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Dark Water (2005)

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6 articles from 2005

15 September 2005 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

Just as Disney's ABC ailing network was showing signs of a robust recovery, its filmed entertainment division has taken a turn for the worst. Disney CFO Tom Staggs told an investors conference Wednesday that Disney could report a loss of as much as $300 million for the current quarter given the doleful box-office performances of Herbie: Fully Loaded, Sky High, Dark Water, and Valiant. Moreover, the dumping of a slew of iffy Miramax productions on the market to coincide with the departure of Bob and Harvey Weinstein has added to the company's red-ink entries. Disney reported a loss of $34 million in the previous quarter. Nevertheless, Staggs maintain, the fourth quarter could set things right again with such promising releases as Chicken Little and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

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19 July 2005 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

Studios and exhibitors were shouting, "How sweet it is!" Monday as the latest figures showed a significant surge in ticket sales over the weekend with the opening of Warner Bros.' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and New Line's Wedding Crashers. Charlie in particular set a number of box-office records. It was the best July opening for any Warner Bros. film in history; the best for an IMAX DMR release ($2.2 million with an average of $33,569 per screen); and a personal best for Johnny Depp, the film's star. Continuing to make a big splash in limited release was Warner Independent's March of the Penguins, which grossed $1.5 million in just 132 theaters. It is expected to widen to about 600 theaters on Friday. Overall, the box office was up 7 percent from the comparable week a year ago, with they top 12 films garnering $151.2 million. The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Warner Bros., $56,178,450, (New); 2. Wedding Crashers, New Line, $33,900,720, (New); 3. Fantastic Four, 20th Century Fox, $22,783,303, 2 Wks. ($100,195,795); 4. War of the Worlds, Paramount, $15,244,749, 3 Wks. ($192,435,922); 5. Batman Begins, Warner Bros., $6,035,300, 5 Wks. ($183,140,850); 6. Mr. & Mrs. Smith, 20th Century Fox, $5,234,822, 6 Wks. ($168,276,570); 7. Dark Water, Disney, $4,609,754, 2 Wks. ($18,885,278); 8. Herbie: Fully Loaded, Disney, $3,619,074, 4 Wks. ($55,966,221); 9. Bewitched, Sony, $2,556,432, 4 Wks. ($57,026,688); 10. Madagascar, DreamWorks, $2,308,169, 8 Wks. ($184,083,054).

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18 July 2005 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

The latest Harry Potter novel may have wound up making more money at the bookstores ($117 million in first-day sales alone, according to today's [Monday] New York Times) than the latest Willy Wonka movie did at the theaters over the weekend, but the book did not keep all of its buyers home reading. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory opened with a cloyingly rich $55.4 million, according to preliminary figures. It was the biggest July opening for a Warner Bros. movie in history, far surpassing Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines's $44 million in 2003. It was also the biggest opening for any movie starring Johnny Depp, surpassing his Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which debuted in 2003 with $46.6 million. Combined with an estimated $32.2-million take for the New Line comedy Wedding Crashers, the box office ran ahead of last year's comparable weekend for the second week in a row, this time by about 7.5 percent versus less than 0.5 percent last weekend. (Both Warner Bros. and New Line are divisions of Time Warner.) Moreover, Crashers defied recent industry wisdom that R-rated comedies are unlikely to produce blockbuster numbers. "There's been such a move toward more sanitized movies, so I think the R rating actually helped," New Line marketing chief Russell Schwartz told the Associated Press Sunday. Meanwhile, last week's No. 1 film, 20th Century Fox's Fantastic Four, dropped 60 percent to about $22.7 million. Nevertheless, the film -- just barely -- crossed the $100-million mark. In the fourth spot was the Paramount/DreamWorks hit War of the Worlds, which earned an additional $15 million to bring its gross to $192.2 million. Warner Bros.' Batman Begins rounded out the top five with $5.6 million, bringing its five-week total to $182.7 million. The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, $55.4 million; 2. Wedding Crashers, $32.2 million; 3. Fantastic Four, $22.7 million; 4. War of the Worlds, $15 million; 5. Batman Begins, $5.6 million; 6. Mr. and Mrs. Smith, $5.05 million; 7. Dark Water, $4.4 million; 8. Herbie: Fully Loaded, $3.4 million; 9. Bewitched, $2.4 million; 10. Madagascar, $2.1 million.

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12 July 2005 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

Fantastic Four has finally accomplished what all the better-reviewed blockbusters of the summer failed to do: lift the box office out of its record slump. Final figures on Monday indicated that the film took in $56 million over the weekend, pushing the overall box office to $148.9 million, up just 0.4 percent from the $148.3 million of the comparable weekend a year ago but enough to pull the industry out of a slump that had lasted 19 weekends in a row. War of the Worlds slid to second place, earning $30.5 million in its second week, a 53-percent drop. The only other new film, Disney's Dark Water, quickly sank with just $9.9 million, to land in fourth place. (MSNBC.com's "Scoop" column reported today that Walter Salles, the director of the film, is distancing himself from it and complaining about the final cut.) For the third week, the documentary March of the Penguins continued to outdraw all the big blockbusters on a per-theater basis. It earned $1.02 million on just 64 screens, placing it at No. 13 on the box office list. The film is due to expand to about 600 theaters on July 22. The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Fantastic Four, 20th Century Fox, $56,061,504, (New); 2. War of the Worlds, Paramount, $30,469,118, 2 Wks. ($164,978,282); 3. Batman Begins, Warner Bros., $10,012,444, 4 Wks. ($171,901,777); 4. Dark Water, Disney, $9,939,251, (New); 5. Mr. & Mrs. Smith, 20th Century Fox, $7,872,275, 5 Wks. ($158,669,309); 6. Herbie: Fully Loaded, Disney, $6,060,511, 3 Wks. ($48,292,675); 7. Bewitched, Sony, $5,583,833, 3 Wks. ($50,934,671); 8. Madagascar, DreamWorks, $4,009,053, 7 Wks. ($179,259,220); 9. Rebound, 20th Century Fox, $3,024,349, 2 Wks. ($11,513,266); 10. Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith, 20th Century Fox, $2,600,800, 8 Wks. ($370,819,889).

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11 July 2005 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

"Fantastic" was the adjective being used most frequently to describe the performance of 20th Century Fox's Fantastic Four at the box office this weekend. According to study estimates, the film earned a surprising $56 million -- well above most analysts' prediction of about $33-36 million. Moreover, if the estimate holds (and it could be significantly affected by the Florida hurricane), it could very well push the box office total slightly higher than 2004's, marking the end of the current 19-week-long slump. Meanwhile, War of the Worlds tumbled 52 percent in its second week, earning about $31.3 million. It has earned $165.8 million in its initial 12 days. Dark Water, the only other film to debut this weekend, took in an estimated $10.1 million to place fourth, just behind Warner Bros.' Batman Begins which earned $10.2 million in its fourth week. It has now taken in $172.1 million. Rounding out the top five was Fox's Mr. & Mrs. Smith with about $7.9 million, bringing its total gross to $158.7 million. Meanwhile, Warner Independent Pictures' March of the Penguins continued to pack 'em in in art houses, taking in an estimated $975,000 at 64 theaters or an average of $15,234 per theater. The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. Fantastic Four, $56 million; 2. War of the Worlds, $31.3 million; 3. Batman Begins, $10.2 million; 4. Dark Water, $10.1 million; 5. Mr. and Mrs. Smith, $7.85 million; 6. Herbie: Fully Loaded, $6.3 million; 7. Bewitched, $5.5 million; 8. Madagascar, $4.3 million; 9. Rebound, $2.9 million; 10. Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith, $2.6 million.

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8 July 2005 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

Critics, who rarely give positive reviews to horror flicks, have mostly fine things to say about Walter Salles' Dark Water. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times even includes a little essay on the sentiments of film critics in his review: "I have been criticized recently for giving a pass to films of moderate achievement because they accomplish what the audience expects, while penalizing more ambitious films for falling short of greater expectations. There may be some truth in such observations, but on the other hand, nobody in the real world goes to every movie with the same kind of anticipation. If I see a film by Ingmar Bergman, as I recently did, I expect it to be a masterpiece, and if it is not, Bergman has disappointed me. If I attend a horror film in which Jennifer Connelly and her daughter are trapped in the evil web of a malevolent apartment building, I do not expect Bergman; if the movie does what it can do as well as it can be done, then it has achieved perfection within its own terms." He gives Dark Water three stars. Carrie Rickey in the Philadelphia Inquirer also writes positively about the movie, saying that it "pushes every button on the parental-fear keypad: Divorce, loss of custody, loss of child, loss of domicile, loss of mind. Salles doesn't tap a horror gusher, but trickles a steady panic drip. While his movie lacks the psychological resonance of Rosemary's Baby or The Sixth Sense, it easily equals their creep-out quotient." The also draws some negative reviews, but, for a horror film, none of them is horrible. For example, Gene Seymour writes in Newsday: "Dark Water is all suggestion and moody inference setting you up for a payoff that seems itself like an apparition." And Claudia Puig writes in USA Today: "Dark Water has more substance and a more interesting look than many horror films, but the familiar elements of the story disappoint."

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6 articles from 2005