Apr 3rd Tracking

W wrote:Ready to change your mind yet, Buscemi?

Ready to change your mind on Dragonball: Evolution?

I said it'd be an absolute failure, just not as absolute as you think... I said between 6-8 M and you said 3-5... If it hits your prediction, I'm $2 M off...

Hey W., guess what?

F&F4 = possible 60M weekend . . .

Nikke Finke

FRIDAY PM: The lesson here is that Hollywood should never underestimate moviegoers' tolerance for retread material. Even Universal knew when they announced a 4th installment of their worn-out fast cars franchise that everyone else would say there was no life left. But they got the original cast together and made a true sequel that picks up the Fast And Furious story where it left off. The result today was a $26 million haul from 3,461 theaters for an unexpected opening weekend estimate of possibly $60M. That's a whopping 1/3 more than the studio thought possible, and the biggest April opening ever by a mile (previous best was Anger Management's $42M in 2003).

I haven't made up any of my April slates yet, but thank god I emailed Shryke thurs night and said put F&F4 on all of them anyways. At $18 and $60m (projected by DHD, $26M Friday estimate) opening, its a steal! Even it if performs at Watchmen level of drops, that still a success for its price, and I doubt it play out like Watchmen, as it has a PG rating and more mainstream appeal.

J-Man wrote: its a steal! Even it if performs at Watchmen level of drops, that still a success for its price, and I doubt it play out like Watchmen, as it has a PG rating and more mainstream appeal.

I have literally been saying this for WEEKS!

God I hate moviegoers. Not knowing a turd when they see one.

I'm so glad I put FF on all my slates last. Definitely worth the price... and I guess call me a 'moviegoer' because I really want to go see it too

JackO wrote:Hey W., guess what?

F&F4 = possible 60M weekend . . .

Nikke Finke

FRIDAY PM: The lesson here is that Hollywood should never underestimate moviegoers' tolerance for retread material. Even Universal knew when they announced a 4th installment of their worn-out fast cars franchise that everyone else would say there was no life left. But they got the original cast together and made a true sequel that picks up the Fast And Furious story where it left off. The result today was a $26 million haul from 3,461 theaters for an unexpected opening weekend estimate of possibly $60M. That's a whopping 1/3 more than the studio thought possible, and the biggest April opening ever by a mile (previous best was Anger Management's $42M in 2003).

Holy fucking Vin Diesel!!
$26 mill on Friday alone....that's crazy.

So glad I grabbed it at the last minute...

$26M? BOM has it in for a $30M Friday.

Glad I put it on all the slates I could afford to on Thursday night.

Buscemi wrote:God I hate moviegoers. Not knowing a turd when they see one.

Well this coming from someone who enjoyed The Love Guru and hated Transformers. fucked up logic i think. Plus Fast and Furious is very enjoyable.Maybe you should see it there Boosh.

If I did see it, then I'd probably walk out after five minutes. I've pretty that everything that happens here already happened in the first.

Yes, I'm still pissed that they promote as racing movies when there is little racing and they still manage to fool people into thinking these are racing movies.

I'm pissed that the director of this movie is the same guy that did Better Luck Tomorrow, a really good drama about the difficulties of being Asian in the U.S. The guy could have created more films in that vein but sold out to do these Michael Bay-esque movies that already open every other week. He could have created opportunities for other Asian filmmakers and actors and he fucked it up.

I'm pissed that the guy who wrote Cellular is still getting work.

I'm pissed that Neal H. Moritz is still allowed to produce movies even though most of his movies are the exact same one as before.

And I'm pissed that the actors actually chose to do another one of these movies instead of actually doing roles that can advance their careers. This is why people get typecast. Because they can't say no to playing the same role over and over even though they know that the roles get worse and they can do something different. Something that will get people to continue to like them. In three years, people will have forgotten this movie the way they forget most other dumb action films because they'll realize that they were dumb to have even gotten tricked into seeing it in the first place.

Thanks a lot audiences. You fed the studio pig once again.

First of all.. Never diss Cellular again.

Second, say what you want about what you BELIEVE in the movies quality, but until you watch it you can't really make any argument worth listening to.

Finally, you need to relax and realize different people have different tastes. I would think you of all people would know that considering you are probably one of five living people who gave The Love Guru 3/4 stars.

Action movie + good cast + sequel + not much competition was always going to end up making money.

And I'm pissed that the actors actually chose to do another one of these movies instead of actually doing roles that can advance their careers.

PS: you'll find that this movie has actually put most of this cast back on track. Vin wasn't doing so well in the boxoffice, PW had fallen off the face of the Earth, and MR wasn't exactly miss popularity.

Let me just condense what Buscemi said:

"Mainstream America, don't like what you like. You should only like what I like. There is no room in your collective contiousness for explosions and fast cars, only gays and other mintority films. Stop deciding for yourself and vote me as your pop culture guru. All factory workers, gas station attendents, and people whose jobs they can't stand don't need a break from reality rather a movie that makes you think, though you don't want to. Please, everyone, lets make this a socialist nation with myself as the censor."

Movies can be good and not deep and they can also be deep but not good.

People should be able to choose what they want to see. Though bad movies sometimes make money, it is my experiance that quality adds monetary value to a film.

In short, like what you like. There will be many more films to choose from soon.

Spectre wrote:$26M? BOM has it in for a $30M Friday.

Glad I put it on all the slates I could afford to on Thursday night.

That's crazy! I'm also glad i put it on all my slates I could. I'm curious who didnt put it on their slates, they are going to have to work hard to not get eliminated

P.S. That is Universal's highest opening day ever

BarcaRulz wrote:First of all.. Never diss Cellular again.

Second, say what you want about what you BELIEVE in the movies quality, but until you watch it you can't really make any argument worth listening to.

Finally, you need to relax and realize different people have different tastes. I would think you of all people would know that considering you are probably one of five living people who gave The Love Guru 3/4 stars.

Action movie + good cast + sequel + not much competition was always going to end up making money.

Agreed, haha, I would watch Cellular a hundred times over before watching Love Guru again

BarcaRulz wrote:

And I'm pissed that the actors actually chose to do another one of these movies instead of actually doing roles that can advance their careers.

PS: you'll find that this movie has actually put most of this cast back on track. Vin wasn't doing so well in the boxoffice, PW had fallen off the face of the Earth, and MR wasn't exactly miss popularity.

Double agreed, they were doing other roles and look at where it got them: straight to dvd movies and jail, haha

Now that I read this interview with Vinny D my thoughts changed in the process: http://www.collider.com/entertainment/interviews/article.asp?aid=11362&tcid=1

I say see Fast and Furious as many times as you possibly can. When he makes the next one, see it as many times as you possibly can. When he makes the next Riddick, see it as many times as you possibly can. When he makes XXX3, see it as many times as you possibly can.

If the studio is roadblocking him on this because he's not doing well, I REALLY want him to do well so I can see Hannibal!

W and Barca you guys pretty much took the words out of my mouth. very well said and cheers to you guys. Also Cellular very good movie and i agree monkey i would watch 100 more times before watching The Love Guru again. I am very big advocate for different tastes but dont insult other people tasts that is very wrong. I know that my taste in film is questionable at best but hey there nothing wrong with that and i dont point fingers at others and call them dumb and be angry at them. Theres no point in that you cant stop it. Just lighten up a little Buscemi and be open.

W wrote:I have literally been saying this for WEEKS!

I guess you could say I doubted you, or I put faith in people not to want to see it.

A few weeks back I picked it for one of my slates thinking it'd do well, but I never imagined it would do THIS well. Gawd, 70M? I'll bet this lands in the top steals at the end of the year (along with Taken and Paul Blart.)

Don't look now but Mase is calling for $70M

First off, I'm not trying to be a dick, or offend anybody, but seriously, for lack of a better word, fuck Fast and Furious. If you get a chance to see something, see Adventureland. Great story, script, acting, etc. and not making as much due to those facts, as most people would rather see mindless action films. That is fine in itself, but real, personal films will be going out of existence if all America watches dumbed down films like F & F, Paul Blart, and the like...

i have absolutely 0 interest in F&F, but i'm also not personally offended by its existence.. crap sells, that is nothing new.. and, from what i've heard from various people, F&F is supposedly not THAT bad.. i'll probably never find out either way

Wow, somebody gets it.

And in the long run, expect films like Avatar to be considered failures simply because they are too ambitious and personal for the average emo-styled, Fall Out Boy-listening cultures.

Yes, Alvin and The Chipmunks 2 may be the big Christmas movie.

Mase's Saturday numbers.


EXCLUSIVE STEVE MASON EARLY FRIDAY ESTIMATES
1. NEW – Fast & Furious (Universal) - $30.11M, $8,088 PTA, $28M cume
2. Monsters vs. Aliens (Dreamworks/Paramount) - $8.9M, $2,169 PTA, $81.09M cume
3. The Haunting in Connecticut (Lionsgate) - $3.67M, $1,345 PTA, $31.36M cume
4. I Love You Man (Dreamworks/Paramount) - $2.73M, $1,052 PTA, $44.17M cume
5. Knowing (Summit) - $2.67M, $805 PTA, $52.74M cume
6. NEW – Adventureland (Miramax) - $2.17M, $1,168 PTA, $2.17M cume
7. Duplicity (Universal) - $1.43M, $571 PTA, $29.5M cume
8. Race to Witch Mountain (Disney) - $970,000, $343 PTA, $56M cume
9. 12 Rounds (Fox) - $850,000, $365 PTA, $7.57M cume
10. Sunshine Cleaning (Overture) - $580,000, $1,211 PTA, $4.05M cume

EXCLUSIVE STEVE MASON EARLY 3-DAY ESTIMATES
1. NEW – Fast & Furious (Universal) - $70M, $20,220 PTA, $70M cume
2. Monsters vs. Aliens (Dreamworks/Paramount) - $35.6M, $8,674 PTA, $107.79M cume
3. The Haunting in Connecticut (Lionsgate) - $10.65M, $3,901 PTA, $38.34M cume
4. Knowing (Summit) - $8.69M, $2,616 PTA, $58.76M cume
5. I Love You Man (Dreamworks/Paramount) - $8.69M, $3,342 PTA, $50.12M cume
6. NEW – Adventureland (Miramax) - $6.05M, $3,249 PTA, $6.05M cume
7. Duplicity (Universal) - $4.56M, $1,810 PTA, $32.63M cume
8. Race to Witch Mountain (Disney) - $3.49M, $1,235 PTA, $58.52M cume
9. 12 Rounds (Fox) - $2.7M, $1,158 PTA, $9.42M cume
10. Sunshine Cleaning (Fox) - $2.03M, $4,238 PTA, $5.5M cume

Buscemi... you need to come to the realization that some people go to the movies to be entertained and not to think. That's obviously not what you get out of the movies and that's fine, it's not what I get out of them either, but there are a lot of people that just want mindless fun and enjoyment. They just want to kick back with their drink and popcorn and be entertained.

No reason to hold that against them, even if that's not what does it for you.

I just guess I'm not like other people.

Today I saw I Love You, Man. Hated it. The script was awful, the direction was non-existant, everyone was going in different directions and Paul Rudd probably deserves a Razzie nomination for his performance. The only thing that probably could have made it good is if everyone's purpose was to beat the shit out of each other's characters. That's how much I hated these obnoxious douchebags who make up slang terms that make no sense at all every thirty seconds.

That or they could have gotten Judd Apatow, Jason Segel or The Coen Brothers to rewrite the film, a good but not quite famous director to direct (such as Jake Kasdan) and cast Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey in the leads. Sure the new film would cost over $100 million but you'd get some pros in the cast and a good script.