Good News for Henson Co. - I think

[Antrobus]

The family movie "Good Boy!" opened at No. 4 with $13 million

Just saw this on Yahoo regarding this weekend's movies.

[CookieCat]

My local paper gave it a really good review. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to have time to see a movie until Christmas!

[seattlescaper]

We took our family to see "Good Boy" on Friday. The theater was mostly full. Here is a mini review.

*Spoiler Alert*

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My eight year old daughter absolutely loved this movie. She loves dogs and just thought this movie was the greatest. My son, age five, though not as enthusiastic as my daughter also loved the movie.

My honest reaction was that I was disappointed in the look of movie and the script. Knowing what wonderful things the creature shop can do I was hoping that the story would have left planet earth behind for a bit and had Owen and his space dog "Hubble" and the other dogs go into space for at least part of the story. (Have a few run ins with an evil alien dog bent on earth domination). Instead, the story felt more like a made for television Hallmark special. Why have dogs from space if you are not going to show dogs in space? The kid actor who played Owen was the best part of the movie. So, kids loved it. I was just wishing that it makes enough money so Henson can bring Farscape back.

[AnnieBW]

So, when do they run into a vork? ;)

- Annie

[RescueFarscape]

Opening with $13 million is very excellent news. I don't think that it was expected to do so well. And it only cost $18 million to make.

I liked it, btw.

[Dominar of Action]

My son asked me this morning to take him to see it -- and I hadn't even mentioned anything about it to him. So, it looks like it's managed to catch the attention of the younger movie-goers (who are really the ones with the power!)

[canadadoc]

This could be very good news for the Henson company !! A warm kiddy show when there are not too many out there to compete - very smart.

c.

[Selena]

Are we ALL going to see it?
I'm sure I can round up some neighborhood rug-rats to take to the movies on Saturday arvo (that's Aus for afternoon).

[DRD2001]

If you want to see the movie, don't wait. From what I understand, the longer the movie is out, the less of a percentage that goes back to the movie makers. Different contracts vary but I was told that most movie theaters hope to make money on concessions for the first few weeks, and then their profit percentage on ticket sales starts to go up after a week or two. But basically, the longer you wait to see it, the less Henson gets.

[MediaSavant]

That's good info, DRD2001.

Also, not all movies stay in the theaters long these days. I remember that I was too busy to see X2 and Matrix Reloaded at the time they were released and found just a month later that it was no longer easy to find theaters that were playing them. I ended up seeing both on airplanes this past Fall. Not the ideal viewing environment.

It seems that Henson's movie strategy these days is to produce lower budget movies. If the movies do well, they can easily get back on financial feet.

[Antrobus]

I could see a scenario where the movie doesn't stay in the theatres very long and then comes out on DVD in time for the Holidays!

[Digger]

It isn't totally surprising to me that it did well, although most of the articles I have read say the $13 M was better than expected. It is the only real family movie out right now that I can think of. It will be interesting to see how well it does in it's second week. If it can hold on to a good portion of the numbers it did in its opening week it would bode very well for it. I hope the fact that yesterday was a holiday and all the kids were out of school will give it a boost.

[canadadoc]

Certainly in my community over Thanksgiving long weekend "Good Boy" was the only real kid movie at the theatre - in a mid size Canadian city. I think kids and their parents were going to see it by the cars in the lot in the afternoon.

c.

[uisceboo]

Dog movies are always a shoe-in for kids. My nieces bark more than talk, some days! and #4 for a kid flick is pretty good. Thanks for the info, everyone!

[grapeshot]

But basically, the longer you wait to see it, the less Henson gets.


This may well be true, however, consider that the longer the movie hangs on in the top 10, the more buzz it (and Henson) will get. This can help them for financing future projects. Furthermore, the more successful family-friendly movies are, the more likely it is that studios will make more of them. (Is it just me, or are you also tired of movies made only for 18 year old boys?) Not that I expect THIS movie to last long on the list, but you never know.

Also consider that buying the DVDs puts money in Henson's pocket, and nowadays, DVD sales are becoming a larger and larger factor in the overall profitability of a movie.

[Huh]

Originally posted by DRD2001
If you want to see the movie, don't wait. From what I understand, the longer the movie is out, the less of a percentage that goes back to the movie makers. Different contracts vary but I was told that most movie theaters hope to make money on concessions for the first few weeks, and then their profit percentage on ticket sales starts to go up after a week or two. But basically, the longer you wait to see it, the less Henson gets.

I wonder if this has anything to do with movie passes? I get movie passes at work for $5.75 which can only be used after the movie has been out for 2 weeks. The movie theatre charges $10, so I always try to wait a little while before seeing a movie. So, after a certain point some of the ticket sales will be through passes and therefore less profitable. Unless my company subsidizes the cost of the ticket.