Jersey Boys movie looking at a weak 12 million opening - Page 2

[James885]

Posted: 6/19/14 at 6:25pm

As far as box office expectations, this doesn't exactly strike me as a film that would set the box office on fire anyway. I doubt the studio went into this with expectations that it was going to gross as much as the giant summer tentpoles. If they did they probably would've tried to get the film a PG-13 rating instead of an R, so that it could appeal to the widest possible audience.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 6/19/14 at 6:27pm

As someone who doesn't live in New York, it's certainly not everywhere here. I've seen TV ads maybe twice, and I watch a lot of TV. Of course it may just be that I don't watch the type of programming they advertise it during.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 6/19/14 at 9:09pm

The musical is a glorified concert with HIGH ENERGY. Thats what has them rocking in the aisles and coming back. I was dragged to Jersey Boys with a loathing and walked out loving it due to the high energy of the production numbers.

Looks like Eastwood stripped the music and truncated the songs. It's like cutting off its legs.

I think its gonna suck hard. Old people wont even like it if you take out the music.

[dented146]

Posted: 6/20/14 at 2:16am

It's not great but it isn't terrible. I thought it was okay but lacked the great pace of the stage show. But for a lot of people it will have more appeal than watching the world explode with computer graphics.

I saw it with a group of AARP aged folks in my cinema society. Pretty much everyone liked it more than I. Based on that, my guess is that it will do a bit better than people think.

[brdway411]

Posted: 6/20/14 at 7:22am

Waiting for cable.

[skylight2]

Posted: 6/20/14 at 10:02am

Completely expected. The musical wasn't very good to begin with.

[pat_NYborn]

Posted: 6/20/14 at 12:39pm

Could be wrong but the way I see it is that it wont do nearly as good as Les Miz, but wont tank as bad as Rock of Ages did (which also opened this same exact time 2 years ago). Eastwood has a following so seems it will do modestly well. Summer can be a real roulette at the box office though...some big budget flicks tank while small films like "Chef" surprise everyone at the box office.

[jo]

Posted: 6/20/14 at 4:36pm

Per BoxOfficeMojo --

ROCK OF AGES (Released June 15, 2012)
Total Lifetime Grosses

Domestic: $38,518,613 64.8%
Foreign: $20,900,000 35.2%

Worldwide: $59,418,613

Opening Weekend: $14,437,269
**************************************


LES MISERABLES (released December 25, 2012)
Total Lifetime Grosses

Domestic: $148,809,770 33.7%
Foreign: $293,000,000 66.3%

Worldwide: $441,809,770


Opening Weekend: $27,281,735
***************************************

MAMMA MIA! (released July 18, 2008 )
Total Lifetime Grosses

Domestic: $144,130,063 23.6%
Foreign: $465,711,574 76.4%

Worldwide: $609,841,637


Opening Weekend: $27,751,240
***************************************










Updated On: 6/20/14 at 04:36 PM

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 6/20/14 at 4:40pm

For those who think the movie isn't doing that poorly, be aware that a movie like this has to make about three times what it cost to even see some sort of profit. And you bet the studio wanted the film to make a lot more than this when they acquired the property, you don't make a Tony-award winning movie musical that uses well known standards to make less than $100 mil.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 6/20/14 at 5:00pm

I never knew that Mamma Mia did almost as good domestically and better internationally than Les Miserables.

[Gink]

Posted: 6/20/14 at 7:28pm

Saw an afternoon showing in upstate NY that was packed with old people. It could have been trimmed but my grandfather LOVED it. Said it was the best thing he'd seen in years. I liked it better than the musical which I only 'liked'.

[ArtMan]

Posted: 6/20/14 at 7:28pm

I saw this on Monday. They saved a lot of their budget on hair, makeup and set design. It's the worst for a big studio release. Just cheap looking.

[jo]

Posted: 6/21/14 at 12:40am

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Jersey Boys may outpace the tracking, and may actually perform between $ 16 to $ 20 Million this weekend, based on Friday results.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-think-like-a-713840

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 6/21/14 at 2:43am

Just got back from the Friday 10pm showing... In a 400 seat theater there were 12 people. Comments overheard at the end indicated the audience did seem to enjoy it...but I remember 1978 when GREASE was sold out everywhere and a monster summertime hit.

The film itself, I thought, was quite good and fairly faithful to the stage show. Someone above mentioned the pacing being an issue. It does not have the punch that the stage version has, but overall I was still caught up in the drama and the big moments land well.

[haterobics]

Posted: 6/21/14 at 2:45am

"Just got back from the Friday 10pm showing... In a 400 seat theater there were 12 people."

This movie is being attended by older people, go to an 11 a.m. screening if you want to gauge attendance.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 6/21/14 at 5:05am

Saw this last night. I thought the whole thing was extremely disappointing. I really enjoyed the stage version, so I was really excited to see this. Clint Eastwood has somehow managed to take what should have been a very easy musical to adapt to the screen, and cut out all sense of excitement, tension, character development, etc.

The songs have been heavily abridged and slashed like crazy. Key songs in the show that advanced the plot along and served as "triggers" for the next big event in the plot have been downplayed here and, in most cases, just used as background music.

**slight spoilers** "

Ces Soirees La" served as a fantastic opening number for the stage show. It showed the audience right off the bat how far the legacy of the Four Seasons' music reached - to the point of being performed in a different language in Paris in the present day. This cut is one of many cuts from the musical that hindered the plot's advancement. "Dawn Go Away" is no longer performed in the arena, but instead at a random festival. This was a pivotal moment in the stage show. The band had reached the top and were performing in front of thousands of people right at the same time their world was about to come crashing down. The tension that was so beautifully created at that moment was no longer present. I could go on and on about the changes, but let's just say none of the changes did anything to enhance what the stage show already did quite well.

**end spoilers**

The whole film had a cheap feel to it. It looked like it was filmed through an Instagram filter. The hair and makeup designs were laughable. Overall, I was pretty disappointed and thought the film was a pretty big let down. The first time I saw Jersey Boys live, I always thought it would make a great film, but a great film this is not.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/21/14 at 10:20am

Just got back from the Friday 10pm showing... In a 400 seat theater there were 12 people.

I was at a 10 p.m. showing last night too. It was way more populated at 8 p.m. (we got there as they were letting out). That didn't surprise me, though. Look at JB's target audience! They don't want to be leaving a movie theater at 12:30 a.m.

Interestingly enough, I went with a friend who's seen the show, but only twice, and both times were about 7 years ago (once with me). She said that forgetting a lot of what she saw on stage (though she enjoyed it at the time) helped her enjoy the movie. She really, really liked the beginning and the buildup to the big three hits. I didn't really imagine anyone could be that enthusiastic about that part. I think it's well-done, but it's stretched out so much that once you get to Sherry/Big Girls/Walk Like a Man, it's too much of a relief.

As for the "snippets of songs" complaints, I'd have to count it out (don't think I won't, ha!), but it may have used the same amount as on stage -- just distributed differently. It just feels like less. There are verses to Sherry, and I think My Eyes Adored You, that aren't used on stage but are in the movie. I feel like we hear more of Stay on the jukebox in the movie than we do on stage.

This was my second time seeing the movie, and I can't say that anything I thought the first time changed all that much. I've concluded that I really dislike Freya Tingley's Francine, but I'm not sure if it's her, the direction, or how they decided to portray the character. I took a bathroom break once I correctly anticipated when that painfully bad diner scene was coming up.

I still think this feels like a really good HBO movie. Maybe that should've been how they went with it, if it wasn't going to be a cinecast type of thing. It's more of a biopic about the Four Seasons that happens to be called Jersey Boys and cast some former cast members... than an adaptation of Jersey Boys.

Updated On: 6/21/14 at 10:20 AM

[RachelJean]

Posted: 6/21/14 at 11:12am

It was a packed house of senior citizens at the 4 PM showing I went to yesterday as well. Overall, I felt the film could have been a lot better. However the audience I was with absolutely LOVED it. Laughing, gasping at serious moments, clapping after the musical numbers, etc.

***SPOILERS***

To me, one of the most exciting moments is the finale of "Who Loves You," which was cut down to only a few lines. That was pretty disappointing. Something else that was weird about the ending was that bit with Frankie saying how the high point was the four of them singing together under the streetlight and discovering their sound, and I was sitting there thinking, 'Where was THAT scene?' And then it was thrown in quickly after "Who Loves You." That felt sloppy to me.






Updated On: 6/21/14 at 11:12 AM

[HighFlyingAdored97]

Posted: 6/21/14 at 12:21pm

My friend and I caught a 7 pm showing of Jersey Boys last night. We were the youngest people in the audience.
The high points for me were John Lloyd Young's voice and Vincent Piazza as Tommy.
I'm not sure if this was intentional (I haven't seen Jersey Boys on stage yet) but I thought Tommy was the best written part. The whole audience seemed to care about him the most and respond to him the most. Frankie really didn't become interesting until his daughter ran away, and Nick didn't become interesting until he quit the group.
Overall I thought it was okay. I think it could've been better with a different director.

[NOB88]

Posted: 6/21/14 at 2:53pm

IMO, like the ROA movie, they used the wrong director.

[madbrian]

Posted: 6/21/14 at 3:32pm

The boxofficemojo estimate for Friday is: $4,640,000.

[tazber]

Posted: 6/21/14 at 4:17pm

In fourth place, Jersey Boys opened to an estimated $4.64 million. That's below Rock of Ages, which opened to $5.3 million around the same time in 2012. It is at least slightly higher than Eastwood's last movie, J. Edgar ($4.26 million), though that's a minor consolation. For the weekend, Jersey Boys will likely take in around $12 million.


Link

[blaxx]

Posted: 6/21/14 at 4:21pm

Ouch. It's not like they hired a bunch of musical theater unknowns or anything.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 6/21/14 at 5:06pm

In an odd way, it's a hard movie to target demographically. Without a star other than Eastwood's name, it's title recognition and an invested interest in the Four Seasons. And then you add the R rating, to my thinking (others disagree) a bizarre component. A musical about a halcyon era that you can't really take your family too. At all costs a PG-13 should've been achieved, and I believe it could be true to the stage show with that rating. It lacks Meryl, Jackman and all of the cache of those other box office successes. And it doesn't even have the excitement factor of "Hairspray" or the fan base of "Rent." I will say it again: if "Rent" could score a PG-13, "Jersey Boys" desperately needed one. It's just not easy to market. It may have legs, however, as boomers slowly find it. But the boomers -- my generation, we grew up on those songs -- are unlikely to charge out this weekend to find the perfect screen size.

Updated On: 6/21/14 at 05:06 PM

[haterobics]

Posted: 6/21/14 at 7:07pm

"And then you add the R rating, to my thinking (others disagree) a bizarre component."

For how much cursing there is in the show, an R rating was inevitable. As soon as you saw the f-word twice, it is R rated. But again, it's sort of irrelevant, since no one under 17 cares about this movie anyway.