Box Office

[ElleBee]

Just wanted to jump in re. the number of people who've actually seen BBM. Although repeat viewings obviously had some weight on the final numbers, those would be offset in great part by people who work in the industry and watched for free.  I work for one of the big exhibitors and hundreds of our employees saw BBM (in my case...er...several times  ) but our "frees" aren't reflected BBM's grosses.  Multiply that by all the other exhibitors' employees as well as their families/friends, plus studio employees, SAG members, etc. and you have a fairly substantial number of viewers who aren't reflected in the grosses.  Hard to estimate exactly but I'd guess that number offsets a great part of (possibly even more than) the visits logged by the "rabid" (and I mean that as the utmost compliment  ) fanbase of repeat viewers.

Also from the exhibitor perspective, BBM (at least in our chain) did much better than planned.  Other films were actually reshuffled to make room because BBM's run ended up being much longer (and more lucrative) than originally anticipated. 

[Garry_LH]

The end of the second week in Columbia Mo. the ticket seller told me BBM was the highest grossing movie they had during that period.

[hayek_uk]

I notice that BBM's weekend take last weekend was very similar to that of the rather more recently released "Adam and Steve". Synopsis of which:

Queer bon vivant Craig Chester makes his directorial debut with this raucous and candy-colored romantic comedy about the pitfalls of falling in love in New York City. Flashback to 1987 at the Limelight disco, where shoulder pads and acid-washed jeans reign supreme. Goth guy Adam (Chester) with his obese gal pal Rhonda (a hilarious Parker Posey) meet Steve (Malcolm Gets), a glam rock dancer. Instantly attracted to each other, Adam takes Steve home but after several bumps of coke laced with baby laxatives, their date comes to a comically explosive end. Fast forward to 2005 and as mischievous fate would have it, Adam and Steve encounter each other again, blissfully unaware that they had previously met (the evolution of fashion can do wonders!). As the two men begin courting each other with the support of the newly svelte Rhonda and Steve's straight roommate (Chris Kattan of "Saturday Night Live") little clues begin to pop up that maybe Adam and Steve might have initially met under less than perfect circumstances. Chester and Gets, both openly gay actors, provide an authentic and appealing spin to the "boy meets boy" film genre in queer cinema. Supported by a strong cast (Posey and Kattan shine as opposites who could fall for each other), fantastic appearances from Julie Hagerty, Sally Kirkland and Jackie Beat, and a toe-tapping country western musical number, Adam & Steve delivers laugh-out-loud sight gags and witty one-liners - yet it also has just the right amount of heart to touch the romantic in all of us.

Anyone know if this is expected to be a big hit on the back of BBM? 

[Luke_in_SG]

Luke, it wasn't so much that we wanted a huge number of people to see it (I personally have no doubt that will turn out to be the case when the dust settles), but that we wanted it to make a substantial profit so the movie industry would be encouraged to make more like this.  I'm sure BBM was not the only "unmakeable" screenplay with a gay theme floating around Hollywood for the past eight years (The Front Runner immediately comes to mind).  If you really want to see where our heads were at back in December, check out the original board.  We were all praying very hard it would make back the $14 million it cost to make it, and there was substantial uncertainty that would happen.  We originally thought the box office would be more along the lines of what Transamerica did.  That it has hit $83 million in this country completely blows me away.

Well WLAGus, I am certainly glad it did as well as it did, and I also gladly confess that I did my bit in contributing to that, since I'm one of those rabid (the quote ElleBee) fans who watched it multiple times. Seven, in fact!

Oh, surprisingly, Transamerica is still showing here. I may be wrong, but it seems to be enjoying a longer run than BBM.

[aperture]

From http://www.boxofficemojo.com

Foreign    Apr. 17, 2006:    $91,230,695       52.4%
Domestic Apr. 16, 2006:    $83,025,853       47.6%

Worldwide:                      $174,256,548

[Boris]

From http://www.boxofficemojo.com

Foreign    Apr. 17, 2006:    $91,230,695       52.4%
Domestic Apr. 16, 2006:    $83,025,853       47.6%

Worldwide:                      $174,256,548

I read a couple early pages in this thread and at that time we dreamt bold when we hoped for 50 mil in US gross. I think that we can be really happy with these numbers. The foreign gross will be around 95 mil before DVD release in Europe in June.

This is phenomenal, folks.

[Poohbunn]

Now, now, let's not get worked up over this. I was only saying that a portion of the takings were due to repeated viewing by people like us. I have no idea how much that takes up in terms of percentage of takings, but it still means that the overall amounts does not realistically represent the number of people who watched it.

I bet the number of multiple viewings are balanced out by the number of unrecorded viewings in places where the movie is banned and smuggled in.  If someone buys the video and shows it to a group of 10 people, that's nine more people than we can count.

Also, there'll be a time when the powers that be stop counting, but more people will watch it.  It will take over the world!!!

Pooh

[Luke_in_SG]

Hear, hear!

[Pierre]

Hayek_uk ,

Adam and Steve looks horrible. This is the anthesis to Brokeback Mountain for me. In the wake of Brokeback this is the inevitable step back. I'm sure the gay men who didnt' like brokeback will adore this film, The entire film reads shallow and cheap.
wow to go from possibly the best gay film of all time, to the worst in a matter of months. Ugh

is this really all gay writers, directors, and actors can come up with?

Do i really appreciate the perspective of gay relationships through straight eyes over the vision of gay relationships through gay eyes?

it's so disconcerting.

[Zuraffo]

If we take into the account of unrecorded viewings, especially those without official sanction, we'll probably need to double the oversea takings. 

I bet the number of multiple viewings are balanced out by the number of unrecorded viewings in places where the movie is banned and smuggled in.  If someone buys the video and shows it to a group of 10 people, that's nine more people than we can count.

Also, there'll be a time when the powers that be stop counting, but more people will watch it.  It will take over the world!!!

Pooh

[Just_a_Twist]

Hayek_uk ,

Adam and Steve looks horrible. This is the anthesis to Brokeback Mountain for me. In the wake of Brokeback this is the inevitable step back. I'm sure the gay men who didnt' like brokeback will adore this film, The entire film reads shallow and cheap.
wow to go from possibly the best gay film of all time, to the worst in a matter of months. Ugh

is this really all gay writers, directors, and actors can come up with?

Do i really appreciate the perspective of gay relationships through straight eyes over the vision of gay relationships through gay eyes?

it's so disconcerting.

Ugh, tell me about it.  I was surprised to see this has even a 48 on metacritic.  It's made all of $217,000, so I think we're in company.

[Poohbunn]

If we take into the account of unrecorded viewings, especially those without official sanction, we'll probably need to double the oversea takings. 

I generally oppose the idea of pirated videos, but in the case of oppressed countries where it is banned, I am totally in favor of it.  It must be so reassuring to closeted gays in places where their lives are in danger.

Pooh

[IMJackNasty]

I wondered during my frequent trips if people bought tickets for other movies...because at many big multi plexes...they take your tickets out front and you could really than go into any movie you choose. I say this because of many people could have been to scared to ask for BBM in front of others and then bought a ticket for another movie but made a turn into the theater showing BBM.

I say this because there was always a steady audience and it seemed to me the movie should have raked in more money.....

For what it's worth....

[Zuraffo]

Closeted gays generally don't need to worry about their lives, unless you consider their sanity.

For outed gays like us, well, I felt more threatened by robbers than by gay-bashers in general. Even in China. 

I generally oppose the idea of pirated videos, but in the case of oppressed countries where it is banned, I am totally in favor of it.  It must be so reassuring to closeted gays in places where their lives are in danger.

Pooh

[sfericsf]

I wondered during my frequent trips if people bought tickets for other movies...because at many big multi plexes...they take your tickets out front and you could really than go into any movie you choose. I say this because of many people could have been to scared to ask for BBM in front of others and then bought a ticket for another movie but made a turn into the theater showing BBM.

I say this because there was always a steady audience and it seemed to me the movie should have raked in more money.....

For what it's worth....

I've pondered this too...
hmm.