Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: "Ant Bully" -it's tanking big time

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Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 07-29-2006, 06:24 PM:

Anyone noticing this movie is stinking up the place? I haven't seen a movie doing this poorly in a while.

Might it be that someone over at Warner Brothers messed up? All the ads on television, the posters, and any other advertising material all say the film opens August 4th!

I think Pirates and Miami Vice will be battling for the top spot this weekend. i'd be surprised if Ant Bully is in the top 5.

Posted by Aaron Mehocic (Member # 15) on 07-29-2006, 08:15 PM:

We're still seeing good business in Cars and Monster House . Ant Bully had only two customers for the 9:00 PM Friday showing.

Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 07-29-2006, 08:22 PM:

Were seeing OK numbers, not selling out, but it's busy.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-29-2006, 08:50 PM:

We aren't playing it, but we ran the trailer with CARS and PIRATES and not one person yet has asked me when it is coming. That's a sign of a flop for me.

Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 07-30-2006, 12:17 AM:

Tanking in Southern Ohio as well. - Matt

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 07-30-2006, 01:44 AM:

Tanking in my area as well. Now watch it will get moved and everyone will show up next weekend. [Roll Eyes]

I think there are just too many kid movies out to choose from and people are choosing to see Pirates, Cars and Monster House rather than a worn out insect movie. Next week you have a bunch of Barnyard animals running around.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 07-30-2006, 04:12 AM:

Makes you wonder if CGA movies are getting a bit on the boring side..and all played out ..

Big problem I see is that CGA studios are desparately trying to find the successful notch as what did PIXAR did.

Thus, the old saying goes "Can't follow success with hope." - and it shows when these movies are in the "hope" stage.

- monte

Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 07-30-2006, 10:02 AM:

Perhaps parents don't want to take their kids to see a film that preaches communist ideals. I haven't seen it but I have seen many reviews that have described it this way.

Posted by Jim Bedford (Member # 4) on 07-30-2006, 02:11 PM:

Perhaps it's just the title which really sucks. They might have attracted even fewer if they called it "The Ant Asshole."

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 07-30-2006, 10:01 PM:

According to boxofficemojo.com "Ant Bully" opened in 5th place with $8M. Not good.

Posted by Eric Hooper (Member # 1730) on 07-31-2006, 05:42 PM:

Families already spent their movie $$ allowance on Pirates and Cars earlier this Summer.

Barnyard will BOMB too.

Posted by Bruce Hansen (Member # 281) on 07-31-2006, 07:58 PM:

Nobody likes a bully. I think it was dumb to put that word in the title.

Posted by Don Anderson (Member # 397) on 07-31-2006, 08:28 PM:

Not the gem that WB thought it would be. Too many CGI films this year, with too many G,PG films on the summer lineup. Add that to the cost of Summerfest, Six Flags, Wisconsin Dells, and a bunch of State/County/Church picnics/fairs/events and I wonder how any parent can afford food/clothing for their kids this summer. Oh, and lets not forget about back to school supplies! Seems like almost all the movies running at our theatre were aimed at kids. Needless to say, I'm tired of 1000s of messy kids, who can't pick up their snacks or clean up after themselves when using the restrooms. [Eek!]

Posted by Ross Oba (Member # 3433) on 07-31-2006, 11:12 PM:

Some theaters already have the movie scheduled for just one show a day this coming Friday. One of the rare occurrences that a movie goes from a full schedule to sharing a screen in a week.

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 08-01-2006, 08:14 AM:

From IMDB.com:

The Ant and the Bully

The failure of The Ant Bully brings to mind a Woody Allen stand-up routine in the '60s when he told of being so poor that his parents couldn't get him a dog, so they gave him an ant instead. "And I didn't know any better, y'know, I thought it was a dog, I was a dumb kid. Called it 'Spot'. I trained it, y'know. Coming home late one night, Sheldon Finklestein tried to bully me. Spot was with me. And I said 'Kill!, ' and Sheldon stepped on my dog."

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-01-2006, 12:19 PM:

That routine is available on a CD entitled "Woody Allen: Stand-Up Comic." Very highly recommended...it's hilarious.

Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 08-01-2006, 12:51 PM:

This is also playing at a number of Imax theatres in 3D.

Wonder if Superman will sneak back in for a few extra shows?

Interesting to see how much business the IMAX prints are doing.

Posted by Brian Michael Weidemann (Member # 2243) on 08-02-2006, 05:02 AM:

Our weekend IMAX shows weren't too bad. However, we're only playing three of them a day. Superman is still playing, from 4:30pm through the rest of the night.

As I mentioned in the review, the trailer to this just made it look bad, and very uninteresting. The movie itself isn't bad, not compared to most CG features. After spending what they did to IMAX 3D-ify it, I would have expected a slightly more robust ad campaign. We'll see if it kicks in sometime soon ... after the originally slated release date passes ...

(I also highly recommend the aforementioned Woody Allen album!) [thumbsup]