Monday Morning Quarterback Part I

By BOP Staff

February 10, 2009

Just look at all that roid rage.

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The other thing that I think is overlooked is that this movie is based on a very popular book and, so I am told, on a catch phrase in an episode of "Sex in the City". Two of the writers who wrote for the show went on to write the book so there was a following there.

Then again, the individual draw of Aniston may have helped given that she just finished press, it feels like for, Marley and Me.

I disagree with David slightly in that I don't think the nightmare scenario of seeing Johansson as a homewrecker or Bradley Cooper (and his mutantly big smile) as a two-timer would have thrown off the potential success. People love to hate characters and the hissing that went on during the showing I saw was evidence of that.




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Neil Gaiman fans are a mighty and powerful force.

Kim Hollis: Coraline, the stop motion animated film from Focus Features, opened to a surprising $16.8 million. To what do you attribute its success?

David Mumpower: This is the most novel release of 2009 to date and arguably the most visually stimulating animated family film since The Nightmare Before Christmas or at least The Corpse Bride. In addition, this is the rare 3-D film wherein the usage of the technology feels seamless rather than a gimmick for the sake of being gimmicky. While I think all of this is a big factor, the subtle aspect of this that drives box office revenue is that actual price of 3-D movies tickets. The average ticket price at the end of 2008 was $7.12, and we're even a bit beyond that since most movie chains raised ticket prices to adjust for the economic collapse (which is a counter-intuitive business practice, I realize). The average 3-D movie ticket is over 50% higher. The last two times I've gone to see one, I paid $19 for a pair of tickets for a matinee ($9.50 a piece) and $26 for an evening show ($13 a piece). Getting an average of only $10 per ticket sold means that box office is automatically going to be 50% higher as well for all 3-D tickets sold. Bringing that back to Coraline, it was exhibited in 1,004 3-D venues and 1,294 ordinary theaters. 44% of its tickets got that 50% bump, meaning it got an overall spike of 22% if you do the math. That bit of sleight of hand turns a $13.4 million opening into a $16.3 million opening.

Brandon Scott: Is this a success? I don't know what the budget is for it. I am surprised by the figure and happy to see that reviews seem overwhelmingly positive. I feel that the stop-motion aspect is gimmicky. I have never seen the lauded Nightmare Before Christmas as animation in any form as it is not my thing. I'm glad to see it did well, though, and would venture to guess that its uniqueness in terms of rarity of use of this "technology" helps in addition to what David said about the use of 3-D.

David Mumpower: Coraline's budget is a source of quite a bit of speculation. Some sources indicate it's as low as $35 million, but it was greenlighted with a production budget of $75 million. The next film that comes in with over half of its budget unspent will be the first, and we all know this. So, I'm inclined to think the truth lies somewhere in the middle.


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