Box office: 'The Interview' makes $1 million theater debut
Source: AP-Excite
By LINDSEY BAHR
LOS ANGELES (AP) "The Interview" was never supposed to be a paradigm shifting film. But unusual doesn't even begin to describe the series of events that transpired over the past few weeks, culminating in the truly unprecedented move by a major studio to release a film in theaters and on digital platforms simultaneously.
Sony is in uncharted waters now with the film which earned $1.04 million from 331 locations on Thursday, according to studio estimates, in addition to the untold VOD grosses.
"Considering the incredibly challenging circumstances, we are extremely grateful to the people all over the country who came out to experience "The Interview" on the first day of its unconventional release," said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution for Sony Pictures in a statement.
For a film that would have just come and gone in the usual 3,000 theaters without much fanfare, the $40 million comedy has now become an accidental case study in the world of day and date releases. The industry is watching closely to see just where audiences will choose to place their dollars in the coming days and weeks. The big question is whether or not this strategy could be viable for major releases in the future.
FULL story at link.
FILE - In this Dec. 25, 2014 file photo, Derek Karpel holds his ticket to a screening of "The Interview" at Cinema Village movie theater, in New York. The film raked in just over $1 million in ticket sales from 331 locations for an impressive $3,142 per theater average, according to distributor Sony Pictures. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20141226/us--sony_hack-the_interview-78e6d96175.html
Bjorn Against
(12,041 posts)Selma also opened in limited release yesterday on just 19 screens, yet it averaged $16,000 per screen compared to the Interview's $3,000 per screen. I honestly thought The Interview would do better than it did, but I am glad to see a movie that appears to be of much higher quality like Selma trouncing it on a per screen basis.
ButterflyBlood
(12,644 posts)Movies that open in such limited release almost always have the highest per theater averages for obvious reasons. The highest per theater average this weekend was American Sniper, in 4 theaters with over $150k per theater! But getting said numbers in any release in triple digits is essentially impossible.
Now based on the numbers here: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?view=main&yr=2014&wknd=52&sort=avg&order=DESC&p=.htm I wouldn't call The Interview's take to be amazing or anything considering it still lost to widely released movies in per theater numbers like Into The Woods, Unbroken, the last Hobbit movie and barely beat the last Night at the Museum which is a week old already, but it's not exactly a massive bomb either.
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)rocktivity
(44,576 posts)Last edited Fri Oct 11, 2019, 01:44 PM - Edit history (2)
which in turn doesn't count the people who can watch it at the price of only three keystrokes...
rocktivity
PatrynXX
(5,668 posts)Now thats impressive. so will people remember the fun to be had at the smaller theaters and not ones you get lost in..
rocktivity
(44,576 posts)The price on the ticket in the pic looks to be $12.00. Divide that into $3142, and that's about 260 people per theater (for the entire day, not per showing). But that represents only one day, and Christmas day at that. We should wait until after The Interview's first full weekend before we before we consider it a full-fledged international laughingstock.
rocktivity
rocktivity
(44,576 posts)We should wait until after The Interview's first full weekend before we before we consider it a full-fledged international laughingstock.
After finally opening to flag-waving fans on Christmas Day, it finished the four days with $2.8 million from 331 mainly smaller independent theaters. But major theater chains steered clear because Sony offered the film online in the first day-and-date digital release of a major studio film.
Thrilled at less than three million since Thursday? At a ticket price of $12, that's about 175 people per theater per day (again, NOT per showing). You don't need to be a movie mogul to know that's chump change even for a independent release. Seth's line would have worked out great in the movie, though...
rocktivity
Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)And despite the effort by Sony and NK to create a PR event to get this turkey off the ground, it still can't fly.
Brother Buzz
(36,444 posts)Sony anticipated domestic grosses of $80 million and $130 million worldwide
LiberalFighter
(50,950 posts)It is also contrived number when tickets are not all sold at the same price.
jmowreader
(50,560 posts)According to Wikipedia, Kirk Cameron's Ruining Christmas opened on 410 screens and made $992,087 its first weekend, for a per-screen average of $2419. (IMDB says it made $651,276, or $1588 per screen.)
Kirk Cameron's masterpiece has a lower IMDB rating than USS VD: Ship of Shame so either $2419 or $1588 is pretty impressive.
Compare that to "The Interview"'s $3142 per screen average.
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)Dear Kirk Cameron,
Tom Cruise called, he said he wanted his cult back.
jmowreader
(50,560 posts)Does this guy work in a car wash or what? Look him up on IMDB and you see he rarely works in show biz.
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)I believe he is a pastor now.
ButterflyBlood
(12,644 posts)Not exactly comparable. Now granted I wouldn't call $3142 "impressive" but it's far better than that bomb.
JDDavis
(725 posts)Sony Pictures canceled the theatrical release of The Interview on Dec. 17 amid threats of a terrorist attack on theaters that showed the film, a decision which president Obama said disappointed him. On Dec. 23 Sony Pictures announced that the film would have a limited release on Christmas Day.
http://www.polygon.com/2014/12/26/7450821/the-interview-was-pirated-more-than-750000-in-its-first-day-of-release
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)rocktivity
(44,576 posts)Last edited Fri Oct 11, 2019, 01:54 PM - Edit history (7)
Even I was presented with an opportunity to watch a stream at the price of just three keystrokes, and I define a torrent as what can happens when it rains, LOL!
rocktivity