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Edwin Davies: I thought this movie had been released quite some time ago (its ridiculously long release schedule would explain that) so "surprised" would be the best way to characterize my initial feelings about it. Beyond that, I made a bit more than I would have thought given how little advertising there has been for it; if Bradley Cooper and Renee Zellweger had been out on the talk-show circuit selling this movie, I think it'd probably had made a good deal more, but I think they may have forgotten that they made it.

If a horror movie opens in theaters, and no one goes...

Kim Hollis: Let Me In, the well-regarded horror remake of a popular but little-seen Swedish film, made $5.1 million over the weekend. Why was Overture Films not able to deliver a stronger box office result?

Brett Beach: Horror is indeed the critic-proofiest of genres - generally meaning no matter how bad the reviews, people will still show up - and Let Me In shows (along with say, Drag Me to Hell) the flip side of this: how critical hosannas can't help push a horror film past a certain point unless there is a Blair Witch/Paranormal Activity type hook. I think there were other factors as well: It is a serious horror film (no tongue anywhere in its cheek); fans of Let the Right One In were probably suspicious of its merits and/or if they heard it was a slavishly faithful remake, wondered why they should spend dollars in the theater this time around. Maybe people want their vampires chaste and abstinent (Twilight) or having nothing but hot dirty sex (True Blood) and a tale of two lonely youngsters - well, one at least - who are definitely not having sex but are trapped in a tragedy and not a melodrama, isn't either party's cup of tea (er, blood).





Josh Spiegel: As much as I'm skeptical of this film (yep, I'm one of those who love Let The Right One In and don't know why this film should exist), I'm sad that it did this badly. I'm not exactly surprised - I think if this movie had made $15 million over the weekend, it'd be shocking - but disappointed. The filmmakers clearly have their hearts in the right place, and there was some marketing for the film, but the solid reviews weren't enough to sell the film on (nor was Hit-Girl).

Matthew Huntley: Let the Right One was praised by critics and well-liked by those who saw it, but, as Kim said, it was hardly seen. So right away, we know the original version wasn't going to play a major role in any mass audience deciding to see the remake (how can it when the audience doesn't know the original exists?). And because the ads for Let Me In don't clearly state the little girl is a vampire, many people who saw the (limited) advertising were probably confused by who (or what) the little girl is. When you combine unawareness with nebulous marketing, the result is never strong, and, unfortunately, Let Me In is an example of this. I think its box-office failure is mostly cut and dry.

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