Monday Morning Quarterback Part II

By BOP Staff

July 22, 2015

No worse than Aquaman, really.

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Kim Hollis: Trainwreck, the comedy featuring Amy Schumer and directed by Judd Apatow, earned $30.1 this weekend. What do you think of this result?

Ben Gruchow: This is right in the middle of Apatow's typical opening weekend, if we're looking at tickets sold: roughly 3.7 million here, versus a high of 4.4 million for Knocked Up and a low of 3 million for Funny People (This is 40 technically did 1.4 million, but it also opened right at the start of the 12 Days of Christmas period). It's also right in line with where it should be given the dulling of the Apatow brand and the rising popularity of Amy Schumer. It's Apatow's best-reviewed film since Knocked Up, so it'll be interesting to see if this translates to legs, or if it gets the rug pulled out from underneath it after the opening weekend. I'm thinking the former; we've got until the 29th before this movie's audience gets Vacation to distract them.

Edwin Davies: This is a very promising start, especially considering the film's $35 million budget, and is probably a testament more to Schumer's ascendance than Apatow's involvement, though it's probably a 60/40 split. Schumer has become a quiet phenomenon thanks to her sketch show and the way it offered a steady supply of buzzed about viral hits earlier this year, while Apatow remains a big name who can both draw an audience while allowing his collaborators to do their own thing. Coupled with the strong reviews and word-of-mouth that has been building for the better part of a year, it's not surprising that the film exceeded most of the expectations for it.

What's interesting now is the question of where it ends up. Apatow's first two films earned roughly five times their opening weekend over their respective runs, and they received a pretty similar response to Trainwreck. R-rated comedies that appeal to women have also been proven to be pretty leggy in the past (to cite a film from this summer, Spy is currently on course to earn almost four times its opening weekend) so there's a real possibility for the film to earn anywhere from $100-150 million, if word-of-mouth and precedent are anything to go by.




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Felix Quinonez: I think this is a great opening especially when you consider its budget. The reviews and audience reaction should keep it going for a while, and this is a big notch on Amy Schumer's belt. She is definitely a star on the rise.

Max Braden: Schumer is everywhere recently, so I think she captured the right project at the right time to get a strong box office result like this. Key & Peele has been running a little longer on Comedy Central and garnered critical awards, so I'm a little surprised they didn't make this move first. But it also shows that Schumer has something the other Comedy Central shows don't (boobs? legs? more anatomy?) I don't think anyone would think Nick Swardson could have turned Pretend Time into a successful theatrical movie. I don't see it for Nick Kroll either. But I do see comparisons to Kevin Hart's transition from his 2011 stand-up film Laugh at My Pain to acting roles like Think Like a Man, Ride Along, The Wedding Ringer, and Get Hard. I think Amy Schumer could have a successful string of movies if that's the way she wants to go.


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