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Be Kind Rewind (2008)

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Box Office Tumbles
26 February 2008 (StudioBriefing)
If movie fans were not sitting at home watching the Oscars on television Sunday, they were not going out to the movies, either. Movie attendance on Sunday was even lower than studios had expected, with the top film, Sony's Vantage Point, winding up with more than $1 million below expectations on the final day of the weekend. The movie's weekend gross came to $22.87 million. The real shocker was that last week's winner, Fox's Jumper, jumped to third place, beaten out by the third week of Paramount's The Spiderwick Chronicles. Spiderwick took in $13.10 million versus Jumper's $12.71 million. Disney's Step Up 2 the Streets placed fourth in its second week with $9.61 million. Three other new films that debuted over the weekend performed disastrously. The best performer of the lot was New Line Cinema's Be Kind Rewind, which wound up with $4.05 million. But Witless Protection did not even make the top-ten list, earning only $2.11 million, and U2 3D was mostly DOD, as it debuted with just $1.03 million.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Vantage Point, Sony, $22,874,936, (New); 2. The Spiderwick Chronicles, Paramount, $13,100,192, 2 Wks., ($44,076,043); 3. Jumper, Fox, $12,708,768, 2 Wks., ($56,264,386); 4. Step Up 2 the Streets, Disney, $9,605,703, 2 Wks. ($41,238,093); 5. Fool's Gold, Warner Bros., $6,554,284, 3 Wks. ($52,717,413); 6. Definitely, Maybe, Universal, $5,217,775, 2 Wks. ($21,814,805); 7. Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins, Universal, $4,158,700, 3 Wks. ($35,667,115); 8. Juno, Fox Searchlight, $4,154,502, 12 Wks. ($130,431,948); 9. Be Kind Rewind, New Line, $4,050,655, (New); 10. There Will be Blood, Paramount Vantage, $2,687,229, 9 Wks. ($35,112,557).

'Vantage Point' Takes Advantage
25 February 2008 (StudioBriefing)
Say what you will about Vantage Point -- and critics last week unloaded on it -- the film delivered at the box office, producing an estimated $24 million in ticket sales. That's a lot more than could be said about the other new releases, several of which drew far milder responses from critics. Be Kind Rewind opened with a so-so $4.1 million at 808 theaters. But Witless Protection was nearly devoid of witnesses, earning just $2.2 million, and Charlie Bartlett attracted just $1.8 million in sales. And the U2 concert flick U2 3D was no match for Hannah Montana, earning less than $1 million. Holdovers generally performed OK, with last week's top film Jumper falling 54 percent to about $12.7 million and placing second to edge out The Spiderwick Chronicles with $12.6 million. Step Up 2 the Streets finished fourth with $9.8 million. Among the Oscar nominees, best-picture winner No Country for Old Men performed the best as it added theaters and rose 21 percent to about $2.3 million. Juno continued its long run on the box-office charts, taking in another $4.1 million to bring its total to $130.4 million. There Will Be Blood returned to the top ten (in tenth place) with $2.6 million.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. Vantage Point, $24 million; 2. Jumper, $12.7 million; 3. The Spiderwick Chronicles, $12.6 million; 4. Step Up 2 the Streets, $9.8 million; 5. Fool's Gold, $6.3 million; 6. Definitely, Maybe, $5.2 million; 7. Juno, $4.1 million; 7. Be Kind Rewind, $4.1 million; 9. Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins, $4 million; 10. There Will Be Blood, $2.6 million.

'Vantage Point' Given the Advantage
22 February 2008 (StudioBriefing)
From the vantage point of most box-office analysts, Sony's political thriller Vantage Point, will likely be the film to beat this weekend. A political thriller about an attempted assassination told from the point of view of characters played by Matthew Fox, William Hurt, Eduardo Noriega, Dennis Quaid, Sigourney Weaver, and Forest Whitaker, the film is expected to take in about $20 million. Three other new films are not expected to give it much competition. The New Line comedy Be Kind Rewind, starring Jack Black and Mos Def, opens in just 808 theaters and is likely to take in $8-11 million, say the forecasters. MGM's Charlie Bartlett, a comedy set in a high school but which is rated R because of drug references, is expected to wind up with $7-10 million; Witless Protection, which was not screened for critics, is arriving with what Daily Variety described as "understated" expectations.

Movie Reviews: 'Be Kind Rewind'
22 February 2008 (StudioBriefing)
Roger Ebert's review in the Chicago Sun-Times of Michel Gondry's Be Kind Rewind, starring Jack Black and Mos Def, is probably a whole lot funnier than the movie itself. His description of the plot will likely evoke rollicking laughter, but (spoiler alert), he ultimately concludes: "But you haven't read this far unless you hope to learn whether I would recommend the movie. Not especially." Actually, that's about the same reaction of most other critics, whose reviews aren't half as funny. Carina Chocano writes in the Los Angeles Times: "Sweet-natured and likable as the movie is, it never really delivers on the promise of its ingenious premise, which hints at a subversive retelling of mainstream Hollywood movies but stops short at goofy homage." (The film is about a guy who accidentally erases all the VHS tapes in an ancient video store and then, together with friends, proceeds to reenact them on camera for the store's ancient customers.) Still, many critics, call the film "simple and sweet" or "genial," descriptions that Rick Groen in the Toronto Globe and Mail isn't buying at all. He writes: "Problem is, there's simple and then there's simplistic, and this crude thing is a refutation of its own thesis: It's a joyless ode to joy, it's a leaden salute to the silver screen, it's a painful testament to filmic pleasures. Be kind, and don't even begin to rewind."