Screendollars About Films, the Film Industry No
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For Exhibitors December 16, 2019 Screendollars About Films, the Film Industry No. 96 Newsletter and Cinema Advertising Today is the 80th anniversary of the 1939 Atlanta premiere of Gone With The Wind, the greatest film of Old Hollywood and one of the greatest films of all time. David O. Selznick produced the 3h 42m epic, a romance set in the historical backdrop of the American Civil War, adapted from the 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell. Vivien Leigh stars as Scarlett O’Hara and Clark Gable as Rhett Butler, seen embracing here -----------------------------------> Gone with the Wind went on to win ten Academy Awards (out of thirteen nominations) including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress. In addition to its critical acclaim, GWTW was also an astronomical success at the box office. When using figures adjusted for inflation, it grossed $3.4 Billion …Billion with a B…the highest all-time. Happy Anniversary and three cheers to a Hollywood success story. 1939 Atlanta Premiere Click to Play Weekend Box Office Results (12/13-15) Courtesy of Paul Dergarabedian (Comscore) Weekend Change Rank Title Week # Theaters Wknd $ 12/13 12/6 11/29 Total $ 1 Jumanji: The Next Level (Sony) 1 4,227 - $60.1M - - - $60.1M 2 Frozen II (Disney) 4 4,078 (-270) $19.2M -45% -59% -34% $366.5M 3 Knives Out (Lionsgate) 3 3,413 (-48) $9.3M -35% -47% - $78.9M 4 Richard Jewell (Warner Bros.) 1 2,502 - $5.0M - - - $5.0M 5 Black Christmas (Universal) 1 2,625 - $4.4M - - - $4.4M 6 Ford v. Ferrari (Fox) 5 2,895 (-851) $4.1M -38% -49% -16% $98.2M 7 Queen & Slim (Universal) 3 1,560 (-155) $3.6M -46% -44% - $33.2M 8 A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (Sony) 4 2,855 (-636) $3.4M -35% -56% -11% $49.3M 9 Dark Waters (Focus) 4 2,112 (+100) $2.0M -50% 544% 505% $8.9M 10 21 Bridges (STX) 4 1,533 (-932) $1.2M -59% -49% -40% $26.4M 11 Midway (Lionsgate) 6 1,419 (-681) $.9M -54% -51% -16% $55.2M 12 Playing with Fire (Paramount) 6 1,381 (-872) $.7M -67% -52% -7% $43.3M 13 Parasite (Neon) 10 306 (-27) $.6M -10% -31% -20% $20.4M 14 Uncut Gems (A24) 1 5 - $.5M - - - $.5M 15 Joker (Warner Bros.) 11 553 (-403) $.5M -54% -48% -29% $333.0M Notable Industry News (12/9-15) Better Layout for Queue (JamesRobertWatson.com) For those who own or manage cinemas, the ticket line is an often overlooked but nonetheless crucial element in customer service. During busy periods, a poorly constructed line can cause delays that lead to frustrated customers, bypassing the concessions stand, arriving late in the auditorium and disturbing others on the way to available seats. In this article, Jim Watson, Professor of Design, provides an analysis of the science of the “Queue”, mostly a study of human behavior. It provides practical guidance to any exhibitor wanting to improve customer service and the lobby experience. Good, Better and Best Designs for Queue Lines Screendollars · [email protected] · (978) 494-4150 Thaddeus Bouchard, President · John Shaw, Communications · Tami Morris, Exhibitor Relations · Nicolas Bouchard, Film Distribution SAG Awards Movie Noms Analysis: Actors Drop A ‘Bombshell’ In Oscar Race, Which Is Now Officially Wide Open (Deadline) Last Wednesday on 12/11, the Screen Actor Guild announced its nominees for the 26th Annual SAG Awards, viewed as a strong indicator of the likely Oscar nominations which are announced one month later. The SAG Awards nominees included some surprises both in terms of who received nominations and who was left out. Among the surprises were the Fox News expose Bombshell being tapped in four categories and Taron Egerton receiving a Best Actor nom his portrayal of Elton John in the biopic Rocketman. The most surprising snub was passing over Adam Sandler’s performance in Uncut Gems, despite enormous critical praise and buzz among the general public. Click here to see the full list of SAG Awards nominees. Danny Aiello, ‘Do the Right Thing’ and ‘Moonstruck’ Actor, Dies at 86 (Variety) Danny Aiello passed away on Friday 12/6 at the age of 86. Aiello was a prolific film actor, at the height of his career during the 1980’s and ‘90s. He earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his work in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989), I which he played the patriarch of a family that owned a pizzeria in Brooklyn, caught up in the crossfires of toxic racial tensions. He is also remembered well for his performances in Moonstruck (1987), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) and Jacob’s Ladder (1990). Peter Bart: Oscars Voters Binge, And Mail Carriers Groan, As Streamers Add Heft To Awards Load (Deadline) Peter Bart is a well-known commentator on the industry, a current Editor-at-Large for Deadline and an Academy voter for the past five decades. In his most recent column, Bart comments on the increased attention…nigh, targeting… that awards voters are experiencing at the hands of studios eager to promote their current crop of films. Over the past two years, campaigns out of Netflix have only increased the deluge. Bart concludes: “Invisibility has its virtues, but it’s a lot more fun being the center of the action.” For Your Consideration, a Netflix screener for Dolemite Is My Name starring Eddie Murphy Hollywood Report by Martin Grove After the Golden Globes, SAG and film editors' (ACE) noms, Academy members now know what pictures they must make time to see. With limited holiday season time for screenings, screeners or streaming and a very short noms voting window (1/2-7), Oscar voters must make every minute count. The films they're most likely to see are the 14 that just got best picture nods in those 3 prime races. Must-see best picture frontrunners: (1) THE IRISHMAN: GG/Drama, SAG/Ensemble, ACE/Drama (2) JOJO RABBIT: GG/Musical or Comedy, SAG/E, ACE/Comedy (3) JOKER: GG/D, ACE/D (4) MARRIAGE STORY: GG/Drama, ACE/D (5) ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD: GG/MC, SAG/E, ACE/C (6) PARASITE: SAG/E, ACE/D Screendollars · [email protected] · (978) 494-4150 Thaddeus Bouchard, President · John Shaw, Communications · Tami Morris, Exhibitor Relations · Nicolas Bouchard, Film Distribution Should-see best picture possibilities: (1) 1917: GG/D (2) BOMBSHELL: SAG/E (pictured – SAG lead female actor nominee Charlize Theron at L.A. screening) (3) DOLEMITE IS MY NAME: GG/MC, ACE/C (4) THE FAREWELL: ACE/C (5) FORD V FERRARI: ACE/D (6) KNIVES OUT: GG/C, ACE/C (7) ROCKETMAN: GG/C (8) THE TWO POPES: GG/D Last year's best picture winners: (1) OSCARS: GREEN BOOK (2) GG/D: BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (3) GG/MC: GREEN BOOK (4) SAG/E: BLACK PANTHER (5) ACE/D: BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (6) ACE/C: THE FAVOURITE * * * Ticket sales hit a much higher LEVEL than expected as moviegoers welcomed JUMANJI. But thanks to 2 soft openings, 2019's still not looking good and last weekend was up only modestly from last year. Sony/Tolmach's PG-13 action comedy adventure JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL (pictured – Dwayne Johnson at London premiere) opened #1 to $60.1M – beating trackers' $40-50M and giving exhibitors some mid- December cheer after a gloomy post-Thanksgiving weekend. Cost: $125M. RT: 66%. Top First Choice: -25F. Intl: $152.5M/52 markets (China: $38.2M). Global: $212.6M. WB/Malpaso's controversial R drama RICHARD JEWELL, directed by (but not starring) Clint Eastwood, opened #4 to $5M. Trackers: $10-11M. Cost: $45M. RT: 73%. Top First Choice: +25M. Universal/Blumhouse's PG-13 BLACK CHRISTMAS horror remake (from 1974 & 2006) opened #5 to $4.4M. Trackers: $10-12M. Cost: $5M. RT: 44%. Top First Choice: -25F. Last weekend was up just 2% vs. last year with ticket sales of $119.7M, per Comscore, vs. 2018's $117.4M when SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER- VERSE opened #1 to $35.4M. 2019 ($10.5B), per Comscore, is down 5.4% from 2018 ($11.1B) vs. off 5.6% last week. Screendollars · [email protected] · (978) 494-4150 Thaddeus Bouchard, President · John Shaw, Communications · Tami Morris, Exhibitor Relations · Nicolas Bouchard, Film Distribution Late-January Drop Off Still Expected to Outperform 2019 by Significant Margin Courtesy of Gower Street Analytics The rolling 8-week forecast is a chart from Gower Street Analytics using its proprietary FORECAST LIVE system. This domestic-focused version shows predicted total market grosses by week for the next eight weeks, as well as actuals for the past two weeks. With Gower Street’s 12-month forecast chart running last week, this week’s 8-week graph sees two new weeks added: weeks commencing January 24 and 31. With total market estimates of $183 million and $125.5 million, respectively, both weeks mark a notable drop from the preceding weeks, although this is to be expected. The week commencing January 31 (equivalent to those commencing February 1 and February 2 in 2019 and 2018) in particular, commonly sees a significant week-on-week drop. Good news comes in the form that both weeks are forecast to far outperform the equivalent weeks in 2019 which delivered $137.7 million and $101.9 million, respectively (In 2019 the February 1-7 week was the poorest weekly performer of the year). That suggests the newly forecast 2020 weeks should see year-on-year improvements of between 20-30%. This is in line with Gower Street’s forecast for January, seen on last week’s 12-month forecast, with is predicted to outperform January 2019 by slightly more than 30%.