2011 was an average year in horror for me. Whilst there was some terrific releases (Scre4m) there was some pretty bad ones aswell (Needle).
The first flick of the year was the much hyped, Australian filmed 3D thriller Sanctum. Presented by James Cameron (no, it's not a documentary), the film tracked ahead of the US gross, but given it's 250+ screen release, the $3.9m finish was dissapointing.
March saw three films in three weeks. The Rite was released on the 10th, and fizzled out quickly. Although only given a smaller scale nationwide release, the film was actually good and had some decent scenes of exorcisms. Aussie flick The Reef saw a 36 screen release on the 17th and dissapointed, especially after interviews in pretty much every magazine. A week later Red Riding Hood stormed our screens after a couple of weeks of heavy TV marketing. The film opened to a $10k screen average and had a decent finishing gross. The film could've been much better than it was, but it was very intriguing.
Sucker Punch finally saw the light of day on the 7th of April, and dissapointed pretty much everyone, including myself. The best film of the year, Scre4m, which I had been dying to see ever since the script was getting written, was one of the most hyped horror films of the year, but was one of the most dissapointing at the box office. It only made $4.3m ($2m below the lowest grossing of the original trilogy... unadjusted), but i feel great knowing I saw it four times in cinemas and helped it out.
The only Friday The 13th weekend was in May, and US hit Insidious was released to rave reviews but a pretty mediocre marketing campaign from Icon. It was the 2nd best film of the year, but couldn't even crack $1m.
Another massive flop was Priest 3D, which did have a decent campaign behind it, but Sony just didn't give it the push for it to become a hit. It fizzled with just over $600k.
With The Final Destination becoming the franchises biggest hit back in 2009, FD5 was expected to do the same. The film was alright, and Roadshow really pushed it, but it didn't quite reach the $5.8m of it's preceeder, and only outgrossed the 2006 FD3. Fright Night was also released in September in 3D, and actually did more buisness than I assumed it would. It did have a pretty wide release for a US flop remake, and it eventually cracked $1.36m.
October saw another two highly anticipated films released. Another US flop The Thing prequel was also a flop here. Great marketing yet again, but it seems Aussie audiences just don't like to see horror films on the big screen. The film was actually decent. Paranormal Acrivity 3 also scared audiences and became the biggest grossing horror flick of the year within two weeks (which just shows how little horror makes in Australia).
The final two wide releases were in November. Aussie filmed and much delayed Don't Be Afraid of the Dark was finally released, and it was actually a decent little horror. After flopping in the US though, it only saw a 48 screen release. Another US flop Shark Night 3D was released with a decent marketing effort from Icon, but crap reviews made it fizzle out quicker than a spoof flick.
In limited release, horrible Aussie flick Needle failed miserably, Umbrella released Stake Land and Kidnapped on only two screens, and Tucker & Dale vs Evil was another flop for Icon.
Seven films scheduled for release in 2011 never saw cinematic release, six of them most likely due to them majorly flopping in the United States. Interestingly, Sony and Roadshow had the rights to three of them each, with Icon not releasing one.
Shelter stars Julianne Moore, and was scheduled for March 3 release, but the flick recieved worldwide panning, and was only released in several European markets.
Roadshow still is the major distributing studio for horror in Australia, releasing six in 2011, and shelving three to the DVD shelves. Nicolas Cage flick Drive Angry 3D was planned for a May 5 release, but after an extremely dissapointing US run, the flick was immediately taken off our schedule... and thank god for that. Apollo 18 was widely hyped when first planned for release on May 12, but then the flick's makers planned to convert it to 3D so it's release was pushed back to January 12, 2012. The 3D conversion was clearly scrapped as it popped back up on the schedule for October 13 release, but after it flopped in the US it was pushed to December 8, then December 1. When it came to november though, the flick was taken off the schedule completely. One film I wanted desperately to be released was Dream House, planned for November 3 release, then pushed to December 1 after the film flopped in the US (pretty much every horror film flopped in the US in 2011).
Sony's only release was Priest 3D, which flopped majorly. They are no longer releasing everything like the did five years ago. The Roommate actually did some decent buisness in the US ($37m) so I was puzzled when they decided to pull it from Australian release after four release date changes. Vanessa Hudgens starring Beastly was planned for August 25 release (it's date was revealed in March) but pulled due to unknown reasons. I think Sony realised Hudgens has no pulling power in Australia (Bandslam was a huge flop for Hoyts the year before). Straw Dogs was another remake, and another US flop, so it was no surprise it was yanked from it's November 17 release.
The first flick of the year was the much hyped, Australian filmed 3D thriller Sanctum. Presented by James Cameron (no, it's not a documentary), the film tracked ahead of the US gross, but given it's 250+ screen release, the $3.9m finish was dissapointing.
March saw three films in three weeks. The Rite was released on the 10th, and fizzled out quickly. Although only given a smaller scale nationwide release, the film was actually good and had some decent scenes of exorcisms. Aussie flick The Reef saw a 36 screen release on the 17th and dissapointed, especially after interviews in pretty much every magazine. A week later Red Riding Hood stormed our screens after a couple of weeks of heavy TV marketing. The film opened to a $10k screen average and had a decent finishing gross. The film could've been much better than it was, but it was very intriguing.
Sucker Punch finally saw the light of day on the 7th of April, and dissapointed pretty much everyone, including myself. The best film of the year, Scre4m, which I had been dying to see ever since the script was getting written, was one of the most hyped horror films of the year, but was one of the most dissapointing at the box office. It only made $4.3m ($2m below the lowest grossing of the original trilogy... unadjusted), but i feel great knowing I saw it four times in cinemas and helped it out.
The only Friday The 13th weekend was in May, and US hit Insidious was released to rave reviews but a pretty mediocre marketing campaign from Icon. It was the 2nd best film of the year, but couldn't even crack $1m.
Another massive flop was Priest 3D, which did have a decent campaign behind it, but Sony just didn't give it the push for it to become a hit. It fizzled with just over $600k.
With The Final Destination becoming the franchises biggest hit back in 2009, FD5 was expected to do the same. The film was alright, and Roadshow really pushed it, but it didn't quite reach the $5.8m of it's preceeder, and only outgrossed the 2006 FD3. Fright Night was also released in September in 3D, and actually did more buisness than I assumed it would. It did have a pretty wide release for a US flop remake, and it eventually cracked $1.36m.
October saw another two highly anticipated films released. Another US flop The Thing prequel was also a flop here. Great marketing yet again, but it seems Aussie audiences just don't like to see horror films on the big screen. The film was actually decent. Paranormal Acrivity 3 also scared audiences and became the biggest grossing horror flick of the year within two weeks (which just shows how little horror makes in Australia).
The final two wide releases were in November. Aussie filmed and much delayed Don't Be Afraid of the Dark was finally released, and it was actually a decent little horror. After flopping in the US though, it only saw a 48 screen release. Another US flop Shark Night 3D was released with a decent marketing effort from Icon, but crap reviews made it fizzle out quicker than a spoof flick.
In limited release, horrible Aussie flick Needle failed miserably, Umbrella released Stake Land and Kidnapped on only two screens, and Tucker & Dale vs Evil was another flop for Icon.
Seven films scheduled for release in 2011 never saw cinematic release, six of them most likely due to them majorly flopping in the United States. Interestingly, Sony and Roadshow had the rights to three of them each, with Icon not releasing one.
Shelter stars Julianne Moore, and was scheduled for March 3 release, but the flick recieved worldwide panning, and was only released in several European markets.
Roadshow still is the major distributing studio for horror in Australia, releasing six in 2011, and shelving three to the DVD shelves. Nicolas Cage flick Drive Angry 3D was planned for a May 5 release, but after an extremely dissapointing US run, the flick was immediately taken off our schedule... and thank god for that. Apollo 18 was widely hyped when first planned for release on May 12, but then the flick's makers planned to convert it to 3D so it's release was pushed back to January 12, 2012. The 3D conversion was clearly scrapped as it popped back up on the schedule for October 13 release, but after it flopped in the US it was pushed to December 8, then December 1. When it came to november though, the flick was taken off the schedule completely. One film I wanted desperately to be released was Dream House, planned for November 3 release, then pushed to December 1 after the film flopped in the US (pretty much every horror film flopped in the US in 2011).
Sony's only release was Priest 3D, which flopped majorly. They are no longer releasing everything like the did five years ago. The Roommate actually did some decent buisness in the US ($37m) so I was puzzled when they decided to pull it from Australian release after four release date changes. Vanessa Hudgens starring Beastly was planned for August 25 release (it's date was revealed in March) but pulled due to unknown reasons. I think Sony realised Hudgens has no pulling power in Australia (Bandslam was a huge flop for Hoyts the year before). Straw Dogs was another remake, and another US flop, so it was no surprise it was yanked from it's November 17 release.