Dar, you're just a [s]pessimist[/s] realist.

I just don´t wanna be disappointed, you know?

I´VE JUST BEEN FUCKING DISAPPOINTED TOO MANY TIMES IN MY LIFE, YOU KNOW??????

* Breaks down *



Ahem... so how much do you think It´ll make for the 4-day weekend?

I don't know whether or not this has already been poster, but Box Office Guru has Brokeback mountain expanding to 217 theatres this friday...

"With accolades showering it at a seemingly constant rate, Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain goes into the long holiday frame as the Oscar frontrunner and the leading film that arthouse audiences are eager to see. Following last weekend's scorching $36,355 average from only 69 theaters, Focus Features will keep on entering more markets now that more national buzz has kicked in by tripling its theater count to 217 on Friday. Awards hype and media attention will allow the film to eventually be looked at less as a "gay cowboy" film, but more as "the one to beat" during the annual dance between the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards. With more theaters and a four-day holiday weekend, Brokeback may climb to around $6M for the frame pushing its cume to $10M. Holding onto frontrunner status can be very difficult in the cutthroat world of awards campaigning, but if it succeeds in winning the top prize at the two main awards ceremonies, Brokeback Mountain could certainly ride into the sunset with over $100M."

aparently, we aren't the only ones who are thinking 100 million

p.s. Brokeback opens here in Ottawa this weekend. So excited!

Eerie, I was just going to mention it

Anyway, did you read the review in the Citizen? Jay Stone only gave it four stars

My theater was 1/5th full today.

where? when?

Redmond, Washington, Seattle. 3:50pm showing (most all the business folk, including me, are off work today).

Which is about as liberal and gay friendly a suburb of Seattle can be.

I was surprised because the numbers have been great. There was a line to get in the movie about 10 minutes beforehand with about 20 people including me and my sister, but not many came after that. The half of the theater closest to the screen had 3 people in it.

It could only be one theater, for one showing... or it could be an example of how it will play in the major suburb areas of the country.

Around 4 million. I'd love to see it go upwards of 5 though.

Brokeback opened up on 8 screens in Toronto, 2 screens in Montreal, 2 screens in Quebec and 1 screen in Ottawa... none of which have a sold out showing for tonight....

It's interesting when thinking about the theory that people have brought up a few times here about this movie outside the US, in more liberal countries. For instance, in a country like Canada, where gay marriage is now legal, it could be argue that subject of this film is far less controversial than it might be in the United States, and therefore have less press coverage.. and since there really hasn't been any television ads for this yet, less press means less awareness.... and that could be what is hurting it's box office a bit in it's expanded release... just a thought....

It still can be sold out for tonight in many places... just not as much in advance as It was in the first two weekends. But those were an anomaly. A crazy anomaly. The movie is doing just fine now, just not exceptional as before. All that talk about $100M and such was just crazy - and funny, long live Box!

I don´t think there has been that much controvery in the States either - not yet. In Spain gay marriages are legal too but I think the "gay cowboy" factor will raise awareness a lot. Also, if there are Golden Globes wins, and the Oscar nominations come as more or less everyone expects - be it 5, 6, 7, or more - I´m sure they´ll use that and start advertising the movie on TV. We´ll see then... right now, It´s great to be able to almost reach your budget without spending much on advertising at all.

BTW, funny fact: I think I created only one thread back at BOM, and It was the day this project was announced. I think It was called "how much will a movie about gay cowboys make at the box office?" or something like that, and I remember you replied to it - you had a Robbie Williams avatar back then - and were quite sceptical about the film. Just think of how much has this little film accomplished since then... It´s something to be happy about.

Ah yes, my Robbie Williams Avatar! I miss that thing.. that was actually back at the BOM forums.. I haven't figured out ho to put on avatar on here... well, I gave up long ago actually.. anyways, it has certainly passed all expectations I had then for it, and I am very happy about that!

I'm not saying that with the Golden Globes and all that it won't gain more recognition... I just think that perhaps the expansion to some areas was a little too soon, since visability is still low in some markets... I'm really just thinking in terms of per theatres averages.. it might have been better if they kept low screen count and high average for a couple more weeks, thus getting some more media attention.... but having said that, it's already guarenteed mass media caverage when the Globes get nearer, and is most likely to run away with the most Oscar nominations... so I am not worried in the least that it will make 50+ million... I am just still not sure if it can possibly pass the 100 million mark... I sure hope it does though!

$100M is impossible for me... $75M tops, IMO. But I hope you are right.

I don´t care very much for PTA´s right now (unless they are incredibly bad) cause like MMB and Lost in translation, Golden Globes and Oscar nomination should keep it afloat for a long time just doing $3-4K per weekend and and having great drops. Hopefully.

It will become Focus' biggest ever, I can tell you that much. It is really impossible to tell where exactly it will end up because it is exactly this kind of a movie that, if it wins Best Picture, gains in awareness big big time. For movies like ROTK that already have $300+ million when they seeep, the Oscars don't matter that much. Most have seen it already anyway. But for a movie like Brokeback Mountain, a Best Picture Oscar could add up to 50% to its gross.

I see around $50-70 million.

Also, I would definitely say that people in more liberal areas/countries will care less for it, seriously. I am positive it won't be big in Germany.

The expansion really didn't go well for it, it seems. Its threatre count went up by over 200%, but the movie itself rose by 5% over the 4-day weekend and actually dropped 23.9% over the 3-day weekend.

It made $2,635,000 over the 4-day span, for a total gross of $7,573,000. The 3-day PTA of $8,801 is down by 76% (!!!) in comparison to the last weekend. Even I am really surprised. Hehe, Focus is probably so disappointed that from now on they'll expand their movies even less than before, heh.

Next weekend it expands to 250 theatres. What do you predict, folks?

I see around $3 million for the 4-day weekend.

On January 6th it goes into 400 theatres, by the way.

That's great news! Hopefully they will play it here in at least one theatre.

I think the expansion was successful, and I am happy with a $12k+ PTA for the four day.

I'm slightly disappointed. I'm hoping that maybe the next week is better. Otherwise, the movie's breakout potential will be 100% dependent on how it does come Oscar time. I just hope it's not forgotten by then.

In the same amount of theaters, BBM would have maybe gone down 5-10% more than it did for the 3day, so I'm not really sure if the expansion made much sense at all with the other 8 films coming out/expanding. Maybe New Year's (where people wouldn't avoid BBM to the same extent that they may on Christmas) would have been smarter...

You've also got to realize.... it's the holiday season and tis isn't your usual family film. Even those who usualy would go to see it may just hold off on it to see other topical flms with friends and family. Also take into account the Christmas Eve Saturday which made alot of movies drop more than usual.

Agreed, it's not impressive compared with its debut, but I don't think it's anything to get too worked up about. I think they should keep playing it low for a while... don't expand to more than 500-600 theatres until end of January because January is a lckluster month anyway... let it gain steam throughout January with the Globes and Oscar noms.

I could see it standing somewhere near $25 million by Oscar nominations day if they play it right, slowly expanding and playing off its big successes.

The actuals were somewhat better.

$2,951,071 over the 4-day span for a 4-day PTA of $13,599. Still disappointing, but better than before.

I see around $3.3 million for the next weekend, as it will expand to roughly 250 theatres.

The weekend after that it expands to 400 theatres and the weekend after that one to 500 theatres. It should stand at $25-30 million by the time the noms will be announced.

That monday number is very encouraging. It´s also the first $1M+ day.

I think It´s safe to say that this was not the best weekend for this type of film (not really family-friendly, at least not for many families) but at the same time, It has been frontloaded (As limited releases can be). The next few weeks will be very telling.

It´s never going to expand like in its second weekend, though, and nobody should be disappointed for it. "Lost in translation" did $44M, yet It only had one weekend when It passed $4M - and just barely. Sideways did $71M, but in only one weekend did it make more than $6M - the wekeend after the Oscar nominations. What I mean is that, if the movie can keep a steady pace, those overwhelming PTA´s won´t be missed. For a limited release, It´s a long distance race, and BBM is in a good position right now.

I hope the gross sticks.

BrokeCRAP Mountain of CRAP is one of the worst movie ever. I give a mountain of CRAP for it.

Craps !!!

Gee, tell us how you really feel.

i'm wondering if he; actually seen the movie.