Two weekends ago, The Hangover debuted at number #1 in the box office - knocking Disney/Pixar's big summer flick, Up from the top spot. The film - which only cost $31 million to make - hauled in $45 million in it's opening weekend. The Hangover has exceeded it's expectation as the raunchy comedy hit of the summer, opening higher than films like Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Wedding Crashers. In fact, the film had the third highest grossing debut for an R-rated comedy - only behind Sex and the City ($57 million) and American Pie 2 (45. 1 million). But unlike those two films, The Hangover did not have the support of an existing franchise. The film didn't even have any big-name stars attached to it: all it had was journeyman supporting actor Bradley Cooper, The Office's Ed Helms, and stand-up comic Zach Galifianakis. (Oh yeah, and a cameo from boxing superstar Mike Tyson)
So how did this movie become so popular? Well Warner Bros. did their research. The studio screened it over 400 times and even had the cast promote the film around college campuses. Much like other movies of it's genre (like Harold and Kumar and Dude Where's My Car?), the film's popularity is driven by the curiosity of what happened to the main characters during / after one crazy night. Warner Bros.' research suggested that 52% of the audience was male and 53% was under 25 years old.
As this summer's first surprise hit, The Hangover proves that despite all the hype surrounding unnecessary sequels and remakes, an original R-rated comedy film can still succeed. The film just celebrated it's second weekend at the top spot of the box office and is on track to earn at least $200 million. If you still haven't seen The Hangover, I highly suggest that you go check it out.
Sources: Entertainment Weekly, Box Office Mojo
No comments:
Post a Comment