Posted on 07/24/2010 2:27:26 AM PDT by Scanian
The surprise box-office boom for the cartoon "Despicable Me" is making it clear again to Hollywood this sum mer that family films are the most likely to be top-grossing films.
"Toy Story 3" is No. 1 for 2010, not only among the critics, but among the people as well. "Despicable Me" already has broken into the top 10 box-office hits for the year to date with almost $130 million in ticket sales.
It happens over and over again. And still the "executives" are caught off guard. It shouldn't be that hard to figure out. Nobody needs a graphing calculator. Bring out the whole family, and you bring out a bigger audience. It's summertime, and the kids are bored. If the whole family doesn't go, the driving-age teenager gets assigned to take the young ones to the movies, sometimes more than once.
And yet, The Hollywood Reporter finds the movie market gurus slightly embarrassed at what they call the "family stampede." Family films have well outpaced pre-release projections repeatedly since May, and the studio bosses are puzzled over why these movies "outperform" their guesses.
"The simplest answer is that the tracking doesn't include the young kids themselves," Disney distribution boss Chuck Viane said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
The market keeps telling them very loudly that decent content sells big, yet they continue to float sewage on the market as if it were their very soul (hmm, maybe it is).
Anyone able to find Chris Meledandri’s political giving? He’s head of the newish studio that produced this film.
Oh, and his giving is about what you would expect. Heavily weighted Dem, with some slight hedging.
| WEBB, JAMES H JR VIA JAMES WEBB FOR US SENATE |
|||
| 10/19/2006 | 500.00 | 27020230790 | |
| SCHUMER, CHARLES E VIA FRIENDS OF SCHUMER |
|||
| 03/23/2004 | 500.00 | 24020211579 | |
| BERMAN, HOWARD L. VIA BERMAN FOR CONGRESS |
|||
| 05/15/2001 | 500.00 | 21990367728 | |
| NEWS AMERICA HOLDINGS INC-FOX POL ACTION COMMITTEE (AKA NEWS AMERICA-FOX POL ACTION CMTE | |||
| 11/28/2005 | 4000.00 | 26980046608 | |
| BECERRA, XAVIER VIA BECERRA FOR CONGRESS |
|||
| 10/12/2004 | 500.00 | 24981425642 | |
| MOTION PICTURE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA INC POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE | |||
| 12/15/2003 | 250.00 | 24990326065 | |
| 04/01/2006 | 500.00 | 26940142177 | |
| HOLLINGS, ERNEST F VIA HOLLINGS FOR SENATE |
|||
| 06/11/1997 | 500.00 | 97020090122 | |
| KERRY, JOHN F VIA KERRY COMMITTEE |
|||
| 03/07/2002 | 1000.00 | 22020220244 | |
| DEAN, HOWARD VIA DEAN FOR AMERICA |
|||
| 02/02/2004 | 250.00 | 24990843917 | |
| BOXER, BARBARA VIA FRIENDS OF BARBARA BOXER |
|||
| 10/07/1998 | 250.00 | 98020244429 | |
| MCCAIN, JOHN S VIA MCCAIN FOR SENATE '98 |
|||
| 09/28/1998 | 500.00 | 98020220566 | |
| MOTION PICTURE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA INC POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE | |||
| 10/29/1997 | 250.00 | 97032500448 | |
| NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE | |||
| 12/29/2003 | 500.00 | 24990388737 | |
| BRADLEY, BILL VIA BILL BRADLEY FOR PRESIDENT INC |
|||
| 09/29/1999 | 250.00 | 20990132625 | |
| NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE | |||
| 08/18/2006 | 250.00 | 28990020917 | |
| OBAMA VICTORY FUND | |||
| 09/19/2008 | 1300.00 | 28992661840 | |
| FUND FOR A BETTER FUTURE | |||
| 04/29/2002 | 500.00 | 22991391218 | |
| OBAMA, BARACK VIA OBAMA FOR AMERICA |
|||
| 09/30/2008 | 1300.00 | 28933971210 | |
| BOXER, BARBARA VIA FRIENDS OF BARBARA BOXER |
|||
| 04/29/2002 | 500.00 | 22020581737 | |
Think I’ll skip this movie with my family. Thanks!
Family films don’t get you brownie points from the self proclaimed intelligentsia. There is nothing more in the world that a hollywood producer wants, not even money, than to be thought of as intelligent, hip, and avante-garde. More often than not this translates into sewage.
You are partly correct - who wants to pay money to see two hours of computer generated violence and filth?
Hollywood has turned into a self basting turkey, much like Washington DC. Both are a multimillion, billion ?, dollar industry that has successfully isolated themselves from us, those who give them money. Both have become so inward focused looking for answers from within that they are repeatedly “surprised” when we don't go along with them.
That added to the economic crises has Hollywood totally confused. Look back at the Hollywood products of the 1920’s and 1930’s. How many survivors are “message films” and how many were entertaining. Some of the best films were very lavish and, do I dare say, employed “casts of thousands”; almost as if they were an internal self-employment program.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.