The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou

[A Matter Of Chance]

Only if there's a Xixax bus

The Ratnermobile.

I am there

[meatball]

Love it. Gotta love it.

[tpfkabi]

the 56k quicktime had an annoying high pitched sound throughout.

i'm really looking forward to this.

i have a question: Why would they not open this film wide? With Bill Murray and Owen Wilson (plus the rest) as big as they are it would easily debut at number 1 (unless there is some big time serious competition on the release date.......oh Christmas.....hmm).

i've always wondered just how much film prints cost to make for an average length film? is this what detours studios from releasing films like this wide, or the fear that the public won't get it? is it a cost issue or a backlash issue?

[MacGuffin]

i have a question: Why would they not open this film wide? With Bill Murray and Owen Wilson (plus the rest) as big as they are it would easily debut at number 1 (unless there is some big time serious competition on the release date.......oh Christmas.....hmm).

i've always wondered just how much film prints cost to make for an average length film? is this what detours studios from releasing films like this wide, or the fear that the public won't get it? is it a cost issue or a backlash issue?

It's called 'platforming.' The studios will release it at Christmas time to qualify for Academy rules, but also to gradually try to build a word of mouth. It's better to roll out and let the film have 'legs' rather than just go all out on 3000 screens and try to claim a number one spot. Plus, January and February don't see many new releases and Academy films can use the press of acclaim from critics and Golden Globes, etc. to get the word out. It's really more a marketing strategy than cost effective because the film will usually get a wide release anyway.

[pete]

but this is no smalltime indie film, actually Wes Anderson's never directed an "indie" film, but anyways, if The Royal Tenenbaums didn't get a "platform" release, there's no reason that this one should.  I think this is in that category with School of Rock (granted School of Rock is PG, therefore has a much easier time at the box office) in which the producers know that it's a studio film aimed at a more marginal audience.  I don't think it'll do bad at all though.  I hope not.  I hope there's no "A Beautiful Mind" this year to overshadow it.

[MacGuffin]

but this is no smalltime indie film, actually Wes Anderson's never directed an "indie" film

'Platforming' isn't restricted to 'indie' films. Major studios sometimes do it with their releases too; "Chicago" and "Beautiful Mind," for example.

if The Royal Tenenbaums didn't get a "platform" release, there's no reason that this one should.

Actually, it did.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265666/business

Week 1 - 5 screens
Week 2 - 40 screens
Week 3 - 291 screens
Week 4 - 751 screens
Week 5 - 905 screens
Week 6 - 997 screens

[tpfkabi]

where could i find the figures for Matchstick Men and PDL?
they opened this(MM) pretty wide as far as i remember and it opened at 1 or 2, i think. after seeing that happen i wondered why Punch-Drunk Love or many other films aren't opened that way. now i know that PDL probably could never satisfy a mainstream audience for the most part, but Matchstick Men wasn't exactly paint by the numbers either. i'm pretty sure MM made at least double what PDL did. anyway, i think Life Aquatic could do better than MM did, especially with Bill Murray/Owen Wilson and the rest of the cast.

*disclaimer * don't think i regard Matchstick Men as some great triumph or anything. i was just surprised how it opened.
*disclaimer 2 * i'm not even putting in to perspective the fact that TLA will get great reviews as some of the reviews from the screenings seemed to talk badly about how it ends.......and endings/reviews/word of mouth are important (think The Village as a recent example)

[tpfkabi]

ok, i just saw how Mac looked it up on imdb.com

i guess the fact that Matchstick Men was PG-13 helped some. now that i remember, i'm pretty sure it was a real weak week that it was up there because it opened with $17 mil. still, that's more than the total for PDL.

i'm sure many of you know more about this that I, so i welcome explanations.

[MacGuffin]

[SHAFTR]

Wes Anderson:  I want to have like a million of his babies.

[Redlum]

Link to a much much better quality encode of the trailer here:
http://www.davestrailerpage.co.uk/

[meatball]

Willem Dafoe can do no wrong.

[russiasusha]

Where is Bud Cort?  I though he was supposed to play the rival, but the information says that Jeff Goldblum is Steve's Rival.

[Ghostboy]

He's in the trailer, and also in one of the photos Mac posted on the last page. He looks a lot like Bud Cort used to look, except old and with a moustache.

[MacGuffin]

Where is Bud Cort?  I though he was supposed to play the rival, but the information says that Jeff Goldblum is Steve's Rival.

He's in the trailer, and also in one of the photos Mac posted on the last page. He looks a lot like Bud Cort used to look, except old and with a moustache.

To the immediate left of Murray.