Welcome to the Rileys with Kristen Stewart: Halloween box office bomb on the weekend led by the brainier Saw 3D.- Starring The Twilight Saga’s Kristen Stewart, three-time Emmy winner James Gandolfini, and Oscar nominee Melissa Leo, Jake Scott’s low-budget indie drama Welcome to the Rileys has turned out to be a major box office bomb in limited release. But why?
Welcome to the Rileys box office: Kristen Stewart indie opened to dismal numbers in three U.S. urban centers
Oct. 29–31 (Halloween) weekend box office (cont.): Starring Kristen Stewart, James Gandolfini, and Melissa Leo, Jake Scott’s indie drama Welcome to the Rileys opened at no. 42 in the domestic market, grossing $42,145 from 10 theaters (Los Angeles, New York, and Boston) as per final studio figures found at boxofficemojo.com.
That’s an awful per-theater average – $4,214 – for a movie in platform (very limited) release featuring three well-known actors, one of whom, Kristen Stewart, has the lead in one of the most successful movie franchises ever.
What could have happened?
Social media buzz not enough
An Anglo-American production about a young, foul-mouthed New Orleans stripper, pole dancer, and sex worker who is befriended by a bereaved Midwestern couple – their teenage daughter has died – Welcome to the Rileys was shot on location in late fall 2008 (around the time the first Twilight movie came out). In case (unverified) online sources are accurate, the indie cost between $5–$10 million (as always, not including marketing and distribution expenses).
About a year after production wrapped, Welcome to the Rileys debuted at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, where it unsurprisingly became one of the most talked-about titles.
After all, director Jake Scott is the son of Alien and Gladiator filmmaker Ridley Scott and the nephew of Tony Scott, whose action thriller Unstoppable opens next weekend.
James Gandolfini is a three-time Emmy winner for The Sopranos, while Melissa Leo is a Best Actress Academy Award nominee for Frozen River (2008).
But buzziest of all was Kristen Stewart, The Twilight Saga’s Bella Swan, ever torn between vampire Robert Pattinson and werewolf Taylor Lautner. Twitter and other social media outlets were aflutter with tweets, posts, and comments about the fearlessly virginal Bella in the role of a New Orleans pole dancer/sex worker who snarls lines like, “And I don’t do anal, either, just so you know.”
Bad combo: Mixed reviews + inappropriate marketing focus
There are at least a couple of good reasons for the disconnect between the healthy buzz and the anemic ticket-buying.
The most obvious one is that, having received unenthusiastic reviews, Welcome to the Rileys failed to lure “arthouse” moviegoers. In fact, the film’s cool reception left it in distribution limbo until Apparition and Sony Worldwide bought it for a reported seven figures – no small amount in the current on-life-support indie market.
Apparition’s troubles following internal disagreements about the distribution of Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning’s rock biopic The Runaways earlier this year, resulted in Samuel Goldwyn Films handling the Welcome to the Rileys release in the United States.
And here we get to reason no. 2: Goldwyn’s marketing campaign – press materials, film clips, interviews, online pieces – focused almost exclusively on Stewart.
Admittedly, that made sense up to a point, considering that without Bella Swan Welcome to the Rileys would most likely have gone straight to DVD despite the presence of Gandolfini and Leo, neither of whom, Emmy wins/Oscar nod notwithstanding, has Stewart’s name recognition.
But here’s the apparent miscalculation: Kristen Stewart’s ardent fandom is, for the most part, directly tied to the Twilight Saga movies. In other words, the fans who have turned Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse into global blockbusters may have little desire to see their idol in a role so distant from Bella. Indeed, Stewart’s non-Twilight movies released in the last couple of years – all modestly budgeted indies – have been anything but hits.
Welcome to the Rileys with Kristen Stewart as the sex worker Mallory. Despite all the social media scuttlebutt, Welcome to the Rileys failed to connect with audiences – like, on a whole different level, last summer’s far costlier and far buzzier Scott Pilgrim vs. the Word.Slumdog Millionaire
Also worth noting, Goldwyn (with Sony’s help?) had about five months (June–November) to plan Welcome to the Rileys’ distribution and marketing.
Was that too short a window?
Not necessarily. In the most famous rags-to-riches Hollywood tale in recent memory, Fox Searchlight acquired Danny Boyle’s about-to-go-straight-to-DVD Slumdog Millionaire in August 2008, and, with the assistance of Warner Bros., three months later released the eventual Best Picture Academy Award winner.
What made the difference?
For starters, Fox Searchlight’s marketing campaign for Slumdog Millionaire was surely far more generous than Samuel Goldwyn’s for Welcome to the Rileys.
Additionally, Slumdog Millionaire’s reviews were far more enthusiastic, eventually leading to numerous trophies that culminated on its Best Picture Oscar win. (Late November update: Welcome to the Rileys was nowhere to be found among this year’s Gotham Award nominees.)
But isn’t it ridiculous to compare Slumdog Millionaire to Welcome to the Rileys?
Following its worldwide box office success, yes. Had Slumdog Millionaire gone straight to DVD back in late 2008, no. In other words, it’s “ridiculous” because Slumdog Millionaire performed uncommonly well whereas Welcome to the Rileys is performing disastrously.
Platform releases for the uninitiated
Now, here’s one important clarification for those who furiously wrote me saying that Welcome to the Rileys couldn’t have done better business because it’s only playing in three cities.
Guess what? Limited releases are just that: Limited. A few cities, a deliberate roll-out as word-of-mouth and media interest (one hopes) lead to more awareness about a particular title. That’s the usual strategy for “small,” “independent,” “foreign,” “edgy,” or “art” films.
Welcome to the Rileys opened at 10 locations. Unless we’re discussing box-sized rooms for five people, Jake Scott’s drama should have averaged at the very least $20,000 per venue on its debut weekend. That would have meant more cities and more theaters in the near future.
As it stands, chances of a meaningful expansion are all but nil.
Mao’s Last Dancer
For comparison’s sake: Back in August, Bruce Beresford’s Goldwyn-distributed Mao’s Last Dancer, without any awards-season buzz or major stars (though based on a well-known novel), took in $200,000 from 33 theaters, or $6,050 per theater, on its first weekend in the United States. (It had opened in May in Canada.)
The following weekend, after the addition of 42 sites, Mao’s Last Dancer was actually up by more than 50 percent; its per-theater average was $3,995. (The per-theater average drop is normal; all things being equal, the fewer the number of theaters showing a movie, the higher the per-theater average should be.)
Mao’s Last Dancer has gone on to earn $4.8 million in North America (U.S. and Canada only). After opening in the U.S., its biggest drop-off rate was 31 percent following the loss of 16 theaters on weekend no. 8.
Update: On weekend no. 2 (Nov. 5–7), Welcome to the Rileys was down a horrendous 57 percent, collecting $18,226 from 10 venues, or $1,823 per theater.
Welcome to the Rileys with Kristen Stewart and James Gandolfini. The supporting cast includes Ally Sheedy, Joe Chrest, Tiffany Coty, Eisa Davis, and Lance E. Nichols. Ken Hixon, who also has a small role in the film, wrote the screenplay.Please Give
Here’s another comparison: A Sony Pictures Classics release, Nicole Holofcener’s Please Give features no major stars, unusual “hooks,” or box office gimmicks. Even so, this acclaimed R-rated comedy-drama (82 percent approval rating among Rotten Tomatoes’ “top critics”) took in $118,000 from five theaters when it opened last spring. Its per-theater average was $23,624.
Considering its relatively solid debut, Please Give added 21 theaters on weekend no. 2: It jumped 104 percent, grossing $241,000 or $9,275 per site. Please Give ended its domestic run with $4.3 million.
The Kids Are All Right
A third comparison: Lisa Cholodenko’s The Kids Are All Right – an R-rated dramatic comedy starring Annette Bening and Julianne Moore as a lesbian couple, and Mark Ruffalo as the father of their children – has raked in $20.8 million domestically. The debut weekend of this Focus Features release remains 2010’s best in terms of per-theater average, a whopping $70,281 from seven locations, or a total of $492,000.
Why so popular?
Well, one good reason is that The Kids Are All Right received fantastic reviews, while both Bening and Moore (and to a lesser extent Ruffalo) have been touted as potential Oscar nominees.
Welcome to the Rileys has had none of that.
Disastrous global gross
Update: The Kristen Stewart indie drama Welcome to the Rileys ultimately collected $158,898 domestically and $199,116 (surely incomplete) internationally. Worldwide total: $358,014.
Only three European countries are listed at Box Office Mojo, with France at no. 1 with $158,484 – relatively speaking, a far better (or far less wobbly) performance than the domestic one.
”Welcome to the Rileys Box Office: Kristen Stewart” endnotes
Unless otherwise noted, “Welcome to the Rileys Box Office: Why Did Kristen Stewart Indie Flop So Badly?” box office information via Box Office Mojo. Budget info – which should be taken with a grain of salt – via BOM and/or other sources (e.g., the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Screen Daily, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Deadline.com, etc.).
Comments about Welcome to the Rileys and other titles being hits/profitable or flops/money-losers at the box office (see paragraph below) are based on the available data about their production budget, additional marketing and distribution expenses (as a general rule of thumb, around 50 percent of the production cost), and worldwide gross (as a general rule of thumb when it comes to the Hollywood studios, around 50–55 percent of the domestic gross and 40 percent of the international gross goes to the distributing/producing companies).
Bear in mind that data regarding rebates, domestic/international sales/pre-sales, and other credits and/or contractual details that help to alleviate/split production costs and apportion revenues are oftentimes unavailable, and that reported international grosses may be incomplete (i.e., not every territory is fully – or even partially – accounted for).
Also bear in mind that ancillary revenues (domestic/global television rights, home video sales, streaming, merchandising, etc.) can represent anywhere between 40–70 percent of a movie’s total take. However, these revenues and their apportionment are only infrequently made public.
James Gandolfini and Kristen Stewart Welcome to the Rileys movie images: Samuel Goldwyn Films.
“Welcome to the Rileys Box Office: Why Did Kristen Stewart Indie Flop So Badly?” last updated in October 2022.
64 comments
Yeah, directors say nice things about their leading ladies all the time, but most directors that have worked with Kristen go beyond the obligatory “yeah,she was great” into actually gushing about her. I don’t see her ever having a problem getting work based on the amount of respect she has earned among the professionals that matter in Hollywood. I would prefer to see her movies on the big screen, but I’ll take what I can get.
When has a starlet’s stripping turn ever really lure in viewers significantly? Kristen is mainly drooled over by females at this point, and this is due to the fact she stars in an exclusively female-driven franchise. Most of her female admirers like her for the very reasons she isn’t admired by the Maxim crowd: she wears jeans and flannel most of the time, doesn’t seem interested in the least about becomning the next Maxim pin up girl, and owns her small chested status quite happily(no padded bras or surgery,etc.)
The girls who have touted stripping roles before were more traditional pinup types-jessica biel, lindsay lohan, demi moore. Biel and Moore even showed more flesh. And yet every “hey look, so and so is showing off her tatties as a stripper” role has failed at attracting the theater viewers as much as their role attracted media attention.
The reality is that the internet has demystified the whole lure of seeing stars in various states of undress. Sites are dedicated to showing shots of stars nude from movies, half of the time before the movie even comes out. Why pay 10 bucks to see a starlet semi-nude when you can see the stills of it six months beforehand on the various sites that offer them? Megan Fox found that out with Jennifer’s Body didn’t she, and she’s probably the most lusted woman in America right now.
I just think it’s a little silly to act like to pretend that the public cares AT ALL at this point in time when any starlet does skimpy or half naked even.
I can completely detach myself from any actor and their various roles, whether they are part of a franchise or not. Each project speaks for itself. I truly believed and believe in WTTR as a great indie movie.
The only thing I can say regarding Twilight is that I’m thankful it made us all more aware of Kristen’s talent and made many more aware of indie films in general.
I’ve only seen WTTR once, but I took an hour’s flight to another city to watch it at a film festival in Aust. as soon as I heard it was screening there. It hasn’t been released nationally here, although the local distributor has said it will be out early 2011, and I will be seeing it as many times as I can and dragging others with me.
I’m a fan of Kristen Stewart. I think she’s a great actress and seems like a really cool chick. I try not to hold Twilight against her. Needless to say, I’m not a fan of anything that has Stefanie Meyer attached to it. That being said, I’ve loved Kristen’s other films, such as “Into the Wild”, “The Cake Eaters”, “Adventureland” and “The Runaways”. Her body of work was one of the main reasons I wanted to see “Welcome to the Riley’s”. I’m also a fan of James Gandolfini and was excited to see him shed his Tony Soprano character by embracing a more sensitive role. I had read the original script and knew it would be a moving, character driven film. Luckily I got the chance to see it play out on the big screen when I was in NYC for a wedding. I know a lot people didn’t have that opportunity and I’m sorry that they missed out. I was blown away by Stewart, Gandolfini and Melissa Leo. Exceptional performances all around. If you haven’t seen it and you live in a city where it’s playing, go! If you can take a roadtrip to see it, do it. If you have to wait to get in on DVD, be patient. Trust me, “Welcome to the Riley’s is worth it!
Are the projects that Kristen picks accessible to movie going public?
When I think of The Runaways, I thought that movie would do so much better than it did. It wasn’t the greatest movie but it had some great selling points to it and it failed at the box office. That it has sold well for DVD shows that people were interested but not enough to see in theaters.
But as for WTTR, The Cake Eaters (which never got a theatrical release), The Yellow Handkerchief (which I love), these movies were a risk.
But risk or not, should they not be made? If they interest an actress like Stewart (or Gandolfini or Leo for that matter), should she just say no to them and just do the money making potential films? I think she’d hate it if her only choice was the money making ventures.
As a comparison to her because he’s known for his independent films, I looked at Ryan Gosling’s films post-The Notebook. Stay, his 1st film to come out after The Notebook, didn’t even make $10m. Half-Nelson, the film he was nom’d for an Oscar, didn’t even make $5m worldwide. Even adjusting for ticket prices (it came out in 2006), that’s astounding given that 2006 was a much friendlier indie market than today.
Lars & the Real Girl topped at $11m worldwide. It is only Fracture with Anthony Hopkins that Gosling gets into ‘hit’ territory ($40m domestic; $91m worldwide) but it was traditional Hollywood fare.
But of those post-Notebook movies, does anyone really look at Fracture and go, “Yeah, that was amazing.” Doubt it. Most people talk about Half Nelson or Lars far more because post-theatrical release, people found it. (Although it has become like Iron Giant where lots of people say they saw them in theaters but if every person who said they saw Iron Giant, Half Nelson and/or Lars in the theaters really did, then they would have made a lot more money but that’s another convo altogether.)
I’m not saying that Kristen is in the same talent league with Gosling but they both have a penchant for picking unusual projects. Their choices may work for the movie going audience or they might not but they’re gonna do it anyway. In case of Yellow Handkerchief, I love that she did that movie because I love that movie. On flip side, I’m going to be hard pressed to go see K-11 if that movie should ever come to fruition.
But as a Kristen Stewart fan, I have to be ready for this risk. She may have forgettable hits and memorable flops but as one person has said elsewhere, In this age of DVD/OnDemand/Netflix, etc., is any movie ever really a flop? The audience will find the movie somehow.
I’m a Kristen fan and I’ve seen WTTR twice now. I saw it once in a festival and was lucky enough to have it close enough to my city to support it in theatre as well. Both viewings had a predominantly older crowd- as in 40+. Less than 10% of the audience were under that. It was really James G’s movie in my opinion. Kristen’s role was really 3rd behind James and Melissa (again just my opinion). I would have liked to see promotion focus on James more.
I loved the movie and thought all three actors were great.
Jenny i agree with everything you said.
The weight of the success of this movie shouldn’t be put on her little shoulder.
It’s time for this studio to realise that she is one of this people that people are really passionate about( some love her some hate her).
Unfortunately this passion doesn’t translate in BO numbers.
Most are passionnate about her just bc of her maybe maybe not relationship with pPattinson.
I think is time for her to draw a firm line between her work and her relatioship. For now that lines is too blurry. Robsten fans are like 90% of her fanbase. They don’t care for her isf rob isn’t in the picture. Just go to any of her fansite and look at how many comment you have on anny of her project compared to topics about robsten or even twicrap.
It’s maybe time for her PR team to stop trying to win Twilight fans and start winning the normal moviegoers.
I really love all your articles about this movie.
I wrote a post on Kristen board after the runaways flop saying, if WTTR people are smart they will open this movie first in Europe to build some kind of hype. I was quite sure that this movie will do better in Europe than in the US. I have seen it twice in Paris. Everytime the theater was almost full. Going to wait for the official numbers to see if my observation was correct.
I think Kristen real fans the one who will pay to see her outside bella are not in the US only a few of them are in The US.
Kristen fans are mostly Bella fans, the other part of her fandom is ROBSTEN fans they only care if she is fucking Pattinson( since they can’t date him they live the relatioship trough her like they do with bella).
Most of her real fans the one she had during her ITW days have left the board they couldn’t stand Twifandoms stupidity. I’m one of them i haven’t left yet because she has more to offer. Sometime her twilight, robsten fans make it so hard for us just old fans that we want to just say bye and then you watch Adventureland and say why is she doing in that stupid franchise?
Anyway, WTTR should have open outside the US first in Europe or Why not in Brazil, they love her there. A good publicist should have seen that.
Also one of the thing you miss in all your article is, the story of this movie is his biggest problem, is not really original and not really well written either.
Lisbeth, have you been in Kristen’s IMDB board last few days?
I agree with you and all the others that said that this movie should be first released in Europe maybe Europe and Brazil at the same time, because sre market that like more character driven movies.
I am doing a survey with the Brazilians fans of Kristen (I am a Brazilian) and 60% of her fans are women above 18 years old.
I only want to remember that most of the critics and people like us forget that she is only 20 years old. For the last 10 years 95% of her movies were indie’s movies, she was a child actor or a teen actor, so… SHE IS NOT a reference for R rated audience reguardless her A list status right now.
She could have done Disney’s like movies or teen movies as most of the child or teen actors do.
In R rated movies, for the audience, her name means nothing, it is just a name of a beautiful young woman linked to greater teen phenomenon of the last 20 years.
Let me correct a phrase…
She could have done Disney’s like movies or teen movies as most of the child or teen actors do…..
But she didn’t and also she didn’t do blockbusters movies while growing up like Dakota Fanning did. Who became very known by R rated audience because of this.
Her real fans at this moment of her career are not many, I think… As mostly of her real fans are adult women, several of them saw the movie at least one time and some traveled to see it in other States during the festival season. We know it because the twitter, blog and boards like IMDB.
For me it is the same that ask Dakota Fanning or Abigail Breslin, who are known by R rated average audience in a couple of years to be the hook of a movie. It won’t happen also if it will a drama, maybe if this will a ron-com.
I think you and a lot of other writers cannot identify Kristen’s fans. There are Twihards, which are not necessarily Kristen fans. They go to see Bella. You have to discount them seeing a movie like this. Samuel Goldwyn sent screening passes to popular Twilight sites so they would write reviews. That was a mistake. This movie should not have been marketed on Kristen’s Twilight fame. “The Runaways” had Dakota and Kristen, and it didn’t fare too much better. SG should have learned their lesson from Apparition.
I think Kristen has lost the fanbase she had during the “Into the Wild” days because of Twilight. Now that she has been playing Bella through 5 movies, it’s going to be harder to move away from that. Some people will never see Kristen, the actress again, they’ll always see Bella.
I agree with you that many Kristen fans in NY, LA, and Boston didn’t support this film or the numbers would have been higher. Maybe they just didn’t want to see it. I know some people have said they feel uncomfortable watching Kristen play a victim, etc.
I still say internet hype does not equal box office success. You mentioned Scott Pilgrim, which tracked well and didn’t do good at the box office. “Let Me In” is another example of that, and it got great reviews too.
Another interesting article. “The Kids are All Right” had advertising. I saw the commercial numerous time on television. The commercials had catchy music and were upbeat.
Also, “The Kids are All Right”, “Cyrus”, and “Winter’s Bone” were all released in the Summer. Maybe it’s time that indies not all be dumped at the beginning and end of the year. The summer is mostly big budget family and action films. There are few indies released at that time. That is something distributors might want to look at. Indies could be the alternative.
I think “on the Road” will even have a harder time
I agree with you on the point that “Welcome to the Rileys” would have probably gone to DVD without Kristen. “The Yellow Handkerchief” would also have not gotten a theater release, despite having William Hurt and Maria Bello in the leads.
Fox Searchlight puts more money behind their films. Despite that, movies like “Never Let Me Go”, which opened well didn’t go far at the box office. This leads me to believe that subject matter is more important than anything. You mention “Slumdog Millionaire”, and although it had sadness and rough elements, it was sold as an uplifting tale. The ending was joyful. The same thing can be said with “127 Hours”, which is being advertised as an inspirational story. Audiences enjoy hopeful films, especially in stressful times like now (recession, high unemployment). One of the biggest complaints I see about WTTR is people don’t like the story.
so… amazing! She is the best actress! I love it when she’s angry. It just makes me jump!
Kristen made a comment about New Orleans seafood that was completely false. She said you can’t eat the seafood here in New Orleans….Wrong…… The seafood is fine and safe. We sure don’t need her false statements. Also….crawfish are absolutley delicious!!!
Some people don’t feel that the seafood is safe, Amy. I’m headed to NOLA for the film fest this week. The director is presenting wttr and it’s opening the show. My husband won’t touch seafood from this region. I’m not as picky but respect his choice.
Kristen was killer on Leno. She looked gorgeous and her smile lit up the room. Leno liked the movie so that was a big win. The tank top was sold out but it’s from MakeBelieve. The pants are Juicy.
Reason i am writing this is because i finally read the twilight saga books which was with me for the past 2 years.I sort of liked it even though the books have some flaws.Then i decided to see the movies on DVD’s.The first one is just ok though the director could have made it better by adding few more scenes.Kristens acting looked dull but people didn’t notice it because of rob.Focus naturally went from kristen to rob and she was just in the background.But the director somehow managed to retain the chemistry between the two.
Yesterday saw newmoon.I cant say how disappointed i am.What should I say? Bad direction,bad screenplay.Adding unnecessary scenes in voltura which portrays rob as a weakling.What about Kristen?Is she an actress or what?She just stood their as if she was reading the script.No emotions what so ever.The part where rob is leaving her it seemed to me that she was bored and was waiting for him to go.Rob still had some emotions on his face.Kristen should have acted hysterical or in shock.Months that passed was shown her sitting on a chair without shedding a tear. When she meets Jacob she is very active. She didn’t come across as somebody who is grieving. Between rob and Kristen was there any chemistry?I think the director didn’t even read the book.He was just there relying on the horrible script and horrible actress to do the job.It is inexcusable of Kristen to give such a poor performance as she is in this field for the past 8 years. Rob and Taylor have improved drastically although they are not born actors like Leonardo Di caprio. I am sure with time they will also be good.I was wondering is there any way this movie could be remade with a different bella or are we stuck with this emotionless statue forever.Her poor acting is in fact detrimental for her fellow actors.Just because the rumor that pattinson is dating her is circulating she has some supporters.People want to see them together.Once when twilight saga is finished she will be finished. She lacks depth in her acting. Welcome to the Rileys is the best she can do. That is straight forward role with wooden miserable expressions.To act well the actor should know the character they play well. Unfortunately she doesn’t know her characters well. Thats why for every role there is stuttering, lip biting,inhaling exhaling loudly and blinking. That’s her trademark acting. No other emotion is possible. Can she shed few tears at the appropriate time? Never. When people say that is her twihard fans that she is worthy of oscars i feel like puking. What an insult to Alpacino, Robert De Niro and Marlon Brando. They should watch the speech of Alpacino in the Scent of a Woman.If she can produce even a micro ounce of that acting she can go a long way.
I still find it hilarious reading anything a fan of Kristen Stewart writes. None of it is based on statistics only on their emotions. One says she does roles because she wants to not for the money. Another makes a point at what she makes doing a movie she hates Twilight. First off she only does Indie because nobody else is offering scripts and I doubt that will continue with the last three Indie films (not Twilight) loosing so much money for anyone involved. Yes, she has done well with the Twi movies but don’t forget she only takes somewhere between 30% to 40% of that money home after taxes, agents etc. Another point Remember Me needed to make 70 million for Summit to break even not make a profit and it only made 56 million. It might of made a profit with DVD sales but before you start swearing things make sure the statistics are correct. You have a production budget and then you add 40% at least for promotion. Then when you see a figure posted of the movies sales take only 55% of that figure because that’s what the distributor gets. Then you can tell if a money made a profit. A good example is RED it will have to make over 175 million for Summit to make a profit and the figure is probably closer to 185 million. It’s been out for 5 weeks and has made 120 million it might make it but most likely will need DVD sales as well to make a profit.
>Another point Remember Me needed to make 70 million for Summit to break even not make a profit and it only made 56 million.
The reason why her movies flop is because of twilight, people go to see the movies because the success of the story and books, they´re interested in the whole package, the shirtless kid, the sparkly vampire, bella, the corny romance and the special effects, the audience cares about the characters not the actors an of course they think she sucks, they think she can´t act because of her performance of bella, , why would they watch her others films if they´re low budget and indie and think she can´t act?
If every Kristen fan happened to live in the ten cities where the movie is being shown than WTTR would have done millions but the reality is that her fan base consist in mostly girls spreaded all over the world that have no way to attend thosw venues.
People is always complaining about Kristen´s obvious desinterest for the fame and the whole hollywood trick and then complain for her movie choices, characters and box office results, mocking her as a flop but I think it makes sense, it is coherent, she´s not a movie star and she is not trying to become one so, Why is everyone trying to juge her like if she were one or even trying to become one?
She has the opportunities, she could easily pick box office movies like romantic comedies, action films, slash, typical horror-suspense etc, but she doesn´t and Guess why? BECAUSE SHE DOESN´T WANT TO BE A MOVIE STAR
SHE HAS BEEN CAST AND BEING CAST IN PRODUCTIONS THAT WANT THE ACTRESS NOT A HOLLYWOOD STAR, IT IS THE PRESS AND THE DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES THAT MAKE THE STUPID CHOICE OF RELAYING THE SUCCES OR NON SUCCES OF THE MOVIE ON HER TWILIGT FAME WICH SUCKS.
If twiligh were a good saga of movies, than, maybe, people would have shown up at the theaters. The only way Stewart would get people to see her movies is if she chooses to do a good filM with comercial opportunities to succeed. She doesn´t seem to be interested right now.
Would she change her mind? I don´t know
excuse the bad english, is not my first lenguage.
Actors make all the time good and bad movies. Kristen Stewart is young, true to herself and has the right to do what she wants. I’d love to see her in a beautiful and lovely comedie. I hope one day she will do something with Johnny Depp like Snow White. He would be creative and smart like she is. I love her movies and her movies have always bad distribuition. Runaways was only in Rio and Sao Paulo. I could see it and I loved it. I like Walter Salles very much and thanks to Kristen I decided to read the book On the Road. I loved, too. Sometimes I think Kristen Stewart’s choice is different but somehow very interesting. Twilight is Kristen Stewart. She is in almost all the scenes and she does a great job.
I wish her the best in her career and I hope she continues to work in what kind of movies she is happy. It’s not fair to compair big movies with small one. What is a movie star? Sandra Bullock, best and worst actress in the same year , love Sandra and her movies. That’s what I’m talking about. Who is a movie star now in Hollywood? This is so cliche. Does Kristen want to be one? Does it mean a lot for her? Let’s leave her in peace with her movies. If you don’t like it move on..See the others…There are so many. But please don’t judge without knowing all the facts.
OMG Twilight is Kristen Stewart??? then why her other movies always bomb?? Twilight is the BOOKS, also when you say being a “movie star”, who would you consider as a “movie star”. because believe there is no star out there who can totally sell a movie only on his/her name, a movie should be able to sell it-self, the star just generate buzz but if the movie is not good then the box office will not be good either. That’s what happened with RM, there were too much negativity arround this movie for it to do very well and let’s face it, if it wasn’t for Rob, this movie would not even cross 10M. so stop saying who is a movie star and who is not, because all stars have bombs even the so called “movie stars”. Today most of people buy a ticket to go see the movie, not the star(there’s still a few who go for the star)
Let’s see……. We have a critically acclaimed film, with an academy award nominated actress, (Melissa Leo) a multi Emmy winning actor, (James Gandolfini) and a multi-millionaire, mega Teen Heart-throb actress, (Kristen) The producers behind this film could not think of a way to market it with all of that going for it? I should get in to that business. I live in CHICAGO and it is nowhere to be found. Also the producers did not pick Kristen for being a crowd draw, they picked her because she is a wonderful actress. IMO, anybody who doesn’t think Kristen can act is not familiar with her other work, such as The Cake Eaters, Speak, and a long list of other Indie films.
Another thing that could be counted against it, is that it is a straight drama. The average movie-goer wants tons of editing, shaky cameras, a love story backdrop, and a bunch of stuff blowing up. I think of the film, “In the Bedroom” as a gold stndard for dramatic film. I am sure it sold a lot better than this, but would pale in comparison to The Transformers! LOL
As for paydays…..Kristen earned $2 Million for Twilight, $12 Million + gate for Eclipse, and $25 million + 7.5% = 41 Million (approximately) for both Breaking Dawns. LOL I LOVE this kid! And we wonder why people shovel piles of Cr#% her way on the internet. LOL Seriously though……she is doing these oddball films because she wants to do what she loves, and Twilight finances that.
wow, not a lot of people are Artistic enough to understand this movies… this ACTORS… its shameful how one just posts their thoughts, and judge this people… I love R.Pattz movies, Love Kristen S…. specially when RP is not acting like an american.. lol just being him self, with accent and all. Kristen – is a good performer/she doesn’t go for the $$$ she play these roles because its interesting to her.. shes doing what she loves to do, and I love that.. movie star?? who is a movie star? lets say “Sandra bullock” she did movies that failed, love her too… All I’m saying is, Actors/ are artists that performs. some in big movies, some in bad.. OMG dont tell me You guys find Dar knight with Katie Holmes GOOD? lol PLEASE!!! if you dont like the movie, dont talk about it.. come on now..
I agree 100% with WOW. Kristen Stewart acts where she wants to. That´s her life. A lot of actors make good and bad movies. That´s normal. See Sandra Bullock: best and worst actress in the same year. I just love Sandra, too. She´s simple, talented, sweet and so is Kristen Stewart. Twilight is Kristen Stewart, without her, there´s nothing. She plays an excellent Bella. Her choice for indie movies is her decision. She is 20, young, let´s her try. She has the right. She is not Ashley Greene and she is not Natalie, too. Even Johnny Depp made a pair of bad movies. I just love him including his bad movies because it is a risk. Imagine how could be easy for Kristen to be in a lovely comedie with some handsome actor. She prefers other kind of actings. Sorry for my English. By the way I´m not a teenager and been a mother of 2 kids. I really apreciate Kristen´s steal and I will support her job in anyway I can. Runaways had a horrible distribution in Brazil. Only in Rio and in Sao Paulo ( 2 screens). Remember me, for example, had even outdoors and promotion on TV and the movie was from North to South in the same day in many, many screens. I don´t compair actors just saying. I hope Kristen will work with Julianne Moore, Johnny Depp. I´d love to see her as Snow White. But I respekt her!! I wish her the best! I really wanted to see her with someone creative, smart, simple just like her. Johnny Depp is the best for that, acting is his blood. I really want to see her in a cool movie without twilight. She was good in Adventureland. The best for me.Total free and pretty, no pression …just being herself.
I just have one thing to say about all the comments. Just because something was a good book, doesn’t mean it will make a good movie. I am a twilight fan and a Kristen Stewart fan. However, Kristen does not bring Bella across on screen. There is too much of Bella missing. Eclipse was my favorite book and I hated the movie. (and am very doubtful about breaking dawn) I have seen all of Kristen’s movies except Welcome to the Rileys (I live in Canada) and the one I liked the best was Adventureland. Because of Adventureland, I would like to see Welcome to the Rileys however since it is not doing well in “10” theatres, the chances of it showing where I live in Canada are doubtful. I think it was wrong to market Welcome to the Rileys just on Kristen, James and Melissa are strong actors in their own right and should have been the main target. Just because Twilight is big doesn’t mean that Kristen should always get top billing. What a lot of Kristen fans forget is the when Twilight first came out, Kristen did not talk positive about it, going so far as saying some of the writing was ridiculous. This attitude I believe has continued thru the saga which is why there is so much of Bella missing. Again I like Kristen Stewart but I can see her faults and the fault of these indie film giving her top billing just because of Twilight.
@G K. Stewart was pretty good in Adventureland. I’ll give you that. Out of the three Twilight kids she has the most acting talent but she need to hone and channel it. I already said none of these kids are movie stars and they should not be treated as such. You have to earn it and they have not.
@t.n.b. I agree they still have to earn it which goes to my point that just because Twilight is raking in the money the indie’s shouldn’t just automatically give her top billing. It is my belief that once Twilight is over and done with and has died down you will only see Kristen in Indie’s. As for the other two I am not sure where they will end up but now a days when anyone can be an “actor” (reality shows that put just anyone on tv for a ridiculous amount of money) the craft is not what it used to be. Actors like Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, Robert Redford, Meryl Streep are few and far between. In WTTR, top billing should have went to James and Melissa. Which I guess is a strong statement considering I haven’t seen the movie.
@G
I read rumours that Kristen got the biggest paycheck but that doesn’t make sense. They filmed the movie when she was still an unknown.
@tam. I find that surprising Kristen filmed it after filming twilight but before twilight was released. If I were james g I would be pissed.
@Zac That should have been your clue. K. Stewart will never be a movie star. All she makes is bombs that no one wants. She ruined any chance she may have had by wasting time on Twilight. I could be proven wrong but in five years I will bet none of these kids will be working. There is a VH1 ‘where are they now’ waiting to be made. You should watch Mia W. Rooney Mara, and Jennifer Lawrence for greatness.
I think Kristen Stewart isn’t a movie star, yet. She’s the main character in a teen saga, in a women fandom. 15 years old girls won’t go to see WTTR, they’re busy swooning collecting Justin Bieber pics. Kisten is an amazing actress, my point is she has to pick their roles carefully now. If she wants to do indies which “nobody” will ever see, besides on DVD that’s fine. But if she wants to do something like The black swan maybe something more commercial has to come first in order to become a real movie star. I mean Natalie Portman did V for Vendetta before the black swan. She needs an adult fanbase.
It’s frustrating to read this article as I have been tracking WTTR for months in hopes of a showing near my home. I among a slew of others from FLA to VA would go see this movie. It dissapoints that so many states and fans are left in the hands of NYC,LA and Boston to generate entertainment that is already desired greatly. Strong topics aren’t foreign in these cities of America so the draw isn’t as big, bold or brave to go view. You gotta give to the unseen…
I’m very dissapointed WTTR not play in my country, I’d really want to see kristen stewart acting in that movie n I always hoping that I can watch on dvd.
This article is so unfair to Kristen Stewart! It is rated R so right there her major fan base is cut out. I am a fan that lives in the midwest and WTTR isn’t showing anywhere near me so I will have to wait for the dvd.
Kristen is a really talented actress and whether the media likes it or not she is very popular and successful, yes mostly due to her exposure from the Twilight films. I think the media hates the Twilight series because Stephanie Meyer is a conservative writer with good values and morals and heaven forbid that be promoted to the public. Hollywood needs to take note, we want REAL love stories we are sick to death of lust stories!
I can explain it. I know why a movie with so much buzz has a small audience. The fans of Kristen Stewart are LOUD. If someone discouvers a vote then they’re sending everyone to vote for her multiple times. In every vote she wins. Even in fashion votes where she looked really bad she’ll gonna win because her crazy fans are voting for her.
People could get the idea that they’re a lot of them but we see in these numbers that it’s the opposite. They’re just LOUD.
After all nobody wanted to buy the movie during Sundance. So the fans bombed distributors with emails.
I just don’t understand why the distributors of Kristen’s movies are getting the fault. They’re paying a lot of money for commercials, big billboards and even premieres (The Runaways). Kristen also visits a lot of late night shows to promote her movies. Normal indie movies don’t have this and they still perform better. Why? Because they’re probably better movies.
The last two things.
1) No, her talents aren’t wasted in the saga. She’s the worst thing in it. The acting is unbelievable bad.
2) RM performed well at the box office.
Tam you wrote 2) RM performed well at the box office.
I hate to break it to you but a movie playing on over 2100 scr. that doesn’t even do twenty mil in it’s whole box office run is not well. It should have done that or close first weekend. There isn’t that much faith in Pattinson as you think or Bel Ami would already be sold in the 3 big markets.
I’m a neutral person here not a Twilight fan or a real fan of any of them. I keep up with the entertainment industry. Harry Potter and Twilight are phenomenons. The stars of those series are not movie stars. They are interchangeable. Hollywood doesn’t know if any of these young stars can break out.
I’ll say this about K-Stewart. Once upon a time she was doing good movies. After Into the Wild with Penn I thought she was on herway. Her career has largely been a disappointment. I understand Twilight is badly written, but I don’t know why she signed on in the first place knowing this. She hasn’t grown as an actress and her characters are all the same. I’m including Jett in that analysis because I thought K. Stewart didn’t play it well enough. Welcome to the Rileys is bombing horrifically. I never expected anything less. K. Stewart is not a movie star. Unless she changes she never will be.
T. Lautner has a movie coming out next year. He can easily beat the box office of the other two because it’s not hard to sell an action film. I’ll expect Abduction to do twenty mil or more in the first week. I’m not saying it is a great movie but we all know what sells and movies like Welcome to the Rileys and Remember Me just do not.
>I hate to break it to you but a movie playing on over 2100 scr. that doesn’t even do twenty mil in it’s whole box office run is not well. It should have done that or close first weekend. There isn’t that much faith in Pattinson as you think or Bel Ami would already be sold in the 3 big markets.
@Tam it did well internationally for the same reason all the other Summit Ent. movies do well in those territories. Summit is the envy of Hollywood because of their foreign presale deals. Robert Pattinson is not a movie star either. He has a string of flops on his record. If Harry Potter and Twilight didn’t exist he would not be in movies today. It still stands that he is not taken seriously and probably won’t ever be. Remember Me considered one of the worst movies of 2010. It’s the Mark Hamill thing all over again. Sometimes the role is bigger than the actor. You are doing the same thing you accuse the K-Stewart fans of doing. Your star isn’t as big as you think.
Action movies don’t always hit but Abduction’s budget is forty mil; hardly large. Lionsgate marketing team is on a hot streak. I bet Abduction does at least seventy mil domestically and at least ninety mil worldwide. This does not mean T. Lautner is better at acting than the other two just that his box office will be better. There is no real proof that any of these kids will be able to become real movie stars.
Remember Me did well for a indie at the box office. If you know one REAL reason why it was bad then name it. Getting the budget back and making money for Summit is a good thing.
Rob is a young actor and didn’t do a lot of movies before he got famous. That’s how it works. You make a movie which makes you famous. There is nothing wrong in it.
>It still stands that he is not taken seriously and probably won’t ever be.
@Tam Remember Me is on the short list for worst movie of 2010. 27% on Rotten Tomatoes
Welcome to the Rileys got 54% Not fresh. Water for Elephants could be worse than Remember Me. You haven’t seen it. I say the same to the K.Stewart fans who go on about On the Road. Those movies might suck.
R. Pattinson is 24. K.Stewart is 20. T. Launter is 18. New talent pops up every year. There is a shelf life for them all. Go back and look at big young stars of the 80’s and 90’s. Only about 1% are still able to make movies.
Did you even read the reviews? The thing they hated the most was the 9/11 end but it still made $19 million. People from other countries didn’t have any problem with that.
You don’t sound like you have read Water for Elephants. It’s a good book and I would watch it even without Rob being in it.
And don’t compare Kristen’s movies with Rob’s movies. The Runaways could only achieve one third of the production budget.
Bringing the rest of my comment over here as it’s more apropos–
I actually don’t think Goldwyn targeted Stewart’s fan base (in fact I could say almost definitively they didn’t) but I don’t think Goldwyn targeted anyone. They honored their theatrical commitment and fit in some TV spots where they could but they didn’t actively market the picture.
The story has become about Stewart because that’s the internet’s primary focus as a larger portion of her advocates (and detractors) are online than anyone else involved with the picture but it’s self-perpetuating and I don’t think it moves out to any real world assessment of how the film was handled.
Goldwyn definitely wasn’t encouraging or even acknowledging the Twitters and FBs devoted to WTTR.
I don’t think the ltd marketing they did emphasizes Stewart either. She’s included on the one sheet and in the trailer, but I don’t think she’s highlighted (aside from being one of three cast members).
And the “Twilight” factor totally distorts Stewart’s box office potential as well. She is an extremely gifted actress (and some would argue her talents are wasted in the saga) but Twilight isn’t popular bc of her. It’s popular and she happens to be a part of it; there’s nothing suggesting Twilight fans will follow the main cast to other projects (as we learned with Robert Pattinson and RM in March which did fine, but not exceptionally well).
People (on the internet) want to call her a movie star and the reality is she’s not (yet). She’s extremely popular in a very specific context, outside of that, it’s a free for all and WTTR always already had a niche audience.
All that said, I don’t think you were *blaming* Stewart or her fans. I just think WTTR had a lot working against it and ultimately, Kristen’s *status* plays little to no role in why it didn’t perform.
FWIW, Mao’s Last Dancer is an adaptation of a popular book.
“”I can’t figure out why that happens when the film’s target audience is aware that the movie they want to see is out there.””
here it is error in your analyse!
In the middle of the week 4 or more theater stopped to screening the movie in NY. So it didn’t screening in 10 locations this week.
Lets see:
1)The target audience of WTTR not use twitter
2)The target audience usually don’t read critics in blogs but in newspapers and magazines
3)The target audience don’t have Kristen as a reference, because first she was a child actor and after a teen actor who did mostly indie movies and never did a Disney type of movie or a TV Series. I can ashure you that ALL Kristen’s fans who live in the cities as well fans other cities, went to see the movie several times. First in several festivals and after the release. There are people who travel 4 hours to go and see the movies, others came from Canada per example. There are a huge fan base but most of them don’t live in NY, LA and Boston.
Gandolfini is well known but hate interviews! Melissa Leo is only now became a reference for the general audience.
4)The target audience get the reference of a movie also through trailers inmajor films.
5)The target audience don’t like to always go to Art Movies Cinemas, they prefer cinemas in shopping centers.¨
6)A good reference for the target audience is Award Buzz.
So… Lets see… Months before the release of Black Sawn, 127 hours, Nicole Kidman movie and Conviction, Fighters and The King Speech, even without see the movie and the acting, movie’s critics and award analists already were saying thatthe actor were in the list for nomination. The studios already were doing private screenings and promoting the movies and acting skills with the right people for elevate the chances for nominations.
So…
Did you see the differences between the movies, their promotion, marketing campaign and work from the studios to turn it candidate for something???
WTTR didn’t have any of these things!
Beside it all Rotten Tomatoes, Review Intelligence, Metacritics didn’t atualized the page of review of the movie, so… A LOT and I can say for sure A LOT of positive reviews, because I have most of the critics, were there to be picked up and they didn’t, even from A list critics and sindicated critics.
Also beside the movie is a drama with a more European Style (slower, less music, more character driven) about fellings of lost, love and solitude.
Nicole Kidman movie is also based in what some critics clame to be “full of gliche and commom theme”, but because it is a Nicole Kidman drama movie, its ok! to be this way and probably will be in the list for the awards.
if you read the critics of Welcome to the Rileys made by french, german, UK and aussie critics, you will see another vision from the critics of the movie, the director, the acting and even of the screenwriter.
You have a difficult problem to solve in US cinematographic industry!
The Studios per one side only want invest big money in remakes, movies for male or male teenager, ron-con and movies for children. The rest is call indie!!!
US cinematographic industry rule the market inside US and worldwide.
People like Mery Strepp and Dustin Hoffman, between other would not be household names if they had started their carrers now a days!
To finish, your analyse should wait all these factors, when it is saying for the general audience that the movie in doing bad in the box offices just because some fan base actor don’t buy tickets or the target audience is not interesting.
I can ashure you 127 hours has a very diferrent target audience of Welcome to the Rileys. Beside It is weird because it is a movie of one actor based in self inflict amputation. I ca say it is almost a action movie not a drama.
I hope I have succeed to express my thoughts about the subject and you post your thought about what I said.
>here it is error in your analyse!
In the middle of the week 4 or more theater stopped to screening the movie in NY. So it didn’t screening in 10 locations this week.
Alternate take on WTTR situation–
Reality 1- it is a tough marketplace for independent films. Tougher for indies that go out theatrically. Tougher for indies that don’t have a clear logline, clear narrative and/or are a tough sell.
Reality 2- WTTR was not a studio indie. It didn’t even go out through a mini major like LGF or TWC. 127 Hours and NLMG are ridiculous comparisons, they went out via studio. Sony put up money for P&A for WTTR, they did not release the film.
Reality 3- Goldwyn didn’t do anything to position it. TYH didn’t do much for them (despite IMO being a really quality film) and another kind of sad, small cast character study didn’t inspire them. It hurt that advertising was more expensive because of the election.
Reality 4- The film got very mixed reviews. Pretty much all critics agreed that the best thing about it was the performances and for some, that wasn’t enough to sell them on it.
Reality 5- the internet, while a nice sampling, is not a good indication of where real dollars come from. People online are rabid (us included) in their support and exaggerate general interest. Viral campaigns only work if they start to reach people not online. We all love talking to each other, but very, very few of us were in the position to extend #WTTR marketing beyond the already existent online fanbase.
Reality 6- PayTV and VOD have inhibited indie theatrical release considerably. If you live in a major city, why go to the theater when you can see a variety of relatively new (or brand new in some cases) smaller indies on your TV at home? Only if you’ve been given reason ie; critical acclaim or word of mouth.
Kristen’s fanbase was not and should not have been part of the discussion of the film’s success. It would have been a nice bump, but WTTR needed adult urbanites who go to the theaters on any given weekend to show up and for any one of the reasons above, they didn’t.
It is a good movie and it will be seen but so much of its potential was out of the control of any one entity (fans def included.)
The movie will likely do well on DVD and VOD and make some real money via those platforms.
I think this proves yet again how young Kristen Stewart fans actually are. You can tell by the replies written by the two fans here that both of them are very young. On top of that Kristen’s fans love her as Bella. Kristen knows she has a young fan base but insist on doing movies that they can’t see and now she has announced she will no longer take pictures with fans. I don’t understand why Kristen keeps trying to put so much distance between her and her fans.
Willow: Not sure what it was that I wrote that indicated I was young since I made it clear that I was limited by geography, not age, in being able to see the film.
But thank you for making that assumption that Kristen Stewart fans are young. Young at heart? Yeah, I’ll take that.
willow just your statement about how young kristen fans are tell me something about you and your aledge statement she supposed to have made coming coming from a gossip maz. was all a lie she in rio now taken pictures with fan at the air port so spue that crap so where else I have personaly met kristen and i can tell you she is a wondful young lady it so sad that media and people like you want to lie about her so sad.
I’d love to go see Welcome to the Rileys but it isn’t showing where I live and since I live in Hawaii, it isn’t like I can just drive to LA after work to go see it.
So the crack about tweeting about it is a little misleading. I’ve tweeted info on it to help keep up interest and in the hopes that the film comes our way.
I’m sort of beholden to the areas that get the film to see it in order for it expand anywhere else.
Puaena,I live in Brazil and just like you I wont´t be abble to see WTTR. It´s really sad. I don´t care if other movies are making 1M or not. I do love Kristen´s acting and I think she is the best thing in Hollywood from years. Like so many actors she will make wonderful and bad movies, too. That´s always a risk. I support her because she is true to herself and seems to be a decent person. If you go to roten tomatoes and read the history of Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, etc. You will see that they made sometimes a lot of money and sometimes nothing. That´s normal. We´d love to see Kristen like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman but that is unreal. The lives of prostitutes are really ugly and I´m sure Kristen´´s perfomance is great. Sad ….People just want pretty women making beautiful scenes…Love your acting, Kristen. You are the really Johnny Depp now. Congratulations!!!!!!!!
WTTR seems to be a good movie. Kristen Stewart is 20 years old and if she likes to play in small movies we have to accept. People wanted her like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. That´s not the reality of the prostitutes. I do think she is a good actress and very smart, too. I´m glad she is there because I can´t stand these other beautiful faces actreses that are completely empty although well dressed and pretty. I wish Kristen Stewart continues to work true for herself. I wish her the best. WTTR was not so bad at all at the box office. Don´t forget the m ovie was for adult that shows how much courageous is Kristen Stewart. It would be much easier for her to pick a roll in a romantic comedie with someone handsome.But no! She is on the road… I hope people will respect her someday because she is the best of her generation.
I don’t think It’s dissapoing.. ;) Small inde movie that was shown in 10 theathers!
I don’t understand… :( Kristen is very good actress and Welcome to the Rileys – I watch treailers and clips and I like it… Kristen don’t interesting money, she want just play in “sensitive” movie. Love KStew <3
Are you kidding me???? from the trailers Ive seen and some critics responses to this film it looks really good and Kristen along with her fellow actors put their heart and soul in this film…plus not to mention the limited viewing areas…no wonder its not doing up to par. I REALLY want to see this movie and not just when he goes to video. Regardless of it being an Indie film- would be nice for others to have their take on this film as well.
Small indie movies always have a limited release. If it’s successful then it can go wide. If it isn’t successful then it makes no sense to make an expansion.
Not surprised. It took two years to get a theatrical release. It should have gone straight to Itunes and DVD. Then at least profit would be possible. Chalk it up to another K-Stew flop. All those Twilight kids are flopping except Lautner. He needs to help the other two pick scripts.
“”All those Twilight kids are flopping except Lautner. “”
Lautner? His film isn’t even out yet and you can’t count his cameo in Valentines Day. Give me a break. As for “all those Twilight kids flopping,” think again. Pattinson’s Remember me has made about $58 million dollars on a $16 million dollar budget. How exactly is that a flop?
Oh right. It’s not.
People need to quit lumping the “Twilight” kids together as if they’re a one-headed celebrity. They’re not. Kristen’s films should stand or in this case — fail — on their own. As should Lautner’s. And Rob’s indie should get a little recognition for making 3 and a half times it’s budget.
Sorry to break it to you but Remember Me was a flop. If Robert Pattinson was as popular as the media would have us believe the movie should have done at least sixty mil here. This film also failed. Maybe Pattinson and Stewart need to choose movies that someone wants to see. Pattinson French sex film is going nowhere if it ever does get picked up and Stewart is doing yet another emo film that no one wants to see. Lautner is doing a John Singleton action film with known stars. That has major appeal with guys and the teenage scream machine will show up for him. He isn’t going to win awards but that kid will get the work. He can be another Keanu Reeves or Channing Tatum. Not the best actors but they provide a return for their studio.
Remember Me doesn’t need to make 60 million to be NOT a flop. It wasn’t very successful in US because of the theme but the outside world seemed to love it. US isn’t the only country that counts.
are you kidding me, i think Robert Pattinson is a wonderful actor, and talk about older audience he has captured them also.Remember me was a great film and deserve more recognition it received,i am looking for great things from Robert,everyone need to separate him from Edward and the rest will be history,i would love to meet him.
That must have been hard to play for Kristen, but she comes over as totally real. GREAT JOB…for someone so young