Whitechapel - RED: Not A Flop

RED: Not A Flop

warrenellis — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 05:26:58 -0700

every studio passed on making the stylish PG-13 comedy Red aimed at the adult audience except for Summit Entertainment: now the Robert Schwentke-directed pic features Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, and Bruce Willis -- some of them as past-their-expiration-date assassins -- opened in 2nd place with $8.5M Friday from 3,255 theaters and as much as a $25M weekend

and I guess this finally leaked out, too:

I hear the film’s negative cost is around $58 million (after subsidies are realized); but because Summit always licenses its films out to distributors in territories around the globe, the upstart studio’s financial exposure on the budget is only under $20 million.

RED: Not A Flop

Seantaclaus — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 05:29:26 -0700

Wow. Very good to hear. Congratulations.

RED: Not A Flop

keyofsilence — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 05:31:47 -0700

Congrats, Herr Ellis. Surely this calls for some victory Scotch.

RED: Not A Flop

hank — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 07:32:41 -0700

Better be quiet about that, I hear a second pony in the wings..

(we're happy as hell for you, sir!)

RED: Not A Flop

helloMuller — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 07:34:06 -0700

Nice one Warren.

RED: Not A Flop

johnjones — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 07:50:32 -0700

Awesome, Warren. I plan to contribute to the box office tomorrow. Are you going to be doing any American TV to promote the movie?

RED: Not A Flop

roadscum — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 08:23:38 -0700

...and that's how the Master got the money to buy the pier and build the Warren Ellis Orbital Death Ray World Domination Device launch terminal. The rest, as they used to say, is history. Now quickly child, back to the eel pens, i hear the tap of his cane approaching...

Congratulations Mr Ellis.

RED: Not A Flop

ales kot — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 09:13:44 -0700

Good.

RED: Not A Flop

warrenellis — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 09:28:27 -0700

Are you going to be doing any American TV to promote the movie?

No, I shot all my US tv stuff in July.

RED: Not A Flop

Oxbrow — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 10:08:39 -0700

British TV? Which basically means The Culture Show and Film 2010, probably.

RED: Not A Flop

Will Ellwood — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 11:55:57 -0700

Ah, this is good news.

RED: Not A Flop

warrenellis — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 12:01:16 -0700

No British tv. Too sick, for one thing. Can't talk for more than a minute without coughing a lung up.

RED: Not A Flop

wymarc — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 12:19:52 -0700

Just got back from seeing RED. My wife loved it (her idea of a good chick flick involves hot guys and explosions). I loved it. I think you could have put that cast in a room with a selection of booze and filmed the result and had a winner. High points: The sound editing was excellent. I'm been in car crashes and I've shot a fair number of those weapons: The sound people nailed it. Watching Dame Helen school Ms Parker on the difference between pretty and beauty. Low point: Not enough Helen Mirren.

The 10:30 AM show was full.

Congrats

RED: Not A Flop

johnjones — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 12:27:19 -0700

@ Warren

Well, I just gave you $5.50 of my money and it was well worth it.

RED: Not A Flop

chris g — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 12:32:35 -0700

Excellent. You've earned it young sir ^__^

When that sweet Hollywood blow rolls in remember to do your gums, waste not want not! <3

RED: Not A Flop

Andre Navarro — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 16:11:51 -0700

Congratulations, Warren. I'm happy for you, Cully and the people who worked on the graphic novel, and eager to see RED when it opens in Brazil (November 12th). Also wishing you a speedy recovery from the flu.

RED: Not A Flop

ScottS — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 16:50:45 -0700

My wife and I saw it today and my wife laughed through more of it than I did, so I think it's safe to say that we both really enjoyed it.

RED: Not A Flop

blind51de — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 16:59:05 -0700

Let's hope some of your first-rate stuff gets optioned, like Nextwave.

RED: Not A Flop

Kosmopolit — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 17:25:26 -0700

This is great news, not just for The Ellis but for the3 comics industry.

After the disappointing performances of Scott Pilgrim; Jonah Hex and The Losers, I was starting to worry that the studios would lose interest in doing comics-based movies other than the big superhero blockbusters.

RED: Not A Flop

StefanJ — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 17:38:13 -0700

I saw it at the Early Bird bargain matinee, before noon at a multiplex in Beaverton, OR. I got there 20 minutes early to take a nap. The theater had about a dozen people when I arrived, and more showed up during the commercial pre-show. The upper section of the theater, the stadium seating section, was maybe 3/4 full. Not bad.

Well, I can confidently say that the griefers who popped up here and on twitter were just being dickheads.

We're not talking Oscar contender, but I thought Red was well done and great fun. Good performances, good humor, nice plot twist at the end. Great action and producftion work. Mirren was a total gas.

* * *

I think OCEAN would make a dandy SF movie. Just saying.

RED: Not A Flop

twitch_ramirez — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 17:53:24 -0700

Went to the 11:30 showing, theater was packed. I was very entertained and the audience was as animated as any I have seen in some time. Congrats Warren.
@StefanJ I agree, OCEAN would be excellent.

RED: Not A Flop

Fishelle — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 18:32:34 -0700

Considering the college here is on break, and therefore half the population is gone off to visit their families, the theater had a pretty decent crowd here, I think. It helps that the film wasn't rated R.
I enjoyed it quite a lot. It wasn't really RED, but it was fun anyway.

RED: Not A Flop

warrenellis — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 18:36:34 -0700

Let's hope some of your first-rate stuff gets optioned, like Nextwave.

I don't own NEXTWAVE, and therefore wouldn't see a penny.

RED: Not A Flop

WaxPoetic — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 18:52:04 -0700

@wymarc - I agree with your wife's definition of a chick flick. huzzah.

RED: Not A Flop

Oxbrow — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 18:57:45 -0700

Get well soon, sir.

RED: Not A Flop

ales kot — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 19:05:52 -0700

I'd enjoy a proper adaptation of Lazarus Churchyard. Like, BBC.

And a Crooked Little Vein movie. Richard Kelly seems like a nice man, and his Darko Entertainment could certainly pull it off.

RED: Not A Flop

ReverendJoe — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 20:39:28 -0700

I saw the 7:45 showing in Orono, Maine tonight. There were only 5-6 seats left. Everyone in the theater was having a really good time (myself included). Lots of laughing. Well done, and I'll be picking it up on Blu-Ray when it hits stores.

RED: Not A Flop

audientvoid — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 22:41:26 -0700

I'll probably see it again, either tomorrow or next weekend. I am sure that my additional contribution will catapult this film to #1.

RED: Not A Flop

roadscum — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 03:49:09 -0700

I'd enjoy a proper adaptation of Lazarus Churchyard.

So would i. Very much so. Very, very much so. Oh yes.

RED: Not A Flop

texture — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 09:16:23 -0700

congratulations Warren! Can't wait to see it.

RED: Not A Flop

LBA — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 09:37:57 -0700

one step closer to an orbiting death laser under sole command of Warren Ellis

RED: Not A Flop

Jess — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 12:01:22 -0700

Congrats, Warren! I'm hoping to contribute to the figures later tonight.

Of course, you do know that you have to buy a pony for EVERY girl that's ever called you "Daddy" now.

RED: Not A Flop

groonk — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 12:36:09 -0700

Excellent!

Now where is this TV show you've threatened America with for some time now?

RED: Not A Flop

odarable — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 20:39:10 -0700

They're even sending it in the cinema of Hamar, where I am from and everyone is everyone's cousin. I haven't seen it yet because it premiers in Norway on the 5th, but hey, congrats!

RED: Not A Flop

Dovryn — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 21:40:08 -0700

Congrats Mr Ellis.
A well deserved victory.

I loved the movie- such a great cast.
Helen Mirren whoopin some ass and Malkovich Malkovich had me chucklin all the way through.

I do a pretty good Richard Dreyfuss impression [i think] and now I have a new movie to quote. Woohoo!

RED: Not A Flop

The_Toxo_Zombie — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 21:44:34 -0700

Good to hear it's not a flop. From what I saw at Comic Con I did not think it would be, but there is always that chance I guess. Still have to do my part and go see it.

Mayhap other good comic book adaptations will follow.

But Hollywood never learns so I doubt it.

RED: Not A Flop

Jack_Crow — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 03:07:24 -0700

Good that it didnt flop. I also would like to see more ellis' work on screen, but hopefully faithfully adapted? Even if I cannot really see big budget movies with his kind of humour and dialogues.

I still think that Ellis work/John carpenter direction might be an awesome mix, always seen an awful lot of similitudes between their characters and sense of humour (I wanted to ask about that in a post, but didn't want to create more spam in the forum!)

And apart that good for the host of the place, I like it also not being a flop for bruce willis ( I do like him quite a lot and cop out was a miserable flop and the surrogates didnt help either)

RED: Not A Flop

Zip Durango — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 05:48:23 -0700

I'd fucking love to see Switchblade Honey get done, it's mainstream enough.

We could finally see it as it shoul dbe made, Ray Winstone at the helm of the SS Enterprise.

Do eeeeeeit!

RED: Not A Flop

Internaut — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 06:38:45 -0700

Gratz Warren! Good news!

RED: Not A Flop

mister hex — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 07:12:31 -0700

I heard Richard Dreyfus gets beaten up in one scene. I am in favor of this, as I mislike Richard Dreyfus and would like to see him being beaten up. Even if it's fictional, you can't go wrong beating up Richard Dreyfus.

Congratulations.

RED: Not A Flop

Casey Moore — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 07:28:46 -0700

Glad to see it did so well. Congrats.

RED: Not A Flop

mattk — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 07:30:18 -0700

I'm glad that the film is doing well. In addition to the author I'm a fan of pretty much everyone who stars in it.

Plus, personally, I thought that "This horse eats like a fucking whale, and I’m on the hook for its feed money for the next couple of decades" was the best argument for seeing a given movie that I've ever seen. It's far more compelling than the usual variant of "edge of your seat action thrill ride whatever," let alone "the feel-good movie of the year."

Any movie so sensibly and honestly promoted just ought to succeed.

(Though Padraig is probably going to start demanding 100% organic locally-grown fair-trade oats, hand picked by virgins, now.)

RED: Not A Flop

Miranda's Eyes — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 10:26:27 -0700

Congratulations on the wonderful news. Hopefully it sends a message to Hollywood that it can make money on films with older actors in the lead. Having a good script will help too.

Also happy to see Matt Fraction's mischievous tweet to his followers to see JACKASS 3-D instead had no effect on RED's box office.

RED: Not A Flop

joe.distort — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 20:04:53 -0700

WELL i saw jackass (sans 3D) because thats what the lady preferred and im not a movie guy. however we will still probably catch RED in theaters.

RED: Not A Flop

johnjones — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 21:26:50 -0700

Something Awful reviews RED

RED: Not A Flop

Bentley Chism — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 22:54:47 -0700

Great movie, and I hope to see more movies/shows with your name attached Warren!
(Transmet...Patrick Stewart...I wish!)

RED: Not A Flop

thinwhiteduke — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 07:02:38 -0700

I saw Red saturday and thought it was pretty bad, but i had a pretty good idea what I was getting into. It doesn't bother me a whole lot since it was only Warren's in title. I am happy it is making money for the sake of Ellis books getting optioned in the future, leading to large sums of cash going to Warren. I was also happy to financially support any film with the Warren Ellis name attached. The book is good, most people are enjoying the film and it is making money, so it all works out ok. If they screw up a Transmetropolitan or Fell I will be angry. Until then lets get more Ellis books optioned to pay for Red Bull, Whisky, and whatever animal his daughter wants next!

RED: Not A Flop

G. Foyle — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:23:27 -0700

Ahem. The answer to that has already been answered. A pygmy hippo and a puppy are next on the list.

[Sheesh. Guess it really is true that no one reads the blog. :-) ]

RED: Not A Flop

StefanJ — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 16:40:17 -0700

I approve of Warren's "on to the next thing" attitude.

I hope part of "next thing" is selling more stories to Hollywood.

RED: Not A Flop

rough night — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 19:46:09 -0700

Bruce Willis gets all the good Christmas movies.

RED: Not A Flop

munin218 — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 20:41:22 -0700

Glad it's doing well. :D

RED: Not A Flop

jonburr — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 00:19:58 -0700

It's going to be awfully hard to pass up the aforementioned Mirren/Sniper Rifle combo. She's like the British Sophia Loren. Ageless beauty. My word, have you all seen The Long Good Friday? She was Morgana Le Fay, for Merlin's sake. The allure of the elusive Dreyfus reappearing is there, as well. Add in a dash of Malkovich being a loon and it sounds like the makings of a fine, fine matinee. Congrats, Warren. Now let's get Crooked Little Vein in the pipeline. Mike Hodges is making films again! Just think of it. Be it Get Carter Hodges, Pulp Hodges, or -hell- even Flash Gordon Hodges, you can't go wrong.

RED: Not A Flop

Jeff Owens — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 01:55:09 -0700

I just got back from seeing it and I really enjoyed myself, as did the two people I went with, one of whom had read the books (like myself), and one who hadn't. I want more comic book movies like this and The Losers. I'm not super concerned with how much it stays true to the original, because the original will always be there.

Except with Watchmen. I will never watch that.

RED: Not A Flop

James Cunningham — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 00:14:50 -0700

My girlfriend and I saw it last night. Great fun! Congratulations on kicking ass in the theater.

Can we have Madhouse animate the movie adaptation of Two-Step now?

RED: Not A Flop

Ken Miller — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 06:10:34 -0700

Is this the third time Bruce Willis has had a role in a comic book adaptation? I make it: Red, Sin City and Surrogates.

RED: Not A Flop

helloMuller — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 06:57:44 -0700

Well spotted that.

RED: Not A Flop

ruzkin — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 14:08:05 -0700

Urgh, Warren is right about RED being impossible to get a hold of. Ingram, our main US distributor, is supposed to have a bloody warehouse of RED waiting... but right now it has one copy in stock. What the hell, guys?

Glad to hear the movie is doing so well, I'm planning on catching it in a couple weeks.

RED: Not A Flop

ralf.haring — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 14:53:52 -0700

fyi, a podcast Q&A with the screenwriters at http://creativescreenwritingmagazine.blogspot.com/2010/10/red-q.html

RED: Not A Flop

Brent Wilcox — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:54:12 -0700

It got my money last weekend, and I enjoyed it. Picked up the paper version, too, which I also enjoyed, and enjoyed seeing the differences between them.

RED: Not A Flop

Kelind — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 05:36:51 -0700

That was some serious business! Not just one of the best comic adaptations, but a damn fine piece of film making as well. Great cast. Clear and measured pacing. Engaging dialogue and an array of eye catching locations.

Well played, Warren. Well played.

Shahar and I are left with one question, though. Who shot Joe?

RED: Not A Flop

AWilliamsID — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 07:01:53 -0700

@Ken Miller
Add Unbreakable to that list...wait google says otherwise. Still a very comic book adaptation feel.

RE: Red
Enjoyed Red thoroughly and have suggested it to many others.

RED: Not A Flop

Oxbrow — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 14:09:25 -0700

Good solid daft violent fun. Some of the biggest laughs are in the trailer but still got laughs, and there were more besides.

RED: Not A Flop

Jeff Owens — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 03:00:41 -0700

@Kelind - I was under the impression that Victoria shot him and that it was the "distraction" pulled off as planned. The agents all held their fire, as instructed.

RED: Not A Flop

DavidLejeune — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 19:41:36 -0700

That's an awfully fucking dark reading of that moment. And I don't think the angle's match up right, Joe got hit on the side facing the CIA and FBI, not Victoria's side.

Also: Only a 31% week two drop. I liked it, but it felt like the kind of movie that'd take a 60% hit in week two and then be off the Top 10 by week three. Colour me pleasantly surprised.

RED: Not A Flop

scs — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 20:20:18 -0700

Saw it today with a couple of friends. Three thumbs up.

RED: Not A Flop

Jeff Owens — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 21:50:51 -0700

@DavidLejeune - I can't think of a version of that moment that wouldn't be dark. Everyone clearly knew he was sacrificing his life to be a distraction. Honestly, I feel like it's less dark if it's Victoria than if it's some random agent that doesn't give half a shit about him.

RED: Not A Flop

ralf.haring — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 22:33:59 -0700

Frank shot Joe from inside the house.

RED: Not A Flop

DavidLejeune — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 00:19:42 -0700

@Jeff Owens: I read it as they knew there were two possible outcomes for whoever goes out the front: A. CIA and FBI agents rush in to take him down and arrest him, resulting in life imprisonment and possibly tried for treason, or B. Corrupt CIA agents under orders from the Vice President shoot him on sight, with A being the more likely outcome since it's unlikely that the BOTH the CIA and FBI would be working for the VP. Joe being shot is actually LESS of a distraction, because that frees up everybody to rush the house (as happened), whereas if he's alive they have to rush in, take him down, and determine that he's not Frank before rushing the house.

RED: Not A Flop

Ben Gwalchmai — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 01:03:50 -0700

So I saw it this weekend - opening weekend in the UK - and laughed my way through.

Well played, all involved.

My favourite moment?
The moment a grenade [admittedly aimed with a grenade launcher] causes a man's body to explode extremely graphically - in true Warren 'Hyperviolence' Ellis fashion.

RED: Not A Flop

Dome — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 07:07:25 -0700

Wonderful film, congrats to you!

RED: Not A Flop

Eric Trautmann — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 11:17:41 -0700

Finally got to see it yesterday, in a matinee showing, and quite enjoyed it. Surprisingly full house for a 1:10 pm showing on a Sunday, and quite amusing to see the vast majority of the audience were in their 50s and 60s. (My wife and I were clearly the only ones in our thirties in the showing.)

And the older folks were laughing up a storm. Definitely tapped into retiree desire to pummel whippersnappers.

-E

RED: Not A Flop

Cat Vincent — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 14:02:55 -0700

Good fun. Mary-Louise Parker was charming and funny, the heavyweights were exactly as awesome as you'd think and even Rebecca Pidgeon didn't suck the air out of the room like she normally does. Some lovely visuals too - Willis stepping casually out of the spinning cop car was beautiful.

But fuck me the score was atrocious.

Had a bunch of OAPs in the audience with me, and they seemed to enjoy it. Maybe they read The Guardian piece?

RED: Not A Flop

MrMonk — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 17:22:10 -0700

I saw RED on Saturday. The audience liked it (I include myself), though the laughter seemed a little forced at a few spots. The audience was skewed older than the general population at the multiplex. Lots of middle-aged folks, and a handful of parents with kids. Some whippersnappers who sniggered at the "grandpa" lines, but seemed genuinely taken up by the movie.

Who shot Joe? Sarah and Victoria's reactions made it clear to me that Victoria was the shooter. Also, in hindsight, there was no other reason for Victoria to be on the hill with a sniper's rifle.

RED: Not A Flop

Kelly Tindall — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 08:24:59 -0700

We went with a large group on Saturday night, and we were all surprised by how much we enjoyed it. It's very funny, the cast is excellent, and the action sequences were fantastic. One of my favorite movies of the year, easily.

RED: Not A Flop

joshbales — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 15:39:06 -0700

Finally saw RED today. It was a very entertaining movie, plenty of action and droll humor, and the cast seemed to be enjoying themselves. I particularly enjoyed the scenes featuring Helen Mirren and Brian Cox together. Great chemistry.

RED: Not A Flop

helloMuller — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 00:33:07 -0700

I love that Peter Bradshaw (Film Critic of The Guardian newspaper) uses the term "fightback" in his review. It tickles me.

RED: Not A Flop

thom_wong — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 10:52:29 -0700

Saw it, loved it.

RED: Not A Flop

cara — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 13:04:10 -0700

I watched Red yesterday with a friend and I was laughing so hard the ENTIRE time. So good haha.
Also, I would have Bruce Willis' babies so I certainly didn't mind looking at him for 2 hours.

RED: Not A Flop

celan — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 23:49:05 -0700

A not unkind and mostly favorable review from the always acerbic Anthony Lane in the Nov. 1st New Yorker.
(You have to be a subscriber to look at the complete text.)

The good news is that, while "The Expendables" was the kind of product that should be shown to health inspectors rather than critics, much of "Red" is jovial and juvenating...Malkovich in particular radiates a genuine aroma of fruitcake, grinning and frowning like a backwoods Nosferatu.

RED: Not A Flop

adrian r — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 03:18:30 -0700

In three words: oodles of fun. For a more in-depth critique, go here.

youdothatvoodoo -- wordy blogs about writing-related stuff since 2007

RED: Not A Flop

D.J. — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 10:41:47 -0700

Red has now made more than it's budget. Let us rejoice.

RED: Not A Flop

warrenellis — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 10:58:53 -0700

RED should indeed be somewhere over $60M, factoring US and UK takings, by Monday morning.

General note: the studio only takes roughly half the gross number you see reported. But presales put Summit's financial exposure well under $20M.

Another excellent week-on-week hold in the American market, number 3 for the weekend again.

RED: Not A Flop

CaratheWalton — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 11:27:01 -0700

Was finally able to get to go see RED yesterday, it was a lot of fun, I really enjoyed it. Helen Mirren with a BFG, Loved it!

RED: Not A Flop

Corey Waits — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 19:20:46 -0700

This weekend just gone was opening weekend in Australia. Saw it, thought it was great, but the pacing seemed a little weird.

Anyway, I thought there was great attention to detail - like for instance the establishing shot of the CIA building with "CIA Headquarters, Langley" superimposed over it, and then the camera moves in past the text... Little things like that tell you that they're really trying to think of new things to do and new ways to do them. (Like the subtitles on the cinematic release of Nightwatch. Though sadly they replaced the creatively embedded subtitles with boring ones for the DVD release.)

RED: Not A Flop

FredG — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 19:36:29 -0700

I saw Red last night with my better half, we both enjoyed it very much. She kept asking me if that was the guy I play on the website with, like I have a personal relationship with Warren Ellis. God bless her computer addled little heart.

RED: Not A Flop

roadscum — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 13:32:36 -0700

Took KK to see Red this afternoon in a sparsely occupied Ilford multiplex. We both enjoyed it greatly, the overall verdict being 'bloody good fun with lots of nice explosions'.

Listen... What's that clip clopping in the distance? Looks like a very small hippopotamus with a puppy on its back, trotting eastward down the A13...

RED: Not A Flop

scs — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 14:05:07 -0700

The 3rd-week US numbers for "Red" not only put it close to $60M gross, but the week-to-week drop is very small compared to most other films (23% this week, compared to a more typical 50%). This is usually due to a film getting very good word of mouth.

RED: Not A Flop

warrenellis — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 17:08:35 -0700

Interestingly, RED has already done more than six million dollars in Russia...!

RED: Not A Flop

Corey Waits — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 19:12:14 -0700

Apparently my parents actually saw it before I did - they went Saturday night, I went Sunday and didn't find out about it until Monday night when they raved about it.

It sounds like it's really appealing to the middle-aged crowd - they know they aren't past the use-by date, and they're glad someone in hollywood knows it too.

RED: Not A Flop

Prof Structure — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 20:41:04 -0700

I saw it on Friday afternoon about 4.45 pm here in Toronto and indeed, most of the audience were old farts (like me). I really enjoyed it and suspect it will become one of those movies that I'm happy to watch multiple times on dvd but I agree with Corey Waits that the pacing could've been a little tighter.
Loved Mr Malkovich and the pg tho'!

RED: Not A Flop

longtimelurker — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 06:23:29 -0700

more than six million dollars in Russia

The comedy translates easily.

RED: Not A Flop

scs — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 19:24:06 -0800

Box Office Prophets reports that in week four of the U.S. release, Red only dropped 17%. This brings US receipts to $71.9M, vs. a $60M cost. They're estimating final use reciepts will be in the neighborhood of $90M, "plus a long DVD run."

RED: Not A Flop

celan — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 21:50:52 -0800

They're estimating final use reciepts will be in the neighborhood of $90M, "plus a long DVD run."

Glad to hear it has legs!

RED: Not A Flop

MeisterJ — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 06:41:08 -0800

I just had the chance to see it this weekend, I loved it. It was well worth the $10 ticket, few movies are.

RED: Not A Flop

dot_xom — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 08:01:23 -0800

RED's opening in Singapore this Thursday, so my friends and I will be watching it on Friday.

And, because this is a movie based on a Warren Ellis comic, we will be drinking whiskey while watching it.

RED: Not A Flop

AWilliamsID — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 14:01:53 -0800

RottenTomatoes has it 4th for the weekend....surpassing lots that have opened after it. Finishing behind only this weekends openers. And it may hold that spot again after this weekend.

RED: Not A Flop

RenThing — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 14:09:14 -0800

Congrats, Warren!

RED: Not A Flop

longtimelurker — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 16:09:38 -0800

A middle-aged female co-worker of mine said she liked the fact that there wasn't gratuitous sex and violence. How funny is it Warren's first movie creation DOESN'T have gratuitous sex and violence?

RED: Not A Flop

RanRan — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 19:27:53 -0800

RED recentently came out in theaters near were I live! Hooray! I got to see it this past weekend, and laughed the whole way through. I was happy that Hollywood didn't contrive a fifteen minute long car chase.

Was afraid it wouldn't get released where I live, but low and behold, last weekend I caught sight of a poster with Bruce W's bald head and the word 'red' phoneticized into Korean. Then I jumped for joy.

RED: Not A Flop

ratjin — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 10:04:21 -0800

Some friends of mine here in the States tried to see it last Saturday at 4pm, but they couldn't get in because it SOLD OUT. In a theatre that's been showing it since it premiered. I mean, yes, it was probably one of the smaller theatres, but still quite impressive. Congrats!

RED: Not A Flop

AWilliamsID — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 15:36:17 -0800

I think it can stay in the top 5 this weekend.

RED: Not A Flop

Internaut — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 11:11:23 -0800

RED got nominated for a Golden Globe! Hooray!

Edit: Next time I'll check Warren's blog first.

RED: Not A Flop

celan — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 11:36:25 -0800

Ditto.

RED: Not A Flop

RenThing — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 11:39:09 -0800

Grats, Warren.

RED: Not A Flop

StefanJ — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 12:47:50 -0800

Still running in a couple of multiplexes (maybe three out of the 20 theaters I checked), but I suspect this might be the last week.

Still: A remarkable slow-burn hit.

Time to start looking at puppies to keep the pony company, Warren.

RED: Not A Flop

celan — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 13:35:36 -0800

~$87MM domestic...I think that makes RED the 2nd Highest Grossing Comic Book Adaptation of 2010?

RED: Not A Flop

Phranky — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 17:20:37 -0800

RED got nominated for a Golden Globe! Hooray!

It... what? Next you're going to tell me Claudia Winkleman has replaced Jonathan Ross on The Film Programme.

RED: Not A Flop

lucien — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 16:00:29 -0800

i liked it, even though it took a completely different tack than the comic did. was pleasantly surprised that it had an insanely long run in one of the arty-er movie houses in town despite being an action comedy, or whatever the hell it was.

nice work o internet jesus and i eagerly await the next thing.

RED: Not A Flop

Flabyo — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:05:57 -0800

Out on Blu-Ray and DVD here in the UK on Valentine's Day. Which I find oddly amusing for some reason.

RED: Not A Flop

Pow — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 22:43:17 -0800

Haha!

Places you don't expect to find Warren #4: on the bus at 6.30am

Looking forward to watching the flick tonight, missed it at the pictures.

RED: Not A Flop

Alastair — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 02:34:25 -0800

out today! buy from hmv to keep me in a job!

please?

RED: Not A Flop

StefanJ — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 11:13:23 -0800

Astonishing . . . even with the DVD out, RED is still playing in a few movie theaters out in the Portland, OR suburbs. Two are strange little tertiary theaters, although one of them is a big-chain multiplex:

Valley Theater
* 9:15pm

Academy Theater
* 9:20pm

Regal Vancouver Plaza 10
* 2:40pm * 5:10pm * 7:40pm * 10:15pm

RED: Not A Flop

RobSpalding — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 14:41:42 -0800

Got the Blu Ray today and showed it to my Dad.
He enjoyed it but his first comment on seeing the DC logo come up was "Is it really based on a comic?"