14 DAY TRIAL // Over the weekend, critics rushed to trash the latest Paramount action movie “G.I. Joe,” saying that the very move on behalf of the studio not to screen it for all critics was a sign that it did not have any faith in the project. As we were also saying then, in the end, it’s audiences who decide what goes and what stays – and in the case of “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,” audiences have decided it was the hottest film to see this weekend, as the Los Angeles Times can confirm.
It was a highly unusual move for a studio the size of Paramount Pictures to avoid screening the film before release, especially when it relied on a $170 million budget, with about the same amount invested in the promo campaign. Because of this, critics believed that the movie was too bad to make any money at the box-office: and it’s not a first that critics are proven wrong, with “Joe” ruling both national and international box-office over the three-day weekend.
“Joe” made a solid $56.2 million domestically and $44.1 at the international box-office, with about $10 million less than “Star Trek,” yet another major franchise that Paramount brought back to life this year. As a matter of fact, despite the backlash from critics, the movie studio feels “Joe” fared so well that it warrants a sequel, and is already starting to talk details pertaining to it, with the entire cast being contractually bound to return for a second movie if the first one does well.
However, there is one aspect that Paramount might want to take into account before rushing to hail “Joe” the first of a successful series, the LA Times says. “Although opening-day audiences gave the movie an average grade of B-plus, according to market research firm CinemaScore, ticket sales declined 18% on Saturday from Friday. That’s often an indicator of bad buzz among moviegoers. Universal and Sony Pictures’ ‘Funny People’ experienced a slightly smaller Friday to Saturday drop of 15% on its opening weekend. This weekend, the film’s second, its ticket sales plunged 65%. ‘Star Trek,’ by contrast, saw its ticket sales increase Saturday from its Friday start and went on to more than triple its opening-weekend gross in the U.S. and Canada.” says the publication, arguing that the staying power of the film might be nothing short of a spark that will go out in the following weekends.
However, given the critics’ reaction, it is now safe to say that the studio was right in assuming they would thrash the film if it allowed screenings, thus bringing down ticket sales. Paramount Pictures, it is a known fact by now, learned its lesson with “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” and did not want to make the same mistake again.