I fear the box office blues for PTA... what can we do to help?

Started by md, September 28, 2012, 10:50:34 AM

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md

Although history will most likely be very kind to PTA and The Master, I fear that the box office success, or rather eminent failure might affect PTA's future filmmaking endeavors.  In a Reddit like fashion, what can we do tell help 'the cause'? Thoughts?
"look hard at what pleases you and even harder at what doesn't" ~ carolyn forche

Reel

Quote from: md on September 28, 2012, 10:50:34 AM
what can we do tell help 'the cause'? Thoughts?


Buy a ticket to his films every chance you can/buy all his DVD's/never download his shit/Keep bringing up his name in conversation.


Duh.

Jeremy Blackman

Well, it was #7 last weekend, and very high in the per-screen average.

http://boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2012&wknd=38&p=.htm

Do we know when it's expanding to more screens? This is still pretty much a limited release.

I guess there's the potential awards re-release, right?

mogwai

There's also countries outside USA that can help the box office. :yabbse-wink:

md

the foreign market will help it break even but its not going to making 20million in the US.  The word of mouth is seemingly killing this film.

How many of your friends, who know youre a pta fan, have asked you 'what the hell was the point'?  I've told them to watch it again.

I guess you guys dont seem to give a shit that the weinstein company will take a big L for this and it will affect future projects.  Maybe the intouchables is more along your tastebuds.
"look hard at what pleases you and even harder at what doesn't" ~ carolyn forche

max from fearless

I'm shocked, the opening night 70mm screening in London isn't even a quarter full yet. This is disappointing and I hope more fans turn up for this. The film will no doubt have a good life on DVD/Blu-ray, but regardless of whether I like it or get it, I need to see it in 70mm a couple of times.

polkablues

Quote from: Jeremy Blackman on September 28, 2012, 11:39:06 AM
I guess there's the potential awards re-release, right?

This is why I'm not worried. It'll probably make as much money in January as it will in its initial release.
My house, my rules, my coffee

modage

The craziest part is how far the divide between the cinephile's anticipation and the general public's disinterest.

Or even the divide between NYC/LA and the rest of America.

I don't know why anyone would be surprised though. It's actually doing decent numbers if you go by per screen average (last week it had the 4th best PSA of any film in the Top 10) and it's playing on like 1/4 of the screens any other 'wide' release. I'm still kinda shocked that TWBB ever managed to cross over.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

ElPandaRoyal

Yeah, after it went wider in the U.S., it's been making almost as much money as shit like Resident Evil, which is in three times more theatres. Problem is it was never given a chance to make nearly as much money on its first weekend as the other Paul Anderson flick. Maybe the post-awards season will give it a new life box-office wise, but it's not going to be a big hit. Let's hope it makes its money back and everyone involved gets happy enough with that.
Si

Jeremy Blackman

Another consideration. Would Megan Ellison (peace be upon her) be fine with not making money on PTA films?

TWC is getting paid, so why would they care? Unless I have something wrong here.

ElPandaRoyal

Well, Megan said The Master changed her life. If she was serious, she may hope to make money on other people's films, and finance a not so commercially successful auteur whose work she admires. As for TWC I don't know exactly how that works. Are they distributors?
Si

Pubrick

We should just come to terms with the fact the dude makes duds.

We all know it, Megan Ellison knows it, Robert Elswit's wife knows it. The best we can hope for is Inherent Vice saves his career by not being too weird.

He's just not concerned with the zeitgeist. His two "hits" have been accidental. Boogie came at a time when Clinton had tuned the public mindset to smut, and let's be honest, no one outside of this board watched that movie because of its tracking shots.

cmbb in particular was misconstrued because of the political climate.. people were thinking about oil cos of Bush in Iraq, they thought it had something to say about it, even critics tried desperately to tie the "meaning" of the film to a literal greed for oil, or generally capitalism. They were wrong, but enough of them were sufficiently deluded to make it a relative hit.

Now with the master his backers at best could have hoped for the scientology thing to catch on. It didn't. The film is too unique to have "popular" appeal because popular appeal depends entirely on a simplification/distillation of meaning that has to match the REAL moviegoers expectations:

"This movie is about porn cos movies can be about porn and they can be about nudity.."
"This movie is about oil and I kind of heard that oil is important right now and movies can be about things that are important right now.."
"This movie is about scientolo--- wait, what the fuck did I just watch?"
under the paving stones.

Brando

I think we can rest easy cause I think Megan Ellison knows PTA and his film will make them money in the long run.  Today production companies are too short sighted.  They probably have to be because they put in hundreds of millions of dollars towards a budge for a film.  That's a huge risk.  If it doesn't make the majority of it back in the first weekend it's a failure cause it'll be impossible to make the money back after that.  It seems they have the same attitude toward smaller or PTA size films though. They don't see the award to spend thirty million on a film and the best they can hope for in the box office run is thirty to forty million (My guess after looking at what CMBB made at the box office).  It's actually a huge risk too if you look at that way cause there is such small room for error with a film like the Master. 

I don't know if this is true on PTA size films but I read somewhere  a while ago that a really large budget film doesn't actually turn a profit until it doubles it's budget.  This is due to many factors including press for the film, actors/directors/producers/others have it in their contract that they get a percentage of the profits if it the film does well and other reasons i forget. So just because CMBB budget was somewhere around thirty million and it made forty means it made a ten to fifteen million profit.

I think Megan Ellison can see that PTA films will have a longer shelf life to make them money.  She's not so short sighted.  Everyone who saw the film will buy the DVD or blu ray and continue to buy the film in whatever newer/higher def it is released.  It can be rereleased if it does well in the awards season. People will buy the anniversary versions of the film.  People five ten twenty years down the road will discover the film and buy it.
If you think this is going to have a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention.

ElPandaRoyal

Just out of curiosity, are there any numbers on the budget for The Master?
Si

Brando

Quote from: ElPandaRoyal on October 05, 2012, 12:41:46 PM
Just out of curiosity, are there any numbers on the budget for The Master?

IMDB has estimates for every film.  It estimates The Master's budget at 40 million.
If you think this is going to have a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention.