‘Woman Thou Art Loosed’ Solid In Debut Weekend

From Brian Brooks over at Deadline.com who runs some figures on last Weekend’s Specialty Box Office including faith-based films BLUE LIKE JAZZ, WOMAN THOU ART LOOSED, and OCTOBER BABY:

Code Black Entertainment’s Woman Thou Art Loosed: On The 7th Day hit the ground running among specialty releases, averaging a solid $6,376 in 102 locations, managing a higher per theater average than any other movie among the top 15 grossers. Outside the top 15 but not far behind it in per-theater business, Music Box’s Monsieur Lazhar averaged $6,310 in 19 sites. 

1: Blue Like Jazz (Roadside Attractions) NEW [136 Theaters] Weekend $267K, Per Theater Average $1,963

2: Woman Thou Art Loosed: On The 7th Day (Code Black Entertainment) NEW [102 Theaters] Weekend $650K, Average $6,376

3: Monsieur Lazhar (Music Box Films) NEW RUN [19 Theaters] Weekend $120K, Average $6,310, Multiple-Run Cume, $1.8M

4. Touchback (Anchor Bay Films) NEW [50 Theaters]
Weekend $75K, Average $1,500

5: Hit So Hard (Variance Films) NEW [1 Theater] Weekend $6,500

6: Life Happens (PMK/BNC) NEW [16 Theaters] Weekend $21,900, Average $1,369

7. Damsels In Distress (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 2 [22 Theaters]
 Weekend $93K, Average $4,229, Cume $178K

8. We Have A Pope (Sundance Selects) Week 2 [15 Theaters]
 Weekend $54K, Average $3,600, Cume $104K

9. Bully (The Weinstein Company) Week 3 [158 Theaters]
 Weekend $534K, Average $3,380, Cume $813K

10. October Baby (IDP/Samuel Goldwyn) Week 4 [362 Theaters]
 Weekend $524K, Average $1,449, Cume $4.5M

Read the FULL ARTICLE here.

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The Business Plan: Market Analysis

So you’ve finally optioned/written that script that’s going to change life as we know it in the film industry.  Now it’s time to do some honest homework because your potential investors will  want to know many, many things before they write that check.  One of which is, “How have similar style and budget films performed in the theater?”

Wired4Film is here to help!  By spending some time browsing the interwebs (especially BoxOfficeMojo.com and IMDb.com) we were able to compile a list of theatrically released Independent films with budgets ranging from $60K to $10M.  

Don’t be mislead.  These are not all Faith-based films by any stretch of the imagination.  But, if a film on this list has a bunch of similar qualities (genre, locations, casting requirements) to what your script is, then it’s easier to forecast similar results.  Not that your film will achieve similar results, but right now the burden of proof is on you to show that your idea could conceivably work in the marketplace.  

Unless your investor is just looking for a write-off.  In which case, just grab your buds,  a handicam from school and knock that thing out over your Spring break.

These films are listed in order of their Production Budgets.  It’s also a fair assumption that because they were shown in the Theater, that half of those Box Office Receipts stay with the Distributor.  Just something to think about.  It’s not all gravy.

FILM	DISTRIB	Released	Theater Gross	Budget
End of the Spear	Rocky Mountain Pictures	Jan 2006	11,748,661	$10M
Omega Code	Providence	Oct 1999	12,614,346	$8M
Pulp Fiction	Miramax	Oct 1994	213,928,762	$8M
Monster	Newmarket	Dec 2003	60,378,584	$8M
Juno	Fox Searchlight	Dec 2007	143,495,265	$7.5M
Crash	LionsGate	May 2005	52,772,342	$6.5M
Diary of a Mad Black Woman	LionsGate	Feb 2005	50,633,099	$5.5M
Bottle Rocket	Sony/Colombia	Feb 1996	1,040,879	$5M
Lost in Translation	Focus Features	Sept 2003	119,723,856	$4M
Waiting For Guffman	Sony Classics	Jan 1997	2,923,982	$4M
Loves Abiding Joy	The Bigger Picture	Oct 2006	252,726	$3M
Hustle & Flow	Paramount Classics	July 2005	20,654,561	$2.8M
Garden State	Fox Searchlight	July 2004	35,825,316	$2.5M
Thr3e	The Bigger Picture	Jan 2007	1,008,849	$2.4M
Get on the Bus	Sony	Oct 1996	5,754,249	$2.4M
The Last Sin Eater	The Bigger Picture	Feb 2007	$388,390	$2.2M
Boys Don’t Cry	Fox Searchlight	Oct 1999	11,540,607	$2M
November	Sony Classics	July 2005	192,186	$1.5M
Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels	Gramercy	Mar 1999	3,753,929	$1M
Junebug	Sony Classics	August 2005	2,678,691	<$1M
Saints & Soldires	Excel	Aug 2004	1,310,470	$780,000
Mercy Streets	Providence	Oct 2000	173,599	$600,000
Open Water	Lions Gate	August 2004	30,610,863	$500,000
Fireproof	Samuel Goldwyn	Sept 2008	33,456,317	$500,000
Brick	Focus	Mar 2006	2,075,743	$475,000
Napoleon Dynamite	Fox Searchlight	June 2004	46,118,097	$400,000
Facing the Giants	IDP	Sept 2006	10,178,331	$100,000
Blair Witch	Artisan	July 1999	140,539,099	$60,000

Holiday Brings Box Office Boost

(JAN 01, 2009) A Variety article by Pamela McClintock with some post-Holiday box office analysis.  The full article can be read HERE.

(EXCERPT) The Christmas box office has turned into a cash cow for a diverse litter of titles, guaranteeing that ticket sales for 2008 will match or exceed last year’s record-breaking haul of $9.62 billion.

“Marley,” produced by Fox 2000 and New Regency, was one of five titles opening nationwide on Christmas Day. All but one — “The Spirit” — are collecting plenty of coin and seeing the sort of midweek grosses that can make the week between Christmas and New Year’s the most lucrative stretch of the year.

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Studios Expand Winter Film Slate

(DEC 31, 2008) A Variety article by Pamela McClintock giving us a preview of the big studio releases scheduled for Winter 2009, even amid news that production, hand in hand with the economy, is recessing.  The full article can be read HERE.

(EXCERPT) Hollywood studios are scaling back production, but you wouldn’t know that by looking at the multiplexes in the first part of 2009.  The first few months of the year were once a graveyard for the least promising fare, but ’09 is seeing a flood of titles entering the marketplace.

There are numerous reasons for the glut. With the summer and holiday frames jam-packed, the majors can no longer afford to save their best titles for those key dates. And studios are using the January-April period to open a cluster of pics that were put into production before the 2007-08 writers strike.

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