Nielsen Wire » Slumdog Millionaire

Advertising Can Make Or Break A Movie

Nielsen Wire — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:02:34 +0000

Slumdog Millionaire, the Oscar winner for Best Picture in 2008 was not a summer blockbuster. Nor were any of the other nominees in that category. But they all had a couple of things in common: they were primarily advertised in the second half of the year with a concentration in the fourth quarter, and they were all released in the months of November and December. So while the summer blockbusters get a great deal of attention, it is those films that are released – and tend to advertise – during the last half of the year that get recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, according to recent review by Nielsen.

A review of Best Picture winners over the past five years reveals that only one film – Crash, which took home the award in the 2005 – was released outside the fourth quarter (it was released in early May). But summer flicks hold their own when it comes to winning awards: the top 10 movies in 2008, based on advertising spending from May through August, included four films with nominations in other categories. Wall-E, which was ranked third after spending over $38 million in advertising during this period, was nominated in six categories – and raked in $63.1 million box office sales.

Read more about how advertising can make or break a film in the latest issue of Consumer Insight.

OSCARS: Best Film Nominee Ad Expenditures

admin — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:06:35 +0000

2008 advertising expenditures for this year’s Best Film nominees:

RANK	FILM	EXPENDITURES (millions)
1	The Curious Case of Benjamin Button	$31.0
2	Milk	$11.3
3	Frost/Nixon	$11.3
4	Slumdog Millionaire	$6.1
5	The Reader	$4.6
source: The Nielsen Company 2009NOTE: Figures do not include Internet or Outdoor ad expenditures

Oscar-Nominated Flicks Ride Buzz To Box Office Sales

admin — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:47:06 +0000

Do Academy Award nominations impact the distribution and ticket sales of nominated movies? Nielsen EDI compared the number of theaters showing each movie and ticket sales before and after the nominations were announced on January 22 and found significant increases in most cases.

With the exception of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, each of the Best Film nominees saw triple-digit percentage increases in theater count after they were nominated. The increased distribution of these films also led to box office sales increases anywhere from 18% to 72% in the weeks following the nominations.

THEATER COUNT OF BEST FILM NOMINEES

RANK	FILM	BEFORE NOMINATION	AFTER NOMINATION	% CHANGE
1	FROST/NIXON	153	1099	618%
2	MILK	250	882	253%
3	THE READER	367	1002	173%
4	SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE	582	1415	143%
5	THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON	2223	2263	2%
source: The Nielsen Company 2009

BOX OFFICE SALES OF BEST FILM NOMINEES

RANK	FILM	3 WEEKENDS BEFORE NOMINATION	3 WEEKENDS AFTER NOMINATION	% CHANGE
1	THE READER	$4,268,323	$7,326,702	72%
2	FROST/NIXON	$3,110,726	$5,197,785	67%
3	SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE	$15,494,836	$25,505,612	65%
4	MILK	$3,123,125	$3,690,247	18%
5	THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON	$34,489,059	$11,932,358	-65%
source: The Nielsen Company 2009

Nielsen also found that impressive gross sales are not required for a film to be nominated in the top categories. For example, Frost/Nixon, in movie theaters for eleven weeks, earned only $17 million at the U.S. box office through February 16, while fellow nominee Benjamin Button pulled in close to $123 million since its December 25 release.

TOTAL GROSS SALES OF BEST FILM NOMINEES

RANK	FILM	OPEN DATE	GROSS
1	THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON	12/25/2008	$122,573,294
2	SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE	11/12/2008	$88,101,863
3	MILK	11/26/2008	$26,748,699
4	THE READER	12/10/2008	$19,618,951
5	FROST/NIXON	12/5/2008	$16,561,626
source: The Nielsen Company 2009

“Mall Cop” Locks Up Box Office Again

Nielsen Wire — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:09:19 +0000

For the second week in a row, the Kevin James comedy “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” led the box office with $21.6M in earnings. Newcomer “Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans” clawed to second with $20.8M. Oscar nominees for best picture were reward with a box office surge as “Slumdog Millionaire” pulled in $3.6M more than last week, and “Benjamin Button” turned back the clock with a return into the top 10, bringing in more than $6M the weekend after nominations were announced.

RANK	Title	Studio	Weekend Gross Jan 19-25	Total Gross Thru Jan 25
1	PAUL BLART: MALL COP	SONY PICTURES	$21,623,182	$64,923,380
2	UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS	SONY PICTURES	$20,828,511	$20,828,511
3	GRAN TORINO	WARNER BROS.	$16,244,462	$97,819,975
4	HOTEL FOR DOGS	PARAMOUNT	$12,860,944	$37,455,759
5	SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE	FOX SEARCHLIGHT	$10,699,629	$56,065,245
6	MY BLOODY VALENTINE	LIONSGATE	$10,012,658	$37,687,394
7	INKHEART	WARNER BROS.	$7,601,379	$7,601,379
8	BRIDE WARS	TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX	$6,868,664	$48,570,928
9	THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN..	PARAMOUNT	$6,085,919	$111,129,482
10	NOTORIOUS	FOX SEARCHLIGHT	$5,779,692	$31,874,538
Source: Nielsen EDI

‘Mall Cop’ Secures Weekend Box Office

Nielsen Wire — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:29:35 +0000

The Kevin James comedy “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” secured the top spot of the weekend box office with a $39.2 million take. Last week’s box office champ, Clint Eastwood’s “Gran Torino” pulled into second with $25.6 milloin, edging out the third-place, 3D thriller “My Bloody Valentine” at $24.1 million. Following its Golden Globe wins, “Slumdog Millionaire” returned to the top 10, pulling in more than $7 million for the weekend.

RANK	Title	Studio	Weekend Gross Jan 16-18	Total Gross Thru Jan 18
1	PAUL BLART: MALL COP	SONY PICTURES	$39,234,238	$39,234,238
2	GRAN TORINO	WARNER BROS.	$25,606,399	$76,603,810
3	MY BLOODY VALENTINE	LIONSGATE	$24,103,962	$24,103,962
4	NOTORIOUS	FOX SEARCHLIGHT	$23,393,472	$23,393,472
5	HOTEL FOR DOGS	PARAMOUNT	$22,865,512	$22,865,512
6	BRIDE WARS	TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX	$13,878,727	$39,705,852
7	THE UNBORN	UNIVERSAL	$10,545,075	$33,784,230
8	DEFIANCE	PARAMOUNT VANTAGE	$10,510,082	$10,850,710
9	MARLEY & ME	TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX	$7,514,652	$133,923,935
10	SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE	FOX SEARCHLIGHT	$7,021,727	$43,858,932
source: Nielsen EDI.

The Golden Globes On TV: Historical Audience Ratings

admin — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:08:55 +0000

Sunday’s broadcast of the 2009 Golden Globe Awards, which featured wins by the TV show “30 Rock,” the film “Slumdog Millionaire,” actor Mickey Rourke, and actress Kate Winslet, drew nearly 14.9 million U.S. viewers.

By comparison, the 2004 Golden Globes drew the largest U.S. television audience (26.8 million viewers) of any Golden Globes telecast in the past 10 years.

Last year’s Golden Globe Awards – aired as a one-hour press conference, due to an ongoing “writers’ strike” – drew just over 6 million viewers.

View Golden Globes TV ratings from 1998 to 2008, below.

Date	Time Aired	Day Aired	Network	Viewers (P2+)
1/13/2008*^	9-10:00PM	Sunday	NBC	6,038,000
1/15/2007*	8-11:00PM	Monday	NBC	20,036,000
1/16/2006*	8-11:00PM	Monday	NBC	18,765,000
1/16/2005	8-11:00PM	Sunday	NBC	16,845,000
1/25/2004	8-11:00PM	Sunday	NBC	26,803,000
1/19/2003	8-11:00PM	Sunday	NBC	20,097,000
1/20/2002	8-11:00PM	Sunday	NBC	23,451,000
1/21/2001	8-11:01PM	Sunday	NBC	22,493,000
1/23/2000	8-11:04PM	Sunday	NBC	22,107,000
1/24/1999	8-11:07PM	Sunday	NBC	24,180,000
* Note: Live+Same Day viewing estimates include DVR playback on the same day, defined as 3AM-3AM.
^ Note: In 2008, the Golden Globes was a press conference only, due to the “Writer’s Strike”.
Source: The Nielsen Company (1998 – 2008).