Monday, March 05, 2007

ZODIAC BOX OFFICE FORECAST: CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS

Well, we can interpret the numbers as creatively as we want, but we can't change the fact that Zodiac somehow landed itself at number 2 at the box office...right between two motorcycle flicks. Yes, William H. Macy in a biker comedy made 3 times as much as Jake Gyllenhaal investigating a serial killer over the weekend. I think Jake's expression above adequately reflects Jake Watch's official stance on this development.

To Jake, I say, pal, I know you're probably a little disappointed, having spent all those countless hours (days) making an awesome movie that you maybe thought would be seen by a few more people. Well, I've been there. From my loads of experience courtesy of the month of February, all I can say is relish in the fact that you got paid. :)

To Paramount, I say, I told you not to go up against me, fools! And stop banning me from your studios. I can assure you The Day After Tomorrow Never Dies was never number 2 at the box office.

And to Jake Watch in general, I say, The Official Review is coming...

(I'm all about the hype.)

Picture from IHJ.

32 comments:

veeveevee said...

I can assure you The Day After Tomorrow Never Dies was never number 2 at the box office.

Amen to that PG!

And I love, love, love that picture!

(I'm all about the hype, too!) ;-)

Local Celebrity said...

Ya know why it was number two? Because I didn't get to see it yet, since I live in the ghetto of Newark, and the only movie theater is choosing not to play it.

Jake, I'm sorry I'm letting you down. Please forgive me?

Anonymous said...

I'm curious about something and this is sort of OT, but not. Did the Zodiac killings happen before or after the Charles Manson/Sharon Tate killings? I read the book Helter Sketer and it scared the crap out of me. For real. If it happened after, that might explain why ppl were so terrified by it and why the newspapers printed the stuff.

Anonymous said...

I meant "Helter Skelter."

Anonymous said...

OK. I checked. THe first letter from Zodiac about his murders came in to the newspapers around July 31, 1969. The Tate murders happened the night of August 8, 1969. So all this stuff was overlapping and going on around the same time. So you could understand why everyone panicked.

Anonymous said...

Is Jake still in NYC? Does anyone know??? It's been almost three days!!!

Anonymous said...

That's an awesome photo of Jake!! He makes me weak in the knees.

I for one loved the movie and I think after seen four old farts on bikes this week everyone will flock to see Zodiac next week.

Zodiac got rave reviews where as wild hogs got the worst.

I'm going to see it again this week. I love love love how Jake's charactor interacts with this son in the movie. I love the close ups...drooling

Anonymous said...

Zodiac did about half the earnings of Jarhead in its first weekend. That's really disappointing.

Anonymous said...

How many screens did Jarhead open on? I wouldn't get out the black crepe, yet ladies! It's too soon for funeral clothes. I think if Zodiac can pull an average of more than $3,000 per screen per day, it will be fine. Except for the purely commercial, most films don't make real money until they go to DVD, until they open internationally, until an HBO or Starz buys viewing rights.I think movies only make 25% of their cost when they first open now. I could be wrong. Fincher saved a fortune by shooting this digitally. Ironically, American films often do better internationally,than domestically. I'll take a wild guess that Zodiac will do about $55M domestically before it goes to DVD.
If it makes about $130M worldwide total before DVD sales, that'll be it, I think. Don't know what break even is for the studios. Paramont is spending lots of $$ for marketing.

Anonymous said...

Zodiac and Jarhead opened on a comparable number of screens, vicinity of 2300. I think Jarhead had a few more than Zodiac.

I've seen cost estimates for Zodiac ranging from $62 to $85 million. They spent LOTS to promote it!

It has a strong 8.1 viewer rating on IMDB.com. Much higher than Wild Hogs. WH must have a kiddie audience.

Seven times as many men voted in the Zodiac rating poll than women. Apparently more men than women vote in virtually all those polls, so I don't know how that relates to who actually goes to see it. 43 percent of the voters gave it a 10 out of 10.

Sam said...

give it time ppls, give it time. Word of mouth is great for these types of things, it would technically only appeal to certain audiences (thriller goers and Gyllenhaalics) Once word out mouth gets around all will be good. i have faith!

welliwont said...

^^^Don't forget Ruffaloholics! :p

heddaparsons said...

Jarhead also opened at #1 despite mixed reviews, but Jake got good reviews for his performance in Jarhead. I can't remember if Jarhead remained at #1 the following week but it made about 63 mil in the states and the budget was about 70 mil. It made a little over 30 mil overseas, so it made close to 95 mil and it did very well with the DVD sales. Time will tell if Zodiac performs the same way despite the great reviews. I saw it and gave it a 9 out of 10. I will post my review in the forum once I get a chance.

Anonymous said...

Robert Downey, Jr. and David Fincher have a following, too. Plus this seems like a smart film...aren't there supposed to be lots of smart people? Maybe not. LOL!
WH appeals to a broad demographic.
And when does Will Farrell's figure skating movie come out? The public is funny. Jim Carey's latest movie, a thriller caled "23" bombed. Jim Carey had a following...for his comedies. And horror films & thrillers usually do well. Go figure!

heddaparsons said...

Interesting tidbit from Independent Entertainment news:

Jake “no thanks” Gyllenhall

It looks like Jake Gyllenhaal has passed on The Weinstein Company’s Solomon Grundy. Based on Dan Gooch’s book (and the nursery rhyme), the story’s centered on a man who ages from birth to death over the course of a week. Dunno about you, but the first thing that came to mind was The Godfathers’ song “Birth, School, Work, Death.” Indeed, it looks like Jake is looking for a project with more longevity. It is NOT related to the comic book of the same name, though that is also based on the nursery rhyme.

http://iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2005&Itemid=99

I wonder if Jake is looking for a commercial franchise like Damon and the Bourne Identiny series and Clooney with the Ocean series so he can do more things like Rendition in between (Clooney: Syriana, Goodnight and Goodluck/The Good German, Damon: Syriana/The Good Sheperd).

Dumbo said...

I finally saw it last night. Sad to say, but the theater was empty aside from myself and three creepy old men. It was kind of sad considering my theater only has one showing/day of it during the week.

Anonymous said...

I think Zodiac will stay in theaters for about two weeks and that's it. If ppl want to see it they will have this week and probably next week and then they'll pull it. I'm somewhat surprised that the TV adverts are still being run with a great deal of vigor. They haven't cut back on them.

Anonymous said...

OT, but still Jake-related: Poor baby boy was at Bloomingdales' underwear counter for quite some time trying to decide what kind of briefs he wanted to wear. Does someone usually pick his underwear out for him???? Wish I'd known!!!!
Maybe we need Briefwatch???

salailama said...

no offense, but to suggest that paramount would pull zodiac after 2 weeks when it's obviously the type of adult movie that has "legs" is kind of absurd. you said yourself they're still going strong with the mktg-- give it time!

besides, i remember jake saying somewhere that most of his films have not followed the pattern of success as defined by the opening weekend, but rather a "slow crawl". donnie darko became a cult fave first in UK theaters, then on DVD, and jarhead was considered a bomb but ppl are still talking about it.

and also, jake's said some stuff about being more interested in making movies that make people think than movies that just make a lot of money. i think our boy jake is building a really good resume for himself, and that's what's important in the long term-- no embarrassing forays into the likes of wild hogs or other "for-the-paycheck" roles. i'd rather continue to see jake in interesting roles than have him sell out to confirm his commercial viability or something.

sorry, end rant =P

Anonymous said...

Smurfette, I agree. We had a similar discussion at IHJ. Some of my thoughts:

Finchers movies are not box office hits. And it was clear that a movie about a serial killer, whose case was never solved and with a plot that concentrates on the daily police and newspaper work will never be a blockbuster. And lets not forget its rating "R" and its lenghts.
Looking at the box office from the last weeks it is clear what the “mainstream” audience prefers: “Norbit”, “Ghostrider” or “Wild hogs”.
I am not interested in those movies.. And I am not interested in the “Box Office”. Since when is box office success equal with quality? The movies in which both aspects come together are very rare.

Jake has obviously decided not going the "safe" route but working on films he is really interested in and with a good script (and by the way - I am sure that “Rendition” won´t be a box office hit as well) and I support him in this decision.

Anonymous said...

Dunno about you, but the first thing that came to mind was The Godfathers’ song “Birth, School, Work, Death.”

Very clever! ;-)

Anonymous said...

Anon 2:29 here. Smurfette, I wasn't putting the film down. I was making a rather cynical observation about the fact that exhibitors will move on to something more commercially viable. That was the basis for my "two weeks " prediction. It is difficult to sustain the interest of the exhibitors when they can show films that are shorter,(more turnover) and films that generate interest among a wider demographic. Jake has made some truly remarkable choices! DD, BBM and Jarhead will all be regarded as classics in one form or another and TDAT and October Sky will remain popular choices with younger audiences. I think Zodiac will also be regarded as a cult classic, bcz of the subject matter and bcz of Fincher. I'd much rather see Jake get a franchise like Bourne or Oceans rather than the superhero genre...altho, I could easily have seen him as Harvey Dent in Batman. The current Batman is smart and well done and the director certainly seems to like to work with actors who can act!

Anonymous said...

I agree with Smurfette and Carla.

However, I still think we should give Zodiac time to find its legs. It hasn't even been released yet in Europe or Australia, and I predict it will do extremely well on DVD.

JMHO

veeveevee said...

^^of course it's going to do well on DVD, cuz all the JW Agents will buy at least two copies (gotta have a back-up!) ;-)

KayDee said...

of course it's going to do well on DVD, cuz all the JW Agents will buy at least two copies

as soon as they release it on dvd in here. probably in 20 years time, seen as i had to wait for BBM untill november 2006. i will be old and bald by the time. and we are going to have zodiac in cinemas only in july :(((

sorry for the rant, just bitter& angry :(

Anonymous said...

That pic of Jake is hysterical and aptly describes my feelings of the box office scores.

He's just so darn cute with that pouty mug.

KayDee said...

PG, it's not the number of viewers but their quality that should count. on that ascale, your film's doing so much better that any other! ;P

Jake said...

I think Zodiac will stay in theaters for about two weeks and that's it.

Quoi? When does any film regardless of how well it's doing only stay at the cinemas for two weeks? Try two months.

Anonymous said...

Smurfette, so agree with what you said.

Anonymous said...

How can a male menapause film out do Zodiac? I know it's a comedy and three stars, but really?

Must be the aged biker angle?

coffeecat said...

THOSE PASSION PINK LIPS OF JAKE'S!!!!!!!!! **dies**

Karyney said...

I just wanted you to know that I was out, in the nearly-horrible Chicago weather last Friday night, to see my (ok, our) beloved in "Zodiac." I tried. I would have gone everyday over the weekend had I enough money, but sadly I did not. I do plan on seeing it again, tho, in the theater, so hopefully it will make more in the long run that those "other" movies.

As for the length, for any of you who haven't seen it (shame!) it is long, but I didn't even notice the length other than my aching back. It was very involving, I wasn't like, "God, when is this going to end?" It's totally bareable. Plus, that whole Jake thing...