Valentine's Day BOX OFFICE

[Rico]

I dunno. Maybe they should have released the film this weekend or last weekend. It will be weird to see the film once VD is over, no? when it s still ahead of you, it makes more sense. Like with Christmas movies...

[Mark]

I disagree simply because it's a romantic comedy set on Valentine's Day --- if people like it, it will be fine. And it doesn't need good reviews to do well.

I don't think anyone thought this would get good reviews -- It's Complicated didn't even get good reviews.

[Yanzi]

Apparently, New Line is very confident that VD is going to make tons of money...

'Valentine's Day' Sort-Of-Sequel Underway
By MIKE FLEMING

Little wonder Warner Bros' New Line is in love with the Garry Marshall-directed Valentine’s Day because of its formula of cramming more than a dozen stars into a film and keeping the budget below $50 million. Now I'm told there's a sort-of-sequel underway. Valentine’s Day scribe Katherine Fugate has turned in a draft of New Year’s Eve, which Toby Emmerich and Richard Brener are reading this weekend, with Warner Bros bosses to follow shortly.

I'm told that, during production, New Line execs Sam Brown and Michael Disco started brainstorming with producers Mike Karz, Wayne Allan Rice and Josie Rosen as well as writer Fugate on how to use the ensemble formula again. New Year's Eve was the logical choice. They agreed the holiday possibilities are endless. (I wouldn't be surprised if the franchise in the future is focused not just around major ones but even secondary ones like Arbor Day.)

Execs will enlist Valentine's Day director Garry Marshall on the new pic, as well as bring in some VDay characters for continuity. Those actors will segue into the new New York-set relationship ensemble story that uses December 31st and a little after midnight on January 1st as the plotline’s ticking clock. So these days, when most films can barely afford even 2 major stars, how did Valentine’s Day keep down costs for the cast including Julia Roberts, Jessica Alba, Bradley Cooper, Anne Hathaway, Patrick Dempsey, Taylor Lautner, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah and Emma Roberts? I've learned most worked for discounted quotes and some back-end because they were able to film their parts quickly and then leave for other projects. All that talent makes for an impressive trailer (the one-sheet is so crowded that only thumbnails of the stars in the shape of a heart was possible), giving the illusion that the stars are in the pic from start to finish.

I don't think Julia will be back for the sequel though.

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/valen ... -underway/

[Rico]

In some countries, among them the UK, Pretty Woman gets a small-scale re-release this weekend!

[Mark]

Dear John fell from it's estimate - $30.4M is what it did.

Avatar was No. 1 again on Sunday.

I don't think this will be as big a threat to Valentine's Day as originally thought.

[Nuno]

Tracking is looking good for VD:

MTC 4 Days:

VDAY:50 million

WOLF: 33 million

PERCY: 26 million

[Rico]

Look at this:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/feb ... ia-roberts

[Yanzi]

Look at this:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/feb ... ia-roberts

That's sooooo sweet!

[Nuno]

Box-office preview: 'Valentine's Day' to dominate holiday frame

by Nicole Sperling

In honor of both Valentine’s Day and the President’s Day three-day weekend, Hollywood has programmed three films for three distinct audiences. But let’s be clear: Valentine’s Day from veteran director Garry Marshall is driving the pack and should do at least $50 million for the four-day frame. If it’s successful, which it’s destined to be, expect to see a whole lot more movies where A-list actors work in a large ensemble cast for only a few days for reduced pay. It’s one easy way to earn a living.

Competing for those holiday box-office dollars this weekend is Universal’s R-rated horror film The Wolfman with Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, and Emily Blunt. The film has had a bit of a troubled past so it will be interesting to see if that keeps audiences from checking out Del Toro going lycan. For kids, Fox is trying to capitalize on the Harry Potter franchise, by partnering The Sorcerer’s Stone director Christopher Columbus with another popular book series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians. With three big titles hitting the marketplace, expect this frame to be a big one at the box office. Read on for my four-day predictions.

1. Valentine’s Day: $50 million

Warner Bros. spent only $14.5 million on the cast of this film. That’s pretty impressive considering names like Julia Roberts, Jamie Foxx, Bradley Cooper, Taylor Lautner ,and Jennifer Garner don the marquee. And because they made it multi-generational: Shirley Maclaine and Hector Elizondo have relationship issues as much as Lautner and Taylor Swift do, the audience range on the film should run from teenage to AARP.

2. The Wolfman: $35 million

Reviews have not been kind to this horror flick. But I don’t think it’s enough to stop audiences from showing up to this Victorian-era thriller. The film should get beyond the $30 million mark for the four days on its R-rating alone. How it fares over the coming weeks will likely be a bigger challenge.

3. Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief: $30 million

An engaging story based on the popular book series by Rick Riordan, Percy has a lot going for it. From the cute Logan Lerman in the lead to a cast of Greek Gods that include Uma Thurman, Pierce Brosnan, Rosario Dawson, and Steve Coogan, the filmmakers seemed to have fun putting this film together. And with the dearth of family product in the marketplace, it’s likely to fare well with audiences. And reviews overall have been solid. There just seems to be missing any real excitement considering all this began as a beloved book.

4. Avatar: $22 million

Avatar’s four-day should match something close to it’s three-day last weekend as it holds on to those 3-D screens as long as it can.

5. Dear John: $15 milion

This movie may have dethroned Avatar last weekend but that distinction isn’t going to get it very far. The film is going to be crushed this frame by the Valentine’s Day juggernaut. If it drops 50% it should consider itself lucky.


http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2010/02/ ... tines-day/

[roger the cat]

VD opens in 3'665 theatres. That's Julias widest release ever!

[berlioz]

i've read at awardsdaily an early friday projection: 15 millions for valentine's day. that's great.

[Rico]

it s 16.5 M $ for a 60 M $ weekend!

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/

all the films do really well!

[berlioz]

that's huge! i can't help but think that they would have released it the previous week-end. it would have had a two strong week-ends while now, after the big opening, people will lose interest in seeing a movie about valentine's day after the actual valentine's day...we can expect a massive drop next week-end. but with a 50+ millions opening it should not having trouble reaching the 110 millions anyway, i hope.

[Rico]

yep, that s what i said, too. But maybe people wouldn t have wanted to see it the week before VD either.

anyway, it would be huge and it should well reach 100 M $ if he s just not that into you made it to 90 M after at 27 M $ opening week-end.

apparently, though, it s all down to crazy teenage girls (esp if you believe the posters on the imdb boards)

[Nuno]

Great for Valentine's Day, as expected, though legs will be bad.

Very strong numbers for Percy Jackson and even The Wolfman did decent.