Despite getting horrible across-the-board reviews, “Van
Helsing” is a success.
Sure, only 24 percent of national critics gave it a favorable
review, according to RottenTomatoes.com, but for most of the people
who actually make the decisions in the film industry, the more
important number is the $54 million it made at the box office.
The calendar may just be approaching mid-May, but make no
mistake: To Hollywood, it’s summertime and the living’s
easy.
Two weekends ago, “Mean Girls” led the box-office
with $24 million, following fairly positive reviews. And then
“Van Helsing” came along and blew Lindsay Lohan out of
the water faster than Hugh Jackman could say
“Transylvania” with an Australian accent.
I’m pretty sure Jackman FedExed his performance from New
York, where he’s still performing on stage (and has been
since September 2003), but trashing “Van Helsing”
isn’t really the point here. It’s too easy.
And it doesn’t matter. There’s a well-known rule
when it comes to Hollywood’s summer blockbusters: To make
money, quality is not a requirement. But that doesn’t bother
me as much as the fact that summer movies are being released in the
beginning of May.
There are only a finite number of weekends in a summer, and
because studios are afraid to release expensive blockbusters
against other expensive blockbusters, they expand the summer season
to accommodate their fears. Instead of releasing “Van
Helsing” in the middle of July, where it belongs, Warner
Bros. decided to push it forward, so as not to get in the way of
“Spider-Man 2″ (July 2), “King Arthur”
(July 9), “I, Robot” (July 16), “The Bourne
Supremacy” (July 23) or “The Village” (July
30).
Sometimes it seems like studios race to fill up summer weekend
slots, with the leftovers forced to bleed into the spring at the
front end of the season, or the fall at the back end. And because
fall is reserved for Oscar movies, it’s an easy decision to
push movies into May. It can’t be a coincidence that the four
Fridays in May this year all house films that you’d think
would be released during the summer: “Van Helsing” (May
7), “Troy” (May 14), “Shrek 2″ (May 21) and
“The Day After Tomorrow” (May 28).
But it’s more than just the desire to avoid Oscar movies
that pushes studios to release summer movies earlier and earlier in
the year. Every studio also wants to have the first hit of the
summer, before audiences start to get sick of summer releases and
pine for substance again.
Ten summers ago, in 1993, the first big summer hit wasn’t
released until the end of May, Memorial Day weekend, and
“Cliffhanger” only made $20 million (about $25 million
when adjusted for inflation) in its opening weekend.
The biggest movie during the first weekend of May that year?
“Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story” barely broke $10 million
($13 million inflation-adjusted). Meanwhile, “The
Fugitive” wasn’t released until August, and made about
$111 million ($141 million inflation-adjusted) in the month.
No studio would ever release a movie like “The
Fugitive” in August now, for fear of coming too late in the
season. Instead, movies get pushed into May, and the biggest August
fare left are movies like “Collateral” (August 6),
“Alien Vs. Predator” (August 13), “Exorcist: The
Beginning” (August 20) and “Anacondas: The Hunt for the
Blood Orchid” (August 27).
There’s a spin-off, prequel and sequel in that group, but
I don’t see any “Spider-Man 2″ or “Shrek
2.”
To Hollywood, the summer season seems to be moving into May and
out of August. But don’t be surprised if you soon find an
expensive blockbuster film released in late April. Or mid-April. Or
March. Why not?
If the idea is to stay ahead of the competition, Hollywood will
run with it to the point of absurdity. And before you know it,
you’ll be celebrating the summer season as if you’re
living in the Southern Hemisphere.
E-mail Tracer at jtracer@media.ucla.edu