Boxoffice > The Business of Movies > Editor's Desk > Anticipating 'Where the Wild Things Are'

Anticipating 'Where the Wild Things Are'

by Phil Contrino

posted September 25, 2009 8:50 AM

Will the Warner Bros. release be a commercial success or a total dud?

Where the Wild Things Are, which opens on October 16, is still one of the biggest question marks of the fall movie season.

Even though it was plagued by production problems and release date changes, the buzz surrounding the film has been strong as of late. It was met with a positive reception at Comic-Con,the theatrical trailer is quite effective thanks in no small part to the use of "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire and the posters are pretty creative.

For what it's worth, there seems to be a growing enthusiasm for the film on Facebook. The official Where the Wild Things Are group currently has 51,235 fans. To put that into perspective, Couples Retreat (opening October 9) has 5,235 fans and Law Abiding Citizen (opening October 16) has 4,393. A week before its release, Zombieland has 238,196 fans.

I've been picking up a kind of arthouse vibe from Wild Things Are ever since the first official stills were release. The question remains whether the Warner Bros. release will be too artsy and meditative for mainstream audiences to digest. If that happens, Spike Jonze's adaptation will have to settle for a cult status. But Jonze deserves a bona fide hit here. Being John Malkovich and Adaptation. both proved that he's a serious talent, and if Wild Things Are makes some serious bank then he'll be given a bigger canvas to paint on in the future.

The fact that Sony moved Zombieland's release date from October 9 to October 2 to fill the void left by Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island is actually a good thing for Wild Things Are. Both films will have a strong appeal among twentysomethings, and now Zombieland will be out for two weeks before Wild Things Are starts playing.

4 Comments

triggax said:

I think both films are going to be a blast of fresh air through a typically dull season for movies...

I was really hoping to be watching Shutter Island next month, that's really unfortunate about the release date...? Have you heard any reasons as to why they moved it? Its a DiCaprio vehicle with Scorsese at the helm.. You would think the oscars would be all over that..

Anyways as far as Wild Things is concerned, EVERYBODY i know is stoked for this one. I think that it's going to be a pretty big hit for a fall movie. But then again, i was certain that Land of the Lost was going to be huge hit... So who knows.. I have no doubt that its an excellent film, I have a lot of faith in Spike Jonze..
As for Zombieland, Woody Harrelson is just awesome... Im excited for it, and yes I think because of its release date it will have an excellent chance of doing quite well...

Who knows... Im the worst prognosticator on the planet...

And heres a fantastic picture of Woody Harrelson doing what he does best.

http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00465/Woody_Harrelson_465901a.jpg

September 25, 2009 11:15 AM

Phil Contrino said:

One of the main reasons that was given for the SHUTTER ISLAND move is that Paramount felt it just didn't have the cash to sell it properly. This is one time when I believe that a release date change had nothing to do with the quality of the film. I'm still looking forward to seeing it.

September 25, 2009 11:28 AM

triggax said:

Yeah... Makes sense, the release in October felt a little hasty anyways. I am really looking forward to it. I look forward to just about anything with DiCaprio these days... Kids got good taste.

September 25, 2009 11:32 AM

CrackWigga said:

It's a shame that they are moving shutter island to next year where it will wither and die. A late year release would have guaranteed some Oscar nods. I honestly dont know many 20 somethings who are excited about where the wild things are.

October 4, 2009 9:16 PM