Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Christmas: Charlotte's Web v. Night at the Museum v. Pursuit of Happyness

This is topic Christmas: Charlotte's Web v. Night at the Museum v. Pursuit of Happyness in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Adam Fraser (Member # 1074) on 11-20-2006, 06:26 PM:

We are a single screen theatre with mainly a tourist base audience. We can only book one of these films for the Christmas season. Which would you choose, all three seem to be family friendly.

Night at the Museum
Pursuit of Happyness
Charlotte's Web

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 11-20-2006, 06:56 PM:

I have the same quandary.

At first I thought, "Charlotte's Web," it's a no brainer. But "Happyness" seems to be really gathering steam too. I'm about to just flip a coin, I don't think any of the three would be a bad choice.

The only thing that worries me about "Night at the Museum" is what happened with "Jumanji" and its sequel. Special effects-laden adventure films.....They both looked great in the trailers and then nobody went to them. The difference here of course is Ben Stiller.

"Charlotte" has a G rating which could diminish the teen/adult crowd...but it has the name recognition factor going for it.

I just don't know, and I hope you (we) get some good opinions here on what to do.

Posted by Eric Hooper (Member # 1730) on 11-20-2006, 07:06 PM:

I'd go with Night At The Museum.

Posted by Ross Oba (Member # 3433) on 11-21-2006, 02:43 AM:

I think Night at the Museum is going to be fairly big considering Paramount moved Charlotte's Web a week earlier because Fox switched to a Wednesday opening. Night at the Museum appeals to a wider variety. You have the teens who like the comedy of Ben Stiller, the adults who are interested in history and museums, and then you have the kids who like the animals.

The only downside is that it is directed by the same guy who directed the god-awful Cheaper by the Dozen movies (the new ones).

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 11-21-2006, 04:16 AM:

As much as I hated the CBTD movies (and #2 in particular) they did make a lot of money. Charlotte or Night...tricky...Charlotte as you say is a G so there goes most of your audience at night, but matinees may make up for that.

How long do you have to play them (minimum)?

Posted by Adam Fraser (Member # 1074) on 11-21-2006, 08:39 AM:

We will be hard booked for 2-3 weeks on these, but that doesn't matter too much to us as we die after New Years Day. Our business is 75% Summer and Holiday tourists. That is one thing that I like about Night at the Museum, the tourists would have less of a chance to see it in Detroit or Saginaw because it opens 5 days later.

Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 11-21-2006, 10:01 AM:

2 factors to consider:

Which has the cheapest film rental?

Which will sell the most concessions?

I think 'Night' has the widest audience and will do the best nationally, but I don't know about your town.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 11-21-2006, 12:30 PM:

To answer the questions: All of the films will have a 2 week minimum for small towns. That's pretty much a given. (Sometimes blockbusters have a 3-week min, but that probably won't happen with these.)

I think all of them will be good concession movies. They'll all attract lots of families.

Film rent? Hard to say...Sony is usually pretty high-priced, I'd bet Fox would have the best price. But that varies too.

Our booker is leaning toward Museum but I'm still not sure.

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 11-21-2006, 03:04 PM:

Night At The Museum is the best choice.

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 11-22-2006, 03:11 AM:

I would go with Night at the Museum and pick up Pursuit of Happyness after the two or three weeks of Museum. Happyness could get some award attention for Will Smith.

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 11-23-2006, 09:41 PM:

I read a college kid's review of a screening of "Charlotte's Web". This movie is going to be H-U-G-E. It will probably be a hit at the box office and get some Oscar nods. Major $ dollars $ with this one. If you have a single screen - you may be locking it up for a while.

But it really depends on your crowd. "Night at the Museum" looks freaking hilarious and it will have legs.

I think "Pursuit" will be the lesser of the three. A different crowd than the other two.

If it were me - depending on my terms - I'd try to get at least two of these movies in the door within the month. "Charlotte' being my first choice.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 11-24-2006, 12:10 PM:

"Museum" seems to have the best potential for drawing a wide-ranging crowd. It is rated PG (as opposed to Charlotte's G), has a star the 18-30 crowd likes (Ben Stiller), has older stars for the old crowd (Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney), is a comedy (most people like to laugh around Christmas time), has an intriguing story, and is likely to have favorable terms. I think we're going with Museum.*

* = Mind subject to change in the next few minutes

Posted by John McConnel (Member # 2000) on 11-24-2006, 02:14 PM:

ERAGON hasn't been mentioned. Should a 2-screen theatre put it on the list to consider?

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 11-24-2006, 10:19 PM:

No

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 11-24-2006, 10:57 PM:

We thought about that one too. But since it doesn't have the huge pent-up expectations a la Lord of the Rings, we decided to wait on it. That was a tough choice too because the guy who wrote the book is from Montana.

One thing's for sure - no matter what happens we'll have a stellar January line-up! [Smile]