Posted by ginnybell37 at ac934d0f.ipt.aol.com on August 23, 2003 at 14:23:12:
In Reply to: Here's what's wrong with the numbers in this poll posted by Kevin on August 23, 2003 at 11:58:44:
: : Current voting taken from the Yahoo Upcoming Movies Site.
:
: : Jason Lee 28% (1650 votes)
: Okay, so these 1650 people pay to go see "Fletch Won" with Jason Lee (I'd be one of them),
: and the movie has an opening box office weekend of about $16,500 - which makes "Gigli"
: look like a hit by comparison.
: The problem with any interne polling is how marginalized the studios feel the 'net audience
: is. For example, if the studios took the 'net audience seriously, Bruce Campbell would be
: playing Fletch. And Superman. And he'd be in the new "Star Wars" flicks. And every other
: movie.
: The fact of the matter is, no matter how vast the 'net audience may seem, it's actually only a
: small percentage of the potential audience a movie has when released into the marketplace
: (I mean, based on this site, you'd imagine our flicks would gross one hundred million bucks;
: but alas, we hit thirty and it's all over). There are a world of folks out there who, believe it
: or not, have never heard of Lee. But they've heard of Will Smith, Ben Affleck, etc, etc. And
: while having a big name in your picture is no guarantee the studio will even make its money
: back (witness the aforementioned much-maligned "Gigli"), historically, it's better insurance
: that the movie will earn, based on the following any particular actor has.
: So this polling stuff or signature campaigns (and internet signature campaigns are even
: more specious, because there are ways for one guy to stuff produce as many names as he
: can think up, if it's a name-only document) will mean very little to any studio, unless you
: can produce not just one, but TWO million unique, individual signatures with valid contact
: information of people who are willing to swear on the lives of their children that they will
: absolutely stay away from any "Fletch" movie WITHOUT Lee in it.
: Or, y'know, y'all could've went to see "A Guy Thing", or "Stealing Harvard" and powered them
: to blockbuster status.
: Regardless, there are 74,447 registered users at this site (some of whom are folks with
: multiple handles). So let's be generous and round that off to 60,000 folks who would kill or
: die to see Lee play "Fletch". Get all their signatures and info, and you've only got 940,000
: more people to get before you're halfway to making Harvey Weinstein MAYBE think twice
: about casting Lee.