Dawn of the Dead (2004)

[Kai Lord]

Wow, Dawn of the Dead is down 61% from its opening weekend. That's "Hulk" bad. So much for all the glowing reviews, word of mouth is killing this one like a shot to the head.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Well, it's not word of mouth from me or any of my amigos who saw it and all recommended our other buddies see it.

 

[mmadsen]

Wow, Dawn of the Dead is down 61% from its opening weekend. That's "Hulk" bad. So much for all the glowing reviews, word of mouth is killing this one like a shot to the head.

I went to see it this past weekend after hearing excellent word of mouth -- from two very different demographics (older than me and younger).

 

[mmadsen]

What they Could have done was start the movie out with the "recently infected" being the fast nasty people biters, and then as they became more zombified they could slow down to the classic shuffling dead.

That's how the original screenplay had it; as they decomposed they slowed down.

 

[mmadsen]

Spoiler

They get on the island. Dog runs into the woods, barking. Howling horde of undead spill out of the jungle.

That would have been a good time for the girl to chase after the dog.

 

[barsoomcore]

Wow, Dawn of the Dead is down 61% from its opening weekend. That's "Hulk" bad. So much for all the glowing reviews, word of mouth is killing this one like a shot to the head.

Yeah, but then it's a horror film. Given a 76% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, not sure where you think this "word of mouth" is coming from. Dawn was the film to topple Passion and so you ought to expect that what we saw that weekend was a one-time spike. Couple that with a strong opening from Scooby-Doo (hitting the exact same demographic, most likely) and yeah, a fall-off's inevitable. Box Office Mojo confirms a minor spike in the total box office last weekend (it was 4% then, versus 1% this weekend).

Compare this with last year's release of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which dropped nearly 50% its second week -- and that's on a weekend where the total box office grew by nearly 16%. Same pattern. All this really tells us is that just about everybody who wants to see a horror movie sees it the weekend it opens. And we already knew that.

Given that Dawn is easily guaranteed of entering profit territory this week, your colourful metaphor has somewhat "misfired".

It has already been a success. I suspect a sequel is in the works even as we speak.

 

[Kai Lord]

Yeah, but then it's a horror film. Given a 76% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, not sure where you think this "word of mouth" is coming from.

Word of mouth is what gives a film a respectable second weekend. It obviously isn't really "coming from" anywhere with respect to Dawn of the Dead. Very few people are seeing it twice, or recommending it to their friends.

Dawn was the film to topple Passion

"Dawn" had a big Friday and Saturday, but it couldn't even maintain its momentum the entire first weekend, as "Passion" was back to #1 on Sunday. Of its fourth week. Versus "Dawn's" third day. Not much of a "toppling".

and so you ought to expect that what we saw that weekend was a one-time spike. Couple that with a strong opening from Scooby-Doo (hitting the exact same demographic, most likely)

Scooby-Doo and Dawn of the Dead don't have remotely similar demographics.

and yeah, a fall-off's inevitable. Box Office Mojo confirms a minor spike in the total box office last weekend (it was 4% then, versus 1% this weekend).

Compare this with last year's release of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which dropped nearly 50% its second week -- and that's on a weekend where the total box office grew by nearly 16%. Same pattern. All this really tells us is that just about everybody who wants to see a horror movie sees it the weekend it opens. And we already knew that.

Nope, it shows us that DotD is severely underachieving compared to Texas Chainsaw and Freddy vs. Jason. Is DotD going to make a profit? Sure, and within only a few more days. Did they knock this one out of the park like TCM and FvJ? Not at all. Which I find surprising, it seemed DotD would have been more commercial than TCM, what with all the guns, explosions, and one-liners, but it looks like audiences just decided to support the better movie.

It has already been a success. I suspect a sequel is in the works even as we speak.

That would be interesting.

 

[barsoomcore]

I'm not arguing that it was a huge success or anything, just objecting to your characterization of it as a failure. It's clearly a successful film, financially. TCM and FvsJ were both surprise hits, that DoD isn't hitting their numbers doesn't make it a crashing failure. I think there's space between "knock this one out of the park" (which TCM's drop of 48% garners from you) and "shot in the head" (which DoD's drop of 61% gets). I'm just pointing out that the numbers between the two releases are not very different, so *shrug*.

"Severely underachieving"? Because it dropped 13% more on a weekend that decreased 12% more, relatively? Okay, use your ambiguous qualifiers how you like.

What's clea is that financially they're cleaning up nicely with this one. Movies have done better, for sure, but the investors are pretty happy with this one, I'm sure.

The question of demographics proves once again you do have a talent for overstatement. I'll stick to one point at a time, though.

 

[Kai Lord]

I'm not arguing that it was a huge success or anything, just objecting to your characterization of it as a failure.

I didn't say it was a failure. But a 60% drop for any movie reflects poor audience reaction. Word of mouth (the lack thereof specifically) was "killing" DotD's repeat business, not the fact that its a moderate success.

I was about to cite 28 Days Later as further indication of DotD's underachieving, but I just looked it up and it looks like it made about 45 million domestically, which DotD will hit in another day or so.

Maybe zombie movies are just the red-headed step children next to slasher films as far as horror is concerned, but no matter what time of the year, a 60% drop is definitely on the embarrassing side. I really thought this one might have a shot at "transcending the genre" but obviously not.

And no, I didn't overstate the demographics. Scooby Doo and Dawn of the Dead? Don't be silly.

 

[barsoomcore]

I'm actually not saying that a drop of 60% isn't bad news, I'm saying that it's not out of line for a horror flick. You think a drop of 50% is "knocking it out of the park" and drop of 60% is "shot in the head". Well and good. It's still only a difference of 10%, not including the general box office figures which are likewise different by about 10%. So one might suggest, based on the evidence, that the difference is very small indeed.

You seem very fond of your terminology, however, and I shan't insist you change it.

I will make an effort to be less silly.