Posted by pika-jew at 216.98.228.142 on November 21, 1999 at 23:42:50:
In Reply to: Nov 19th-21st; Dogma's "dissapointing" 2nd weekend posted by MrSharma on November 21, 1999 at 19:50:51:
James Bond and Sleepy Hollow should have little effect on the fate of a dialogue-driven "faith" flick. Two totally different audiences. Dogma dropped 52% because it isn't a good film; in fact, it's quite the opposite. An exercise in poor pacing that really needed a visual director, better performers (Carlin did more acting with his eyebrows than the rest of the cast), and an editor with no ties to the material.
$4.1 mil isn't a bad gross, but I would be willing to hazard that a great deal of it came from View Askew fans who went for a second or third helping and likely drug a friend along. Drawing a new audience from here on out will be difficult for the film, in my opinion. Most people that I spoke to after seeing it on opening weekend were downright disappointed with the film from the moment the opening cards revealed a blatant rip-off of an old Robin Williams riff about the platypus. Needless to say, the talk around the proverbial water cooler Monday morning didn't entice others to plunk down their eight bucks.
Is a $30 mil final tally possible? Maybe, provided the same schmoes keep going. The third weekend grosses will be the most telling. If Dogma falls another fifty percent, then you can pretty much count that golden number out. Considerable rental bidness, though, should put the flick in the red.
As for Kevin kidnapping other director's for a crash course in how to position a camera to make a frame interesting...I'd rather see him develop his own style than cop somebody else's.
Of course, I'd also like to see Jay and Silent Bob in moth balls...
: Well, it did fall 52% according to estimates....but then again, what do you expect when for the FIRST time in history 2 films mint over $30 million.
: The rest of the chart (with the exception of one or two flicks) experienced heavy losses. But I would still keep the faifth with Dogma.
: Ok, it ain't gonna gross $100 million or anything (domestically, not all together - now there's a possibility) but if you look at mid-week sales--well, they're strong! Saturday saw an increase of around 31% in box office sales and who said $15.8 million in 10 days is bad? Aside from Pokemon, Dogma is the best performer from last week's bunch of flicks.
: But thanks to the double-whammy of Burton and Bond and then next weekend Woody and Arnie (Toy Story 2 and End of Days), Dogma is - pretty much - fucked. But I don't blame it on bad word-of-mouth, just bad luck. Remember, The Bone Collector experienced a moderate percentage drop last
: weekend (28%) and now it's down by 46%.
: I still think a $30-$35 million domestic final is possible. And, to be honest, that ain't bad goin' for a film that is playing in under 1,500 theatres.
: Though, I can't help but feel a different launch date and a bigger theatre count could have benifited the film a whole lot more.
: Adveritising was solid, though failing to be sleazy and play up the Damon/Affleck/Rock thing was a noticeable minus (hey, it's advertising!).
: But, look, I think the film looks great and will be first in line on December 26th 1999 to see it in the UK. At the end of the day, the film will be remembered a lot longer than how much money it makes.
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: And, Kevin, if you're reading this:
: Please, please, please! Kidnap Brian De Palma and Martin Scorsese and get some directing lessons off them, that way you won't be such an easy target for lazy critical slags.
: No offence, but from the clips and trailer, Dogma looks like an 80s B-flick.
: But hey, it's got Linda F. in and Salma H. so I suppose the visuals ain't dat bad.
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