By Scott Bowles, USA TODAY
How's this for scary: Ushers could be the key to making your movie No. 1.
An in-theater publicity stunt that became a viral ad campaign helped propel the horror film Prom Night to the top spot at theaters this weekend.
The film, working with a B-list cast and dreadful reviews, was a surprisingly strong winner this weekend, taking in $22.7 million, according to studio estimates from box office trackers Nielsen EDI.
The haul was $8 million more than most analysts projected and made it an easy winner over the Keanu Reeves crime thriller Street Kings, which met most projections with $12 million.
And the fright flick can thank game ushers in part for its success. Sony Pictures and its umbrella studio, Screen Gems, set up cardboard ads, known as standees, in 120 theaters advertising the film. The standees, designed as small mansions, invited moviegoers to step inside "for a night to die for." They were greeted by a screaming, flailing usher when patrons opened the doors.
Teens took videos of the squealing reactions, which quickly became a hit on YouTube.
"The stars aligned on this one," says Sony's distribution chief Rory Bruer. "Frankly, given how horror movies have done lately, we would have been thrilled with a number in the high teens. You have to give credit to Screen Gems for coming up with a campaign that thought out of the box, no pun intended."
Despite Prom's success, the weekend was yet another lackluster one at the movies, which is proving more frightening to studios than anything in theaters.
Through the first quarter of 2008, studios are stumbling in ticket sales. Attendance is down 7% compared to the same time last year, according to Media By Numbers. And only one film, Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who, has taken in more than $100 million.
Through the first quarter of last year, four films did more than $100 million.
And with a summer that looks less imposing than 2007, when installments of Spider-Man, Shrek and Pirates of the Caribbean opened in May, executives are bracing for a season that pales in comparison.
"It's all about the product," says Chris Aronson of 20th Century Fox, which released Horton. "I don't think we're going to see another movie break $100 million until Iron Man (out May 2). Certainly, the economy has something to do with it. But if you have a movie people really want to see, they're going to pay for the gas and the dinner and see it. And so far, we haven't had the movies we did last year. But there are some big movies this summer, so that could turn around."
The blackjack film 21 was No. 3 with $11 million, followed by the Jodie Foster film Nim's Island with $9 million. The George Clooney football comedy Leatherheads rounded out the top five with $6.2 million.
The only other major newcomer, the Sarah Jessica Parker comedy Smart People, beat expectations slightly with $4.2 million. Two smaller films, the comedy The Visitor and the documentary Young@ Heart, did healthy business in limited release. Visitor did $88,000 in four theaters, while Heart did $53,000, also on four screens.
Ticket sales were down 13% from the same weekend last year.
5 comments:
As a former usher (best job I ever had), I feel for the poor sucks who are asked to run around the theater flailing and looking foolish. That's not part of their job description. It painfully reminds me of having to make speeches through a megaphone about the Jimmy Fund and then walk up the aisle with a donation can. Shudder.
[Scatalogical humor below. Ladies, it would be in your best interest to stop reading. Now.]
Of course, that reminds me of the time I farted in the megaphone in front of a packed theater which remains one of the highlights of my life thus far. I'm sure I've told this one before but it's worth revisiting.
Picture it: Showcase Cinemas in the early 90's. Handsome Stan and myself sat at the front of the theater when the stars aligned enabling me to let one loose into the megaphone. I expected mere feedback or an ambiguous squeak but lo and behold, what occurred was the loudest fart that I've ever had the pleasure of hearing, let alone producing. The icing on the cake was that I handed the megaphone to Handsome Stan so that everyone thought that he was the culprit. (I'm giggling uncontrollably as I write this.)
I'll never forget the look of disgust on one old lady's face as she asked us to take the Jimmy Fund (fighting to cure cancer) more seriously.
OMG...can't catch my breath - laughing hysterically!!
Ladies can enjoy scatological humor too, JSP!
as a longtime reader of horrorthon, i am pretty sure you never told this one on the blog before.
as a "lady" of horrorthon, i say: bring on the scatological humor!
Be careful what you wish for! Someday you just might look back and pinpoint this post as the point where Horrorthon lost it's way.
'Cuz I gotta ton of'em...
i say, unleash the nasty.
anyone else still reading, and if so, anyone else have an opinion?
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