Monday Morning Quarterback
By BOP Staff
February 22, 2010
The more he shrinks physically, the bigger his box office gets.Kim Hollis: This appears likely to be Martin Scorsese's third consecutive $100 million non-documentary film. Has he crossed over to the point where his name above the title automatically guarantees box office?
Josh Spiegel: I wouldn't say that. If, for example, Scorsese decided to make Kundun now, not in 1997, I don't think that movie would make even $25 million total. What matters is that Scorsese has made, in his last three fiction films, very accessible movies with very well-known actors. Granted, Robert De Niro wasn't a nobody when he did Raging Bull or Goodfellas, but those films were released amid waves of big-budget blockbusters. With The Departed, The Aviator, and Shutter Island, Scorsese has managed to make big-budget blockbusters that also happen to marry his unique filmmaking style, in my opinion. It also helps that Shutter Island has been marketed, correctly, as a psychological thriller, which audiences never say no to.
Matthew Huntley: Martin Scorsese's name above a title certainly means something to many viewers, but in the case of Shutter Island, I think it was Leonardo DiCaprio's name and the overall premise that did most of the ticket selling. Still, the name Scorsese on a billboard can only help a movie's financial prospects.
We have to keep in mind Shutter Island was sold as mainstream entertainment and was the only wide release of the weekend. Moviegoers love a good psychological thriller and this one happened to be available. It tapped into the adult crowd by being more intelligent, patient and character-oriented than most. If a movie is quality mainstream, it's only natural it's going to make a lot of money, despite the director.
Michael Lynderey: Scorsese's name automatically guarantees more than a movie would usually have been apt to get, yes, but I wouldn't necessarily think everything he does is a lock to nab, say, at least a $50 million total. As long as he makes these big commercial movies with name actors and a premise audiences can get behind, he's good for box office in the $100 million range. But if he delivers a title that's perhaps as unapproachable in some ways as Bringing out the Dead or After Hours were, it becomes much more of an uphill climb.
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