Sex and the Box Office
Yeah, I know “box office” is a dirty word around here, but just because it’s an over-emphasized subject doesn’t mean it isn’t occasionally important.
In this case, while we’re all sitting here chatting so enjoyably, Sex and the City is raking in some serious coin at the cinemas. Most estimates had Indiana Jones and the Whatchamacallit of the Sparkly Thingamabob taking the number one slot again this weekend, but with Sex scoring $26.9 million on Friday compared to Indy’s $12.2 million, it looks like girls rule and boys drool. It’s also interesting to note that Sex is playing in 3,285 theaters while Indy is playing in 4,264.
So, why does it matter?
Sex and the City’s Friday was the best opening day ever for a romantic comedy (compare it to the hit The Devil Wears Prada which made $27.5 million over the whole opening weekend) and the third highest for an R-rated movie behind Matrix Reloaded and 300.
Though it’s a special case because of its devoted following, regardless of what you think of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and whatsername, the brunette one, I think these numbers are important for a few reasons.
First of all, this has to be something of a bittersweet victory for the folks who used to be New Line, the original production house which was gutted by parent company Warner Bros. before the film was released.
Second, it shows that the box office tracking figures everyone frets over so much are unfairly weighted toward the very demographic Hollywood consistently targets: little boys and retards. If a film falls outside of those boundaries, Hollywood doesn’t know what to make of it. It’s all a part of a self-perpetuating system that practically guarantees the same crap summer in and summer out.
Finally, it shows there’s a huge, untapped, decision making and ticket buying audience out there besides pubescent videogame jockeys and window lickers. The question is, will Hollywood pay attention and broaden their scope a little bit? Yeah, I don’t think so either, but a guy can dream, can’t he?
Filed under: Analysis, News
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That’s great news. I think “Indy 4″ is suffering from bad word of mouth (I liked it, but I think most people out there view it as being unhip). And “SATC” is a lot of fun. I saw it with a packed house last night and the crowd loved it.
Good word of mouth + untapped market = “The Passion of the Christ” for women and gay men.
Well, it’s difficult to read in terms of what it means for Hollywood regarding female-centric movies, since many studio executives can (correctly) say that this is a special case of a movie with a built-in audience due to the HBO series.
That said, it will probably have an impact because so many people were underestimating it.
“…little boys and retards,” ahahaha…
Matthew. “Passion of the Cosmo”
Alexander: It’s definitely a special case and because of that I doubt it will ultimately have any impact at all. On the other hand, I think the more modest success of Prada may have had something to do with the greater variety of movies this summer…i.e. more comedies and romantic comedies, fewer sequels.
It’s not really an untapped market if you think about it. I mean, there are PLENTY of banal romantic comedies and “women’s pictures” out there. The difference is that this one had a built in audience and is actually really good.
for me “actually pretty good” (and that seems to be the prevailing opinion at least of fans of the show) is a key difference.
Usually when Hollywood targets the “chick flick” market, they target it with crap.
Wasn’t Prada a word-of-mouth/leggy success based partly on the fact that it was a chick flick that men could actually stomach, though? Looking at its box office, it made approximately exactly in its first three days what Sex and the City made in its first day, which is more modest but it was still quite the success, making almost 125 million domestic and a little more than 200 million elsewhere on earth. I’m not sure what kind of big-picture impact that film had, though. What romantic comedies are coming out this summer besides the The Ten Commandments of the genre, Sex and the City? I’m curious; Daniel and I were discussing romantic comedies of this decade over at my blog. Most of the comedies I’ve seen ads and trailers for this summer look like typical summer comedy fare like Zohan and Love Guru.
When I said this will have an impact, I really meant that I think more and more studios will be more willing to intelligently use counter-programming strategies like this.
That’s already happening, of course. For instance, look at July 18. The overwhelming majority of the “fanboys” on the Internet are obsessed with the Warner Brothers offering, The Dark Knight. But a lot of women who don’t write up fan-fiction on the Internet about why a building has been partially destroyed on a movie poster are going to check out Universal’s Mamma Mia! that same weekend. Indeed, many older guys will probably have to promise their girlfriends/wives Mamma Mia! in exchange for The Dark Knight. So, while people–mostly men–are mistakenly surprised by Sex’s success just a week post-Indy, I suspect Mamma Mia! will holds its own against Dark Knight just fine. You could say that the box office speculation/Hollywood industry watching is geared towards male-oriented product because Hollywood product tends to be male-oriented…?
Just imagine how much I could write about this if I was really interested in box office.
craig..am i the only person to read boxofficeprophets ???
i guess because i’m the only one to ever ref it. yes forget boxofficemojo or whatever for five seconds.ok…
http://www.boxofficeprophets.com/column/index.cfm?columnID=10694
(if you just want the numbers they predicted go to page 2)
yep they called it….
My girlfriend reported that she’s “never seen so many women at a movie.”
I don’t know why this was a surprise to anybody. Women have been waiting for this movie to come out for years. Did everyone think they would just forget about it?
Alright, I’ll admit it - I’m just on my high horse because I knew it was a sweet pick of mine in the fantasy movie league.
What’s funny is a couple of friends and I test each other every week on the box office just as something to rib each other with throughout the rest of the week. I almost always prevail. David Poland should call me each week since he’s so consistently wrong, especially when he allows his own opinions (Iron Man vs. Speed Racer, anyone?) cloud his judgment.
Daniel, I agree: the level of “surprise” by many is what is surprising to me.
Yes, this one is hard to ascribe much more to than Sex and the City has a devoted fanbase and Summer is not a time when women have much to see in theaters. I suspect Mama Mia will also do splendidly but to smaller box office because it has a similar draw. I also agree that there’s a lot of films aimed at the XX chromosonal marketplace, and women do tend to show up for those, but this is sort of the Indy 4 of romantic comedies.
What is curious is that ABC is the only TV network that has figured out how to exploit this market consistently and (fairly) respectfully. You’d think HBO would be wise to the success of S&TC and Six Feet Under by now, but they still seem to be sputtering around trying to find the next Sopranos.
I’m still waiting for the exec smart enough to consistently counter-program the film seasons. None of them seem to have nailed it yet. They still got caught in the same old tired patterns. You’d think a success like this might embolden some new ways of thinking…
i doubt i’ll see satc. but i ’support it’ since it will be only big film of the summer with mu;tiple female leads. and seemingly the only blockbusyer/summer event movie that not an action film/cartoon or something.
(and good do i hate those.and no i don’t have a penis.thank you…)
hell if big deal gets made over crap like ‘iron man’/'300′ with not ’satc too ???
it doesn’t matter if satc isn’t good…like ‘300′ was good…
i’m just sick of everything that basicaly seen as having big ‘for the guys’ appeal whether it’s sports/ action/war/cop films etc/lame punk/metal bands
get elavated and treated with utter seriousness. well things that may/are view as having a big female appeal/’for the females’ arent….
so yep f**k the guys and let’em cry on their ‘300′ dvd.
as satc beat indy jones this weeked.and steals/sees alittle ligh.. :)
alexander…i just saw hors de.prix/priceless…if stateside ‘romantic comdies’ get to this level i’ll be there opening weekend..
and yep i’m gonna claim i’m to mentally exhausted to say much now. but maybe by water coller time. i’ll have the energy to write 3 sentences about it…
oh and the movie ‘the fall’ is no where near as good as the band the fall.
hell if people put the movie ‘the fall’ in their top 10. i’m gonna kill a few people.someone put me on the payroll so i can believe the hype…
i caught the ‘the fall’ last night….. and i saw ‘priceless’ today (11:40 am showing)
and a manger told me. he worked a 17 hour shift yestrerday(and yep he opened today) he was scheduled to live at 5pm but he couldn’t. i think he said he stayed to like 2am or something…
and that whatever showing they had for satc were sold out 2 months in advance. but whatever happened and some other group. (maybe the group that had 2 sex city parties yesterday) keep booking/selling tickets.
(and i don’t know if they stared trying people away. i left about 9:30 pm. but the lobby and any free space was beyond packed/chaotic)
anyway the manger told to to handle the traffic inside and i guess to prevent a riot. they showed satc on four screens last night.
the early shift manger and the confessions person that had to open today. look like total crap…
i have couple more satc tidbits from stuff i noticed last night.(mayeb i’ll bore you with’em monday) i almost wish i stayed in lobby for than i stayed it less than five minutes.(crowds and me. equal a scared me.) but i’ve never seen it it like this in a theatre. ever…
this was at the angelika/houston…
I couldn’t stomach Prada, Alexander, but not because it was a chick flick. I wanted to punch whatsername’s boyfriend in the balls and I hated her for putting up with him so long. Liked Emily Blunt and Streep though.
No Glimmer, I don’t follow box office if I can avoid it, before or after the fact (except as far as it will help me beat Daniel at the fantasy movie league). Also, if Sex holds, I think it will make more than the BOP projection of 52 million. It made more than half that in one night.
Joel, maybe the key is making movies that don’t suck? Say what you want about all those ABC shows, they’re all of fairly high quality. Women aren’t stupid…well at least not in greater proportions than boys.
oh and the lady that works concessions that had to open this today. said last night was the only night/time she’s been cussed out. and seemingly this happened alot last night/and that often she was the only one woking consession…and then she made some comment about it being the worst night of her life…
yeah craig..i see that based on fridays numbers boxofficeprophets are now going with at least $ 63.6
I agree with you, Craig: It’s a sign of an underserved market segment in an era when teen boys are the only market anyone wants to serve - and Devil Wears Prada bugged me too.
Devil Wears Prada definitely bugged me as well–the relationship(s) between Hathaway and her boyfriend and that slick guy was/were atrocious on numerous levels–but because of Streep, Blunt and Tucci I was able to stomach it. Never want to even think about seeing it again, though.
was hathaway’s boyfriend(see how much we remember hm ??) even in the film much ???
that guy was no lamer than many a female girlfriend in whatever big movie….so yep let the guy be in lame role/light for once… ;)
Prada. There are worse ways to spend a couple of hours than watching Hathaway and Blunt, however.
Whatever one thinks about Sex and the City, variety is good for cinema so I’m glad to see it doing well. As others have said, whether it translates into real change remains to be seen, but you have to open doors before you can walk through them.
He didn’t have to be in the film that much Glimmer. He was in it long enough to annoy me.
Hahaha…I had her named spelled “Carry”.
Who’s the window licker now?
I really liked “The Devil Wears Prada,” but I’m with you Craig about Hathaway’s boyfriend. I thought he was being extremely selfish. She should have dumped him and stayed Miranda’s assistant. Deep down I don’t think she was a bad person, and that she actually liked Anne.
I thought DWP was awful. Except for Meryl. (Sorry, Matthew…)
I went to Indy IV and I’m going to THE DARK KNIGHT. I am NOT going to S&TC or Mama Mia. Nothing against either film. They’re just not my scene.
glim, two things…
You saw THE FALL and you didn’t like it?
Also, was that a misprint in your comment, sarcasm or something else that I’ve failed to grasp? Did you say you DON’T have a penis, glim?
I don’t understand. Is there something you’d like to tell us?
*Ahem* Possibly?
I wasn’t a big fan of PRADA as a whole, not so much because of Hathaway’s boyfriend but because of her own character. Part of the problem with the whole “memoir” fad in the book market is that too many of the writers can’t help but make themselves look their best in print. Not only was she a brilliant writer, but she also ended up being the best assistant Streep’s character ever had (the movie’s words!). I mean, really? Glorify yourself much? Had she been complicated and occasionally unsympathetic I might have enjoyed the movie more, but since it was basically a big-screen adaptation of The True Story of How Awesome I Am and How I Kicked Ass in a Dream Job That I’m Clearly Better Than, I didn’t really care. That said, Streep, Blunt and Tucci were pretty darn good.
Also, so glad the girlfriend doesn’t care to see SEX AND THE CITY. Didn’t care for the show- I found the protagonists to be a gaggle of shrill consumerist harpies (sorry fans)- so I was dreading seeing the movie, and now I won’t even have to take her to placate her. Man, she’s so awesome.
m. yeah i saw the fall and no i didn’t like it. maybe i’ll talk more why sunday/watercooler….
even worse m. i mentioned not liking the fall (she was talking to couple ahead of me and saying how much she liked it …)
to lady working consessions.wow that was ‘nice’ awkward. lost some cool points i never had with admission…
but more satc side stories. yeah….
for whatever short period with all the chaos there was neither no angelika employee at the at spot where they give take your ticket /hmm it works at ‘my’ (ha ha) angelika is you buy the ticket from the outside window and once inside/right buy the concession area you give your ticket to an employee to rip/get you a stub…
so for whatever short time to take tickets.
meaning yep sevreal spell it several saw no one was there to ask for ticket so they walked through at about 30 miles an hour. (and trust me no one walks/moves fast in houston)
i have no idea if they were able to get a seat. or how they could even get in line. or if they even had tickets.but they were in the part of angelika that has the ‘auditoriums’ maybe something worked out for them….
also when i line outside waiting to buy a ticket. several/i mean several people were going up asking for satc tickets despite the sold out thing in window…
and don’t ask me how but this guy working security oh somewhere told this lady where someone was that was selling tickets. and boy did start walking. wonder how much they paid ???
m. i did say i didn’t have a penis. i’m just having fun. i don’t think my guy cred is high. and i’m not usually in sync with them.so that’s one of the reasons i joke about not having penis…
plus i’m usually viewed that way by females/or they hope i don’t have penis. *ouch*
see it’s comedy gold for all.
I haven’t seen The Fall myself, but everyone who I know personally who has gone to see it has disliked it.
and yep m. as in your city. the lines i saw for satc had this stylish dressed females….
and ah …most of the females were younger than those on show.much younger. i guess they’re the ones having sex in the city….
Ok, glim. Glad we got that straightened out. As it were.
Jeff, that’s too bad. I’m incredibly stoked for THE FALL (If it ever gets up here.) After that spectacular trailer, I want it to be great.
So much…
I saw The Fall earlier today and will save the comments for Monday, but I’ll just say that I liked it more than I disliked it…and it has the potential to be as divisive as MBN…
Paul. Hang on tight to that one :)
The Fall. I’m already sort of on record with this, but I liked it. I wanted to like it more than I did, but it never quite reached orbit for me. A lot to admire about it, though.
Also, if you live in New York or Los Angeles and you’re a fan of Stuart Gordon (or comic/horror/thrillers) head over to Angelika or Nuart to catch Stuck. Your ticket purchase will help decide whether this thing gets a wider release. It deserves it.
Can’t wait to see The Fall in the next few days. Will have to travel to Sausalito for a film for the first time since last year’s Once.
I hope Stuck comes up here, particularly after hearing you endorse it, Craig. The subject matter is grisly and horrible but from what I’ve read about the film it’s not exploitative as one might think it would be.
I loved Prada, it was funny and at time annoying, but I loved it, and have it on DVD. I liked Sex and the City about the same, if not a little more.
The memoir “Devil Wears Prada” was wittier than and not nearly as politically correct as the film turned out to be, and for that, I was pissed off, the film was a little too diluted for me, and it could have been a GREAT, as opposed to a distant memory.
“Sex and the City” is not a blatant comedy though, nor is it a blatant romantic-comedy, more so than the television series. There is comedy and romance, but comparing it to “Prada” is not fair. The one has a heart and the other doesn’t. The one film, “Prada,” makes it out to be that fashion is a religion and “Sex and the City” makes it out to be a fact of life for the woman who live in that kind of culture, who all have loads of money - and spending one’s money of clothes and labels is not superficial, if you have the money, who the hell would not want to look good? A lot of people I have respected for so long for being so open minded have really screwed it up in terms of their reaction to this film, and while I won’t mention any names, because who cares what I think really, it is a damn shame what kind of world we live in, for a huge amount of hypocrisy I am being forced to witness, not necessarily over here at LiC but EVERYWHERE.
“Sex and the City” better rake it in, and then it can flaunt its hard earned cash in the faces of all the haters who have told themselves that not giving a crap about fashion and possessions makes them a better person, because it doesn’t, it just makes you look cheap, no matter how wholesome or “well rounded” you see your life. If I have a content life, and can look good, well damn that is what I will strive for. I guess asking people to just be fair is too much, because God forbid a film is made out of a series where woman dress well, and always look their best and struggle with various issues that all woman face, only they do it over cocktails and tell all tales of their sex lives, for all the male-orientated films out there, this one is a step in a new direction for women in cinema, and perhaps the threat of something taking over the tedium of a male-centric and egotistical industry is too much for some to handle.
It is easier to rag on this film than face the facts that by distancing ones self from the film, some find themselves conforming to that ideal where it is not what you look like on the outside that counts, but what is on the inside, which really makes no sense, why can’t we be both? Seriously, I have rambled enough and it is not like I can save the world from itself with one comment, instead, I am going to pop in the season finale of “Sex and the City” and pretend that I live in New York – in a rich area in an expensive hotel, not an artsy-fartsy one. *sigh*
I have a shameful confession to make. The reason I went for the SatC reviewing assignment was that a) that means I don’t have to pay to see it, and b) all my girly girl-friends (the kind who’ll even go see Fool’s Gool) love love love the show (while I enjoy it and admire some aspects of it greatly, but am not as into it), and I’m afraid to be the one sourpuss who finds fault with the movie while they fawn over it.
So yeah. Tuesday. I’ll let you guys know what I think.
Craig, I’ll be there for Stuck this week sometime. You saw my short film, which was loosely based on a true story, but it was my second concept, after adapting the true story that Stuck is doing.
Sorry for that horrible sentence.
Can’t wait for your take Hedwig.
It isn’t a flawless film, not by a long shot, and it is not as good as the show because gone are the days of youthful carelessness, but it is deeply misunderstood.
I cannot wait until I see another film today, so I can take a break from my relentless defending of SatC all around town.
I’m buoyed by the fact that this might - might - get more higher quality female projects off the ground. It comes at the right time, too. The number of notable actresses in their 20s dwarfs the number of notable actors. I’d rather not watch the Blunts and the Knightleys and the Hathaways and the rest struggle to get anything but the slimmest material. Look at some of the actresses around forty - Diane Lane, Ashley Judd - and see how undernourished their careers have been with good, high-profile lead roles.
And I still contend that long after everyone has forgotten The Queen, women will still be watching The Devil Wears Prada in droves.
Nick, for whatever reason, certain movies become lightening rods in some kind of culture war. In this case, the divide is largely male/female, though there are also groups of females that are turning up their noses.
When this happens, reactions seem to be exaggerated. Makes it hard for a person to just sit down and enjoy a movie.
I agree KB that, at least for me, The Queen was almost instantly forgettable, but do you really think Prada has a future?
And yeah, actresses in the last 20 years or more have been robbed. One wonders if we’ll ever have a return to the studio days where “women’s pictures” were the norm and actresses ruled.
Jeff, I’m really looking forward to hearing what you think of Stuck and I hope you get a chance to catch it…it’s only playing one week. Your film shares a definite macabre sensibility with Stuck. I’m not in the business of predicting, but I think you’ll like it.
Preach it Nicky! :-)
Prada? Oh yeah. In the same way that Top Gun has had a future. Up to and until a better similar film arrives.
some films last because they’re outstanding. Some films last because everyone’s seen them. Some films last because they have fantasy appeal for half the species. Count this one in the last category.
Wow, I thought The Queen was light-years better than DWP.
Jeff, The Queen is seriously mediocre. (Aside from Helen’s grand performance.)
But it IS light years better then DWP. EASILY.
Well, agree on part 2, disagree on part 1.
i didn’t watch the the queen but what i good gather/snippets i pick up/vibe picked up this movie raising to the top was another exmaple of indies trad heart….
ok back to bore with satc…. so this will be the summer’s only ‘event’ movie that’s not a cartoon/action film ???
and four female leads too. how unsual…
I couldn’t make it through more than 20 minutes of TDWP (even my girlfriend hated it) but I’ve seen The Queen twice and enjoyed Helen Mirren’s performance both times.
Does that mean I’m seriously mediocre? ; )
Back to the conversation at hand: it will be interesting to see how the execs and the media parse S&TC’s weekend success early this week. I imagine they’re ultimately going to blow it off but hopefully it will lead to some daring programming changes for next year.
joel, to answer your question…
In a word, NO.
There are some people I’m rather fond of. Even if they like films I don’t care for.
Hope that clears it up…
the best thing about anne hathway is that her favorite song was/is peaches f*ck the pain away
see here
http://www.celebwarship.com/wp/?p=3449
but this all you need/as the object of your attention…
“I love Peaches. When people are all like, ‘Do you think you have a squeaky-clean image?’ I’m like, ‘Could a squeaky-clean girl know all the lyrics to ‘Teaches of Peaches’? I mean, my favorite song is called ‘Fuck the Pain Away.’”
yes craig, this why i’m here to bring this throw awy tidbits/not worth mentioning… ;)
Thanks Glimmer, for bringing Anne Hathaway back down to earth for me. Of course, her starring in this already made it clear she’s not afraid to let her hair down:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0285175/
It’s also fair to note Glimmer that your might Box Office Prophets’ prediction for SatC was much closer than thought it would be.
well it’s often good to loyal to bop ! :)
and this their monday morning qb thing….
brings up some points on satc we’ve mentioned and couple more….
http://www.boxofficeprophets.com/column/index.cfm?columnID=10703