Monday Morning Quarterback Part II
By BOP Staff
April 30, 2014
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Matthew Huntley: This opening is essentially in line with my expectations, as it seemed like the studio was merely dumping it into the marketplace just to say they released it. The problem, I think, is that so many horror movies these days look and feel the same, not to mention claim to be "inspired by true events," and this one didn't seem special enough. Plus, Oculus just came out, so it's possible horror fans feel like they've had their fair share. Like Brick Mansions, this is another genre picture I assume will simply fade away without a trace as the summer movie season that starts next week.
Edwin Davies: I'm not surprised that this didn't do well because I had heard nothing about it prior to this week, and didn't realize it was out until I saw it mentioned in the Weekend Forecast. The few adverts I saw made it look incredibly generic and uninspired, with a number of tired tropes being thrown out seemingly in the hope that the horror audience would be drawn by familiarity. Without a star name, a unique selling point or an unusually creepy trailer, there was no way that the film was going to break out.
Kim Hollis: I think it’s a little surprising that Lionsgate didn’t market this more, given the fact that horror has traditionally been their wheelhouse. But clearly they did not, and the result is a film that no one bothered to see.
Bruce Hall: I just spent three days at a horror film festival and am fairly sure I never heard this movie mentioned. That should tell you all you need to know.
Reagen Sulewski: You really have to try to have a horror movie open up this poorly these days. Say what you will about this audience, but it's proven over and over again that it's not the pickiest bunch, and not having a cast is not much of an excuse. Likely it just comes down to not having any budget to actually push the film, which strikes me as foolish, since even a modest push can pay big rewards here.
Max Braden: Maybe audiences are embracing Spring and preferred the bright and bubbly movies like The Other Woman and Captain America over the darker movies. Transcendence and A Haunted House 2 both dropped over 60% in their second weekends, and Oculus was down at #15 at the box office in its third weekend.
David Mumpower: Failing with a horror film is like messing up a bowl of cereal. I guess it's possible but I don't understand how. The performance of The Quiet Ones is absolutely disgraceful.
Kim Hollis: Brick Mansions, an action film featuring the late Paul Walker, opened with just $9.5 million this weekend. What do you think of this result?
Tim Briody: First off, the title was really weird. This is fine for a project that was probably headed straight to DVD before Walker's death. He didn't really have many hits outside of the Fast and Furious franchise so it's not like anything was lost here.
Matthew Huntley: I'm actually surprised Brick Mansions opened as well as it did, given its lack of publicity and goofy premise (the poster alone made it look like a joke). If there's a reason anyone went to see it, it's probably because it's one of Paul Walker's final projects, which is a shame. After this weekend, though, I don't think we'll be hearing about it much more, if at all. Despite its somewhat modest sub-$30 million production budget, I expect the studio will lose money on this, unless it can translate well internationally, which it just might be able to do since it's an action movie and the cast is diverse.
Edwin Davies: I also think this is better than I expected, largely because the studio couldn't push the film too hard without looking insensitive or exploitative. The ads I saw were light on Walker, heavy on action, which seemed the right way to go but still hampered the film in terms of selling itself to a broad audience. I don't think it would have done much better if they were able to push it harder, since there's a definite ceiling on non-Taken Luc Besson-produced action films, but it was overshadowed by Walker's death and this is probably a best case scenario considering the circumstances.
Dan Krovich: Obviously, the focus was on Paul Walker, but I'm more interested that David Belle got the chance to co-star in the English language remake of the French film District 13 that he also starred in. The box office number is certainly huge for him and maybe the exposure can get him some work in the United States. You'd at least think he could get a shot in a future Expendables movie.
Bruce Hall: Agreed - David Belle's presence is the only interesting thing about this one for me. I'm a fan of Luc Besson and his completely insane sci-fi fetish films, and District B13 is one of my favorites.
But on the whole, I'd bet the studio is just happy to have Brick Mansions behind them. This movie wasn't likely to do well OR to make any difference in Paul Walker's career, even before he died. With that hanging over the film, the marketing felt macabre, visually including Paul Walker but not explicitly drawing attention to his presence. It may have actually kept people away from the movie. If you're interested in seeing Paul Walker, better choices than Brick Mansions already exist, and I think most movie goers know this.
Kim Hollis: I think that the studio handled this as best as they possibly can, given the circumstances they were facing. They had to either market the film or just quietly release it straight-to-DVD, and since there’s some appeal to it and it carried a decent price tag, I just don’t think that was going to work for them. It’s not like they could say, “Featuring the late Paul Walker!” after all. Their approach was tasteful and understated, and the box office results mirror the marketing campaign.
Max Braden: You'd think that “one of his final roles” would bump the box office on this movie, but Walker had two DVD releases in the past year (Hours and Vehicle 19) that I doubt many fans even realized he was in. I don't think that's a slight on him, though; I noticed the same phenomenon with James Gandolfini's final performances - decent reviews but a lack of box office support. The money will come though for Fast & Furious 7 because it will be both his final appearance and a culmination for his character in the series.