Posted by Son of Skylewalker at cras77p82.navix.net on August 28, 2001 at 12:55:19:
In Reply to: The report on the weekend movies posted by DarthFreeza on August 28, 2001 at 11:56:26:
The idea that 2,765 screens is too few opening screens for a comedy, for a View Askew "cult" film at that, is ridiculous. More screens does not mean more money when many screenings are not even reaching half-capacity. If there was any problem with Miramax's approach, it was in the advertising department because they never went after the audience that wasn't already there's for the taking (i.e. South Park fans). Still, even that was a sound marketing decision. It was also a shame that Ben Affleck couldn't make the rounds on the film's behalf (though that may have never been in the plans) and that MTV refused to show Afroman's video (though the impact may have been negligible).
Simply put, at 2700 screens, almsot anybody that wanted to see the movie that lives anywhere near a couple of theaters had the chance to do just that.
In all honesty, I think we should ask ourselves if the film shouldn't have been opened in more limited release (1000 screens or so) and then rolled out everywhere. The approach they took was probably the right one (with the wham bang thank you mam mentality of big opening weekends and STEEP drops) but this, along with the word of mouth factor, would have made more sense than opening on anything closer to 3000 screens.
Good movie...did pretty good at the box office....let's just stop second-guessing Miramax to death, enjoy the film a couple more times, and hope that maybe, just maybe, the soccer moms find themselves in the mood for some dick and fart jokes this weekend.
Kyle
: from Los Angeles thingie
: "Among a rush of new movies, "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" drew the bigest audience. The comedy from writer-director Kevin Smith was No 3 with $11.1 million.
: more...
: "Jay and Silent Bob" drew the steadiest crowds among new films, averaging $4,014 a theater in 2,765 locations.
:
: Now me..
: How the fuck was it supposse to make money in such so few locations. Somebody needed to open in more theaters and it would have made more money.
: Damn Mirimax fucks.
: -Evil Emperor Freeza