"The Producers": Over $5.26 million for the 4-day New Year's weekend!

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 1/2/06 at 9:36pm

See how this movie is starting to hold up? It was the only major movie to go up in its grosses this past saturday; the other movies dropped up to thirty percent. The box office has been really consistent. This sunday was down only 12.8% from last Sunday, which was its first day of this allegedly "wide" release of 975 theatres. The per-theater average was $5,380 for the weekend, quite comparable to other movies out right now, if a little below average.
I know people are sick of Producers box office threads, but since this is an encouraging sign, I thought "why not?" and it's not as if this is as bad as that not-so-long-ago time when five million Wicked threads were being created per minute.
track the daily box office here:
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=producers.htm

[DamnYankees101]

Posted: 1/2/06 at 9:45pm

What! So then The Ringer is raking in more than The Producers? That upsets me because that movie shouldn't even have been made. (<---That doesn't sound like correct English..::finds my word book::)

[Luckydave14]

Posted: 1/2/06 at 9:45pm

It will probably make more than Rent. I predict about a $50 million total gross. It will probably pick up.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/2/06 at 11:14pm

Eh. I saw The Producers twice last week.. it was fabulous! I absolutly adore Matthew and Nathan. It kept me laughing the entire way though! *Bravo!*
LongXLiveXErik

[chasgoose]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 12:48pm

The Producers only went up because it expanded to a lot more theaters than it was playing at the last week. Those numbers are far from encouraging. Once it gets nothing at the Golden Globes and it is snubbed at the Oscars for any major award then it will die.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 12:53pm

This movie is not playing anywhere near me (I'm in northern NJ!)
Why aren't the theaters showing it?

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 1:00pm

It can't even crack the top ten? That is not so good.

[phantom8019]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 1:36pm

Of course it went up because it is playing in more theatres. And it will expand to even more on 1/13.

My friend tried to see it in New Jersey Sat night. She went to 3 theatres and it was sold out; people like the movie.

Also, the per theatre gross is pretty good.

Phantom went on to gross 51 million US, even after winning no Golden Globes. And $50 million for The Producers would be nice. It would probably recoup the rest in DVD sales.

The reason Phantom got to $51 million as opposed to Rent's $30 million is because its staggered release allowed it to hang around theatres for about 3 months. Rent was only out for about a month. I don't think some of you understand that it takes some people weeks to get to the movies. I have many friends who have not seen a movie in a year or so. And it takes weeks for word of mouth to spread.

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 1:39pm

Janruary 13th?

That's my birthday!

I knew my birthday had to do with The Producers this year...

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 1:49pm

This sunday was down only 12.8% from last Sunday, which was its first day of this allegedly "wide" release of 975 theatres. The per-theater average was $5,380 for the weekend, quite comparable to other movies out right now, if a little below average.

Not quite. $5.26 million is very bad for a New Year's weekend, one of the biggest moviegoing weekends of the year. It averages out to be about $1 million/day, which is peanuts for this time of year. Heck, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN made about the same amount but in a fifth of the number of the theatres. THE PRODUCERS will not make $50 million; box office revenues are going to plummet now that the holidays are over.

I think THE PRODUCERS is ringing the death knell for movie musicals (unless DREAMGIRLS is a runaway success.)

[Auggie27]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 1:53pm

I'm afraid the B.O. data is being used rather oddly here. $5,000 per screen is hardly promising for a first week, and suggests very minimal interest, at least initially, beyond a core niche audience. Comparing it to KONG or NARNIA is way off base, since they are in approx 3500 theaters each, and have been out for weeks. The better yardstick would be immediate limited-release competition MATADOR and MATCHPOINT, which had per screen averages of approx 23,000 and 64,000 (Woody's best opening in years). Or perhaps BROKEBACK, which opened in 69 theaters with 100,000 per, and even on 260 screens is pulling $17,000 per. Keep your eye on MATCHPOINT, which costs far, far less than the bloated PRODUCERS budget of 45 million (which I personally couln't see on the screen). The PRODUCERS producers are likely very nervous about big profits at this point.

[YankeeGal#24]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 1:59pm

I agree with everyone who said the word of mouth will keep it going. I've seen it twice, in packed houses, and people LOVED IT!! By the time they tell family, friends, and co-workers AND the film goes into wider release we'll see the numbers increasing. "Chicago" took a LONG time to catch on too. Be patient.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 2:39pm

But CHICAGO had across-the-board raves, a higher profile cast and had become an Oscar forerunner at this point. Plus, it had Miramax behind it, not the incompetent marketing heads of Universal.

I have a feeling these packed houses are in New York, which is where I'd expect THE PRODUCERS to do best. I don't know whether this film can be sold to middle America, though.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 2:57pm

When I started this thread, I had no intention of saying that it was now an enormous sucess as many people seem to think I did. I simply meant that it's...holding its spot with consistency at least as much as any movie out there. It was the ONLY movie to increase profits on Saturday this past weekend. many people will still be off from work/school, so it shouldn't drop too much in the next week.
I don't think we can overestimate the impact of the lack of theaters and showing times has on this movie. It's only playing in a few theaters with a few showtimes, but those are, by all reports I've read, and from my experience, CROWDED showtimes.

It's unfair to compare it to other movies out, even crapfests like "The Ringer", because those movies are heavily promoted flicks in a lot of theaters.

[djjd007]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 3:05pm

I saw it on Christmas Day in the middle of nowhere - and I mean the middle of nowhere, Middle America. The theater only took cash, if that's any indication. I honestly don't even know how or why it was playing at this particular venue.

In any case, it was almost sold out at the first showing (save for 10 seats) and I enjoyed it even more than I did on B'way. Nathan was in top form, and Matthew delivered. Even Will was perfect. Then again, I was in the Springtime For Hitler audience, so I'm a little biased...

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 3:06pm

Oh--one other note. This 4-day weekend's per screen average was significantly higher than last weekend's per-screen average-- it averaged $3,388 last weekend (in less theaters, which usually=better average). This weekend it was $5,380. I know a New Year's weekend boost helps, but I still think it is a sign of good word-of-mouth.

[YankeeGal#24]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 3:24pm

<< I have a feeling these packed houses are in New York, which is where I'd expect THE PRODUCERS to do best. >>

I am in CT and had to find a theater where it was playing, and BOTH times, different theaters, different parts of the state, it was sold out, or close to it.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 4:23pm

I was watching an NBC movie review program with Jeffry Lyons this week. He does the show with a female critic whose name escapes me. Anyway, they were doing their top 10 favorites for the year, and she commented that you can't even pay attention to box office grosses anymore. You have to wait for the DVD to come out before you can predict how a movie will actually do. There seem to be some people on this board who want The Producers movie to fail and are gloating because it's not in the top 10. For the life of me, I can't understand why. But you are entitled to your opinion.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 4:49pm

I would love to see THE PRODUCERS film be a runaway success, but the fact is, it's not doing well at the box office. So don't accuse me of wanting the film to fail: I was just pointing out that the numbers don't look as good as suggested.

It's true that box office revenues only account for a percentage of total profit (the percentage varies depending on the type of film), but usually a movie needs to at least make its budget back in worldwide box office revenues in order to break even overall. It'll be interesting to see now if THE PRODUCERS has long legs past the holiday season, and how well it can do in international markets.

Updated On: 1/3/06 at 04:49 PM

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 5:00pm

a lot of people in my class have seen it and loved it- said it was hilarious, which it is
i have to and plan to see it again soon
but bravo producers!!!!
and ULLA!!!!

ps. uma dances great, i just want that part on repeat! wow... :P

[Auggie27]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 7:14pm

Reporting accurately -- i.e. with some knowledge of what box office figures actually mean -- does not constitute "wanting it to fail." This is a board where opinions on broadway shows, and the films made from them, and their relative success, will be debated and analyzed. Looking for pie-eyed reactions to comparably low numbers is rather silly. We don't have to post gaga fan reports to be invested in the outcome of any film from a play.

I would love to see movies made from many broadway musicals, but we've had three back to back that seem hard to launch: PHANTOM, RENT, and now THE PRODUCERS. Please, let's hope things improve for PRODUCERS -- it may make the difference in the next green-lit musical -- while not ignoring the real-world financial prognosis.

[KChenowethfan]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 7:38pm

I saw it the day after Christmas while visiting Upstate NY. Only a few seats remained empty for the showing I attended. I was pretty surprised.

Here in DC, I know a few showings at a particular theatre were sold out over this past weekend.