Uh, yay Aly, but boo America.

MySerenity | February 19, 01:55 CET

Boo America? I've not seen it, so I can't comment.

Yay for Aly.

gossi | February 19, 02:18 CET

*headdesk* Why?

Serenity has got to be the superior movie. I just don't understand.

petranef | February 19, 02:20 CET

Yup, yay for Aly. The reason all those people didn't check out Serenity tho is because it may involve thought of some kind.

nixygirl | February 19, 02:22 CET

Date Movie is easier to enjoy. Period.

Christopher | February 19, 02:23 CET

I saw Date Movie last night and I didn't think it was that good. Serenity was so much better I just.......don't understand.-sigh- It was funny I guess and Alyson was great but...well it didn't have any point, which I'm guessing is the point.

eloamandao | February 19, 02:35 CET

Aint nothing wrong with going to the cinema to see light entertainment. People work all week and head out on a Friday night to the cinema and have fun. If I knew nothing about 'Date Movie' or 'Serenity' and had to judge by the posters.

Me at the cinema

Looks at the Date Movie poster.

"Let's see. "From the two of the six writers of Scary Movie!" Hey they're making fun of themselves. I could totally go for this."

Looks at the Serenity poster.

"Ok. Who is Joss Whedon? "The Future is Worth Fighting For." What the hell is all that about? Date Movie it is then."

Simon | February 19, 02:37 CET

Light fluff sells. There's two genres you can't currently go wrong with: teen comedy, and teen horror. Well, you can go wrong with them, but you'd have to really try hard.

Edit: Simon speaks of the truth. This is why I always wanted a River's-hand-holding-a-bloodied-axe one sheet, with "Serenity" at the bottom. Nothing more. But then, I also once tried to live off peanuts for a week.

[ edited by gossi on 2006-02-19 00:41 ]

[ edited by gossi on 2006-02-19 00:42 ]

gossi | February 19, 02:39 CET

The business for "Date Movie" is surprising, considering none of the major newspapers printed a review of the movie Friday...maybe because there were no press previews. There are a few at the Rotten Tomatoes site, though, including one from today's New York Times which was very interesting. Otherwise, I guess the TV spots are getting people in the theaters

impalergeneral | February 19, 02:44 CET

Just a quick look, it opened in 800 more cinemas than Serenity so it's not entirely surprising it did better. Plus, staring at a giant (excuse the pun) Alyson Hannigan for an hour and a bit ain't exactly unappealing.

gossi | February 19, 02:50 CET

I'm already putting this out of my mind for more important concerns, like this: gossi, why did you try to live off peanuts for a week?

kishi | February 19, 03:21 CET

They're tasty!

gossi | February 19, 03:52 CET

I have to admit, it was pretty bad. But being the huge Buffy and Aly fan I am, I went and sat through it. I just didnt have the substance that the scary movies do. I felt that every scene they went to tried to base itself completely off another romance movie, and alot was sacrificed to do so. Aly was the ONLY saving grace and I mean ONLY saving grace for this. Shes adorable no matter what!

BD | February 19, 04:00 CET

Imagine what Alyson could do in a good romantic comedy, or at least one with some sharp writing and direction...and not so predictable, either.

impalergeneral | February 19, 04:12 CET

You can't compare Date Movie to Serenity. They're two completely different movies. :P Both good in their own right, although I say this having not seen the former (DM), but still. Serenity's just harder to sell to people. :P

Anyway! Yay Alyson!

Masa | February 19, 04:13 CET

I was going to see this but the zap2it article turned me off. Maybe the dollar show in a few weeks?

No, Masa but you can compare it to the Scary Movie franchise and it was compared very unfavorably to those.

[ edited by eddy on 2006-02-19 03:57 ]

eddy | February 19, 05:55 CET

Well, you can't lie at those grossing money figures(;). Only thing that comes to mind is "Go, Aly, go!"

Next topic.

Madhatter | February 19, 06:12 CET

You can compare anything to anything else (minotaurs to moonbeams, mushy peas to moebius strips) - it's just that for the comparison to be meaningful, you have to specify the measure.

Date Movie isn't competing with Serenity for "best sci-fi/thriller/drama/comedy" movie. More pertinently, it's probably not competing in the "art that gets the viewer to think and question" contest. So, I'm not going to criticize DM for not challenging my world-view like Serenity does. Where I can compare is in general terms: does this movie achieve what it set out to achieve - in DM's case, that probably means, is it funny? A lot of reviewers seem to think not.

Personally, I suspect DM will also lose out to Serenity in the "I can't believe I just spent over $10 and 2 hours of my life on this" comparison, which is one I can happily make between any two movies.

But, yay Aly, of course. I wish her only the most success.

SoddingNancyTribe | February 19, 06:32 CET

All the reviews I've read of this think its a bad movie, but say that Alyson Hannigan brings her usual charm.

vampire dan | February 19, 06:45 CET

that is either the most hilariously ironic thing I have ever read or the most frightening statement in the history of movie reviews but with more cowbell.

DejaThoris | February 19, 06:49 CET

There's nothing wrong with being a silly comedy (say Airplane, for example), but BAD silly comedies are, well, bad.

Date Movie has a rating of 9 at metacritic. Yikes! (Big Momma's House 2, speaking of bad silly comedies, has a 34.) DM fared "better" at rottentomatoes with 21%.

jam2 | February 19, 07:02 CET

Amen, SNT.

Madhatter | February 19, 07:28 CET

Based on the trailer, I have no particular desire to see Date Movie. In fact, I have a particular desire to stay far away from it. As much as I love Alyson, I just can't enjoy these types of movies.

Relight | February 19, 07:31 CET

Exactly what I was thinking DejaThoris ;).

Some of my happiest times have come from silly comedies. I am, to this day, still saying 'Don't call me Shirley' or 'I guess I picked the wrong week to give up x' at opportune moments but as SNT says, a film at least has to succeed on its own terms. If Date Movie isn't one of the best piss-take-of-the-date-movie-'genre' movies around then it doesn't deserve to do well (especially when there's so little competition).

Still, it raises Aly's profile and makes her more 'bankable' so that aspect of it is all to the good. Maybe she's just being canny and making a name (and presumably a pile of cash) so she can go off and do the indie thing.

gossi, not entirely voluntarily, cornflakes for a week once (well, and tea, but you have to have tea). Fairly unpleasant experience which ended with a lot of light-headedness, nausea, general lethargy and a 3 year allegiance to Weetabix ;).

Saje | February 19, 07:33 CET

The idea that Date Movie is easier to like seems silly to me. "Serenity" is easy to like. It's not a hard movie to understand. It's funny and has a lot of action, some great stunts and some great emotion. It's not like comparing Date Movie to Syriana.

Date Movie is much easier to sell, though. And people seem to like stupid comedies over, well, anything else. Except for big budget, special effect franchise movies or remakes.

"Serenity" was a victim of being hard to sell - as Joss has noted many times.

That people still think a film going unreviewed is ever going to affect a film's performance, well that's just ridiculous. Most people who go to the cinema don't read reviews.

People who enjoy films like Date Movie probably can't even read ;-)

crossoverman | February 19, 07:37 CET

"that is either the most hilariously ironic thing I have ever read or the most frightening statement in the history of movie reviews but with more cowbell"

Why? Basically, theyre both movies that set out to make fun of the genre. Scary movies, although, yes theyre light hearted and silly movies, they set out to make fun of and mix up the horror genre, and they do it perfectly. And theyre fun movies.

Date movie, didnt do that. every different scene tried to get a previous romance movie and use it or add it in to the concept f the film but it didnt do it well. It forced many movies into it, and alot of the time without reason or humour. Because it did this so much, it eventually became tired and more or less the same thing. thats IMO.

It just wasnt as an enjoyable film imo. I mean Im all for light hearted comedies, and Aly plays her part perfectly, the script just didnt serve her well enough.

BD | February 19, 07:42 CET

I've been waiting to say this.....

MORE PEOPLE KNEW THIS WAS COMING!!!!!
THERE'S BEEN A TONS OF STUPID COMMERCIALS FOR WEEKS NOW.
TRAILERS EVERYWHERE!

I don't mean to scream...NO YES I DO!

Universal, NOT JOSS, screwed the advertising campaign because they figured that it was too big a gamble to really advertise it big and then have it flop....so they hoped to get their money back on DVDs.

That simple folks.

Serenity was NOT James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake (no wait...it's BETTER)..it wouldn't have been that difficult to market.

But they didn't even bother to do anything else than VERY few ads and only about two weeks before...if that!

They did this... and I'm NOT talking their nice employess who did the best they could ON the ground...trying to push it...

Making the movie was a gamble, and these fools at Universal couldn't see a good thing when they had it...

They understimated the viability of the product on the big screen and seeing that the show made HUGE bank on DVD, thought, "hell we'll repeat it with a big screen movie...we'll get our nut either way"

This movie will make the millions because it was advertised correctly (not necessarily because people are stupid.... I don't buy that... because when people are given the opportunity to see quality they go to it.... it's a bad idea to call people stupid because we are left in the uncomfortable position of having to rethink that when the things we believe in or like suceed)

I remember Joss saying that after the opening weekend it would be word of mouth, I' sorry Joss. (and I know you want to be gracious since Universal made it possible to get this movie made).. but many of us worked our mouths out like crazy... Universal simply screwed it up.

hbojo | February 19, 07:48 CET

$24-$27 million my arse. Guru's giving it an incredibly kind multiplier.

The Dark Shape | February 19, 08:17 CET

You know, there is most likely an intelligence factor here. If you don't like to think, or you're incapable of understanding literate stories, or you've been lulled into complacency with only using .1% of your brain by too much junk food and reality TV, Date Movie is the movie for you. It's not the kind of movie I'll pay my hard-earned money to see. I'm not into MacDonaldized entertainment. Even my "escapist" entertainment must have purpose and make me think, otherwise it's a waste of precious life-hours. I think that puts me in the minority, so I'm likely to prefer the less-profitable, but more memorable movies (and TV shows). It's a bit of a dilemma, because it means that most of the entertainment I'm drawn to will be snuffed out before its time, and there will always be plenty of money around to produce more crap like Date Movie.

Nebula1400 | February 19, 08:29 CET

Hey I love comedy, I am a great lover of this thing called laughter and I will seek it in any source. I could even be accused of liking some really dumb comedy movies. (Alan Tudyk+Dodgeball = love) But I wouldn't touch Date Movie with a ridiculously long poking stick.

The thing about comedy movies is they have to be funny. Strange isn't it? Date Movie has too much of that hint of desperation to be funny. As in, it wasn't made to be funny, it was made to sell movie tickets.

And yes, I've even watched movies that were made just to sell movie tickets, but there's only SO MUCH I can tolerate.

[ edited by nna_funk on 2006-02-19 06:56 ]

nna_funk | February 19, 08:55 CET

Wow! We are certainly elitist. Note: not excluding myself, just making an observation.

I wish Alyson much success and a huge paycheck.

TamaraC | February 19, 08:59 CET

Being a strong propronent of the joke about body functions and the like I am not knocking the silly. "Strange Brew", "Flash Gordon", "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" and "Me, Myself, and Irene" are all comedy gold as far as I am concerned (Just to name a few). All for different reasons. I am all for entertainment value of the cotton candy variety, but I don't want it all the time. Too much makes me nauseous. It comes back to the formulaic tripe that Hollywood forces us to choose from.

BD, I found your comment amusing because it seems as though we are inundated with crap and therefore must compare the levels of crappiness in order to prove that we have some level of discrimination when it comes to the movies we watch. I haven't seen Date Movie and I won't, that entire genre of the parody film was tired back when Charlie Sheen was doing it.

"Airplane" was hilarious because it was a pioneer of sorts, the sequels pretty much sucked. Everything that attempted to follow in its footsteps was a sad attempt at capitalizing on the onetime funny of the original.

I wasn't intending to max out the snarkmeter on my earlier comment, I honestly thought you were being sarcastic :) The cowbell remark was supposed to convey my wit.

DejaThoris | February 19, 08:59 CET

Ok, there were parts I laughed at heartily and parts I just shook my head at. It was basically what I expected. Not a smart movie by any means, but it was a decent time. And Aly was just adorable.
I just don't know why the biggest laughs were at the cat using the toilet. But then I've never gotten literal toilet humor...

BTW, Tom Lenk as Frodo was too funny!

Rogue Slayer | February 19, 09:53 CET

I feel bad for Aly. I mean, yey, movie! But.. oh. my. god. that was AWFUL. I paid the $8.25 to see it because it was AH, but... Can I have my money back? I laughed once. ONCE. Strangely, as me and my pal Kara looked at eachother like "the hell? " ... people in the theater were CRYING WITH LAUGHTER and I was sad that I could have used that money for gas in my car, or.. something that would have added to my life, instead of making me cringe.

Ugh. I felt like it ate away some of my IQ. Like, I went in okay, but now... whew. It made me tired.

But.. GO ALY! Make that money!

ElizaFan81 | February 19, 09:53 CET

lol DejaThoris, Now that I think about it, 'substance' was a terrible word to descibe a better parody movie. But basically, Scary movies work alot better and are much funnier. But really, if you want a great parody style movie, see Scream. Thats a winner. Makes fun of the crappness the horror genre has become and makes a dam fine movie in the making!

Also I too feel bad for aly. I got the impression that she knew she could be in a way better movie. I mean she deserves better. She really can act! Which is more than I can say for alot of actors in hollywood. I hope she chooses and can get far better roles in the future, along with SMG. They should.

BD | February 19, 10:49 CET

Date Movie is just not the kind of movie for me. I love parodies and satire...Shaun of the Dead for instance was not only an excellent parody of zombie movies, but a geniunely excellent film. But Date Movie isn't a parody. It's the latest in the "Let's take scenes from a bunch of different movies, slightly modify them, and call it a parody!" trend that seems too keep growing. Showing a guy that looks exactly like Napoleon Dynamite, dancing exactly like Napoleon Dynamite isn't parody IMO...because it's pretty much exactly the same as what was in the real movie, with no real satire or spin on the concept whatsoever. It's creative bankruptcy that we're supposed too find funny.

I mean, I love Alyson, but she is so much better than the cheap ripped off scenes that are supposed too be funny in Date Movie. I just hope the success of it will lead to her headlining better films.

[ edited by NightTraveler on 2006-02-19 09:03 ]

NightTraveler | February 19, 11:02 CET

Alyson in a drama. Joss, can you lean any weight towards this girl's faith?

Madhatter | February 19, 11:17 CET

God, how embarassing. Then again, this is from the same country that put "Big Momma's House 2" number one two weekends in a row.

syd | February 19, 11:18 CET

Making the movie was a gamble, and these fools at Universal couldn't see a good thing when they had it...


Okay, I'll bite on this one (and not my internet tongue). That, quite simply, is wrong. Universal knew from a very early stage they had a great movie. And they did a good job selling it, as I've always said. Not a great job, but good enough in the typical market parameters. Word of mouth didn't happen. It just turned out to be not a Matrix, unfortunately.

Of course, I'm not so sure about the DVD launch in the US.

Put Arnie in Serenity, and more people would go. Make it an out and out comedy, with a cat pissing on Jayne's head when he thinks he is drinking wine - more people would go. But it wasn't those things - it was an actual, you know, story about life on the frontier and indivuality.

Not that I'm saying there's anything wrong with a film involving cats pissing. It's a whole genre people enjoy. I alwait Cat Piss 2, the hilarious buddy cop cat story with Chris Rock and Robin Williams as CHEECH and CHONG THE CATS.

gossi | February 19, 13:57 CET

No.no.no. Remember. Angel and Spike did the ‘going to hell like Cheech and Chong’ speech at the beginning of season 5. And what happened. It got them CANCELLED. Admittedly there were no pissing cats.

I’m thinking that one could live on peanuts for a week, as long as there is enough gin to go with that.

On a more sober note, I don’t one is being elitist in asking for a modicum of quality even in light entertainment. I like watching stuff that washes over my head as much as the next person after a long day, but there are limits, and having seen trailers for Date Movie this one exceeds mine. However, each to their own and all that. Also good for Aly.

miranda | February 19, 15:13 CET

How do you think Joss, Nick and Alexis felt at the premiere?




Edited for not thinking. (Thanks Pat)

[ edited by alexreager on 2006-02-19 16:53 ]

alexreager | February 19, 17:51 CET

I don't know if it's a good idea to put words into people's mouths. Especially a person who posts here. But, that's just me.

pat32082 | February 19, 18:31 CET

Don't want to be pissy but...
Compare the marketing campaigns and we'll see just HOW much Universal really cared...It's THAT simple.

This movie's been totally pushed. Serenity's campaign... not even mediocre...the campaign barely registered with those people who weren't within the target audience (Joss fans) of the target audience (SF fans)!


And we can't use the whole-- no star power in Serenity-- thing...
As much as I love Aly... EVERYONE I've spoken to about this movie barely remembered her from American Pie. She's not a movie star that guarantess a hit.

We would be left with that whole elitist crap.
And that my friends...is NOT why we love the Whedon world...at least not me...I don't love the Whedon world because it makes me feel better that "I" get it, and others don't!

And I quote from the Book of Joss....
"I mean, the trick, the difficulty of the thing, was pleasing and honoring the fans. That was very important to me. But at the end of the day, if I'm not making a movie for everybody, then I don't get it. I don't like clubs with exclusive rooms, okay? They bother me. Exclusion bothers me on a very, very primal level. And if I'm making a movie that deliberately isn't talking to anybody who walks into it, then "I've lost the mission, bro," as we used to say.
So inevitably, what I'm trying to do is please and excite and delight people, and possibly make them think -- but not so much that their heads hurt. I slip in something that makes them go, "Because I understand this experience, and I enjoyed it, and I identified with it, here are the things I'm trying to say or I'm interested in. Something more than a ride happened here. I felt like I went through something." That's really important. But it's gotta be for everybody"

I am not in favor of crap...nor do I condone crap...but it's silly to make ourselves feel "superior" on the basis of other folks love of crap.

[ edited by hbojorquez on 2006-02-19 16:35 ]

hbojo | February 19, 18:34 CET

Compare the marketing campaigns and we'll see just HOW much Universal really cared...It's THAT simple.

It's NOT that simple.

Serenity opened in 2100 cinemas, which is about $10m of print costs.

TV spots on the season premieres of The Simpsons, Lost (etc) - $xx millions alone.

International opening. TV adverts running for 3 weeks in the UK. Flying Joss is Oz. Flying Nathan and Summer around Europe. Previews screenings, with cast, across the US and UK.

And whilst we're quoting Joss: "I think Universal did a good job". The other day.

I'm not saying it was anything specular, but to say they simply didn't care is an opinion, it's not a fact, and quite honestly: it's also wrong.

Yes, it would have been great to have twice the number of TV spots - but then you double your TV advertising costs (also, not cheap). So then you need to get far far more people in the cinema on a film which won't appeal to everybody. More money spent, less chance of making money back.

gossi | February 19, 19:14 CET

So then you need to get far far more people in the cinema on a film which won't appeal to everybody. More money spent, less chance of making money back.

that word chance... hmm sounds like that whole gamble thing again...a gamble they didn't really back up where it counted...

Think.. They flew a relatively unknown cast around the US and Europe-- to attract WHOM? US- the choir!.. not NEW folks--.. it's not as if they were flying Keanu around to throngs!...

Seriously who was gonna throng around the crew but US?


The promo figures you quote REALLY pale compared to the amounts of money that studios stand to make off of the franchise from folks like us buying up DVDs (in the long run) alone...

About Joss's being gracious with Universal--I would be too. He got to make a movie that wouldn't have been made.

But that doesn't mean that WE have to be so gracious... The fans helped to make this movie get made...And we shouldn't let up the pressure EVEN in the marketing....

I think we can all agree that the movie was excellent.

But I refuse to believe that this movie was SOO complex that folks just didn't get it and all cattiness aside that is the alternative reason that the movie wasn't a huge hit.

We console ourselves with reasons like...
They just didn't get it.
There was no big movie stars.
It was too hard to understand...

Bleaaach...
At the end of the day, WHO knew that is was being released-- not that many folks.

Now here's an interesting thought...

Folks here have tussled with this issue for awhile.
And there are people here that have done very creative things with the Jossverse.

Someone here should start a competition...a "how would you have marketed Serenity competition?"

I could see folks making alternative trailers, alternative print media...etc.

It would be a hoot..

This is the last I'll say about Universal.
In the long run, I tend to believe in people more than I believe in corporations. And I'm sticking to that belief!

hbojo | February 19, 20:36 CET

Just wanted to mention -- Ebert and Roeper gave "Date Movie" the latest "Wagging Finger of Shame" for not allowing critic previews, almost always a sign that the studio knows how bad it is and wants to get that opening weekend in before the reviews are published. Not that I think reviews for this type of movie necessarily help or hurt it; nobody who's buying a ticket to this film are going in expecting "Citizen Kane"....

MaryQue | February 19, 21:32 CET

I don't think the majority of people going into this movie have even seen Citizen Kane.

eddy | February 19, 21:44 CET

Citizen... who? Kane? Like the wrestler?

;-)

The Dark Shape | February 19, 21:55 CET

hbojorquez - you know all those comments Joss has made in the past about Fox? They still own his TV contract. If he felt Universal had completely dropped the ball on Serenity, I suspect he'd suggest that - not say they did a good job on here.

I don't think anybody would suggest they did a fantastic job - it didn't open big enough opening weekend, so something wasn't right. That said, you seem convinced the truth is Universal messed up - that's an opinion.

Coincidentally, I've just seen Syriana, starring George Clooney and Matt Damon and nominated for a bunch of Oscars and a BAFTA, with a bigger production budget than Serenity, with some really excellent reviews and a very important story - and it only just grossed more than Serenity opening weekend.

[ edited by gossi on 2006-02-19 20:05 ]

[ edited by gossi on 2006-02-19 20:06 ]

gossi | February 19, 22:04 CET

gossi...agreed it's my opinion...
But..there's a diff between Fox's complete and almost malicious bungling...to Universal's incompetence on this one.

hmm Syriana..

I'm an abiding liberal and I know that these are very trying times for us and find it discouraging that given facts, given seeming insurmountable evidence we remain complacent about the status quo (can I vague that up some more?).

But what's the point of mentioning Syriana in this context? What conclusion are we to make of mentioning it?

hbojo | February 19, 22:30 CET

Oh, I was just saying - it's a film with a lot going for it (Oscar nods, A list actors), but it didn't open that big. (That said, it worked as a true word of mouth film - it ended up building to $90m).

[ edited by gossi on 2006-02-19 21:00 ]

gossi | February 19, 22:59 CET

hbojorquez: I actually saw more promotion for Serenity overall then for Date Movie. I actually never saw the Date Movie theatrical trailer in the theater, but saw the Serenity one (well both of them) several times. I'd say I've seen about the same amount of tv ads for both. I guess I have heard more radio ads for Date Movie, so I will conceed that. Universal could have promoted Serenity more or differently, but I don't think they didn't promote it at all, and at my core, as much as I LOVE the movie, regardless of the promotion, I don't think it was ever going to be a break out hit, sad to say.

Date Movie looks horrible, and I too have no problem with silly comedies of this type (the trailer for Scary Movie 4, a series that has been EXTREMELY hit or miss to me, made me laugh quite a bit). You know why Date Movie looked so bad to me? Because the source of its jokes are either idiotic, because they were farcical movies to begin with, or the jokes Date Movie are making aren't jokes, just statements/stating the obvious.

What is the point of "parodying" a wacky comedy like Wedding Crashers? Or making fun of the name Gaylord Focker, which was obviously meant to be a total joke to begin with? And then their idea of a Hitch "parody" is to have a dwarf play Hitch and then directly have him say, "Do I look like Will Smith to you?" to point out who he is making fun of in case the audience are idiots... ugh. And they have a guy who looks and acts just like Napoleon Dynamite. A: Again, this character was meant to be a joke in the first place, so you can't parody him, you're just copying him. B: Hasn't EVERYONE IN THE UNIVERSE already done or seen a Napolean Dynamite impression at this point?

But I can't be surprised at the movies success. Have you seen what the number one movies have been the last few weeks? When a Stranger Calls... Big Momma's House 2... The Pink Panther... While Date Movie looks even worse, not one of these films actually looked "good." Sigh...

Eric G | February 19, 23:02 CET

Date Movie made $18.9 million over the 3-day weekend, #2 behind Eight Below.

The Dark Shape | February 19, 23:26 CET

I will be forever grateful for Universal for even making Serenity in the first place. Yes, I think the marketing could have been done differently because what they did do didn't work but they took a gamble on a canceled tv show and I don't see studios lining up to do that sort of thing.

As for feeling bad for Aly, well I just don't. She has steady work and a steady paycheck. She's becoming a well known face out there and that could potentially lead to better movies.

This isn't the type of movie that interests me so I won't go and see it but obviously there is an audience out there. Elizafan81 said that the audience was "crying with laughter" so some people do find it funny and humorous.

Firefly Flanatic | February 20, 00:11 CET

Amen, Firefly Fanatic, I don't think Serenity's commercial "failure" can be attributed to any one factor. I think it was a difficult film to market and it would have been difficult for it to be very successful no matter how good it was.

The movie industry is unpredictable. Horribly bad films can do very well. Amazing films, like Serenity, can be virtually ignored. They can also experience success on DVD, or be carried along by word-of-mouth and do exceptionally well despite being initially ignored. Films like The Grudge can come out of nowhere and do very well just for being in the right place at the right time.

I'm not saying Universal did everything right, but I definitely think there was support there and they did what they felt was right. After all, why would they have neglected to market the film appropriately having paid for it to be made? Obviously they felt it was good enough to invest in and marketed it according to the costs they felt were needed. Perhaps they could have thrown millions more at it and even if the film had done better because of it, it may not have been worth the extra investment.

I think the fact that they made it in the first place was enough, and the fact that they chose to market it in such a way was their call, and perhaps people feel it could have been better, but at least they tried.

I too am glad Alyson is doing well although I don't think I will enjoy Date Movie. It looks slightly funny, but to be honest these parody/gross out films just don't entertain me and aren't worth my money. I find many of them to be embarrassing and almost offensive to watch.

However I realise that many other people don't, and I'm not going to get too superior about it. After all we would consider it to be light entertainment when many people would scathingly think the same of Joss' work. I personally wouldn't chose to watch it even if I was going to switch my brain off for a while, but it may be a smart move for Alyson career wise.

I do hope that she does some more highbrow work in the future, though. A poster earlier mentioned how well she could do in an actual comedy, and I agree. I think Alyson would be excellent in a funny, eccentric drama like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or Being John Malkovich. Actually, I think Emma Caulfield would be brilliant in something like that too.

Basically, I feel she is such a versatile and talented actress and I think it would be a shame for her to continually do things like American Pie and Date Movie when she is capable of so much better.

There have been a lot of actresses in recent years who have discovered one great role which has put them on the map. Actually, even the recent Best Actress Oscar winners Hillary Swank (for Million Dollar Baby), Charlize Theron (for Monster) and Halle Berry (for Monster's Ball) were propelled straight to the Hollywood A-list with dozens of roles to choose from.

One of my wishes is that people like Alyson and Sarah Michelle Gellar could find their perfect role like these, and to just do fantastically well and become much more visible and taken seriously as actresses so they can take on a wider variety of roles and to have the clout to be in really successful films. I think Sarah has definitely started down that path and I think it's time that Alyson should do the same! We know you can do it.

Razor | February 21, 00:58 CET

I just can't keep my mouth shut on this.... It's a disease really...but we should be realistic about something here...

Razor said...
After all, why would they have neglected to market the film appropriately having paid for it to be made? Obviously they felt it was good enough to invest in and marketed it according to the costs they felt were needed. Perhaps they could have thrown millions more at it and even if the film had done better because of it, it may not have been worth the extra investment.


MANY MANY MANY MANY movies are made with the intention of it going straight to DVD, or on a gamble, or both...with the almost guarantee-- that they will make their bank back on DVD sales, foreign releases..etc in the long run.

The reason I tend to be adamant about this...is simple... WE ARE A NEW KIND OF FREAKIN' CONSUMER! We are not passive... We demand...Some of us even make our own media... As Joss himself said recently about Napster-like file sharing, "I can't wait for the same thing to happen to the movie industry."


And if we get all fluffy, passive, play nice-nice and accept what the corporations do, INSTEAD of, DE-FREAKIN-MANDING that things get done right...they'll continue to bank on crap on the excuse that "well we tried our best"...

And the funny thing is... the real kicker for me...is that I reallv like the movie (even better than the show).. cause honestly, I'm more of a Buffy verse fan(atic) and just wanted Joss to get the best chance possible for massive success in this.. .

hbojo | February 21, 03:12 CET

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. I personally think that Universal didn't take a bigger risk which may not necessarily have paid off.

Think about the number of lowish budget films which somehow managed to find a huge audience despite very little marketing. Like My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which has a pretty simple concept and appealed to a lot of women. It shows that if a film is appealing enough to the right audience it doesn't neccessarily need a great marketing campaign. Maybe that's not the best example as I'm unsure of the exact statistics involved, but something like that or The Blair Witch Project.

I guess what I'm getting at is that although I think Serenity was a tremendous film, I think it was unlikely that it was going to gain massive success right away no matter how much it was marketed. Yes, sometimes similar (but inferior) sci-fi/horror flicks like Resident Evil can somehow manage to do extremely well, perhaps due to strong marketing, but look at Aeon Flux which had one big name, a massive marketing campaign, but terrible reviews.

However I think films with a simple premise that will appeal to the right demographic can do really well regardless of the marketing support, based on reviews and word-of-mouth. Unfortunately that didn't happen enough with Serenity but I just feel that the support provided was adequate if not outstanding.

Razor | February 21, 22:53 CET