Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Post Oscar Slam!

This is topic Post Oscar Slam! in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=000808

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 03-28-2000, 08:31 PM:

So last night we had 45 people for Boys Don't Cry. Tonight is Bargain Tuesday and we had 100 people in an auditorium that seats 230. I guess people are realy looking for a bargain. (Cheapskates!) The concession stand was slammed. An employee just dropped by to hang out. She jumped behind the stand. I jumped behind the stand and we were busy for a solid 25 minutes. I hope our percap is good.

Do any of you have Oscar winning films in your house? Did you get slammed? We are holding Straight Story and it might be a mistake. Only 24 people came to it yesterday and it looks like it will be the same today. I can't wait to see the business next week.

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 03-28-2000, 09:27 PM:

We have-
American Beauty
Cider House Rules
Green Mile

Haven't really noticed an upturn in business though.

Posted by Kenn Fong (Member # 118) on 03-30-2000, 12:24 AM:

Reuters/Variety reported:

["American Beauty,"] the satirical movie about family angst in the suburbs posted $727,554 in North American ticket sales Monday, more than double its $313,542 gross from last Monday in the same number of theaters, according to figures the studio released Tuesday.

DreamWorks now plans to expand the film from its current run in about 1,660 theaters to more than 2,000 movie houses for the week starting Friday, said Jim Tharp, the head of distribution for DreamWorks.

The film, produced on a modest budget of about $15 million, has grossed $109.2 million domestically since its release last September, and has raked in an additional $136 million overseas, Tharp said.

For the March 24-26 weekend, just before picking up five awards at the Oscars, the movie ranked No. 7 at the domestic box office.

``The movie, without the awards, continued to hold and play very well,'' he said. ``But with the awards, we expect it to continue playing at least another five weeks.''

``American Beauty,'' the first DreamWorks film to win the Academy Award for best picture, is the latest example of the box-office ``bounce'' enjoyed by Oscar-winning movies that are still in theaters.

In addition to best picture, the film earned Kevin Spacey an Oscar for his role as a father mired in mid-life crisis, as well as Oscars for best director (Sam Mendes), best original screenplay (Alan Ball) and for its cinematography.

Two other films that figured prominently at the Oscars, ''The Cider House Rules'' and ``Boys Don't Cry,'' also saw bumps in their ticket sales.

``Cider House'' grossed about $309,000 on Monday, up $80,000 from the week before, according to DreamWorks rival Miramax Films, owned by the Walt Disney Co. Ticket sales for ``Boys'' roughly doubled, from about $64,000 to $136,000, according to Fox Searchlight, the arthouse film distributor for 20th Century Fox.

Veteran British actor Michael Caine won the Oscar for best supporting actor for his role as the ether-sniffing doctor who runs a New England orphanage in ``Cider House.'' Newcomer Hilary Swank was named best supporting actress for her gender-bending portrayal of a woman who feels trapped in a man's body in ``Boys Don't Cry.''

Reuters/Variety

Posted by Chad Souder (Member # 343) on 03-30-2000, 09:47 AM:

We're showing Cider House, and the awards don't seem to have made a difference. We'll see if the sneak of "Return to Me" this weekend playing with it helps. Maybe its because in the middle of the midwest, people don't want to see a movie that wins an award, only to have the acceptance speech include "praise abortion" propaganda.

------------------
"Asleep at the switch? I wasn't asleep, I was drunk!" - Homer Simpson

Posted by Scott Magie (Member # 368) on 03-31-2000, 01:37 AM:

They also thanked Planned Parenthood and another abortion-rights organization. Did those organizations contribute money or just give moral support to this piece of propaganda?
Why can't "issue-films" show both sides? Who likes to watch one side of an issue? Even Dateline does a better job than Cider House. The audience is invited to take the same journey that Toby Maguire takes... from being against abortion to being for it. Charlize Theron never shows any emotional side-effects of her abortion. She even goes so far as to say that the pain goes away in a few days! What about the internal pain? She just created and destroyed a human being! Obviously, I'm pro-life, but that's not my point. I guess I just wish that more films could show BOTH sides of an issue (see Dead Man Walking... a film that I seem to end up mentioning in 90% of my posts!)

------------------
Scott A. Magie

scoooot@bigsky.net
"Anybody wanna peanut?"

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 03-31-2000, 02:18 AM:

American Beauty was still going strong even before the win, but we've moved it to a bigger house and added an extra session just in case it takes off again.

Its only opposition is Scream 3 and that'll be dead and buried by the end of the week (if it wasn't already dead in week 1).

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 03-31-2000, 03:16 AM:

At IMAX, we're cranking up "The Old Man And The Sea" again, since the print is still here from its previous run.

I don't hold out much hope for it though as it didn't do too much then either.

But hey, now it's an oscar winning short!