the plot because there is so many holes in it), slow and muddling with the most ridiculous dialouge ever, hard to believe (I didn't understand how Vin Diesel kept apparently getting in the middle of fires in this film or right in front of explosions, yet comes up unscaved almost every time), or just outright WTF happened-type of things. Just all around craptastic.

 

There was only about ten of us in the movie, everyone groaning and chuckling at the nonsense here and there, but when there was a part of dialouge where the cute blonde chick says

"We're going to die in New York." to Diesel and Yeoh then slightly pauses and then says "Good night" to end the scene that had the entire theatre erupt in laughter because it was so absurdly bad.

 

The ending totally left me confused too - first, HOW and WHY did the blonde girl even die? And what the fuck was up with one black kid and one white kid? Vin Diesel holding their hands and walking back to the now-fixed up cottage cabin in this peace and tranquility ending was hilarious just because I thought the rest of the world was in this post-apocalyptic decay?

[cabbageboy 0]

All of this makes me sorta want to see Babylon AD, but of course not until it hits DVD. And even then it might be one of those "free rentals at the McDonald's kiosk" type deals, like Next with Nicholas Cage.

[Craig Th 0]

I couldn't even watch the preview for Babylon AD.

[cd213 0]

I saw TROPIC THUNDER last night, and it was one of the best times I've had at the theater all year. I couldn't stop laughing the whole time. Very good movie, my second favorite film this year behind HELLBOY II.

[DarKnight 0]

I bet if I saw Babylon A.D. I probably wouldn't even think it was so bad its funny. I thought Chronicles of Riddick would be like that, but it was just BAD.

[Brett Favre 0]

Vin Diesel hasn't had a good movie since The Iron Giant.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Funny enough, Vin Diesel stepped down from being in Hitman to do Babylon AD instead.

 

7 N Disaster Movie LGF $6,170,000 - 2,642 - $2,335 $6,170,000 $20 1

 

Unfortunately, the movie probably made back its entire budget already.

 

Edit: I can't take that movie, Traitor, seriously. I'm used to Don Cheadle being in dramatic films (Traffic, Hotel Rwanda, Reign Over Me, Crash). To see him be the lead in an action flick is just mind boggling. Cheadle = total miscast!

[Youth N Asia 0]

I knew College wouldn't get a whiff of the top 10. Cool to see Batman move back up a spot

[King Kamala 0]

I just read an article somewhere about how much of a ripoff these movies are. Not only because of how crappy they are but apparently they're only about an hour long with 10-15 minutes of outakes tacked on over the end credits.

 

And where's Exslade to defend Friedberg/Seltzer?

[fazzle 0]

But even with them being short, they really wouldn't be a "rip-off" if the movie was good. Phone booth was..what, maybe 1:15? [.rec] is only something like 1:10.

[Exslade ZX 0]

I just read an article somewhere about how much of a ripoff these movies are. Not only because of how crappy they are but apparently they're only about an hour long with 10-15 minutes of outakes tacked on over the end credits.

 

And where's Exslade to defend Friedberg/Seltzer?

Right on cue. (Name Change)

 

But yea, no argument from me here. Even I thought this looked like complete shit. Part of it may be my disdain for anything about Kim Kardashian that isn't her ass. And I don't think I even recognized anyone else from the previews.

 

But hey, regardless of what people say, I still enjoy all of the Scary Movies.

[Youth N Asia 0]

Scary Movie 2 was so unfunny I stopped there with the series

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

So is Babylon like a new version of Cyborg with an even worse leading man and some extreme sports thrown in? Because that's the vibe I got from the commercials.

 

And when IGN says that there should be a negative star rating for your movie, there's problems. Mel Brooks oughta kick the crap outta everyone associated with any of these so-called "parody" movies.

[Brocklock 0]

It looks like actors with talent finally stopped appearing in these Friedberg/Setzer films as I think most of the cast of this one are former cast members of Mad TV. I can't believe Crispin Glover was in Epic Movie and Fred Willard appeared in a couple of these.

[King Kamala 0]

Eh, I don't know. Fred Willard guest starred on Saved By The Bell: The New Class. I really like the guy but it's not like he's super selective. Neither is Crispin Glover, who primarily seems concerned with financing his avant garde movies starring the mentally handicapped.

[Yuna_Firerose 0]

I hope that with Disaster Movie bombing, they stop doing those absolutely pointless spoof films, or at least cut down in them. Is there anymore similar ones like that coming out soon? I sure hope not.

Ditto. I haven't been able to tolerate any of them since Scary Movie 1 & 3 way back when. (I was stupid enough to see II in theaters, lured in by Tim Curry. ...Oy, big mistake).

 

Epic/Date/Disaster etc have all been pointless. Don't see how anyone can honestly watch them and find something humurous.

 

Rumor has it they're working on "Spy Movie" now

I'd point out that it was already done, and called "Get smart"... but originality has never been the line of movie's oustanding attribute.

 

"Not Another Teen Movie"

"Jamie's got a gun...."

 

In my opinion, the best sort of spoof film is one that has a strong enough story that it can stand on its own. NATM, in my opinion, is one. Possibly Scary Movie, from what I remember of it.

 

I gave up on "Not Another Teen Movie" when the teacher was ranting about the fecal humor and he got sprayed with shit.

Once you get past that, and the horrendous girl-on-grandma french kiss, its actually pretty good.

 

But even with them being short, they really wouldn't be a "rip-off" if the movie was good.

Agreed. Length of a film doesn't matter. Red Eye is only 1:25 altogether and that one was pretty good (even if the end devolves into how many injuries can Cillian Murphy take).

 

Scary Movie 2 was so unfunny I stopped there with the series

Which is a shame; 3 was quite well done (new creative team, new ideas, etc). The 4th goes a bit downhill with the Brokeback parody, but I do recommend the 3rd nonetheless. I think that was the one with Signs, Ring, and somewhere along the way a rap battle. Also its great just for the following conversation which, if I remember correctly, was improv.

 

[Exslade ZX 0]

4:00-5:00 quite possibly my favorite scene of the movie.

 

"How the hell you gonna wake up dead?"

[bob_barron 0]

Funny enough, Vin Diesel stepped down from being in Hitman to do Babylon AD instead.

 

7 N Disaster Movie LGF $6,170,000 - 2,642 - $2,335 $6,170,000 $20 1

 

Unfortunately, the movie probably made back its entire budget already.

 

Edit: I can't take that movie, Traitor, seriously. I'm used to Don Cheadle being in dramatic films (Traffic, Hotel Rwanda, Reign Over Me, Crash). To see him be the lead in an action flick is just mind boggling. Cheadle = total miscast!

 

It's not an action flick, dumbass. It's a thriller, and Cheadle gives a very good performance.

[Youth N Asia 0]

Traitor doesn't look bad, but it doesn't in any way stand out from previews

[bob_barron 0]

I'm a sucker for thrillers, so I really liked the film. Cheadle was great. I love that the marketing totally ignores the Muslim aspect of the movie.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

It's not an action flick, dumbass.

 

Well, in case you didn't notice, its being marketed as an action movie, you mook.

[bob_barron 0]

Oh, Deon.

 

Here's the 4-day estimates:

 

TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #

1 1 Tropic Thunder P/DW $14,300,000 -12.1% 3,473 +121 $4,117 $86,634,000 $92 3

2 N Babylon A.D. Fox $12,000,000 - 3,390 - $3,539 $12,000,000 $70 1

3 4 The Dark Knight WB $11,025,000 +4.6% 2,750 -413 $4,009 $504,696,000 $185 7

4 2 The House Bunny Sony $10,200,000 -29.8% 2,714 - $3,758 $29,751,000 $25 2

5 N Traitor Over. $10,000,000 - 2,054 - $4,868 $11,501,000 $22 1

6 3 Death Race Uni. $8,195,000 -35.1% 2,537 +5 $3,230 $25,044,000 $45 2

7 N Disaster Movie LGF $6,880,000 - 2,642 - $2,604 $6,880,000 $20 1

8 8 Mamma Mia! Uni. $5,786,000 +34.1% 1,968 -358 $2,940 $132,877,000 $52 7

9 6 Pineapple Express Sony $4,500,000 -17.5% 2,047 -573 $2,198 $80,883,000 $27 4

10 11 Vicky Cristina Barcelona MGM/W $3,531,000 +17.5% 692 - $5,102 $13,315,000 - 3

11 5 Star Wars: The Clone Wars WB $3,500,000 -38.2% 2,444 -1,008 $1,432 $30,408,000 - 3

12 9 The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Uni. $3,452,000 -17.4% 1,713 -709 $2,015 $98,681,000 $145 5

 

[cabbageboy 0]

Traitor looks more like a CIA type thriller than an action movie where Cheadle is supposed to kick asses. That's a movie that looks like the definition of a rental to me. Solid actors in it like Cheadle and Pearce, but I'm not such a huge fan of either that I'd rush to a theater to see them.

[Jingus 0]

It's about time one of these Genre Movie cowpies lost money. According to IMDB, the budget was $25 million, so they're already way in the hole. Eventually it might make its money back through foreign grosses and DVD sales, but it's gonna take a while, and even that might not do it. Regardless, it'll go down in the record books as a box office bomb. Thank God. Maybe now the studios will think twice before giving those two monkeys more money for another movie.

 

College: meh, no real hatred for this movie, just looked like the thousandth Animal House ripoff. But it is a fine example of how even the most ubiquitous marketing campaign which saturates the landscape like a carpet bombing still can't guarantee a hit, or even keep something from being a total disaster. The ads for this damn movie were everywhere, and yet they only convinced about thirty-two people to go see the damn thing.

 

I'm actually glad for The House Bunny's unexpected success. Not for the movie itself, which I'm sure is a piece of crap. But just because I really like Anna Faris, and hopefully this means she'll get more leading roles (hopefully in better pictures) in the future.

 

The cult underdog success of the summer really has been Mamma Mia!, hasn't it? I guess there haven't been any other movies out this season which appealled to the menopausal demographic, so that may just be a case of right place, right time.

[At Home 0]

Movie Movie

[At Home 0]

]

There was only about ten of us in the movie, everyone groaning and chuckling at the nonsense here and there, but when there was a part of dialouge where the cute blonde chick says

"We're going to die in New York." to Diesel and Yeoh then slightly pauses and then says "Good night" to end the scene that had the entire theatre erupt in laughter because it was so absurdly bad.

 

The ending totally left me confused too - first, HOW and WHY did the blonde girl even die? And what the fuck was up with one black kid and one white kid? Vin Diesel holding their hands and walking back to the now-fixed up cottage cabin in this peace and tranquility ending was hilarious just because I thought the rest of the world was in this post-apocalyptic decay?

 

Your theatre did that too?! YAS.

 

Dude, the cabin shit was easily the funniest scene I've ever seen in a movie. Oh my god.

[Yuna_Firerose 0]

4:00-5:00 quite possibly my favorite scene of the movie.

 

"How the hell you gonna wake up dead?"

You also can't go wrong with Leslie Nielsen as president (unless its the fourth movie).

 

"These men died for their country. Send money to their bitches and hos."

[bob_barron 0]

Traitor looks more like a CIA type thriller than an action movie where Cheadle is supposed to kick asses. That's a movie that looks like the definition of a rental to me. Solid actors in it like Cheadle and Pearce, but I'm not such a huge fan of either that I'd rush to a theater to see them.

 

It's a good thriller. I remember reading something about Cheadle's character being a Muslim, didn't realise how central it would be to the plot. Steve Martin came up with a great story.

 

It's about time one of these Genre Movie cowpies lost money. According to IMDB, the budget was $25 million, so they're already way in the hole. Eventually it might make its money back through foreign grosses and DVD sales, but it's gonna take a while, and even that might not do it. Regardless, it'll go down in the record books as a box office bomb. Thank God. Maybe now the studios will think twice before giving those two monkeys more money for another movie.

 

The movies tend to do very well overseas (and they say Americans are stupid), so Disaster Movie is well on its way to making a profit. I think the lesson is not to oversaturate the market, so hopefully they will scale them back. The movie was made from April to June, which is a crazy turnaround.

 

I'm actually glad for The House Bunny's unexpected success. Not for the movie itself, which I'm sure is a piece of crap. But just because I really like Anna Faris, and hopefully this means she'll get more leading roles (hopefully in better pictures) in the future.

 

House Bunny was fine. A bit too sappy at times, and I don't know if I bought Faris as a sexpot, but it was a fun way to kill 90 minutes. I love Emma Stone and Kat Dennings, so that made it very enjoyable. And Colin Hanks!

 

The cult underdog success of the summer really has been Mamma Mia!, hasn't it? I guess there haven't been any other movies out this season which appealled to the menopausal demographic, so that may just be a case of right place, right time.

 

That and Sex and the City. Every summer there's a few breakout female-geared hits, and everyone goes: Wait, women go to movies too? Warner Bros was going to dump The Women next week, but because of SATC and Mamma Mia, they're actively marketing it.

 

 

[cabbageboy 0]

Is Sex and the City really an underdog success story? It was based on a very successful TV show and the audience for it turned out and it made money. Mamma Mia though? I didn't see that one coming, but I do think some are underestimating Meryl Streep's drawing power. I thought that would get lost in the shuffle since it came out the same week as Dark Knight, but it turned out to be ideal counter programming for females.

 

The Women though? That's a tougher sell. A remake of a 1939 film without a single guy in it (even SATC has Mr. Big) is an iffy proposition. Remaking The Philadelphia Story would go over better. Thing is, the 1939 Women had Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell....all at or near their peak of drawing power. Can you really say the same about Meg Ryan and Annette Bening?