- Review: John Wick 3 (C)
Scott Sycamore - Weekend Box Office
May 17 - 19 - Crowd Reports
Avengers: Endgame - Us
Box office comparisons - Review: Justice League (C)
Craig Younkin
Summer 2004 Box Office Chat
By Staff of LMI Published May 5, 2004
LMI hosts Lee Tistaert and Jason Kaplan, along with guest Jeremy, run down the box office potential for the first half of the summer?s movie releases, in chat format. The second half of the chat, covering July and August, will be posted late-June.
Jason: I'm getting hints that Van Helsing will be a big disappointment for Universal. They've got a lot of money tied up in it and it really doesn't look impressive.
Lee: I think an easy comparison's going to be Mummy Returns, but I have my bet more so on the first Mummy in terms of box office.
Jason: The Mummy looked and was a light fun movie but this looks darker and less coherent.
Lee: I'm not entirely sure it can nail $50 for the weekend. I would say that would be the higher range. I've seen $60 forecasts but there's also the X-Men argument with Hugh Jackman's starpower.
Jason: I don't think that really applies here. Has Hugh Jackman really shown his stand alone box office draw?
Jeremy: No, not yet.
Lee: It looks like Daredevil, just with a summer release.
Jason: I don't want to oversimplify, but this looks like a more expensive Underworld, but Underworld looked cooler.
Jeremy: Basically Hugh Jackman has shown he can open mediocre rom-coms to $10 million openings but nothing huge. Underworld did look much better. However, Underworld had a poor release date in comparison to Van Helsing.
Lee: And from asking around, I don't see anyone too hyped up about it. Troy?s a much hotter topic than that is.
Jason: Nothing like X2 - that had a built in base and Wolverine is a much better developed character than Van Helsing. X2 trailers were humorous and exciting, I can't say I really even remember what the VH trailers are even like.
Jeremy: Van Helsing looks just like the horrible mish-mash of superheroes called LXG. Having more monsters doesn't mean jack if there is no plot and horrible CGI.
Lee: I think, daily wise for opening weekend, it's going to perform either like Triple X, Daredevil, or The Scorpion King. It has a chance of being frontloaded.
Jason: Has a chance? Almost certainly, especially by the second weekend.
Lee: I mean by Saturday.
Jeremy: Troy will knock off a good portion of Van Helsing's audience. Let's face it, Van Helsing really only has one week to make most of its profits.
Jason: What about New York Minute - another Lizzie McGuire?
Lee: I haven't seen any advertising for NYM, but I also don't watch much television (and may not see the right movies). All I've seen are posters in movie theaters.
Jason: I think it's got decent coverage. I saw O'Reilly Factor give it some coverage.
Jeremy: I've seen some advertising but this movie which should have been STV is only going to appeal to fans of the Olsen twins.
Jason: I think Lizzie had more momentum.
Lee: It's opening in the Deuces Wild slot, when that went up against Spider-Man and was slaughtered.
Jason: Olsen Twins have a huge empire, but NYM seems a little stale for the big screen.
Jeremy: The fans of the Olsen twins don't go to movies, they are accustomed to watching the films at home. I would think also much of the fan base has outgrown the infatuation with the twins.
Jason: You could have said that about Lizzie last year: 'Fans are used to TV?, but they did show up. I would say $14-16 for NYM and maybe $49-51 to Van Helsing.
Lee: It's got Eugene Levy, and he was in Dumb & Dumberer, and that was a toss up as far as predictions.
Jeremy: Yeah but I would say about half that, Mean Girls is too much competition for New York Minute.
Lee: I could see anything from $6.5 - 12.0 for NYM, Van Helsing $37 - 50.
Jeremy: I would say $8-10 million for NYM.
Jason: $6.5 million would be a huge disaster.
Jeremy: Nothing higher than $15 for sure.
Jason: Super Size Me looks like a surprise hit, at least for documentaries. The trailer actually makes it look pretty amateurish, and I think the topic is on everyone's mind.
Lee: I'm quite looking forward to that. Not sure if it has the Bowling for Columbine buzz, but it might be a sleeper of some kind.
Jason: Yeah, I think so.
Jeremy: It will come close to grossing as much as Bowling. I would say close to 20 million, lots of buzz from the Cannes Film Festival. $20 million total, that is.
Jason: Yeah that is possible. Depends on how good it is, though. It looks like a joke, the doctor seems like a bad actor.
Jeremy: It looks highly entertaining, especially for a documentary, which seems more approachable for the average filmgoer.
Lee: I think an easy comparison's going to be Mummy Returns, but I have my bet more so on the first Mummy in terms of box office.
Jason: The Mummy looked and was a light fun movie but this looks darker and less coherent.
Lee: I'm not entirely sure it can nail $50 for the weekend. I would say that would be the higher range. I've seen $60 forecasts but there's also the X-Men argument with Hugh Jackman's starpower.
Jason: I don't think that really applies here. Has Hugh Jackman really shown his stand alone box office draw?
Jeremy: No, not yet.
Lee: It looks like Daredevil, just with a summer release.
Jason: I don't want to oversimplify, but this looks like a more expensive Underworld, but Underworld looked cooler.
Jeremy: Basically Hugh Jackman has shown he can open mediocre rom-coms to $10 million openings but nothing huge. Underworld did look much better. However, Underworld had a poor release date in comparison to Van Helsing.
Lee: And from asking around, I don't see anyone too hyped up about it. Troy?s a much hotter topic than that is.
Jason: Nothing like X2 - that had a built in base and Wolverine is a much better developed character than Van Helsing. X2 trailers were humorous and exciting, I can't say I really even remember what the VH trailers are even like.
Jeremy: Van Helsing looks just like the horrible mish-mash of superheroes called LXG. Having more monsters doesn't mean jack if there is no plot and horrible CGI.
Lee: I think, daily wise for opening weekend, it's going to perform either like Triple X, Daredevil, or The Scorpion King. It has a chance of being frontloaded.
Jason: Has a chance? Almost certainly, especially by the second weekend.
Lee: I mean by Saturday.
Jeremy: Troy will knock off a good portion of Van Helsing's audience. Let's face it, Van Helsing really only has one week to make most of its profits.
Jason: What about New York Minute - another Lizzie McGuire?
Lee: I haven't seen any advertising for NYM, but I also don't watch much television (and may not see the right movies). All I've seen are posters in movie theaters.
Jason: I think it's got decent coverage. I saw O'Reilly Factor give it some coverage.
Jeremy: I've seen some advertising but this movie which should have been STV is only going to appeal to fans of the Olsen twins.
Jason: I think Lizzie had more momentum.
Lee: It's opening in the Deuces Wild slot, when that went up against Spider-Man and was slaughtered.
Jason: Olsen Twins have a huge empire, but NYM seems a little stale for the big screen.
Jeremy: The fans of the Olsen twins don't go to movies, they are accustomed to watching the films at home. I would think also much of the fan base has outgrown the infatuation with the twins.
Jason: You could have said that about Lizzie last year: 'Fans are used to TV?, but they did show up. I would say $14-16 for NYM and maybe $49-51 to Van Helsing.
Lee: It's got Eugene Levy, and he was in Dumb & Dumberer, and that was a toss up as far as predictions.
Jeremy: Yeah but I would say about half that, Mean Girls is too much competition for New York Minute.
Lee: I could see anything from $6.5 - 12.0 for NYM, Van Helsing $37 - 50.
Jeremy: I would say $8-10 million for NYM.
Jason: $6.5 million would be a huge disaster.
Jeremy: Nothing higher than $15 for sure.
Jason: Super Size Me looks like a surprise hit, at least for documentaries. The trailer actually makes it look pretty amateurish, and I think the topic is on everyone's mind.
Lee: I'm quite looking forward to that. Not sure if it has the Bowling for Columbine buzz, but it might be a sleeper of some kind.
Jason: Yeah, I think so.
Jeremy: It will come close to grossing as much as Bowling. I would say close to 20 million, lots of buzz from the Cannes Film Festival. $20 million total, that is.
Jason: Yeah that is possible. Depends on how good it is, though. It looks like a joke, the doctor seems like a bad actor.
Jeremy: It looks highly entertaining, especially for a documentary, which seems more approachable for the average filmgoer.
