Lol, that is fuckin stupid.

Is there any purpose to why Flight is only going in 1800 theaters?

$15,000 PTA

That's very strange indeed. It's sort of reminiscent of when Warner Bros. only shipped Contact (a previous Zemeckis film with a big star) out to 1,923 theaters in July 1997.

But I could see a scenario where they add 500-600 theaters theaters the following weekend. Sort of the way Universal platformed Pitch Perfect, on a larger scale.

Either way, it should have over a $10,000 PTA.

Yep, PTA over $10,000 seems very likely. Anything below $8,000 per theatre I'd consider a disappointment.

They're probably holding it back a little bit to build buzz. It isn't THAT shocking. In this case it will probably work to its benefit too (unlike Cloud Atlas).

Also, adjusted for inflation, an Oscar hopeful from 1999's A Civil Action opened in this much theaters and opened to $23.3M (15.16M in 1998 dollars).

I see it opening similar to Unstoppable from 2 years ago.

If audiences somehow do not like Flight very much, Paramount made a huge mistake for this.

On the bright side, Argo will have another great hold (increased its chances at $100M even more than it already has) not only this weekend but also next weekend before Skyfall comes out.

So they'll expand it the following weekend when Skyfall opens? I would have expected it to open in 3,000+, but oh well. It's not like it won't be available in all markets. People can still go see it if they want to. And if they don't want to see it that badly they can wait until it expands.

This is totally unwise IMO.

I just hope this is some typo error and Paramount is going to give it a proper Flight. I know they planned to do bad this year but this is just rubbish.

They must be nervous because of the "heavier" elements (America's favorite male star plagued by alcoholism and drug abuse) and aren't sure if general audiences will flip for it.

Boxoffice Mojo also has it at 1,800 next week.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/counts/chart/?yr=2012&wk=44&p=.htm

theyre afraid of skyfall

Stupid. Go at least 2500. Get as much as you can upfront and if legs also kick in - double bonus. This isn't Borat.

It wont expand well because the rest of November is way too strong.

Another stupid studio move this year.

KJ needs to run Hollywood apparently

I wouldn't say that. I mean yes, it is strong. But that doesn't mean this won't expand well. However I don't know if I'd add many theaters in its second weekend since Skyfall will be huge. I'd wait until the following weekend. Of course, that's when Lincoln goes wide and that could certainly eat into the adult audience. Maybe add a bunch over Thanksgiving. Honestly, doing 3,000 theaters right away would have been the best bet here.

Agreed with Mike on this one. After the first week there will be two weekends with just two releases and while Skyfall will take some chunk out of Flight's audience it is not exactly a direct competition, plus Twilight can easily have this as counter-programming so expanding it over that weekend might work IMO. Still that is too big of a risk IMO and they should have gone with more theaters right away rather than expansion.

I think Skyfall has a lot of adult appeal so it would have an effect on Flight.

Skyfall will obliterate competition.

You guys are all hyperventilating...

Nothing has changed this rule: 20 % of movie theaters earn 80 % of the box office. That's why a movie like BORAT can do $26.5m in 837 theaters.

Far more important is how many screens FLIGHT is gonna get in those 1,800 theaters. If it's just 1 screen than there's trouble, if it's 2 screens it's okay and if it's 3 screens it's great...

I don't see why Flight wouldn't be able to expand and/or hold onto its screens in its second weekend (Barring a random flopping anyway) in the face of Skyfall. Again, that's the only new release that weekend, and the only holdovers that'll be making a dent will be Wreck-It and maybe Iron Fists and Argo. Skyfall will be getting a ton of screens, yes, but it'll be at the expense of Cloud Atlas, Silent Hill 2, Paranormal Activity 4 and Taken 2.

Though this is definitely a weird release strategy, if they're going for a second/third weekend expansion I see no reason why they shouldn't be able to do it. And as Mark noted these 1,800 theaters are probably where most of its revenue is coming from anyway. I wouldn't freak out too much.

And that is what I suggested when I said it will take a chunk out of its audience.

Its not about 80% gross its about that 20% population that can make the movie HUGE and I cannot believe that a movie making $150m would have grossed 80% of that from areas of only these 1800 theaters.

Nobody is suggesting that this will be the only reason this movie flops (atleast I don't think Magnus is saying that) but its about the rest of the population that with ease of access could have gone for the movie and might just skip it now. And while I do believe it will get a lot of screen counts it might not be able to keep all. Skyfall and Twilight both of them will occupy about 7000+ theaters and many more screens. Unless they have a deal with theater owners about this not loosing screens this could turn out to be rough.

It's stupid. Studios continue to make idiotic decisions.

Sorry, I misread your other post .