Open Forum Friday: Why Did Fanboys Open in So Few Theatres?
Today is a day that Star Wars fans have been dreaming of for a long time. After an infinite number of delays and a studio disagreement over a key plot element, Kyle Newman’s Fanboys is finally making its debut in theatres. It’s been so long since the film was originally shot that many of its stars have already gone from virtual unknowns to recognizable names (Seth Rogen, Kristen Bell, Jay Baruchel, Dan Fogler). But let’s not kid ourselves here, the movie has always sold itself on one thing, and one thing alone: catering to Star Wars nerds. That should be enough to give it plenty of mainstream appeal, and there’s no reason why this movie shouldn’t do fairly well in the slow month of February. So why is it opening in only 55 theatres??
There are a few different possibilities, one of which is the age old trick of attempting to increase demand by reducing supply. Studios have been doing this for years, and a couple of years ago Fox had “great success” by releasing Borat in a smaller number of theatres in its first weekend. That said, Borat still opened on at least 1000 screens, if not more. This isn’t even close. Fanboys is getting the kind of roll out usually reserved for Oscar nominees and foreign films. They’re even trying to encourage people to plan a road trip to go see it by offering free Star Wars collectibles if you send in 5 or more ticket stubs. How does that make any sense? It’s interesting to note that the distributor is The Weinstein Company, who are rumoured to be in financial trouble, and got burned last year with Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno which severely underperformed. Maybe they can’t afford a wide release, or maybe they’re just afraid to commit.
The last possibility is simply this: the movie sucks. If this were the case though, you’d think that they’d open wide and try to make as much money as possible before the word got out. Either way, it’s a bit puzzling, considering how long some people have been waiting for this flick. What do you think? Is Fanboys just a niche film? How far would you drive to see it? Is this a stupid move by The Weinsteins, or are they smarter than we think? Give us your thoughts here on Open Forum Friday.
Comments (12)
Whenever movies get this delayed, I tend to assume it’s because they suck. I am going to play it safe and assume the same of this movie.
Posted by Liz on February 6th, 2009Maybe they think that this will be a cult classic. So releasing it in 55 theaters will only have people seeing it who really wanted to see it for so long. The few people that do like it tell more people about how great it was, and so that buzz builds after the movie is released. Then they release it on DVD and all the people who heard about it, but didn’t go to see it in theaters buy the DVD. It’s a plan too crazy not to work.
Posted by Matt on February 6th, 2009Almost every Weinstein release has been a disaster box office vise since they branched out on their own. Grindhouse, The Mist, Zak and Miri and most likely this.
Posted by swarez on February 6th, 2009whats this movie even about? it has seth rogen in it so it has to be funny
Posted by rick on February 6th, 2009If you notice the ad, it isn’t The Weinstein Company releasing this, but Third Rail. Third Rail is the company that TWC created for films that they have a contractual obligation to release to theatres, yet have no confidence in it performing at the box office. It is the way they released THE PROMOTION last year.
So, I think it is a mix of TWC’s financial problems, wanted to dump it since they don’t think it will do that well at the box office, and a realization that its main market will be on DVD.
Posted by Moviezzz on February 6th, 2009I found a review that I thought was pretty funny…
http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/mwop/moviefile/2009/02/fanboys-a-fanboys-wet-dream-in.php
I’m not driving to see this thing though.
Posted by Julianne on February 6th, 2009I’m still pretty baffled that opened here in Philly. But then again, “Che” was here, too. But I heard “Che” was pretty bad. I kind of feel compelled to see “Fan Boys”, though, since it has had such a limited release… and because I -do- love Seth Rogan. Star Wars is cool, too.
Posted by Falsk on February 6th, 2009The first part of Che is fucking amazing. Have yet to see the second part though.
Posted by swarez on February 6th, 2009This movie looks like shit, it most definetly sucks.
Posted by Kasper F. Nielsen on February 8th, 2009This movie is awesome. Several of my friends and I drove out and saw it at different times this weekend and we all loved it, and I haven’t heard one bad thing from anyone who’s seen it. If need be, I’d drive for hours to see it again and make a whole day out of it. It’s worth it.
Posted by Dross on February 10th, 2009It sounds to me like owner Harvey Weinstein is playing ’sore looser’. He wanted to cut the cancer theme from the original (basically the whole empathetic motivation for the film) and replace it with a Stifler-esque drunken road trip just for the hell of it. The fans hated it, used the only tool at their disposal (the internet), and did their damnest to force him to return it to its original form.
After a plethora of delayed releases, and now only being released on 55 screens, it smacks to me of “yeah you got your way, but remember whose boss!”.
Honestly, i wasn’t too bothered about the film when i first heard about it, but now actually feel a bit sorry for them. Don’t know if anyone knows, but someones making a similar kind of film. A documentary called ‘The People vs George Lucas’ about fanboys/fangirls talking about George Lucas (www.peoplevsgeorge.com) . They’re asking for people to film themselves and take part; gonna give it a go i think.
Posted by Phil3000 on February 10th, 2009if they didn’t think i was worth their time and energy to release this movie to my area, then i don’t have the time nor the money to spend on the fuckin’ DVD. think about it this way: there’s a big party and you weren’t invited for whatever fuckin’ reason, maybe you’re not cool enough or whatever…would you be waiting outside till they get done so somebody can bring you out some left-overs? FUCKNO!! so as much as i wanted to see this movie…i will not!! we all deserved to see it at the same time or a week after…but you can wait for your left-over DVD crap…I’m not Hollywood’s dumpster. boycott this sh!t and it will never happen again or buy/rent the DVD and tell them you’re ok with sloppy seconds
Posted by Shawn Shady on February 25th, 2009Leave a Reply