Post by meowencrazy on Apr 28, 2008 12:01:47 GMT -5
Hello everyone
Found this on the Frat Pack Tribute:
Found this on the Frat Pack Tribute:
April 25, 2008
Wes Anderson Takes Darjeeling Limited to the Bank
by Mario Bernengo
The Darjeeling Limited is now officially Wes Anderson's most successful at the box office film to date - overseas, that is. As Wes moves further into Woody Allen box office territory, he proves that Europe loves America's auteurs as much as Americans seem indifferent to them.
The director's latest feature, the all-but-ignored The Darjeeling Limited, possibly his best film thus far, underperformed to the tune of $11,897,548 in its limited stateside release, putting off moviegoers who were often forced to drive to the next town to catch the India-set comedic drama starring Frat Packer Owen Wilson, whose "incident" last year coincided with the film's September 2007 world premiere at Venice - where it won The Lion Cub - and excluded him from the promotion of the film, immediately stirring a debate among insiders over whether the Owen-heavy headlines would "help" or "hurt" the film's financial success. In the end, the entirely inappropriate discussion was probably a zero sum game - the problem was a release that merely - and very briefly - reached 698 theaters.
In the rest of the world, however, Darjeeling recently surpassed The Royal Tenenbaums as Wes Anderson's most successful film ever overseas, earning $19,400,682 compared to Tenenbaums' $19,077,240. The public's enthusiastic response has been accompanied by rave reviews and even a couple of awards for the director. Besides winning Venice's Lion Cub - chosen among Italy's school children - this genuinely American yet europhile storyteller scored once again at Stockholm later in the year, winning The Visionary Award (and baffled the audience by holding his acceptance speech entirely in Swedish).
The trend is clear, especially if you take into account that the director's domestic and foreign gross percentages have been inverted since the release of The Royal Tenenbaums. While the foreign 19 mil of that film made up just 26.7 % of the total earnings, the same sum for The Darjeeling Limited constitutes a whopping 62% of its total.
So, will Wes follow Woody - with whom he curiously shares the initials WA - over the pond? It's a shame that such original filmmakers find it so hard to reach the audience they deserve at home, but it seems that Europeans, Australians and South Americans will make sure they get to keep making movies.
Wes Anderson Takes Darjeeling Limited to the Bank
by Mario Bernengo
The Darjeeling Limited is now officially Wes Anderson's most successful at the box office film to date - overseas, that is. As Wes moves further into Woody Allen box office territory, he proves that Europe loves America's auteurs as much as Americans seem indifferent to them.
The director's latest feature, the all-but-ignored The Darjeeling Limited, possibly his best film thus far, underperformed to the tune of $11,897,548 in its limited stateside release, putting off moviegoers who were often forced to drive to the next town to catch the India-set comedic drama starring Frat Packer Owen Wilson, whose "incident" last year coincided with the film's September 2007 world premiere at Venice - where it won The Lion Cub - and excluded him from the promotion of the film, immediately stirring a debate among insiders over whether the Owen-heavy headlines would "help" or "hurt" the film's financial success. In the end, the entirely inappropriate discussion was probably a zero sum game - the problem was a release that merely - and very briefly - reached 698 theaters.
In the rest of the world, however, Darjeeling recently surpassed The Royal Tenenbaums as Wes Anderson's most successful film ever overseas, earning $19,400,682 compared to Tenenbaums' $19,077,240. The public's enthusiastic response has been accompanied by rave reviews and even a couple of awards for the director. Besides winning Venice's Lion Cub - chosen among Italy's school children - this genuinely American yet europhile storyteller scored once again at Stockholm later in the year, winning The Visionary Award (and baffled the audience by holding his acceptance speech entirely in Swedish).
The trend is clear, especially if you take into account that the director's domestic and foreign gross percentages have been inverted since the release of The Royal Tenenbaums. While the foreign 19 mil of that film made up just 26.7 % of the total earnings, the same sum for The Darjeeling Limited constitutes a whopping 62% of its total.
So, will Wes follow Woody - with whom he curiously shares the initials WA - over the pond? It's a shame that such original filmmakers find it so hard to reach the audience they deserve at home, but it seems that Europeans, Australians and South Americans will make sure they get to keep making movies.