Box Office Trends

As of February 28, 2010

per-picture-awg

1 & 3-month box office trends as measured against the 1-year trendline

total-world-gross

top-performing-films-by-genre

Read more

World’s Favorite Films: This Week

As of February 28, 2010

top-posters-portrait20

worlds-favorite-films-0126

(Click chart for enlarged view)

Read more

Free Appraisal Guide Download

As of February 21, 2010

No credit cards, no pop-ups, no hidden fees.

Welcome to our marquee appraisal system for the 21st century.

Marquee Stars appraises the box office prominence of marquee performers, directors, screenwriters and producers based on algorithmically adjusted moving averages.  We also provide a free online calculator for use with our downloaded reports that anticipates the relative market strength of specific marquee package combinations in that 4 to 24-month window prior to release — when most talent-related capital decisions must be made.

We further provide at-a-glance capsule summaries of the films, stars, faces, roles as well as the box office trends and strategies that presently drive world cinema.  In particular, we focus on those bellwether films most likely to impact the future as determined by a measured combination of box office performance, critical approval and/or audience satisfaction.

We come from the ranks of filmmakers and distributors.  Our purpose is to provide a responsible statistical challenge to the usual tyranny of the numbers that so dominates the thinking of studio bureaucrats, territorial film buyers and foreign sales agents and that, in the process, too often strangles the very life out of creativity.  Marquee Stars exists for the victims of the number crunchers … to identify unfairly overlooked talent … and to prepare their advocates to make the case on their behalf.  At a minimum, for decision-makers, our Appraisal Guide offers a comprehensive international list of active talent sorted by surname and by prominence.

Click the image below and follow the link to receive a free PDF download of our complete Marquee Appraisal Guide (allow 30 seconds for processing) or start the video tutorial above to learn more.

download-appraisal-guide4

Hollywood Circuit

Posted: February 21, 2010
shutter-island-12-dicaprio-kingsley

Shutter Island

shutter-island-09Director: Martin Scorsese
Writer: Laeta Kalogridis
Producers: Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer

Stars:

Leonardo Di Caprio
Ben Kingsley
Mark Ruffalo

Tri-genre: medical psychological suspense
Story Situation: riddle
Satisfaction Rating: above average
Maturity Rating: 17+

Plotline: U.S. marshal Teddy (Leonardo DiCaprio) and partner Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) are dispatched to a remote island off the coast of Massachusetts to investigate the mysterious disappearance of murderess Rachel (Patricia Clarkson) from the island’s Alcatraz-like hospital for the criminally insane. They quickly discover that the institution’s staff is not actively cooperating with their investigation. They refuse Teddy access to the records he thinks might break open the case. That night a hurricane cuts communication with the mainland and other dangerous patients escape. The ensuing chaos provides Teddy and Chuck with an opportunity to enter the buildings to which they were denied access. Teddy eventually finds Rachel hiding in a cave. She reveals that she’s really a former staff doctor, not a murderess, and that she and Teddy have been isolated and silenced as part of a conspiracy by Chief of Staff Dr. Crawley (Ben Kingsley) to hide the hospital’s radical Nazi-like experiments.

Then Dr. Crawley lures Teddy into the lighthouse where he and Chuck confront him with the fact that he has been a patient on the island for the past two years, his real name is Andrew Laeddis, Rachel does not exist, and Chuck is really Dr. Sheehan. The entire investigation has been a form of role-play therapy in an attempt to recover Andrew/Teddy’s memory of killing his wife after she drowned their children. Either he breaks free of his delusions or he will have to be lobotomized. The next day, Andrew continues to refer to Dr. Sheehan as his partner Chuck who in turn signals to Dr. Crawley that the treatment has failed. As the orderlies approach to take Andrew away for the lobotomy, he asks Dr. Sheehan: Is it better to live as a monster or die a good man?

Read more

Japanese Circuit

Posted: February 21, 2010

sayonara-itsuka-12

(L) Hidetoshi Nishijima and Miho Nakayama as inconvenient lovers

Saying Goodbye, One Day (Sayonara Itsuka; サヨナライツカ)

montage-sayonara-itsuka2Director: John H. Lee
Writer: Man-hee Lee, John H. Lee, Shinho Lee
Producers: Jae S. Shim, Young S. Hwang

Stars:

Miho Nakayama
Nidetoshi Nishijima
Yuriko Ishida

Tri-genre: relationships erotic romance
Story Situation: torn-between-lovers
Satisfaction Rating: above average
Maturity Rating: 17+

Plotline: A man marries one woman but loves another:  Yutaka (Hidetoshi Nishijimia) has been transferred to Bangkok for Eastern Airlines.  He’s engaged to marry Michiko (Yuriko Ishida), a relative of the airline’s founder.  He does not really love her, but knows he could head the airline one day if he marries her.  At a bar, Yutaka meets a beautiful girl from the local Japanese community, Toko (Miho Nakayama), and is fiercely attracted to her.  They begin an impassioned affair.  His relationship with Toko heats up just as his wedding day approaches.  Yutaka has his life planned out and does not want to change course, so he harshly breaks it off with Toko, even calling his fiancée in front of her.  Disheartened, Toko leaves for New York the next day.  Meanwhile Yutaka and Michiko reunite in Bangkok and marry.  Twenty-five years later, Yutaka and Michiko remain married and have two sons.  But Yutaka has never forgotten Toko.  On a business trip to Bangkok, he nostalgically revisits the Oriental Hotel where he had taken Toko during their affair only to discover that she now heads up VIP Guest Services.  They realize, of course, that their love for each other remains strong, but life commitments have taken them in other directions.  They part once again.

Comment:  This atypically sexual romance for the Japanese market, from American-educated director John H. Lee, may provide some art house play in non-Japanese territories owing to the performances of its charismatic quality stars.  Popular Japan Academy Award Best Actress nominee Miho Nakayama returns to the screen after an eight-year hiatus living with her husband in Paris in order to star in this motion picture based on the eponymous novel written by her husband Jinsei Tsuji.

Multi-lingual director John H. Lee, though born in Korea, moved to the United States at the age of 12.  Upon graduation from New York University Film School, he made his feature debut with the English-language film The Cut Runs Deep.  After a run on the international film festival circuit, The Cut Runs Deep was released in Korea in 2000 and became an instant cult classic.  Since this initial success, Lee has directed over 25 international music videos as well as the top-grossing Korean-language romance, A Moment to Remember.  Saying Goodbye, One Day is Lee’s first Japanese-language film.

Read more

Market Diagnostics

The following diagnostic charts have been compiled by Marquee Stars from our database of more than two thousand international bellwether films.  Our purpose is to identify the characteristics of the typical successful film within theatrical markets.  Periodically, we will analyze different international markets.  Although Marquee Stars strongly discourages the notion of producing or marketing motion pictures based strictly on the numbers, we also recognize that an awareness of what typically works within a given market segment can provide a quick measuring stick for assessing relative risk. (Note: For definitions of Marquee Stars terminology, refer to our Starpedia.)

Posted: February 15, 2010

Korean Language Market

haeundae-031

Tidal wave sequence from 'Haeundae' - South Korea's top-grossing film

We have chosen the Korean language circuit for our first market diagnostic.  Underappreciated by most cinephiles in the West, South Korean cinema has entered a period of ascendancy.  Supported by a lucrative local box office, the South Korean film industry has embraced a strong sense of on-camera naturalism, similar in tone to Scandinavian cinema, which in turn has led to better screen stories, inventive story-sensitive directors and many noteworthy actor performances.  In recent years, a few English-speaking South Korean stars have found their way into major Hollywood productions, such as actors Rain in Ninja Assassin and Byung-hun Lee in G.I. Joe, and American-Korean actress Yunjin Kim in ABC-TV’s Lost.

ninja-assassin-rain-031

Rain in 'Ninja Assassin'

good-the-bad-the-weird-05-byung-hun-lee1

Byun-hun Lee

01by-genre

Read more

Bollywood Circuit

Posted: February 18, 2010

my-name-is-khan

(L) Shahrukh Khan and Kajol Devagn star in 'My Name Is Khan'

My Name Is Khan

my-name-is-khan-05Director: Karan Johar
Writer: Shibani Bathijia
Producers: Hiroo Yash Johar, Gauri Khan

Stars:

Shahrukh Khan
Kajol Mukheree-Devgan
Christopher B. Duncan

Tri-genre: social/morality romance drama
Story Situation: journey
Satisfaction Rating: above average
Maturity Rating: 13+

Plotline:  High-functioning autistic savant Rizwan (Shahrukh Khan) leaves a Muslim section of Mumbai to live with his brother (Jimmy Shergill) in San Francisco.  He falls in love with Hindu single mom Mandira (Kajol Devgan) and they marry.  But in the aftermath of 9/11, anti-Muslim sentiment puts pressure on the marriage, especially when Rizwan is detained by authorities at LAX who mistake his Asperger’s syndrome for suspicious behavior.  Mandira’s son suddenly becomes a target of abuse because of his step-dad’s arrest.  Mandira leaves Rizwan.  To publically prove his loyalties and win back his wife, Rizwan embarks on a cross-country journey, touching everyone he encounters, in an effort to meet with President Obama (Christopher B. Duncan) and introduce himself with the declaration: “My name is Khan, and I am not a terrorist.”

Comment:  Shahrukh Khan returns to form as India’s biggest box office draw with the highest overseas three-day opening gross for a Bollywood film.

Read more

Korean Circuit

Posted: February 13, 2010

harmony-02-yunjin-kim

Yunjin Kim from ABC-TV's 'Lost' stars as an singing inmate in 'Harmony'

Harmony (Hamoni; 하모니)

harmony-03-moon-hee-na

Moon-hee Na as the convicted college professor

Director: Dae-kyu Kang
Writers: Seung-yeon Lee, Je-gyun Yun
Producers: Nam-su Kim, Je-gyun Yun

Stars:

Yunjin Kim
Moon-hee Na
Ye-won Kang

Tri-genre: prison music drama
Story Situation: mentor
Satisfaction Rating: above average
Maturity Rating: 13+

Plotline: College music professor Moon Ok (Moon-hee Na) has been to women’s prison for murdering her abusive husband and mother-in-law.  She meets fellow inmate Jeong-hye (Yunjin Kim from ABC-TV’s Lost), who killed her husband in self-defense.  Jeong-hye gave birth in prison and now, 18 months later, she must give up her baby for adoption.  Together they form a choir group whose musical performance so touches the prison officials that they allow Jeong-hye to spend one day with her baby outside of prison.

Read more

Russian Circuit

Posted: February 13, 2010

kandahar-01-aleksandr-baluyev1

Aleksandr Baluyev stars as a captured Russian pilot in 'Kandahar'

Kandahar (Кандагар)

kandagar-posterDirector: Andrey Kavun
Writer: Oleg Kavun, Andrey Kavun
Producers: Ilya Nertin, Valeriy Todorovskiy

Stars:

Aleksandr Baluyev
Vladimir Maskov
Andrey Panin
Bogdan Benyuk

Tri-genre: terrorism true-life action
Story Situation: escape
Satisfaction Rating: excellent
Maturity Rating: 13+

Plotline: Afghanistan, 1995. The Taliban captures a Russian IL-76 air freighter together with its entire crew.  After more than a year in captivity, the pilots realize that their only chance for freedom is to hijack their own plane.  Based on true events.

Read more

German Circuit

Posted: January 20, 2010

soul-kitchen-01-c2a9-corazon-international

Soul Kitchen

adam bousdoukos

Adam Bousdoukos

Director: Fatih Akin
Writer: Fatih Akin
Producers: Klaus Maeck, Fatih Akin

Stars:

  • Adam Bousdoukos
  • Moritz Bleibtreu
  • Birol Unel

Tri-genre: business situation comedy
Story Situation: period-of-adjustment
Satisfaction Rating: excellent
Maturity Rating: 13+

soul kitchen

(L-R) Pheline Roggan, Adam Bousdoukos, Anna Bederke and Moritz Bleibtreu

Plotline:  Young restaurateur Zinos (Adam Bousdoukos) is having a bad year.  His Soul Kitchen diner is not catching on, in part because of its location inside a converted warehouse in a run-down part of Hamburg that Zinos shares with Turkish boat builder Sokrates (Demir Gokgol).  Also, his very classy girlfriend Nadine (Pheline Roggan) is moving to Shanghai.  And his ex-burglar brother Illias (Moritz Bleibtreu), on day leave from prison, insists that Zinos to give him a job but doesn’t want to work.  In desperation, Zinos drafts gypsy cook Shayn (Birol Unel) to create a nouvelle cuisine.  His grumpy neighborhood regulars now start boycotting the new chef.  Zinos develops back trouble.  Then things start looking up when a hip crowd of rockers embrace the revamped culinary menu.  But that doesn’t mend Zinos’ broken heart.  He decides to pursue Nadine to China, leaving the restaurant in the hands of his unreliable brother.  Both decisions turn out disastrous: Illias gambles away the restaurant to shady real estate developer Thomas (Wotan Wilke Mohring) and Nadine has found a new lover!  Meanwhile Illias has taken up with his old criminal buddies while also falling for feisty waitress Lucia (Anna Bederke).  Still, the brothers have one last chance to get back Soul Kitchen if they can just stop arguing and start working as a team.

Comment:  2009 Venice Film Festival Jury Prize

Read more

(c) 2010 by Marquee Stars - Copyright, Legal Notices, and Disclaimers