GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

US 2nd Weekend Better Than Expected!

POSTED BY: STAKETHELURK
UPDATED: Tuesday, October 11, 2005 10:08
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Monday, October 10, 2005 11:02 AM

STAKETHELURK


The actual box office data for this past weekend is in! See Whedonesque for details: http://whedonesque.com/comments/8436

...Or just keep reading. Serenity drops by 47%, with an overall weekend take of $5.35 million. The estimates had us taking only $4.8 million with a 51% drop off, so we beat Hollywood expectations. EDITED TO ADD: #8 for the weekend, ahead of A History of Violence, and Into the Blue.

And as for the 47% drop off, a Whedonesque poster (who seems to know his stuff) put it best:
Quote:

Originally posted by The Dark Shape at Whedonesque:

Yes, this is good. This is probably the best "sci-fi" drop since Attack of the Clones in 2002, which fell 40%. It's a very, very rare thing when sci-fi pictures, especially those with a built-in audience, fall less than 50%.

While we haven't knocked it out of the park, we're still in the game. Let's keep it that way. So, continue seeing the film as many times as you deem appropriate, keep talking it up, keep posting guerrilla marketing, keep lending out "Firefly" DVDs. Serenity may have legs, but that doesn't mean we can't hold its hand. Keep up the good work, Browncoats!

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Monday, October 10, 2005 11:12 AM

FLYINGTAMS


I still think its better if one person converts 10 others as opposed to seeing it 10 times (and try not to be too much of a manic ;)

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Monday, October 10, 2005 11:26 AM

STAKETHELURK


Quote:

I still think its better if one person converts 10 others as opposed to seeing it 10 times (and try not to be too much of a manic ;)
I agree on both counts, FlyingTams, which is what that "talk it up" part was about. To not come off as much of a maniac, I recommend ommitting the film's unusual history ("it's made from a cancelled TV show" tends to make people think it's crap) and also, perhaps, omit your own fannishness--otherwise people will think you're biased ("well, of course you love it"). Instead, emphasize its sheer quality as a picture: "I just saw this great movie, Serenity, you HAVE to go see it!"

But those are just suggestions. Keep spreading the word however you can, Browncoats (and if you can see it again yourself, that wouldn't hurt either ).

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Monday, October 10, 2005 11:31 AM

STARPILOTGRAINGER


Hey, take any bit of good news you can. If it did almost the standard drop with things as they were, I wonder how much it would have done if Universal's promised 'second weekend marketing push' had actually materialized.

Star Pilot Grainger
"Remember, the enemy's gate is down."
LJ: http://www.livejournal.com/users/newnumber6 (real)
http://www.livejournal.com/users/alternaljournal (fictional, travelling through other worlds)
Unreachable Star: http://www.unreachablestar.net - Comics & SF News/Reviews/Opinions
This week: My spoiler-free Serenity review

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Monday, October 10, 2005 12:42 PM

BROWNCOATMONK


Quote:

Originally posted by StakeTheLurk:
Quote:

I still think its better if one person converts 10 others as opposed to seeing it 10 times (and try not to be too much of a manic ;)
I agree on both counts, FlyingTams, which is what that "talk it up" part was about. To not come off as much of a maniac, I recommend ommitting the film's unusual history ("it's made from a cancelled TV show" tends to make people think it's crap) and also, perhaps, omit your own fannishness--otherwise people will think you're biased ("well, of course you love it"). Instead, emphasize its sheer quality as a picture: "I just saw this great movie, Serenity, you HAVE to go see it!"

But those are just suggestions. Keep spreading the word however you can, Browncoats (and if you can see it again yourself, that wouldn't hurt either ).



The technique that I've used which definitely seems to work is to talk about it like it's a really good movie unrelated to a tv-show, crazy fanbase, science fiction (or westerns), sequels and that sort of stuff. Say 'I really like it' 'it's one of the best movies I've ever seen' 'damn good acting/writing/directing (try not to elaborate on all three)' etc.

Browncoat Monk

Ain't no place I can be since I found Serenity...

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Monday, October 10, 2005 1:07 PM

DONCOAT


I've used one that somebody suggested in another thread here. "It doesn't have a huge special effects budget or big-name stars, so it relies on great acting and an imaginative story".

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Monday, October 10, 2005 2:11 PM

ALEAFONTHEWIND


I'm glad our down turn wasn't as bad as expected, but, I'm a bit disappointed that Universal isn't giving us any help.

We can only do so much with word of mouth advertising. It would make sense for the suits to do a bit of 'Critically hailed' or 'highest viewer rated film of the year' advertising to get the general audience more interested.

Let's face it, we Browncoats are doing their job, not getting paid AND spending our own money to get this film seen. I feel a bit like Blue Sun is taking advantage...

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Monday, October 10, 2005 2:11 PM

ALEAFONTHEWIND


I'm glad our down turn wasn't as bad as expected, but, I'm a bit disappointed that Universal isn't giving us any help.

We can only do so much with word of mouth advertising. It would make sense for the suits to do a bit of 'Critically hailed' or 'highest viewer rated film of the year' advertising to get the general audience more interested.

Let's face it, we Browncoats are doing their job, not getting paid AND spending our own money to get this film seen. I feel a bit like Blue Sun is taking advantage...

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Monday, October 10, 2005 2:46 PM

RABIT


Quote:

Originally posted by ALeafontheWind:
I'm glad our down turn wasn't as bad as expected, but, I'm a bit disappointed that Universal isn't giving us any help.

No offense, but they are. I don't watch TV much at all, and I've seen ads stating exactly what you're asking for.

They're out there - you just haven't caught them, I guess.

Rabit

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Monday, October 10, 2005 3:01 PM

ICCLEDAMES


Whilst I don't have TV reception right now - well actually I only got it today - (came back to University to move into a new house only to discover that somehow, a recently built block of flats is blocking TV reception down our street - seems everyone has had to readjust their aerials. We're still waiting on our landlord sorting that out (GARR!).

A friend leant me an internal aerial which finally allowed me to watch my first TV in 3 weeks. Surprisingly I didn't miss it that much but never mind....

Anyway, getting back to the point - my friend (who did have TV reception and is not a Firefly fan) told me he'd seen the trailer for Serenity (I should point out that this is in the UK). Next time I saw him he said he'd seen it quite regularly and in fact, the next time I was round at his house I saw it for myself.

In any case, we're going to see it tomorrow (second time for me - obviously I'm not as hardcore as you guys out there but I'll try and do my bit as much as I can; after all, that student loan has to be spent on something right

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Monday, October 10, 2005 11:38 PM

MARTING


The past year ive spend my online time in a irc chatroom belonging to a site, at the start of the year about 2 people from that channel knew firefly together with me, thanks to me thats now up to 12.. and they all liked it.. and they are all going to see the movie, some already have

thats also the bad thing about when fans stick with visiting fansites and fanchats.. you cant convert anyone there as they are already fans..

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Tuesday, October 11, 2005 1:28 AM

ELLIE


I was quite relieved to see the new numbers, while not terribly much higher than the estimates, at least they pushed over $5mil and we beat 'Into the Blue', coming out with a decent worldwide finish following it's initial release.

I can only hope that we'll all keep pushing through and keep converting others. But I imagine when the DVD's hit the shelves, it should take care of the large bulk of the mileage as far as sales go.

For my part, I've just been telling as many people as I can how wonderful a movie it is, and that it's brilliant storytelling and excellent sci-fi to boot. I had talked it up to a couple of friends of mine who, unknown to me, went out and caught the movie last weekend and came back to tell me how much they liked it and that they had heard the buzz about the cancelled TV show that spawned it and were curious. When I told them they could borrow my Firefly set they were thrilled. They've now watched about half and love it! My brother too has now seen the movie and might like to go back and see the series on DVD.

I think for newbies to the 'verse, having them watch the movie and then offering the DVDs seems to work really well, at least in my experience!

Sherie @-)---
The Nathan Fillion Archives:
http://www.apocalypse-monthly.com/nathan/

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Tuesday, October 11, 2005 2:55 AM

XEROGRAVITY


Only time will tell. Serenity will have to spread via word of mouth ~ viral marketing. That was the main thrust of the studio's marketing plan anyhow.

I think the biggest obstacle to success at the box office is moviegoer apathy. Hollywood has been producing zero quality SciFi for an eternity. End result: low expectations. Trailers and teasers don't carry as much impact as they once did. Surgically patching together a couple minutes of deceptively alluring snippets of an otherwise crappy film has been turned into an artform. The entertainment industry has proven wrong the old axiom ~ you can't polish a turd. I've gone to see plenty of movies on the strength of the trailer, only to come away feeling bamboozled.

If we fans don't get the word out, the movie will invariably flop (or break even at best). I'd hoped otherwise, but alas, it's not looking too good.

XG


No such thing as gravity. The "Earth-that-was" just sucks.

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Tuesday, October 11, 2005 3:04 AM

EARLY


There is actually a lot of good news. Beating History of Violence again was big. Its gotten good reviews and a lot of buzz, plus it has big stars. Two for the Money has gotten crappy reviews from critics and movie-watchers alike and I don't expect it to stay high very long. In Her Shoes is doing pretty well, but will exhaust the date movie crowd before too long. Flightplan can't stay high too much longer nor do I think can Corps Bride. I think Serenity will see a big jump over already released movies coming this weekend, and be behind mainly the new releases and a few old ones like Wallace. Domino and Elizabethtown will probably do well, and the Fog should open pretty well, but I don't know if it has sustaining power (though it might be really good, who knows). Anyway the future looks pretty good.

Also worldwide we're hanging on at over $10 million a week. Thats pretty good.

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Tuesday, October 11, 2005 7:36 AM

OCELOTWREAK


Bermuda... Still... Waiting...

If it doesn't get here soon, we Browncoats are going to charter a jet to NY or Atlanta just so we can see the BDM!

*sigh*
-ocelot.


"I figure you're here 'cause you need some whacko who's willing to stick his finger in the fan. So who are we helping?" - Keith Szarabajka


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Tuesday, October 11, 2005 7:37 AM

RACEFANZ


This site is the best for general movie finanical, etc. information. The BDM still hasnt broke even.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=serenity.htm

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Tuesday, October 11, 2005 7:42 AM

VANCOUVER


I agree that there's more good than bad--though I understand the urgency and anxiety that leads to reading the glass as half-empty. As an itinerant Firefly fan who simply didn't know about all these websites and the Browncoats and etc until a couple of days ago, I am still amazed that you guys got a movie made. So from my standpoint, that's great to start with.

(Thank you all for that, by the way. I'm now one of you, and out there selling as hard as I can, but until I found these sites, I hadn't contributed anything but psychic waves and some movie-ticket money.)

It is good to see the adjusted Yahoo Movie News list, with Serenity at #8 instead of #9. A History of Violence is such a bad movie, I have to think that word of mouth is going to chop its lil' legs off. But we have to remember that word of mouth, although very effective, is a slow-grinding mill. The process, as you all have certainly experienced yourselves when told about a good movie that you don't know anything about, is you go, "Oh, cool: yeah, I'll go see that, then." But WHEN do you see it? You see it when your own items have been crossed off your own list, or when you see mention of it in the paper or whatever and feel in a movie-going mood...And maybe you miss it altogether, because it's dropped out of the theatres by then--and that's what turns movies into huge DVD-sellers.

My point, inasmuch as I have one, is that I think the key right now is to keep Serenity in theatres as long as possible. I personally have several referred acquaintances in the hopper--not meaning to sound like a serial killer, but you know what I mean--and they WILL see it, on my advice, but only if it's still there when they get around to it. I took my non-initiate sister, who liked it and may in turn take her non-initiate friend (who is already inclined that way, despite not knowing anything about it, because her favourite movie reviewer has only given his top rating to two movies this year, and one of them was Serenity), and tonight I take another non-initiate friend, whom I hooked by showing Shindig from the DVD set. The thing about taking neophytes is that they tell other people who also don't know about it; it is mathematically much more effective to get three newbies to go than take 5 fellow fans, or go 15 times yourself, right? At the very least, we'll be setting it up for huge DVD sales.

One question and one suggestion:

Question: Does anyone know where Mary Parent, the outgoing Universal VP and self-proclaimed "Whedon-stalker" who basically got this movie made, is going? And who is taking her place, and what that person's background is?

Suggestion: I daresay you've already thought of this, but I didn't see it on the "guerilla marketing" list. An easy technique is to keep Serenity on the list of Web Favorites on a big, popular, generic-type site like Yahoo Movies, and to keep one actor from the movie on the list of Most Searched Actors, on ditto. If John and Jane Q. Public are anything like me--which they probably mostly are, besides being more than one person--they'll be spending some time noodling around on those lists, and get curious when they see a name they don't know. Summer Glau was on the list, as you all probably already know, during Serenity's opening week, and I'm sure all sorts of people were drawn to the Serenity link from that. (A decent bio would help, but oh well. Now everybody knows that she was a "premier ballerina", which there aint no sich thing...)

In years of checking box office figures weekly, this is one of maybe three times I've EVER seen the Yahoo list change when the actuals came in. That's you guys, making that difference. Well, all of us. It's really a feat, no matter what happens in the end.


Vancouver

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Tuesday, October 11, 2005 10:08 AM

TUNABELLY


i agree. Universal has given the show a kick start. i've seen the ads all over the place and i never watch tv. most of my friends have seen the ad and they've all come back to ask me if that was the show i've raving about. there's no doubt that Unviversal's ads are generating interest.

Mal: "We've done the impossible and that makes us mighty."

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