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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: Pokemon Hell
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Tom Ferreira
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 203
From: Conway, NH, USA
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 11-12-1999 10:56 PM
OK, we've all dealt with the first few days of Pokemon, and I have to throw this out to those of you in our group who are currently playing this anime masterpiece. How many of those cards did WB send you? I got approximately 150, and those were gone the first showing. How in the world could they expect that to be a reasonable supply? I talked to a manager at a small cinema in a backwater town, and they received 800, so it appears as though the distribution was totally arbitrary. What a really nice thing for a studio to do for a film geared towards small children. Of course, I'm going to place a portion of the blame on Technicolor, who was responsible for the distribution of the cards. They strike again.
Oh, by the way, great frame lines at the end of the first reel. I said the hell with it and just clipped off everything right up until the last frame of the picture. If this film weren't making so much money....------------------
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Kenn Fong
Film Handler
Posts: 47
From: Oakland, CA 94610 USA
Registered: Aug 1999
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posted 11-12-1999 11:23 PM
We got 1,000 cards, which we split 70/30 between this theatre (the Grand Lake in Oakland, California) and the other one in our miniscule indy chain, the Orinda.We ran out of the cards in the first matinee on Thursday. I was told the sets of cards are currently selling for $35/set of four on Ebay. I also heard someone hijacked a whole carton of them and placed them for sale on Ebay. We had an incident where an eight-year-old carelessly flashed his card and an adolescent stole it and ran. We played it completely straight and no one stole or wheedled any cards. For those here who have never seen them, each pack contains a neat coupon card for a $2/discount on "The Iron Giant." I picked up several of those which were discarded and gave a couple to my friend's son who loves Diesel and Hogarth. Also included is a coupon card for the Warner Bros. store good for another Pokemon card pack (in this same promotional set) with every purchase of $10. We did some early Christmas shopping and since we received a new pack with another coupon card to redeem for another card pack, we ended up with an extra set. (I will send a $2 discount Iron Giant card to the first two people who send me a private email with their physical address.) FYI, the picture set a Wednesday non-holiday record with $10.1 million. (Overnight daily box office records: http://www.showbizdata.com/contacts/dailybox.cfm.) Paradoxically, the Thursday Veterans' Day holiday number was slightly lower. Did anyone see the very funny "South Park" episode skewering the whole phenomenon? ------------------
Kenn Fong
http://qwertyuiop.net
Screenwriter's Home Page
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Kenn Fong
Film Handler
Posts: 47
From: Oakland, CA 94610 USA
Registered: Aug 1999
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posted 11-13-1999 10:49 AM
Yeah, Chris, that's what it was like on Thursday. Our two matinees sold out more or less and the auditorium was a disaster. We didn't even bother to sweep under the seats, just picked everything up and ran the push broom up and down.It seemed like everyone wanted refreshments so we were going at top speed and had to hold the picture a few mins. With everyone working at top speed we finished serving customers half an hour after it rolled. I felt bad for the night guys on the floor -- we were short -- because of some water balloons I was stationed inside the auditorium, and so the other three auditoriums didn't get cleaned at all until after the first two shows. ------------------
Kenn Fong
http://qwertyuiop.net
Screenwriter's Home Page
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Tom Ferreira
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 203
From: Conway, NH, USA
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 11-13-1999 10:40 PM
What I got for the cards, was an Airborne envelope, similar to a trailer shipping envelope with a few handfuls thrown in, and a small box with another few handfuls. I don't care what WB, Nintendo, or Technicolor say-the distribution was totally at random, at least here in NH. Again, I have to say, if they thought this film had any merit, why did they have offer a premium? Especially when they couldn't meet the demand. I'm willing to bet no one has any cards left. Luckily, to take the sting off a little, we did plan a coloring contest, with prizes donated by local merchants, including Burger King, who COULD NOT donate any of the toys, which I'm sure they were shorted on too. I spoke to exhibitor relations at WB earlier in the week, and they did donate a few shirts and some chase cards, which is more than most studios supply to us.
I'm guessing that the legs on this picture will be similar to that of the Power Rangers film of a few years back-first weekend huge, then absolutely nothing.------------------
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Kenn Fong
Film Handler
Posts: 47
From: Oakland, CA 94610 USA
Registered: Aug 1999
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posted 11-14-1999 01:26 AM
For us, business was off by more than two-thirds from the holiday by my unscientific estimate on Friday, then up a little today. It did $9.1 million Friday, for a 3-day total of $28 million.I think the picture is over already... Speaking of animation, at 8 AM, we rented the same auditorium where we have "Pokemon" to a comics hobbyist who brought in Mark Davis, one of Disney's original "9 Old Men." He showed some of his classic sketches, designs for some exhibits which never came to fruition at Disneyland, and spoke with some clarity and love for his colleagues and Walt. The irony was not lost on some of us. ------------------
Kenn Fong
http://qwertyuiop.net
Screenwriter's Home Page
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