Monday Morning Mixer: Return to 'Oz' is profitable

Posted Monday, March 11, 2013 at 3:12 PM Central
Last updated Monday, March 11, 2013 at 3:13 PM Central

by John Couture

I know what you're thinking. "Where has this column been the last two weeks?"

Well, the short answer is that the last two Mondays were swamped for various reasons. It was so bad that each day, I was barely treading water until late into the afternoon which, let's face it, is an odd time to be doing a "Morning" piece.

So, I had to let this article slide the last two weeks, but don't worry, I'm back and the MMM is better than ever.

As part of our effort to give you the best analysis on the weekend that was in Hollywood, I hope that our efforts will yield better, more in-depth analysis moving forward. Of course, short of us changing our name to TMZ or hiring a few free-lance paparazzi to stalk your favorite celebs, I think you'll like what we've got.

First up though, it's our look at the weekend box office where James Franco leaves behind Kansas to discover a vibrant world in Oz, a world that was also rich in box office dollars.

Box Office 411

Did you know that the original The Wizard of Oz only made $16.7 million at the box office? Actually, that's sort of inaccurate. The original release made closer to $14 million with the rest coming from subsequent re-releases over the years.

Sure, the majority of that number is based on 1939 dollars, but even adjusted for inflation and all of that, it's still only $287 million give or take. The bottom line, is that this weekend's release, Oz: The Great and Powerful is already well on its way to challenging the adjusted number from the original film. According to studio estimates, Oz made $80.3 million this weekend which was slightly ahead of industry estimates.

The result is good for Disney and the lagging box office which had been off slightly through two months over last year's numbers. The top 12 films this weekend earned $129.7 million which was good enough for a 7% bump from last year's comparable weekend which saw John Carter bomb to the tune of $30 million.

While Oz didn't come close to sniffing Alice in Wonderland's $116 million opening three years ago, I think it's safe to assume that they are all smiles at Disney this morning. I guess it's also safe to assume that James Franco is no Johnny Depp, but really few are.

Still, Oz is on track to surpass $200 million, easily making it the biggest winner of 2013 yet. When the dust settles, I think that Oz: The Great and Powerful will finish up with $230 to $270 million. We'll get a better feel for the final number after seeing next weekend's drop.

Speaking of obvious bombs like John Carter, Jack the Giant Killer, no wait that's too violent, Jack the Giant Slayer continues to get killed at the box office. Did you like what I did there?

Since we didn't talk about it last week, we were unable to mention just how much of a bomb this film was. Let's put this way, they are looking UP at John Carter's numbers and would gladly take them at this point.

Jack has grossed $43.8 million in a couple of weekends and at this point, it will be fortunate if it makes it to $60 million before they pull the plug on this latest entry into the "worst idea ever" conversation. What's next a "Bah Bah Black Sheep" film?

Identity Theif continues to have long legs at the box office, thanks to the utter lack of any serious competition. The film surpassed the $100 million mark last week and looks to end up with $135 to $140 million.

This weekend's other new release Dead Man Down came in almost right at industry expectations with $5.4 million. What's become of Colin Farrell? It seems that I ask that question each time one of his films flop at the box office.

I remember a time when he was a certifiable A-list actor. Man, I feel old now.

Christopher Nolan gets his Sci-Fi on

First, we really wanted him to helm the next Star Wars film, but when that didn't come to fruition, we really started to wonder what Christopher Nolan would do for an encore.

Fresh off the successful Dark Knight trilogy and the very successful Inception it seemed odd that we hadn't heard anything concrete about his future plans. Oh sure, he's executive producing this Summer's Man of Steel and there were whispers of he and star Christian Bale getting the team back together for a Justice League movie at some point, but there wasn't anything concrete in place about his future in terms of his next original work.

Well, rest assured folks, Nolan will be traveling to space after all - there just won't be any wars involved. In a joint release from Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures, the two film studios announced that Christopher Nolan will be producing, writing and directing a film called Interstellar.

The original screenplay was written by Nolan's brother Jonathan and while nothing specific was in the release and despite being busy with his own successful TV series Person of Interest, I think it's a safe bet that both Nolan will be involved in the final script process.

According to the press release, "the film will depict a heroic interstellar voyage to the furthest reaches of our scientific understanding." So, it's got science fiction, space, adventure and written by the guy who melted my brain with Inception? Sold. Where do I buy tickets?

The film is slotted to open in theaters and on IMAX on November 7, 2014.

More Oz on the way

When a movie based on a public domain property is on track to gross north of $200 million, a sequel seems like a no-brainer, right? Well, according to this Variety article from last week, Disney actually moved forward with their sequel plans before a single box office dollar was earned by Oz: The Great and Powerful.

While details are scarce, it's believed that all of the principal cast are already locked up for the sequel with the notable exception being director Sam Raimi. As this film was a prequel to the events from the book and film The Wizard of Oz, it doesn't take a wizard to figure out what the sequel might look like.

Interestingly, while Disney can use anything from the book that it desires, it can not use whatever alterations that Warner Bros. made with its film, such as Dorothy's red ruby slippers. So, it would follow that Disney will stick mostly to the book, but will probably make subtle changes to brand their sequel as theirs.

I think that should wrap it up for now. As you can see, the MMM has once again become the MAM. I can only try harder next week. Until then, mix well.