"Kong: Skull Island” opened to a so-so $61 million in domestic box office for its premiere three-day weekend, which trade publication Deadline says is a triumph. The $185 million-budget yarn was trending as a flop just a few weeks earlier. The Warner Bros. Pictures/Legendary Pictures film was headed a mid-40s million dollars opening when it first landed in pre-release … [Read more...] about Late-stage ‘Kong’ Surge Salvages BO Premiere
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Worries about Second-weekend Fadeout
Glossy big-budget movies fade amazingly fast at the box office, notes a New York Post article. Two decades ago, a decline of 40% in box office revenue for the second was considered severe. Now 60% occurs frequently, though that’s somewhat explainable by bigger opening weekends (which skew the comparisons). That's for so-called "tentpole" films that are big-budget, … [Read more...] about Worries about Second-weekend Fadeout
Audience Tracker NRG Sold to Stagwell
Nielsen’s storied National Research Group film marketing firm has been sold to Stagwell Media, another company in movie consumer research. Stagwell looks to be a consolidator buying other entertainment research companies. “The Stagwell Group LLC is a registered investment adviser, formed in December 2014 by Mark Penn who serves as the Managing Partner and President of … [Read more...] about Audience Tracker NRG Sold to Stagwell
‘Pixels’ Pulls 34.3m Vid Views in 24 Hours
Sony Pictures says the trailer for its animated “Pixels” movie generated 34.3 million online streams in its first 24 hours, which is best ever for the studio. The prior best was 22 million streams for “The Amazing Spider-Man 2.” “The studio leveraged official channels as well as social pages for Sony, Sony Pictures, Sony Pictures international markets, Sony Electronics, … [Read more...] about ‘Pixels’ Pulls 34.3m Vid Views in 24 Hours
Academics Try to Dissect Film Critic Biases
Two college doctoral candidates in France attempt to quantify biases of U.S. film critics in their college thesis paper, which left “New York Post” newspaper critic Kyle Smith amused. Toulouse School of Economics Ph.D. candidates Fanny Camara and Nicolas Dupuis dissect tendencies of movie critics in their paper “Structural Estimation of Expert Strategic Bias: The Case of … [Read more...] about Academics Try to Dissect Film Critic Biases
Warners Vows to Trim $2bn Marketing Spend
The $12.3 billion-revenue Warner Bros. movie studio revealed it spends $2 billion a year on marketing, which studio chief Kevin Tsujihara promised to trim during a Wall Street conference. Studio parent Time Warner Inc. wants to slash that expenditure by $200 million, as part of a broader plan to goose up its stock price. This comes after refusing a buyout offer from Rupert … [Read more...] about Warners Vows to Trim $2bn Marketing Spend
Merchandise Follows ‘Star Wars’ Game Play Data
Merchandise licensees for the Disney “Star Wars” property can look at game play usage data by country to help forecast demand for products ranging from key chains to toys. The data comes from “Star Wars Commander,” which is a free-to-play mobile game that has been downloaded 5 million times, according licensing data authority EPM Communications. Merchandise … [Read more...] about Merchandise Follows ‘Star Wars’ Game Play Data
Tracking Data Crisis Intensifies
Audience tracking surveys are increasingly failing to predict box office, notes Deadline.com’s Anita Busch, who catalogs a succession of recent wrong calls. For example, tracking surveys predicted roughly $20 million in domestic box office for the three-day premiere weekend for The Weinstein Co.’s young-adult “The Giver,” which ended up with just $12.3 million. That’s a … [Read more...] about Tracking Data Crisis Intensifies
Research Struggles With ‘Neighbors,’ ‘Blended’
Universal Pictures' R-rated comedy "Neighbors" confounded Hollywood research with an over-the-top $51.1 million in box office over its premiere three-day weekend, 46% higher than tracking studies that expected $35 million. The raunchy comedy stars Seth Rogan being abused by a college fraternity that shatters the peace of the neighborhood, and it far surpassed the second week of … [Read more...] about Research Struggles With ‘Neighbors,’ ‘Blended’
Whites Suddenly Boost Black-themed Films
Movies centered on stories about blacks are suddenly doing big box office, which the Hollywood Reporter attributes to white moviegoers increasingly part of their cinema audience. “Never before has such a diverse slate of black-led films performed so well at the box office as they have in recent months,” says the Hollywood Reporter article by Pamela McClintock and Rebecca … [Read more...] about Whites Suddenly Boost Black-themed Films