Monday Morning Quarterback Part III
By BOP Staff
August 24, 2011
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Kim Hollis: One Day, the Anne Hathaway project from An Education director Lone Scherfig, opened to $5.1 million and did about as well as the other three new releases in terms of per location average. What do you take from this result?
Brett Beach: And here we have the "'anti-The Help": An adaptation of a best-selling novel that opens to as dreadful reviews as two of the other three openers this weekend, sent out into a moderate amount of theaters by a smaller studio (instead of Disney). If The Help wasn't dominating discussions, raising debates and working its way up to #1, this may have opened in the $9 to $10 million mark. I have a feeling this is going to be a small film with only so-so word-of-mouth that does not grow perceptibly and will probably peter out at around $20 million. I was excited all summer to see this until I saw the trailer for the first time three weeks ago, and read the mostly scathing critical reaction.
Reagen Sulewski: Adding on to Brett's point, it didn't help (again, sorry) that there was virtually no ad support for this that I saw - which seems insane when they've got the next Catwoman in their film, and possibly the next Sandra Bullock to boot. To me, this seemed more like something that was being given a token North American release, with the bulk of the support expected to come from UK audiences. For all the American stars you can throw in a film, if they're speaking in a British accent, it's really tough to get US audiences to care.
Max Braden: One Day offered an Anne Hathaway film without the titillation of Love and Other Drugs, the popcorn commercialism of Bride Wars, the Oscar bait of Rachel Getting Married, and the dressing of Becoming Jane. So, we're supposed to rush to see her use a pointless accent on a guy we don't recognize in some unrequited romance plot? Great, here's my 11 dollars! I imagine the people who saw this were couples in denial of their impending breakups. The trio of movies this weekend - Conan, Fright Night, and One Day - really seemed to succeed only with the most diehard audiences.
Edwin Davies: As a Brit, I can say that the idea that One Day is receiving at best a token release in the U.S. is pretty accurate, because over here the ads for it have been pretty omnipresent for weeks and weeks now. The book's been something of a phenomenon here, and there has been a lot of anticipation building for its release in the last couple of months. Whether or not that translates into a big success is still yet to be seen, but the fact that this was released in late August suggests that the studio had no faith in it as an Oscar contender and considers the U.S. box office to be a sideshow to what it will do elsewhere. Even so, its budget of $15 million is pretty modest, so even if it peters out in the low teens it won't be the biggest loss in the world.
Me-ow.
Kim Hollis: Following up on our Emma Stone discussion last week, what do you think of Anne Hathaway's current career status? How big a bump do you expect her to get from The Dark Knight Rises?
Brett Beach: Last week, I talked about the possibility that Stone could have a Reese Witherspoon 2001-2002 run in her at some point in the future. I love Anne Hathaway, have seen both Princess Diaries (once) and Bride Wars (2x!) because of Anne Hathaway, but one of the things I like about her is that she maintains an element of aloofness and (for lack of a better phrase) cold-fishedness about her. (For best example in a hit film, see Get Smart). I think this makes her a unique actress and one that a lot of actors and directors would like to work with, but I also think it would keep her from starring in the kind of comedy/romantic comedy that Witherspoon or Stone could turn into a mega hit. I think her career is well-enough established now that The Dark Knight Rises won't really do much for her, as hit or bomb (or about as much as The Dark Knight did for Maggie Gyllenhaal or Avatar for Sam Worthington). I realize that this all sounds like very back-handed complimenting of Hathaway, but I don't mean it that way.
Max Braden: I agree with Brett in how from at least an audience's perspective the Batman franchise isn't a boost to its female cast members. It's not the type of role I think her fans will remember her for. Of course, when you're talking career, you also have to consider that actors don't have an audience until someone offers them a role, and having Batman on your resume at least serves to say that you were trusted to be part of a huge budget before. I think her career got the biggest recent boost from her hosting ("cohosting", but let's be honest, Franco was a sidekick) the Oscar ceremony. I don't think she has any problem selling herself as a actress with a range that includes dark roles to comedy roles. The only other actress in her age that I can think of providing that kind of competition is Natalie Portman.
Jason Lee: I think Hathaway will get some measure of notoriety from playing such an iconic comic book character, but her career won't get any significant boost. Let's be real here: Hathaway is an attractive, likable, charismatic girl. She'll be a boon to romcoms, dramas, comedies and lighthearted fare. She will have a hard time, I'd imagine, serving as the key draw on an action movie or summer blockbuster (as opposed to, for example, Angelina Jolie). As such, The Dark Knight Rises won't open up any doors for Hathaway that aren't open already.
David Mumpower: I completely disagree with the supposition that she will not get a bump from The Dark Knight Rises. The premise that women do not get enhanced awareness from these films is predicated upon the fact that Katie Holmes and Maggie Gyllenhaal have portrayed characters so unimportant in Batman lore that only super-nerds could identify them. Catwoman is iconic. There is a reason why obscure actresses from the 1960s still have fan bases to this day. When Hathaway dies, her obituary will include the fact that she played Catwoman. It's an entirely different scale from Rachel Dawes. I also disagree with Brett's assessment of her lacking warmth in Get Smart. As a huge fan of Barbara Feldon's work in the original, I was blown away by how much Hathaway channels her in the remake. We have focused so much recently on all of the bad remakes that showed no cohesion with their predecessors. Get Smart is the blueprint example of how to get everything right in terms of tone and style and Hathaway is the glue of that. With regards to her specific career status, she is 28-years-old, has been nominated for an Oscar, has hosted The Oscars, and she works constantly. She is having the type of career every would-be actress dreams about.
Kim Hollis: I agree that Catwoman is completely different than playing Rachel Dawes. She's playing one of the key characters in the Batman universe rather than just "a girl." Seriously, Rachel Dawes is so disposable that she was both re-cast and killed off. Catwoman is completely different. I already think that she's one of the more high-profile actresses working at the moment. The Dark Knight Rises just adds to that status.