The Polar Express Loses Money Big Time

I met with a studio executive in Southern California yesterday and she told me a very interesting story about The Polar Express. Both the release date and marketing efforts that Warner Bros. planned were "hijacked" by competitive studios.

The Polar Express is a holiday movie. Because of the inherant nature of the movie, there was a very small window of time that Warner Brothers could release it - ie it has a very short shelf life. No one is going to see it after December 25th, and not many people would want to see it before Halloween. So, no matter what what going on with competitive flicks, Warner Brothers had to realease it.

The Polar Express ended up getting "squeezed" by Paramont's "Sponge Bob, The Movie" and Disney's "The Incredibles." The Incredibles opened around the same time that The Polar Express was released and Sponge Bob was released a week or two later. All of this means that The Polar Express was the odd man out. Kids would rather go see PG movies like Sponge Bob and The Incredibles rather than go to the soft "G" movie, The Polar Express, on top of the fact that those movies are more fresh and relevant to the younger set. Parents would also rather see the PG movies than the G movie. So, all of a sudden, the available audience for The Polar Express becomes 4 - 6 years old, instead of 4 - 10 years old.

WB spent $170 million making the movie and well over $100 million marketing it, to bring the grand total to close to $300 million, and they are taking a bath, big time. The first weekend ticket sales were terrible which ultimately set the stage for Warner Bros. to lose 9 figures on the movie. WB can only hope for strong DVD sales in November of 2005.

Greek Dining in Phoenix

We went to a VERY FUN/good restaurant in Phoenix over the weekend. I highly recommend it to anyone who is in the greater Phoenix area if you're in the mood for a great time and some good Greek food. The restaurant is called Bacchanal.

My food was good (not great), but everyone else’s seemed to be more on the great side. The cool thing about it is the music, dancing, plate breaking. It is a RAGING restaurant - belly dancing, live music, and lots of plate breaking.

Make a reservation today for the weekend you’re there to take a break, and ask for a table next to the dance floor.

Bacchanal
602-224-9377
3015 E Thomas Rd
Phoenix, AZ

It’s in a non-descript strip mall, but when you walk in, you think you’re at a concert.

OPA!!!!

Young Kro says, "Say it's so!" 

CSI: Miami

I am fan of David Caruso. He was awesome in one of my favorite movies, An Officer and a Gentleman. He played the geeky guy who was picked on by the sergeant and ultimately was kicked out of basic training for almost drowning during the "plane-crashing-in-the-water simulation."

Caruso got a lot cooler in NYPD Blue, and again as a cop in the laughable movie, Jade, filmed in San Francisco. But perhaps his greatest role is in CSI: Miami. He delivers overly dramatic, non-sequitur cheesy lines at the same rate as pizza delivery guy on Friday nights in a college town.

But I digress. The real reason for this post is not to speak the praises of Caruso, but rather to talk about one of the greatest injustices in prime time television. The "killing-off" of ultra cool guy, "Tim Spiedle," aka Speed. The guy was quite simply, money.

He never cracked a smile. You felt like he would start kicking ass every time someone asked him a question. No question is a dumb question? Not with Speed....every question is a dumb question. He was such a bad ass that he knew the answer to your question before you could even finish it. Shame on CBS for killing him off!

And the way they killed him off? Some lame excuse about not cleaning his gun! HA! Speed was the consummate professional. Like he wouldn't clean his pistol!?! Shame on CBS for taking away Speed and replacing him with a poor-man's Tobey McGuire look alike who can't act. Miami is a much more dangerous place with the likes of Tim Spiedle to protect its citizens.

Miami's only hope is that Crockett and Tubbs come back to serve and protect the greater Miami -Dade area!