Weekend Box Office: The Marketplace Is A Total 'Jackass'

It's been a rough year. With the recession ending for some people (not us!), the divisions caused by inane topics like the mosque in downtown Manhattan and the specter of doom hanging over us in the shape of the GOP's return to power, audiences have to feel pummeled by DEADLY SERIOUS ISSUES. What better time for a "Jackass" movie to come along? The opening number reflects the fact that demand probably wasn't that much higher than for previous installments - the 3D surcharge plus the huge Friday numbers that trailed off, suggest as much.

But Viacom and Paramount was very aggressive, almost desperate, in attempts to make this pre-millennial brand name relevant to today's ticket buyers. The ideal success pattern for R-rated sequels is to draw in the teens who couldn't get into the theaters but devoured the original title on DVD, and the "Jackass" movies were obvious big hits with young fans of the zombie factory known as MTV growing up. It makes sense that some of them are 18 and 19 now, and have been declared mature enough by the MPAA to see a man flung skywards from within a Porta-Potty. In 3D.

The success of the movie, which may or may not be the first film in the series to cross $100 million domestic, likely doesn't mean much. These guys are getting too old for this, though a "Grumpy Old Jackass" somewhere down the line would be an amusing one-off. The other alternative is that this sequel goes supernova on the DVD marketplace, prompting these guys to start churning them out at an ungodly rate, until they pretty much destroy their bodies permanently. Either way, no real change to the moviemaking landscape, but mansions for all. Again. Bam Margera's mother must be proud.

Those numbers almost doubled the opening take of the Bruce Willis actioner "Red." You can view this pretty negatively. There's the suggestion that a $20 million superstar like Willis should be outdrawing the likes of Johnny Knoxville, or that the cast (including Oscar perennials like John Malkovich, Helen Mirren and Morgan Freeman) should bring in more than the casual audience this gross suggests. However, the opening falls in line with expectations for the toughest of genre mashups, the comedy-hyphen. It may be a comedy-actioner, or a comedy-horror film, but spiking comedy (specifically Malkovich loaded with PCP and attached to explosives) with anything (action - John Diehard has guns) is always a tough play. This is not your usual studio performer, because it's Summit, so domestically, the film should only require a $60 million gross, because the real money is in worldwide, where Summit has already sold off the rights.

"The Social Network" fell out of first but continues its minor audience loss. "Jackass" is fun, and "Red" has that opening weekend, but "The Social Network" does seem to be the movie on people's lips. With the decent opening, this is now a trek to $100 million, and nearing $65, that number remains a possibility if the weekend drops remain sub-40%. The smallest audience loss belongs to "Secretariat," which lingered right behind after dropping a shade over 25%, which makes sense given the story's appeal to non-first-weekenders. We're sure the early-bird screenings were packed to the brim.

Most movies stayed afloat and approached respectability this weekend, even if they really weren't worth seeing in the first place. "Life As We Know It" is nearing $30 million in weekend two, and after a wimpy first session, the film might be leveling off at a respectable $50m, though $40m seems more plausible. Regardless, that one hurts. Speaking of hurt, another WB bomb continues to hang around in "Legend of the Guardians." The studio has to be stung that after four weeks in release, this thing hasn't even crossed $50 million. If "The Town" weren't crossing $80 million this weekend, some heads would be rolling.

There were a couple of limited release surprises that may have not gotten coverage by sites like us. Urban thriller "N-Secure," which looks a lot like "The Room" with a black cast ("The Black Room"?), opened just outside the top ten at 486 locations with $1.4 million, though we wonder exactly how those screens were acquired in the first place. The Tea Party documentary "I Want Your Money," meanwhile, opened up on 537 screens, averaging $520 per-screen, a perfectly fringe-y bomb for a fraud political movement. It barely outdistanced Clint Eastwood's "Hereafter," which pulled in $231k on only six screens, by far the weekend's highest per-screen at $38k. An expansion should follow next weekend.

The biggest indie hit of the moment continued to be "Waiting For Superman," which saw a slight uptick with an expansion, grabbing $753k at 182 engagements. The film gained some nice exposure thanks to President Obama this week, which might help it go from a $2.5 million hit into a $5 million grosser. The future may not be so bright for "Conviction," a dull crowd-pleaser inexplicably given an arthouse platform, that pulled in a decent $110k on eleven screens for a per-screen that Fox Searchlight hopes it can duplicate in coming weeks, though without critic heat that seems unlikely. Support your local indie theater, folks.

1. Rome Is Burning 3D (Paramount) - $50 million
2. Red (Summit) - $22.5 million
3. The Friendster Fanbase (Sony) - $11 million ($63 mil.)
4. Horsies! (Disney) - $9.5 million ($28 mil.)
5. Life As We Know It (Warner Bros.) - $9.2 million ($29 mil.)
6. Legend of the Gangbangers: The Owls Of Compton (Warner Bros.) - $4.2 million ($46 mil.)
7. The Town (Warner Bros.) - $4 million ($81 mil.)
8. My Soul To Take (Universal) - $3.2 million ($12 mil.)
9. Easy A (Sony) - $2.7 million ($62 mil.)
10. Wall Street: Zuul Never Sleeps (Fox) - $2.4 million ($48 mil.)

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In Theaters: 'Red,' 'Jackass 3D,' 'Hereafter'

A quiet week with only two films opening in wide release, and strangely, not a horror film in sight as we approach Halloween. First up is the Bruce Willis old-guys-and-guns vehicle "Red," which is basically a slightly classier version of August's "The Expendables" and about as good. Next up is "Jackass 3D," the latest entry in the venerable franchise, which should take the top spot at the box office this weekend, especially with the inflated 3D ticket prices. The first two films grossed $64.3M and $72.8M respectively, which may shock some, but these films are promoted heavily and certainly have a dedicated fanbase. On the limited front, Clint Eastwood debuts his latest, the "Crash"-like "Hereafter" on a few screens, while Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell try their best to wet your eyes in the legal drama "Conviction." Foreign nuts should be prepared to spend a lot of time in theaters this weekend as Olivier Assayas' six-hour epic "Carlos" hits the big screen. Or if your bladder's a little on the weak side, Warwick Thornton finally gets a stateside release for his outback drama "Samson & Delilah."

In Wide Release: Based on the cult DC graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, "Red" is the story of a group of aging CIA agents who become targets themselves when the government decides they know too much. The action-comedy stars Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren and John Malkovich as the agents in the film from director Robert Schwentke ("Flightplan," "The Time Traveler's Wife"). We've been excited to see the film after a string of recent summer action disappointments and the trailers were great, but the film itself doesn't quite deliver, even with the talent involved (our review here). RT: 70% Metacritic: 62.

Johnny Knoxville and the "Jackass" gang have been quiet since 2006's "Jackass: Number 2," but they are back in a big way with "Jackass 3D." The TV show hasn't been in production for several years either, so it will be interesting to see whether or not the franchise has retained the loyalty of its fans. You probably know whether "Jackass" is your cup of tea or not, so reviews aren't much of a factor here, but if it helps, we liked it. RT: 43% Metacritic: 54.

In Limited Release: Workaholic director Clint Eastwood opens his latest, "Hereafter" on six screens this weekend with a wide release coming in a couple of weeks. The film meshes three parallel storylines of people -- a blue collar psychic, a French journalist and a London schoolboy -- dealing with grief. Matt Damon plays the psychic and gets most of the attention in the trailers, but his story shares equal screen time with the others, to varying effect. We caught the movie back at the Toronto International Film Festival and found it intimate and interesting, but ultimately let down by a clichéd script. RT: 69% Metacritic: 54.

Also hitting a few screens before a wider release is "Conviction" from director Tony Goldwyn. Awards show-horse Hilary Swank stars in the true story of a woman who dedicates her life to overturning her brother's life sentence for murder, putting herself through law school in the process. Sam Rockwell co-stars as the brother, alongside a cast that includes Minnie Driver, Melissa Leo and Peter Gallagher. RT: 68% Metacritic: 60.

Opening this week are a couple of notable films we've been covering throughout the festival circuit. Olivier Assayas' "Carlos" is the six-hour exploration of cold war terrorist and assassin Carlos The Jackal. The film also hit the Sundance channel earlier this month and may be better suited for the small screen, for which it was originally conceived. We first reviewed the film at Cannes and revisited it at the New York Film Festival; it's definitely worth a look however you manage to take it in. RT: 93% Metacritic: 96. The Camera d'Or winner at 2009 Cannes, "Samson & Delilah," finally scores a stateside release this week. The coming-of-age tale follows two aboriginal teens in the remote Australian outback who try to escape the harsh realities of their lives. The buzz and reviews have been fantastic, so we really can't wait to check this one out. RT: 97% Metacritic: 73.

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NYFF '10 Review: 'Hereafter,' Plus New Photos From The Clint Eastwood Mortality Drama

In “Hereafter,” three stories of mortality are told. The first one we learn concerns Marie (Cecile de France), a journalist on vacation in Indonesia. The movie has barely begun when she is swept up in a violent tsunami, one that fulfills the bloodless requirement for PG-13, but is otherwise absolutely harrowing. It’s impossible to understand what really happened during the real-life events depicted in the film, but even with computer generated effects, there is a unsettling universal sensation this sequence captures. You share in the fear that Marie, a media figure and woman of privilege, is carrying with her: these are my final moments. I will be powerless to prevent them.
As her lifeless body floats to the top of a submerged building, her body stops breathing, but her mind races. Something - whether it be her subconscious, her spirit, her mind - is glimpsing shadowed figures, conversations in progress, a peek into an astral plane. She emerges from this stupor, triumphant against death, but she’s brought something back with her. This is not an M. Night Shyamalan film, so it certainly isn’t ghosts. But that may depend on your definition of “ghosts.”

The next section concerns George (Matt Damon), a somber steel worker in San Francisco running from his past. With the skill to pry into people’s thoughts, his mind provides a direct line to recently-deceased loved ones. But after years of prying unpleasant secrets from the dead to shock the living, he’s come to consider this ability a disease and an albatross. That doesn’t stop his opportunistic brother from coming by with “very special clients” who want to talk to the dead.
In pursuit of a regular life, he’s joining the singles’ scene, applying for a cooking class in the city. But every touch brings someone’s late partners, siblings, and friends to the forefront. George is, by all accounts, a good man, fair and polite, and even willing to humor his brother, whose entrepreneurial interests in regard to George’s ability is couched in false altruism and hollow guilt. When he develops feelings for a vivacious cooking class partner, he takes great pains to hide his very peculiar baggage, though his reserved body language suggests physical intimacy greatly eludes him, and the prospect of such closeness with her is a rare exciting prospect in his colorless life.

The final portion of this triptych follows a timid English schoolboy who depends on his active twin brother. The older by twelve minutes, Jason is the risk-taker who uses charisma and aggression to make life easier for the two. This ends up being necessary with mum arriving home after hours drenched in alcohol, a practice we are to assume is frequent. When Jason is felled by a car accident, younger brother Marcus becomes the man of the household. But his life is fractured - he has no one to help with homework, no one to turn out the light at night and, inevitably, no one to make Mum more capable to discerning eyes. Soon, he’s taken away for foster care, but further loss only cements the need for the connection with his brother, which he believes is only temporarily frayed
Screenwriter Peter Morgan and director Clint Eastwood aren’t making a film about the intangible. Instead, it’s a picture about what people do when they find themselves developing a connection with an outside force. It’s an oddly supernatural detour for Eastwood, a filmmaker with an appreciation for straightforward onscreen action and intimate melodramas, but in a literal sense, the characters are all reacting to the connection with the afterlife in the great tradition of all MacGuffins - Marie is getting it, George doesn’t want it, and Marcus needs it.

Eastwood’s film relies on a number of agreements an audience needs to make before indulging “Hereafter.” First of all, psychics are real. Some are a sham, as Marcus soon learns when he seeks a medium to speak to his brother, but occasionally, there’s one like Matt Damon, a good guy who takes his work extremely seriously. Because of this, the afterlife is also real, an ethereal place where our spirits commiserate after death. A few special effects sequences don’t exactly turn this into an intriguing visual concept (“X-Men” fans will be reminded of Cerebro), but it capably renders the non-judgmental next destination for all of us.
As the story evolves, Marie sees the same murky hereafter that George does, but its uncertain how she’s affected by it. This new connection with ghosts shakes her, but her in-articulation combined with her personal and professional details - her boyfriend/boss gives her a foreboding “vacation time” - keeps the audience at a distance. She pools her resources into a new project, but remains afflicted by what she encountered upon resurrection, instead penning an account of what lies beyond. This book remains the best opportunity for the audience to understand what she’s going through, but we hear only snippets taken out of context, and its entirely unclear what epiphany she is meant to come to. There’s no tension regarding her easygoing boyfriend of indeterminate seriousness, and she has the type of job that allows for an extravagant apartment with the option of weeks off at a time, so what’s at stake remains a mystery.

Young Marcus’s storyline is more than a bit stronger, the boy grasping at straws regarding the afterlife, a concept he’s never considered. Like each character, he is in the process of finding his identity, but he cannot move forward unless he comes to terms with the loss of his brother. Gradually, this becomes a fascination with George, who inexplicably left his own website up despite fleeing from his profession. George has met someone special, and unlike other people at his station in life, he seeks not marriage, or longtime friends, just a connection. But is he going to be able to connect with this girl without his second sight in the way?

There’s an element that sabotages each story. In Marie’s narrative, Eastwood can’t seem to get viewers into her headspace, so an internal conflict is rendered opaque. With Marcus, his is a story of immediacy, but the cross-cutting format limits the emotional resonance of his journey, so dramatic changes - his mother ending up in a clinic - aren’t given the proper gravity. And George’s courtship can only end badly, since his paramour is played by Bryce Dallas Howard, an actress of no conviction who appears willfully dense whenever carrying a serious conversation. With her bubbly head bobbing and manner of phrasing statements as questions, she comes across as a dolt, and its unclear what George wants with her.
Which isn’t to say “Hereafter” isn’t a film of notable achievements. As per producers Steven Spielberg and Frank Marshall, the opening tsunami is a breathless wonder, edited for maximum unease and terror, so much so it’s a disappointment when it merely serves as a catalyst for a rich journalist to discover she’s a writer. Damon is quite good in a subdued role where his body language and squished face are necessary to reflect a young man dealing with pain and suffering beyond his years, yet another in a career of pleasant surprises from the Oscar winning screenwriter. And as Marcus, Frankie McLaren has the film’s most affecting moment, in which he makes a fulfilling spiritual connection, one that he doesn’t realize is severed by a lie. It may be what Clint and company are trying to tell us: a little B.S. goes a long way. [C+]

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Director Adam Green Speaks Out About 'Hatchet II' Being Pulled By AMC Theaters

"Hatchet II" had the potential to mark a new era of cinema when the slasher sequel, which failed to gain an R Rating from the MPAA, was picked up for limited release by AMC. But, after just days on release, it was unexpectedly pulled, without AMC expressing any meaningful explanation as to why they made the decision. Adam Green, director of both "Hatchet" releases has reacted to the decision, issuing a statement of his own.

“I first heard of Toronto and Montreal pulling the film via Canadian fans on Twitter on Saturday morning saying that the movie was pulled without reason and they wanted to know where it went. If you look at my twitter you'll see that I mentioned 'Hearing the film has been pulled from Montreal and Toronto- but don't hate the theaters, they tried.' Which leads me to believe that after Friday the movie was yes, gone. Calling the theaters can confirm that.

All signs would point to AMC being unhappy with how vocal I was about the MPAA and not wanting to deal with the controversy -- which if the case, is their given right. Had the film grossed millions, maybe it would be a different story with them, but given the size of our release and the nature of what this is, all we ever could have hoped for was a few grand per screen in a realistic scenario.”

The confusion felt by fans attempting to watch a screening at AMC is understandable, considering that Green had previously said to Entertainment Weekly that AMC had volunteered to show the unrated cut. "It turns out the people who make the decisions at AMC were big fans of the original "Hatchet" and loved the sequel," the director revealed."I think the quote was that they thought it was 'the best slasher sequel they'd ever seen'. "

Yet, AMC's decision to put an unrated film in cinemas was controversial. This has not happened for a film in this genre in a quarter of a century and so the announcement coincided with a wave of public criticism. Importantly, this decision presumably did not escape the attention of the MPAA. While Green has come out in support of the AMC chain itself, he has never pulled his punches when it comes to criticism towards the MPAA. This accumulated in a tasty outburst towards the ‘evil’ MPAA about their handling of not only "Hatchet II" but also the original "Hatchet." But, Green’s outbursts may have backfired and inadvertently set the MPAA's hand in motion to apply the pressure to get this film pulled so that their authority as regulator was reaffirmed.
A spokesperson for AMC has come out on the defensive on this issue. Commenting on the chain's decision, it was confirmed that "Hatchet II" has been removed from all cinemas and was followed by a written statement that reads: "At AMC theatres, we review all films in all of our theaters every week and then make our business decisions based on their performance."

But, just as Green stated, given the size of the release what did they expect? They chose to pick up an unrated slasher film with a limited release; did they expect comparative box-office receipts to say, the "Saw" franchise, which is over-exposed and given full release? No matter how defensive Green is to AMC, It appears a near-perfect marketing coup by the chain; having gained exposure and notoriety, they pulled the film, blaming the film's performance that never had a chance of succeeding. An easy out if there ever was one.

The vagueness behind the film's withdrawal has not escaped the attention of Green, talking to Cinematical he said: "The sad truth of the matter is that no one at Dark Skies (the film’s distributor) has been able to tell me the exact reasons behind why the film was pulled... AMC's response to the press of 'we base our decisions on performance' does not add up given that we know of at least two theaters that had pulled the film after just 24 hours and given the grand scheme of things, other genre titles performed worse per screen ("Chain Letter") even though they had bigger budgets and traditional spends on marketing campaigns as opposed to ours."

To conclude, Green has insisted that it is highly doubtful that "Hatchet II" will return to the big screen, in its current state or in an edited state that meets the MPAA regulations. However, he did have a positive note to fans. "The good thing is that the biggest audience for this movie, because it was for the first one, is going to be with on demand and DVD," Green says. "I know that Dark Skies, in light of it being pulled prematurely, is going to do everything they can to get it to the fans as fast as they can." -- Matt Richardson

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'Hereafter' To Open Early On Oct. 15 Before Going Wide

Warner Bros. has done some slight tweaking and re-arranging to their October calendar.

Clint Eastwood's meditation on death, "Hereafter," will now open in New York City, Los Angeles and Toronto on October 15th before going wide on October 22nd. The film, which Eastwood calls his "chick flick," was written by Peter Morgan ("The Queen," "Frost/Nixon") and follows three plotlines: Matt Damon plays a psychic in San Francisco who can't connect emotionally with his girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard) and wants nothing to do with his powers; Cecile DeFrance plays a French TV journalist/talk show host who has a near death experience in the 2004 Tsunami and the third character is a young boy whose twin brother dies in an accident (played by unknowns Frankie and George McClaren). Slowly as the script evolves, their lives interconnect. We saw the film at TIFF and while we applauded Eastwood's ambition, we called it a "compromised effort."

And in case you cared, the Katherine Heigl/Josh Duhamel (shudder) romcom "Life As We Know It," directed by Greg Berlanti, will get a sneak preview in 800 theaters on October 2nd. It looks like dreck to us, but from what we've seen, audiences have been eating up the trailer with a spoon and with Warner Bros. getting it out of the gate early, they clearly believe they have a winner on their hands. The film will go in wide release on October 8th. [Deadline]

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Matt Damon Is Blue (Literally) In New Poster For 'Hereafter'

While we were we pleased to see a director seriously tackle issues of spirituality without necessarily addressing religion as Clint Eastwood does in "Hereafter," we ultimately called the film a "compromised effort" after seeing it at TIFF.

The film, which Eastwood calls his "chick flick," was written by Peter Morgan ("The Queen," "Frost/Nixon") and follows three plotlines: Matt Damon plays a psychic in San Francisco who can't connect emotionally with his girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard) and wants nothing to do with his powers; Cecile DeFrance plays a French TV journalist/talk show host who has a near death experience in the 2004 Tsunami and the third character is a young boy whose twin brother dies in an accident (played by unknowns Frankie and George McClaren). Slowly as the script evolves, their lives interconnect. Lyndsey Marshal and Richard Kind round out the cast.

We now have our first look at the poster for the film and it's pure cornball. We suppose marketers are really trying to amp up the otherworldly aspects of the story but it pretty much looks like a one sheet for a forgotten M. Night Shyamalan film.

"Hereafter" will play as part of the upcoming New York Film Festival starting this Friday and will hit theaters on October 22nd. [Apple]

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