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

Kim Hollis: Draft Day, the latest Kevin Costner comeback attempt, debuted with $9.8 million. What do you think of this result?

Edwin Davies: This is pretty middling compared to similar films, but then again it seems about as good as a Kevin Costner sports drama (that's not about sport) could do in 2014 - especially one that's more about the backstage antics, rather than the game itself. This seems firmly within Costner's wheelhouse, but I think the trailers failed to make it look particularly interesting (and, based on the reviews, the filmmakers failed to make it particularly good) in order to draw out anyone other than his fans or people who are super into inside baseball stuff about football.

Jason Barney: While this is not going to be around long, I think the general intent was to capitalize on the arrival of spring and the coming NFL draft. Last year, 42 did really well. In 2008 Leatherheads tried but really wasn't that popular. Sports related films are a difficult sell nowadays and they have to be done just right.

As for Costner and his recent activity on the big screen, hey, the guy is getting plenty of work. Sure the days of Robin Hood and Dances with Wolves are long behind him, but the amount time any actor spends "on top" is pretty limited. He is maintaining a run at the box office, and while limited, he is doing fine.

A $9 million opening might be a little weak against the $25 million budget. It will be interesting to see if Costner brings in any interest from overseas. I highly doubt the content is something many people from outside of the U.S. are going to want to see.

Matthew Huntley: I saw Draft Day this weekend and while it's far from perfect, it gets the job done and it honestly deserved a better opening than this. The problem, I think, lies not with the quality of the film but with the content. Like Jason said, sports-themed dramas, especially the behind-the-scenes ones, are a tough sell and not something a lot of moviegoers view as all that important. The movie should stick around long enough to cover is budget, but it will be a good long while before it shows a profit for the studio.

Max Braden: I've gotta say, every time I saw the Draft Day ad I felt like laughing at the ridiculousness of it. Costner already has a reputation of taking himself too seriously. Garner already has a reputation for not being taken seriously in anything she does. And I think there was a ceiling on this opening right from the start, no matter who was starring or when it was going to be released. As important as the draft is to sports fans, especially the millions of fantasy players who are consumed by the stress of the draft, it's boneheaded to try and Moneyball a drama out of it. It's just looking to be considered taking itself too seriously. (Unless of course you're Tom Cruise and have a romantic and underdog angle to the story, which helped Jerry Maguire earn $150 million way back in 1996). I think a topical movie like this could have nearly doubled this opening if they had taken a comedic approach along the lines of Major League.

Felix Quinonez: I think this is a fine opening. It's by no means great but at least it's not a total failure. Like it's already been said, sports movies are a tough sell. It's even tougher to sell when they deal more with what happens behind the scenes. For audiences to care about this movie, it needed a big name and while Kevin Costner is known, his days as a box office draw are long behind him.

Kim Hollis: I thought this was a joke movie. The first few times I saw the commercials on ESPN, I thought that their marketing department had just done a really, really clever ad to promote the NFL draft. While I still posit that the film is nothing more than an enhanced ad for the upcoming draft, now that it has actual box office results I am forced to accept that this is a real movie. It’s an okay result, probably even a little better than I was expecting given how strange the marketing was.

David Mumpower: Dear reader, you do not know anyone who loves the NFL Draft more than me. That is a simple statement of fact. I watch every round, and I have been doing so for 25 years now. I am obsessive about it. I also love Kevin Costner sports movies, even the less heralded ones like Tin Cup (which is wonderful) and For Love of the Game (which is corny but still effective). I did not go see Draft Day on opening weekend. That should be telling. If there is a good movie in here as Mr. Huntley suggests, the marketing team really dropped the ball. They provided nothing worthwhile during the constant stream of commercials.

Continued:       1       2