The Sweeney Todd Box Office Tracking thread- Page 3

[zooxanthellae]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 1:12pm

yeah I stopped reading the comments after:
"the music wasn't memorable."

... This is Stephen Sondheim, arguably the greatest composer of the late 20th century, people seriously have no taste and no intelligence.

[MovieDan82]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 1:21pm

28% is rather shockingly bad guys… Let’s see what happens next week.

[lovinlovett]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 1:46pm

I don't see this as terribly shocking. I cannot imagine this movie having a broad appeal to the masses. Consider the subject matter and the fact that it's a musical. I also don't think that this is a bad thing. I think all of the best movies of this past year haven't grossed much at the box office! Consider the domestic totals for Juno, Atonement, No Country For Old Men, etc. The masses don't generally appreciate great cinema. Why don't we evaluate the domestic grosses for all of the musicals of the past 6 years on opening weekend (or overall for that matter). That would be interesting.

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 2:08pm

I can't believe people really DIDN'T know this was a musical. Many of the TV spots had singing. What the hell did they think that meant?

There really are some ignorant idiots in this country.

[phantom8019]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 2:11pm

Um, fantasy moguls has it only dropping 11% Saturday:
http://news.fantasymoguls.com/originalcontent/2007/12/best-day-ever-f.html

That guy who said it dropped 28% is an idiot. Word of mouth is not a phenomenon that happens over night.
He is majorly overanalyzing it. Many movies are "front loaded" like this, ESPECIALLY horror movies.

[jpbran]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 2:23pm

Actually Hollywood Elsewhere's Wells is far from an idiot. He can be an ass, but he has great sources and is often correct.

The actual estimates (BoxOfficeMojo.com, etc) will be released this afternoon, and the final count tomorrow. We'll see... (PS- I've always found Fantasy Moguls to be based more on guessing, though in this case I'd prefer THEM to be correct.)

[phantom8019]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 2:30pm

I just think anyone who would attribute a drop like that to word of mouth is stupid. Does he think all the people who hated it Friday got on the phone immediately afterwards and called 10 friends? 10 friends who happened to plan to see it the next day?
A lot of people clearly do not understand how adults go to the movies. Many do not run out the weekend it comes out... especially on a busy weekend like this.
A better interpretation is that all the people who wanted to see it right away did just that and saw it Friday.

[jam_man]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 2:41pm

I agree with your thought, phantom. Remember the first day Rent was out in wide release? It was second only to Harry Potter that day, but the whole Thanksgiving weekend, it ended up at about 5th. Granted a) Rent opened on Wednesday of Thanksgiving week, b) Sweeney is a much better musical, and c) Sweeney is a much better movie, too.

The estimated top 10 list on IMDB puts it at 5th, just over a quarter mill behind Charlie Wilson's War. Seeing as how it opened on less than half as many screens as any other movie in the top 9, I'd say that's not too shabby.




IMDB.com/chart

Updated On: 12/23/07 at 02:41 PM

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 5:35pm

While the drop is dissapointing, you have to be a moron to think that it is because the audience was surprised or that it was a bad film. Word of mouth simply does not spread this fast.

It's because This movie has a fanbase that rushed out to see it on day one. It's a Tim Burton/Johnny Depp film. Tim Burton fans are not the type to wait for day two (I know I didn't). Keep in mind the midnight shows as well. It's like the drop that major fan-based blockbusters like Spider-Man and Pirates movies experience on Saturday, but on a much smaller scale.

One would hope that good word of mouth will help it continue to do decently enough for real awards consideration. I'd like there to be a good run in theaters, I plan on going several more times.

Also keep in mind that during the holidays, the box office gets a huge weekday boost.
Updated On: 12/23/07 at 05:35 PM

[bk]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 5:45pm

These BO sites are all full of crap - yet, it's amusing that everyone wants to believe one over the other. The film DID suffer a huge drop-off on Saturday, which is why you can NEVER predict from a Friday gross and why people insist on playing that game is anyone's guess - or CARE about playing that game, which is even more curious to me. See the movie - like it, hate it, love it - the box office will be the box office.

The fact is, the marketing was bad - overdone (what else is new), overhyped, sending people on to websites early with all those posts using the same exact wording about what a great movie it is, but most importantly not stressing in their trailers that it's a full-out musical. Because those who are deriding it and laughing when the singing starts and walking out are, sadly, typical. But, more importantly, they feel like they were sucker-punched by the marketing (let's face it - today's audiences thought they were going to see a big-budget Depp/Burton film - doesn't matter if they haven't been paying attention), and nothing creates worse word of mouth than people who think they've been sucker-punched.

I believe Paramount is already back-pedaling and saying nine mil for the weekend - it's not a horrible gross, but it's not great, either, and I think it's pretty clear that Christmas was a mistake, opening-wise, and that it isn't going to go UP in subsequent weeks - not how the movie business works these days. And if the word of mouth and drops continue, the wider January release won't do much to help. They should have bit the bullet and either had the guts to release it in 3000 theaters, or they should have platformed it and started out in a few theaters, got the reviews, and then went wide.

[phantom8019]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 5:53pm

I think it opened just fine and everyone needs to chill.
Here is the official report from Variety:
"Playing in less than half the number of theaters as "Wilson's War," director Tim Burton's 'sweeney" grossed an estimated $9.3 million from 1,249 theaters for the No. 5 spot and a per screen average of $7,486. Per location average for "Wilson's War" was 3,735."
Is that good for an R RATED slasher musical? Are you kidding me? Of course it is. Yeah maybe they overhyped it, but all studios do that. Look, this was a weekend with TWO certified bombs (Walk Hard, PS I Love You) THREE mass appeal movies, and 2 movies (Sweeney and Charlie Wilson) that came out in the middle.
I think the movie will make its budget back (50 million) but no, it will not surpass 100 million. I never thought it would. The coming weeks will be fine for it. Everyone just needs to chill.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 12/23/07 at 6:13pm

Lots of valid points in this thread. Yes, I agree with the comparison to RENT (strong fan base who ran out to see it opening day) and with those who question the idea of this being a Christmas release.

I no longer think the film will break 100 million, but I think it will do better than RENT (I'd say 60-70 million). The drop next weekened will be severe, but I do think the movie has a few Golden Globe wins in its future and that should keep the film around for a bit. Should it earn some major Oscar noms - that could bump box office as well.

SWEENEY has always been a tough sell. The mistake we all made was thining that the Depp/Burton combo could possibly make it a mainstream property (i.e. box office smash).

The material has never been mainstream, and hasn't exactly lit up the box office in any of its Broadway incarnation.

But the overall reviews were excellent and the film will find its fan base.
Updated On: 12/23/07 at 06:13 PM

[BroadwayBenny]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 1:40am

Sweeney is TOO smart and eclectic to be a "mainstream" success. Plain and simple.

That being said, this film will become a cult film classic. Those are the films that everyone remembers years from now, not the "cater to the masses" big popcorn action or comedy films that rake in hundreds of millions shortly after opening weekend. Like the stage show before it, aside from the built in fanbase, this will take time to catch on and develop it's status, joining the company of other film classics that weren't box office "hits" but proven to have a long shelf life.

[bk]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 2:04am

Dear Phantom, methinks it is you who needs to chill. You love the movie - that's great. Many will, and many won't. If the budget is fifty mil and it does less than 100 mil, it most certainly will NOT make back its costs, at least not from the theatrical release - people act as if this movie JUST cost fifty mil - and conveniently forget the twenty to thirty mil they've spent on promotion, prints and advertising. In the end, it will do what it does and those who love it will buy the DVD and have orgasmic reactions every night, and those who don't won't.

I think the marketing team made a lot of serious errors in judgment and I do not say this in hindsight, since I've been saying it ever since I saw their approach, which was to a) keep most of the musical things out of the trailer and sell it as a Depp/Burton film, and b) try to have their cake and eat it, too, by inundating every theater website and chat board with those advance postings, which, as I've said, were most amusing, as they all used exactly the same language.

Everyone forgets the lesson of Chicago - whatever you happen to think of that film (I'm in the middle), it snuck up and took everyone by surprise. They did not overhype it and shove it down people's throats. They let it find its audience, then built out from there. That's the reason it's done better than any screen musical made subsequent to it.

[jam_man]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 2:22am

Chicago also didn't advertise itself as a musical. In fact, with the exception of Hairspray (and probably Across the Universe), no movie musical in recent memory has advertised itself as more of a musical than Sweeney. No, that wasn't it's primary advertising focus, because it wasn't it's primary filmmaking focus, either. It advertised itself as more of a Burton/Depp slasher movie because it IS more of a Burton/Depp slasher, it just so happens to tell it's story mostly through song. Even despite that, there were several TV spots with clips of their singing while showing them singing it on screen! How much more obvious can you be?

No, it wasn't advertised primarily as a musical, but anyone who willingly saw it without knowing it was a musical is an idiot. No exceptions.

[bk]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 2:29am

Well, given the number of reported walkouts from kiddies who had NO CLUE it was a full-out musical, I'd say you were not so correct. Chicago didn't do much of anything in advance of its platformed opening. They let the film get the reviews and people found it and that was that.

[jam_man]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 2:53am

Those kiddies are idiots then. Especially when every single interview about the movie started with "Can Johnny Depp sing?" And then there supposedly were people who knew it was a musical, but walked out because there was "too much music." If that's true, then I say "Thanks for the $10, now do us all a favor and visit a real barber with a white streak in his hair."

I'll say it again. Anyone who willingly saw it without knowing it was a musical is an idiot. I didn't say there weren't any idiots, I said that they're idiots.

[Little-Lotte]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 5:50am

The average theater goer (and the general audience member who this film is marketed towards) has never even HEARD of Sweeney Todd! Barely any of the TV spots even hinted that this was a musical. I only saw one that had any singing and it was only the little section from "Epiphany". Most people don't watch every interview about something and many don't go looking up films on IMDB or BroadwayWorld. You're giving the general public a bit to much credit. However it's not their fault, it's the marketing department.

I think it will get a big push after the holiday from the Depp fangirls, but as a whole, it probably won't end up doing that well at all. This film is a really hard sell: a gory movie musical by Depp and Burton! Individually on paper it's appealing to many different types of theatergoers however when put together, it's almost impossible to really please a vast amount of people besides the fans of the musical itself.

Personally I loved it and put it in my top three movie musicals of the last decade.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 9:07am

I knew from the moment this film was announced that ut would not do well.I remember saying to my partner that regular movie goers would not find the music appealing, if anything they would find it annoying.This is not a musical like Hairspray, Dreamgirls, Rent etc where the songs are very accessible.

The advertising and marketing has also been a joke for this film, in the trailers ive seen Depp sings(speaks) i line of a song, the rest looks like a period slasher film.
Some of my non musical friends were talking about this last night in a pub (here in the UK) saying they were looking forward to it from the advertising and trailers.I told them i couldn't wait to see it i just hope the fact its a musical doesn't put people off ....well their faces dropped "its a musical?" they said....suddenly they weren't all that interested

I dont blame Burton and co, they have been very upfront about the fact it's a musical, every film mag i have read has said that its a musical when interviewing him, the studio however have yet again run away from the fact its a musical.

I remember the same thing happening with Rent and it causing a big problem at Revolution studios (the head of marketing was fired).All that had was Seasons Of Love playing over lots of clips, clips which showed no one singing.

If they commit to make a musical they need to follow through.

I think sweeney will tank at the box office, its not going to make its budget back (reportedly $75 million with advertising , marketing, prints etc) but i think that in a few years it will be seen as a great film like Ed Wood was (another Burton unsung classic)

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 9:44am

I agree that the marketing for this movie was a joke. I thought the third "whimsical" trailer that ran here in the U.S. with the light tone and the Harry-Potterish voice-over showed me just how "off" they were in their deceitful approach. And I was met with some ludicrous resistance and defense from a poster or two here. Oh, well...

You can't go after an audience for a movie you didn't make. That should be their Golden Rule, but they never seem to learn. If you sell them an orange and tell them it's an apple, they're going to figure it out from the first bite. All you did was make them angry, and completely kill any word-of-mouth hopes.

The problem is the arrogance of Hollywood marketing. They condescend to the "masses." They think they know better than the average ticket buyer. They think they know more. They're wrong. They are more educated than the average ticket buyer, but the "average" folks have a MUCH better, faster and more discerning "insincerity detector" than any marketing exec you will ever meet. In that regard, the masses will always "win."

I hope the marketing people behind Sweeney Todd get fired too. They don't deserve their jobs. They completely messed up... yet again.

Updated On: 12/26/07 at 09:44 AM

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 9:51am

I just really thought after the advertising mess with Rent they would have learned ..alas

What makes me laugh is that musicals are not exactly out of Vogue anymore, Hairspray has just scored a massive pay-out for New Line...and why? because they embraced the fact it was a musical

[tazber]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 9:52am

Still, the movie opened against Legend, National Treas., and the Chipmunks seems to be drawing the family crowd.
It was only released now to qualify for awards consideration.
It's so not a Christmas film.
But in January when nothing new comes out and all the hits have run out of steam I bet Sweeney will do very very well.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 10:09am

It should have come out for Halloween.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 10:11am

i beg to differ

I think this film will fall out of the box office very quick (like Rent, Producers etc)

I do think it will do better on dvd

[tazber]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 10:17am

It's gonna get a ton of award noms. That should give it some extra fuel.