'King Kong' a Gentle Giant on Opening Day

Why isn't REVENGE OF THE SITH at the top of the single-day grosses list (is it even on the list at all?)? It scored $50 mill on its opening day back in May.

I think anything less than an $80 mill opening weekend for KONG will be considered a disappointment.

I think they're talking about films that opened on a Wednesday, not all films in general, hence the lack of Sith on the list.

Apparently she's never been acquainted with Harry Knowles. Or anyone at CHUD. Or anyone who bought any of the recent DVDs of the original film and the new film's production diaries.

Or Peter Jackson.

Yeah i thought saying Kong was not a geeky thing was pretty odd.
I have to say, most people i know (all of whom loved the Rings trilogy) dont really have much of an interest in Kong.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Kong's success at the box office was taken to be a foregone conclusion, so it's quite a surprising to see the low figures. There're lots of theories flying around as to why it hasn't done that well. It'll be interesting to see if these theories are validated by things improving over the weekend and coming weeks.

I don't think Kong has as big a geek fanbase as Lord of the Rings or Star Wars (note: I'm not talking about film geeks only, there're lots of other types of geeks for whom Kong is not especially appealing), so I suppose that's one factor. The first weekend should be indicative of built up general interest. The word of mouth effect will dictate how things go from there.

Given that reaction to it has been more mixed than the Rings films (reviews and message board reactions alike), and given what appears to be a slower start, I suspect this won't end up being as big as Jackson's previous opuses...

It's not easy to catch a 3 hour plus change movie during the weekday. If it were I would have seen this again already. It's not the summer, a lot of kids are still in school.

I expect this weekend it'll do just fine. And who cares if it doesn't? It's out there. Enjoy it.

I'll probably catch this one on DVD. These days I don't have much time to go through the whole rigmarole of driving to and from the cinema, finding a parking spot, queuing up for an age etc. If I am going to kill a few hours in front of the big screen I'd rather spend them on something I don't know the story of inside-out and back-to-front.

I have to say, I only know a couple of people who really want to see this movie. Everyone else I know really have no interest. These are non-geeks who I work with. They want to see Brokeback Mountain. I myself could care less about either. I haven't seen anything that made me have to see Kong. I don't even know if I plan on watching on DVD. Right now I'm more excited to see Wolf Creek than anything.

Seriously. You all have to see King Kong on the big screen. It is a movie that was meant for that. You won't be sorry. I wasn't excited about this movie at all either. I went to see it yesterday because a friend wanted to go. I loved it. I'm sure Wolf Creek and Brokeback Mountain are good. But fuck those movies. They'll have the same impact on the small screen. You need to experience this film, King Kong, at the cinema.

Seeing as how there are large chunks of the Northeast that were undriveable this week (and probably will be for the next day or so), this isn't too surprising. And keep in mind all the LOTR films opened on the 17th or later, which was already well into most Christmas breaks around the country.

Still -- and I'm not saying Kong is going to break the record -- Titanic never really set any single-day or weekend records. It just played forever and kept making double-digit millions every week.

No, you need to see BROKEBACK on the big screen. And it's a better movie than KONG.

KONG ain't going anywhere. But BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN might. I plan on seeing it this weekend. In Houston, it'll likely play and leave in a couple of weeks.

A guy on the BOM forums who was one of the first to break the low numbers yesterday has said that the Thursday gross is 6.2 mil.

Also, given the theater environment of the last few years and expecially this year, Kong has little to no chance of pulling off anything resembling Titanic's run because next week, when two more 3000+ theater releases open, Kong will lose screens.

The BBC has a poll currently running about which movie people would prefer to see - Narnia or Kong. It's not scientific in any way, but with over 16,000 responses the result is somewhat surprising. At least it is to me.

You may need to select the UK domestic edition (at the top of the page) and you will have to vote.

Wow, I would have thought Narnia would be winning that easily.

Then again, Britain loves Jackson for LOTR, and Kong scored a bunch of major nominations from the London Film Critics.

Really? I'd say entirely the opposite.

Don't misunderstand me, Narnia in particular and C.S. Lewis in general are well-loved in Britain, but King Kong is ... well ... King Kong.

We are having a hard time getting Brokeback Mountain. Focus won't let us book it and we don't know when we will get it if ever. They were supposed to go wider this week and we were supposed to get it but Focus backed off a wider release. It's frustrating because a lot of people are asking about it, which surprised me being located in the South, but we just can't give them an answer.

Kong is really soft at our theater. Only about 60 people for the midnight showing. Hope it improves this weekend. Guess I'll find out in about 3 hours how it's going to play.

I have no desire to see Kong. Jackson's great and all, but if I have to pay nine bucks to see a movie I'd rather see something original. I'm tired of remakes. Even if its a well made one.

I pity you and your stupidity.

Whoa, there. He doesn't deserve that just because he would rather see something else.

I don't think it's fair to criticise someone for wanting original (or at least ‘original’ in the best sense it can be these days) movies - no matter how well-executed remakes may be. And I'm sure King Kong is well-executed.

Wait a minute.

So, it's okay to criticise remakes if you don't like them but not okay for others to criticise remakes that you like.

Thanks for defending me.

I don't have much of a budget for movies lately. So, if I do go see something I'd like it to be something new. Even if it isn't something completely original, like something based on a book.

So you're picky about the movies you watch to the point where they must be entirely original in order to recieve your money, but you don't mind if it's based on a book, therefore not original...that's pretty loopy.

It's not that nonsensical. Books are an entirely different medium. Filming a book is different than remaking a movie.

I think there's a difference between an interpretation of a book and an explicit re-make.

I’ve read A Scanner Darkly three times, but I’m interested to see how it will pan out visually with Linklater in charge (it could and probably will be different). Kong is something else entirely, IMHO. Jackson can't play fast-and-loose with basic premise, which is cast in the kind of stone Moses brought down from the mountain.

Well, I'd say there's a difference between a remake and an adaptation.

EDIT: Geoff Foster beat me to it.

I think King Kong love is an American thing. From what I've heard the original version is one of those movies that gets wheeled out every holiday without fail so most Americans have grown up with it and it's part of their collective popular culture. Movie nerds aside, most Britains view King Kong as a corny old monster movie if they've even seen it at all. I've spent my life here and I can't ever remember seeing it on television. If it HAS been on television it certainly hasn't been screened enough times to seep into our pop culture like in America.

You're wrong. Kong isn't a holiday regular in the states... in fact, it's been in something of a crygenic stasis for decades. I've never seen it playing on TV (that's not to say it's never played on TV... perhaps it plays when I'm not looking, or on channels I don't get). It's certainly not common.

I'm 30 years old, American, enough of a film geek to hang around here for three years, and the 2005 Kong is the only version I've ever seen. I would have had to go out of my way to find a copy of the 1933 original and quite frankly the old monster movies have never interested me much.

I think it’s a dangerous assumption to claim Kong is purely an American phenomenon. The original is a superb piece of work and film fans – regardless of location – recognise it as such (as they should!).

I can’t speak for today’s new generations, but I (I’m 33) must have watched KK half-a-dozen times on ITV, BBC, C4 and SKY over the last two decades. Kong was similarly ubiquitous and revered in those nations (African) I lived in prior to 1989.

Perhaps Kong is seeping away from public consciousness, but certainly no more than Lewis, or even Tolkien, who have both prospered of late.

I think film fans/fanboys/geeks/whatever confuse the fact that everyone knows who Kong is with everyone loving Kong. It's a bit like the Hunchback of Notre Damme. Everyone knows the story, very few people have read the book or seen the movie.

The bottom line is that there's very little evidence to suggest that this will not be a front-loaded blockbuster. There's a new Carrey comedy next weekend and those tend to open big. If Kong drops to #2, it's over.

You guys shying away from seeing KONG theatrically because it's "been there, done that" are ridiculous. I've never seen anything quite like it, and I'd wager that you haven't, either.

Regardless of failed character arcs or plot contrivances, it's simply the most breathtaking action spectacle I've seen since JURASSIC PARK and it demands to be seen on the silver screen.

Yep.

Hmmm ... I'm shying away from Kong more because with one kid, another on the way and crushing work pressures I have little free time to spare, and what chance I do get to go to the theatre I don't want to spend on a story I'm totally familiar with. I'm quite sure Jackson's Kong is a superb piece of work (which I’ll lap up on DVD), but on my priority list (which is influenced by my wife’s mood) it's currently lagging behind Brokeback, Vendetta, Scanner, Fountain etc.

I’m sure you’re right.

All i remember from TV when i was a kid was the sinbad movies. I was sure i had seen Kong. It was totally familiar to me, but watching the original i realised that i knew almost none of it. I think my knowledge of it came from stills of the really iconic bits, which are familiar to almost anyone who grew up with a tv in the house.

It seems very strange to hear people taking up a position of not caring to see this, especially on a movie geek messageboard. It reads an awful lot like posturing.

Gist is right, if you have any interest in action spectacels, sfx, fantasy movies, period films, the 'golden age' of Hollywood, Peter Jackson or maxi-scale film-making at all, this is probably a film you should catch on the big screen.

There's even a possibility that it could be number 2 this weekend, given its weak opening, and the fact that Narnia actually increased on Thursday in the face of Kong.

If it's the familiar story that knocks it down that list, then we're back into the "why watch Scanner Darkly"? question. If it's because you know the cinematic presentation... well. Watching Andy Serkis' mo-capped Kong can have nothing... nothing... in common with an 8-inch puppet.

Wasn't LOTR a remake, at least the first half of it? And would it have been sensible to skip FOTR because you already saw the Bakshi version?

I hope you're not including me, Andrew. I do care to see it, but I just can't spare the time of late.

So you're not seeing Kong because you're waiting for three films that aren't even out yet?

If it's #2 this weekend then I'd be surprised if it grosses more than Hulk and not that surpised if it goes just over $100 million. Making it one of the biggest bombs in history, ending the careers of pretty much the entirety of Paramount's brass and making PJ happy that he has already chosen a low budget project for his follow up and will not end up as the new Cimino.

But it's too much of a doomsday scenario to really believe it will happen

However...

If that happens, how long will it take before the internet gets flooded with Christian conspiracy theories?

And for three or four months?

Being too busy with your real life is fine. Admirable even. Not wanting to see it because you'd rather see a film that won't get released in england for half a year makes very little sense.

Mastro - it's taking 3 times the amount other films are taking at the moment. What exactly are you talking about?

I really doubt Kong is going to bottom out opening weekend. People are interested in this movie--at least, everyone in the college crowd I know are. Not just the geeks around the RTV department either--my philosiphy class and photography classes have been similarly excited when the subject came up. It's just that a three hour movie is kind of a chore to get through if you're not a hardcore film fan duriong the week, especially with finals and school and work.

I really wish people would wait for this weekend before burying Kong. While I doubt it's going to pull as massive a increase as Shrek 2, I do think Friday's number is going to match the first two days total, at the very least.

My interest in Scanner is excited for three reasons:

1. I'm a huge PKD fan who's felt let down with every adaptation since Blade Runner.
2. I don’t think the book is in any way filmable (to any faithful extent), which leaves me with a weird kind of morbid fascination.
3. I love Linklater’s work and I’m full of admiration for him having the balls to tackle this.

Perhaps these are bullshit reasons, but I’m comfortable with them.

I liked it but everyone who is saying that it needs to be seen on the big screen is really overstating it. If you have a half way decent sound system and a proper screen-to-room-size ratio at your place it will still be a good flick. Unless you think something is going to be added to the show by having Cell Phone McChatty, Seat Kicker McCan'stSitStill and Teenie McOhMyGod watching it with you.

Exactly, g-dude. Look at the Wednesday releases that sit in front of Kong on BOM's all-time list. There's two kinds of films that beat Kong.

- Films with established fanbases. These include all the LOTR flicks, Matrix Revolutions, Passion of the Christ, and (shudder) the first Pokemon film.
- Big-budget films released in summer or during Christmas break.

The logic is very simple. People don't have a lot of time on Wednesdays... They are in the middle of a long work or school week. To get a big crowd you either have to convince people to ditch their real-life responsibilities somewhat (indicating a huge, pre-existing fanbase) or you have to have an audience that has nothing else to do (because it's a holiday/ school's out). Kong doesn't fit into either category... while many people have fond, slightly fuzzy memories of Kong they aren't rabid fans. It's like a remake of the Wizard of Oz in that way. And December 14 is still just a little early for school to be out- all the public schools in this area just let out for Christmas break today.

The audience for this was largely unavailable until this afternoon. We won't know much of anything about Kong's chances until Sunday.

I'm not (at this moment … things could change) seeing Kong because my daytime hours are occupied with work, my evening hours are chewed up by study (I'm a lifelong student) and when I'm not doing one or the other I'm doing this or that around the house. The only free night I have is Friday (tonight) and I mostly spend it looking after my lad whilst my heavily-pregnant wife enjoys a well-earned break from fulltime and gruelling parenting and housework.

I'm not saying you shouldn't see Scanner Darkly. Far from it. I'm just saying that, when you finally get a chance to watch Kong 2005 on DVD, you'll regret not seeing it during its theatrical run.

If the theatre experience of watching Kong can be reproduced at home than the movie theatre distribution system is truly unsalvageable. I don't believe that. If any movie ever needed to be seen on the big screen this is it.

I'll take your word for it, I'm only going by what I've heard American posters saying on other forums

Yeah, that's what I said; film fans recognise it as a great film, it's the casual moviegoer who views it as a corny monster movie and unfortunately it's people like that who turn movies into blockbusters.

I saw a guy on TV the other day, in his mid 40's by the look of it. He claimed that he'd NEVER seen a black and white movie. It might come as a surprise but a lot of people think like that, they won't even entertain the idea of watching a black and white move, or a movie with sub-titles. I know you won't believe me, but ask your work colleagues or friends that you know aren't hardcore movie fans. I'm sure you'll find most of them don't like watching 'old' films.

How many of those were shown in the middle of the night? I will admit to have seen the 70's version of Kong quite a few times on British television however.

mastronikolas hits in on the head though.

Sphinx, I'm not disagreeing with you.

I’m sure I will regret not seeing Kong at the theatre, just as I regret not seeing Requiem For a Dream or The Matrix for different reasons.

If I do get the chance of some free time over the next fortnight I'll do my best to watch Kong, but I can't rely on free time atm.

He was replying to a comment I made, and I should have exaplined it then. Anyway, here's the numbers for Thursday:

King Kong - $6,295,755
Narnia - $3,638,314

Normally, on a weekend like this one (one following a school week), Narnia could increase anywhere from 100%-250%. Conventional wisdom would also have you think that Kong would take away from Narnia's business, but I'm going to bet that it won't since Narnia increased it's business on Thursday in the face of Kong. Regardless, I'll go ahead and give it a decent 150% increase, which is a conservative guess considering that kid-orieted films tend to increase much more than others when they don't drop theaters (ex. Yours, Mine and Ours increased 240% from Last Thursday to Friday). That increase puts Narnia at $9.1 million or so for Friday.

Now, movies released on Wednesday have a totally different trend for increasing from Thursday to Friday because those first two days are bigger moneymakers for the film than a normal weekday would be, thus, a smaller increase, typically, in the current box office climate, something between 30%-60%. I'll give it a 55% increase which brings it to a little over $9.8 million.

From there, Kong could possibly increase 20% on Saturday to $11.7 mil. while Narnia would probably increase more like 45% considering that it's a holdover and it actually increased last week from Friday to Saturday as well. That would make it's Saturday to just under $13.2 mil., giving it the edge.

They would probably both have similar small drops from Saturday to Sunday since there is no school on Monday, but in this case Narnia has the edge since Kong is a new release and those usually fall more on Sundays than holdovers. Kong wold drop perhaps 5% and Narnia would probably stay even.

Final numbers in this scenario would be:

Narnia - $35.5 mil.
Kong - $32.6 mil.

Now, I'm not saying that this will happen, but this is a very very possible scenario. In fact, it's possible King Kong could do much better than that and still come in at number 2 because that $35.5 mil. for Narnia is a 46% drop, and Narnia is capable of falling much softer than that.

If there are any questions or anything needs to be clarified I'l be happy to help.