American Dreamz

Release Date: April 21, 2006
Studio: Universal Pictures
Director: Paul Weitz
Screenwriter: Paul Weitz
Starring: Hugh Grant, Dennis Quaid, Mandy Moore, Marcia Gay Harden, Chris Klein, Jennifer Coolidge, Seth Meyers, John Cho, Judy Greer, Sam Golzari, Willem Dafoe
Genre: Comedy
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for brief strong language and some sexual references)

Plot Summary: Filmmaker Paul Weitz-whose comic explorations have ventured into the synergistic halls of corporate culture ("In Good Company"), the perils of psychological isolationism ("About a Boy") and the vicissitudes of losing one's virginity ("American Pie")-now delivers a comedy yanked from right-now popular culture…where the nation's shrinking attention span is more focused on "what's hot" than on hot-button headlines: "American Dreamz".

On the morning of his re-election, the President (Quaid) decides to read the newspaper for the first time in four years. This starts him down a slippery slope. He begins reading obsessively, reexamining his black and white view of the world, holing up in his bedroom in his pajamas. Frightened by the President's apparent nervous breakdown, his Chief of Staff (Dafoe) pushes him back into the spotlight, booking him as a guest judge on the television ratings juggernaut (and the President's personal fave), the weekly talent show "American Dreamz".

America can't seem to get enough of "American Dreamz," hosted by self-aggrandizing, self-loathing Martin Tweed (Grant), ever on the lookout for the next insta-celebrity. His latest crop of hopefuls includes Sally (Moore), a conniving steel magnolia with a devoted, dopey veteran boyfriend (Klein), and Omer, a recent Southern Californian immigrant (who just happens to be a bumbling, show tune singing, would-be terrorist awaiting activation). When both Sally and Omer make it to the final round of Dreamz-where the President will be judging along with Tweed-the stage is set for a show the nation will never forget.

"American Dreamz" is written, produced and directed by Paul Weitz (writer/director of "In Good Company," co-director/Academy Award®-nominated co-screenwriter of "About A Boy" and co-director of "American Pie"). Andrew Miano and Rodney Liber also produce; Chris Weitz and Kerry Kohansky serve as executive producers.

http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=11622

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23/75

13/46.

I absolutely can't wait to see it, but these types of movies never do that well.

It'll likely have a modest performance in the range of $35-40M.

The theatrical trailer looks pure sh...t, and so do a few TV spots--but what about general public's reactions for its "technical motion running advertisements"?

Maybe it would do moderate, so I'm thinking $60~65 mil total (if my expectations were high enough). Because of poor quality coming from the "technical motion-running marketing campaign", $15~22 mil. total (if low). I think maybe $43 mil. total would do enough.

As for opening and multiplication, I can't say.

What?

I meant TV spots and trailers all over internet and theaters.

It looks wretched, so it'll probably do well enough especially if it gets a big push during American Idol.

I'd say around a 20 mill opening with a total of 65-70 mill.

Sue me, I think it'll do well. It looks appealing, it's got a great cast, and the ad campaign so far has been fine. It has been all over American Idol.

23 mil opening, 81 mil total. Good WOM and legs.

Why do you think this will become Paul Weitz's lowest grossing movie ever, below About a Boy and In Good Company? Awareness among the main target audience (American Idol viewers) is high and this movie would also appeal to those who purposely avoid that show. The humor in this movie plays very broadly without being too "smart" or geared exclusively toward acquired tastes, ensuring mainstream success. The only thing questionable is its not-that-perfect marketing campaign, but word of mouth/repeated viewings will be very good with its many belly laugh sequences. Double the amount of your predictions is very likely.

No way this grosses lower than Here on Earth.

As Libs would say, No Dice, alex.

Didn't he say...double my prediction? Which would be more like $70-80M?

Or are you referring to someone else?

I missed the last sentence and was answering his first question. Silly silly me.

It looks like fun, sure it will have good legs.

The advertising is picking up alot here in the Uk. Alot of tv spots during American Idol this week.

Unlike (most of) Weitz's previous films, though, American Dreamz is getting awful reviews.

Which is kinda dissapointing because I was looking forward to it. I'm still kinda hoping it turns out to be at least decent. And with American Idol it has a chance to get people to theaters with marketing alone. (if advertising gets better/increases I will raise my prediction)

But Mandy Moore is turning out to be box office poison

Opening: 9.1 million
Total : 26 million

Well, it's kinda making fun of American Idol, so I don't think it will get much audience from that crowd. (Ugh.. who's left now?!?) I think the story's brilliant, but it didn't get it across in the trailer, I had to read a paragraph on it to understand.

Opening: $8.5 million
Total: $27 million

I'm doing a huge 180 degree turn now. Reviews are coming in, and it doesn't look good. 1400+ theatre count seems like Universal doesn't even want to release it, even with all the big names.

6/15

I never thought this would open with more then 10m, and I'll go with 2.5m/5m with the way it's now being dumped.

Besides being dumped, this thing just doesn't have an audience.

Some of the predictions at the very bottom of this thread are just ridiculous. Universal isn't dumping this film (though they are inept at trying to market what's appealing about the film). They've been doing many free preview screenings and director Q&A sessions across the nation to help get the word out for the film with pretty good response. In fact, their original plan was to open the movie at just a select few theaters in New York and Los Angeles and then later expand it. Now it's just following a similar release strategy to some of Universal's other past films:

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (530 Theaters) - $8,684,055/$40,226,215
Love Actually (576 theaters) - $6,886,080/$59,696,144
About a Boy (1207 theaters) - $8,557,630/$41,385,278
Bridget Jones's Diary (1611 theaters) - $10,733,933/$71,543,427
In Good Company (1,566 theaters) - $14,289,750/$45,806,659

The reason this movie is getting some negative reviews is because most critics feel that it didn't go far enough in terms of social commentary. They wanted more of a political anti-Bush, anti-reality tv competition, anti-commercialism satire that appeals more to their critical view of society but that wasn't the aim of the film. Paul Weitz instead wanted to tell a very simple, mainstream story that uses broad humor that everyone can understands and laugh along without having to think. Besides poking fun at stereotypes, a big source of the laughter in the film come more from situational humor like those in American Pie, The 40-Year Old Virgin, Mean Girls, etc. This means that while critics don't find it witty or critical enough for their tastes, it will be enjoyed by a much broader audience of moviegoers.

American Dreamz will open to a great PTA and maintain great legs through May as mainstream WOM spreads and the American Idol Season Finale builds more hype and awareness for this subject matter. It is not going to have the horrible legs many people are predicting.

I've been seeing non-stop ads for it. Kinda surprised at the low TC and blah predictions. I never really liked the trailers I've seen, but it didn't look horrible. I just can't figure out what the show is about, other than that "we live in a nation where more people vote for a pop idol than the president".

Compelling stuff.

i will never see any movie with mandy moore....ever

Oh, come on, she's not that bad. Certainly light years ahead of the other pop stars-turned-actresses.

maybe. but i won't ever see a movie with britney spears, christina aguilera, etc.. either

If it opens with weak numbers it will have horrible legs because it will lose screens and theaters quickly.

I don't see how this will appeal to mainstream audiences though. I don't see a single joke in the ads that I think will sell.

Actually, most of the reviews say it just isn't funny...plus, mean girls and the 40 year old virgin got great reviews and the ones for american pie weren't at all bad for the type of movie it was.

I think $5 million total might definitely be a bit extreme, but the only way this would have expanded on it's audience is if it had strong reviews backing it up the way about a boy and in good company did.

While I said $5 million might be too low I don't see this making anything over $30 million, and that number in itself is a too high. Marketing has been strong i guess (lots of ads media attention), it's there but it won't do anything for the film if it does nothing to garner interest for people to actually SEE the movie.

Feel like a big failure to me. The online buzz, an area the film should be strong at, is very weak. I don't see anything higher than $5m the opening weekend.