Weekend B.O. Sept. 14-16 (The Two Paul Andersons Double Punch)

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• willie dynamite | September 17, 2012 12:08 PMReply

  I'm a huge P.T. Anderson fan and have been since Hard 8. He is definitely one of the best directors of our era but watching the Master is a long, brutal, experience comparable to hazing. I don't care what any critic or fanboy says.

• CareyCarey | September 16, 2012 5:11 PMReply

  Sergio, $146,000 per screen is truly remarkable. If we consider each seat at $12.00 per seat, we're talking over TWELVE THOUSAND people per screen. How big were those theaters?!!? Even if the movie was shown 6 times throughout the day, that's a huge seating capacity. I have to question those numbers.

• Charles Judson | September 16, 2012 7:38 PM

  Paul T. Anderson is a filmmaker who has a following that can command that kind of pull. Even before the films came out in 2007 there was a rivalry that sprung up between Coen Brothers and Anderson fans on who would have the better film, Coens with NO COUNTRY or Anderson with THERE WILL BE BLOOD. Since the script leaked out around 2010 there's been a build up for THE MASTER and that really took off when Anderson did sneak peaks in LA and Chicago BEFORE he had taken the film to any major festivals. For his fans and hardcore cinephiles, it set off a chain reaction. It also helps that Anderson hasn't had a film in 5 years. He's become a Kubrick level filmmaker. http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/weekends/theateravg.htm

• CareyCarey | September 16, 2012 7:15 PM

  Charles, we were posting at the same time. I was doing the math. Regardless of how we come to the final figure, $146, 000 divided by 12 (the cost of the seat) equals 12,000 butts -- on a weekend -- per theater. So basically, I didn't know this movie could draw those numbers, or had the pull to reserve that many screens (in each theater) and time-slots. But to say it's not hard to get $150k per theater... might be... you know, minimizing a larger issue. But yes, I agree, I can safely assume many aspiring filmmakers put there cart before their horse. They don't envision the entire process before making their film.

• CareyCarey | September 16, 2012 6:50 PM

  Yeah Sergio, I'd have to do the math but my questions remain. Mind you, my biggest concern, as I said, was the size of the theaters and their seating capacity. Now I know "per screen" does not mean one screen, however, we're still talking 12,000 people at each theater! But I have to say, before this posting, I'd never heard of The Master, so it's highly possible ( as you said) a lot of people watch these films. In respect to Precious, considering it's backers (Tyler & Oprah) and how it was marketed and it's intended audience, I can see it drawing huge crowds when it first opened. In so many ways we are starving for black entertainment. So any time we are able to see something that suggests new and exciting with a hint of "quality"... with black folks in it, WE ARE THERE with money in our hands. Anyway, 12,000 people at one theater still has me shaking my head.

• Charles Judson | September 16, 2012 6:48 PM

  @Carey Averaging 800 people times 5 showings at $12 per person over 3 days comes out to be $144k. You spread that out to 2 to 3 screens per theater and that's roughly 11 showings per theater day for 3 days. AMC Loews is showing THE MASTER 8 times, Angelika 9 and Village East is showing it 10 on just a Monday alone. Some of the showings are starting at 10:30am and as with Blockbusters, those screening times could be happening in multiple theaters. Especially when a theater can interlock multiple houses to screen from the same print. So it's not hard to get $150k. I highly encourage filmmakers who are self distributing or going to a distributor learn to dig into these numbers. We get hit up every year by someone who wants to "help" our filmmakers get distribution. They've usually setup some kind of service deal with some theater chain. When I can't get into even this rudimentary level of detail, not to mention even get a basic marketing and social media plan other than we "leverage Facebook and Twitter to lower marketing costs", I walk away or delete the emails immediately.

• sergio | September 16, 2012 5:22 PM

  P.S. Precious grossed about $104,000 per screen when it first opened in 18 theaters. Do you question those numbers? And also I made a mistake Moonrise Kingdom grossed around $130,00 per screen when it opened, not $43,000 per screen. I've corrected that in the piece

• sergio | September 16, 2012 5:14 PM

  I just report the numbers. Anyone can interpret them any way they want

• FilmGuy | September 16, 2012 1:41 PMReply

  Are you kidding? Resident Evil fandom is so effing high it's ridic. Plus, 'The Master' has been hyped in film circles all year! Who wouldn't want to see the follow effort from the dude who made 'There Will Be Blood'?! The theaters were freaking sold out, six showings ahead of time!!!!

• Ava | September 16, 2012 5:40 PM

  I can name at least one group of people who don't want to see The Master--the Scientologists (LOL). They'd been holding their tongues until now but I noticed some weird comments surreptitiously placed on some sites here and there in the comments section. I guess they don't want to risk promoting the movie by outright criticism-- oops, since it's not supposed to be about Scientology and all...