Oh, I’ve been waiting to write the first part of that headline since, well, two days ago…though, to be fair, the new film from M. Night Shyamalan did outperform expectations, but more about that further down. Also, let it be noted that I came up with my “smash” headline before seeing the reports of either Variety or the Hollywood Reporter/Reuters. Blame the wordsmithery of Stan Lee for that. Excelsior.
* To no one’s surprise, “The Incredible Hulk” won the weekend — though the amount [Update: Forgot to say $54,538,000!] it won by might have been a surprise to those who, like Nikki Finke‘s “insiders,” misinterpreted the controversies the film generated as commercially harmful. Rancorous production/post production only impacts ticket sales if the rancor actually hurts the film artistically. I use the A-word advisedly; what I mean is that audiences don’t really care that much about the behind-the-scenes goings on of a film, except in a gossipy sort of way. What that means, I think, is that they might be mildly more interested in seeing a film if, say, they hear the two stars got it on during the course of the film, perhaps destroying a previously existing marriage or two along the way. “Creative conflicts” only interest a few of us, but it’s true they can increase the odds of making a film that bores audiences — but if the movie beats those odds and most people who see the film are actually satisfied, then the impact is probably zilch. As long as there are no accusations of murder or manslaughter, the already widely mistrusted star doesn’t jump on a couch like a loon or drunkenly yell ethnic epithets and call cops “sugar tits,” few will even notice. And, as I mentioned last time, in a case like this where there is more than one version of the film around, it actually gives the studio a very nice shot at a DVD double dip later on down the road.
There may be some minor impact in a case like this where the star/co-writer is so angry, he refuses to do publicity (with the humorously obvious exception noted by Jason Zingale below), but that’s just one earned media stream that can be replaced by other types of publicity, and in a case like this, there’s obviously plenty to publicize. Besides, popular and talented actor that he is, few people were paying $11.00 to see Edward Norton, mostly they were paying to see Big Green, the second best known Marvel character after Spiderman. That’s not to minimize the importance of a likable star to a film like this, but this isn’t a casting coup that boosts a relatively little known character along the lines of “Iron Man” — and even in that case, it’s hard for me (lacking the power of easy access to studio tracking data, anyhow) to guess how much the quirky appeal of Robert Downey, Jr. (and also Gwyneth Paltrow) drove the initial box office, though there’s no doubt in the actors’ importance to that film’s impressive staying power. A look at B.O. Mojo confirms that “Iron Man” is looking to crack the $300 million domestic mark by next weekend.
* “The Happening” started off the weekend quite strongly in the #2 spot, but suffered a drop later on that, as Nikki Finke correctly implies, might have something to do with exit polls indicating that people didn’t much like it, though it somewhat contradicts her suggestion that the film’s poor reviews were generated by a general low regard toward its director. I’d be a huge hypocrite, however, if I criticized her much for that, since I’m already on record as supporting a wittier version of the same idea from Manohla Dargis. Still, while there’s always a place at the table for schadenfreude in show business, it’s also true that there is no stronger rebuttal to it than a good piece of work, and most agree that just isn’t exactly what Shyamalan came up with. (Our own Dave Medsker praises the directing, while slamming the script.)
Still, I’m in danger of engaging in some of that myself by making “The Happening” sound like a flop just because it came in third with a mere $30.5 million, a few million less than another smash hit, “Kung Fu Panda,” which enjoyed a very modest drop of 43% in ticket sales in its second week (50% or more is common these days), and raked in over $34 million. Audiences, apparently hoping against hope that the M. Night who brought them “The Sixth Sense” still lurked somewhere and maybe kind of liked the idea of a little R-rated blood to go with it, were willing to take the plunge and, assuming it doesn’t suffer too drastic a drop from here on, it looks like a pretty sure thing that the maligned ex-wunderkind will get another at-bat in the big leagues.
The good news here is that Hollywood is showing it’s traditional resilience in the face of an otherwise crappy economy. People are going to the movies despite ridiculously high prices and all the other problems of moviegoing today. A spate of stronger than previous films is helping and, I’d like to think, a partial rediscovery of the importance of stories and characterization hasn’t hurt.
Meanwhile in Indiewood…. As predicted, this wasn’t much of a weekend for new films opening in limited release, but a couple of interesting phenomena are worth mentioning. First this weekend’s most lucrative single screening room might have been New York’s arty Film Forum. In this case, the counterpoint to M. Night Shyamalan’s first R-rated film was the first G-rated film from that lovable madman, Werner Herzog. The eco-polar documentary “Encounters at the End of the World” netted $25,700 this weekend from elitists who nevertheless know that the no one makes adventure docs like Herzog. However, the MPAA rating notwithstanding, this may not really be the kiddies. For one thing, ever ready to stare death in the face, Herzog reportedly seems to think we’re pretty much doomed, though I haven’t seen word just how long he thinks we’ve got. He also seems to take aim at “The March of the Penguins” and — as per alt critic (who also reviews the new semi-documentary from the even more wonderfully insane Guy Maddin) J. Hoberman:
…Herzog immediately questions the birds’ imagined family values, asking a painfully diffident scientist if there are gay penguins. The naturalist ponders the question and suggests that penguin threesomes and even prostitution are not unknown.
And, finally, though it’s made only a pittance so far, relatively speaking, “War, Inc.” is hanging in there as it steadily goes wider each week, despite being a film with predominantly poor reviews in a niche where critics are usually important. Some of that is no doubt due to the star appeal of John Cusack, but some credit must be due to the ongoing publicity efforts of Cusack himself. If you’re of a liberal/progressive bent, you’ve probably gotten an e-mail from Cusack and probably seen articles by and about him at various places. I don’t doubt his sincerity, but it’s an interesting kind of marketing and I’m curious to see how far it’ll take the movie.
