Just what is the significance of the Top 10 at the Box Office for last week end?

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=80 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="04000500dvldtc.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Reel Movie Critic.com</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reel Movie Critic.com"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id1196.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="How to use Movie Ratings"><U>How to use Movie Ratings</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1299.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Halle Berry is Just Getting Started"><U>Halle Berry is Just Getting Started</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1240.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Terrorist"><U>The Terrorist</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1105.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Want to see alternatives to Hollywood ju"><U>Want to see alternatives to Hollywood junk?....here's how</U></A>   |   <B>Just what is the significance of the Top 10 at the Box Office for last week end?</B>   |   <A HREF="id777.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chicago International Film Festival 2000"><U>Chicago International Film Festival 2000- Closing Week</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id642.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chicago International Film Festival 200"><U>Chicago  International Film Festival 2000-1st Week</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="041d2c00dvldtc.png"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=400 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> Just what is the significance of the Top 10 at the Box Office for last week end?</div> <div> Movies that gross the highest amount do make a difference. Those that come in #1 can claim they are king or queen of the hill. That will translate to more newspaper and TV advertising, longer runs at the theater and in particular, if it's a small film, whether it's around more than a week or two. </div> <bR> <div> As films tend to have their largest revenue period during the 1<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" >st</FONT> week, a poor opening upon initial wide release (limited release usually means NYC and LA) for a costly film means big trouble. Recent films like <I><B>Evolution,</B></I><I><B> </B></I><I><B>What's the Worse that Could Happen?</B></I><I><B>  </B></I>and<I><B> </B></I><I><B>Town and Country</B></I> came out with a whimper and began a free fall from there. </div> <bR> <div> While film critic reviews <I>can</I> matter, the real make or break item on a film turning a profit, assuming reasonable cost and promotion, is word of mouth. <I><B>Pearl Harbor</B></I> came on strong opening weekend and although its reviews tended to be mediocre or worse, the word of mouth was poor regarding the love story. So even though <I><B>Shrek </B></I>opened the prior week, after three weeks of release, <I><B>Shrek</B></I> made it to $200M at the box office without a pause and <I><B>Pearl Harbor</B></I> was struggling to make it to the $175M mark. At this time, <I>Shrek</I> is well past $200M and <I>Pearl Harbor</I> may not make it to that level at all in the US.</div> <bR> <div> Some powerful films lurk below the Top 10 such as <I><B>Memento</B></I> and <I><B>Startup.com.</B></I> They will never hit the #1 spot, in part because they don't have the hype of an <I><B>Atlantis</B></I> with $40 million in advertising (yes, that is not a misprint). David Poland of <A HREF="http://www.voicesofhollywood.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.voicesofhollywood.com"><U><I><B>Voices of Hollywod.com </B></I></U></A>says that there is almost  "...no time when there is not between $50 million and $100 million of advertising in the marketplace every weekend." You can be assured that the independent and foreign films comprise a tiny fraction of this amount. </div> <bR> <div> While the Top 10 list is useful, it is also misleading. Yahoo.com publishes a report that </div> <div> provides the average revenue per screen. This tends to be a strong indicator of films to watch that open with a staggered release, which normally means NYC and LA for a few weeks. When a positive buzz is generated, it's ready to make it to other cities. Also related to their "lowly" status is the fact that there may be only a few hundred copies of the film, at best, as compared to 3,000 for <I><B>Pearl Harbor</B></I> and <I><B>Tomb Raider.</B></I> </div> <bR> <div> What hits the Top 10 are films that tend to have huge marketing budgets. It's a better list to use to tell you about the big budget films rather than the <I>best movies</I> that you might like to see. This is where the per screen average is important. Our article in the June 2001 newsletter speaks to <A HREF="id1105.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Want to see alternatives to Hollywood ju"><U><I><B>how to find good films that Hollywood refuses to make.</B></I></U></A><I><B> </B></I>Some of these films are <I><B>Memento, Startup.com, </B></I><I><B>The Circle,</B></I><I><B> </B></I><I><B>Bread and Roses,</B></I><I><B> </B></I>and <I><B>Jackpot.</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <B>Often these movies do not have true mass appeal. This is not a bad thing…just because a book does not make the top 10 bestsellers list in no way implies that it's not worthy of your time.</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" > However, for a large studio, these films are not where they should put their bucks to make the huge profits. Unlike books, films tend to have a short shelf life…a few weeks to make a name in the theater and then another opportunity for attention when it is released on video. This also explains why so many of the best films produced in Hollywood are released late in the year. If they can garner Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, this turns into dollars at the box office. The Oscars in particular are about marketing the films rather than giving recognition for the best films. </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Implied in the Top 10 list, along with film critic reviews, is that whatever is new is good and important for you to track. This is regardless of quality. Critics and journalists who write about movies tend to focus on what's tops at the box office, including us. It's wrong to compare <I><B>Tomb Raider </B></I>to<I><B> Atlantis: The Lost Empire</B></I> and talk about who blew whom away. Just because <I>Tomb</I> <I>Raider </I>did twice as much as <I>Atlantis</I> on opening weekend (they both opened on June 15) does not mean that anything is wrong with <I>Atlantis.</I> They are movies that are targeted toward different audiences. One is PG and the other is PG-13. The PG is aimed more at <I>young</I> kids with the hope of pulling in teenagers. The PG-13 is aimed at teenagers and adults, with a film that uses lots of hard action and many killings, with partial nudity and sexual innuendo in every scene with Angelina Jolie. Books are ranked by their category…for example, hard cover fiction and non-fiction; mass market paperback, etc. All movies are lumped together using one ranking system.</div> <bR> <div> We publish the list of the Top 10 movies at the box office each Monday; based on the results of the prior weekend, which is Friday-Sunday. As a general rule, if the film has 3 stars (***) we think it's worth seeing, if only for good entertainment. If you see a lot of movies, four or more per month, you can afford to try some of the films at 2.5 stars (**1/2). If you only see two or three movies per month, you only want to spend your time and money on 3 star (***) or greater films. And if you see one film per month, try to see 3.5 (***1/2) or 4 star (****) films only. </div> <bR> <div> Do keep in mind that critics' reviews, however well they are written, reflect that person's opinions, life experiences, values and possibly biases. It's always good to read one review and scan a few others to get a "critical consensus." Ideally, find two or three critics who tend to like what you like and check out what they have to say.</div> <bR> <div> So while the Top 10 list gives you a summary of what's new and what's crossing that magical $100 million mark, which is the current definition of blockbuster (save super costly movies like <I>Pearl Harbor</I>), it tends to tell you what movies cost the most to make and promote. <I><B>The Fast and the Furious</B></I> is a notable exception; a sleeper hit that came out of nowhere and galloped past $100M. Expect to see copycats of that movie in the near future.</div> <bR> <div> Rather than a stopping point of what to see at the movies, the Top 10 List should only be a starter. <B>Look for the films that are no where near the Top 10,</B> read a few words about them and if it sounds interesting and has a positive review, go see that first. The best place to find good films not in the Top 10 is at our <I><B>Art House Page</B></I>. We believe that our web site has the most comprehensive listing of reviews on these types of films that you can find. </div> <bR> <div> The films in the Top 10 will be playing next week...that great movie that ranked 35<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" >th</FONT> may not. Many of the films will require a greater investment of time to travel to the theater. But like a good book, more often than not, the extra time invested is worth the effort.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> George O. Singleton © 2001</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> <A HREF="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com"><U><U>George@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>