LMI Is a Box Office Flop

[CyberGhostface]

I think it's been explained that this kind of turnout was generally expected. Just like "Let The Right One In", this was made for kinda a niche audience and the expectation is in DVD sales.

What was expected was that the film would make around 10 mil on opening weekend. It made half that.

[SunButterfly]

Box Office always seems to do that to movies that are actually good, it's like if it doesn't have explosions, blood and sex every 5 minutes, that it fails as a movie. I disagree, there's more to this film than just blood and gore.

[withinfocus]

What was expected was that the film would make around 10 mil on opening weekend. It made half that.

Is this something you can provide a reference to? All conventional wisdom for this film including how it was marketed, released, the weekend it was released on, the cast involved, the director, and the history of the production company says otherwise.

[CyberGhostface]

I remember reading after the B.O. came out that the theorists were predicting that the film would make 10 mil.

I definitely don't think they planned for it do this poorly--even Reeves admitted that the film's not selling that well. Had they made the film cheaper (the original only needed a fifth of LMI's budget) it might have been viewed as a moderate success as opposed to a flop. Don't see why they would make a movie where they knew they wouldn't make a huge profit off of it.

[withinfocus]

I'm not really sure what's in the film that makes it that much more expensive than the original other than the price of production is significantly higher in the US. I don't think they tried to really spend money or anything. Actor salaries are at least $2-3 million I would guess. Not sure if you're from the US or not but $20 million for a mainstream (albeit somewhat limited) release is pretty lean.

Overture has a history of smaller-budget films with bigger returns on character profiles. What I mean is that the lead children have a pretty short film history and this film serves to expose them to larger audiences and be that "it started here" moment like "E.T." with Drew Barrymore or "Stand By Me" with River Phoenix (and many more like that). Films with child leads seldom act as hits and more as launch points for the actors' careers. I think this film's development was quite strategic for this purpose. Matt Reeves, another relative newcomer, worked this same angle.

Let's say we're at $10.5 million today in total domestic sales. By time this film moves out of theaters I think it will surpass $14 million based on an average daily sale of about $300k that will of course slow down (http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=d ... nein09.htm). The UK release is upcoming so throw another $5 million in there and then Australia and the rest of Europe should easily bag another $5 million. DVD sales will make probably $10 million reasonably quickly based on polls that this is mostly a "get the DVD" film. Endgame: $30 million+. Not bad for a launch film.

[Cmaj7th]

It's such a shame this movie did so poorly. Living in the states and unfamiliar to the story when I saw the trailers I completely thought it would be a generic horror movie which I think is bad marketing. They attracted a crowd looking for cheap thrills and if you've ever watched a horror movie on a friday night you know the audience typically is a little immature and vocal. Not the best audience for a love story about two 12 year olds

I know most posters here don't dig let me in which is cool. But this bugs me because I think Reeves and the cast deserve to do well. Even if you dont like the movie you can tell that Reeves was a huge fan of LTROI and cared about the movie and thats important. And Kodi and Chloe did such fantastic jobs at so young they deserve more praise than they're getting. Especially with all of our other young stars crashing and burning or getting way too sexual we should be supporting young american actors like Chloe who seems to be a geniune sweetie and could be a good role model for our young girls.

I mean come on Avatar raked in the cash and this movie has infinite more substance. Avatar isn't a bad movie at all but how many times has that story been done? Pocahontas, Last of the Mohicans, The last Samurai....

I love my country but when it comes to forms of art I'm still baffled by the masses. /end rant

[Cmaj7th]

withinfocus you and I have to be some of the two most loyal LMI fans btw, I saw the movie four times
we must continue to spread the gospel!

[withinfocus]

withinfocus you and I have to be some of the two most loyal LMI fans btw, I saw the movie four times
we must continue to spread the gospel!

Heh, I had _never_ seen a movie more than once in theaters until this one. I guess I'm stocking up since the DVD won't come out for a few months. Not sure if you've read the novel but you absolutely must, that's the real reason why I wanted to see the film and it's a fun exercise to compare the two while watching.

Oh, and due to my unusual work hours I'm able to go see a move at like 2 PM, and this last time I got the whole theater to myself!

[Gryphon]

withinfocus you and I have to be some of the two most loyal LMI fans btw, I saw the movie four times
we must continue to spread the gospel!

Heh, I had _never_ seen a movie more than once in theaters until this one. I guess I'm stocking up since the DVD won't come out for a few months. Not sure if you've read the novel but you absolutely must, that's the real reason why I wanted to see the film and it's a fun exercise to compare the two while watching.

Oh, and due to my unusual work hours I'm able to go see a move at like 2 PM, and this last time I got the whole theater to myself!

I've seen it twice

[Cmaj7th]

withinfocus Ive ordered the novel on amazon already and I cant wait to get it. represent gryphon!