Daddy Day Camp opened on Wednesday in 2,184 screens, and didn’t even break $1 million. The movie made $773,706! That’s a per screen average of about $350 bucks. That’s right, for the whole day. To give you an example of how bad that is:
- The Bourne Ultimatum, which opened last week made over $6.7 million on Wednesday, for a per screen average of $1,840.
Need another example?
- Knocked up earned $175 per screen on Wednesday, not bad for a movie which came out 10 weeks ago (that’s 2 and a half months by my count).
I don’t wish failure upon anyone or anything. But with the recent rise of bad movie to box office ratio, with films like Wild Hogs and RV taking in megabucks, I’m happy to see the American public not show up to the next accessible family comedy. Even if Fred Savage did direct it. I’m sure he’s still living off that Wonder Years.
August 10th, 2007 at 9:57 am
I am continually flabbergasted by the fact that while in production and in the editing room the makers of movies like this are utterly oblivious to the fact that the film in question sucks.
Vic
August 10th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
That’s the way it goes. They only look at numbers when it comes to sequels. Generally, it’s less “how is this movie” and more “how much can we squeeze out of a franchise”.
It’s good ol’ fashioned American capitalism at work. If you were a producer or otherwise in a high-finance, high-return business, wouldn’t you try to milk a title or any product for whatever you could before letting it die out?
Sad how Hollywood works, ne?
August 10th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
Now, I haven’t seen this movie and I tend to avoid them as well. However, you say: “I don’t wish failure upon anyone or anything.” But then you say: “I’m happy to see the American public not show up to the next accessible family comedy.” So that is sort of wishing failure upon them, isn’t it? Or at least reveling in it when it happens, which I’m not sure is much better.
I see your point but when films like “Saw” and “Halloween” are so heavily anticipated, I at least appreciate that people do try to make something that’s a little more accessible instead of people getting sliced open. Plus comparing something like “Daddy Day Camp” to “The Bourne Ultimatum” strikes me as a little bit biased, to be honest.
Like I said, I do sort of get your point about these movies though, in case I’m coming off like a jerk. For example, the Robin Williams movie “RV” comes to mind as being in this category and so does most every Tim Allen film. Then again, National Lampoon’s “Vacation” would sort of fit in this same category today.
August 10th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
“Then again, National Lampoon’s ‘Vacation’ would sort of fit in this same category today.”
Um, no, it wouldn’t. THAT movie was actually funny at the time it came out.
Vic
August 10th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Screen Rant: some people could argue the same about “Daddy Day Camp” in terms of it being funny. Further, some people might not have found “Vacation” funny. I did, personally. But just because you and I did, doesn’t mean everyone would.
Peter correctly listed “Daddy Day Camp” as “accessible family comedy” and that’s what “Vacation” was billed at. So, um, yeah it would compare very much, at least in style, if not in content. That was what my point was: I’m glad people still make that style of film, particularly in this age of massive CGI effects, monsters destroyed cities (sick of hearing about “Cloverfield” yet?), or serial killers.
August 10th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
Jeff, I understand what you’re saying, but “accessible family comedy” doesn’t mean “unfunny comedy” and that seems to be what we’re getting lately. I usually imagine life on the set: Everyone is having a blast and patting each other on the back saying what a great movie it is, but nobody steps back, looks at the sum total to say “Um, guys? This ISN’T funny.”
I have an 11 year old daughter so I’d love for there to be more family oriented comedies, but they have to be worth watching. For example people dogpile on “Cheaper by the Dozen”, but that was actually funny. And look at everything Pixar puts out. Sure, it’s animated, but they’ve all been suitable for the entire family and they’re always funny as hell. :-)
Vic
August 11th, 2007 at 3:11 am
Did you even see Wild Hogs? I saw that movie as a joke, but it was pretty funny. I wish Cuba Gooding Jr was doing drama right now.
August 11th, 2007 at 4:04 am
Vic: good points. I have a two year old son, so movies that are “family accessible” (beyond Bob the Builder cartoons) are not primary for me yet, but the current state of movies is definitely something I’m worried about as he grows up.
The funny thing is that when I saw the trailer for “Daddy Day Camp” I actually laughed a few times. Now, granted, they try to show you the funny moments (sometimes the ONLY funny moments) in the trailer. But I bring this up because with many of these movies, I found the trailers to be really, really dumb: “Balls of Fury” (although that’s probably not “family accessible”), “Freaky Friday” (with Jamie Lee Curtis), “RV” (with Robin Williams), and just about any Tim Allen movie. So I guess my initial instinct was surprise because I actually found that “Daddy Day Camp” might be funny.
It’s interesting you mention “Cheaper by the Dozen” because I agree with you: people really pounced on that movie (like I think they’re doing with “Daddy Day Camp”) and while I agree that Martin’s flick was a bit formulaic to the extreme (and a remake in name only), it definitely did have some genuinely funny moments. (The sequel: not so much for me.)
All of this said, I haven’t seen “Daddy Day Camp” so I really shouldn’t say too much one way or the other. For all I know, this truly is a bomb. The reviews certainly seem to indicate that. But, then again, “Cheaper by the Dozen” was supposedly a bomb by the standards of a lot of critics (and apparently the viewing audience). I guess that’s why I’m always skeptical, particularly with comedy.
I hope they keep making “family accessible” films but I definitely agree that they might want to lose a bit of the moralizing and maybe rethink some of the more formulaic stuff. I also agree about Pixar: I hope they don’t change too much. Their stuff is pretty much always fantastic, for adults and children.