Kenton HallOct 3rd, 2005 - 01:03:31

That is one of the most ill-informed and ridiculous pieces of journalism I have ever read. No mention of artistic merit, no suggestion that perhaps making a third of its budget back in two days and debuting at No. 2 against a big-name, big budget movie might be an ACHIEVEMENT? Serenity is an excellent film, by any standards. It has absolutely nothing to do with fandom, and everything to do with great writing and real acting.

Grow up and stop nursing these sick and cynical wish-fulfillment fantasies that anything that inspires devotion must be for CRAZY people and not sensible cinema-goers who persuaded the studios to give us another helping of ROB SCHNEIDER?

The Messiah wept. Someone like Mr. Whedon who wants to, God forbid, tell stories about people moves into the big-screen business and you want to crucify him for not making something soulless and inept enough to get every teenager in the world frothing wildly at the mouth and squandering their condom money on a ticket straight off the bat. Have some trust in people. Serenity is, already, by no means a flop.

It's a film. And it deserves every good thing that comes its way.

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JTOct 3rd, 2005 - 02:29:48

This is the box office report.

I don't make the numbers, I just report them.

Don't blame me for the poor turnout.

10 million is a terrible debut. Personally, I'm not happy about it. I love the movie, and wish it had done better. But that's got nothing to do with the facts of the matter.

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JTOct 3rd, 2005 - 02:35:51

As further followup, it has NOT made back 1/3 of it's budget.

The production budget was 39 million. That would be closer to 1/4 of its budget.

But that doesn't take into marketing costs, which have not yet been disclosed. In a case like this you're probably looking at at least 10 - 20 million in marketing, so it hasn't even made 1/4 of it's costs up yet, maybe not even 1/5 yet.

And, as you no doubt know, opening weekend is generally when most movies (March of the Penguins excepted) make the largest portion of their money.

It's take will only decrease from here, on average box office take for a film usually decreases 50% each week.

So next week it'll probably do around $5 million at best.

The movie will have a VERY difficult time making back it's budget in this situation.

Regarding artistic merit... discussion of that has no place in a box office report. We save that for our review of the movie, which you'll note M&C gave 4.5/5 stars.

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ChristinaOct 3rd, 2005 - 04:07:52

How is being the #2 movie in the country a flop, and being the #5 movie a success???
And for your information, Serenity made the most money per theatre than any other movie, including Flight Plan.
And you're writing it off as a flop awfully quickly. Considering the minamalist advertising campaign, Serenity did pretty darn well, and word-of-mouth advertising will likely help it keep its place on the charst a while longer. This movie has legs, mark my words.

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aboydOct 3rd, 2005 - 04:47:23

Wow, what a biased box office report.

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Kenton HallOct 3rd, 2005 - 08:29:20

I wasn't disputing the numbers, merely the call that this means it is on its way to being a flop.

And the 1/3 was a typo, about which I am deeply embarrassed. (Just because I'm a musician, doesn't mean I can't do math... : ) ) I just find naysaying with regards to initial weekends deeply irritating. Enough people start talking like that, it becomes self-fulfilling prophecy.

We all understand how the business works... but considering what Serenity's up against, I think it's a respectable debut that can be built on.

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JTOct 3rd, 2005 - 13:52:12

CHISTINE: Who said Into the Blue was a success at #5? It too was a failure.

For your information, Serenity did NOT make the most money per theater, not even close. A History of Violence made the most money per-screen in the top ten, and there are many limited releases that made a lot more than any of the movies in the top ten, including Serenity.

As for the advertising campaign, Serenity's was huge. It's been plastered all over television and the trailer has been playing non stop.

You can try to justify it all you want, but the facts speak for themselves. There's no bias here, it simply is what it is.

Those of us who like the movie will simply have to face that.

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AntPOct 3rd, 2005 - 21:27:35

With all the hype, build up and good reviews, box office predictions aimed this film to a $15-$20million opening weekend. I can say why people are saying its kind of flopped, all failed to meet expectations if i rephrase myself.

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AnonymousOct 4th, 2005 - 01:13:21

I'm not going to complain, I'm not going to yell and scream and holler... all I am going to say is did the writer of this box office report even go see any of the movies involved? or is s/he just another capitalistic, greed driven fool who drops the bottom line to the numbers? Many of the fans consider Serenity a success for no other reason then we pulled a canlced tv show back from the ashes and had it pushed back into the sky.. I don't care what the numbers are except to say I would love to see us make enough to have a sequel.. but lets take into account here that we didn't have jessica alba in a bikini and we didn't have jodie foster in a panic as she so often is... The closest thing to a star we had is Adam Baldwin who is a well known character actor and not much more. I love the actors and actresses of this film for no other reason then they are no one.. they have no concern for pleasing anyone but their fans. The bottom line is more then just numbers and there are exceptions to every rule.. perhaps the browncoats will suprise you yet.

This being said J.T. I'm not looking for a fight.. just trying to offer some food for thought.

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JTOct 4th, 2005 - 14:12:51

Anonymous:

Yes. I've seen almost every movie that comes out. Though this week I was lucky enough to avoid having to see the latest travesty from Paul Walker.

Like I said, I saw Serenity, and LOVE Serenity. I think it's a fantastic film. And you can spin it whatever way you want, but there's no denying that it's a box office failure. I'm just reporting the numbers here.

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LDOct 9th, 2005 - 16:43:46

Hardcore 'Browncoats' (*eyeroll*) are insane and the reason why I'm not going to see 'Serenity.' It may be a good film, but zealots have turned me off. Joss Whedon isn't god, ladies.

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JTOct 9th, 2005 - 21:03:21

LD -

That's a sentiment I'm hearing from a wide variety of people... especially from people who are normally in this film's target demographic.

Many believe that the poor behavior of Joss Whedon's fans and supporters is a big part of why Serenity has failed so miserably in the mainstream.

You aren't alone.

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