Monday Morning Quarterback

By BOP Staff

March 15, 2010

This is the type of celebration you have when you make a shot with .1 seconds left.

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Vampire love only goes so far.

Kim Hollis: Remember Me, the latest attempt by Robert Pattinson to prove that he is not the new Leonard Nimoy in terms of typecasting, opened to $8.1 million. So, is he the new Leonard Nimoy?

Michael Lynderey: I really don't know how to work the Nimoy reference, but I will say that Remember Me definitely came in well below my expectations. Zac Efron's 17 Again may have fooled me as to the drawing power of teen idols at the box office - in that context, Pattinson has the bigger fanbase, especially as High School Musical fades deeper into the past. But in retrospect, the Efron film seems so much more accessible than the ambiguous Pattinson project, and I guess that's what hurt it. That said, it's still sort of surprising that arguably the biggest teen idol of the moment couldn't open a generally mainstream movie to more than $8 million.

Brett Beach: When I finally became aware of this film about a month ago, I was curious as to how this would open, particularly with the rabid Twilight fanbase and the aura it had of being a Nicholas Sparks-esque romantic tragedy that might fill the void between the actual Sparks-linked projects of Dear John and The Last Song. With its performance here not that much stronger than Adventureland's opening, well, I guess this is why people talk about being Team Edward or Team Jacob more than Team Robert or Taylor. [Spoiler Alert]: Informed by several pull quotes from reviews that the film's climax revolves around 9/11 and actually [apparently] uses the enormity of that loss to gain easy emotional resolution to this tale, I am not sure if I will ever see this. Having been a mere two hundred feet from the Twin Towers that morning, and knowing my reaction to United 93 and World Trade Center - films which despite their flaws are serious and factually based takes on events of that date - I am not sure I have reached the point where I can see 9/11 used as an easy out plot device.

Reagen Sulewski: I don't know if he's such a victim of typecasting as much as he's an actor that no one would have a clue who he is if not for Twilight. Without that, this film either stars someone else, or is an indie film that opens to about $100,000.

David Mumpower: I think Reagen is right to a degree in that I do believe a certain percentage of the box office in this film comes from Twi-Hards. Since we're talking about such small overall numbers, however, that's not the most positive of statements for Pattinson. In fact, I've readjusted my calendar to reflect that I expect Pattinson to be considering television show pilots in 2014 now instead of 2016. I bet he'll be an inscrutable professional of some sort whose dour personality doesn't aptly reflect his underlying passion for life. Seriously, will somebody yell when Twilight hits 15:01 on the Warhol Clock? I need this to happen soon.

Jason Lee: I think it would be wise for Pattinson to try and do a film where he's not the headlining star. Until he does, we'll always be judging the film on whether or not he's able to shake the Twilight role, or whether or not his fanbase will follow him into a different movie, or whether or not he's able to branch out into a more mature type of film. Until that happens, every box office performance will come with a Twilight-tinged sense of disappointment.




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It's not big, fat or Greek. But it is a wedding.

Kim Hollis: Our Family Wedding, a self-explanatory-titled movie starring Forest Whitaker and Ugly Betty opened to $7.6 million. Should Fox Searchlight be pleased with this result?

Michael Lynderey: I think the biggest expectation when you're greenlighting a project like this is a slow opening bolstered up some by legs, based on good reviews and word-of-mouth. The problem here is that Our Family Wedding somehow ended up as the worst reviewed title of the week, and greener pastures are clearly not ahead at the box office. So, I'd definitely call it a disappointment, yes, but one that was basically inevitable considering the TomatoMeter score.

Reagen Sulewski: It seems inevitable that people would start trying to rip off Tyler Perry. I just wouldn't have thought they'd be so blatant about it.

David Mumpower: With all due respect to Mr. Lynderey, I think he's dead wrong on this one. Opening in only 1,605 locations, Our Family Wedding is a tremendous performer, all things considered. It has easily surpassed the per-location averages of two more heavily marketed titles also opening this weekend. It has also effectively matched the per-location average of Green Zone, which is a prop bet that would have broken the bank prior to the weekend. Yes, I'm probably more inclined to say nice things about director Rick Famuyiwa's titles since he made Brown Sugar, one of my favorite movies of the 2000s. Even so, I think that any realistic evaluation of the four openers this weekend demonstrates that the least celebrated release, Our Family Wedding, is the best overall performer relative to expectations as well as dollars earned per exhibition.

Jason Lee: As David rightfully pointed out, this film did as well as it was gonna do. It's like a Finnish bobsledder who should be happy to have made it into the Top 25 at the Olympics because the Top 10 was out of the question.


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