Secretariat...shows stamina in theaters

[Jasonm921]

Forget reviews and comments about the movie itself from us the horse players . The staying power of this movie is remarkable. Notice how it is running neck and neck (pun intended) with Jackass and The Network in current box office numbers. That is pretty impressive and Disney has to be thrilled with it. Word of mouth has to be pretty strong for it to be doing that. For that....the movie has to be commended.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/movie/box_office.php

[BluegrassProf]

Hmm...perhaps we should take another look at those numbers. :ThmbUp:

Let's use Jackass as a basis of comparison, since it's right there (and equally ridiculous a film...ha! Apologies...):

Secretariat has been in the theater for seven weeks now, grossing a total of of $54.7M. Jackass, which has run for a week less than the former, has grossed $114.6M - more than twice Secretariat's sum.

Also keep in mind the number of theaters showing each film: Jackass is showing in 1607 theaters; Secretariat is showing in 2019, 412 more theaters than the former. This means that not only has Secretariat grossed less since each film's respective release, but that although the two films made $2.2M each this past weekend, Jackass did so with several hundred fewer theaters.

And again - this is ever-lovin' Jackass we're talking about. Beacon of cinemographic integrity, that.

Secretariat is likely doomed to an afterlife alongside Racing Stripes. Which is just fine and dandy, but perhaps not much a cause for cheers... ;)

[tzipi]

Secretariat is on 1,000 more screens(Rotten tomatoes) than Social and over 400 more than Jackass right now. "Impressive"? C'mon, how can you even compare them? Their returns are way above Secretariats. Sec opened up on over 3,000(way above everyother movie) screens for the first month and did way less. Disney spent 35-40 million on film budget and a TON more on advertising. Disneys advertising money was insane, always is. This was NOT the return they were looking for. Seabiscuit came out in the summmer blockbuster session and was one of the top movies. I thought Secretariat was ok but they could've done it better like Seabiscuit. Basically what I'm saying is, I wish Disney didn't do it.
Seabiscuit, which opened on way less screens, opened in July and ran till November and took in over 120 million. That's was great. Dont see stamina at all here with Disneys movie.

[JustRalph]

55 Million to make Sec, over 20 million in promotion

Still has a little ways to go before it breaks even

kinda like me playing the ponies tonight

[Jasonm921]

55 Million to make Sec, over 20 million in promotion

Still has a little ways to go before it breaks even

kinda like me playing the ponies tonight


35 Million was the budget. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2010/10/studio-math-101-40-million-is-new-budget-ceiling-for-hollywood-dramas-.html

Seabiscut cost 87 million to make and made 120 million. Do week to week comparisons and notice how the movie stays consistent. The number of theaters is irrelevant. The total revenue is what matters in the end.

Like it or not Jackass is as Americana as apple pie. That is the society we live in.

[Jasonm921]

Bluegrass...examine these numbers. 57 percent earned over cost for Secretariat against Seabiscuit's 38 percent. Promotion is a variable that is used in all movies. But straight box office....Secretariat did just fine. With DVD sales and digital downloads around the corner...I don't think it is the failure that this Board thinks it was going to be after the first weekend. This movie was not made for horse players. Racing movies are hard for horse people to watch just like boxing movies are impossible to watch for die hard fight fans. It just never comes together correctly. One thing ...all the "horse people" that I know who saw the movie all did so in the first two weeks. So I'm assumingthat "outsiders" are the one fueling this steady stream of revenue in the last few weeks. Hopefully a few of them make their way to the track and get hooked like we are.

[PaceAdvantage]

I don't know if anyone thought it would be a failure...I think it was more the fact that people were surprised with that rather lackluster opening given the pre-release hype and advertising and subject matter...

[BluegrassProf]

35 Million was the budget. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2010/10/studio-math-101-40-million-is-new-budget-ceiling-for-hollywood-dramas-.html

Seabiscut cost 87 million to make and made 120 million. Do week to week comparisons and notice how the movie stays consistent. The number of theaters is irrelevant. The total revenue is what matters in the end.

Like it or not Jackass is as Americana as apple pie. That is the society we live in.So it's almost breaking even...after a 7-week run, and presumably with a surprisingly miniscule - relatively-speaking, knowing the co. behind the flick - budget of around $55M (production budget plus approximated promotional costs, using numbers from each of you supra). Hardly the hallmark of a coming classic... ;) But hey, that's ok! I don't think hopes were riding particularly high after opening week.

And PA is exactly right: certainly no failure here. Heck, at least people are still going to watch a racing film...more power to 'em! :ThmbUp:

The number of theaters is indeed [somewhat] irrelevant with respect to how much the company makes on its investment, at least on the grander scale. However - and this is an important "however" - it does make a difference when trying to understand how strong the reception of a film has been. The more theaters per quantity of gross, the weaker the response. More empty seats in more theaters to generate like profits. Fairly straightforward.

If the numbers stay consistent, and those numbers are somewhat unimpressive, it's a bit less encouraging than one might hope. Secretariat opened without much of a bang, and response seems to be consistently lukewarm - it's a shame, but it's not turning heads quite as strongly as that inevitable comparative nemesis, Seabiscuit. Personally, I find the outcome unsurprising, but that's totally my subjective take.

Regarding its current competition: I'd probably argue that it's a bit of a stretch to call Jackass "Americana" - sure, it's precisely what appeals to what some people insist the "average" white American male is into, but in truth that product caters to a very specific segment of the public at large (head to your local Walmart to see that segment out mingling amongst regular people, or to just about any high school in the country...fortunately, they can afford to head to the theater to pay extra for high-larious self-deprication).

Personally, if a racing film is to make a giant splash, I'd hope the film ends up being just FANTASTIC...something that captures the grandeur of the sport; I happen to think that Sec's story has that in spades, but sadly, I find the film lacking. Sad, sure, but so it goes.

Perhaps the Dr. Fager story will be more to my liking.

*badoom-crash!*

[JustRalph]

you're right jason..... I read it wrong..... mea culpa

http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=secretariat.htm

[Jasonm921]

If that colt sired by that teaser stallion wins today they could make a straight to Cinemax film based on him.