Steve Vs Mike

[T***@aol.com]

We haven't discussed movie box office returns in a while. I
have a prediction, that Get Smart will make at least ffifty million
dollars this weekend.
Mike Myers' The Love Guru, however, will face a quite
different fate- no more than ten million. This movie will quckly tank,
becoming the year's MEGA BOMB.The DVD will be out by Labor Day.

[t***@aol.com]

While I agree with you in principle Trav I cannot Imagine the Love
Guru doing THAT poorly. Likewise I think you may be SLIGHTLY high on
Get Smart. Few people (kids) know the original show but Steve Catrel
is currently much higher profile than Mike Meyers... especially with
that idiot make up on. I can't even tell you what Love Guru is about!

So I predict Get Smart winning with about 40-45 mil and Love Guru
doing more like 25-30 mil. Get Smart will drop a lot ion the second
week (50% or so) but Love Guru will all but vanish. What idiot
decided to open these two movies against each other?

[t***@aol.com]

OK Trav, we were both right and both wrong. We were correct that
Smart beat Guru by a large margin, but both way off on the actual
numbers. Smart was a lot closer to my 40-45 mil prediction as it made
almost 40 mil... nowhere near the 50 plus you predicted. However Guru
made only 14 mil, 40% above your prediction of under 10 but WAY below
my prediction of at least 25 mil.

Looks like Smart is a hit but a more modest one and Guru is a bomb but
also a slightly more modest one than you thought. Panda is the big
surprise holding on to a strong second with a small 35% or so weekly
drop. That may actually spell some trouble for Wall-e.

[9Lanterns]

 Panda is the big
surprise holding on to a strong second with a small 35% or so weekly
drop.  That may actually spell some trouble for Wall-e.

I always get nervous before a Pixar release. I want them to do well,
and it sickens me that sometimes they get compared unfavorably to the
DreamWorks movies, which are VASTLY inferior. Remember when Shrek won
the Oscar over Monsters Inc? That should never have been allowed.

Anyway, I expect Wall-E to do well, but Pixar is on a down trend
lately. Ratatouille and Cars were both perceived as underperformers.
It's a tough act following Nemo and Incredibles. Personally I think
Ratatouille and Cars are both really really good, and don't deserve to
be seen as disappointments. Wall-E is such a departure from
traditional movies (very little dialogue), that I wonder if it may
scare some people off. Hopefully not. I guess I'll predict $59
million for Wall-E, but I'm no good at predictions anymore...

Incidentally, I thought Get Smart was pretty good. This summer has
been above average thus far, with some likely great movies still to
come (Wall-E, Dark Knight).

-Shane

[t***@aol.com]

Shane...

You have been reading too much Jim Hill because I am not sure ANYONE
really could call either Cars or Ratatoullie a disappointment on any
level. First of all look at Cars, aside from making really strong box
office money it has made MASSIVE money in consumer products. It is
considered such a MASSIVE hit that it is one of the very few Pixar
movies which will have a sequel (they don't make sequals for
disappointments) and additionally the new DCA makeover will have the
largest and most expensive section dedicated to Cars.

Ratatoullie actually OUTPERFORMED expectations and was one of the
absolute best reviewed films of the year. No one ever expected
Ratatoullie to be a Shrek sized money maker. Pixar makes great movies
that do not pander... that is what guides them. They ALL have made
HUGE amounts of money, some are simply more appealing to broader
audiences. Dreamworks AIMS at broad audiences almost exclusively. To
them the numbers are more important than the film itself. Now Kung Fu
Panda is apparently extremely good (though I have not seen it) and so
perhaps it deserves it's success and I have a feeling this Oscar race
will come down to Wall-E and KFP.

Wall-E is again a movie made to be an interesting story which will
appeal to many people but is NOT designed to be a mass market hit.
Maybe it will be, who knows but I think it is more likely to be a very
solid hit but not the money maker of something like Shrek or even KFP
and that is A-OK by me. I want great movies, I don't really care how
much money they make.

The early reviews on Wall-E have been STELLAR by the way.

[R***@aol.com]

Have you guys seen KFP? I've seen it three times....its very, very
good. It's quickly becoming my favorite animated film of late and
definitely the best thing Dreamworks has EVER done. I'm still
perplexed why so many people hold the first Shrek on high, when Shrek
2 was the best of the 3. Anyways...if you haven't see it...check it
out..it worked for me on all levels and was super entertaining. I
read recently that Katzenburg wants to do 5 more.....yes 5!!
sigh.......

My daughter can NOT wait for Wall-E. She talks about him all the
time. We are going to Disneyland this weekend and I'm really hoping
we get to see the roll around character. Honestly....before summer
began my feeling was that KFP would beat Wall-E but who knows...I've
heard great things about Wall-E and like Teev..I just want great
movies and this is looking like a strong year for animation..

www.raymation.net

[t***@aol.com]

FYI:

They are planning on KFP TV shows as well as MANY sequels. I worked
on a project recently that allowed me to see some overall plans for
the KFP franchise and they are MASSIVE... HUGE, like the biggest I
have ever seen, and this was BEFORE it even came out and was a huge
hit.

They feel that they have a cornerstone character which they can
exploit with park attractions, TV shows, movies, books bla bla bla....
you will see a LOT of KFP in the coming years.