Word: film
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...days - like, until yesterday - movie studios judged the success of their big pictures by how much they grossed on the opening weekend. But in the age of Twitter, electronic word-of-mouth is immediate, as early moviegoers tweet their opinions on a film to millions of "followers." Instant-messaging can make or break a film within 24 hours. Friday is the new weekend...
...rated provocation whose star was unknown to the mass audience until his Borat became a surprise hit in 2006, earning more than $260 million at theaters worldwide on an $18 million budget. Yet Brüno's box-office decline from Friday to Saturday indicates that the film's brand of outrage was not the sort to please most moviegoers - and that their tut-tutting got around fast. Brüno could be the first movie defeated by the Twitter effect. (See pictures of Sacha Baron Cohen's outrageous Brüno promotions...
...niche market of real-people movies, the two wedding-panic comedies, The Proposal and The Hangover, held their audiences, losing only 18% and 12% respectively from the previous weekend. Sandra Bullock's comeback film is well past the $100 million mark, and The Hangover is well past $200 million. Whatever reservations you might have about these movies as works of popular art, the numbers are good news, in the blockbuster-dominated summer market, for the little movies that could. (A new romantic comedy, I Love You, Beth Cooper, raised barely a titter, or a Twitter, pulling in just $5 million...
...other was the reaction by the gay community to the movie's depiction of an asinine, predatory homosexual. Baron Cohen probably figured that if anyone can take a joke, it's gay people. But the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation was not amused. The film "decreases the public's comfort with gay people," GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios said, adding that some scenes "hit the gay community pretty hard and reinforce some damaging, hurtful stereotypes" - an observation that was recirculated in the Twitterverse. Barrios noted that GLAAD staffers had seen an early cut of the film, and "unfortunately, the scenes that...
...Universal had high hopes for Brüno's opening weekend. Buoyed by the film's robust $1.6 million at Thursday midnight screenings and impressive pre-buys of tickets on Fandango and other sites, a studio insider told industry blogger Nikki Finke on Friday morning, "If it holds up, we'll do $50 million." The Friday figures supported that optimism: Brüno amassed a sensational $14.4 million. But the movie plummeted nearly 40% its second day, to $8.8 million. Meanwhile, the next five movies on the chart - Ice Age 3, Transformers 2, Public Enemies, The Proposal and The Hangover...