Pokémon Heroes at the Box Office

[Blue Hiker]

Pokémon Heroes' first weekend at the US box office has ended, and the results are in.

Pokémon Heroes dragged in $225,000 (estimate) from 196 theaters for a meagre $1,147 per theater. This is around a third of the performance of Pokémon 4Ever when that movie was released just seven months ago.

I think we can safely make the assumption that Pokémon Heroes has tanked badly. Theaters are going to try and dump this film as soon as possible, so if you want to see it, I'd advise that you get moving now and not decide to wait two or three weeks. It might not be around then.

And I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Miramax for taking the Pokémon films and turning them into a parody of themselves. Great work, guys. I'm sure those friendly people over at 4Kids Entertainment just love you.

[ILikePokemonP]

Stupid question but 196 theaters is quite low in the US isn't it? $1,147 per theater is pretty terrible...

[AltariaMaster]

Pathetic...
I think KidsWB should be doing these movies.
A least they advertised Pokemon the Movie 1-3!

[Hanada Tattsu]

What? Well, it's Miramax's own fault, they shouldn't have gave it to 200 theatres in the whole US.

At least I saw it, this is a good movie, I can't believe they messed it up!

[MatthewKetchum037]

There is another simple reason for lack of profits for the movie boys and girls, and that reason is that Miramax decided to open the movie the same weekend as "Matrix Reloaded" If you have seen the lines for that movie, and how many theatre screens it opened up on, Pokemon was very lucky to get one screen in a theatre! Great timing Miramax, great timing!

[Entropy]

It's kind of ironic how all of this has gone anyway... All proving my theory on the Western's treatment of the Pokemon anime not as a beautiful piece of work, but as a means to cash in more profit...

4Kids pimped up the 3 movies with so much advertising, people were sick by it. Now Miramax is making the mistake of doing too LITTLE to get the movies known. It's sad, really. This is why I'm advocating now to boycott these movies and make these corporations know we are against this travesty!!!

Or....we could all buy DVD versions of the original Japanese productions..whatever is best for you.

[Pokemon Neo]

Is there any word on who might purchase the rights to the 6th movie?I know Miramax only bought the rights for 4 and 5 so that leaves #6 up in the air.Personally,I wouldn't mind if Warner Bros. bought the rights to Pokemon again.At least they would give a decent marketing campaign and put in general release.


"The Wishing Star of Seven Nights" has already sold 280,000 advance tickets in Japan.Anyone with half a brain can see that there's absolutely nothing wrong with Pokemon at the moment.Companies like Warner Bros.,4Kids,Miramax,etc. only have themselves to blame.

[Bacl]

Originally posted by Entropy
Or....we could all buy DVD versions of the original Japanese productions..whatever is best for you.

Except that they out smarted you on that one. There are no original Japanese DVD versions (legit) on REGION 1.

Why do you think DVD players have regions anyway? To simutaneously screw the public while at the same time keep the public from screwing the corporations in the manner you suggested.

Blast it!

[Blue Hiker]

Originally posted by Pokemon Neo
Is there any word on who might purchase the rights to the 6th movie?I know Miramax only bought the rights for 4 and 5 so that leaves #6 up in the air.Personally,I wouldn't mind if Warner Bros. bought the rights to Pokemon again.At least they would give a decent marketing campaign and put in general release.
I'm starting to think that nobody will be interested in the sixth movie, at least not as far as a wide theatrical release goes. The fourth movie performed just okay, and the fifth is really struggling and, I imagine, isn't profitable in the slightest.

I'm sure the sixth movie will still see the light of day, but I don't know how. A wide theatrical release would be nothing short of a miracle (ie actual common sense on the part of a film studio :P). A limited release would be better than nothing and is probably what we have to hope for. The sixth movie could quite possibly go straight to video -- indeed, many critical reviews of the fifth movie have already speculated that "it will likely be the last [in theaters]".

Thanks Miramax!

[Hanada Tattsu]

280,000? O_O

Wow, I hope Miramax leaves this alone. I too want to see Kids WB pick up the baton from where Miramax left off. They can't mess up the sixth movie, they just can't.

[ILikePokemonP]

Originally posted by Bacl

Except that they out smarted you on that one. There are no original Japanese DVD versions (legit) on REGION 1.

Why do you think DVD players have regions anyway? To simutaneously screw the public while at the same time keep the public from screwing the corporations in the manner you suggested.

Blast it! Most dvd players can be region hacked quite easily with a password. I used this (http://dvdrhelp.com) site for mine. It is god :)

[Hanada Tattsu]

When I buy the Japanese episodes from Japan, I just get VHS. The DVD region hassle is annoying, so I just get it on VHS and burn it to DVD.

[Entropy]

Originally posted by Bacl
Except that they out smarted you on that one. There are no original Japanese DVD versions (legit) on REGION 1.



Heh, heh, thanks to the website ILikePokemon listed, this issue is essentially moot! Remember, there's always a way to beat the system.

[Hanada Tattsu]

Originally posted by Entropy
Heh, heh, thanks to the website ILikePokemon listed, this issue is essentially moot! Remember, there's always a way to beat the system.

LOL, yeah, thanks ILP!

DVD regions are stupid, I don't get them.

[ILikePokemonP]

Never heard of the word moot...

Another example of big company stupidity. Lets make region codes for dvds and make players ignore them ;o

[Hanada Tattsu]

Originally posted by ILikePokemon;P
Never heard of the word moot...

Another example of big company stupidity. Lets make region codes for dvds and make players ignore them ;o

LOL, it's all marketing. If someone wants to watch a Region 2 DVD, they first have to buy a Region 2 DVD player.

[Obi]

I really hope that for all the rest of the movies 4Kids decides to not let WB or Miramax gets it and just AIR IT ON THE FOXBOX.

Then make a deal with FUNimation to have them distribute it straight to video. FUNi already has a deal with 4Kids so that they get to distribute the Yu-Gi-Oh and maybe Shaman King (which 4Kids has acquired according to Toonzone...) videos, so it shouldn't be *that* hard to make a deal with them and the other movies.

[absolutotodile]

All this talk about DVD players and regions that I thought I had to chip in. Right now in this very house I sit in are 2 multi-regional DVD players. We bought them like that. One of the many features added to them by the companies was multi-regional playback. I just thought I'd make it clear that they are out there and I have every intension of getting the Pokémon movies on dvd in from Japan...eventually.

[EmpressMyuu]

Yikes! This is some of the worst news I've heard! A few weeks, eh? I'm hoping my dad has enough money to take me to New Orleans to see it, IF it's playing there. Does anybody know if it's playing in the Big Easy?

[Hanada Tattsu]

Well, still, as I stated somewhere else, they've got to do something extraciricullar with these Pokemon DVD's. Maybe remaster them and send them to DVD is what will get a lot of people to buy it.

[EmpressMyuu]

Well, I've checked the Yellow Pages website and had five different zip codes for theaters in New Orleans--Pokémon 5 ain't playing at any of them. Does anybody know an area in Louisiana where it WOULD be playing??? I'm desperate! I tried looking for a list of cities where it's playing, but I've had no luck.

[Blue Hiker]

Originally posted by Obi
I really hope that for all the rest of the movies 4Kids decides to not let WB or Miramax gets it and just AIR IT ON THE FOXBOX.
That's what they were thinking of doing with 4Ever.


Originally posted by EmpressMyuu
Well, I've checked the Yellow Pages website and had five different zip codes for theaters in New Orleans--Pokémon 5 ain't playing at any of them. Does anybody know an area in Louisiana where it WOULD be playing??? I'm desperate! I tried looking for a list of cities where it's playing, but I've had no luck.
Atlanta, GA; Austin, TX; Baltimore, MD; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; Houston, TX; Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Phoenix, AZ; Sacramento, CA; San Antonio, TX; San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; Washington DC. There's probably a couple I missed, but that list is about as complete as you'll find. And no, it isn't playing in New Orleans -- at least, not yet (it might expand to more cities over the next couple of weeks).

[Hanada Tattsu]

Yeah, there were a lot of theatres playing the film here in LA, for some reason Pokemon is better here than anywhere else in California.

[Blue Hiker]

Well, with Pokémon Heroes' second weekend now behind us, it's time to take a look at some more box office figures.

Over the Friday to Sunday frame, Pokémon Heroes managed to pull in $158,000 (estimate) from 196 theaters for an average of $806. This is a drop of about 39% from last weekend, which is okay but nothing special.

The film made an extra $45,000 (estimate) on Monday, which would mean a total of $203,000 for the entirety of the long weekend. This works out to be $1,035 per theater.

Pokémon Heroes' total gross as of Monday night is estimated to be sitting at around $512,000. Final figures for the weekend will be published in the next day or so.

[Entropy]

I remember reading that Miramax touted the sales that 4Ever pulled were 'impressive' despite the fact that the movie pulled considerably less (I think...someone clarify for me please?) than the first 3.

If Miramax does the same for Heroes, than they must have very low standards.

[Hanada Tattsu]

Hey, considering what I predicted, the money the film pulled in was pretty good; not the box-office blow-out it was in Japan but something considering the amount of Pokemon haters there are now.

[Ashi-chan]

This is truly depressing news. The Pocket Monsters movies are brilliantly written and have awesome animation. For Miramax to screw the fourth and fifth movies as horribly as they did is j/ blasphemy to the anime and the movies!

I j/ LOVE the irony that is Miramax. They promised they'd advertise the movies extravagently and rekindle the fires of Pocket Monsters fandom, yet they've done the exact opposite. I NEVER saw a commericial for either 4Ever or Heroes on TV, and the only reason I knew these movies were coming out was through Pokemasters.

Man, I gotta check if my theater's playing the fifth movie. I was lucky enough to see the fourth movie locally, but judging by this info I doubt I'll be as lucky this time around.

I HATE YOU, MIRAMAX!!!

I hope you die a painful death and rot in hell!!!

[Legends-Kuja]

Better bust out Kazaa and WINMX...

S**t, this won't work, I WANT TO WATCH THIS DUB, but there's no chance. Screw Miramax.

[Hanada Tattsu]

There is still a small ray of hope. Miramax bought the rights to the fifth and fourth movies only, nothing else. Let's hope Kids WB picks up the torch for the sixth film.