$66mm dark knight BO

[the_Greatest]

Huh? My comments have absolutely nothing to do with the actual movie, and only relate to the insane front-loading the studios do to guarantee a new "day/weekend/week" opening record, like some bizarro self-fulfilling prophecy.

 

I have to agree with JC on this one and that chart you posted is fantastic!

 

R.

 

That chart makes for fascinating reading. I'm amazed that The Exorcist is number 9 on that list...

 

Here's where the list came from. The top 100.

All time adjusted 100

Again...you have to keep in mind that the pre-1980 movies were almost always released at least twice. I saw the Poseidon Adventure in early 1973, and then when it was re-released in the spring or summer of 1974.

Poseidon Adventure made $84 million in 1973 and 1974 with an opening weekend of $274 thousand dollars. Number 73 on the All time list.

 

[FlyingDonut]

From that list, a good argument can be made that Titanic had the biggest box office ever, as it was only released once. All the other movies in the top-10 have been released at least twice, and in some cases many times.

[joe_collector]

But I remember reading that Star Wars was the only one to make *substantially* more in the re-releases.

[BronzeBruce13]

"The hills are alive..."

[joe_collector]

If the numbers on this site are accurate, and there's no reason to believe they're not, compare the numbers.

 

But that site doesn't carry over the numbers year to year.

[the_Greatest]

If the numbers on this site are accurate, and there's no reason to believe they're not, compare the numbers.

 

But that site doesn't carry over the numbers year to year.

 

I deleted the post.

 

The numbers seem odd to me, and they also note those numbers include re releases. Didn't see that at first.

http://www.boxofficereport.com/database/1965.shtml

[joe_collector]

That site is totally up. None of the numbers make any sense.

 

Check the 1997 numbers (http://www.boxofficereport.com/database/1997.shtml), it says that JP2 made $130 million (released May) in 1997, when it did $141 million in 2 weeks.

[Subliminal]

There hasn't been that much inflation.

 

Yes there has. Tickets are 50% more expensive than they were 10 years ago, and close to 100% more expensive than they were 20 years ago. That adds up to a signifcant adjustment that needs to be made before we can compare box office numbers.

 

I wonder how long before they start including pop and popcorn sales in the figures?

[the_Greatest]

That site is totally up. None of the numbers make any sense.

 

Check the 1997 numbers (http://www.boxofficereport.com/database/1997.shtml), it says that JP2 made $130 million (released May) in 1997, when it did $141 million in 2 weeks.

 

The numbers surprised me at first, because my gut instinct was that a re release probably did 5-10% absolute tops of an original release.

There just is no reference I can find.

Mojo doesn't go back far enough.

 

[nearmint]

But I remember reading that Star Wars was the only one to make *substantially* more in the re-releases.

 

Only 20M of GWTW's 200M unadjusted gross is from its initial release. The other 90% came from re-releases, which occurred every 7-8 years throughout the 40s, 50s & 60s.

[Crowzilla]

That site is totally up. None of the numbers make any sense.

 

Check the 1997 numbers (http://www.boxofficereport.com/database/1997.shtml), it says that JP2 made $130 million (released May) in 1997, when it did $141 million in 2 weeks.

 

JC, they are quoting the numbers a little differently than we are used to seeing.

 

"In the earlier days of box office tracking, studio revenue (also commonly referred to as "Theatrical Rentals") marked the accepted unit of measure. Four our purposes, "Studio Revenue" refers to the portion of the total domestic gross that goes back to the distributor & producers, and usually ranges from 40 - 65% of the total domestic box office gross for the time period in question."

 

As for re-releases not making up more than 5-10% of total, that is definitely untrue - look at Mojo's statement that nearly $120Mil of Snow White's money came from 1983 to present.

Star Wars is going to be really hard to qualify, as when do you cut-off first release from re-release (when it was re-released in 78, some theaters hadn't stopped showing it yet), but the figure I usually see thrown around is $270Mil (and that's after playing at a peak of less than 1000 screens). E.T. was definitely the first movie to cross the $300Mil barrier in it's first release.

 

[Aman619]

But every day, movies become more front-loaded, open in more theaters, have more early showings, etc. so that these "new records" mean virtually nothing.

 

this statement contains three terms widely used as synonomous, but subtly different.

Theatres

Screens

Showings

 

Theatre counts are each different theatre a film plays in, regardless of how many times the film shows. Screens refer to any individual screen the film is shown on, as in 2 screens out of the 10 in a tenplex. and Showings means how many of the possible showtimes on each screen a particular film is shown. Nowadays a screen's daily showtimes can be split between three different films. Some films play only once per screen per day... evenings versus afternoons, say.

 

So theatre counts, screen conts and even showings are nowadays not so easy to compare aples to apples. Studios arent always playing games to beat another films totals, but more chasing every available dollar. by getting the film shown as often as possible given the various physical locations out there.

[the_Greatest]

That site is totally up. None of the numbers make any sense.

 

Check the 1997 numbers (http://www.boxofficereport.com/database/1997.shtml), it says that JP2 made $130 million (released May) in 1997, when it did $141 million in 2 weeks.

 

 

As for re-releases not making up more than 5-10% of total, that is definitely untrue - look at Mojo's statement that nearly $120Mil of Snow White's money came from 1983 to present.

 

 

I should have qualified that. I was referring more to the 60's and 70's releases I was more familiar with.

Gone with the Wind was a whole different story, which this guy seems to have researched Ad Nauseum. Adjusted Top 300 or so movies and why

 

I'm almost positive Jaws made about $240 in its first run and another $20 in re release.

[Subliminal]

Anyone want to take a guess (or make a poll) on what the opening weekend take for Dark Knight is going to be?

 

My guess is $162 Million.

 

 

[Crowzilla]

I should have qualified that. I was referring more to the 60's and 70's releases I was more familiar with.

Gone with the Wind was a whole different story, which this guy seems to have researched Ad Nauseum. Adjusted Top 300 or so movies and why

 

Reading that report and the mention of Rocky Horror made me think of one movie we're forgetting that is Always left off the top box-office pictures, but is most likely at least a top-15 film: Deep Throat.

[sterlingcomics]

i believe that's a one day record

 

At a record number of theaters, and at record high ticket prices...

 

Don't get me wrong, this looks like a great movie, but all this box office BS is stupid, as each new manufactured "record" means less and less.

 

Kinda like the latest "highest census" copy on your favorite comic.

[kimik]

Who cares. Personally, I am just happy that comic based movies (even the Hulk and DD) are doing well at the box office as it means that more will be produced. With CGI finally catching up, I think that execs are realizing now that comic books represent a huge built in fanbase to target. In addition, acting in a comic based movie appears to be considered "sexy" by a lot of A list talent, writers, directors and producers so this will hopefully ensure a quality product.

 

Looking ahead to next year, I hope that the Watchmen is a smashing success for WB so they finally loosen things up a bit and go after more DCU movies. The best thing for the hobby as a whole is to have a healthy slate of successful films based the odd indie based flick to bring variety.. (thumbs u

[EastEnd]

Keep in mind those listed figures are for DOMESTIC box office and don't include international. It's not uncommon for a film today to gross more overseas than in the US. That wasn't the case years ago.

[tth2]

I should have qualified that. I was referring more to the 60's and 70's releases I was more familiar with.

Gone with the Wind was a whole different story, which this guy seems to have researched Ad Nauseum. Adjusted Top 300 or so movies and why

 

Reading that report and the mention of Rocky Horror made me think of one movie we're forgetting that is Always left off the top box-office pictures, but is most likely at least a top-15 film: Deep Throat.

Good point. It's hard to believe today that a few porn movies actually had mainstream levels of exposure back in the day, namely Deep Throat and Devil in Miss Jones. I also remember going to see Heaven Can Wait in a multiplex in a suburb in northern Virginia and Misty Beethoven was running in one of the theatres in the same multiplex, which would be pretty inconceivable today. Actually, I seem to recall that Misty Beethoven ended up running for YEARS in that same theatre, which always struck me as a bit bizarre.

[the_Greatest]

I should have qualified that. I was referring more to the 60's and 70's releases I was more familiar with.

Gone with the Wind was a whole different story, which this guy seems to have researched Ad Nauseum. Adjusted Top 300 or so movies and why

 

Reading that report and the mention of Rocky Horror made me think of one movie we're forgetting that is Always left off the top box-office pictures, but is most likely at least a top-15 film: Deep Throat.

Good point. It's hard to believe today that a few porn movies actually had mainstream levels of exposure back in the day, namely Deep Throat and Devil in Miss Jones. I also remember going to see Heaven Can Wait in a multiplex in a suburb in northern Virginia and Misty Beethoven was running in one of the theatres in the same multiplex, which would be pretty inconceivable today. Actually, I seem to recall that Misty Beethoven ended up running for YEARS in that same theatre, which always struck me as a bit bizarre.

 

It really would have been scary if Jaws and Deep Throat were playing side by side.