Scott Pilgrim film takes on Toronto!

[barrytron3030]

Well, I went and saw this on opening night and loved it. The Toronto crowd was raucous and enthusiastic. Unfortunately, the movie somewhat bombed at the box-office: $10.5 million. It's reported that the film's budget was $60 million. As much as I'd like to blame Sylvester Stallone for this one, I suppose the SPVW's poor showing is due to two things: [1] a lack of star-power in both the director and the cast, and [2] a core demographic that is miniscule in size. Jocks, frat boys and middle-aged men saw "The Expendables." Woman of all ages and their poor husbands/boyfriends saw "Eat, Pray, Love."

The movie should do well in the UK and Japanese markets. I'm curious to see how well the film did in Toronto alone. We should know by next week. Anyway, go and see the film, if only for seeing Toronto beautifully portrayed on screen and giggling at in-jokes.

 

[Parkdalian]

^The SARS t-shirt got a huge laugh at my showing.

It was great! Very smart, funny and sardonic - pretty Buffy-esque.

 

[Dan416]

It isn't in as many theatres as the bigger releases this week. But maybe it'll get some good world of mouth?

 

[Parkdalian]

It isn't in as many theatres as the bigger releases this week. But maybe it'll get some good world of mouth?

It has only 200 fewer theatres than Eat Pray Love:

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/

It's pretty hard going up against the wish-fullfillment fantasy of Eat, Pray, Love, but doing worse than a movie that has been out for five weeks is pretty bad. Movies generally lose about half their audiences between weekends, meaning this movie seems destined for a gross of $20 million or so unless something nutso happens. It looks like the movie is hitting "quirky indie territory", but its budget suggests that the studio had bigger expectations.

Things can change, obvs, but so far, the movie is proving the well-known fact that comic book nerds have no normal friends to recommend cool movies to.

 

[Tewder]

Anyway, go and see the film, if only for seeing Toronto beautifully portrayed and screen and giggling at in-jokes.

Actually I was a little disappointed in that there really wasn't much of Toronto to be seen at all that couldn't have been filmed on a set almost anywhere. I don't even think there was any overall skyline shot or some wider context shots. Aside from a brief glimpse of Honest Ed's and a couple of lightening-quick flashes of the CN Tower (if you blinked you would have missed them) you could really have been watching almost anywhere. Casa Loma probably got the most exposure in this sense. There were lots of Toronto-centric references and in-jokes to be sure which was cool.

As for the movie it was pretty good but I'm not really sure who it will appeal to aside from a very specific demographic of 14 year old boys, which did seem to constitute the majority of the thirty or so people in the Friday night showing I attended. The other major releases playing were sold out with line-ups forming and people being turned away. Oh well. This movie may not do well in its run but may go on to have a cult following whereas Eat, Love and whatever will probably be forgotten entirely after its initial DVD release.

 

[Dan416]

The showing I went to at Scotiabank on Saturday night was packed.

 

[Northern Light]

Anecdotally, the mid-Saturday show at Yonge/Eg was packed as well. Though, in a mid-sized auditorium, not a big one.

On over all box, at just over $3,700 per screen, it was the #4 film (I prefer this measure).

The overall North American number is low-ish, but certainly in Toronto I'm expecting it is WAY over this, and there will be additional screens next weekend. OF course this depends on if anything big is opening next weekend.

Too early to judge overall financial performance.

 

[barrytron3030]

I agree. It is too early to judge overall financial performance. I too think that this film will somewhat profit from strong word of mouth (although the studios likely expected strong word of mouth from its many early screenings) and repeat viewings. The film's performance over the next two weeks will be more telling. The Toronto market definitely turned out in droves to see this one. I really expected it to be a date movie too. Maybe it's true? Male nerds don't have many friends or girlfriends? I expect SPVW to have a strong life on DVD and its cult reputation will certainly grow. Expect this one to be viewed at Toronto Rep cinemas for years to come.

 

[Dan416]

Did I mention that Scott Pilgrim is the highest trending topic Worldwide right now? Higher than Inception, the Expendables.

 

[Second_in_pie]

I feel like this movie's going to get a lot of word of mouth exposure. I know of very little people who had heard of the movie before this week.

Also, IIRC, doesn't it not open in Britain till the 25th? I feel like it'll be a bigger hit there than the US.

 

[Parkdalian]

Did I mention that Scott Pilgrim is the highest trending topic Worldwide right now? Higher than Inception, the Expendables.

Twitter unfortunately doesn't equal the movie-viewing public. Eat, Pray, Love is getting a boost from Oprah. Oprah still matters more than Twitter.

No matter what happens, the film will be a success. It's already destined for cult status. And no movie really loses money anymore, what with licensing, DVD sales, foreign markets, etc.

But it is underperforming at the US box office - it's average per theatre is mediocre compared to the Expendables and Eat, Pray, Love. As barrytron first pointed out, both of those films have incredibly recognizable actors in them - actors that folks in the suburban midwest know and care about: Julia Roberts, Bruce Willis, Sly Stallone, etc. Unless you know the comics or have really paid attention to the marketing for SP, the film probably seems confusing: a guy in a band is also beating up people because he's dating some girl? Hunh? SP has an incredibly high concept, and a very youth-oriented, novel format that might put off older filmgoers. Even many UTers said they were only going because it featured Toronto.

The movie has a chance to build on word of mouth, but it's an uphill battle - pretty much 99% of movies see a significant drop in ticket sales from one weekend to the next. Its only hope to have a bumper box office is to attract the guys who went to see the Other Guys and the Expendables this week: dudes who like action movies.

But does this even matter? The shows and films that are most like SP - Buffy, Arrested Development, 30 Rock - have or had terrible audience numbers and high popularity among the Internet-saavy. This sorta makes me think Edgar Wright knew this and that's why they didn't go for a series of movies, and instead just packed it all in one.

 

[Parkdalian]

Actually I was a little disappointed in that there really wasn't much of Toronto to be seen at all that couldn't have been filmed on a set almost anywhere. I don't even think there was any overall skyline shot or some wider context shots. Aside from a brief glimpse of Honest Ed's and a couple of lightening-quick flashes of the CN Tower (if you blinked you would have missed them) you could really have been watching almost anywhere. Casa Loma probably got the most exposure in this sense. There were lots of Toronto-centric references and in-jokes to be sure which was cool.

There were sooo many Toronto visual references! The bus (I guess that's easier to film than a streetcar?) to Cabbagetown, the bay-and-gable homes, Lee's Palace, the Rockit, Sonic Boom, the Second Cup, etc. The moment where Lucas Lee punches Scott through the NY backdrop and the CN Tower pops through was a nice detail. Some of my favorite set pieces weren't included, like Ramona and Knives' fight in the Reference Library, but overall I was glad they didn't turn the movie into a "Visit Toronto's Landmarks" movie. The references are all organic and make sense.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Looking at the numbers it was a very soft weekend overall at the box office, but I still expected a little more from Scott Pilgrim given all the TV spots they've been bombarding TV with for the past three weeks. $35M for The Expendables is nothing to brag about.
The top 5:

 

[syn]

Well, I went and saw this on opening night and loved it. The Toronto crowd was raucous and enthusiastic. Unfortunately, the movie somewhat bombed at the box-office: $10.5 million. It's reported that the film's budget was $60 million. As much as I'd like to blame Sylvester Stallone for this one, I suppose the SPVW's poor showing is due to two things: [1] a lack of star-power in both the director and the cast, and [2] a core demographic that is miniscule in size. Jocks, frat boys and middle-aged men saw "The Expendables." Woman of all ages and their poor husbands/boyfriends saw "Eat, Pray, Love."

The movie should do well in the UK and Japanese markets. I'm curious to see how well the film did in Toronto alone. We should know by next week. Anyway, go and see the film, if only for seeing Toronto beautifully portrayed on screen and giggling at in-jokes.

Lack of star power is one issue, but it simply isn't a recognizable brand. Let's face it, the general viewing public enjoys watching the same thing they've seen a million times in the same settings. Without a big star, this isn't the kind of franchise that's going to pull in a lot of the general audience. Aside from relatively hard core comic book types, who really knows anything about Scott Pilgrim?

 

[grey]

^^^ A lot of you guys really underestimate the star-power of Michael Cera imo.

I don't even think there was any overall skyline shot or some wider context shots.

I counted several. My favourite was the huuuge skyline shot at the end of the second boss. It looked like that south-facing poster for the Shangri-La tower on University. I don't know how anyone could miss that.

As for the movie it was pretty good but I'm not really sure who it will appeal to aside from a very specific demographic of 14 year old boys

I don't want to say you're out of touch, but the whole Judd Apatow / Michael Cera / Jack Black / Seth Rogan / Steve Carell regime is extremely popular right now. People aren't going to watch this movie because it's based on a comic. They're going to see it because Michael Cera is in it.