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Author Topic: Brother Bear opening on a Sat. - WTF? Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-20-2003 08:38 PM                        quote: Brother Bear will open 10/31 in NYC/LA and 11/1 nationwide. According to a note that came with the one-sheets, it opens 10/24 in NYC/LA. Our film booker told me that they picked the 11/1 wide date because they "just don't want to open on Halloween." (He thinks it's stupid, too.) [ 08-22-2003, 08:39 PM: Message edited by: Mike Blakesley ]  |  IP: Logged Aldo Baez Master Film Handler Posts: 266 From: USA Registered: Mar 2001 posted 08-22-2003 01:05 AM                    In the new Entertainment Weekly Fall Movie Preview it lists Brother Bear opening October 24th. Edit: My copy says Oct 24th that was a bad typo sorry. [ 08-25-2003, 01:44 AM: Message edited by: Aldo Baez ]  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-22-2003 08:41 PM                        That's funny, my copy says Oct. 24. Regional printing, probably...they caught the error mid-stream.  |  IP: Logged Charles Everett Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: New Jersey Registered: May 2001 posted 09-08-2003 05:37 PM                     That magazine goes by NYC/LA release dates. Brother Bear is now confirmed as 10/24 in NYC/LA and 11/1 nationwide.  |  IP: Logged David L Parlier Film Handler Posts: 23 From: Franklin, NC, U.S.A. Registered: Oct 2003 posted 10-09-2003 02:11 PM                        I would have to agree that Buena Vista releasing "Brother Bear" on Saturday, November 1st has left me wondering why? This is especially weird since they would be giving up part of the opening weekend money. However maybe it is true that they didn't want to release a kids movie on the night of Halloween. Then again this would assume that Buena Vista had morals and they just want to do the good Christian thing. Hmmm.... I personally have had my own idea of why they had picked a Saturday to release "Brother Bear" and it is starting to play out. Note: This is just my own experience at the 4 screen theater I manage and realize it might not hold true for anyone else. This past week we received word from BV that "Brother Bear" was going to be a 4 week deal. This in itself is nothing unusual especially for a movie being released so close to the holidays. So, we just simply play "Brother Bear" into thier other movie "Haunted Mansion" which opens on November 26th. Yeah right! They also informed us that "Brother Bear" was going to have to be played CLEAN through Saturday 29th. Now where are we going to find a movie that opens on a Sunday! Gee...I know! Maybe we could bump another studios Thanksgiving weekend movie and play "Brother Bear" into a fifth week. Could this be part of the reason why BV released the movie on a Saturday? Hmmm...Maybe? This leaves us with a small problem since we have a large family market. We could really use "Brother Bear" for business at the first of November, but I do not see us bumping any other movie we have scheduled for that weekend. I hope this doesn't become a regular thing!!! - Haunted Mansion - Matrix - Master and Commander - Cat in the Hat Is this just us or has anyone else had this problem yet? How is everyones working relationship with BV? At the least I just wanted to give a big "F U" to BV for all the problems they cause us!  |  IP: Logged Ian Price Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1714 From: Denver, CO Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-09-2003 06:28 PM                     What do you play Friday Night?  |  IP: Logged Charles Everett Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: New Jersey Registered: May 2001 posted 10-09-2003 06:43 PM                     David L, you answered your own question in your 1st paragraph. When Halloween falls on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, that weekend turns out to be one of the slowest of the year. Peep the numbers on Box Office Mojo some time.  |  IP: Logged Nicholas Roznovsky Expert Film Handler Posts: 156 From: College Station, TX, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 10-13-2003 11:15 PM                        Yeah, but cutting a day off the slowest weekend of the year doesn't improve your numbers. I guess it would improve your daily average over the weekend, but who cares about that number? Low grossing weekend - potential Friday gross = even lower grossing weekend I just don't get the whole Saturday release thing, but I've stopped trying. It is fast approaching and there's little that can be done about it. I still think that Disney's unwillingness to take on the teen-skewing "Elf" directly on the 7th shows that they have little or no confidence in this film. Of course, what do I know? They send them and I just slap them together and run them...  |  IP: Logged Scott Oakley Film Handler Posts: 10 From: Medford, MA, USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 10-17-2003 11:00 AM                     I think it's funny that just because some of you don't want to see this this film you think it's going to be a flop like Treasure Planet. Unlike Treasure Planet this one appeals to boys and girls and plus it's got talking animals! This is going to be a hit, good movie or bad. We've been getting lots of calls about it for the last few weeks. And one woman asked when "Koda" was coming out.  |  IP: Logged Charles Everett Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: New Jersey Registered: May 2001 posted 10-17-2003 05:50 PM                     Nicholas: If Disney thought Brother Bear would be a flop the studio wouldn't have scheduled an 8-day NYC/LA exclusive starting next Friday. Disney has been advertising advance tickets for the NYC exclusive (at the Ziegfeld) the last few weeks. Elf is another matter -- it opens opposite The Matrix Revolutions.  |  IP: Logged Nicholas Roznovsky Expert Film Handler Posts: 156 From: College Station, TX, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 10-22-2003 01:42 PM                        Somehow, running a limited release in NY and LA for eight days doesn't indicate that to me. Lots of crap opens in limited release. They've already committed to a mega-wide release on 11/1, so the limited run is just the standard Disney way of drumming up some word-of-mouth. I seem to remember them doing this on several films in the past. Besides, that simulataneous 35mm/IMAX release of "Treasure Planet" last year was pretty bold move by Disney (one that pointed to them thinking it would be a success), and we all know how that one turned out. Anyhoo, that doesn't really address the question I asked when I started this topic - why the Saturday wide release? I still don't understand what Disney gains by giving up a day of nationwide box office receipts.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-22-2003 01:54 PM                        Nicholas - the question has already been answered several times in this thread --- THEY DON'T WANT TO OPEN ON HALLOWEEN. But they DO want to open before the other blockbuster kids movie ("Elf") comes out. If I was them, I would have opened on Wednesday the 29th and gotten 2 extra days of $$.  |  IP: Logged Nicholas Roznovsky Expert Film Handler Posts: 156 From: College Station, TX, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 10-22-2003 02:18 PM                        I believe my original post in this thread pointed out the whole Halloween thing. I still don't think that's justification for opening on a Saturday. So, I guess I knew the answer when I started this whole thing - but that answer is (IMHO) just not good enough. If Disney doesn't want to open wide on 10/31 that's fine. Anyone else facing this dilemma, however, would've opened the film on 10/24 or 10/29. It's just frustrating to have to deal with another day's worth of changing over. Assembling the print itself is no problem of course, but creating schedules, coordinating advertising, and getting people to realize that I'll be adding and dropping shows after Friday night is a real pain. It's hard enough to get them to understand regular Friday and Wednesday release schedules.  |  IP: Logged Eric Hooper Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 532 From: Fort Worth, TX, USA Registered: May 2003 posted 10-22-2003 05:54 PM                     It's (BB opening on a Sat.) sure keeping things interesting....  |  IP: Logged Chris Liczbinski Film Handler Posts: 33 From: US Registered: Oct 2003 posted 10-24-2003 12:56 PM                    From scanning through the posts I couldn't see a reply to Ian Price's question about what people are playing Friday night. We are changing our Thursday night change over to Friday night- however I am unsure when the outgoing prints will be picked up yet- could be Friday night or the following week. EDIT- Our Thursday night change over will still happen, but anything regarding the theaters we will be showing "Brother Bear" in will be broken down/moved Friday night. [ 10-24-2003, 11:09 PM: Message edited by: Chris Liczbinski ]  |  IP: Logged

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