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The Monday Brief: THIS IS IT and MRS. GOLDBERG Make 2009 Biggest Doc Year Ever

Greetings from London...where we await tomorrow night's Grierson Awards, Wednesday's kickoff of Sheffield Doc/Fest 2009 and Thursday's announcement of this year's Cinema Eye Honors Nominations...

The big doc news worldwide this weekend has been the massive success of MICHAEL JACKSON'S THIS IS IT.  The behind the scenes look at what was to be Jackson's big comeback tour launched last Wednesday with nearly $7.5M in ticket sales - the seventh best one day take for a nonfiction feature all time (only FAHRENHEIT 9/11 and both JACKASS films had higher grosses).  Friday, the studio estimates that the film made $7.85M, which would be the sixth best day ever.

Further, THIS IS IT became the fourth nonfiction to lead the theatrical box office for the weekend.  Estimates say the film took in more than $21M this weekend (which brings its total cume to $32.5M.  International figures already put the film over $100M in its initial bow.

Strangely, bizarrely, breathtakingly, there has been a campaign by some to declare the film's box office take a huge disappointment.  Nikke Finke seemed to get there first, quoting unnamed studio rivals declaring that Sony had overestimated the film's potential.  (Sony had reportedly paid $50M for the rights.)

David Poland knocks down that nonsense - and hard:

"Anyone still pushing the idea of THIS IS IT as a disappointment should be publicly ridiculed. Aggressively...

And let's not pretend it's innocent. "Projections by the studio were not met" is reporting a fact. "Disappointment" is claiming an emotion that reflects the intent to slap back at the feeling of having been set up for more. Plus, reporting what other studios are saying as though they are impartial observers is another remarkable break in trust with readers."

Look for THIS IS IT to become the highest grossing nonfiction title of the year sometime Tuesday.

Elsewhere in the theatrical box office (and decidedly a more quiet success), Aviva Kempner's YOO-HOO, MRS. GOLDBERG passed the $1M theatrical box office mark.  She previously scored at the box office with her 1999 documentary THE LIFE AND TIMES OF HANK GREENBERG.

With that, GOLDBERG becomes the 12th nonfiction feature in 2009 to make more than $1M - and that sets a new record for nonfiction features.  Previously, the breakthrough year of 2004 led with 11 films passing the $1M threshold.  

(The others, in case you're keeping score at home, are EARTH, THIS IS IT, JONAS BROTHERS, CAPITALISM, FOOD, INC., SEPTEMBER ISSUE, GOOD HAIR, WALTZ WITH BASHIR, VALENTINO, EVERY LITTLE STEP and IT MIGHT GET LOUD.)

Remember all that talk of the doc doldrums just - wow, was that all of a year and a half ago?

(Shorter) Monday Brief: 2009 Docs Set New Box Office Mark, IDFA Announces & Links

On location in Indiana today, so no in depth Monday Brief this week.

Meantime, check out indieWIRE's recap of this weekend at the box office.  CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY crosses the $10M mark (it's now estimated at $11.6M), making 2009 the first year ever to have 3 nonfictions grossing more than $10M.

Peter Knegt makes some Gotham predictions (nominations announced this afternoon).

Cinema Eye announced 98 eligible nonfiction features for this year's awards.

IDFA announces its 2009 lineup. 

COOKING HISTORY, RACING DREAMS and SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION take prizes at the Chicago Film Festival, Roger Ebert reports.

Steve Pond at The Wrap looks at this year's Oscar Shorts shortlist and ponders HBO's dominance of the category.  

Amanda Hirsch surveys the cost of documentary film websites.

And finally, the directors of the new anti-Climate Change doc NOT EVIL, JUST WRONG recap their recent confrontation of Al Gore at an environment event in Madison, Wisconsin over claims that INCONVENIENT TRUTH contained factual errors. 

The Monday Brief: GOOD HAIR and CAPITALISM Score a Rare (Unprecedented?) 1-2 Punch and ANVIL Guns for Oscar (Really?)

Yesterday, I was at the Film Independent Filmmaker Forum talking about - dum, Dum, DUM - the state of documentary film with Matt Tyrnauer (director of VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR), Laura Gabbert (NO IMPACT MAN), Scott Hamilton Kennedy (THE GARDEN) and distributor/consultant Richard Abramowitz. 

It was no mistake that Tyrnauer and Abramowitz were there.  VALENTINO and ANVIL, a film that Abramowitz worked with the filmmakers to distribute, are two of the most successful docs of the year.  Neither got the offers that they (or their investors) were looking for upon their festival debuts, so they chose to go it alone (or alone with help). 

While the big box office doc stories of 2009 will probably be written by Disney, Michael Moore and a certain forthcoming Sony concert film, it's the ways in which some filmmakers have successfully forged their own paths that may have the most lasting impact.

But for this weekend, tradition reigns - or at least the traditional success of the star-powered doc.  And what's more star-powered than GOOD HAIR, Chris Rock's look at black women and their relationships with their tresses, which took in a reported $1,117,000 on just 186 screens.  Averaging just over $6K per theater, the Jeff Stilson-helmed doc, drew healthy audiences and at least one ridiculous lawsuit.  

The success of GOOD HAIR made this a very rare weekend - in fact, has it ever happened before? - one in which two different nonfiction titles grossed at least $1 million dollars at the box office.  Michael Moore's CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY continued it rapid push toward the $10 million dollar plateau, taking in an estimated $2.7 million for a total cume of just over $9 million.

The Monday Brief (a Day Later): Much Ado About Zenovich & POLANSKI, Big Weekends for CAPITALISM & MORE THAN A GAME

We were out on the road last week at film festivals in Maine and New York (more on that in a later post) during what seemed like a pretty momentous week on the indie film landscape.  And on Sunday night we were without wireless in the New York countryside, so apologies for delivering The Monday Brief a day late.

We start, naturally, with Michael Moore and his latest, CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY, which expanded from its successful limited engagement in New York and Los Angeles to nearly 1000 theaters, and true to his reputation as the world’s foremost documentarian, Moore scored pretty big in wide release, taking in over $4.4 million for the weekend.  In doing so, CAPITALISM becomes the third biggest nonfiction of the year (surpassing FOOD, INC. and SEPTEMBER ISSUE and lagging only Disney’s EARTH and JONAS BROTHERS 3D).

But with a per screen average of just under $5K (compared to SICKO's opening weekend average of $10K+, on half the screens), CAPITALISM will need strong word-of-mouth and a solid second weekend hold to match the $20M+ total box office take of his three most successful docs.

Still, while CAPITALISM's numbers may be modest for Moore, they still rank as highly successful for your average nonfiction film.

CAPITALISM was not the weekend’s only success story.  Kristopher Belman’s MORE THAN A GAME, retelling the historic high school basketball season of a team that would include future NBA all-star LeBron James, had one of the top doc debuts of the year.  It took in an average of $13K on 14 screens for an opening weekend cume of $182K, putting it just shy of the top 20 docs of the year.

And RJ Cutler’s THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE had another fine weekend in wide release, grossing $220K on 104 screens to bring its total to just shy of $3M. 

But while those three films were drawing folks to theaters this weekend, another film – just as was the case last week – was perhaps the week’s most talked about documentary: Marina Zenovich’s ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED continued to be in the news in the wake of Polanski’s arrest in Switzerland on 30-year old rape charges in the U.S.

The Monday Brief: Indie Film in Hell - The Bloodbath, CineVegas & Polanski, But Signs of Hope With Ondi Timoner's Innovations, CAPITALISM, SEPTEMBER & IT MIGHT GET LOUD

Is the entire indie film world going to hell?  That's been the question vibrating through our community for the past several weeks, particularly after a Toronto International Film Festival that was light on sales and a summary paper issued by Anne Thompson, in which she labeled this year's TIFF an "indie bloodbath":

"The old independent market is over. A new one will take its place. But we are smack in the middle between the end of one paradigm and the start of another, and it’s a scary place indeed...

If nobody knew anything before, they know even less now. The one sure thing is that moviemakers will now PAY to get their films released. The few remaining distributors can sit back and wait for movies to drop in their laps, often with P & A funds attached. All hopes of a hot sale at a festivals were dashed this year."

And if you think filmmakers going to festivals have it bad, what about the festivals themselves?  This year has seen an unprecedented upheaval, as five of the top 10 festivals for documentaries saw a change in leadership (Sundance, Silverdocs, Los Angeles, Tribeca and Full Frame) and a number of film festivals found themselves making news - Toronto over its choice of Tel Aviv for its City to City Spotlight, Los Angeles in its battle with the BANANAS!* filmmakers and lawyers from Dole, SF Jewish Film over its screening of RACHEL, Tokyo due to its rejection-then-capitulation/acceptance of THE COVE, not to mention the coup at the Denver Film Society.  And what does it say about the New York Film Festival if most of NYC's indie film cognoscenti took the first flights out of town to be in Austin for Fantastic Fest, just as NYFF was opening?

Now we learn that CineVegas, one of the best regional festivals in the US, will not be back for its 2010 edition (although they state publicly that they will try to return sometime after that) and yesterday  the news that filmmaker Roman Polanski was arrested in Switzerland as he was en route to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Zurich Film Festival.

Add to all this what any filmmaker on the festival circuit (including this one) can tell you with certainty - for many festivals, the days of largesse have passed.  No travel, no accommodations, no screening fees.  Oh yeah, and if you want more than a couple tickets to your film, you're going to have to pay for them.

Let that sink in for a moment.

CAPITALISM's Big Friday: $15K+ Estimates Per Screen

According to Len Klady's estimates at Movie City News, Michael Moore's CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY made more than $15K on each of its four screens yesterday, kicking off the weekend with an estimated one-day take of nearly $62K.  Those numbers are stronger than those posted by the film on its opening day (Wednesday, when it made just over $9K) or Thursday (just over $7K). 

The film's total cume through yesterday now stands at around $125,000.  The film gets a wide release this Friday.

CAPITALISM Strong in Wednesday Launch, But Numbers Pale to SICKO, FAHRENHEIT Openers

Michael Moore's CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY opened yesterday on 4 screens in NY & LA and according to estimates at Box Office Mojo, the film had a strong start in its limited mid-week release.  With a per screen average of $9,104, CAPITALISM made far more money on a single screen than any other film yesterday, with the closest being the top film at the box office, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS, which made $390 per screen.

But those numbers look less exciting when compared to Moore's last two released films, SICKO and FAHRENHEIT 9/11. 

FAHRENHEIT - the all-time documentary champ - also opened on a Wednesday, but in two theaters, to a record setting $41,961 average. 

The Monday Brief: Post-Toronto Glow for ART & COLLAPSE, Moore Returns and Are These 5 Films Your Oscar Frontrunners?

The end of the Toronto International Film Festival means the two-month headlong rush toward IDFA is upon us, wherein there will be a major or mini-major film fest on pretty much every single weekend.  So get ready for Atlantic, New York, Camden, Woodstock, Mill Valley, Morelia, Pusan, Chicago, Hamptons, London, DocLisboa, Tokyo, Rome, Leipzig, Jihlava, Sheffield, AFI, Mar del Plata, Copenhagen, Denver, St. Louis, Gijon and, finally, yes, IDFA.  That's at least 23 fests of some import in just 10 weeks.  Hold onto your hats...

But before we plunge headlong into the future fall festival frenzy, we pause to think of this year's Toronto Fest filmmakers, battered and bruised from several days of screenings, press, parties and the roller coaster ride that is a major premiere date. 

While there has yet to be a major sale announced for docs at this year's Toronto Fest, we should remember that some of last year's major TIFF titles (IT MIGHT GET LOUD, MORE THAN A GAME) didn't sell until well after the festival and at least one, VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR, made very good money going it alone.  But there are rumors of a deal pending for THE ART OF THE STEAL and lots of strong critical praise for COLLAPSE, which probably left the biggest impact of any doc in Toronto.  Check out our wrap on many of the top nonfiction titles at TIFF: COLLAPSE, ART OF THE STEAL, COLONY, THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA, HOW TO FOLD A FLAG, CLEANFLIX, HUGH HEFNER: PLAYBOY, ACTIVIST AND REBEL and People's Choice Award winner THE TOPP TWINS. 

The Monday Brief: A Big SEPTEMBER Expansion, the Underground Oscar Docs & Remembering Christian Poveda

It's Day 5 of the Toronto Film Festival and while a new crop of documentaries are being unveiled this weekend, three that debuted at this year's Sundance fest are making box office waves in the US...

RJ Cutler's THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE went wide this weekend - really wide - and, for a change, the expansion was a huge success.  After a two-week NY run that sported one of the best debuts of the year, the Vogue Magazine doc expanded to more than 100 theaters and still managed to average $6,577 per.  That pushes SEPTEMBER ISSUE past $1.25M, making the Roadside Attractions release the 8th nonfiction of 2009 surpass the magical million dollar mark.  With both Michael Moore's latest as well as Sony's Michael Jackson doc coming this fall, the year should have a minimum of 9 films clearing that hurdle - at least one more than last year.

The success of SEPTEMBER means it will likely become - by next weekend if not sooner - the highest grossing film yet for A&E IndieFilms.  Currently, MURDERBALL - ironically considered by some to be a disappointment at the time - holds that honor, with just over $1.5 million in box office receipts.  It's also a bit of a balm for Roadside Attractions, which had high hopes for its other big Sundance acquisition, THE COVE - only to find disappointing audience response.

In more limited release, two other Sundance 2009 docs did well:  Joe Berlinger's CRUDE had a terrific exclusive engagement at NYC's IFC Center, making more than $16K on that single screen this weekend.  Laura Gabbert's NO IMPACT MAN averaged nearly $9K on two screens in NY and LA, making that film the strongest debut yet for an Oscilloscope Labs release. 

Disney, Sony Classics Lead the Doc Box for 2009 as Toronto '08 Titles Dominate

With Toronto now in full swing, it's useful to take a look back at last year's festival and to note what an impact the nonfiction films of Toronto 2008 have had on the box office of 2009.  No fewer than four of this year's top 6 earners screened at last year's festival - FOOD, INC., WALTZ WITH BASHIR, VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR and EVERY LITTLE STEP.  Two other Toronto '08 titles - IT MIGHT GET LOUD and SOUL POWER - are in the top 20.

That's more than any other festival.  Sundance 2009 can currently claim four films - TYSON, THE COVE, IT MIGHT GET LOUD and THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE.  Currently only TYSON (which premiered at Cannes) is in the top 10, although THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE stands a strong chance of breaking out significantly when it expands this weekend.  Sundance 2008 is represented this year by the self-distributed ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL.

Among distributors, Sony Pictures Classics, which has been active in acquiring docs at Toronto and Cannes, leads with five films in the top 20 (BASHIR, EVERY LITTLE STEP, TYSON, IT MIGHT GET LOUD and SOUL POWER), far and away more than any other distributor.  Disney has two three films, but they two of which are the year's box office champs (by a country mile) - EARTH and JONAS BROTHERS: THE 3D CONCERT EXPERIENCE.

ADDED 09/13/09 - Disney/ESPN also released X GAMES 3D: THE MOVIE, which in a single week in late August made nearly $1.4M. 

Other distribs sporting two-fers include Magnolia, which has had huge success with FOOD, INC., and Roadside Attractions, which is hoping to strike doc gold with THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE after THE COVE disappointed.

As always, there are some surprise hits that suddenly appear without the benefit of a huge festival debut or PR push.  This year, space doc THE WONDER OF IT ALL, the religious-themed THE CROSS: THE ARTHUR BLESSIT STORY and bio-pic YOO-HOO, MRS. GOLDBERG all have scored a place in the top ten despite lower national/industry profiles prior to their release.