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Originally posted by Cardie:
Pressure is placed on the opening weekend because current movie marketing trends are geared to it as a business strategy, and films which open wide and don't do well on opening weekend, unless they should show a remarkably consistent take during subsequent weeks, get pulled from theaters pretty fast.

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Originally posted by SergeantX:
Why does the media make such a fuss over opening weekend receipts for new movies? If anything it's just a reflection on the success of the marketing campaign.

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Originally posted by Cardie:
...There are also statistical models that show quite reliably that a movie's total gross can be predicted from what it takes in during the first ten days.

The vast majority of moviegoers are young adults either dating or going to the show with groups of friends, and they generally select from whatever is new at the multiplex that weekend rather than waiting to catch up on something that debuted the week before.

Cardie

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Originally posted by debbiebuk1:
But the way finances work, the studios want their investment back as soon as possible, so they're more interested in the immediate sales, so they can spend on the next project. Total takings depend a lot on how much people like a film and how often they tell their friends, whereas the first weekend depends on how effective the marketing is - which is what Joss was saying about the second weekend I think.

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Originally posted by LividLiquid:
So the point of all of that? The studio makes more money by blowing it's proverbial wad quickly than it does from longevity. Longevity is our game.

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