Sunday, August 20, 2006

Snakes at the box office

It appears that SNAKES ON A PLANE topped the weekend box office race, although the final tally is probably lower than what fans and industry watchers were expecting. The film should still prove to be a financial success even if it's not as big of a money maker that all of the internet fervor indicated it might be. Honestly, modest returns will probably help the film become the cult movie it was destined to be.

About half of the film's business came from the late Thursday night and Friday screenings, which isn't a surprise. The hardcore fans turned out immediately and sought reviews on opening day. My site traffic saw an incredible spike on Friday, approximately nine times more than I usually get. (By my count I was the eleventh person on Rotten Tomatoes to post a review link, which went a long way toward snagging readers.) Traffic returned to normal levels Saturday and Sunday, which tells me that interest in the film didn't extend much beyond the core group.

I imagine that SNAKES will take a hard tumble at the box office in subsequent weeks. With everything oriented on opening weekend, that's the fate for most films, although SNAKES may prove to be particularly vulnerable since the majority of its audience probably have seen it. Still, smart theater operators ought to hang onto it for awhile for late night screenings. It's really the only time to see the movie.

No comments:

Post a Comment