‘Dawn Treader’ Week 3 Box Office Report
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader came in fourth over the Christmas weekend box office. Little Fockers opened at $30.8 million followed by True Grit at $24.9 million and Tron Legacy which made $19.2 million in its second weekend.
Dawn Treader grossed another $9.5 million in its third weekend bringing its domestic total to $62.6 million. Dawn Treader also continues to do fairly well overseas where it pulled in over $40 million throughout last week, bringing its international total to $165 million, and its worldwide total to $231 million.
Journey to the Center of the Earth opened to 22 million (that's a big number let's not forget) and ended up with 101 million domestically. It was seen as a huge hit!
Now they're making a franchise out of it. BTW, it was made by Walden.
Don't you think Walden will continue with its biggest franchise–Narnia???
Great comment, Moze! Brings a little perspective back into things. Indeed, TLTWATW and PC were not MY Narnia. This last one came closest, which I wasn't expecting. The characters were more resonant of my vision, and the gorgeous depiction of Narnia was closer than the fake-looking one of the first film.
For me, there's always that hope they'll "get it right," by which I mean, that they'll approximate what's in my head. But that's a rare thing because of the reasons you mentioned. A book is infused with not only the imagination of the reader, but his emotions from a certain time and place. I think too that when you read something at a younger age (younger than your 30s, that is), it leaves a more indelible impression.
The Silver Chair is my favorite of the series, and I am curious–now that I know they have a great Eustace–to see if they can pull it off, and create something that's both lasting and artistic as a film, and which captures the integral elements and emotions of the book.
As far as marketing is concerned, I don't believe that $50 million was spent, let alone a 100! They had a few trailers and TV spots around the time of release, and that's it. If they expect the film to continue to make money, people need to be reminded that it's still out there. And where was the usual circuit of interviews, etc.? Fox did a great job ensuring that only few people knew this film was out, and generating zero buzz or excitement about it. The sad part is that it's a great movie, very classic and old-fashioned in its approach, which is how Narnia should be done. But Fox didn't capitalize on that. The film could've brought in a wider range of viewers. Granted there was the snow and bitter cold and repression, but it's no excuse for Fox to do a completely lackluster campaign. That corporation is one of the more horrible and pernicious ones anyway, so I'm not surprised.
Non-Negotiable Comment:
I hope your right that Anschutz will continue to want to see the remaining movies made.
they should do both : )
Fox did Star Wars. I think it is more perspicacious, than "pernicious."
ouch i just hope that they get to pay back the money it costs to make it, and that they convince Fox to stay on…
Ouch, i gotta get my friends to go see it with me AGAIN!!!
I have forgotten about whom this story was told, but a writer whose books had been made into movies was entertaining a fan who complained that the movies had ruined the novels. "Ruined?" the writer said, turning to point at the bookshelf. "Nonsense! They're all right here!"
Where are the books, toys, videogames and all the other things that SELL the movie to the average person who does not spend all of their time on websites like NarniaWeb?
Merchandising, merchandising, merchandising! That's where the real money from the movie comes form!~Yogurt
As ticked off as I was by the resectioning of the plot of the movie version of "Dawn Treader," I have to admit that parts of it were certainly more "Narnian" in spirit than the film of "Prince Caspian," and closer in tone to the source. There was one brief scene with the Dawn Treader sailing along at sunset and a ragged stretch of red clouds across the sky that nearly lifted me out of the theater seat. And Eustace, as I have said, was as close to perfect as you're likely to get. It would be sort of a shame not to give the actor a chance at handling "The Silver Chair," which is a particular favorite of mine, as well.
hmm…..well, this sounds good to me. then again im not knowledged in the whole movie industry thing, but with some simple inference i can have an idea of what is good and what is bad. i just saw TRON on Tuesday, and that was an amazing movie i have to say. i know this sounds very unnarnian, but i can understand why it is doing seemingly better than VDT, after seeing it. please exuse my words. trust me though, when you see TRON, you will see too.
But of course, Narnia will always be first in my heart 🙂
But it's star wars. All you have to do is say star wars and you'll have a multitude of people coming. And you can't hide star wars. Fox knows they will get all there money back in advertising for it. But yeah the advertising for narnia sucked! my parents only knew it was out because i kept reminding them. word of mouth is what we need now. I was chatting with some people and one of them mentioned they saw narnia and it was really good, despite being different from the book. i agreed with her so there might be a few extra tickets added to the box office right there
right now i'm boycotting tron for a while. at least until i see VDT again haha. i don't care if tron needs my help to get its money back so there's another sequel or whatever. narnia needs our help! i'd rather put my money for an extra showing of VDT rather than Tron
hopefully I don't get stoned for saying this but if SC won't be made (but i really want it to!!!) at least VDT is kind of a good place to end. It wraps up the pevensie story nicely. although it sucks in a way though because it's depressing if you don't have the last battle in context, which most people don't. Hopefully they all get made!
Wonderful post. I love a little reason and common sense. I would say this, though: I don't think that the books being as precious and beautiful as they are necessarily precludes the films from *aspiring* to match that same level, in their own regard, and through the facilities of their particular medium. To me, the anticipation of these films (and, I readily admit, that it's pretty much a lost cause) has always been: "Can they make me believe I'm seeing Narnia with my eyes, on a screen, instead of with my imagination, through the printed word?" I tend to think that the medium of film is far more flexible than many people here give it credit for being so. Thus, I find it much harder to "accept the films for what they are", and, instead, find myself longing for what could have been. The books, I agree, will always be there for us, and their value is unquestioned. But, as long they make these films, I want more than they've given us, and I find myself constantly frustrated at the squandered opportunities.
Yea, I want Silver Chair soooo bad. But if things had to end here VDT had a great ending that wrapped up things. I mean Peter and Susan are told they can't come back and now so are Lucy and Edmund. They are the main characters. Bringing back Eustace would be great 🙂 But not seeig the Pevensies may be sad news to some younger fans. 🙂 I bet if they make SC they will throw the pevenies in there somewhere, maybe in the beginning or at the end when Eusatce and Jill come back from Narnia. And they Susan would know that Caspian had died 🙁
Films that gross over 300 million worldwide are hard to find. The fact is the Narnia series is doing well Internationally and will be respectable in the US, definitely over 100 million as high as 125 million plus when all is said and done.
The 'cost opportunity' some negative nellies like to bring up isn't that bad. No one is saying the next movie has to equal the budget of VDT. Narnia is a proven franchise and Walden Media will always try to make the next film because they own the film rights and it doesn't do them any good if it's not made. The question is will FOX be their partner. I say it will be yes. Look at their other films, Gullivers travels cost 110 and it will bomb worldwide. Persia will make less than VDT domesically and probably worldwide.
Some films rely on the US market to be their whole gross(Adam Sandler comedies for example). Others 2/3s like Star Trek.(VDT already made 50 million more Internationally than ST) Other less than half like say Iron Man. But movies like Harry Potter and Narnia films, the US market is only 25-30 percent of their worldwide total.
Rule of thumb is always budget double the worldwide gross, so VDT is on target.
ok tribunal what is your problem. every time i read one of your comments it always seems like your so rude. sure reality wouldn't hurt but it doesn't hurt to be hopeful either! and if you take a friend or two or three that could be $20-40 added to the box office. whoopie that's not a whole lot. but what if your friends happen to like it? they may tell their friends that it was good and maybe those friends will go see and then their friends go see it, maybe even more than once. And look what you've started: a chain reaction! that $40 that you consider worthless just multiplied into who knows how much. and if other people did the same thing, there are the millions of dollars that you were referring to! I think narnia has a shot at succeeding. and when you comment next time, couldn't it be a little nicer?
I´m glad to say that the movie has entered really big at number one here in Sweden! I´m probably one of the few in here who hasn´t had time to see it yet… Hopefully I will get a chance tomorrow (during the daytime)at New Year´s Eve! 🙂
I´ve ordered my ticket!
😀 Bob, don't worry!
One thing stays constant that I have learned: GOD!!
He controls this franchise as much as he does the universe.
Put hope in Him, not in Hollywood, nor VDT, nor SC.
As I see it, Narnia needs a reboot, and I think these movies serve as good guides/warnings to future franchises.
…Right, because you've seen every commercial that has aired for this film. That $100 million on marketing has been spent worldwide. Commercials, trailers, posters, red carpet premieres, those Narnia themed meet and greets don't pay for themselves.
And what if that friend hates the film? Bad word of mouth. It goes both ways.
True, though in general this has been a terrible Christmas season to be a movie in theaters.
I have no clue why.
And I'm glad Gulliver did a major flop…
I don't care how much it makes, I have no doubt that The Silver Chair will be made.
It's doing really well here in Norway too. It was released last weekend and went straight to the top, no competition, and it's probably going to stay there for a few weeks too. Whereas Tron has totally crashed and burned.
Saw it a couple of days ago and I absolutely loved it, probably going to see it again, and will definitely buy the dvd when it comes out.
4 x amen! Bring on the Silver Chair! We need more Narnia!
Voyage is doing quite poorly all things considered. It is having good holds but it started to slow for this to be significant. LWW made over 750 at the worldwide boxoffice, Caspian, which was a disappointment made about 450 worldwide. Voyage has a budget that is only slightly lower. in order to break even the movie must make a minimum of 350 million worldwide (and this is before marketing costs are taken into effect). Fox will most likely want a minimum of 400 million before it greenlights another project. That way DVD sales can make the movie profitable. http://boxofficemojo.com/showdowns/chart/?id=narniavs.htm this link has the boxoffice comparisons to look at.
@ Tribunal: Agreed, but a "few" isn't what i was thinking of… And was the movie so very bad???
Akkurat kemgrejt norske pige! 😉
Akkurat kempegrajt norske pige! (I en lite mera korrekt version!) 😀
Amen, sam! Aslan is on the move!! Everyone, we've got to remember that this is also a spiritual battle–I pray that IF God wants SC to be filmed, then He'd do it! And if he doesn't, then it wouldn't be filmed… God's will is best. (although I personally hope His will is for SC to be made!!)=) Further up and further in-long live Narnia, and long live Aslan!
GUys check this out!! 😀 http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=narnia3.htm Domestic Total as of Dec. 29, 2010: $73,166,297 + Foreign: $186,047,072 = Worldwide: $259,213,369 its doing good right?
Do the Nordic countries have a tradition of seafaring adventure stories? I noticed that Narnia has been doing well in the Persian Gulf. I used to live in that part of the world, and I can tell you, the Gulfis love a good seafaring yarn (Sinbad and all that). Not to mention, in Kuwait they put a sailing theme on just about everything, even Burger King, lol.
Well, to compare to similar movies, VDT is now ahead of Golden Compass' final domestic total. One day away from topping Eragon's final domestic. And the daily intake is higher than it was for PC at the same point in it's run.
I would love for The Silver Chair to be made, but I don't know if it will happen. I sure hope it does! But honestly, if SC ISN'T made, than I'd be okay. The end of VDT felt like the end, you know? The whole, "After my cousins left, after 6the war was over, I missed them with all my heart. As I know all Narnians will miss them…until the end of time…" and then Lucy tearfully closes the door. Doesn't that sound like the end of the series?
So, if Silver Chair is made, I'd be thrilled. But if not, I'd be okay because they ended the movie series PERFECTLY.
Well, it was a beautiful ending, to that chapter in the story. But the story doesn't end there, I mean, Eustace's journey has just started and they can't leave him in the dust. I would be devasted if they didn't make AT LEAST Silver Chair. Especially as VDT, though a good movie, wasn't brillant like it could have been. I was rather disappointed with it, and I don't want that bad taste in my mouth to be left there: Narnia as we see it needs to end on a higher note than VDT!
What is your source for these approval ratings? I haven't seen those numbers anywhere. On Box Office Mojo, Tron and VDT get the same grade (B). On IMDb, Tron is getting a significantly better response than VDT (7.5 stars vs 6.7). On rotten tomatoes, the two movies are getting roughly the same responses from audiences and general critics. VDT is doing significantly better with rotten tomatoes' top critics, but it's 50% vs 30, not 60v30.
Hehehe, nah, not necessarily seafaring, but we Norwegians are nuts about fantasy movies. You should see the commotion when a HP movie is released, the Weasley twins visited last year when HBP came out and they were blown away. Viggo Mortensen even made a show of appearing at the midnight showing of LotR3 and sung for the orients, really cool. All the Narnia movies have done great, VDT looks to be no exception.
The issue isn't that they can't afford to go. I've offered to pay their way. the issue is that they don't want to waste 2 hours of their life watching another Narnia fiasco.
What I was saying was that it would be unwise to spend that money they don't have and is not budgeted. I don't care how much they spend. If they make the money back, lets spend 200 million! 🙂 It just be not very wise to spend 100 million they don't have.
That was a reply . . .
It's already at close to $260,000,000 worldwide; over 73,000,000 domestic. If you consider that PC cost 70,000,000 more to make, in a sense, by comparison, VDT is doing better financially and there are many more days left. PC garnered 141 million or so domestic, subtract the 70 million in additional production cost = 71 million domestic. VDT already has well over 73 million and will easily surpass 100 million.
Regarding marketing costs, I've probably checked every relevant source and I haven't seen this bogus 100 million marketing number thrown around. I saw 50 million from one source. Lack of marketing has been the main cause of the lower than expected box office numbers. Marketing for VDT has been pathetic, but I believe, in the end, it will make enough for the series to continue.
What I was saying was that it would be unwise to spend that money they don’t have and is not budgeted. I don’t care how much they spend. If they make the money back, lets spend 200 million! It just be not very wise to spend 100 million they don’t have.
Do you need to be so negitave, Tribunal?
Yes! A movie adaptation of a book should BE the book in front of our faces, as much as humanly possible.
I could almost see in my mind how wonderful these movies could have been, and that's why the new one was disapointing to me. It wasn't necessarily "bad," but it was only an "entertaining kid's movie," and loving C.S. Lewis as much as I do I was hoping for something that would be worthy of his sparkling imagination and simple depth. Oh well. Next time?
Ugh, don't even get me started on the music. Not to bash David Arnold, his music was good, but it didn't fit with the characters and story the way HGW's always does, and it wasn't "Narnian." Getting rid of Gregson-Williams robbed the movie of an emotional dimension. It's almost as bad as if they got rid of Reep.
tribunal, your other comments suggest that you strongly believe that VDT won't do well. Is it because you just dislike the movie or the idea of the silver chair? No offence meant, but the tone of your comments imply that you might not like to see the continuity of the franchise.
I think the lack of marketing is a factor, but the movie has other things going against it. Mixed critic response. Mixed word of mouth. Not to mention, PC lost a lot of fans for the franchise.
And i've heard of movies having addvertizing in the budget.
Well,keep in mind there was mention of a "Jill Pole" at the end, so people who aren't all familiar with the books will get the feeling a sequel could come.
i think it will reach 400 million worldwide. God willing it will. Silver chair has to be made.
dont know if this was posted already but…
Narnia 3
Domestic: $73,166,297
+ Foreign: $186,047,072
= Narnia 3’s Worldwide: $259,213,369
also Narnia 3 is not playing in 3D as much as the other 3D flicks so its doing very well against the 3D competition…
with another holiday weekend and NOW no snow disasters scheduled, lets see by next week how it does. it picked up a bit of steam this week considering a large part of the country is still digging out from the last 3 weeks of snow storms….
cheers
"Fox and Walden spent around $100 million to promote the film around the world, in its $155m budget<48>." as according to SEVERAL sources. (48 refers to the L.A. Times)
@lilli
As a huge fan of the first two films I was incredibly disappointed in the way they handled Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I feel weird saying it, but I actually hated the film. It had moments of brilliance but overall was a really mediocre film.
And my comments aren't based on if I hate the film or don't want the franchise to continue. Just trying to be real here based on the numbers and not try to spin them. The film is doing poorly and at the end of the day I can't see Fox being happy with its numbers.
@Cynical
Not everyone shares the same opinion of the film. Just as you expect there to be good word of mouth there will be bad. Just as any other film.
Someone needs to come up with a marketing budget figure from a credible source. Inquiring minds want to know. Not to mention, this side-bar argument is rapidly devolving into "Is Not! Is To!"
On the one hand, we have Pevensie citing a forgotten, mysterious (mythical?) source as saying that the marketing budget was 50 mil.
On the other hand we have Tribunal saying that the 100 mil figure is widely reported, but won't say who is reporting it . . . more mystery. [Anhun raises her eyebrows in suspicion]
And we have itsanonnegotiable citing an article in the L.A. Times, that, in fact, says nothing about the marketing budget.
What clues will the Narniawebbers uncover in [dun dun dun . . . ] The Case of the Burgeoning Budget!
Well remember, Caspian actually comes into this world at the end of SC. I just hope that movie is closer to the book. I understand their changes for this one, but I hate when movies dont stay with the book
yeah i was thinking that too. I wonder if the filmmakers made the scene to sound like that on purpose since they don't know the future of the franchise
I'm saying once it hits 315 million then fox might seriously consider silver chair. It cost 255 to make and market, and there is about 60 million going to theaters. point being that if the movie breaks even then there's a serious chance for SC!