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Early Box Office Estimates Are In: THE THING Tanks!

The Thing hit theaters on Friday, and as has been the genre trend recently drew depresng box office numbers, proving to be one of the year’s biggest opening weekend flops. Pulling down just over $8.5 million, the (thought to be) highly anticipated prequel did roughly half what Step Up 37, or, excuse me, Footloose did: $16 million.

The poor showing still managed a third place potioning at the box office, but that certainly isn’t anything to boast about. It’s a sad day when a marquee genre effort is released mid-October and hardly garners a glance, and if ever there was a grim time for horror on the big screen, it is without question, right now.

Amazingly, the horrific action flick Real Steel held firm to the number one potioning, edging Footloose by roughly $200,000.

Check out the full top 10 below:

1. Real Steel: $16.3 million 2. Footloose: $16.1 million 3. The Thing: $8.7 million 4. The Ides of March: $7.5 million 5. Dolphin Tale: $6.3 million 6. Moneyball: $5.5 million 7. 50/50: $4.3 million 8. Courageous: $3.4 million 9. The Big Year: $3.3 million 10. The Lion King (3D): $2.7 million

Wow, quite the pitiful rankings there.

Wow, quite the pitiful rankings there.

yep. I predicted a meager 11 for Thing...couldn't even pull that off...amazing.

It's sad, but mainstream audiences seem to prefer the big screen adaptation of rock' em sock 'em robots over a good sci-fi monster mash! Scream 4 didn't do too well, did it? Fright Night bombed too, right? The real qustion is, how much does it cost to make these things? If the budget is constantly more than box office returns, what's the point in making them if you're long money?

I remember the '90s was a sad decade for horror, until Scream hit the scene and kind of rejuvinated the genre. Though I'm not a big Scream fan, I respect what it was, which was a huge shot in the arm for the genre. That's what we need now. Another Scream esque shot in the arm for horror, and it's not gonna be another friggin' remake, re-imagining...whatever.

im just curious: at what point do studios step back and say "the remakes aren't working. We're not making money."

of course, then you've got to turn around and it look at the whole scope: Footloose is a remake, and that shit had a good showing.

lly buness... lly buness.

Never in 100 years did i think the new step up and dance shit would topple the thing.

How about studios stop remaking everything give us some ORIGINAL material, preferably without CGI? THEN I would shell out the cash to see some decent horror. If you're going to remake a movie, at least make it decent and give the fans what they want. I'm telling you, they're just setting themselves up for failure whenever they release something like The Thing (Prequel? It feels like they wrote a remake, decided it wouldn't t well with fans, changed some things around, and BOOM: instant prequel. Give me a break) or Fright Night (lame). Just hire someone who knows what he/she's doing, like Adam Green or John Carpenter. This deserved to bomb.

How about studios stop remaking everything give us some ORIGINAL material, preferably without CGI? THEN I would shell out the cash to see some decent horror. If you're going to remake a movie, at least make it decent and give the fans what they want. I'm telling you, they're just setting themselves up for failure whenever they release something like The Thing (Prequel? It feels like they wrote a remake, decided it wouldn't t well with fans, changed some things around, and BOOM: instant prequel. Give me a break) or Fright Night (lame). Just hire someone who knows what he/she's doing, like Adam Green or John Carpenter. This deserved to bomb.

actually, it didnt deserve to bomb. It was a pretty solid movie.

and there was no other way to approach the story - it tells of the fate that befalls the norwegian camp, so it was obviously going to be incredibly milar.

One of the better reboot type flicks to be released lately; certainly deserved to come through with a stronger showing.

And the remake argument still doesn't dispell the issue with Footloose, which is of course a bona fide remake itself

How about studios stop remaking everything give us some ORIGINAL material, preferably without CGI? THEN I would shell out the cash to see some decent horror. If you're going to remake a movie, at least make it decent and give the fans what they want. I'm telling you, they're just setting themselves up for failure whenever they release something like The Thing (Prequel? It feels like they wrote a remake, decided it wouldn't t well with fans, changed some things around, and BOOM: instant prequel. Give me a break) or Fright Night (lame). Just hire someone who knows what he/she's doing, like Adam Green or John Carpenter. This deserved to bomb.

actually, it didnt deserve to bomb. It was a pretty solid movie.

and there was no other way to approach the story - it tells of the fate that befalls the norwegian camp, so it was obviously going to be incredibly milar.

One of the better reboot type flicks to be released lately; certainly deserved to come through with a stronger showing.

And the remake argument still doesn't dispell the issue with Footloose, which is of course a bona fide remake itself Thanks for the input...I might catch this when it comes out on DVD...I just thought it looked TOO milar

well, it kind of has to be. We already know what became of the norwegian camp from carpenters thing - now we just get to see how that specific group deals with the tuation. You should read my review of it, it may give you a better idea what to expect.

John Carpenter's The Thing was also a remake. It also did poorly at the box office. So box office means nothing and remakes have been happening for decades now. That won't change.

The Thing was actually a pretty good movie. People just like to rag on it and other remakes only because they are mply a remake.

So what does this all prove exactly?

mple: Make a shitfest like Footloose or Real Steel and millions of people will flock to the cinemas. If you make horror, you will most likely fail UNLESS you make Saw, Paranormal Activity or Final Destination.