FIREPROOF - The new film from Sherwood Pictures

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Why would the film shock anyone ?

I don't suspect it will do anything beyond it's niche demographic. Maybe a nice opening weekend, but after the niche sees it, I can't imagine mainstream movigoers flocking to it.

If I'm wrong, I won't be shocked.

Lol
 
planning on seeing Fireproof tonight with my roommate, will review it for you tonight or tomorrow, i hope i can get in there is only one theater in the bay area showing it.

Jason
 
J.R. Hudson said:
I don't suspect it will do anything beyond it's niche demographic. Maybe a nice opening weekend, but after the niche sees it, I can't imagine mainstream movigoers flocking to it.
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The exact same thing could be said about the latest horror movie.

The niche demographic IS the point. Zombie movies go for the niche. So do scifi movies, westerns, etc. "Blair Witch" didn't make boatloads of money from mainstream moviegoers -- it made it primarily from the niche demo of horror movie fans.

If a movie makes bucketloads of money, it doesn't matter if that comes from a niche demographic or a wide range of 'mainstream' moviegoers -- it's still a successful film.
 
Blair Witch grossed 140,539,099

Waaaaaaaaaaay outside the demo of horror. Due in large part ot clever marketing and hype

My point is the demo Fireproof is going after isn't a big one. Will it recoup for a profit ? Maybe.

Succesful or not; I'm viewing this film as a mainstream moviegoer and not one of message. White Chicks was succesful but that doesn't mean it was a good film.
 
If 80% of Americans identify themselves as Christians, then how can you say the demographic isn't a big one?

Who do you think went to see Blair Witch who wasn't a fan of horror movies? The general box office figures alone can't support the contention that it drew a wider demographic than just horror movie fans -- although I do believe it also drew indie filmmaker types.
 
Further on the subject, I don't think Passion of the Christ drew large audiences outside of its core demographic. I doubt many Jewish people, Muslims, Buddhists or atheists went to see it. And they wouldn't have no matter how great a movie it might have been. Just like a lot of people wouldn't go to see "Saw III" under any circumstances whatsoever.

We'll see what the box office figures for 'Fireproof' turn out to be. It will be interesting.
 
Passion made $370 million domestically. It's the 12th highest ranking (in terms of box office) movie of all time (domestic) -- Blair Witch is #192 on that chart.

Passion is 40th highest ranking worldwide -- Blair Witch is #259.

Passion was the 3rd highest grossing movie of the year (2004) -- Blair Witch was 10th (1999).

Passion was 19th highest grossing opening weekend -- Blair Witch was #231.

Granted, Passion had name actors and a higher budget, both for production and advertising. Even so, that's a pretty wide difference. Which says to me that Passion's core demographic will flock to theaters and put their money down to see movies that they identify with.

Fireproof could well have the same demographic, though I don't expect it to generate the same numbers as Passion.
 
passion had:

Controversy
Marketing
Mel Gibson's Name
Mel Gibson's view and controversy attached.
Gore and talks about the realism of jesus' trials.
Actors
Cinematography
Money
Also marketing saying it is done in another language (i was surprised this didn't backfire)

That's few of many reason why it worked and did so well. It just happened to be made very well.

Thus.... 300+
 
All true. But a little more detail.

Actors? Had anybody ever heard of Jim Caveziel before that movie? Yes, it had other 'names' like Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, but she's hardly a huge box office draw.

Controversy? Yes. But that didn't bring in the faithful Jewish, Muslim, etc. patrons. At least not in large numbers.

Only two movies beat Passion that year -- Shrek 2 and Spiderman 2. Spiderman 2 hit theaters in June -- summer blockbuster season. Passion hit theaters in February -- hardly a great month for movies traditionally.

So with a lack of 'names' that equate to box office, a historically bad month for movies in general, and the fact that it was subtitled with not a word of English in it -- the movie still made only $3 million less domestically than Spiderman 2.

That says something.
 
As everyone here has said... Fireproof is targeting a niche... and a niche many underestimate... including a lot of exec's... I know for a fact, you will see a lot more films like this one if it does what I, and many others think it will do.
 
oh my God I just got home from FireProof it was amazing, I laughed for half of it and I fought back my tears for the other half, it was funny, it ad action which had me at the edge of my seat, it made me care about the people the lighting was beautiful the camerawork was good, the acting was for the most part great, a few points when it pulled me out of the story, but then I got pulled right back in.

yes it is a Christian film, but it was nothing "Hallmark" it was in fact one of the best films Ive ever sseen, not best Christian film, but best film. Watch it, even if you're not a Christian, its still one of the best romance stories I've seen.
 
Thanks Brandon, I can't wait to see No Greater Love! the trailer looks great.

by the way about Fireproof, I have to say it was not what I expected, I wasn't expecting it to be so funny cause they didn't put any of that in the trailer, I also wasn't expecting the action, the house fire scene had me on the edge of my seat. so did the train track scene, but that was in the trailer.

I went to see it with my roommate Zhyoung, she isn't a Christian, but she loved it, its a well made comedy, drama, action film, and chick flick all in one.
 
I don't know about not getting people to see Passion of the Christ outside the niche area, I saw it twice but they couldn't get me to see Fireproof even if I had a free pass... thats not a diss but just the truth, I see at least one movie everyday and there are still tons of flicks I need to watch more than something like this
 
chapelgrovefilms said:
The exact same thing could be said about the latest horror movie.

The niche demographic IS the point. Zombie movies go for the niche. So do scifi movies, westerns, etc. "Blair Witch" didn't make boatloads of money from mainstream moviegoers -- it made it primarily from the niche demo of horror movie fans.

If a movie makes bucketloads of money, it doesn't matter if that comes from a niche demographic or a wide range of 'mainstream' moviegoers -- it's still a successful film.
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That's fine. I predict that this movie will not make bucket loads of money. The acting looks like bad TV to me.

I'm curious. What kind of money would it take for you guys to consider this movie a big success? Some of you are talking like it will be. What ballpark are we talking here?

PS- The only official review on RT is a bad one.
HERE
 
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Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
That's fine. I predict that this movie will not make bucket loads of money. The acting looks like bad TV to me.

I'm curious. What kind of money would it take for you guys to consider this movie a big success? Some of you are talking like it will be. What ballpark are we talking here?
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The question is really what do you consider a movie to be a big success...

I don't know if it will... but I have a feeling it'll make at least Facing the Giants numbers...

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=facingthegiants.htm

Opening weekend on that film was $1.3... but now you have a fan base who 'll go see Fireproof... trust me I have a friend who claims he's anti Christian and he saw FG three times...loved it... thought it was great for a low budget film..

So it did $10.1m in total box office numbers....not bad for a film lets say was made for $100,000 according to box office mojo... I thought it was more like $250k... but I figure take in all the volunteerism and it was like $500k.... not bad at all...

So lets guess at the numbers...

$10,178,331 box office no DVD sales here....

Okay lets say the distributor got 50% of those ticket sales.... that equals...

$5,089,165.5

$3k print costs (where is Film77 or Vic when you need him) x 441 (largest number of theaters it played in at one time) so that equals out to

$1,323,000 for prints now lets just guess an throw in...

$1,500,000 for ads, etc (and I figure it was cheaper than that)... or total is

$2,823,000 for p & a... these are just guesses... so minus that from what the distributor got and it comes out that the film made...

$2,266,165... and lets just go with my $500k budget figure... that is what like a 4.5 to 1 profit margin.... not bad for what you say is a niche film... go with the $100k budget... and its made more like 22 to 1 return on dollars....

Plus I haven't thought or added in DVD sales... so I say it was a successful film... and any time you make a movie make money and you get to make another one as a producer or director means your successful....

And this is coming from a guy who didn't like the idea that Kirk Cameron was cast... nothing against him... and maybe I'll be proven wrong... he just seems like a kid to me even though he's probably close to being 40....

Please forgive any bad spelling or grammar... looked up and I have to be some where ten minutes ago.... oops....
 
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