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[Alcibiades]

Weekend Actuals for this past weekend

1 I, Robot $52,179,887 NEW $52,179,887
2 Spider-Man 2 $24,775,450 -45% $302,287,882
3 Anchorman $13,849,313 -51% $56,956,256
4 A Cinderella Story $13,623,350 NEW $13,623,350
5 Fahrenheit 9/11 $7,175,674 -35% $93,984,261
6 King Arthur $7,161,648 -53% $38,110,849
7 The Notebook $5,651,212 -13% $53,880,561
8 Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story $3,813,719 -33% $105,165,752
9 White Chicks $3,436,328 -45% $63,470,104
10 Shrek 2 $3,230,786 -27% $425,011,64

Wow, I, Robot exceeded my expectations (I expected about $40 million), and it looks like Shrek 2 will not just surpass The Phantom Menace, but probably ET as well...

Dodgeball was a real success for Fox, way more than they expected probably.

Spiderman 2 is doing really well, but is already tracking behind Shrek 2 on a day-by-day comparison, even though I expected Spidey to stay ahead. I'm surprised Fox put up I, Robot so close to Spidey 2, I thought they would run scared (like Dreamworks did moving up Shrek 2 to May from mid-June), but in the end it looks like they made the right move.

Here is a link to the comparison chart:

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=vs-blockbuster.htm

I wonder if 1/2 the forum will still hold to their assured presumptions that Spiderman 2 was going to be #1 for the year.

Still, the point is Shrek 2 surprised a lot of people, and it's still doing well. I wonder if the only chance a movie has of beating this will be either Shrek 3 or next summer's SW Ep. III.

Also, another thing I'd like to mention is how well Shrek 2 is doing overseas, where it was supposed to bomb compared to America. Apparently, it's doing really well.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/intl/weekend/2004/29.htm

Sure, it's doesn't seem to be doing as well as The Prisoner of Azkaban or Spiderman 2, but it seems to be a lock for $400 million or maybe way more, which would help it at least match it's gross in the US/Canada market... It's already in the Top 20 movies in the UK.

 

[DJ Demon J]

Someone sold their fucking soul to get Shrek so popular...

 

[Willco]

Yeah, Shrek has owned this summer, but Spidey will make so much damn money here and abroad it's not worth crying about.

I got a question, though. Has there ever been a summer with two movies made $400 million or more? Because it looks like Spidey 2 will and Shrek already has.

 

[Lord Error]

I completely don't get the insane popularity that Shrek 2 is enjoying. I'm not saying it's a bad movie, or anything (actually, I think it's quite good), but this kind of popularity/earnings is usually reserved for movies that are really something special - that world is buzzing about. Movies like SW, T2, Matrix, Titanic, that sort of thing, and Shrek 2 is actually making more money than most of them did. Honestly, I thought the movie was a quite pedestrian attempt - not really any better than the first one, but not any worse either. Have you ever seen anyone be really excited about it? When I asked people about it, it usualy went like this: "Yeah, I saw it, it was pretty good and funny", or "Yeah, hehe, Donkey was great again". Weird.

 

[Kabuki Waq]

i just saw shrek 2 and it wasnt even that good? all jokes were predictable the only good parts were with puss in boots.

 

[Seth C]

i just saw shrek 2 and it wasnt even that good? all jokes were predictable the only good parts were with puss in boots.

Yeah, but you SAW it, and apparently so did everyone else. Stupid people.

 

[Lord Error]

i just saw shrek 2 and it wasnt even that good?

Well, a movie doesn't really have to be good to be popular and make tons of money, but what it usually does have to do, is to have people excited. The thing is, I never saw anyone actually be excited about Shrek 2, before the movie came out, or after seeing it.

 

[Joe]

marketing/advertising.

The thing is, I never saw anyone actually be excited about Shrek 2, before the movie came out, or after seeing it.

just goes to show you how targeted advertising has become.

 

[Kabuki Waq]

yea and really to make shrek 2 type money a movie has to have repeat viewings. I have no idea why or how shrek is making so much money.

 

[ConfusingJazz]

I think the reason its so popular is the fact that its summer and there aren't a whole lot of movies for kids under 12.

Would you rather have your kids screaming their lungs out at home, or in a movie theater watching shrek 2 for the 52 time?

 

[SteveMeister]

Marketing.
Family appeal across all age groups, funny for kids AND adults.
Being released in more theaters than any other movie before (by a significant margin).
Being only 85 minutes long. This is crucial, it allows more showings per day!
Being released without any real family-oriented competition, which is largely still the case.
By now, word of mouth. It's actually a pretty good, fun movie.

That's why Shrek 2 is doing so well.

 

[SteveMeister]

I never saw anyone actually be excited about Shrek 2, before the movie came out, or after seeing it.

I was. I really enjoyed the first movie and had been looking forward to 2 since I first saw the trailer.

 

[Alcibiades]

I think the reason its so popular is the fact that its summer and there aren't a whole lot of movies for kids under 12.

Would you rather have your kids screaming their lungs out at home, or in a movie theater watching shrek 2 for the 52 time?

What about The Prisoner of Azkaban, Garfield, Spiderman 2, Cinderella Story, Sleepover, Two Brothers, Mean Girls, Around the World in 80 Days, and even movies like The Day After Tomorrow (which had a big preview on American Idol)...

The truth is Shrek 2 got across to many audiences, from young adults/college students to the 25-50 crowd, and had enough repeat showings among all age groups to get this big...

The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Day After Tomorrow, and Troy (all of which performed well) were all released around the time Shrek 2 was, and those movies were all trying to eat away on some level at the audience for Shrek 2. Competition was at much heavier for Shrek 2 than anything Spiderman 2 (which basically had nothing to deal with except I, Robot in it's 3rd weekend) had to deal with, and it still broke through the blockbuster assualt and pretty much has been performing well for the whole summer...


edit: if you look at release date, theatre count, and opening weekend numbers, you'll see that Shrek 2 faced competition that at this point are 3 of the most popular movies for the year:

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2004&p=.htm

Troy (5 days before Shrek 2) - $132,459,414

The Day After Tomorrow (Shrek 2's 2nd weekend, Memorial Day friday) - $183,304,973

The Prisoner of Azkaban (Shrek 2's 3rd weekend, Harry Potter-releated) - $238,344,679

The only movie that comes close to being this big anytime around Spidey 2 is I, Robot, which may gross around $150 million...

 

[DrForester]

again, it's the childrens market. Parent takes the kids to see a movie, they ahve Shrek 2, which they've probably seen teh first one so they know they might enjoy it too. Only other movie really aimed at kids is Garfield.

Sure' there is harry potter, but it's a 2.5 hour movie. The vast majority of kids going to see it have read the books, so right here you've pretty much excluded ages, say 7 and under, who haven't read the books and who's parents aren't going to take them to a long movie.

 

[Alcibiades]

again, it's the childrens market. Parent takes the kids to see a movie, they ahve Shrek 2, which they've probably seen teh first one so they know they might enjoy it too. Only other movie really aimed at kids is Garfield.

Sure' there is harry potter, but it's a 2.5 hour movie. The vast majority of kids going to see it have read the books, so right here you've pretty much excluded ages, say 7 and under, who haven't read the books and who's parents aren't going to take them to a long movie.

I doubt the 7-and-under crowd made the Shrek 2 success (especially since tickets for kids are cheaper anyway), and don't forget Two Brothers was also aimed at kids (maybe they also preferred Shrek 2 to it), and for teenagers you had White Chicks and Dodgeball, and for kids 8-and-up, The Day After Tomorrow is a good pleaser, so yeah, I doubt the children's market was the primary reason for Shrek 2's success...

The only movie I'd ever been too that has a ridiculous concentration of 14-and-under kids are the Pokemon movies (with the 2nd one having a higher concentration, at least the first had some families and teenagers)...

I've seen Shrek 2 twice, and of course there were kids there, but there were also teenagers, young adults, middle-aged ladies, etc...

Heck, most of the people that I know that have seen Shrek 2 (or shown and interest) aren't children but young adults my age, and among all my little cousins (12-and-under), The Day After Tomorrow and Spiderman 2 seemed more of an attraction...

 

[Shinobi]

I completely don't get the insane popularity that Shrek 2 is enjoying. I'm not saying it's a bad movie, or anything (actually, I think it's quite good), but this kind of popularity/earnings is usually reserved for movies that are really something special - that world is buzzing about. Movies like SW, T2, Matrix, Titanic, that sort of thing

Funny enough, I've always maintained that Titanic's ridiculous popularity was the single most mysterious anomaly in the history of the movie business. I mean, who regards that movie as even one of the twenty best of all time?

 

[MIMIC]

<---------Still hasn't seen "Shrek 2."

 

[DonasaurusRex]

its popular because kids cant go to the movies on their own.

 

[Mega Man's Electric Sheep]

"Being only 85 minutes long. This is crucial, it allows more showings per day!"


My movie theatre showed Shrek 2 the same number of times a day as Harry Potter and Spiderman. The only movies that get shown less in my theatre are ones that are 3+ hours, and even then they usually shuffle start times to make the same number of showings (which is what they did with all 3 Lord of the Rings movies). So you guys have theatres that show movies more often when they are shorter?

 

[SteveMeister]

"Being only 85 minutes long. This is crucial, it allows more showings per day!"


My movie theatre showed Shrek 2 the same number of times a day as Harry Potter and Spiderman. The only movies that get shown less in my theatre are ones that are 3+ hours, and even then they usually shuffle start times to make the same number of showings (which is what they did with all 3 Lord of the Rings movies). So you guys have theatres that show movies more often when they are shorter?

Absolutely. I can't think of ANY reason why a theater won't take a new, popular movie and show it as many times as they can. It doesn't make any sense to "decide" not to make more money

 

[Memles]

It was all the damn crosspromotion...M&M's, HP, etc. all gave Shrek 2 such subliminal advertising that it worked very, very well.

 

[Mega Man's Electric Sheep]

"It was all the damn crosspromotion...M&M's, HP, etc. all gave Shrek 2 such subliminal advertising that it worked very, very well."


I have one word for why this doesn't always work.........

Hulk


That had tons of crosspromotion, and didn't do all that well.......

 

[Alcibiades]

"It was all the damn crosspromotion...M&M's, HP, etc. all gave Shrek 2 such subliminal advertising that it worked very, very well."


I have one word for why this doesn't always work.........

Hulk


That had tons of crosspromotion, and didn't do all that well.......

also, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Cat in the Hat had a ton of cross-promotion, people just didn't want to see them...

Elf didn't really have that much non-movie-ads promotion, but it did superb because of word-of-mouth (just like Shrek and Shrek 2)...