[HPFGU-Movie] HP6 - GROSS - in perspective

[Sheryll Townsend]

Brian:
> After the outstanding results of the
> first day and night, the results for the first few days,
> while good, aren't the spectacular success some in this
> group have wanted to portray.
> 
> The important 3 day weekend US takings were $79.5 million
> an increase of only 3 1/2% on Order of the Phoenix ($77m)
> two years ago, while overall takings for all movies
> increased b over 10% in last year alone.
> 
> And to quote the New york Times... "It should be noted that
> many people interested in going to the movies over the
> weekend didn't have much choice but to see "Half-Blood
> Prince." A huge number — 4,325 theaters — showed the
> film, many on multiple screens, and Hollywood got out of
> Harry Potter's way almost entirely; the only other movie to
> open over the weekend was the Fox Searchlight romance "(500)
> Days of Summer," in 27 theaters.
> 
Sheryll:

I think that really needs to be put into perspective. It is not at all uncommon for large releases to be shown on multiple screens. In fact, in theatres with more than half a dozen screening rooms, it's the norm. I've seen new hit films open in as many as 4-6 out of 12 screens in a single theatre. In those theatres, there will at least 6-8 other movies shown during the opening week the new film, so it's misleading as all get out to imply that moviegoers don't have any choices. Maybe not a big choice in films opening that week, but not in what's actually playing. For example, I have 2 multiplexes that I sometimes visit. The one in the west end of the city is showing 10 movies on 12 screens (HP has 3), the one in the east has 11 movies on 12 screens (HP has 3). Yes, that last one sounds impossible but some movies are down to 1 or 2 screening per day and are sharing screening rooms. :)

Brian:
> In other words, once the fanatics had all gone in the first
> 24 hours, giving WB their headlines, the full 3 day weekend
> results were rather less spectacular even with the advantage
> of no competition and much greter hype and pre-launch
> promotion than I remember for any previous HP film.
> 
> To be fair to Warner Brothers (why?) their 5 day results
> showed an increase of around 13-14% compared to OOP two
> years ago and they lacked the income from IMAX.
> But even this hardly warrants the headline "The boy
> wizard's box office powers are stronger than ever."
> 
Sheryll:
Actually, I went before opening night. My daughter won us tickets to a preview screening and we took advantage of it. Sure, she's not a kid anymore but how many parents are going to turn down an opportunity for their child to take them out for an evening. 

Brian:
> Perhaps the boycott by many fans with principles (we AREN'T
> fair-weather fans as one poster here called us) made an
> impact after all.

Sheryll: 
I object to being refered to as unprincipled and think name-calling has no place on any of the HPFGU lists, so asking you to refrain from doing so in future posts.

As to the numbers you give, 3 1/2% increase in box office for the 3 day weekend and 13-14% increase for the first 5 days indicates that those intending to boycott the first week/opening night have had no impact whatsoever. If less than 10% of the increase came over the 3 day weekend, that tells me that the other 10% comes from those who went on the Wednesday and Thursday. Not much of a boycott, IMO.

Brian:
> 
> Although Warner Brothers have probably ruined some things
> in the seventh book by the inept way they adapted the sixth,
> I really hope that they give us two incredible and
> spectacular films to finish the series and do justice to the
> books and their incredible base of loyal fans.
> 
Sheryll:

We're in agreement there! I'd love to see two incredible and spectacular films to finish things off. Not holding my breath, though. <vbg>

Sheryll



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