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Post by birchie on Feb 28, 2013 13:48:55 GMT -5
<snip> In the case of Samantha - she is an excellent singer but her acting seemed the same for every scene. She was also acting too pretty and did not evoke the almost spunky character that Eponine should have been -- her eyes have not developed the film actor's expressiveness yet. I found her On My Own and A Little Fall of Rain acting not tear-inducing at all, sorry! <snip> Jo I think she did pretty well being so young and inexperienced. I think she'll improve if she gets to do more movies. The only part I thought was odd (I think it may be the directing) was the first time we see her watching Marius giving his speech and she should be looking like a starry-eyed love-sick teen but instead she looks like someone who is about to live a tragedy. Of course at that point in the story neither she nor the audience should be aware of that. That was her one big off-note scene for me. As for China, I think it will be big there. It's kind of a tailor made story whether from a down trodden people point of view or a people's revolt against a monarchy perspective. Plus it has done very well in Asia, Japan & Korea especially. I too was very surprised it didn't stay in the theaters longer. And I agree that many theater people have just been annoying bordering on obnoxious. I think Sam is a good example of what theater actors, inexperienced with film acting, face in a movie version. If the ranting theater crowd had gotten their wish for a stage clone with all theater performers, nobody would have seen the movie but them! 8-) Sue |
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Post by jo on Feb 28, 2013 18:03:20 GMT -5
Samantha can have a good movie career, given more film exposure - she is a natural beauty and she could be a fast learner when it comes to film acting. I am sure acting with people like her Les Mis co-stars ( Eddie Redmayne is a fine theatre dramatic actor, etc) has also rubbed off on her. Singing can also bring out emotions that could be an asset for dramatic roles.
Re China - I think the test could be how successful it has done in Hongkong. It made $ 5 million, for such a relatively small community ( of course it is also a very cosmopolitan city) but these are mainly Chinese people.
Jo
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Post by jo on Feb 28, 2013 18:39:02 GMT -5
At last!! >  www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-milestone-les-miserables-425294----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Box Office Milestone: 'Les Miserables' Crosses $400 Million Worldwide 12:36 PM PST 2/28/2013 by Pamela McClintock The film is the No. 2 big-screen musical of all time after fellow Universal title "Mamma Mia!" Tom Hooper's Les Miserables may not have won the Oscar for best picture -- Anne Hathaway did win for best supporting actress -- but continues to revel in its box office success. Change for 'Vanity Fair' Oscar Bash Universal and Working Title's film adaptation of the classic stage musical has crossed the $400 million mark at the global box office, taking in $254.4 million internationally and $147 million in North America for total ticket sales of $401.4 million. Les Mis is the No. 2 film musical of all time behind fellow Universal pic Mamma Mia!, which took in $605.8 million in 2008. Universal still has seven territories in which to open Les Mis. In addition to Hathaway's win, Les Mis won the Oscar for best sound mixing and the Oscar for best makeup at the Feb. 24 Academy Awards ceremony. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I wonder how much it would have made if people were not swayed against the movie by naysayers! But I am hopeful that the sales of DVD/BluRay and On Demand and Rentals will further beef up the audience for the movie. And the full soundtrack release could also entice a look into the movie via home entertainment options. Jo |
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Post by jo on Mar 5, 2013 3:50:32 GMT -5
It looks like the Chinese are not too fond of Western musicals -- www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/china-box-office-journey-west-426010But the surprise box-office non-performance for the past week belonged to Les Miserables. Despite Anne Hathaway’s Best Supporting Actress win and the cast’s all-singing appearance on stage at the Oscars, the film failed to set the Chinese box office alight. Having failed to open strongly in the country -- it took only $820,000 (5.1 million yuan) on its first day of release on Feb. 28 -- the film has just taken $4 million (25 million yuan) by Mar. 3.
The musical film is now expected to struggle as imported international blockbusters line up for release in March. Skyfall ($ 50 million) and The Hobbit ( $ 38 million to-date) are visual spectacles, which might have been dubbed and/or sub-titled) while Les Miserables is a sung-through musical without any dubbing/subtitles. That could have been the major factor for the lack of major interest in the movie? Jo |
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Post by jo on Mar 5, 2013 4:10:32 GMT -5
From BoxOfficeMojo, as of March 3, 2013--
Total Lifetime Grosses
Domestic: $147,631,645 (35.9%)
Foreign: $264,100,000 (64.1%)
Worldwide: $411,731,645
It looks like my ballpark lower end estimate of $ 430 million may still happen?
Jo
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Post by jo on Mar 18, 2013 3:47:54 GMT -5
It looks like it didn't click in general with the mainland China audiences -- english.peopledaily.com.cn/90782/8172090.htmlI think the difference with the success in Hongkong as against mainland China was maybe because of cultural issues ( Hongkong is mostly bilingual because it used to be an English colony, is a free port and quite cosmopolitan and entertains a lot of foreign tourists, and is also a major financial center with its large base of expatriates). Jo |
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Post by jo on Mar 18, 2013 3:52:56 GMT -5
The box office receipts may be near to peaking --
Total Lifetime Grosses
Domestic: $148,489,000 (34.6%)
Foreign: $281,200,000 (65.4%)
Worldwide: $429,689,000
The movie may have already opened everywhere.
The next round of revenue streams will come from the release of the BluRay/DVD on March 22 in the USA and much later in other countries. The full soundtrack release will also continue to contribute to new revenues for the movie.
Jo
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Post by mamaleh on Mar 18, 2013 11:27:12 GMT -5
Your lower-end estimate was right on target, Jo. Very astute.
That quasi-final figure is about $70 million short of Mackintosh's $500 million minimum to springboard a film version of MISS SAIGON, so it looks like that's not going to happen, unless he has a change of heart.
Still, it's a more than respectable sum: Of releases since 2000, it's second only to MAMMA MIA's, I believe. Not bad at all!
Ellen
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Post by birchie on Mar 18, 2013 11:40:25 GMT -5
Your lower-end estimate was right on target, Jo. Very astute. That quasi-final figure is about $70 million short of Mackintosh's $500 million minimum to springboard a film version of MISS SAIGON, so it looks like that's not going to happen, unless he has a change of heart. Still, it's a more than respectable sum: Of releases since 2000, it's second only to MAMMA MIA's, I believe. Not bad at all! Ellen I agree, very respectable indeed! :-/ Especially if we consider the fact that Mama Mia was very main-stream pop music that was known to everyone. Sue |
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Post by Kelly on Mar 18, 2013 13:17:33 GMT -5
We have a huge multiplex in my neighborhood, it seemed to me the movie was yanked from all the Seattle area theaters too soon, not even sure it was still around during the Oscars.
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Post by mamaleh on Mar 18, 2013 15:20:00 GMT -5
Yes, it should have stayed in theaters long enough to benefit from the Oscar bump, as SLP did.
Ellen
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Post by chessie on Mar 18, 2013 22:12:14 GMT -5
Agreed. It was nowhere to be found anywhere in my area in the weeks leading up to the Oscars.
Carol
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Post by jo on Mar 19, 2013 8:02:25 GMT -5
*Ironic that had there been less negativity from the musical theatre purists ( who wanted the filmization of MISS SAIGON), the box office take of LES MISERABLES could have reached closer to the $ 500 million cutoff. Tsk, tsk!
*I have always had real apprehensions about the filmization of MISS SAIGON. Which studio will finance it, when it cannot cast bigtime movie stars who can sing? Not the role of Kim, maybe not even the role of The Engineer! It was Universal which basically financed Les Miserables ( and not Cameron Mackintosh -- otherwise the casting decisions might have been different) and even with a popular and longtime musical like Les Miserables, the studio ( via its Working Title subsidiary) would finance it only to the tune of $ 61 million production budget plus I do-not-know-how-much for marketing ( maybe 50% of production budget?). And the film project happened because the big leads " supposedly did not charge full freight" ( according to Hollywood columnist Anne Thompson) because they were very keen to be involved in the project. Can you say the same thing for MISS SAIGON? Hardly!
*Besides, it looks like Mackintosh has now turned his attention to Anne Hathaway and a remake of MY FAIR LADY. But no one knows if that can be taken seriously as well.
Jo
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