Serenity - Box Office Success or Not?

[Takara_Soong 4]

I haven't seen Serenity and I probably won't be but with all the talk about it in sci-fi circles I couldn't help but check out the box office estimates for its opening weekend.

 

According to Box Office Mojo, Serenity came in 2nd in terms of box office this weekend (Flightplan was first) with an estimated take of $10,141,000. Is a $10 million opening considered to be success or under-performing for the movie? Should Serenity's box office be compared to other sci-fi movies in order to deem its success or failure?

[Jack_Bauer 1]

$10 mil and 2nd spot for a movie based a show that was cancelled after what 14 eps? Seems pretty decent to me. Actually kind of want to see it but I'd have to watch Firefly first.

[Theunicornhunter 2]

For a movie based on a short lived tv series that sounds pretty good - it's not a blockbuster by any means. But to keep perspective - the Corpse Bride made about $19 M last week when it was in the number 2 spot.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing it - not that it's playing here. ah, life in a small town.

[Angela 1]

$10 mil and 2nd spot for a movie based a show that was cancelled after what 14 eps? Seems pretty decent to me. Actually kind of want to see it but I'd have to watch Firefly first.

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technically you won't. its written forthose not firefly viewing in mind.

[HRH The KING 0]

According to Box Office Mojo, Serenity came in 2nd in terms of box office this weekend (Flightplan was first) with an estimated take of $10,141,000. Is a $10 million opening considered to be success or under-performing for the movie? Should Serenity's box office be compared to other sci-fi movies in order to deem its success or failure?

 

Sounds pretty decent.

[Angela 1]

You need to wait til its finished box office runs before success is validated, it needs to recouperate its 39 million dollar cost, before success is guarenteed.

[Ace 0]

That's decent, but not a huge success in any terms. I'm actually glad it made that much so at least it can't be considered a failure.

One thing that helped its performance was its weak competition. Flightplan has been critically panned as far as I've heard (and the script seems to generally suck).

 

Also:

 

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com)- Diehard Browncoats were able to push Joss Whedon's "Serenity" to a $10 million opening weekend, but there just weren't enough surviving "Firefly" fans to put the film ahead of "Flightplan" at the domestic box office.

The Jodie Foster thriller pulled in just over $15 million in its second frame to take the weekend crown for the three-day period ending Sunday, Oct. 2. Despite earning mixed-to-negative reviews, "Flightplan" fell off only 39 percent, a decent retention for the genre. Playing in 3,424 locations, the Buena Vista release averaged $4,392 per theater, bringing its cumulative gross to $46.1 million.

 

Universal Pictures' "Serenity," which brought the cast and crew of the short-lived FOX drama "Firefly" to the big screen, played in more than 1000 fewer locations (2188 in total) that "Flightplan," but averaged a slightly higher $4,616 per screen to earn an estimated $10.1 million. Given the number of devoted fans for the cult series, the true test for "Serenity" will come next weekend. The first week figures were somewhere in line with industry expectations, but don't necessarily indicate that the film has immediately found a crossover audience.

-Zap2it Edited October 3, 2005 by Ace

[TrekkieMage 0]

^ exactly. The second week is the most important for Serenity. Altough, I think that the curiosity of peole will kick in. Or at least I hope so!

[stvoyagerfan 1]

not bad considering the whole box office slump.

 

tm

[Takara_Soong 4]

You need to wait til its finished box office runs before success is validated, it needs to recouperate its 39 million dollar cost, before success is guarenteed.

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Don't forget that's just the production cost. The advertising budget wasn't available at Box Office Mojo. I've seen quite a few ads for it so it would be curious to know what money has been spent to promote the film.

 

^ exactly. The second week is the most important for Serenity. Altough, I think that the curiosity of peole will kick in. Or at least I hope so!

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There are three well hyped movies that are coming out for the weekend but I don't know how they'll affect box office for Serenity. Opening this week are Two for the Money (Matthew McConaughey, Al Pacino and Rene Russo), The Curse of the Were-Rabbit starring Wallace & Gromit and In Her Shoes (Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette, Shirely MacLaine). All three movies are opening in wide release with TFTM opening in 2,300 theatres, IHS in 2,800 and W&G in 3,000.

 

Opening weekend has always been the most important for a movie as it is usually when the biggest box office numbers are posted.

[DrWho42 13]

Serenity earned about $4,925,000 over the weekend as of right now.

Its overall gross was $17.6 million.

 

I still think it's the best sci-fi of this year, even though it's currently No.9 on the currenty list of top grossing movies.

[TrekkieMage 0]

^You're forgetting Star Wars. Despite the fact that the movie wasn't nearly as good as Serenity it made about $300 million. But I think Serenity will be much like Firefly, it'll be very sucessful. Just not right off the bat.

[DrWho42 13]

^You're forgetting Star Wars. Despite the fact that the movie wasn't nearly as good as Serenity it made about $300 million. But I think Serenity will be much like Firefly, it'll be very sucessful. Just not right off the bat.

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I'm referring unto the current top grossing movies. Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is in the lead as of now.

[TrekkieMage 0]

Ah. That makes more sense B)

 

Well, it's made about $19million now. Not bad.

[Takara_Soong 4]

Serenity finished 12th in last weekend's box office returns adding a little under $2.5 million to its take. That gives it a total box office return to date of $22,306,230. It looks doubtful that Serenity will make back its budget in the theatres and it's only chance of making a profit will be DVD sales and rentals.

[DrWho42 13]

I still think it's a great film, despite the bad turnout in the box office even though it was critically acclaimed.

 

Though, I recall a fan pointing out how this film parallels the "success" of Blade Runner, which many people consider to be one of the best science-fictions films of all time.

 

I still highly recommend this film to anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

Here's the first nine minutes.

Edited October 23, 2005 by DrWho42

[LordOfTheBorg 1]

It's great. Watched it last nite, and i must say.. it was hard to find seats, the theatre was pretty much full..

[Takara_Soong 4]

It's great. Watched it last nite, and i must say.. it was hard to find seats, the theatre was pretty much full..

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The screening you saw may have been nearly full because it's appearing in a lot fewer theatres. It held its theater count quite well for the first 3 weeks (appearing in 2,188 theatres the whole time) but Friday, October 14 it dropped to 1,709 theatres and, according to Box Office Mojo, is down to 877 as of Friday, October 21. I doubt it will make it into November other than in second run theatres.

 

BTW, including Friday, October 21, Serenity's box office is $23,432,000 ($29,801,352 worldwide). It will have to bring in another $15-20 million in box office and DVD sales/rentals to make a profit. Don't expect to see Serenity 2.

[DrWho42 13]

Still going to be a cult classic like The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension was..