Monday Morning Quarterback Part II

By BOP Staff

June 14, 2011

He's taking his talents to Disney World!

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Who names their kid Judy these days anyway?

Kim Hollis: Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer opened to $6.1 million. Should Relativity be pleased with this result for such an unheralded property?

Max Braden: I think I saw more advertising for this than for Super 8 in the last week. The most recent comparison I can think of are the two Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies, which opened at three to four times what Bummer just did. On the other hand this is a similar sized opening to Nanny McPhee and other family-friendly animated films in the last few years. I'd call it a wash, I guess.

Matthew Huntley: To me, it's sort of a no-brainer this movie opened so poorly. For one thing, the trailers and advertising were just plain obnoxious and to parents/adults, the whole experience probably seemed like a headache waiting to happen, which is why they opted not to take their kids to it. Still, kids are entitled to movies too, and I'm sure really little ones will find it funny and appealing. But the trick is convincing adults to take them, and that just didn't happen this weekend.

Relativity shouldn't be too bummed out, though, as the movie cost under $20 million to produce and it will likely see the bulk of this made up on the home market. But plans to turn the other books in the series into feature films have probably all been scratched.

Jason Lee: I am not a girl. I don't have a daughter. I don't have a niece (within driving distance). I am not friends with any couple that has a daughter/niece-within-driving-distance. Relativity wasn't going to get my money, and I'm betting that Relativity should have known that they weren't going to get too many people's money outside of the four categories I've listed. As such, $6.1 million for a $20 mil budgeted film with home video still to come seems like a moderate win to me.




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Edwin Davies: I imagine that Relativity would have hoped for a bit more given the popularity of the books, but considering how horrible the film looks (and, based on the reviews, is) and the knowledge that all the kids who love the books will probably bug their parents until they buy it for them on DVD, I can see this one eventually becoming a win for them. Not an unequivocal win, but a win.

Reagen Sulewski: It's Nancy Drew and Ramona and Beezus and Harriet the Spy all over again. Boys won't go to movies with female protagonists, and that's unfortunate, but it's the way it is. The best you can hope for is to keep the budget low and make your money on ancillary sales.

Brett Beach: To follow through on Reagan's mentioning Nancy Drew and Ramona and Beezus, the fact that it made fairly close to what both of those (far more pedigreed literary sources) did opening weekend should be as much a cause for Relativity to mildly celebrate as to suggest that$ 6-7 million may be the breaking point for a project such as this. Although the true research may lie in determining how many men of a certain age went who just wanted to see Roller Girl play the wacky aunt (Heather Graham, the next stage of your career has begun.)

David Mumpower: Brett and Reagen are absolutely correct in that Beezus and Ramona (the title is reversed for the book) was published in 1955; the initial Judy Moody book was released in 2000. Ramona and Beezus opened to $7.8 million and we should also factor in that this was aided by the presence of Selena Gomez, one of Disney's most popular stars. Judy Moody's primary "draw" is Rollergirl and this is an *ahem* slightly different part from Boogie Nights for Ms. Graham. She can't guarantee a second episode of a television series, much less enhance opening weekend box office. It'll get lost due to the difference in scale but relative to reasonable expectations, Judy Moody is a much better opening weekend performer than Super 8 in my estimation.


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