Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Will "Precious" be a big hit or a colossal flop?

Morning fam! I found this article by Eugene Hernandez on Indie Wire and I gotta tell you it's fascinating stuff....He raises some interesting questions about all of the buzz surrounding Lee Daniels new film "Precious".....I thought I share an excerpt....Enjoy!

Btw....I am predicting that this movie will do PHENOMENALLY well at the box office.

Eugene Hernandez: “Precious,” $1 Million or $100 Million?
Lee Daniels and Gabourey Sidibe recently at the Toronto International Film Festival. Photo provided by the festival.

New York, NY, October 26, 2009—The folks at film sales and financing company Cinetic Media have an infamous parlour game they play in advance of a film opening in theaters. John Sloss and his colleagues each try to predict a movie’s theatrical box office. Clearly, the big film they’ll be prognosticating next is Lee Daniels’ “Precious,” which hits U.S. theaters next Friday (November 6th) - nearly ten months after it debuted at Sundance and was sold (by Cinetic) to Lionsgate.

In the wake of a triple award win at Sundance, recent audience prizes at fests in Toronto and Chicago, rousing screenings in Cannes and at the New York Film Festival, intensifying awards season buzz, and now a 5,600 word cover profile in yesterday’s New York Times Magazine, hopes for the film keep getting bigger. But, can it meet these increased expectations?

It was January 16th back at Sundance this year, the first Friday of the festival, and in an aisle seat at the Racquet Club theater, I noticed “Precious” director Lee Daniels, and I noticed he wasn’t talking to anyone - just staring straight ahead. Nearby, against a wall with colleagues, was John Sloss. As the screening time approached, there was a strange lack of urgency to start the showing. A bit of a drama was unfolding behind the scenes because across town a delayed screening of Antoine Fuqua’s “Brooklyn’s Finest” at another Sundance venue was holding up some buyers. Sundance festival folks seemed anxious to get the movie started, but Lee, Sloss & company were stalling. I chatted with Lee who seemed cautiously optimistic about his new movie, but he and his reps feared that a bad first showing at Sundance - without the expected acquisitions execs in place for the whole film - would damage their chances for the right deal.

To read the full article CLICK HERE

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