Filed under: Box-Office News

Box-Office Wrap-Up: Sep. 18 – Sep. 20, 2009

Meatballs triumphs; Megan Fox and Diablo Cody get crushed.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs dominated, as per expected. Only three alert commenters had the film over $30m (Eli, The Checkspot, Anonymous Friend). I was a little low. Only two weekends were measurably worse this year, I'm sure I speak for us all when I say I can't wait for Oscar season to start. Bring on the real movies!
#1 movie predicted correctly: 2 Weeks In A Row
I should have added a 15% 3-D bonus on my total. Then I would have been in the ballpark. Not much to say about this title, it just hit the demo hard (and without competition). Well played by Sony.
Result: 30.1 million (My rank: #1, $5.1m off)
They are projecting a punishing Sunday, the weekend went: $3.7 / $4.4 / $2.5m. I'm going to have to call this a miss, unless the budget was under $25m all in.
Result: 10.5 million (My rank: #3, $3.3m off)
The story of this weekend is another "cutie pie horror" swinging and missing. It seems as though you've got to go really hard at the genre or not bother at all. The days of Scream have evidently passed.

Tyler Perry fell his usual 57 percent. This one pretty much was what we thought it was.

Result: 10.0 million (My rank: #4, $.4m off)
It did better than I would have thought, but not by much. The trick is to be the first bad romantic comedy out of the blocks in May or June. Once you hit September the audience has wised up again.
Result: 8.4 million (My rank: #5, $.8m off)
This is a pretty good example of "internet buzzy" vs. real life ticket sales. People wanted to see the pictures, discuss the film, talk about Megan Fox, watch the trailers… but they didn't want to buy a ticket. Alert commenter Martian Army was right – Megan Fox's first lead is a flop. She's been overexposed and the backlash is now in full effect.
Result: 6.8 million (My rank: #2, $9.4m off)
6. 9
Back on track! 9 gained 400 theaters this weekend, but it still fell 49 percent. Regardless of the merits of the movie it was very oddly placed in this market.
Result: 5.4 million (My rank: #6, $1.1m off)
Continues to excel. And we can hope that the DVD treatment will be comprehensive. Don't make us wait for a special edition! Or perhaps we can start a petition to get Criterion involved?
Result: 3.6 million (My rank: #7, $0.3m off)
It didn't fall tremendously, but only because it was already close to zero. I'm sure there's a mathematical theorem in there somewhere.
Result: 3.4 million (My rank: #8, $0.3m off)
Notice what's not in the top ten? Whiteout. The old "delayed = damaged" theory holds again. Let's hope The Road isn't a case of that.
Result: 2.4 million (My rank: #10, $.1m off)
The budget was $40m and the film is near $100m worldwide. This will probably end up a moderate winner when the books are closed on it.
Result: 2.3 million (My rank: Not Ranked)

Your turn. Any Megan Fox theories, or just the difference between "nice to look at" vs. "a must-see movie star"? Did you see Informant! and catch how disparate the marketing was? Do you feel like defending Love Happens? Here's your chance, bring it.


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Post #1
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Well, Megan Fox isn´t still a real movie star. She needs more great movies like Transformers. Jonah Hex could be the solution. Love Happens suprises me too because only have 1900 theaters and still got a good result. The Informant! deserve the second place, is a good movie, even if the marketing was stupid. Cloudy is big and won with more than $30M. Excelent result!

Early prediction for next weekend: The Sorrugates have great chances to win with $23M, Cloudy and Fame will battle for the second place and Padorum will strugle to reach $8M.

- Jonh-PT
( September 20th, 2009 | 12:52 pm )
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Post #2
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Thrillers are surprisingly underplaying at the box office. It happened to A Perfect Getaway last month. It will happen with Surrogates next week (probably).

- m1
( September 20th, 2009 | 12:55 pm )
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Post #3
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If Shutter Island was still being released this year, it would pull in a lot of $.

- m1
( September 20th, 2009 | 12:59 pm )
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Post #4
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I think people got bored of Megan Fox already.
She's hot, but she's also very… well, boring!

Every single day she is on the news, 'oh my god, I'm the new Angelina Jolie, I'm bisexual, I like to say bullshit, I'm totally cool, xoxo'… She got old really fast. It's early to say that her career is over, but I doubt it'll go much farter. Maybe it will last until Transformers 3…

And one advice for you, Ms. Fox: you're NOT the new Angelina Jolie. You too are hot, but you have no charisma, you can't act at all (Jolie is not THAT good, but sometimes she does manage to make a good performance, like in Changeling or A Mighty Heart) and you're not trying to save Africa, so move along, try to be yourself and maybe – MAYBE! – you'll have a career that can last over the 'seven year itch'.

- Leandro Dubost
( September 20th, 2009 | 1:35 pm )
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Post #5
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I think you're right about Megan Fox. These results are almost misleading because Jennifer's Body is a strange premise for a movie. I think Diablo Cody outstretched her talents. Perhaps a trip back to the pole will get her creative juices flowing.

I knew Cloudy would do great against this motley crew of releases; that and the fact it's a 3D movie; and you guys had a debate on whether 3D movies should count their revenue the same as regular movies despite being $3-5 more expensive than a regular ticket.

Or maybe the economy has finally caught up with the movie industry. I don't expect a great fall turnout except for Avatar and Twilight's tweeny audience.

- Anonymous' Friend
( September 20th, 2009 | 1:51 pm )
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Post #6
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I think Jennifer's Body just bombed because the people who wanted to see it couldn't get in, and I doubt WOM will help it from here on out. Excellent for Cloudy and so-so for Informant.

@Jonh-PT:
'She needs more great movies like Transformers.'

lolwut

- Gophers Attack!
( September 20th, 2009 | 2:32 pm )
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Post #7
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To be honest the result doesn't surprise me. The marketing focused entirely on Megan Fox, a actress known solely for the love interest in Transformers. I mean I would get it if she had a decent filmography before hand it would make sense (Such as Kristen Dunst or Maggie Gyllenhaal.) but two crappy Michael Bay films and nothing else. Lets make it clear just because she is unbelievably hot and makes hilarious comments about Bay does not make her a box office star.

- John Debono
( September 20th, 2009 | 3:40 pm )
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Post #8
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I also think "Jennifer's Body" suffered from negative buzz generated by advance reviews. Apparently it wasn't a very good film. That is sad, for the sake of Diablo Cody. I hope her next film gets a better treatment.

As for Megan Fox, I don't care one way or the other about her. Yes, she is sexy, but in the way that cheap candy is good to eat. That is, she has no substance to her… as an actress, I mean; I'm not going to presume about her personal life. But if her career didn't exist, I wouldn't feel the difference.

- JM
( September 20th, 2009 | 4:58 pm )
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Post #9
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i predict surrogates next week and after that i think toy stroy 3d will be number 1

- Justin Casey
( September 20th, 2009 | 6:02 pm )
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Post #10
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@Anonymous' Friend:

Oh man, you should not underestimate the Twilight fandom. The theater I work at already has tickets available for the midnight showing for "New Moon" before the other chains do. And that Michael Jackson film "This Is It" should make a LOT of money during its 2-week limited run in late October.

- Matt C
( September 20th, 2009 | 8:37 pm )
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Post #11
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@ Leandro

you said farter…..tee hee!

- Phil
( September 20th, 2009 | 9:08 pm )
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Post #12
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@Matt C: Two things about your comment. I think he meant it and Avatar were the only two films this fall that would be big box office hits.

If by that we're defining fall as September to December, I'm gonna add A Christmas Carol, 2012, Chipmunks 2, Sherlock Holmes and MAYBE Where the Wild Things Are to that list. Might I add the remaining 3 months of the year/decade seem rather unexciting, there are usually more films to be stoked about but I'm guessing the Oscar-hopefuls are only revealing themselves now (or come out of nowhere).

Secondly, while you quote the trailer properly, let's not kid ourselves – This Is Is will run longer than two weeks because the studio will have "decided" to "extend its run". It's probably their plan all along – just a marketing ploy to rush everyone in. Case in point: the Hanna Montana concert movie. *shudder*

- Eli
( September 20th, 2009 | 11:10 pm )
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Post #13
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@Eli: Thanks for clarifying things w/ Matt C. To me the movies are becoming less and less inviting because of their wide range of crappy movies. I've become an avid renter and tv watcher because it seems tv has picked up slack where movies have become dumber.

They way they extended Hanna Montana was the plan all along. These studios have a product to sell and they will squeeze as much money out of it as possible.

- Anonymous' Friend
( September 20th, 2009 | 11:21 pm )
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Post #14
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Miley Cyrus Rocks!!! Goodbye Hannah Montana, we will miss you.
Disney DID only plan on a limited run; these things are planned in advance. Everybody was surprised by the RECORD turnout. They are doing the right thing with Michael Jackson's concert movie because if they hype it too much and it dissapoints…that would be embarrassing.

- Miley fan
( September 22nd, 2009 | 3:30 pm )
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