SKY CAPTAIN TAKES
CHARGE AT B/OFFICE
Copyright 2004 www.thestar.com
[ September 19th 2004 ]
The
debut flight of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
landed the No. 1 weekend box office spot with
an estimated $16.2 million amid an overall lacklustre
turnout at theatres. The $70 million, film-noir-styled
fantasy starring Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and
Angelina Jolie cast its live actors against digitally
animated giant robots on a backdrop of 1930s New
York. The film was originally slated to debut
during the summer blockbuster season, but distributor
Paramount pushed back the opening amid post-production
delays.
"You
gotta figure, with a project like this, you don't
know what the response is going to be from the
audience," said Paul Dergarabedian, president
of box office tracker Exhibitor Relations Co.
"I think they maximized the potential of the movie
by taking it out of the summer and putting it
here because it was the only way it was going
to be No. 1.'' Wayne Lewellen, Paramount's head
of distribution, acknowledged the film might have
drawn a larger opening audience as a summer release.
"Absolutely.
You have a larger audience in summer than in the
fall," Lewellen said. "I thought we had a great
date in June prior to the opening of (Spider-Man
2). Unfortunately, they couldn't deliver the picture.''
The film drew a largely older audience, according
to studio tracking, which estimated 70 percent
of viewers were over 25. About 55 percent of the
audience was male, Paramount said. "Just the look
of the picture, the kind of retro look, probably
had an appeal to an older audience," Lewellen
said, adding that he hopes the film will attract
younger audiences in the coming weeks.
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