"Rise of the Apes" a financial success???

[Adam West]

I haven't seen it yet but would like to see it. It could be post traumatic Burton disorder (which by the way I liked Burton's remake but know most people didn't). There is probably a multi-part problem going on. The economy-as much as everyone says "we're out of the recession" it sure doesn't feel like it. I love going to the movies but honestly have seen only one movie at the theater this entire year. The trailers-maybe it's just me but there is nothing about the trailers that scream "see me". I have a built in love for POTA so of course I view the trailers from my own rose colored lenses and think it looks like a good movie, but my family has also looked at it and don't say a word about wanting to see it (unlike other movies). Finally, I thing there is too much competition going on. Harry Potter threw the first big punch to the movie season followed by Captain America plus the Smurfs of all movies doing well (but that has a built in kid audience). I think there is only so much discretionary spending with most families and are passing on this one.

[EMCE Hammer]

I loved the movie. I don't think it helps that this one doesn't lend itself to merchandising....think Congo. I'll dream of a sequel regardless.

Another angle is ego. It may take a few years, but who's to say that some hotshot won't come along with a foolproof plan guaranteed to make money for a sequel?

[emeraldknight47]

How is it that movies that are actually GOOD and thought-provoking usually get slaughtered at the box office and never have a chance at a sequel whilst drek like TRANSFORMERS just makes barrel loads of cash and the studios just keep churning the s**t out. Makes you wonder about the mindset of the average American movie goer. I don't think they want to think about what they're seeing---they just want brainless eye-candy.

Sad, really....

[Robin NY]

thats bad news, I just saw the film and enjoyed it very much but after reading this I'm thinking there will never be a sequel. That blows

[kennermike]

I dunno-- You tell me;

The film cost just over 100 mil to make. Though it's only playing on 3,000+ screens now, it opened on over 5,000, which is an insane amount of prints. My friend at Fox hasn't gotten back to me yet about the actual P&A budget (that's prints and advertising), but an educated guess on a film like this, based on the number of theaters and adverts I've personally seen, would be a conservative 50 million, give or take. It's probably more, but for the sake of the thread, lets call the film budget 100mil and P&A 50 mil. That's 150 million dollars. Believe me, it's more-- but again for the sake of the thread, we'll stick to this simple number.

Now, it had a pretty strong opening weekend, but this week has dropped way down and I'm almost 100% sure it will get blown out by this weekend, and after the weekend, I'm sure it'll be on less than 2,000 screens. Right now, it's at 70 million. Foreign is decent at about 25mil, but remember there's a separate budget for foreign P&A, and the distribution fees overseas are almost double what they are domestically, so let's call that 25 a realistic 15... So-- Now, you're at 85 million, give or take, going into your second weekend on almost half the screens and you haven't even recouped the budget of the film, let alone the P&A.

This film will not have "Harry Potter" or even superhero film legs, so let's assume that it will make 15-20 million (again, a VERY high estimate) this weekend. You STILL haven't recouped even the budget of the film domestically... See where this is going?

Is the film better than I expected? Yes. Did I like it? It wasn't awful--But the point I'm making here is that when big studios like Fox make a movie for 100 million plus, that film has to make almost double that just to break even. Will "Rise of the Apes" hit 200 million theatrically? No way.

There's DVD, Blu Ray and all that, but keep in mind, that entire market is shrinking day by day and also keep in mind there's separate P&A budgets for those markets as well. Printing DVD's costs money. Ads cost money-- Will this all be worth it for Fox in the end? Highly doubtful.

I know this may seem unbelievable to people who aren't in the industry, but believe me when I tell you; Regardless of all the great reviews, the strong opening weekend, and the fact that it may look to YOU that the film is making a lot of money, it's not and the Fox execs are very disappointed with the performance of the film.

Admittedly, it opened bigger that I thought it would, and the film was better than I thought it would be. But is it a big moneymaker for the studio??? Do the math--

SC

Have actually seen it Sandy? if so your more tolerante then I am I refuse to watch it .I dont care about reviews they mean crap .I perfer a budget of this size go to true filmaking like one of your projects just my 2 cents

[Cmonster]

I dunno-- You tell me;

The film cost just over 100 mil to make. Though it's only playing on 3,000+ screens now, it opened on over 5,000, which is an insane amount of prints. My friend at Fox hasn't gotten back to me yet about the actual P&A budget (that's prints and advertising), but an educated guess on a film like this, based on the number of theaters and adverts I've personally seen, would be a conservative 50 million, give or take. It's probably more, but for the sake of the thread, lets call the film budget 100mil and P&A 50 mil. That's 150 million dollars. Believe me, it's more-- but again for the sake of the thread, we'll stick to this simple number.

Now, it had a pretty strong opening weekend, but this week has dropped way down and I'm almost 100% sure it will get blown out by this weekend, and after the weekend, I'm sure it'll be on less than 2,000 screens. Right now, it's at 70 million. Foreign is decent at about 25mil, but remember there's a separate budget for foreign P&A, and the distribution fees overseas are almost double what they are domestically, so let's call that 25 a realistic 15... So-- Now, you're at 85 million, give or take, going into your second weekend on almost half the screens and you haven't even recouped the budget of the film, let alone the P&A.

This film will not have "Harry Potter" or even superhero film legs, so let's assume that it will make 15-20 million (again, a VERY high estimate) this weekend. You STILL haven't recouped even the budget of the film domestically... See where this is going?

Is the film better than I expected? Yes. Did I like it? It wasn't awful--But the point I'm making here is that when big studios like Fox make a movie for 100 million plus, that film has to make almost double that just to break even. Will "Rise of the Apes" hit 200 million theatrically? No way.

There's DVD, Blu Ray and all that, but keep in mind, that entire market is shrinking day by day and also keep in mind there's separate P&A budgets for those markets as well. Printing DVD's costs money. Ads cost money-- Will this all be worth it for Fox in the end? Highly doubtful.

I know this may seem unbelievable to people who aren't in the industry, but believe me when I tell you; Regardless of all the great reviews, the strong opening weekend, and the fact that it may look to YOU that the film is making a lot of money, it's not and the Fox execs are very disappointed with the performance of the film.

Admittedly, it opened bigger that I thought it would, and the film was better than I thought it would be. But is it a big moneymaker for the studio??? Do the math--

SC