>
DreamWorks/Disney’s decision to open the lengthy, serious
THE HELP on a Wednesday in mid-August looked like a questionable strategy, but so far it’s paying off:
Deadline reports that its opening day gross is headed for $5.5M, very solid for a mid-week debut. By way of comparison,
Eat Pray Love, also based on a bestseller targeted to female audiences, but with the advantage of a Friday opening (not to mention Julia Roberts) opened with $8.5M, on its way to a $23M weekend.
The Help will hoping that good word of mouth will propel it to around $20-25M by Sunday, and then a leggy run through August. With a spartan production budget of $25M, the picture is far cheaper than
Eat Pray Love or
Julie & Julia, another August success, and those two got to $80M and $94M, respectively. While
Help figures to be a tough sell overseas, it may not need much of an international contribution to reach profit.
Stay with SHOWBUZZDAILY for all the latest boxoffice numbers and analysis, starting tomorrow with Mitch Metcalf’s weekend predictions.
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About the Author
Mitch Salem
MITCH SALEM has worked on the business side of the entertainment industry for 20 years, as a senior business affairs executive and attorney for such companies as NBC, ABC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, and BermanBraun Productions, and before that, at the NY law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. During all that, he has more or less constantly been going to the movies and watching TV, and writing about both since the 1980s. His film reviews also currently appear on screened.com and the-burg.com. In addition, he is co-writer of an episode of the television series "Felicity."
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