Edward Jay Epstein book: indie's demise, Tinseltown fools Wall Street, and silly release windows
In a Sea of Great B.O. Returns, Four Films Fizzled
"The Soloist," "State of Play" are the latest titles to take a wrong turn. Here's why.
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As summer blockbusters begin to roll out every weekend, here's what we know about box office 2009: Mall cops, museums and mutants have had a great time. Russell Crowe, Julia Roberts and Robert Downey Jr. have not.
In a year that has defied economic indicators from every other industry, the overall box-office tally is up year-to-date from 2008 by an incredible 14 percent.
And many are predicting that this summer could outperform last summer's record $4.2 billion take.
But not everyone is enjoying the party.
While the tentpoles are starting to do what they do -- and most everything else, from “Paul Blart” ($146 million) to “Taken” ($145 million) to even “The Haunting in Connecticut” ($55 million) have been winners -- there have been some major misses.
"The Soloist" ($29 million), "State of Play" ($36 million), "Duplicity" ($40 million) and "Confessions of a Shopoholic" ($44 million) all can be considered wrong turns in '09.
What makes it more surprising is that most of these titles boast major movie stars. And another -- "Shopaholic" -- had one of the biggest producers on the planet behind it: Jerry Bruckheimer.
So what gives?
"It's the 'Lions for Lambs' syndrome," said one agent, who would speak only on condition of anonymity. "Well-intentioned movies with noble messages and big stars always look great on paper. But right now, the mass audiences don't want to see them."
Indeed, the serious adult movie has always had trouble at the box office, but in the current economic climate, escapism seems to be the key as theatergoing becomes the last cheap night out. Genre films like “The Last House on the Left” are meeting expectations, and “Wolverine,” "Star Trek," "Night at the Museum" and “Angels & Demons” are just too big not to do good business.
But despite the flood of them we get at the end of every year, the general movie for sophisticated audiences is becoming extinct.
"Adult movies with movie stars can work, but these just looked so boring," said one executive at a major studio, who would not speak for the record. "Nobody wants to see Jamie Foxx as a homeless person, and no one wants to see Russell Crowe fat and ugly. These movies looked like medicine, rather than entertainment.”
So instead of taking their pills, audiences were more inclined to ingest Zac Efron ("17 Again" -- $60 million), Miley Cyrus ("Hannah Montana: The Movie" -- $77 million) and the combo of Paul Rudd and Jason Segel ("I Love You, Man" -- $71 million), unproven bigscreen actors who delivered solid grosses.
Of course, it is all the clarity of hindsight, and no one in Hollywood will predict with certainty what movies work or won't. But a deeper look at these four misfires reveal different reasons why they didn't: timing, marketing and, in every case, plot.
"The Soloist"
DreamWorks' “The Soloist” suffered from bad buzz at the onset, moving from a prestigious November release to the dead zone of spring. Reviews were mostly negative (Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 55), and the plot was hard to summarize on a one-sheet (homeless man as a violin prodigy!).
It was hard to get past a silly-looking Jamie Foxx in the ad campaign.
Comments
mfan Says
OOPS! The Variety magazine article turned out to be a misprint. It should have been $130 Million. The latest confirmed numbers, however, are $146,760,584 (Through July 19.) It will take a while to get the final numbers because, for some reason, Miley's movie opens in Japan next year.
mfan Says
Miley Cyrus is going to be like Elvis if she chooses. Able to put out top grossing movies year in and year out. Beyonce did pretty well without a musical theme; but I didn't see her movie to tell you if her acting has potential. According Variety, Hannah Montana: the Movie has passed $160,000,000 World wide and I have it going to $200,000,000 eventually (it opens in Japan next year.) This will put it at 60% from overseas equalling Angelina Jolies last action movie in what you could call the worldwide fame indicator. Miley Rocks!
E Says
.............until an engaging good movie comes along and buries down all the theses.
Sugar Ray Rosenberg Says
After the seventh or eighth time I sat through the endless but "meaningful" 'Soloist' trailer, I turned to my wife and announced that I would NEVER see this film. The trailer not only disclosed the entire plot of the movie, it has ruined for me Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major -- which I don't think I can listen to for several years now.
GS Says
I don't know why the press loves the story that films for adults don't sell. Films that get dumped by their studios and elbowed out of theaters before they have a chance don't sell. The Soloist was dumped out in April because of competition at the Oscars, the studio didn't have faith in it winning anything.
It's not that A-list stars don't sell tickets. It's that the A-list stars we have in Hollywood are getting old and there's no one to take their place. Name an A-list actor under 40. It's even thinner when you get under 35. Bruce Willis is great, but he was in his thirties in his prime.
The idea that people didn't want to go see Duplicity because it was too close to reality is preposterous. I don't know why it didn't do well, but that wasn't it. But it may have had something to do with the smarminess of the whole thing and that seeing forty year olds have sex isn't most people's idea of steamy Hollywood movie. I thought it was good, but I went because there was nothing else to see that day.
LindaNelson Says
Much like our film, SKID ROW, THE SOLOIST is a tough sell. People do not want to look at homelessness, even when it's told in the context of an inspiring story. This problem is spiraling out of control here in LA and I know it can't be any better in places like Detroit. When are we going to wake up and so something about it?
I applaud Steve Lopez, Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey for trying to tell this story and I believe it will have a larger life beyond the theaters, as SKID ROW is starting to enjoy. It takes a lot of work to get people to watch these kinds of movies, because they act as a mirror to our own societal failings. Easier to ignore or sweep under the rug. When's the last time you saw our city or state government publically address the homeless?
Ray Price Says
How could the reviews of The Soloist be "mostly negative" if 55% of the reviews at Rotten Tomatoes were positive? Last time I checked, 55% was more than half...
Toby of the Hill People Says
what a preposterous article- Shopaholic was profitable because it cost nothing to make.... learn before speaking