Hairspray: hit or flop?- Page 3

[tazber]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 10:49am

Travolta looks like an alien and although the film is getting glowing reviews, it's gonna have a hard time against Harry Potter, Transformers, etc.
If it's a hit, it will be b/c word of mouth should pretty strong.
And ironically it's opening up against the latest Adam Samdler comedy.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 3:01pm

From The New Yorker

I admire John Travolta, but using this movie star, rather than the show’s Harvey Fierstein, as Edna Turnblad, Tracy’s hefty mother, is an idiocy on the same level as replacing Julie Andrews with Audrey Hepburn for the movie version of “My Fair Lady.” Both Fierstein and Divine, who played Edna in the original movie, worked as female impersonators who confidently let us in on the joke. In the show, when Fierstein held forth on life and love and the Gabor sisters in his basso absurdo—a testosterone-drenched Bensonhurst snarl—he was not a man pretending to be a woman; he was a man openly playing a woman and speaking in his own voice. But Travolta does a wistful imitation of the female sex. Buried in a full-body fat suit and various silicone prosthetic appliances, he looks rounded, smooth, and cute, rather like Miss Piggy, and he speaks in a light, high female voice—he sounds a little like Robin Williams in “Mrs. Doubtfire,” without the lilt. The role demands exaggeration rather than modesty, yet Travolta, with a misbegotten sense of duty, tries to give an authentic performance as a working-class Baltimore housewife of forty-five years ago—a shy, guarded woman who is embarrassed about her weight. It’s a touching attempt, but the lunatic joke that started with Divine has almost vanished.

[Lavieboheme3090]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 3:12pm

I think it will open at Number Three behind Harry Potter and The Simpsons movie.

[Yancy Faith]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 3:12pm

I think Harvey's too big to go with this more subtle version.

[tazber]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 3:37pm

The Simpsons opens up the following week. But I do think harry potter will remain #1 again this week.

[Jon]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 7:35pm

It got two big Thumbs Up from Roeper and last week's Ebert substitute.

It's getting good reviews everywhere.

Most people out there don't know who the hell Harvey Fierstein is, don't know who Divine was, and will judge the movie on its own merits.

[Renthead#1]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 7:55pm

Im about too see it. Sooooooooo excited.

[tazber]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 7:58pm

I think most know it's a musical version of the John Water's film though. The original Hairspray has been on tv dozens of times.

Here is my prediction(based on absolutely nothing): It will open somewhat below exprectations the first week. It will pick up a little business in week two, but will still be overshadowed by The Simpsons.
By week three however, word of mouth will have kicked in and all the major competition will be out of the way and it will actually increase in B.O. receipts and play well through August.
In short, I think it will have "legs" as they say in the movie business.

[withoutlovewithoutU]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 9:17pm

The new Adam Sandler movie looks like Sh**, so my prediction is that Hairspray will be #3 in the country opening week. Maybe it'll pick up a bit once Harry Potter Mania wears down a bit.

[RobbO]

Posted: 7/17/07 at 8:42am

if hairspray increases its audience after the first week, i will quit the board forever and never return.

like i've said, i figure it will gross about $20K its first weekend (if it is very lucky and its entire core audience shows up in the first three days) and then sink about 41% the second week and 59% the third for a grand total run of around $68 - $70K.

[tazber]

Posted: 7/17/07 at 9:01am

Don't you think word of mouth will help it RobbO? People say it's great fun.

[RobbO]

Posted: 7/17/07 at 9:06am

word of mouth only goes so far. a movie like this will open wide with as many theatres as it is going to have for its entire run and then drop off from there. word of mouth may give it legs but 1. it's a musical and 2. has some serious competition early on. its core audience (as judging from this board) will rush out to see it and the receipts will drop off considerably from there.

i might even venture to say that the dreck that is "chuck & larry" will open bigger than hairspray.

Updated On: 7/17/07 at 09:06 AM

[tazber]

Posted: 7/17/07 at 9:10am

I definitely agree that chuck and larry will open bigger.

If hairspray makes 78-80 million, would that be considered a success?
And more impotantly, do you think there is a way they can green screen Travolta out of the movie and replace him with someone else for the dvd? That might help it.

[RobbO]

Posted: 7/17/07 at 9:40am

if oliver stone is in charge of the DVD, anything can happen. hell, he made three movies out of "alexander."

i don't have a total for hairspray's budget yet so i cannot say if $78-80K would be a success. these days anything over $100K is a surefire blockbuster, depending on the budget.


eta: "hairspray" is opening on 3,000 screens, "chuck & larry" opens on 3,200. i'm still looking for hairspray's budget.

Updated On: 7/17/07 at 09:40 AM

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 7/17/07 at 9:46am

Apparently New Line pissed off thousands of "die hards" at the free screenings around the country last night.

[RobbO]

Posted: 7/17/07 at 9:48am

how so?

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 7/17/07 at 9:52am

They issued free passes to the masses but had also booked free showings to hair industry folk. The hair industry folk got priority seating which apparently pretty much filled the theater and the diehards who had stood in line for two or three hours were turned away. Cops were called in NYC.

[RobbO]

Posted: 7/17/07 at 9:55am

i just read that on the main board. **shudder** please don't make me go back there.

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 7/17/07 at 10:18am

I just saw it last night. I thought it was fantastic.

They pulled off having people just break out into song, without an excuse for it (like Dreamgirls and Chicago) because it was done in such a comedic, perfect way.

I had my doubts about John Travolta, and I still hate the way he talks, but he was funny and definitely a crowd favorite.

Posted: 7/17/07 at 10:41am

Hairspray will open at no.3 behind Harry Potter and Chuck and Larry.

Overall I think it'll makes less than Dreamgirls and Chicago, but more than Rent, Phanton, and Producers. So around 75 million.

[shiksa_goddess]

Posted: 7/17/07 at 11:13am

Hit, and I think the biggest draw is Zac Efron. He has two major groups going. People that want to see him fall on his face and obsessed tweens.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 7/17/07 at 11:49am

After seeing it last night, a definite hit. The audience I was with just ate it up. There were several times throughout the movie that people applauded after the musical numbers. When Nikki Blonski's picture appeared during the credits, a lot of people cheered. When Zac Efron's picture appeared there were a group of teenage fangirls that screamed.

To me, there was not one weak link in the cast.

[Love4Cheno]

Posted: 7/17/07 at 3:23pm

Well, Zac Effron certainly thinks HE'S a hit.

WTF kind of GD pose is this? Enough with the Beyonce/Lindsay posing!

http://perezhilton.com/?p=1574#respond

(Someone linked me that pic - otherwise I don't read that pig's blog.)

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 7/17/07 at 4:10pm

100% on rottentomatoes.com (which really makes no sense since it has one "rotten" review) but so far the critics are going bananas over this movie. HOORAY!!

[shiksa_goddess]

Posted: 7/17/07 at 4:36pm

Ughh Zac Efron. I don't care what people say about him, he is one of those people that just rubs me the wrong way.