Whedonesque : Comments on 14780 : Southland Tales earns drab weekend gross.

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November 19 2007

Southland Tales earns drab weekend gross. Box Office Mojo has ST earning only $117,000 for the past weekend, in 63 theaters. This puts it 29th for the week, and its average per screen of under $1900 does not bode well, I would guess, for its appearing anytime soon in a wider release.

dougschoemer | Cast&Crew | 21:20 CET | 12 comments total | tags:

Richard Roper on "Ebert & Roper" called it one of the most boring movies ever made.

Out of Objects | November 19, 21:26 CET

The average for it's opening night (Friday) was $587 per screen. If people call Serenity a bomb, this one is in a league of it's own. Maybe it'll find life on DVD.

gossi | November 19, 22:25 CET

I saw it last Saturday, and I approached it as a long episode of "Heroes", which also jumps from plot to plot before trying to tie everything together. It may get a second life on DVD, because you can at least look at scenes more than once to try to understand what happened.
Since the first half was a comic-book series, does anyone think the movie's story should have been a comic book first, then a movie?

[ edited by impalergeneral on 2007-11-19 19:34 ]

impalergeneral | November 19, 22:33 CET

I'd look forward to the dvd more if Kelly hadn't ruined Donnie Darko with his "Director's Cut." But since I live 150 miles from the nearest place ST will play, dvd it will have to be.

dougschoemer | November 19, 23:33 CET

I'd look forward to the dvd more if Kelly hadn't ruined Donnie Darko with his "Director's Cut."

I actually prefered the Director's Cut.

Either way, I think Southland Tales will probably end up like Donnie Darko, as a DVD cult hit.

Out of Objects | November 20, 00:00 CET

Don't see how it's boring. It's full of imaginative stuff. It's just that it's all not really thought through and just vague ideas tossed on screen which don't come together. Some interesting casting. I actually wouldn't mind seeing a director's cut if there is one. Not surprised it's doing badly though.

batmarlowe | November 20, 00:27 CET

The lack of press and a release on 63 screens is a sign that the studio opted for a quick death. which is how they also felt about Donnie Darko and that one found its audience.

Its too bad that the studio that picked it up has a complete lack of faith in the movie.

ssick | November 20, 02:09 CET

Its too bad that the studio that picked it up has a complete lack of faith in the movie.

Given the horrible press the film got at Cannes, maybe the studio actually showed extraordinary faith.

baxter | November 20, 04:03 CET

Given the horrible press the film got at Cannes, maybe the studio actually showed extraordinary faith.

They know they'll get their money. Richard Kelly has a smallish, but rabid, fandom who will buy the first DVD, and the Director's Cut, and the Collector's Special Edition, and the Cannes Edition, and anything else they want to milk us for.

It's really worth watching, btw. Though, unlike with Donnie Darko, I won't argue that it makes sense.

dreamlogic | November 20, 04:38 CET

But, to look on the bright side...

...maybe this makes the concept of "Buffy: the Motion Picture" a little more attractive to SMGP?

(c;

filops | November 20, 07:56 CET

impalergeneral said:

Since the first half was a comic-book series, does anyone think the movie's story should have been a comic book first, then a movie?

Comic book prequels to the movie were released last year, when the film still had an '06 release date.

UnpluggedCrazy | November 20, 08:57 CET

Saw it at the Arclight in L.A. The opposite of boring, that's for sure. Very confusing but also alot of fun. And very entertaining. I'm still not sure what happened in the last thirty minutes. Kelly seemed to be going for a David Lynch "Mulholland Drive" vibe, which I loved. I'm sure I'll see it again.

themayor | November 20, 10:44 CET

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