Monday Morning Quarterback Part II

By BOP Staff

October 20, 2009

Ummm...Titans? Hello? Anyone?

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Tom Macy: I am extremely impressed at how well this release has been executed and, in turn, performed. I don't think it will reach the $100 million plateau, though. This weekend was the high point. I expect further expansion but I'd be shocked if it had another weekend over $20 million. The horror genre is one of the most reliable out there, but to a point. Eventually the word-of-mouth will run up against those confines. For example, I'm more curious to see this film than I've been about any horror movie in awhile, and I still probably won't see it. Okay, tell you what, if it crosses $100 million I'll make it $100,000,012 and I'll keep my foot in my mouth the whole time.

Jason Lee: For what it's worth, I'm already hearing the "it wasn't THAT scary" buzz. That said, I agree with Reagan regarding the studio's decision to engage the mass media in a limited way in marketing this film. I feel like a lot of people are heading to theaters to see Paranormal Activity because it still sort of feels like an "teen insider" film - people are going to see it BECAUSE their friends are talking about it but it's not all over TV. That type of status has a lot of cachet to it, I think.

George Rose: Two weeks ago this would have been $19 million more than I expected. Since then, I've heard many people discussing this movie. Most of those that saw it have been raving about it. Those that haven't seen it want to. However, I fear with the onset of over-hyping and the short amount of time left before Halloween, it will struggle to go beyond $100 million. Regardless, anything more than $15,000 makes it a smash hit so it's already en route to becoming a pop-culture phenomenon.




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Max Braden: Despite its record limited opening, and this huge weekend, I'm still wary of thinking Paranormal Activity is going to have staying power at the box office. My guess is that if they tried to put the movie in 2,000+ theaters the site average would drop dramatically after the most enthusiastic audiences have seen it. I'm just thinking of Open Water here, which was touted as a super-scary super-low-budget kin to Blair Witch, and just didn't capture the same fire. I'd predict somewhere around $80-90 million.

Sean Collier: I think that $100 million is unreachable, only because the word-of-mouth is pretty much the sole driving force here, along with the film's quality. There's only so many people who are going to hear about Paranormal Activity and go to see it - and there are some who are going to be unwilling to see something that has scared the hell out of several of their friends. It's gotta be peaking - I hope it isn't, but I fear it is.

Lonely Boy thanks all his fans

Kim Hollis: The Stepfather, the Sony release featuring one of the stars of Gossip Girl, opened to $11.6 million. Should the studio be pleased with this result?


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