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Was The Race(r) Fixed?
13 May 2008 (StudioBriefing)
Warner Bros. on Monday was being accused of cooking the books Monday after it turned out that their box-office estimate for the opening weekend of Speed Racer was way off the mark. The studio had predicted that the film would wind up with $20.2 million in ticket sales, putting it in second place. "It's far from the first time a studio with an underperforming pic has overestimated its Sunday gross and avoided an embarrassing third-place finish in Monday morning box office stories," Daily Variety commented today (Tuesday). The estimated figure, not the final one, is the one that receives the most play in the press -- if for no other reason than that Sunday is ordinarily a light news day. Few analysts had believed the studio's estimate, given the movie's weak showing on Friday and Saturday. (Weekend estimates include actual figures for Friday and Saturday and estimated sales for Sunday.) As things turned out, the movie debuted with just $18.6 million -- a figure that will no doubt cause heads eventually to fall at the studio, which reportedly spent $250-300 million to produce and market it. Taking over second place was the debuting romantic comedy What Happens in Vegas from 20th Century Fox, which wound up with $20.2 million, the same amount that had been forecast for Speed Racer. Meanwhile, the second weekend of Iron Man earned $51.2 million, more than the debuts of Vegas and Racer put together, keeping it in first place.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Iron Man, Paramount, $51,190,629, 2 Wks. ($177,825,024); 2. What Happens in Vegas, Fox, $20,172,474, (New); 3. Speed Racer, Warner Bros., $18,561,337, (New); 4. Made of Honor, Sony, $8,116,323, 2 Wks. ($26,791,494); 5. Baby Mama, Universal, $6,225,790, 3 Wks. ($40,836,370); 6. Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Universal, $3,837,240, 4 Wks. ($50,781,745); 7. Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantánamo Bay, Warner Bros., $3,106,424, 3 Wks. ($30,667,308); 8 . The Forbidden Kingdom, Lionsgate, $2,169,323, 4 Wks. ($48,530,104); 9. Nim's Island, Fox, $1,463,622, 6 Wks. ($44,395,857); 10. Prom Night, Sony, $1,012,986, 5 Wks. ($42,785,107).

'Speed Racer' A Wreck On First Lap
12 May 2008 (StudioBriefing)
Warner Bros.' Speed Racer was barely able to go from zero to 20 -- $20 million, that is -- and could turn out to become one of the biggest box-office wrecks in history. Most analysts low-balled their predictions at around $30-40 million, a conservative figure in itself given industry estimates that it cost as much as $300 million to produce and market. Warner Bros. estimated that it would actually end up with $20.2 million, putting it in second place behind Paramount/Marvel Studio's Iron Man, which grossed $50.5 million in its second week.That extra $200, 000 may have been tacked on in a face-saving effort to put it ahead of What Happens in Vegas, which opened with an estimated $20 million to place third. Some box office trackers forecast that Speed Racer might well trade places with Vegas when final figures are released later today (Monday).

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. Iron Man, $50.5 million; 2. Speed Racer, $20.2 million; 3. What Happens in Vegas, $20 million; 4. Made of Honor, $7.6 million; 5. Baby Mama, $5.8 million; 6. Forgetting Sarah Marshall, $3.8 million; 7. Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantánamo Bay, $3.2 million; 8. The Forbidden Kingdom, $1.9 million; 9. Nim's Island, $1.3 million; 10. Redbelt, $1.14 million.

Heavy Metal Plays Well At Box Office
6 May 2008 (StudioBriefing)
Moviegoers did not stay at home to play the latest Grand Theft Auto videogame over the weekend, as some analysts had predicted. Indeed the only grand theft evident was the one committed by Paramount/Marvel's Iron Man, which took in $98.6 million domestically over the three-day weekend, according to figures released Monday by Media by Numbers. The film averaged a stand-out $24,024 per theater. Nevertheless, it failed to meet the studio's expectations on Sunday. While it raked in $35.23 million on Friday and $37.35 million on Saturday, its Sunday receipts fell to $26.03 million. Sony's Made of Honor opened in second place with $14.8 million, while last weekend's winner, Universal's Baby Mama, slipped to third with $10.07 million. While, taken on its own, the total weekend box-office take of $150.7 million seemed impressive, it paled in comparison to last year's, when Spider-Man 3 debuted over the comparable weekend with $151.1 million alone. The overall box office was down 16.92 percent from last year. Since the beginning of the year, total revenue is down 3.4 percent, while attendance is down 6.1 percent.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Iron Man, Paramount, $98,618,668, 1 Wks. ($102,118,668); 2. Made of Honor, Sony, $14,756,850, (New); 3. Baby Mama, Universal, $10,065,010, 2 Wks. ($32,062,480); 4. Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantánamo Bay, Warner Bros., $61,143,73, 2 Wks. ($25,369,337); 5. Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Universal, $6,059,920, 3 Wks. ($44,732,340); 6. The Forbidden Kingdom, Lionsgate, $4,187,897, 3 Wks. ($45,112,303); 7. Nim's Island, Fox, $2,677,543, 5 Wks. ($42,471,660); 8. Prom Night, Sony, $2,403,313, 4 Wks. ($41,350,731); 9. 21, Sony, $2,002,471, 6 Wks. ($78,959,237); 10. 88 Minutes, Sony/Tristar, $1,545,084, 3 Wks. ($15,368,925).

Moviegoers Turn 'Iron' Into Gold
5 May 2008 (StudioBriefing)
Box office analysts marveled at the weekend performance of Iron Man over the weekend as the superhero movie starring Robert Downey Jr. hauled in an estimated $100.7 million. The film earned nearly that amount -- $96.7 million -- in its overseas debut as well to bring its worldwide total to $201 million, including late-night screenings on Thursday. Adding to the industry-wide celebration was word that Sony's counterprogramming strategy -- pitting the romantic comedy Made of Honor opposite the superhero thriller -- also paid off, as the movie brought in $15.5 million. Nevertheless, the combined amount did not equal what Spider-Man 3 earned on its own a year ago, when it debuted over the comparable weekend with $151.1 million domestically. No one, however, expressed disappointment. Noting that Iron Man did better than expected -- Paramount, its distributor, had predicted it would make about $60 million; most analysts had forecast about $70 million -- Paul Dergarabedian, head of the box-office tracking firm Media by Numbers, told the AP: "This is certainly the shot in the arm the marketplace has needed."

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. Iron Man, $100.7 million; 2. Made of Honor, $15.5 million; 3. Baby Mama, $10.3 million; 4. Forgetting Sarah Marshall, $6.1 million; 5. Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantánamo Bay, $6 million; 6. The Forbidden Kingdom, $4.2 million; 7. Nim's Island, $2.8 million; 8. Prom Night, $2.5 million; 9. 21, $2.1 million; 10. 88 Minutes, $1.6 million.

Spring Box Office Goes Out On An Up-Note
29 April 2008 (StudioBriefing)
For the second week in a row, the box office was up a bit over the comparable week a year ago, but it did not perform quite so well as studio estimates had originally presumed. The top film, Baby Mama, from Universal, wound up with $17.4 million versus the $18.2 million that had been forecast. On the other hand, the No. 2 film, Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantánamo, drew a bit more than was expected, posting $14.9 million compared with the $14.6 million that had been expected.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Baby Mama, Universal, $17,407,110, (New); 2. Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantánamo Bay, Warner Bros., $14,908,404, (New); 3. The Forbidden Kingdom, Lionsgate, $11,212,364, 2 Wks. ($38,237,498); 4. Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Universal, $11,028,060, 2 Wks. ($35,090,955); 5. Nim's Island, 20th Century Fox, $4,548,792, 4 Wks. ($38,977,518); 6. Prom Night, Sony, $4,508,122, 3 Wks. ($38,222,732); 7. 21, Sony, $4,018,064, 4 Wks. ($75,792,625); 8. 88 Minutes, Sony, $3,593,890, 2 Wks. ($12,625,951); 9. Horton Hears A Who!, 20th Century Fox, $2,486,903, 6 Wks. ($147,959,806); 10. Deception, 20th Century Fox, $2,312,146, (New).

Baby Mama Poehler Pregnant
29 April 2008 (WENN)
Life is imitating art for Baby Mama star Amy Poehler - she's expecting a baby of her own. Just a day after the comedienne's new comedy film, in which she plays a clueless surrogate mom, hit the top of the U.S. box office, the 36-year-old has announced she is pregnant with Arrested Development star Will Arnett's first child. The baby is due in the autumn, their spokesman Lewis Kay confirms. Baby Mama rocketed to the top of the U.S. charts after debuting with $18.3 million during its opening weekend.

Box Office A Laugh-In
28 April 2008 (StudioBriefing)
Audiences were apparently in a mood to laugh as three comedies, two of them new, opened with solid results during what is usually a droopy weekend ending the spring season. The Tina Fey-Amy Poehler comedy Baby Mama from Universal topped the box office with an estimated $18.3 million, followed by Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantánamo Bay, which opened at No. 2 with $14.6 million. Last week's top film, Universal's Forgetting Sarah Marshall grossed about $11 million, a touch below The Forbidden Kingdom, which opened with $11.2 million. (Those two films might reverse positions when final results are reported later today.) Another new film, 20th Century Fox's Deception, starring Ewan McGregor, Hugh Jackman and Michelle Williams performed even worse than most analysts had expected. It pulled in only $2.2 million, but nevertheless wound up on the top-ten list -- albeit in tenth place. That so many comedies could do so well surprised many analysts. "This pokes a huge hole in that old myth that you can't open two comedies back to back or one comedy against another," Nikki Rocco, the distribution chief for Universal, which had Baby Mama competing against Sarah Marshall, told the Los Angeles Times. "The market did expand," she said, adding separately in an interview with Variety: "We had 40 percent of the market share this weekend, which is nice for any studio." Overall, the box ended on an up note, producing better results than a year earlier for the second week in a row.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. Baby Mama, $18.3 million; 2. Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantánamo Bay, $14.6 million; 3. The Forbidden Kingdom, $11.2 million; 4. Forgetting Sarah Marshall, $11 million; 5. Nim's Island, $4.5 million; 6. Prom Night, $4.4 million; 7. 21, $4 million; 8. 88 Minutes, $3.6 million; 9. Horton Hears a Who!, $2.4 million; 10. Deception, $2.2 million.

Movie Reviews: 'Baby Mama'
25 April 2008 (StudioBriefing)
Former Saturday Night Live players Tina Fey and Amy Poehler go to the movies with Baby Mama in which Fey's character hires Poehler's as a surrogate mother while she tends to her career. Manohla Dargis in the New York Times suggests that the movie is "sitcom functional," but that "it pulls you in with a provocative and, at least in current American movies, unusual mix of female intelligence, awkwardness and chilled-to-the-bone mean." Carina Chocano in the Los Angeles Times reacts similarly. The movie, she writes, "hardly allows itself any sharp moments at all -- it's much too sweet-natured to be cruel, and much too cheerful to be angry. It probably could have pushed a few more buttons, but Baby Mama aims to please and succeeds." John Anderson in Newsday is not so generous, writing that the movie seems "mild to the point of pabulum, taking a pretty fertile topic -- surrogate motherhood -- and making it inoffensive to anyone." He then quickly adds, "This is not an endorsement." And Michael Phillips in the Chicago Tribune thinks the entire project may have been calculated by media planners. He writes: "Every moment of this project feels beat-driven, focus-grouped and designed to package Fey as a viable movie star with great pins (as one character takes pains to note) to go with the breasts (ditto). This isn't writing, it's advertising."

Exit Laughing
25 April 2008 (StudioBriefing)
Hollywood is exiting the traditionally slow spring season laughing. In addition to last weekend's top comedy, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Universal will be ushering in Baby Mama, starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, while New Line offers up another comedy, Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantánamo Bay. Analysts suggest the likely box-office winner may be a toss-up between the two new films. (They're giving Mama a slight edge.) None of the three comedies is expected to crack the $20-million mark. Also opening is 20th Century Fox's dismally reviewed Deception, which few believe will earn more than $5 million. Analysts suggest that this weekend the studios are really just in a holding pattern until the summer season kicks off next week with the opening of Iron Man, which is expected to earn about as much as all of this week's major releases put together -- and then some.

Tribeca Film Festival Opens
23 April 2008 (StudioBriefing)
Robert De Niro's Tribeca Film Festival is due to kick off in New York tonight (Wednesday) with the screening of the comedy Baby Mama starring former Saturday Night Live players Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. The film concerns a single woman who hires a surrogate mother to give birth to her baby. While mostly small, independent, films are screened at the festival -- some 120 of them are scheduled, many of them shot in New York -- it will also feature the world premiere of the Wachowski brothers' big budget Speed Racer on May 3, the festival's closing night and a week before the film's domestic opening.