New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

Ahhhh! It's creepy CGI Pitt!

David Mumpower: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the high profile Paramount release featuring Brad Pitt, earned $27.2 million over the weekend and has already made $39.0 million in four days. How impressed are you by this result?

Scott Lumley: It's impressive, and from what I've heard it's going to have some long, long legs. I don't think Titanic or Dark Knight have a lot to worry about, but this one could have significant impact. I shudder to think how well this film could be doing if there had been some proper trailers made for it, because every one I saw did not move me to see this film at all.

Joel Corcoran: It's pretty impressive actually. Thoughtful, creative movies like Benjamin Button rarely do well around the holidays, so to see it at least in the same league as more traditional fare - Marley & Me and Bedtime Stories - is impressive enough. Yes, it stars Brad Pitt who is usually a box office draw, but this is not the traditional "Brad Pitt vehicle" like Ocean's Eleven or Mr. & Mrs. Smith. On a reported $150 million budget, it'll have a tough time making a profit strictly at the box office, but it should do well enough in DVD sales to be more than profitable.

Sean Collier: I agree - it's hard to figure out exactly how this film drew people in. The marketing was so slight, it bordered on subliminal, Brad Pitt is a draw but not a knockout, and the film certainly seemed tough, especially for casual moviegoers. If anything, I'd credit buzz and pre-release hype (I've been hearing about this one for about nine months now,) as well as the look of the film, which had a certain appeal.





Reagen Sulewski: Yeah, this was always a little bit of a wildcard - it had a feel of a film that could potential be the one that people felt like they were being told to care about but that just didn't register (in retrospect, that was Seven Pounds this year). Give Pitt a lot of the credit, but having a beautifully advertised film with a unique hook sure didn't hurt.

Jim Van Nest: While most movie goers pay little to no attention to reviews, there are two cases where Joe the Movie Goer will pay attention. When the reviews are monumentally bad and when the reviews are overwhelmingly good. I think the fact that I've yet to see a negative review for this film helps reach some people who may not otherwise have checked it out. It's a case where people think, "Everyone is raving about this movie. Maybe I should see it."

Daron Aldridge: I am pretty impressed because of the limitations of its running time that it was able to keep pace with Bedtime Stories. The TV commercials didn't do a lot to convince me to see it but given its regular comparison to Forrest Gump in scope and storytelling, a 30 second commercial probably isn't doing it justice. But that $150 million budget is a scary obstacle to overcome. It will need the support of Oscar to come close to breaking even. Maybe those Aniston interviews referencing Pitt, unintentionally helped as well.

Continued:       1       2       3       4       5       6