Looks Like Middle Men May Be A Flop

[marketsmart]

$305,000 opening weekend in 252 theaters.

I wonder how many theaters are going to choose not to show this due to these numbers.

Maybe dvd sales will be good...




.

[pornstar2fag]

i just found place to dl it. you want link?

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

ADG

[Robbie]

I thought they only opened in 4 or 5 cities and it hasn't opened nationwide yet? How is that a flop? I know it's not playing here in Vegas. So I'm sure that it's not playing in every town in the country.

I would say that having it playing in ONE theater in each of a handful of towns and making over 300 grand would mean that the theaters were packed. Or am I way off base on that?

[candyflip]

Blame it on the tubes (and torrents)!

[Agent 488]

middle men averaged $1,210 per theater.

in comparison the other guys opening weekend was $9,751.

[Spudstr]

Originally Posted by marketsmart

$305,000 opening weekend in 252 theaters.

I wonder how many theaters are going to choose not to show this due to these numbers.

Maybe dvd sales will be good...




.

Theres no theater within 50 miles of DC showing this movie, I was rather disappointed to see such a large audience not have the ability to watch this movie.

That will contribute to its failure for sure. Lack of theaters showing it.

[Ethersync]

Originally Posted by Agent 488

middle men averaged $1,210 per theater.

in comparison the other guys opening weekend was $9,751.

That was the number 1 film for the weekend and a big studio release with a huge advertising budget.

Breakdown for the weekend: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend...wknd=32&p=.htm

[Robbie]

Originally Posted by Spudstr

Theres no theater within 50 miles of DC showing this movie, I was rather disappointed to see such a large audience not have the ability to watch this movie.

That will contribute to its failure for sure. Lack of theaters showing it.

I could swear I read that this was just the limited release this weekend and it's supposed to open nationwide next week or the week after. That's when the real numbers come in right?

[Agent 488]

Step Up 3-D

Production Budget: $30 million

Opening Weekend: $15,500,000
(#3 rank, 2,435 theaters, $6,366 average)

[ottopottomouse]

Originally Posted by Robbie

I thought they only opened in 4 or 5 cities and it hasn't opened nationwide yet? How is that a flop? I know it's not playing here in Vegas. So I'm sure that it's not playing in every town in the country.

I would say that having it playing in ONE theater in each of a handful of towns and making over 300 grand would mean that the theaters were packed. Or am I way off base on that?

Cinemas pay for the film by the week here and make a decision based on how well something opens in that they would just not bother with it if they couldn't see it selling as well as something else current.

A lot of films do seem to just vanish and end up as DVD only or will get shown in just one country but never end up in the cinema in any other countries based on the first country's sales.

[Klen]

Originally Posted by Robbie

I could swear I read that this was just the limited release this weekend and it's supposed to open nationwide next week or the week after. That's when the real numbers come in right?

I though that too considering on imdb it says how it start next week.

[Ethersync]

Originally Posted by Robbie

I could swear I read that this was just the limited release this weekend and it's supposed to open nationwide next week or the week after. That's when the real numbers come in right?

Yes, it's a limited release and yes I read many places it goes wide the 20th.

[Robbie]

Originally Posted by ottopottomouse

Cinemas pay for the film by the week here and make a decision based on how well something opens in that they would just not bother with it if they couldn't see it selling as well as something else current.

A lot of films do seem to just vanish and end up as DVD only or will get shown in just one country but never end up in the cinema in any other countries based on the first country's sales.

Originally Posted by KlenTelaris

I though that too considering on imdb it says how it start next week.

Originally Posted by Ethersync

Yes, it's a limited release and yes I read many places it goes wide the 20th.

Ahh okay. That's what I thought I had read. Cool! I want to see it when it really opens.

[Juicy D. Links]

I saw it Friday night, it was released early in NY market

[Ethersync]

Originally Posted by Juicy D. Links

I saw it Friday night, it was released early in NY market

Did you like it?

[dyna mo]

i hope it's not like the trailer-

1st guy "we're afraid of getting cracked."

2nd guy "you mean whacked."

brilliant writing!

[kane]

A lot of times they do a limited release like this to try to build up some buzz and get some good reviews then they expand it out. $1210 per screen isn't that good though. Had they released it on 2500 screens like big releases get it would have only made 3 million which would have landed it in the #10 spot for the weekend.

I don't know that it won't pick up some steam and eventually end up doing decently, but I always thought that the primary audience for the movie was porn webmasters. I personally don't know anyone outside the business that has any interest in seeing it.

[DVTimes]

Originally Posted by ottopottomouse

Cinemas pay for the film by the week here and make a decision based on how well something opens in that they would just not bother with it if they couldn't see it selling as well as something else current.

A lot of films do seem to just vanish and end up as DVD only or will get shown in just one country but never end up in the cinema in any other countries based on the first country's sales.

you forget that it costs a lot per print.

small fils cannot afford to make lots of copies so they tend to be shown in a few cinimas then past around.

traditionaly they would be shown in the usa they the films would go to the uk, so we often have slightly scratched/worn films.

going direct to dvd saves a lot of cash.

i would suspect this film will be limited release due to cost.

it also will not have the budget big films have on promotion.

i think many of you are comparing this film to a big buget holiwood film. it does not have the promo buget the big films doo.

and it certainly will not have the cost to make lots of copies for each cinima.

[Ethersync]

Originally Posted by kane

A lot of times they do a limited release like this to try to build up some buzz and get some good reviews then they expand it out. $1210 per screen isn't that good though. Had they released it on 2500 screens like big releases get it would have only made 3 million which would have landed it in the #10 spot for the weekend.

I don't know that it won't pick up some steam and eventually end up doing decently, but I always thought that the primary audience for the movie was porn webmasters. I personally don't know anyone outside the business that has any interest in seeing it.

You can't just extrapolate the numbers out like that. If it was on 2500 screens it would have more advertisements in traditional media outlets. Most people do not even know this film exists right now.

[marketsmart]

Originally Posted by Robbie

Ahh okay. That's what I thought I had read. Cool! I want to see it when it really opens.

it opened in 252 theaters and judging by its numbers, a lot of theaters may opt out of showing it...




.

[erooup]

KB did the marketing

[Ethersync]

IMDB Forum Post:

I have to watch the trailer everytime I watch porn
by amlebron23 14 hours ago (Sat Aug 7 2010 23:21:50)

So I see it about 5-6 times a day

Very smart marketing move though...never would have thought of it. And playin some biggie during the trailer made it very appealing.

Looks like a cool movie

[kane]

Originally Posted by Ethersync

You can't just extrapolate the numbers out like that. If it was on 2500 screens it would have more advertisements in traditional media outlets. Most people do not even know this film exists right now.

You have a point, there may have been more advertising, but we can't be 100% sure of that. Where I live there were actually a decent number of ads playing on TV for it, yet the movie isn't showing anywhere around here. However, the movie that was #3 and made 15 million for this weekend I haven't seen one ad for (of course I'm probably not their demographic so they may not be advertising on stuff I watch).

What it all comes down to is how much it cost to make and market the movie. If it ends up making a profit, everyone involved with it will be happy, but without knowing how much it cost to make and how it does on DVD/pay per view we can't really tell for sure if it is a bomb or not.

[crazytrini85]

But.... but...... but..... it had ground breaking ad placement and "more traffic than God" from Porn Hub, how could it fail?

Impossible. Lies. You only tell lies.

[Ethersync]

Originally Posted by kane

You have a point, there may have been more advertising, but we can't be 100% sure of that.

Yes, we can be 100% sure of this.

Originally Posted by kane

Where I live there were actually a decent number of ads playing on TV for it, yet the movie isn't showing anywhere around here. However, the movie that was #3 and made 15 million for this weekend I haven't seen one ad for (of course I'm probably not their demographic so they may not be advertising on stuff I watch).

It's weird to pay for advertising in a city that is not even showing the film unless they are just gearing up for the big release August 20th. Also, you are comparing this movie to Step Up 3D which without question spent more on advertising and has a built in audience since it is the 3rd film in a successful series.

Originally Posted by kane

What it all comes down to is how much it cost to make and market the movie. If it ends up making a profit, everyone involved with it will be happy, but without knowing how much it cost to make and how it does on DVD/pay per view we can't really tell for sure if it is a bomb or not.

The film cost $20 million. The advertising budget was not released by the studio. If the film does $50 million at the box office internationally it will considered a success. It will mean once the money rolls in for Blu-ray/DVD/TV/Foreign sales it will be quite profitable.

[datatank]

Originally Posted by marketsmart

$305,000 opening weekend in 252 theaters.

I wonder how many theaters are going to choose not to show this due to these numbers.

Maybe dvd sales will be good...




.

Well its no AquaMan thats for sure

[dyna mo]

Originally Posted by datatank

Well its no AquaMan thats for sure

[kane]

Originally Posted by Ethersync

Yes, we can be 100% sure of this.

Well, I guess we will have to agree to disagree. We can assume they would spend more money on advertising, but we can't know that for sure and even if they did we don't know how much more they would spend. Would it be twice as much, ten times as much? We can't know that.

It's weird to pay for advertising in a city that is not even showing the film unless they are just gearing up for the big release August 20th. Also, you are comparing this movie to Step Up 3D which without question spent more on advertising and has a built in audience since it is the 3rd film in a successful series.

You are probably correct. They are probably advertising in advance for a wide roll out. They way I understand it, the size of the wide roll out often depends on how well a movie does in its limited release. If you go by average per screen it isn't in the top 20 which isn't a good sign. It doesn't mean it is a flop, but it isn't a good sign of things to come.

The film cost $20 million. The advertising budget was not released by the studio. If the film does $50 million at the box office internationally it will considered a success. It will mean once the money rolls in for Blu-ray/DVD/TV/Foreign sales it will be quite profitable.

Like I said, we can't know if it is a flop until we see all the box office numbers as well as the DVD/Pay per view and other sales. With a budget of 20 million it will most likely make its money back unless they have spent a ton on advertising and it dies at the box office.

I guess we will have to wait and see.

My personal prediction is that it will get a wider release and may break into the top 10, but it won't preform much better than it already has on a per screen basis. I just think it is one of those movies that has a limited scope as far as audiences. Like I said before, the only people I know who have any interest in seeing it at all are adult webmasters. Obviously, there are others that will want to see it and there are fans of the actors in it that will want to see it, but I personally feel it is pretty limited as far as potential audience. . . but then again, I'm a smut peddler, not a movie studio exec so I could be way off base.

[datatank]

Originally Posted by dyna mo

Let hope its not a Medellin

[Brujah]

More traffic than God!

but seriously, it's doing better than American Cannibal.
Domestic Total Gross: $16,566
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=...ancannibal.htm

I hope it gets a wide release and kicks some ass.

[dev777]

it'll bomb for sure... the theater i saw it in was almost completely empty and it was a Saturday night. The first half was pretty sloppy... almost walked out. Becomes more watchable as it progresses but overall it's still pretty meh..

it plays out exactly like 21 and all the other get-rich-quick movies out there. Man grows an empire. Problems arise. Man loses empire. The material gets kinda boring when you've already seen a dozen times before it better-made movies.

It's a shame cause the trailer certainly looked good..

[james_clickmemedia]

I saw it saturday night and would give it 7/10.
It is 95% fiction but an enjoying movie.
The whole FBI / terrorist plot was stretching things a bit far. The russian mob was good.

Go check it out and show your support.

[marketsmart]

Originally Posted by Ethersync

The film cost $20 million. The advertising budget was not released by the studio. If the film does $50 million at the box office internationally it will considered a success. It will mean once the money rolls in for Blu-ray/DVD/TV/Foreign sales it will be quite profitable.

i heard the total cost was more like $50 million...



.

[Ethersync]

Originally Posted by marketsmart

i heard the total cost was more like $50 million...

Production Budget: $20 million

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=middlemen.htm

Budget
$22,000,000 (estimated)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1251757/business

Opening Friday, "Middle Men" is the loosely autobiographical story of Christopher Mallick, who personally financed the $20-million production and also is underwriting the film's release.

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug...-word-20100805

Now he?s sunk more than $20 million of his own money into a film about the experience.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...ghts-fame.html

[marketsmart]

ah ok...

well thats not bad then...

he should be able to at least recover all his money..


.

[baddog]

Originally Posted by Brujah

but seriously, it's doing better than American Cannibal.
Domestic Total Gross: $16,566
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=...ancannibal.htm

I hope it gets a wide release and kicks some ass.

That can't include cable.

[Barefootsies]

Originally Posted by Robbie

I thought they only opened in 4 or 5 cities and it hasn't opened nationwide yet? How is that a flop? I know it's not playing here in Vegas. So I'm sure that it's not playing in every town in the country.

Same here. I thought first week was 5 or 7 cities, then would open the following nationwide.

[The Porn Nerd]

Saw it last night here in NYC. 8 o'clock show was packed!

Quick Review in 3 Parts (no spoilers):
From an industry "insider" perspective I could appreciate the insanity of the whole thing, which was fun
As a Writer I thought the screenwriters should've been shot; it was a confusing, ridiculous, childish mess, script-wise.
From a moviegoers/enjoyment angle I had fun tho i wish there had been more sex and nudity.

Disappointing side note:
No one outside the theater, after the show, appeared noticeably horny.

[Ethersync]

Originally Posted by baddog

That can't include cable.

It doesn't.

[Angry Jew Cat - Banned for Life]

Originally Posted by Brujah

More traffic than God!

but seriously, it's doing better than American Cannibal.
Domestic Total Gross: $16,566
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=...ancannibal.htm

I hope it gets a wide release and kicks some ass.

I bought American Cannibal for $1.99 previously viewed, and I still feel cheated...

[pornstar2fag]

KB did NOT do the advertising or hook up that deal with PornHub for the placements. He came in AFTER all of that was done.

Get your facts straight. Just because someone takes credit for something doesn't mean they actually did it.

[PornMD]

Limited release movies typically see a higher per screen average, so it wouldn't have exactly been huge success even if it was $5k-$10k per screen average over the weekend. Close to $1k is atrocious. I'm kind of shocked...I thought it looked pretty good.

[pornstar2fag]

FYI:

Bad News

Theatre Grade Breakdown
A's: 12 34.3%
B's: 3 8.6%
C's: 2 5.7%
D's: 1 2.9%
F's: 17 48.6%

[Semi-Retired-Dave]

Originally Posted by Ethersync

That was the number 1 film for the weekend and a big studio release with a huge advertising budget.

Breakdown for the weekend: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend...wknd=32&p=.htm

"The Kids Are All Right" Never heard of it, but only 4 Million Dollar Budget and it did 2,606,000

[Semi-Retired-Dave]

At Least I was right about something, they advertised it on the Tube Sites, then everyone went and downloaded it for Free.

You live with the sword, you die by the sword.

[kane]

Originally Posted by CyberAge-Dave

At Least I was right about something, they advertised it on the Tube Sites, then everyone went and downloaded it for Free.

You live with the sword, you die by the sword.

I would love to see what the download stats for it are. I know torrentreactor usually posts the top 10 most pirated movies of the week. It will be interesting to see if this one shows up on the list.

[bronco67]

Originally Posted by kane

A lot of times they do a limited release like this to try to build up some buzz and get some good reviews then they expand it out. $1210 per screen isn't that good though. Had they released it on 2500 screens like big releases get it would have only made 3 million which would have landed it in the #10 spot for the weekend.

I don't know that it won't pick up some steam and eventually end up doing decently, but I always thought that the primary audience for the movie was porn webmasters. I personally don't know anyone outside the business that has any interest in seeing it.

That strategy only works if you have a good movie. Has Luke Wilson ever been in a good movie? Case closed.

You're right about nobody wanting to see it. This movie is very under the average person's radar.

[DBS.US]

All the kids watching the movie where saying "There was a time that people paid for porn?"

[PornMD]

Originally Posted by bronco67

That strategy only works if you have a good movie. Has Luke Wilson ever been in a good movie? Case closed.

You're right about nobody wanting to see it. This movie is very under the average person's radar.

Yep, pretty true, which is why limited release movies are USUALLY done for more of the Cannes type films that are actually pretty good. If a movie sucks, it dies on the vine in limited and a lot never even expand. That's how you sometimes get some fairly high budget movies (or at least tens of millions) making less than a million dollars sometimes, which this might do given this opening.

A $3 million opening, which would have been what this would have done with about 2500 screens, would be equivalent to the $1-$2 million openings of a decade ago...$3 million isn't even close to respectable anymore, and generally a $3 mil opening means it'll make $5-7 million overall.

I think this movie's problem is that Luke Wilson is more of a "family" actor, so him being in this kind of a movie kills its target audience, and it being the kind of movie it is kills HIS biggest audience, so it's lose/lose having him in a movie like this. Plus he's been doing so many of those stupid AT&T commercials which probably doesn't help.