Remember that old
Chinese curse:
"May you live in interesting times." These are interesting times for several animation studios, with three CG cartoons opening in a three week span (
The Ant Bully next weekend, and
The Barnyard just a week later).
Monster House is up first, and it's getting pretty decent
reviews. Unfortunately, it has
major competition: three other major new releases, and that pirate movie in its third week. . .
Box Office Mojo gives Monster House a forecast that exactly matches the one the Sony prez of distribution made a few days ago: around $25 million for the opening weekend. I suspect it will do better than that, but this is about as crowded as a weekend could be at the multiplex.
Update One: The Friday estimates are in, and "Monster House" is a close second to a still mighty "Pirates of the Caribbean." ($7.5 million vs. $9.9 million. And yes, that seems like a considerable spread, but when you consider that the per-screen difference is only $288, it bodes well for "Monster House.")
"Lady In the Water" was a close third. "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" appears to have landed with a graceless thud -- down in 7th. (And ended up in 7th. Ivan Reitman can't be pleased.)
Update Two: "Monster House" did indeed finish #2 to "POC," and about where Sony predicted -- at $23 million. Of course, Sony/Columbia will need a multiplier of 5 to push this pup over the $100 million mark by the end of its run, and we know from the earlier linked post that a movie has "legs" if it is 4.0 or better.
("Cars" continues to slow down, dropping to Number 10. And now just shy of $230 million.)
Remember that old Chinese curse: "May you live in interesting times." These are interesting times for several animation studios, with three CG cartoons opening in a three week span (The Ant Bully next weekend, and The Barnyard just a week later). Monster House is up first, and it's getting pretty decent reviews. Unfortunately, it has major competition: three other major new releases, and that pirate movie in its third week. . .
Box Office Mojo gives Monster House a forecast that exactly matches the one the Sony prez of distribution made a few days ago: around $25 million for the opening weekend. I suspect it will do better than that, but this is about as crowded as a weekend could be at the multiplex.
Update One: The Friday estimates are in, and "Monster House" is a close second to a still mighty "Pirates of the Caribbean." ($7.5 million vs. $9.9 million. And yes, that seems like a considerable spread, but when you consider that the per-screen difference is only $288, it bodes well for "Monster House.")
"Lady In the Water" was a close third. "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" appears to have landed with a graceless thud -- down in 7th. (And ended up in 7th. Ivan Reitman can't be pleased.)
Update Two: "Monster House" did indeed finish #2 to "POC," and about where Sony predicted -- at $23 million. Of course, Sony/Columbia will need a multiplier of 5 to push this pup over the $100 million mark by the end of its run, and we know from the earlier linked post that a movie has "legs" if it is 4.0 or better.
("Cars" continues to slow down, dropping to Number 10. And now just shy of $230 million.)
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4 comments:
John Davis and his DNA colleagues are here at the San Diego ComicCon. They gave a nice presentation for "Ant Bully."
Saw a lot of other pitches for upcoming animated films as well. Wonder how all will do in this increasingly crowded animated market?
Any interesting or promising ones, Floyd?
Judging by Friday's estimates they may be right about Monster House's estimates, but like you said, this is a busy weekend. Talking to people after the film most seemed to really enjoy it, especially the story and how it was darker then most animated films. I wouldn't be surprised to see this movie do well over the long haul.
Personally the performance capture animation just never felt right for me, but I really liked the story and overall enjoyed the movie.
Real curious to hear about some of those pitches from the Comic Con. Ratatoullie and the Dreamworks Route 66 film both have me very excited.
"performance capture animation never felt right" is a kind understatement. It looks down right horrible!
However, if the story is good as you say, then I'll reluctantly have to give it a chance and see it...
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