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And Vivid Performers Don't Get Paid That Well

Kim Hollis: Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo fell a hefty 60% to $6 million this weekend. It has a running tally of $25.3 million after 10 days. Is this more, less or about what you had expected from the sequel to the Doogie Howser-obsessed BOP fave?

Pete Kilmer: Yeah. This movie will kill on DVD and on-demand.

Joel Corcoran: It's performing to expectations. At least it's performing to my expectations.

Kim Hollis: The sequel had almost made as much as the original after one weekend. I think we have to consider that an unqualified success.

David Mumpower: Let's address the elephant in the living room. John Cho and Kal Penn's asking prices to do this movie are not much more than you, the reader, would ask to be paid to star in a feature film. For that matter, Vivid porn stars might earn more per day than they did. The movie opened to $14.9 million. It had a production budget of $12 million prior to marketing. This is a best case scenario performance and this isn't even the release phase when it makes the body of its money. As Pete stated, DVD is where the money train is for Escape from Guantanamo Bay.

Pete Kilmer: Well, the first Harold and Kumar movie got Kal Penn's face out there to other casting directors as he's scored some nice roles on a couple of high profile TV shows (24, House). Also, a look at his IMDb profile has him in a bunch of straight to video movies, so he's gotten work. John Cho has just recently completed work on the new Star Trek movie as the new Mr. Sulu. If that movie hits, he's got work for the next 15 years. He's also been working steadily in small projects and roles. So, what I'm saying is that the Harold and Kumar movies really boosted their profiles quite a bit...and isn't that what an actor wants?

BOP Bets on the Skull

Kim Hollis: Our final topic for this week is simple. At this moment, do you expect Iron Man or Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to win the summer box office season? Why?

Joel Corcoran: The only thing that can derail the Indiana Jones juggernaut is a national disaster of epic proportions. Or Batman (The Dark Knight). Iron Man is a fantastic movie with a surprisingly good opening weekend. But I just don't see it withstanding the tidal wave of Indiana Jones fans (who are going to drag their kids in droves to the megaplex, kicking and screaming the entire way) or the combined might of Dark Knight fanboys and crying Heath Ledger fans who want to see him in a role that's already receiving rave reviews.

Reagen Sulewski: The Indiana Jones trailer got a curiously flat response when I saw it in a full theater, though that could just be the reserved Canadian audience (of course they yucked it up to the Zohan and Love Guru trailers, which made me want to open up my nerve gas canisters I carry around for just such an occasion, but I digress). That said, I still think it's a $300 million plus movie, and I'm not sure Iron Man will be quite able to reach that. It's a much closer game than it was two weeks ago however.

Kim Hollis: I think Indy wins in a walk. I'm not particularly worried about the trailers, as I just don't think it lends itself to that format very well. They're really just ramping up the marketing campaign right now, so people should be seriously excited by the time the long holiday weekend arrives. Also, since it has that long holiday weekend as its opening date, it's going to get some early inflation anyway.

Marty Doskins: I'll also go with Indiana Jones. Kim's point about the marketing is very important right now. On top of the usual trailers and commercials, the previous movies are being re-released on DVD. I already had the original DVD release and my kids have watched them. My son actually asked me if we were going to see the new film in theaters rather than waiting for the DVD. He hasn't asked about going to the theater in quite a while. The old films seem to hold up well with new audiences. Maybe it has something to do with not as much CGI being used for special effects?

David Mumpower: Indiana Jones will do to Iron Man what Mike Tyson did to Michael Spinks. This goes for opening weekend, domestic box office and worldwide receipts.

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