A week earlier - too many people are busy shopping for gifts and going to Christmas parties.
A week later - they miss out on a lot of potential box office from people who are taking time off from work between Christmas and New Year's.
X-Mas relese = Paramount uncertain?
- Thread starter darkwing_duck1
- Start date
A week earlier - too many people are busy shopping for gifts and going to Christmas parties.
A week later - they miss out on a lot of potential box office from people who are taking time off from work between Christmas and New Year's.
trevanian
Rear Admiral
You can make money opening in winter (arguably not as much or as fast as summer), but you can get killed quicker in summer. That's why both of the longest running franchises, Bond and Trek, have avoided summer like plague since '89, when TFF and LICENCE TO KILL got obliterated.
As for xmas vs earlier in winter ... I'd say that prestige pics (those with legs and oscar buzz) have a better chance later in the season, like xmas, so opening trek then as opposed to thanskgiving seems like a cocky move. Then again, trek movies make all of their money in one or two weekends, so it isn't like this is gonna need legs to go well into January.
As for xmas vs earlier in winter ... I'd say that prestige pics (those with legs and oscar buzz) have a better chance later in the season, like xmas, so opening trek then as opposed to thanskgiving seems like a cocky move. Then again, trek movies make all of their money in one or two weekends, so it isn't like this is gonna need legs to go well into January.
Generally, it seems like most of the really big Christmas releases hit theaters a few days before Christmas (Lord of the Rings, Titanic, etc.) so the buzz builds going into the big Christmas day/weekend box office period. The cynic in me suspects Paramount is opening Trek on Dec. 25 (as opposed to, say, Dec. 19) in order to minimize the impact of the segment of fans who'll complain loudly no matter what, and possibly turn off the casual fan. If I'm right, I think it's a smart move.
It is like X-mas for the fans, maybe they should hold it off until 2/14/08 and have the teasure say Happy Valentines Fans!
Boy that would make some people way excited.
Boy that would make some people way excited.
Cool! Then we would only have a month and a half to wait... Nevermind. You meant 2/14/09, didn't you?
And destroy the relationships of untold Trekkies who insist that their girlfriends should accept dinner and a "Star Trek" movie as Valentine's Day gifts.
North Pole-aris said:
And destroy the relationships of untold Trekkies who insist that their girlfriends should accept dinner and a "Star Trek" movie as Valentine's Day gifts.
What girlfriends?
Paramount may also be hoping to give the film an Oscar push, as films released in November and December are usually Oscar-baiting.
Wow, that last hyphenate sounds wrong.
Wow, that last hyphenate sounds wrong.
Worked for Star Trek: TMP at the 1980 Oscars.
number6
Vice Admiral
Other than SFX and technical stuff, Trek historically gets overlooked for that naked statue guy.
I was actually surprised how many people go to movies on Christmas Day. The theater my wife & I went to for National Treasure was packed even though it was snowing at a good pace. I know where I'll be Dec. 25 next year.
Opening on Xmas requires a movie to have legs.
Franchise movies, traditionally, don't have good box office legs (doesn't apply to LOTR). They are front loaded, as this movie will be, and then fall hard.
Given the nature of this movie, and the lack of mainstream interest in Star Trek, an xmas release is horrible. But Paramount has been making blunders left and right so why should this be any different.
Star Trek is NOT a family movie. It's going to face fierce competition and flop.
The biggest xmas day opening, of all time, is Ali at 10 million. That is not really that great. Nowdays blockbusters have opening days of 30+ million. It's a busy day for theatres but that business is spread for all the movies. Studios don't waste hit movies on xmas they open them a week or two before and then get an xmas bounce. That is exactly what fox is doing with The Day the Earth Stood Still, which will completely destroy Abrams Trek.
Paramount NEEDS this movie to perform like a summer blockbuster. They needed the summer hype so they could get a massive opening weekend.
Franchise movies, traditionally, don't have good box office legs (doesn't apply to LOTR). They are front loaded, as this movie will be, and then fall hard.
Given the nature of this movie, and the lack of mainstream interest in Star Trek, an xmas release is horrible. But Paramount has been making blunders left and right so why should this be any different.
Star Trek is NOT a family movie. It's going to face fierce competition and flop.
The biggest xmas day opening, of all time, is Ali at 10 million. That is not really that great. Nowdays blockbusters have opening days of 30+ million. It's a busy day for theatres but that business is spread for all the movies. Studios don't waste hit movies on xmas they open them a week or two before and then get an xmas bounce. That is exactly what fox is doing with The Day the Earth Stood Still, which will completely destroy Abrams Trek.
Paramount NEEDS this movie to perform like a summer blockbuster. They needed the summer hype so they could get a massive opening weekend.
Easy to say LoTR is some kind of special case in retrospect, but infact New Line was taking a huge risk investing in those films.
More Trek fan certainty. First what's a "family film" by your definition? What will it be going up agianst?
This forum, well the entire board gives me the impression that most Trek fans are assuming the old model applies. That paramount is going to handle the marketing and over all selling of "Trek XI" as if everyone already knows Star Trek...
...Treating it like that would ensure a "bomb". When Star Trek is ready to be promoted it is almost certainly going to be marketed as if Star Trek is a new franchise and most people don't know a thing about it - just like any other movie.
Sharr
Yes it is - for a Tuesday (which Christmas was in 2001), any time of the year. This is the virtue of opening on Christmas Day when it doesn't fall on a weekend.
Paramount is far better off opening this at Christmas than during the Spring or Summer. Smart move.
Opening a movie that's a potential blockbuster on Christmas is a no-brainer, absolutely a good move. If this movie receives positive buzz it could surpass the other Trek movies in its first week (without the inflation adjustments).
In the past the strategy was to open the high profile movies one week before Christmas, with the logic being that it would do well in its first week anyway (due to the hype) and then a get a boost from Christmas holidays the second week. I remember TMP was the first major movie that opened 2 weeks before Christmas. Some people in the industry questioned Paramount's startegy, specially after the movie dropped 40% in the 2nd week, but boxoffice increased during 3rd and 4th weeks and the strategy paid off for Paramount.
But these days with extremely wide openings (3000+ screens) and movies staying in theaters a very short time, more high profile movies are opening during the holidays.
In the past the strategy was to open the high profile movies one week before Christmas, with the logic being that it would do well in its first week anyway (due to the hype) and then a get a boost from Christmas holidays the second week. I remember TMP was the first major movie that opened 2 weeks before Christmas. Some people in the industry questioned Paramount's startegy, specially after the movie dropped 40% in the 2nd week, but boxoffice increased during 3rd and 4th weeks and the strategy paid off for Paramount.
But these days with extremely wide openings (3000+ screens) and movies staying in theaters a very short time, more high profile movies are opening during the holidays.
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