Finally some good movie news for disney

[Bob O]

Disney's `Kill Bill, Vol. 2' Opens as No. 1 Movie (Update1)

April 18 (Bloomberg) -- Walt Disney Co.'s ``Kill Bill, Vol. 2,'' the Quentin Tarantino sequel about an assassin seeking vengeance against her former boss, opened as the top movie in the U.S. and Canada this weekend, selling $25.6 million in tickets.

Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.'s ``The Punisher,'' another revenge movie, this one about an FBI agent whose family was killed, opened in second place at $14 million, according to Exhibitor Relations Co., a box-office tracking company.

The ``Kill Bill'' franchise from Disney's Miramax studio may help the Burbank, California-based company recoup some of its losses from flops, including ``The Alamo,'' which has grossed $16.3 million in two weeks. Disney may write down as much as $80 million on the historical drama, Schwab Soundview analyst Jordan Rohan wrote in a note to clients last week.

``Kill Bill'' is a big hit for Miramax,'' said Brandon Gray, president of BoxOfficeMojo.com, in an interview. ``The effect on Disney is probably nil to slightly good. Miramax spent $55 million to make both movies, and they already turned a profit with `Volume One,' so it's all gravy from here on out.''

``Kill Bill, Vol. 2'' and last year's ``Kill Bill, Vol. 1'' star Uma Thurman as the assassin who is left for dead when her former employer and his gang kill everyone else at her wedding party. Director Tarantino, 41, also made ``Pulp Fiction,'' starring Thurman, in 1994.

The sequel made $3.5 million more in its opening weekend than ``Kill Bill, Vol. 1'' for the same period, Gray said.

``This suggests that there's a hard-core fan base that loved `Kill Bill,''' Gray said. ``Sequels tend to perform worse than (the first films) so it's fairly unprecedented for a movie like this to do so well.''

`The Punisher'

``The Punisher'' is based on a comic-book series published by Marvel Enterprises Inc. Thomas Jane stars as the agent who pursues a mobster played by John Travolta.

The comedy ``Johnson Family Vacation,'' from News Corp.'s Fox Searchlight Pictures, placed third again in its second week with receipts of $6.43 million. It stars Cedric the Entertainer as a man bringing his wife and children from California to a family reunion in Missouri.

Sony Corp.'s ``Hellboy,'' adapted from a comic-book series about a son of Satan who battles evil, had ticket sales of $5.7 million, falling to fourth from second place. It's taken in $50.4 million since debuting three weeks ago.

`Home on the Range'

Disney's ``Home on the Range'' rose one notch to fifth place with $5.4 million in its third week. The animated film, with the voices of Judy Dench, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Randy Quaid, is the story of cows that try to save their farm from foreclosure.

Time Warner Inc.'s ``Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed'' rose to sixth place from seventh at $5.14 million. The sequel based on the snack-craving cartoon dog features Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alicia Silverstone. Its four-week take is $72.2 million.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.'s ``Walking Tall'' fell to seventh from fifth with ticket sales of $4.6 million in its third week. It stars professional wrestler Dwayne ``The Rock'' Johnson as an Army Special Forces veteran fighting crime in his hometown.

``Ella Enchanted,'' a romantic comedy from Disney's Miramax Films that stars Anne Hathaway, rose to eighth from its debut last week in ninth with $4.42 million.

`Passion of the Christ'

Mel Gibson's ``The Passion of the Christ'' fell to ninth with sales of $4.19 million, after retaking the top spot over Easter weekend. The drama about the crucifixion, distributed by Newmarket Films, has brought in $360.9 million since it opened eight weeks ago, making it the seventh top-grossing film of all time, surpassing ``Jurassic Park,'' according to Exhibitor Relations.

Disney's ``The Alamo,'' about the 1836 Texas standoff against Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, sold $4.05 million, dropping to 10th from fourth.

Ticket sales for the top 12 releases fell 2.1 percent to $86.7 million from the year-ago weekend, Encino, California-based Exhibitor Relations said.

Disney won the weekend's largest share of the top 10 market with $39.4 million in sales, followed by Lions Gate with $14 million, News Corp. with $6.43 million, Sony with $5.70 million, Time Warner with $5.14 million, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer with $4.60 million and New Market with $4.19 million. Vivendi Universal SA and Viacom Inc. were the only companies with major Hollywood studios that failed to place a film in the top 10.

The weekend results are based on actual grosses for Friday and yesterday and estimates for today. The following chart contains figures provided by studios to Exhibitor Relations.

Rev Movie Weeks Avg/ Pct Total
($Mln) Screens Out Screen Chg ($Mln)
1. Kill Bill Vol. 2 $25.6 2,971 1 $8,605 -- 25.6
2. The Punisher 14.0 2,649 1 5,285 -- 14.0
3. Johnson Family Vac 6.43 1,326 2 4,845 -31 21.5
4. Hellboy 5.70 2,897 3 1,968 -47 50.4
5. Home on the Range 5.40 2,735 3 1,976 -33 37.7
6. Scooby Doo 2 5.14 2,810 4 1,827 -36 72.2
7. Walking Tall 4.60 2,444 3 1,882 -46 36.6
8. Ella Enchanted 4.42 1,939 2 2,278 -28 13.8
9. Passion of Christ 4.19 2,848 8 1,472 -72 360.9
10. The Alamo 4.05 2,609 2 1,553 -56 16.3

To contact the reporters on this story

 

[Planogirl]

I've been following up on the numbers today and it seems that people generally agree about the Disney movies.

People are saying that Kill Bill 2 will likely fall quickly. Of course, anything it makes now is just more profit since both movies were made at the same time.

Home on the Range is still doing mediocre numbers and The Alamo is a major flop unfortunately. The big surprise seems to be Ella Enchanted. This modest little film appears to be doing better than expected.

 

[mom2rb]

DH and I went to see Kill Bill on Sat. night. While we were there we found out that Ella Enchanted was sold out! On Sun. we took our kids to see Ella. We loved it! I hope word gets out what a great family movie this is.

 

[dcentity2000]

I just find it hard to grasp that "Disney" can be said in the same sentence as "Kill Bill" without the intermidiate words "is nothing like".

Is it me or does the notion that a company that promotes magic, dreams and happy little mice cracking innocent little jokes still has a hand in the production of a movie which saw the thick end of 100 people killed in 5 minutes in a pool of blood not sit quite right?

No matter how distant the two are from each other in the real world of business, it's still a pairing about as wierd as, say, Dustin Hoffman and the planet Jupiter viz: nothing you can figure out in the regular 3 dimensions.



Rich::

 

[wdwguide]

"Is it me or does the notion that a company that promotes magic, dreams and happy little mice cracking innocent little jokes still has a hand in the production of a movie which saw the thick end of 100 people killed in 5 minutes in a pool of blood not sit quite right?"

Well, Disney, under the Disney name, sells the illusion of magic and dreams, although they have gotten less good at promoting it since they more and more rely on (poorly) staged and scripted footage to tell prospective guests exactly what they are supposed to feel rather than just allowing guests to make up their own minds.

Under their other brands, they sell different products, and Miramax is one of them. Without some of these other brands, the Walt Disney Company would no longer exists, so in other words, to get to the "dreams and magic" you have to walk through a pool of blood first.

Disney separates its brands fairly well considering how bent on synergism they are - there is no sign of Kill Bill or Pulp Fiction or The Hand that Rocks the Cradle or a bunch of little kids on drugs screwing and giving each other HIV (Kids) in the theme parks or the Disney channel.

 

[Bob O]

I would agree with dcentity and its sad that Disney and eisner have to hope and pray Kill Bill 2, a disney made film(though some may hope by using some pxie dust they can scam people into beliving this isnt a disney film)makes boat loads of money to make up for the string of box office bombs like ladykillers/alamo/hildago/home on the range.
Years ago maybe one could pull the wool over people's eyes and have people think disney/miramax arent in bed with each other, but people can see thru this with the advent of ther internet and other forms of media people are well aware that the disney company is making movies that Walt never would have allowed his company to make. And this just sullies the disney name furthur!!