box office

Evolution of the Romantic Comedy

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“Boring”, “Overdone” and “haven’t I already seen this?” are some of the common comments that sit below a YouTube Trailer for an upcoming romantic comedy. People are getting tired of the predictable genre and are moving on from it to cinematic romance movies.

Romantic comedies used to be viewed in a positive way for most. They were easy to follow, had a predictable but nice ending and made you feel a mushy gushy warm feeling inside. For the most part, women would go in attendance to these types of films. Now it seems as though no one wants to see the dying genre anymore.

The 2012 film What to Expect When Your Expecting, even with a star studded cast, made only $41 million domestically against a budget of $40 million. The Jason Segel and Emily Blunt romantic couple comedy The Five Year Engagement grossed $27 million domestically against a budget of $30 million.

Studios seemed to try to take on a different approach this year with the guy-centric romantic comedies That Awkward Moment and Cavemen. That Awkward Moment seemed more like That Awkward Movie to most viewers due to its lack of a clear theme. The movie’s success seems to be attributed mainly due to the star power of its leading stars Zac Efron, Miles Teller and Michael B. Jordan rather than any compliments to the actual movie.

The cinematic romance and romantic dramedy have faired well recently. 2013 featured the films Enough Said, The Spectacular Now, Before Midnight, Drinking Buddies, and many others. Enough Said and Before Midnight  went on to gross more than $25 million each.

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Movie goers seem to divert from the clique plots and happy endings of rom-coms in favor of the realistic portrayals of romance in the films like Enough Said, Before Midnight and others. The films feature characteristics like natural lighting, complex conflicts, *real looking* people and natural dialogue (particularly in the case of Drinking Buddies which had largely improvised dialogue).

So in the times of decreasing box office returns, studios should look into romance films that people want: ones that show there isn’t always a happy ending to relationships…and that’s okay.

 

 

Suprising Success of God’s Not Dead (film)

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The low-budget indie christian film God’s Not Dead  turned heads (or computer mouses) when it finished its opening weekend with a suprising 9.2 million from just 780 theaters.

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Synopsis

Josh Wheaton (played by Disney Channel’s Shane Harper), a freshman college student, enrolls in a philosophy class. The professor (Kevin Sorbo) makes all the students sign a “God is Dead” statement in order to pass the class. Josh is at ends, wanting to defend is belief in God but needing to pass the class to fill a degree requirement. The professor makes a deal with him. Josh does a series of debates with his stance that “God is Alive.” If he succeeds he passes the class, if he loses then he flunks.

The film follows themes of facing challenges, family tension, beliefs, success and much more.

Analysis

The movie industry has  been deemed with the unofficial title of “Year of the Bible in Hollywood.” Son of God came out in February, God’s Not Dead and Noah in March and Exodus in December. Many were shocked that a low-budget film that was seemingly unheard about did so well. Its strong marketing efforts may have been the reason for the strong opening weekend turnout.

Ash Greyson, CEO of social media consultant Ribbow Media, oversaw the social media marketing for the film. Greyson did research into the different niche markets of christian movie goers (young ones, older ones, ones that listen to pandora, ones that watch TV frequently).

“We’re not buying a demographic, we’re buying a committed audience. It’s all about peeling the onion,” Greyson said during an interview with The Wrap. 

Greyson looked into various platforms,seeing which ads grabbed the most attention. He didn’t want generic ads that were broad and people passed over. He placed potential movie goers into niche categories based on what actor from the films cast they liked the most.

A few certain factors came together that provided the film with a successful box office return.

  • The marketing campaign didn’t do broad advertisements, it catered to niche groups
  • The film followed everyday issues, a far distance from the big budget films around it (Need for Speed, Divergent)
  • In-depth research was done to see how varying levels of Christians responded to faith-biased films

Even though the film has been panned by critics and mixed my audience, it proves the power in niche marketing. Target people with ads they want to see, that relate to them.

UPDATE (3/31/2014): The film continues to succeed, making nearly 8.8 million in its second week. The second week gross is just a 4.5% decline from the first week.

  • First Week: 9.2 million from 780 theaters ($11,817 per screen average)
  • Second Week: 8.8 million from 1,178 theaters ($7,468 per screen average)

image via imdb.com

 

Successes and Faults of Veronica Mars (film)

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It’s easy to think that more people would be in the Veronica Mars fandom if the show had aired during the current binge-encouraging TV community. The show ran from 2004-2007 on UPN/CW. It was low-rated but beloved for its writing, format and acting.

Despite (very persistent) fan attempts for a movie to be made, Warner Brothers (the studio that financed/distributed the show) opted not to fund the possible film. Fast foward six years to 2013 and a Kickstarter campaign was launched, raising $5.7 million in 30 days. The movie was officially happening

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Review

The prowling teen detective, covering the seedy happenings at Neptune High School and its town, is back.

Veronica Mars was last seen at the end of season three, her freshman year of college, getting recruited by the FBI (Great career planning!). Nine years later she is living in New York City with her college boyfriend “Piz” and pursuing jobs at a few law firms. In the midst of landing a pretty sweet gig at a law firm, she gets contacted by her ex-boyfriend Logan Echolls. He’s in trouble, having been accused of the murder of his girlfriend Carrie Bishop who was a fellow student at Neptune High.

Bishop, who went on to become a successful popstar under the stagename Bonnie DeVille, was found dead in her bathroom. Echolls, a lieutenant in the US Navy and son of movie star Aaron Echolls, is the prime suspect. Lawyer offers being thrown in his face, Veronica treks down to Neptune to help him clear his name.

During her 10-year high school reunion, she realizes that Bishop’s murder is connected to the death of her best friend, Susan Knight. Knight mysteriously disappeared during a boating trip nine years prior.

The ensuing plot involves Veronica working to clear Logan’s name while dealing with the seedy and corrupt nature of small town Neptune.

Observations

The film was well-paced and had a steady plot and resolution. A quick two minute introduction at the start gives non-viewers of the TV series a brief history of Veronica Mars and company and allows the film to be enjoyed without ever watching the series.

The only qualms a non-viewer of the TV series would experience is the pop ups of various characters from the TV show.  The instances aren’t too distracting to keep the viewer from enjoying the movie as a whole.

While the film was good, I noted a few disruptions to it

  • Interaction among characters was big in the TV series. In the film it isn’t, all the side characters from the series have few scenes and aren’t really engaging to the plot of the film.
  • Movie feels a little weird. It plays like some TV movie. Veronica Mars isn’t meant for film. It’s writing serves best when restricted to hour-long TV formatting.

Will the Veronica Mars film be counted as a success? Many already consider it so (it was finally made into a movie after seven years after all).

Box office and movie insiders are looking closely to see whether actually will be a success or not. The film cost a reported $6 million to make. To be classified as a success it would have to make double its budget back, $12 million. A figure that doesn’t seem likely to be happening.

  • Opening weekend: $2 million from 291 theaters for its opening weekend.
  • Second week: dropped 76.5%, obtaining around $470,000 from 347 theaters.

Making back its budget from theater box office doesn’t seem to be in the cards. Video on Demand sales may be its saving grace. No report has been released on the exact state of its VOD viewing numbers (distributors have a frequent history of not releasing on demand numbers).

A long time ago, we used to be friends…and we still are. Veronica Mars, despite its few quirks, works well for a night of movie watching outside of the typical slapstick comedy genre. A- 

 

 

 

 

Movie Marketing Playbook

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Reading through my RSS feed of Indiewire, I came across this article about the marketability to different age groups.  The article isn’t all that suprising, everyone already knows that most movie studio executives are very cut and dry about the movies they pick up and how to market them. A particular line of it provides a general synopsis of the value in the playbook: No one sets out to make a movie without a particular audience in mind. One line of the playbook rings suprisingly true in a time of social media cravings and short attention spans: films no longer have time to find their audience; that audience has to be captured well in advance.

The article details the marketing drive that has a huge impact on the content of the film. It mentions why few films are made for certain age groups. Seeing the article’s title, most would brush it off as insignificant but it has some suprising statements.

Recent examples of that go off this guide could include the January openings of this year. The Kevin Hart/Ice Cube comedy Ride Along, with it’s humor filled action scenes and witty dialogue, went on to make $41 million in it’s opening weekend against a budget of $25 million. The film targeted the  18-30 demographic looking for a mindless comedy to gravitate to. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit failed in attracting much of the younger demographic but got a suprising turnout with viewers over age 50. Jack Ryan had what many older viewers liked: action, classic genres and men being adventurous. Ride Along targeted much of the younger generation with it’s mindless humor and comedic tone.

Movies are more manufactured than most outside the industry imagine. It’s time to take a closer look.

Flops that became Cult Classics

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Dazed and Confused

When Dazed and Confused left theaters it had grossed just 7.9 million from its 6.9 million budget. The movie starred a string of then-unknown stars like Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck and Milla Jovovich. Although underperforming at the box office, the film went on develop a cult following by people who identified with its themes of rebellion and going against conformity. The film has been put on many critics list of best cult films and recently got a Star of Texas award from the Texas Film Hall of Fame for its 20th anniversary.

Donnie Darko

The science-fiction drama film with its somewhat confusing nature went on to be one of the top favorites for hipsters nationwide. It did moderately okay, grossing 7.6 million against a 4.5 million budget. Despite the film’s less than stellar box office receipts, it helped launch the career of lead actor Jake Gyllenhaal. In the movie Gyllenhaal’s character Donnie, aims to find the significance behind his troubling doomsday visions.

Wet Hot American Summer         

Although it had sold-out screenings at its Sundance Festival premiere, Wet Hot American Summer failed to attract many distributors for pick up. It went on to gross just $295,000 againsta $1.8 million budget. It didn’t seem to matter much. The film developed a cult following with strong DVD sales. The film starred many up and comers including Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Ken Marino, Bradley Cooper and Elizabeth Banks. Director David Wain has confirmed a sequel with the original cast returning.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Despite positive reviews from critics and fans, Scott Pilgrim flopped at the Box Office making $47 million against a $60 million budget. Fear not, the film shot up to the first spot for blu-ray sales on Amazon the day it became available on DVD. Comic book lovers and hipsters developed a love for the film that showed Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) meeting the girl of his dreams and defeating her “seven evil exes.”