Alice in Wonderland's Big Winner may be IMAX

Twelve films were converted through the IMAX process and released to IMAX theaters in 2009 versus eight in 2008.  Three of the twelve were the top three domestic box office movies of 2009:  Avatar, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.  As a result, IMAX's 2009 revenues were up $68.5 million over 2008 and they showed a net profit for the first time since 2005.  The success of Alice in Wonderland at IMAX theaters so far should make 2010 another good year for IMAX Corporation.

In November 2002, Star Wars: Ep II Attack of the Clones was released in 58 IMAX theaters.  During the first week, the movie grossed an average of $24,746/per theater.  For its total 26 week IMAX run, Ep II brought in $8.5 million in box office ($10.3 million in 2010 $s).

Fast forward to 2010.  As of 3/10/2010 Alice in Wonderland had already made $12.1 million at IMAX theaters since its initial release 3/5/2010.  Per imax.com Alice can be seen at 172 theaters throughout the US making their first week average approximately $70,349/per theater.

See A Movie or Pop A Pill?

TV commercials for cigarettes were banned in 1965, the same year 41.9% of American's aged 18 and older were smokers.  Then, in the late 1980s, drug companies figured out how to run TV ads without breaking FDA regulations.  (see NPR's "Selling Sickness" article by Alix Spiegel).  After this revelation, TV drug ads proliferated and expenditures on prescriptions soared.

Although movie ticket prices have generally risen  faster than inflation, they have been outpaced by the rise in prescription drug costs since 1990.

It's hard to believe this increase in pill popping is really all necessary.  Wouldn't it be healthier to watch a good film?

Smoking statistics and prescription drug expenditures are from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  Annual per capita drug costs are calculated by dividing expenditures by the total U.S. population

Greece Before the Invention of Credit Default Swaps

Mrs. Miniver vs Avatar vs Alice in Wonderland

Is it 1976 again?

1976

• The movie Rocky is #1 at the domestic box office - about struggling boxer Rocky Balboa who proves he can go the distance against all odds.

• Roman Polanski's movie The Tenant is released in the U.S. - about a life in jeopardy.

• Network is released.  The movie's quote "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" becomes #19 on AFI's "100 Years 100 Movie Quotes" list

2010

• The movie Avatar continues to dominate the domestic box office following its December 2009 release - about crippled marine Jake Sully who takes a stand against greedy corporate interests defending an alien race against all odds.

• Roman Polanski's movie The Ghost Writer is released in the U.S. - about a life in jeopardy.

• Americans are mad as hell:  One commits suicide flying his plane into an I.R.S. building in Austin, Texas while another outside of Cincinnati, Ohio bulldozes his house rather than allow the bank to seize it in foreclosure.

Alice in Wonderland - Again

• PRINTED BOOK, 1865
• CEL ANIMATION MOVIE, 1951
• LIVE ACTION/ ANIMATION/ 3-D MOVIE, 2010

Alice in Wonderland, 1951 was one of the Walt Disney Company's least successful animation movies taking in less than 15% of the all-release domestic box office of Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs.  With the Tim Burton directed version scheduled for a March 5, 2010 release, it looks like Disney may get it right this time around.

The story of Alice's adventures were first told by the Oxford mathematician Charles Dodgson to Alice Liddel, the daughter of the head of Dodgson's college, then published in novel form in 1865 under the author's pseudonym Lewis Carroll.  The Disney 1951 film followed the adventures in the book centered around Alice as a young girl. Now age 19, can Alice go back down the rabbit hole and have it be as much fun as the book?

More information on Dodgson, including his fascination with young girls, is available at victorianweb, the website started by Brown University's Professor George P. Landow.

Romantic Movies For Valentine's Day

1.  Titanic, 1997
2.  The Graduate, 1967
3.  Ghost, 1990
4.  An Officer and a Gentleman, 1982
5.  A Star is Born, 1976
6.  The Twilight Saga: New Moon, 2009
7.  Jerry Maguire, 1996
8.  Frenchman's Creek, 1944
9.  A Guy Named Joe, 1943
10. Twilight, 2008
11. The Way We Were, 1973
12. The Electric Horseman, 1979
13. Out of Africa, 1985
14. Ryan's Daughter, 1970
15. Homecoming, 1948
16. Raintree Country, 1957
17. The African Queen, 1951
18. Three Coins in the Fountain, 1954
19. Slumdog Millionarie, 2008
20. The V.I.P.'s, 1963

Olympic Skiing - Downhill Racer Skiing Movie

According to Rotten Tomatoes,  Roger Ebert, in 2004 voted Downhill Racer, 1969 "The best movie ever made about sports -- without really being about sports at all."  The film stars Robert Redford and Gene Hackman.  With the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics just around the corner, maybe it's time to revisit this classic film.


I first met Michael in 1974 when I moved north to Marin County from La Jolla to work for Lucasfilm.  He had an office in the same office/house I was in and was working on Smile, which released in1975.  I always enjoyed him and his films and was sad when he died way too young in 2001.

Photo of Michael Ritchie and his daughter Lauren was taken by me at a 4th of July picnic at Skywalker Ranch, 1981

Avatar Needs More Than A Billion Dollars To Catch Up to Titanic

Avatar Fans Forget Inflation Go To The Movies

Avatar Raises the Billion Dollar Movie Total to Thirty-Five

1.  Gone With the Wind, 1939
2.  Titanic, 1997
3.  Star Wars: Ep IV A New Hope, 1977
4.  The Birth of a Nation, 1915
5.  E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, 1982
6.  The Sound of Music, 1965
7.  Ben-Hur, 1959
8.  Jaws, 1975
9.  Jurassic Park, 1993
10. Doctor Zhivago, 1965
11. The Ten Commandments, 1956
12. The Exorcist, 1973
13. Star Wars: Ep V The Empire Strikes Back, 1980
14. The Lion King, 1994
15. Independence Day, 1996
16. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2003
17. Star Wars: Ep I The Phantom Menace, 1999
18. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, 2001
19. Forrest Gump, 1994
20. Pirates of the  Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest, 2006
21. Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs, 1937
22. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 2002
23.  Avatar, 2009
24. 101 Dalmations, 1961
25. Grease, 1978
26. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2001
27. Shrek 2, 2004
28. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 2002
29. The Godfather, 1972
30. Finding Nemo, 2003
31. Star Wars: Ep VI Return of the Jedi, 1983
32. Spider-Man, 2002
33. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, 2007
34. The Dark Knight, 2008
35. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1977

Storytellers Roland Emmerich versus John Steinbeck

In 1937, 1938 and 1939 50% of all stories purchased by the studios were original and 50% were from previously published books, plays and magazines. In 1943, John Steinbeck was the highest paid author in terms of what the movie rights sold for to his novels.  Contrast Steinbeck's $3.7 million payday with the rumored $100 million paid Roland Emmerich to direct, co-write and co-produce the 2009 film 2012 ($20 million advance against 20% of first dollar gross profits).

1930s and 1940s Film Story Right Costs

In 2008 Equivalent $'s/(unadjusted $'s)

1.  $3.7 million/($300,000) to John Steinbeck in 1943 for his novel The Moon is Down

2.  $1.2 million/($100,000) to Ernest Hemingway in 1943 for his novel For Whom the Bell Tolls

3.  $1.1 million/($70,000) paid John Steinbeck in 1940 for his novel The Grapes of Wrath

4.  $774,000/($50,000) paid Margaret Mitchell in 1939 for the movie rights to her novel Gone With The Wind

5.  $769,000/($50,000) paid Daphne du Maurier in 1940 for her novel Rebecca

6.  $249,000/($20,000) paid Murray Burnett and Joan Alison in 1941 for their unproduced and unpublished play "Everybody comes to Rick's" which was renamed Casablanca

The Godfather Movies and the Time Value of Money

Putting It in Perspective - Billion Dollar Movies 1915 - 2009

1.  Gone With the Wind, 1939
2.  Titanic, 1997
3.  Star Wars: Ep IV A New Hope, 1977
4.  The Birth of a Nation, 1915
5.  E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, 1982
6.  The Sound of Music, 1965
7.  Ben-Hur, 1959
8.  Jaws, 1975
9.  Jurassic Park, 1993
10. Doctor Zhivago, 1965
11. The Ten Commandments, 1956
12. The Exorcist, 1973
13. Star Wars: Ep V The Empire Strikes Back, 1980
14. The Lion King, 1994
15. Independence Day, 1996
16. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2003
17. Star Wars: Ep I The Phantom Menace, 1999
18. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
19. Forrest Gump, 1994
20. Pirates of the  Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest, 2006
21. Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs, 1937
22. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 2002
23. 101 Dalmations, 1961
24. Grease, 1978
25. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2001
26. Shrek 2, 2004
27. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 2002
28. The Godfather, 1972
29. Finding Nemo, 2003
30. Star Wars: Ep VI Return of the Jedi, 1983
31. Spider-Man, 2002
32. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, 2007
33. The Dark Knight, 2008
34. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1977

Box Office Looks To Hit $10 Billion (again) But At What Price?

Digital Cinema Conversion - What's Taking So Long?

Multi-plex or Short Attention Span Changing Theatrical Release Windows?

Evolution of the Vampire in Literature and on Screen

1950s Deja Vu - Nuclear Bombs and Movies

I feel like I'm back in the 1950s because ...


Fear of nuclear bombs is rampant again
     Today, per the New York Times, Iran won't agree to send their uranium to Russia and we fear they are trying to develop a nuclear bomb.
     In the 1950s, it was Russia's nuclear bombs we feared.  So, the U.S. test exploded 188 of them between 1950-1959 versus 82 exploded by Russia (per this great Australian Government Geoscience website I uncovered doing research for the book Cause of Death).

The costs of the top box office movies are at record highs
     Top 2 domestic box office movies 1950-1959:  The Ten Commandments, 1956 cost $105 million (in consumer price index adjusted $'s) and Ben-Hur, 1959 cost $118 million 

     Top 2 domestic box office movies 2000-2009:  The Dark Knight (Batman), 2008 cost $252.9 million and Shrek 2, 2004 cost $171 million (in consumer price index adjusted $'s).

3-D films are out in force
     The Top 5 1950s 3-D films (in terms of highest domestic box office) are  House of Wax, 1953; Hondo, 1953; Money From Home, 1953; Miss Sadie Thompson, 1953 and Bwana Devil, 1952

     The Top 5 2000s 3-D films (per boxofficemojo.com) are Up, 2009; Monsters vs Aliens, 2009; Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosarus, 2009; G-Force, 2009 and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 2009

And horror is alive and well
      The top 1950s horror movies were in 3D:  House of Wax, 1953 (cost $925,000 - now $7.5 million); It Came From Outer Space, 1953 and Creature From the Black Lagoon, 1954 (costs unknown).

     Today's supernatural horror movie Paranormal Activity reportedly cost only $15,000 and is up to #12 on the list of 2000s supernatural horror films (per boxofficemojo.com).

How Much Pay is Too Much?

The highest paid actors in 1937 made less annually than big stars make now per picture.  Hugh Jackman made nearly 3x more in less than three months than 30s star Fredric March made in a year.  Corporate executive compensation has also risen faster than inflation.  Executives at GE (which owns 80% of Universal), make 4 to 5 times more today than they did in the late 1930s.

Hugh Jackman was paid $20 million for approx. 90 days work on X-Men Origins: Wolverine (in production  from 1/18/2008 to 5/23/2008) while Fredric March, who starred in Nothing Sacred ( in production June 1937-August 1937) and The Buccaneer (in production August 1937 - October 1937) took home annual pay of $7.2 million in 1937 (in consumer price index adjusted dollars or $484,687 unadjusted).

GE Chairman Owen D. Young made $3.5 million in 1937 ($235,000 unadjusted) while in 2008 GE paid $18.8 million to John G. Rice, GE Vice Chairman, $16.3 million to Michael A. Neal, GE Vice chairman, $14.1 million to Jeffrey Immelt, GE Chairman and CEO and $14.0 million to Keith S. Sherin, GE Vice Chairman and CFO.