1. Monsters University - $82M - $82M
2. World War Z - $66M - $66M
3. Man of Steel - $41.2M - $210M
4. This Is The End - $13M - $57.7M
5. Now You See Me - $7.8M - $94.4M
6. Fast & Furious Six - $4.7M - $228.4M
7. The Internship - $3.4M - $38.3M
8. The Purge - $3.4M - $59.4M
9. Star Trek Into Darkness - $3M - $216.6M
10. Iron Man 3 - $2.1M - $403M
Two new films join the fray this weekend, both featuring monsters of one
kind or another. Paramount and Brad Pitt were hoping to shake off the
production problems that hindered their zombie epic, World War Z.
Meanwhile Mike and Sully return in Pixar's first prequel, Monsters
University. Elsewhere, Warner Bros. would be hoping that Man of Steel
would remain buoyant after its $128M opening, adding further weight to
its planned Justice League movie. Next weekend brings us mismatched cop
comedy The Heat, and action thriller White House Down.
Monsters University is Pixar's first ever prequel, but it didn't begin
life like that. Indeed, if Disney had had their way, Pixar would not
have even been involved in its production, let alone its direction. The
first film, Monsters Inc. was released in 2001 to incredible critical
and financial success (it remains their fifth biggest picture in North
America with $255.8M). It told the tale of Mike and Sully, two monsters
who scare children for a living, whose subsequent screams act as a power
source for Monstropolis. When a child wonders into their world by
mistake, chaos ensues as the duo attempt to return her home without
anyone finding out, uncovering a conspiracy in the process. Made for
$115M, Monster Inc. took over $580M at the global box office and won
Randy Newman his first Academy Award. That year saw the debut of the
Best Animated Feature award, for which the film was nominated but lost
out to Shrek. While Pixar concentrated on Finding Nemo, Disney looked to
mine their existing properties (The Mouse House owned the rights to all
Pixar productions, running from Toy Story in 1995, to Cars in 2006). In
2005, after a disagreement between the two companies (which had been
ongoing in one form or another since 2001), Disney let it be known that
they would be moving forward with Monster Inc. 2, and that production
would be handled by Circle 7 Animation - a newly formed Disney animation
company set up in 2004 specifically to handle Pixar sequels (Along with
Mi2, they had Toy Story 3 and a Finding Nemo sequel in the works).
However, when Bob Iger became Disney CEO in 2006, a deal was put in
place that would see the company buy Pixar, with all sequel rights
reverting back. Pixar immediately stopped all work on the Circle 7
sequels, and set about creating their own in due course. The first hint
of a Pixar created Monster Inc sequel came in 2010, and in the following
year, a June 2013 release date was announced. In a first for the
company, it was revealed in May 2011 that (the now titled) Monsters
University would be their first prequel. John Goodman and Billy Crystal
would return to voice Sully and Mike. Other Monster Inc. voiced actors,
such as Steve Buscemi, would also be back. The plot would see Mike
attending university and butting heads with Sully, setting up a rivalry
that would one day lead them to becoming best friends. The first teaser
debuted back in June 2012, and was followed up by four more trailers,
viral spots and a major marketing push in the form of an official
Monsters University website and admission process. As mentioned,
Monsters Inc. reviewed incredibly well (96%) where as the prequel is
more in line with Brave's 78% approval rating. If families did have any
reservations, it didn't show in MU's opening day haul of $31M. That
number gave Pixar its second best single day take, behind only Toy Story
3's $41M bow. It's also a better figure than the opening day of their
most recent releases, Cars 2 ($25M) and Brave ($24.7M). Saturday
matinees improved things further for Mike and Sully, and widened the gap
between its closest competitor, World War Z. Strong word of mouth kept
the film buoyant over the remainder of the weekend, giving Monsters
University an excellent 3-day total of $82M. That again is Pixar's
second best result after Toy Story 3's $110M opening total back in 2010.
With no competition until Despicable Me 2 in a fortnight, MU should
hold well next weekend too, and be some way clear of $100M by its second
Sunday. Expect the film to be a fixture of the top ten for many weeks
to come.
This next section covers the production of World
War Z. If you wish to skip this and go straight to its weekend
analysis, please scroll down to the ------------- line.
Max Brooks began his writing career with The Zombie Survival Guide,
released in 2003. A no-nonsense handbook, it took a completely straight
approach to identifying and enduring a zombie apocalypse. His 2006
follow-up, World War Z, employed some of his previous book's methodology
and detailed via individual accounts, a worldwide zombie epidemic;
starting with Patient Zero and running through the human race's virtual
extinction and eventual fight back. The novel received much praise upon
release, as it did its award winning audio book counterpart.
Prior to publication, the book had attracted the attention of Leonardo
Di Caprio and Brad Pitt, and a bidding war broke out which would see
Paramount secure the screen rights for Pitt's Plan B Entertainment to
produce, at a cost of around $1M. Babylon 5 creator J. Michael
Straczynski was tasked with adapting the novel for the screen, finding a
way to link the individual stories into a movie-friendly narrative. In
the meantime, the hunt was on for a director who could handle both large
scale set pieces and the quieter moments of humanity. Pitt sent the
novel to Marc Forster, who was at that time working on the James Bond
film, Quantum of Solace. The two had been developing a story about a man
with AIDS, but had been unable to make much progress on it. Forster
liked what he saw in World War Z, and drew comparisons between the
zombies and modern day mindless consumerisms. The director joined the
project in 2008 but clashed almost immediately with Straczynski over the
direction of the script. Forster wanted to beef up the action and the
set pieces, something Straczynski's adaptation had largely avoided to
that point (in truth, the book itself had few major set pieces, the
'Battle For Yonkers' aside). Still, the screenwriter took the notes
onboard and turned in his second draft in December 2008, noting that
production was expected to begin in 2009.
However, despite incorporating many of Forster's notes into the new
version, the director still disliked what had been turn in, stating that
the script lacked the urgency that the modern movie goer demanded. The
decision was made to all but scrap what had been done so far and hire a
new screenwriter to take the adaptation in a more cinematic direction.
For this, Plan B hired Matthew Michael Carnahan, brother of director
Joe, and writer on The Kingdom and Lions For Lambs. Carnahan threw out
the first person narrative and introduced the central character of Gerry
Lane, a retired UN investigator, with which to anchor the film. Lane
had existed in the previous draft, but only as an incidental character,
sharing little more page time than any other character. Furthermore,
instead of being set after the zombie epidemic, the story would begin
near its inception, and task Gerry Lane with a globe-trotting mission to
discover the outbreak's source, and hopefully a cure. With the script
still being knocked into shape, production was pushed back well into the
latter part of 2009. Forster stayed with the project, but also began
work on the Gerard Butler movie, Machine Gun Preacher (released in
September 2011).
Script work continued throughout 2009 and well into 2010, when Pitt
agreed to take on the role of Gerry Lane. The actor had been impressed
with the direction Carnahan had taken the story, while the studio felt
the globe spanning journey would give the film a worldwide appeal - and
franchise potential. Pitt and Forster were officially confirmed in their
respective roles at Comic-Con in the summer of 2010, with a view to
getting production underway in early 2011. The next issue for the
picture was budget. Opting to shoot on location pushed costs up, and the
studio were quick to realise that a $150M zombie epic would be
difficult to finance alone. By March 2011, with pre-production set to
begin just a month later, Paramount were forced into a difficult
position - either find a financing partner or scrap the entire project.
After eleventh hour discussions, Skydance Films (a regular Paramount
co-financier), along with GK Films and HMC agreed to partner with the
studio to front some of the costs.
Principal photography on World War Z began in July 2011. And perhaps in
an effort to reduce initial costs, the remainder of the cast were made
of relative unknowns, including Mireille Enos, who would play Lane's
wife, Karen. While Matthew Fox, Bryan Cranston and Ed Harris were also
rumoured to be involved, only Fox would take a role (which would end up
being a cameo in the finished movie). After such a long drawn out
scripting and funding process, it seemed the movie was back on track,
but it wasn't long before all involved realised their problems were only
just beginning.
Although enthusiastic enough about the script to greenlight the movie,
Paramount and Plan B knew it still had issues, especially its third act -
a huge battle set in Red Square that would see Pitt and an enslaved
Russian people face off against the zombie hoard. The actual ending left
the film open for at least one sequel, but most agreed it did not work -
at least not in context with what had come before. Primarily, the
ending was deemed too dark - Pitt isn't yet reunited with his family and
goes from being a peaceful observer, to a highly efficient zombie
killing machine. Despite still working on these problems, production got
underway in Malta in July. It soon became apparent that shooting in
real locations with 900 zombie extras would be a logistical nightmare
even for a seasoned action director - something which Forster was not.
Add in another 600 or so crew members, and a last minute location move
to a much busier area, and the problems and costs quickly rose. Issues
with local businesses caused delays, while a costume shortage resulted
in expensive alternatives being sourced locally. By the time the three
week Malta shoot was finished, the production was already way over
budget and still had two major sequences yet to shoot. [According to a
Vanity Fair article, the clean up crew found millions of dollars worth
of unpaid purchase orders tossed into a drawer and forgotten about].
Problems with the third act were still weighing heavy.
With all that was going on, Paramount announced a release date of
December 2012, around 15 months away at that point. Producer Colin
Wilson was seemingly held (or felt) responsible for the initial budget
over runs, and resigned from the project. He'd soon be replaced by Ian
Bryce, the man who kept Michael Bay's movies on budget and on time.
Bryce found himself on set only four days after his initial conversation
about the picture, and was greeted by chaos. Having set a new shooting
regime in motion, Bryce managed to get the shoot got back on track, and
sequences were removed to make some headway into the budget overspend -
though an issue in Budapest threatened to throw the production back off
the rails. Real guns, that had been altered to make them safe to use as
props, were seized by officials who set up a press conference to show
how easily they could be turned back into deadly weapons. Despite the
threat of charges being bought to the production, the case was quietly
dropped a few months later. Even with reservations, the problematic
third act seem to come together, all concerned being mindful of the
promised PG-13 rating, and finding inventive, but bloodless way to
dispose of the attacking hoard. Finally, in November 2011, shooting was
complete and Forster could begin editing, ready for an executive
screening in February.
The screening ended in silence. Only once they saw the final battle up
on the big screen, in spite of months of concerns, did the assembled
group realise that it simply did not work. Pitt's transformation from
everyman into a seasoned zombie killer in the space of a few short
scenes was jarring, and the chaos of the end sequence was too
overwhelming. Having already spent at least $150M on the production,
Paramount were stuck. All were agreed the picture didn't work in its
current state but few could offer a workable solution. A month later the
studio pushed the release date back from Christmas 2012 to the summer
of 2013. The production problems on World War Z were already in the
public domain, and this delay just added fuel to the fire. In April,
Brad Pitt reached out to Damon Lindelof. The screenwriter was shown a 72
minute streamlined edit, and after, asked to see the excised footage.
He agreed about the ending and offered Pitt two solutions - either write
a few short scenes that explain Gerry Lane's transformation and
highlight what is at stake to him personally, or simply scrap the entire
last act, including the 12 minute Russian battle sequence, and create a
new ending. Lindelof figured the second option was a long shot to say
the least, and was quite taken aback when Plan B favoured the idea. They
sold Lindelof's plan to Paramount, who hired the writer to begin
immediately. Working with Drew Goddard (his Lost co-writer who had also
scripted Buffy, Alias and Cabin in the Woods), he crafted 60 pages,
which would cover around 30-40 minutes of new footage. By September the
studio had greenlit the additional work and a smaller crew assembled in
London a month later.
When it was announced they'd be shooting for up to six weeks, the
internet all but exploded with gossip and theories - Pitt wasn't
speaking to Forster, Forster wasn't directing the additional footage -
and so on. In reality, Forster did direct the new scenes, and publicly
stated he and Pitt shared no animosity. Paramount were actually quite up
front, stating that while they felt they had a fantastic first hour,
they wanted a more intense, more emotional payoff for the audience's
investment in the latter half of the picture. But no one could deny,
shooting so much extra footage on an already hugely expensive project,
was a very, very rare occurrence. The studio's only condition was to
have writer/director Christopher McQuarrie on set, in case any dialogue
issues arose. The new sequences are said to have cost around $20M, which
would put the official budget at around $170M. However, many have
speculated, with good reason, that the actual cost is much closer to
$225M, if not higher still. Whatever figures were involved, all
concerned were much happier with the new ending, and the first footage
debuted in November. While it was quite a spectacle, fans of the source
material were vocal in their disappointment, stating it shared little in
common with Brooks' novel, save for them both containing similar
protagonists. A second trailer ramped up the action and set pieces
further, as early word began to trickle out that World War Z was a solid
globe-spanning thriller.
In the months since, more positive word has emerged from screenings and
it did begin to seem as if Paramount had managed to salvage something
entertaining amidst all the chaos. For his sins, Pitt has been working
overtime to promote the film, even turning up at a number of small scale
screenings. Even with all the money spent, the studio launched a huge
marketing campaign, including a $50 advance ticket package. As we saw
with Man of Steel, the positive opinion began to wane as more critics
weighed in, but most are in agreement that this was far from the
disaster it could have been (oddly it is the new third act that has come
in for most criticism). World War Z began its release on a very decent
68% rating at Rotten Tomatoes (MoS ended up at 56%). World War Z was set
to open a week after Man of Steel, and alongside Pixar's Monsters
University. Given the huge investment, it needed to be an even bigger
hit than before, and that left many wondering if there would ever be a
big enough market to cover its costs. The studio are staking a lot on it
performing well overseas thanks to the appeal of Pitt, 3D and the
undead (or infected) but even they knew it would be an uphill battle.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If proof were ever needed that the general public take little note of a
film's production problems, World War Z provides it. The first sign that
things were going to be ok came from the midnight screenings, when the
film made $3.6M, a little more than Monsters University (to be expected
given the demographics the two pictures attracted). That initial figure
led to a strong first day tally of $25M, giving Pitt the best single day
figure of his entire career. And while it wasn't quite out of the woods
yet, World War Z had shown it could hold its own against Man of Steel
(which was relegated to third place with $12.7M). As was expected given
its family film status, Monsters University pulled further ahead over
the rest of the weekend, but WWZ held well in second place, proving to
be the primary choice for the older cinema-goer. All up, the zombie epic
made a very impressive $66M, much stronger than anyone could have
predicted, and exactly the kind of start the picture needed given its
high production costs. That's easily the best opening weekend of Pitt's
entire career and means $100M is a shoe-in, even with the busy weeks of
competition ahead. This has to go down as a victory for all concerned
and must surely ease tensions at Paramount. It's also a bigger figure
than morbid curiosity alone could have raised. The overseas numbers
helped back up that solid start, adding another $45M to its total. That
gives WWZ a global total of $111M. While Brad Pitt has talked of a
possible sequel, one assumes that we're still some way from that point
yet, but there's no denying World War Z has gotten off to a great start
and looks to have finally had its fortunes turned around. Next weekend
will reveal what kind of front loading was involved and give us a more
focused picture of where it could end up domestically.
Man of Steel broke the June box office record last weekend, and thanks
to Father's Day, saw a boost over the initial takings estimate of $125M.
All up, Zack Snyder's Superman reboot made $128M from the Thursday to
Sunday period and allowed Warner Bros. a big sigh of relief. During the
week the film continued to dominate, adding $16M on Monday and another
$11M on Tuesday. By the start of its second frame the picture was
sitting on a 7 day gross of $168.7M ($31M shy of what Superman Returns
made during its entire theatrical run). On its second Friday on general
release, Man of Steel added a disappointing $12.7M to it total. That
figure meant a drop of 71% on the same day last week, and even though
the film's first full day on release was expected to be front-loaded, no
one thought it would it turn out to be quite so. Obviously most people
who wanted to see the film did so over the first few days, and the
impact of the fresh competition cannot be discounted either - the family
went to see Monsters University while the rest chose World War Z.
Man of Steel did recover somewhat over the remainder of the frame.
Overall for its second frame, the superhero flick made $41.6M (an
overall weekend to weekend drop of 65%), bringing its total to $210M.
The knock on effect is that $300M domestically is no longer a sure
thing, and anything less will surely be on the lower end of WB's
expectations (though is unlikely to hinder their sequel and spin-off
plans). What won't help the cause (or that of WWZ's) is the upcoming
release slate - White House Down, The Lone Ranger and Pacific Rim will
all attract the same demographic and impact earning potential.
Internationally the picture's roll out stepped up into a number of new
markets, which helped it increases its oversea's tally to $188M. After
ten days, Man of Steel has a global total of $398M - almost $150M more
than what Superman Returns made during its entire worldwide run.
Apocalyptic comedy, This Is The End did ok up against Superman last
frame, and thanks to a Wednesday start, had recouped its production
budget by the close of play on its first Sunday. Both reviews and word
of mouth were strong for the picture, allowing it to hit almost $45M by
the start of it second Friday. With World War Z thrown into the mix,
This is the End dropped a not bad 41% on its previous Friday, making
$4.1M in the process. It added $8.9M over the rest of the weekend,
finishing up with $13M and bringing the comedy's cumulative gross to
$57.7M. As stated, the film has covered its $32M costs, and while its
unlikely to be a $100M sleeper it, it will still turn a tidy profit for
Sony. Next weekend it'll face competition from the R-rated comedy, The
Heat.
Now You See Me dropped down to fifth position, but grossed another $7.8M
in what was its fourth weekend on general release. That gives the magic
heist thriller a running total of $94.4M, with a finish of around $120M
on the cards. The picture is just getting started overseas and has
already made $40M.
The other comedy in major general release isn't fairing quite as well as
This Is The End. The Internship, which stars Owen Wilson and Vince
Vaughn, has a three week total of $38.3M, and may be looking upon its
last frame in the top ten. Produced for $58M, it will need to look
overseas if it is to turn a profit.
After an almost complete collapse in its second frame (down 76% on the
previous week), The Purge could manage only $3.4M in this one. That
brings its seventeen day total to $59.4M. While generally a fall this
fast would be a disaster for a movie, The Purge cost just $3M to produce
and work has already begun on a follow up. It may yet turn out to be
one of the most profitable films of 2013.
Fast & Furious 6 is now the most successful entry in the series,
domestically and in the last few days, internationally. The film added
$4.7M over the Friday to Sunday period, to bring its North American
total to an impressive $228M. As a series, it has amassed an astonishing
$2.2 billion dollars, against a total budget of $569M.
Star Trek Into Darkness is looking at its last weekend in the top ten.
The JJ Abrams directed sequel has made $216.6M. At the time of writing,
there is still no word on a third picture moving forward.
One final note - Iron Man 3 crossed the $400M barrier on Tuesday, making
it only the seventeenth picture in cinematic history to achieved such a
feat domestically. Its total now stands at $403M, and $804.6M abroad.
Credit for additional World War Z information from http://www.vanityfai...rld-war-z-drama
Next Weekend...
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