May 6, 2005 - Five years ago 20th Century Fox released "Kingdom Of Heaven" another sword and sandal epic, this one starring Orlando Bloom and directed by Ridley Scott. None of the films released in the wake of Gladiator - Troy, Alexander or Kingdom of Heaven found the same box office glory. Kingdom Of Heaven was an utter failure. It had a production budget of $110 million and a marketing budget of $36 million and only made $47 million during it's U.S. theatrical release. By the end of May it was pulled from 82% of the theatres it was released in. Audiences were not ready to line up to see a film about the crusades while there was a modern day crusade going on in Iraq.
On the same day Lionsgate released "Crash". reciveing mixed reviews the film made a modest $9 million at the box office. Audiences responded to the film and word of mouth built around the film. Surprising everyone the film went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture the following March.
Yesterday I mentioned that "Gladiator" is responsible for big budget blockbuster sappering the first weekend in May. To give you and idea how the studios booked the weekend prior to the year 2000 here are some past bookings.
May 6, 1994 - Eleven years ago the studios released a kid comedy, a "Groundhog Day" knock off and a small comedy/drama starring Robin Williams, which was a flop.
May 6, 1988 - Twenty two years ago the studios offered up "Salsa" a "Dirty Dancing" rip-off and two "B" action picks "Dead Heat" about zombie cops and "Shakedown" about corrupt NYC cops.
May 6, 1983 - Twenty Seven years ago the studios offered up the sequel to Cheech and Chong's "Up In Smoke" and a Dan Ackroyd comedy "Dr. Detroit" both low budget pics with specific audience appeal.
No comments:
Post a Comment