Passion hype, is kinda funny if you do the math....

[radwriter0555]

"Moviegoers Pack 'Passion' Theaters

http://www.imdb.com/StudioBrief/#3

Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ may have earned as much as $20 million in its first day of release, a record for a religious-themed movie, according to early estimates. In an interview with the Associated Press, Rob Schwartz, head of distribution for Newmarket Films, the independent distributor that Gibson hired to release the movie, forecast that the film would "at least" gross $100 million. "Then again, we have to see how the rest of the weekend plays out," Schwartz told AP. "Hopefully, if we continue the torrid pace we're starting to set now, that's an achievable number." Newmarket said that it had succeeded in planting the movie in 3,006 theaters, which are showing it on 4,643 screens, more than half again as many as originally forecast. "

So, I sez, they're expecting it to do 100 million are they? Well, that SOUNDS like a lotta money.. but let's see what other movies have done 100 million? How about 299 OTHER movies have made more than 100 million.... the closest being the Bruce Willis flop, "Die Hard with A Vengeance". My point is, it's not going to do as well as is hyped... and in fact, it doesn't look like it will make a profit, what with marketing, sales, distribution costs... It cost 25 million just to make it, the shooting, editing, manufacturing. Far more of a film's cost is on the marketing end.. financially, it's a flop before it starts. But I suppose it might do well on DVD...?

[AnnaCatherine]

1. re: "Passion hype, is kinda funny if you do the math...."

While it may make $100 million by the end of the
weekend...those movies you mentioned made that much moola over
the course of a few weekends if memory serves. I am debating
if I want to see it on the big screen or wait for the DVD.
Your statement about the marketing consuming most of the
costs. True that it is considered a flop too. Also it's a BIG
scar in Hollywood as far as Mel Gibson is concerned. People
are seriously put of by his using his faith this way. He tries
to make a decent arguement, but it falls short everytime. 
Gibson is no longer the first person a casting director looks
to when he or she has a great script. No wonder Mel has to
make his own films these days. 


While I'm a it, please allow me to introduce myself. I'm
AnnaCatherine from the Los Angeles area of California.
Origiannly from Washington, DC! I'm a staunch Democrat who
actually threw up when she found out Jesse Helms was a distant
cousin! Ew!

Thanks for reading!

[newyawker99]

2. Hi AnnaCatherine!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[AnnaCatherine]

3. Hey thanks!

Thanks so much! I can't believe I have finally found a place to shout out loud...and all that! Thank you for welcoming me.


AnnaCatherine

[chimpy the poopthrower]

4. Hi, AnnaCatherine!

Welcome to DU! Speaking of distant relatives, if you run across "LynneSin," ask her who she is a distant relative of and maybe you'll feel a little better. ;)

[Skittles]

6. HOWDY FROM TEXAS ANNACATHERINE

:hi:

[porkrind]

7. Welcome to DU, AnnaCatherine !

BTW, I like your avatar. :)

[AnnaCatherine]

15. My avatar

Hi and thank you all!

I love my avatar! I have it on my car too!

AnnaCatherine...just sittin' back and lovin what I read!:yourock:

[boilerbabe]

11. Hello, Just came back from the Mel Gibson Movi...

It was pretty intense....I am an agnostic (my definition would be don't know, tried to figure out, didn't find out....) my brother, atheist...we both were pretty much emotionally affected by Mel's movie. It was very very intense!! What I got out of it, was that times have not changed whatsoever, people are still just as brutal and stupid and ignorant as ever....I was brought up in the Congregational Church, so that's just about the most laid back Christianity ever...I can see where people would get the anti Jewish thing going, since from what I could see, the Jewish guys were the ones that were well dressed and pushing for Christ's assassination, so to speak, but if you really look at it from a socialogical (ok I am making that one up...but bear with me...) point of view...he could be anyone that people are not going to believe in, would you believe in anyone??...so the point would be, since not most of those people believed in him, then they just thought he was like some sort of derelict, right? so then they are just going to be total assholes (here's where we should all redeem our selves and remember people that we could have helped out??) so they brutalized him beyond any kind of redemption, and put him beyond any kind of hope (like not getting out of a ticket, only worse) so maybe anyway, it was very overdone in some people's eyes. I would not have ever passed any kind of judgement religious-wise, so much as I would society-wise.
I would hope that most others would do the same.
I think that was a movie that should be seen, and I am not of any religious persuasion whatsover....I am an AGNOSTIC....the point being, that people are generally power mongering assholes should not escape us all, and I am not a wimp for telling it!!
XXXOOO
'Welcome to DU!!!
the boilerbabe

[Skittles]

5. do I want to watch a man tortured to death for two hours ??

NO F***ING THANKS.

[Fight_n_back]

8. I could think of a couple

.....nevermind

[ComerPerro]

9. lol

[boilerbabe]

14. hEE HEE...

I would..but are they worth the bother?? :puke:

[boilerbabe]

12. iT WAS ROUGH!! N/T

[arewethereyet]

10. how many "art" films make 100m ?

and they were looking at 2000+ screens and it went up to 3000+.

thanks to everyone making a todo over nothing, this is going to be huge. In relative terms.

also virtually no marketing on this relative to big commercial pix.

[bhunt70]

13. considering the funding it had and the amount it cost, I disagree with you

While the film does get a lot of press, it was never hyped as the next big thing, just the next thing that has some sort of controversy around it.

I think the fallacy in your argument is that you think it has been hyped and it won't pan out. The marketing it got was relatively light, but the news it garnered - all the free marketing - more than made up the slack.