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Period Dramas Ease Economic Woes? Trade Roughage 09/22/08

Christopher Campbell
By Christopher Campbell posted 1 year ago
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  • Despite the rule that audiences prefer comedies during tough financial times, the box office winner over the weekend was the thriller Lakeview Terrace with $15.6 million. Director Neil LaBute had his best opening ever with the film, and it’s certain to be his highest grossing film overall, so business-wise he’s making up for Wicker Man. Meanwhile, of the new comedies, My Best Friend’s Girl debuted well below expectations (#3 with $8.3 mil.) and Ghost Town seems to have described its auditoriums (#8 with $5.3 mil.). My theory is that audiences were for some reason craving period pieces this past weekend (see the excellent per-screen averages for new limited releases The Duchess and Appaloosa) and went into Lakeview Terrace thinking it was something else entirely.
  • Speaking of English period pieces, Nicolas Cage is set to star in one. But don’t suddenly think he’s back to Oscar territory, as the 14th century-set film reunites him with his Gone in 60 Seconds director, Dominic Sena. Titled Season of the Witch, it sounds like a cross between 3:10 to Yuma and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Unfortunately, it’s likely to be nothing of the sort.
  • And finally, just because it also has to do with a period drama, and there’s not much else to get excited about in today’s trades, Miramax acquired the rights to Muchas Gracias, Bob Oppenheimer, which is set in Spain in the ’60s and deals with a miltary appeasement mission and a love affair. And yet somehow it’s likened to Saving Private Ryan.
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