Serenity drops to 309 US theatres tomorrow - Firefly&Serenity

Oh no :( It's the beginning of the end.

AnotherFireflyfan | October 28, 01:22 CET

Or the end of the beginning. Or something.

gossi | October 28, 01:26 CET

Beginning? Isn't it more like the End of the End?

ringworm | October 28, 01:26 CET

Its actually the middle of the post-middle last half endgame pre-end post show.

zeitgeist | October 28, 01:29 CET

I'd actually call it the end of the beginning of the second part.

newcj | October 28, 01:32 CET

I noticed that the theater average take this week actually was not much lower than last week. But it won't be making much money in this few theaters.

At least get it to 25mil...

[ edited by AnotherFireflyfan on 2005-10-27 23:35 ]

AnotherFireflyfan | October 28, 01:34 CET

The end of the ending of the beginning of the franchise at the end of the first francise? Or something.

Nobody mention Glory.

gossi | October 28, 01:34 CET

The title of this post made me think it had gained 309 theatres, which made my heart skip a beat, only to be let down that it was actually reduced to 309 total.

killinj | October 28, 01:36 CET

killinj, I'll fix it, sorry.

gossi | October 28, 01:36 CET

Oh, I see...

It's still playing with four showings daily in my town.

[ edited by Willowy on 2005-10-27 23:44 ]

Willowy | October 28, 01:43 CET

Willowy, I changed it. It's dropped down to 309 theatres. It lost another 500 or so.

gossi | October 28, 01:44 CET

Not surprising. This weekend should start its discount theater run in most cities (though not here, as it's still playing in the major theater this weekend).

The Dark Shape | October 28, 01:57 CET

As far as Empire Theatres goes (the main chain here in Canada, or at least in Eastern Canada)... it's playing in one theatre in British Columbia. Not sure about Famous Players though. Hopefully the cooler, semi-second-run theatre here will pick it up at some point. I would love to see "Serenity" in that theatre.

Knuckleball | October 28, 01:57 CET

It will still be playing on 10 theaters within 30 miles of me. :)

SpookyRiverFan | October 28, 02:05 CET

So that's six theatres per state. Gosh. Not really much that can be added to that really.

Simon | October 28, 02:12 CET

Funny thing - I checked my area and now it's only playing 1 place within 40 miles of me and it's a drive-in. Might have to go check it out there.

RavenU | October 28, 02:13 CET

I know vampires, reavers and other beasties turn up often in this little corner of the web, but jeez, isn't this relentless number tracking getting a tad morbid? And yes, I say that as a moviegoer who snuck into two Serenity screenings next door to my Wallace and Gromit auditorium last weekend to count how many people were in the seats (about 15 each for a 2:00 and 4:15, in case anybody's wondering). I know, I know, you guys do a relentlessly good job at tracking all things Joss, and I suppose this cold hard data is included in that category these days, but it's been more than a little sad to watch the celebratory build-up to Serenity so quickly turn to fingernail-chewing anxiety over every gorram boxofficemojo update...sorry, /rant. I'll just say the film, which I've seen four times and counting, remains a highlight of the decade in terms of Hollywood output and certainly a high point in Joss' writing and directing. It's all good, people. He will continue to blow our minds with all sorts of new material for years to come, and probably still has enough cash in the bank account to pay his library late fees. And hey, pretty soon we can start listing the stellar pre-order numbers for the DVD, right??? :)

MrArg | October 28, 02:28 CET

It's only playing at one theater in Mass now. =(

nutmanda | October 28, 02:35 CET

Not that this is related to the subject line, but I wanted people to know that Netflix has added December 20th as the release date for the DVD. Does this mean that this date is official? Netflix seems to always get the release dates correct.

WheelsOfJoy | October 28, 02:51 CET

I had already noticed that as of tomorrow 'Serenity' is no longer showing anywhere in Eastern Iowa, the closest to me is now 100 miles away in Des Moines. I think that the 309 number must include some Canadian theaters, because I'm not sure which states in the USA have it in more than one or two cities at this point.
So maybe it is a tad morbid, but I'm grateful for the link because the only information I had found was locally, and I was interested in what the total will be tomorrow.

I think I'll go read my Visual Companion now.

[ edited by embers on 2005-10-28 00:56 ]

embers | October 28, 02:54 CET

Yes, 309 includes Canada. I really should stop grouping Canada with the US - very bad of me (and Homer of me).

MrArg - I agree it's very morbid, hence why I've said this is the last time I'm posting theatre counts. I'm also no longer planning to post box office results any more. Other people are free to post them, but to be honest, I think we all realise now the numbers have become pointless -- let Universal worry about them, it's their property.

gossi | October 28, 03:04 CET

Come Friday, it will almost entirely gone from the Toronto area, home to hundreds of screens, even the downtown Paramount.

Local Browncoats: I perused Eye Weekly and see that it will still be at Varisty VIP, Kennedy Commons, Colossus Woodbridge and one drive-in.

Drifter | October 28, 03:05 CET

The AMC Empire 25 in Times Square will still have 2-4 showings a day through to Nov. 3rd, so yay, I can see it again!

punkinpuss | October 28, 03:21 CET

I haven't got the UK figures yet, but I *think* the UK might be getting more screens next week. Since 'half term' (kids holiday) has finished here, some cinemas are putting it back on, which is just.. amusing. Nanny Mcphee can't take the sky.

gossi | October 28, 03:22 CET

Wow. Is this normal for other movies after 4 weeks?

einral | October 28, 03:26 CET

I've no idea. The drop off still suggests it's not a word of mouth flick here in the UK, unfortunately, but if some areas are willing to risk it I'm game. We don't have Doom opening until December here so there's no sci-fi action competition here.

I just checked my local cinema (Liverpool London Road) and it's dropped to two shows per day :( Both showings during the day as well, so nobody will go to them. Bah. We've been replaced by Saw II here.

gossi | October 28, 03:30 CET

Serenity is still playing in my neck of the woods (Olympia, WA), but is down to 2 shows a day.

m'cookies actual | October 28, 03:33 CET

I usually go to one of either two cinemas, and from looking at the listings on their websites, one of them has already dropped the film and the other's last showing is tomorrow night.

Sad, but I'm going to look on the upside. Whenever Serenity leaves they will be keeping one of the movie posters for me. I think that's pretty much it for the main countries where Serenity is already released. We might see some activity in the countries yet to see it, but generally the DVD will be our next big push.

Razor | October 28, 03:38 CET

This is... bad. And yet, I can't help but laugh. But in a very dry, sad way. On the good side, my theater is giving me dozens of Serenit posters! Thank the gods for working somewhere cool, huh?

Christopher | October 28, 03:45 CET

As far as I know, by the way, December 20th is the official Region 1 date now. No idea about rest of world. Some regions will hold until they've been theatrically released, I think.

gossi | October 28, 03:50 CET

Heh, this feels strange, Serenity winding down and reading about it here, while it's yet to premiere in my part of the world (The Netherlands that is). It makes me kinda jumpy and edgy. Ah well, at least I've seen the movie twice already.

Oh and also:

The end of the ending of the beginning of the franchise at the end of the first francise? Or something.

Nobody mention Glory.

Heehee! That's all. Nothing to see here, move along, move along.

GVH | October 28, 03:52 CET

Yeah you can even preorder the DVD for the 20th of December at www.dvdimport.com

tullyano7 | October 28, 04:05 CET

I'm might be missing someplace but it looks like it will be all but gone from the L.A. area -- I could only find it at one multiplex in Burbank next week.

The only hope for L.A. is an Oscar nomination...okay, forget that (I'm sure Universal probably has, blighters), but how a Golden Globe?...National Board of Review? MTV? I won't even mention People's Choice.

Hey, kids, let's put on an Award Show. My dad's got a Cable TV network. (Okay, he really doesn't.)

[ edited by bobster on 2005-10-28 02:15 ]

bobster | October 28, 04:11 CET

I just wanted to chip something thought provoking in, by the way: I said "Into The Blue" could crush Serenity due to the 'tits and arse' factor.

It didn't. I was wrong. In fact, it's no longer on release.

I said "Doom" could crush Serenity due to guns, aliens and The Rock.

It took less per screen opening weekend. I was wrong.

The biggest movies of recent years? Examples: Spider Man 2 and Batman Begins. Arguably all genre, geekish flicks. All treated with intelligence. And some darkness.

I shouldn't say people are stupid. Sure, a lot of people will go purely for idiot candy, but also: not everybody.

gossi | October 28, 04:30 CET

All of you who have Serenity showing at your local drive-in, I envy you! I really want to see Serenity at a drive-in, but there's only one drive-in in my area (an hour away) and it's closed for the season. :(

electricspacegirl | October 28, 04:42 CET

Portland area still to have something like 5 venues playing it beginning tomorrow (including, thankfully, continuing to play at one of the two best theaters in the area). That's unquestionably a drop even here, but we had a rather large number of venues here to start with when it opened.

The One True b!X | October 28, 04:46 CET

Well it hasn't even gotten to Israel yet, and when it does, I'll be seeing it a second time and dragging at least two people with me.

I know, small country. But lots of science fiction fans.

Ilana | October 28, 04:58 CET

Just checked around the theaters here in Chicago and started to get disappointed because I wasn't seeing it anywhere. Then I saw it playing at the Fine Arts theater about 4 minutes away from home. They even have a bar....sweet....off to get schnockered and shiny.

And btw, I agree with MrArg. The glass is half full, Scoobies!

alexreager | October 28, 05:17 CET

Yeah, small country syndrom. I feel your pain. I'll be dragging somwhere between 6 (who are now confirmed) and 15 (my approximate goal - already mentally excluding friends who I won't be able to convice) friends with me to watch Serenity when it opens here. Finally it pays off to have a large regular group of friends who like to go see movies.

Usually it's just a pain with the logistics and finding a date everyone can go - I remember when we had a group of around 30 to see the last LotR. That was a nightmare in finding a date and agreeing on a location. Used to be so much easier when almost all of us had the same schedule at the beginning of uni. Now some of us are done, others are doing internships all over the place, some changed uni's and we've expanded with housemates, boyfriends and girlfriends from all over and whatnot. It's a pain. In a fun way.

But I'm going slightly off-topic here, now, I guess ;-)

GVH | October 28, 05:24 CET

I'm going to see it this weekend at a drive-in out in Riverside. I haven' been to a drive-in since I was in Junior high. So what if I am seeing it for the 14th time. I'm still excited. :)

IrrationaliTV | October 28, 05:50 CET

Mr. Aargh, you're a smart man. But you spelled your name wrong. ;)

I can't wait to see Serenity again, but Mr. Aargh won't let me go until it's at the dollar theater and we have a sitter for Toddler Aargh.

And Gossi - I'll eat my words right with you. I was another DOOM's gonna eat us naysayer. And I was wrong.

And in the end, I got a super-shiny Firefly/Serenity/Joss fix, so I'm good. Of course I'd like the numbers to be higher, but hey, I'd like to win the powerball as well.

GrrrAargh | October 28, 07:53 CET

I went to see doom with a friend, 'cause we were expecting a cheesy action movie we could make fun of but ended up leaving 1/2 way through it because it wasn't even good at being that. And there were less people in the theater than at Serenity.

There /is/ some hope yet!

Caleb | October 28, 10:35 CET

Hold on -- Gossi -- that's *my* local cinema (not counting the one on Edge Lane, oh and Picturehouse @ FACT). I never knew you were in Liverpool .... wasn't it funny that FACT didn't carry it. I mean they've got Ghost In The Shell 2 this week.

feelinglistless | October 28, 13:09 CET

Staring at all these numbers is slowly doing my head in as well, so Mr Arg/Aargh has got a point.

However, I would very much like to know how the film does in countries where it has not yet been released, at least in the beginning. Plus I think it is fair for fans in these countries to have some info put up, why should they be left out. I am also really interested how much the movie makes in Germany, but as a German living abroad, that is probably not surprising.

Anyhow, if people in any of these countries could keep some initial box office info coming, I would be very interested.

miranda | October 28, 14:17 CET

Too depressing...too depressing...

UnpluggedCrazy | October 28, 14:30 CET

Drifter - I just scanned the local Toronto theatres myself on the way to work. One 20 seat theatre downtown, a couple in the outskirts and 2 in the burbs. So, some of us are seeing it again on Saturday because every week we say "This might be the last time...."

Lioness | October 28, 16:50 CET

feelinglistless - yep, I live in Walton. I actually tried to get FACT to pick up Serenity, but they opted for 'Oliver Twist' instead as a safer bet. Oliver bombed.

gossi | October 28, 17:53 CET

I went to the final showing last night in Lincoln UK - A smallish screen but nearly full. And the surprising thing (to me anyway) from the volume of the gasps at that scene -it was obvious there were an awful lot of people finding Serenity for the first time.

If only they had gone sooner then they would have been able to tell all their friends to check out this movie - now it's too late to get to it locally :(

The Do That Girl | October 28, 19:52 CET

gossi -- see I'm a member at FACT and sometimes their choices seem *so* inconsistent. Everytime I see anything SciFi or Fantasy, the house is packed. I'm a student in Manchester now, so I'll be going to the Cornerhouse more often and the AMC is just up the road from there.

feelinglistless | October 28, 21:21 CET

Hey Lioness, I just bought a ticket for that Saturday screening, (4:35p, right?) since "this might be the last time." Sigh . . .

Drifter | October 28, 22:38 CET

Drifter,Well, we're going out to dinner afterwards. Join us? You get a chance to win a Serenity Movie Theatre poster....

Lioness | October 29, 01:29 CET

The sad part about the reduced number of theaters is that, although there are 2 theaters within 15 miles of me (and 7 within 40 miles of me) still showing it, they are only showing it twice a day which is half what the usual showings were. That's like cutting the number of screens in half.

spikeangellover | October 30, 19:42 CET

October 28 2005