"Twilight" Sets Box Office Record For Female Director

"Twilight" Sets Box Office Record For Female Director

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Media
Posted on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 04:29:08 PM EST
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More cracks in the ceiling:

The vampire romance "Twilight" drained the box office in its opening weekend, taking in $70.6 million. Catherine Hardwicke's film also enjoyed the biggest opening ever for a female director, blowing away the previous standard of $41.1 million set by Mimi Leder 's " Deep Impact " in 1998.

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"Twilight" Sets Box Office Record For Female Director | 60 comments (60 topical)

Well Good. (5.00 / 2) (#1)
by Burned on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 04:43:35 PM EST

Sorta.
I guess someone has to to do something that makes teenage girls scream with delight. Since the Backstreet boys broke up and all.
I wish it was a remake of Dark Shadows.

Etched forever into my brain (5.00 / 2) (#3)
by Militarytracy on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 04:58:47 PM EST

Sealed the deal that I would be a vampire fan for life. Also kept my mom up late tending to my nightmare screams. I used to cover my head with only my face peaking out so I could breathe but Barnabas Collins couldn't bite my neck or ear. Still comforts me to sleep that way when I'm stressed or have the flu. Haven't been interested in Twilight though because it isn't for the aging :)

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: The young newbie selling tickets (5.00 / 1) (#13)
by oculus on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 07:24:35 PM EST

yesterday at the multitheatre complex mistook my request for a ticket to Synecdoche New York for a request for Twilight!

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: Worst Vampire for me (5.00 / 1) (#52)
by blogtopus on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 11:57:42 PM EST

was Mr. Barlow from 'Salem's Lot, the TV miniseries. I know he was different than the book had him, but it still scared the living crap out of me every time he came onscreen.

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: Yep... (none / 0) (#10)
by MileHi Hawkeye on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 07:09:29 PM EST

...I still sleep with my neck well covered to this day because of DS.
I remember it to be scary as heck, but somehow very addictive--at least to the young me.

Parent
: Never got into "Dark Shadows" (none / 0) (#57)
by joanneleon on Mon Nov 24, 2008 at 06:03:51 AM EST

but then I wasn't a TV person as a kid. But I remember that a lot of girls my age were hooked.

Parent

I used to rush home (none / 0) (#51)
by Amiss on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 11:55:06 PM EST

in the afternoons after work to watch Barnabus!

Parent

That's great (5.00 / 5) (#2)
by blogtopus on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 04:54:58 PM EST

It's too bad her good movie (thirteen) didn't make this kind of cash. Deep Impact wasn't based on an automatic cash cow, either.

Sorry, I have nothing against Hardwicke, just the material; that book has some serious under- (and over-) tones of religious b.s. that wingers are constantly trying to jam down teenager's throats.

Thirteen was excellent but also (5.00 / 1) (#4)
by Militarytracy on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 05:00:08 PM EST

not enjoyed by me because my daughter was like......13 yrs old and acting the same way.

Parent

Did you happen to catch (5.00 / 2) (#19)
by oculus on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 07:55:53 PM EST

"Girl, Interrupted"? Similar reaction. Angelina Jolie before anyone knew who she was.

Parent

: Just saw that again yesterday (5.00 / 2) (#58)
by joanneleon on Mon Nov 24, 2008 at 06:07:07 AM EST

on HBO. Well, most of it. There was some pretty incredible acting in that movie. Jolie can play those kinds of roles almost too well.

Parent

wow (none / 0) (#6)
by boredmpa on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 05:45:12 PM EST

that link...just wow.

I thought the movie trailer looked creepy enough, but...wow.

Parent

Thanks for that perspective (none / 0) (#59)
by joanneleon on Mon Nov 24, 2008 at 06:13:25 AM EST

You know, I really worry about sophisticated marketing with religious motives, and the Christian rock bands and such, that target teenagers and young adults. If that's what this movie is all about, I'll keep my kids a mile away from it. But I want to look into it a bit, because I want to make sure it's not like the Harry Potter opposition nonsense. Does this author have any history of moral majority stuff, or anything like that?

Parent

Well, my household has been twilighted (5.00 / 1) (#5)
by Paladin on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 05:00:33 PM EST

My 20 year old stepdaughter (almost 21) is among the obscessed. Now she has her mom reading the first book, and even she can't put it down. I feel like a twilight widower ;o(

Kudos though for the female director. Nice to see that ceiling shattered.

Guess I'll have to (5.00 / 3) (#7)
by joanneleon on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 05:46:41 PM EST

find out what this Twilight thing is all about. I haven't been a vampire genre fan, but I have to say I've been watching the HBO series "True Blood" and have gotten interested in that. But all I keep seeing and hearing is about this Twilight book and now the movie.

Glad to hear about the new crack in the glass ceiling and am also always appreciative to BTD for his attention to such things. I'll always remember that he was one of the only people calling the media out for their despicable treatment of the maker of the 18 million cracks in that ceiling this year, while so many others jeered and delighted in it, and contributed to it. There are many people who permanently lost my respect during that fiasco.

True Blood (5.00 / 2) (#12)
by Jen M on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 07:21:18 PM EST

Is from the Sookie Stackhouse novels written by Charlaine Harris. They predate Twilight by 4 years.

If they are that similar, then Twilight came from Stackhouse rather than the other way around.

Parent

And if they are really similar (none / 0) (#49)
by Fabian on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 11:45:55 PM EST

you couldn't pay me to see either one.

Parent

Don't know if they are similar (none / 0) (#60)
by joanneleon on Mon Nov 24, 2008 at 06:36:10 AM EST

I haven't read the book or seen the movie and don't know much about the whole series. Their similarity, to me, ends at the vampire genre at this point.

A note about HBO series -- I usually give them a try because they're usually well done and different, but I can't say I really enjoy most of them. "True Blood" has caught my interest. I'm not claiming to be a fan. Might be at some point but right now it's just a curious interest.

Parent

: I think (5.00 / 2) (#61)
by Fabian on Mon Nov 24, 2008 at 08:23:12 AM EST

that it's difficult to create a reality that includes the supernatural as common. In order to maintain some type of balance, any significant advantages would have to be offset with disadvantage.
Pratchett's Carpe Jugulum is a great example. A very ambitious vampire family trains to be resistant, if not immune, to their traditional weaknesses. If you can fly, resist damage and are enormously strong - then what's to stop you from taking over the world?

Parent

crack for the women in filmmaking (5.00 / 2) (#9)
by progrocks on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 06:39:17 PM EST

building a cinder block fortress for young girls. teaching them that it is okay, hell, even romantic, to make a never ending commitment to a person at the age of 18 and forging all non-vampire options in life, not so good.

If young girls want good messages from vampires, watch Buffy, one of the greatest shows ever.

From the reviews I gather there (5.00 / 1) (#21)
by oculus on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 07:58:17 PM EST

is an adulation of abstinence in the movie. But I couldn't figure out if that meant abstinence from sex or from neck-biting. Do you know?

Parent

I liked that about the L'estat vampires (5.00 / 2) (#50)
by Fabian on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 11:54:00 PM EST

You get to live forever, even be young forever, but no more sex. I think eating and drinking were out, too.

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: Faust made a better bargain, (none / 0) (#53)
by oculus on Mon Nov 24, 2008 at 12:10:16 AM EST

briefly.

Parent

ROFL (5.00 / 2) (#14)
by andgarden on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 07:28:14 PM EST

This deserves its own post.

Only the sexist part (none / 0) (#17)
by Big Tent Democrat on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 07:38:33 PM EST

Parent

Is it possible to post an OT comment (none / 0) (#20)
by oculus on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 07:56:44 PM EST

to one's own diary?

Parent

: OT (5.00 / 1) (#24)
by Big Tent Democrat on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 08:03:01 PM EST

to the comment replied to. Sort of.

Parent

I'd go with the Sookie Stackhouse series (5.00 / 2) (#18)
by snstara on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 07:45:40 PM EST

over "Twilight", if only because Sookie is portrayed as an independent adult woman. Some of Harris' writing is stretching mighty thin after so many books...

...And without having read "Twilight," I can't say much more. But, after hearing a lot about the heightened anticipation teens were in over this last book, and then the uproar over its gory, unpleasant depiction of sex and childbirth, I did wonder what the hell the author could have been thinking. Now I know.

: Harris' writing (5.00 / 1) (#55)
by Fabian on Mon Nov 24, 2008 at 12:23:22 AM EST

is meandering and formulaic.
The series might have been better if she had started with a stronger vision or a better editor.
It's the first series I've ever read where the lead character can be relied to be both the damsel in distress and the hero charging to the rescue in the same book.

Parent

Good One (5.00 / 1) (#22)
by squeaky on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 08:00:49 PM EST

Nice to see that people are thinking about what you write.

lol

Notice thw words missing from that post (none / 0) (#23)
by Big Tent Democrat on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 08:02:36 PM EST

John Brennan.

Parent

Either They Are Too Stupid (5.00 / 1) (#29)
by squeaky on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 08:17:54 PM EST

To have noticed, or the fact that you got that one right as well, burns them up so much that they cannot even mention the name.

Hilarious. Obviously in this emulation, they wish that they had the power of a band of teenage girls. Not even close.

Parent

: Too stupid to notice (none / 0) (#35)
by Big Tent Democrat on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 08:34:25 PM EST

is my theory.

Parent

What you should've done (5.00 / 1) (#25)
by lilburro on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 08:03:50 PM EST

is said Obama would win 400 EVs and cited some vague reason, like "because the country is ready for change." That way even if the economic crisis hadn't happened, you still would've seemed like a good guy.

I called Obama a shoo in in June (5.00 / 2) (#27)
by Big Tent Democrat on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 08:07:21 PM EST

Got a lot of pushback at this very site on that.

But facts do not matter , hell issues do not matter, to people like Pollak.

I am a jerk,, no question - but I ;ll be damned if someone can argue that Id o not care about the issues.

I repeat, where is John Cole's post telling Glenn Greenwald to STFU when Greenwald wrote a post on the very issue I discussed.

Cole is a coward afraid to be kicked out of the Kewl Kids' Club.

I may be wrong on everything but I am not afraid to be ostracized by the TownHouse crowd. People like Cole need to be a part of SOME group - Republicans or Democrats.

Parent

They would prefer (5.00 / 1) (#31)
by lilburro on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 08:26:23 PM EST

to quote Andrew Sullivan. Which must be all your fault! <snark>

If half the energy (or possibly just an iota) put into CDS was put into Brennan Derangement Syndrome, I think we would be in a better place.

But Brennan is surfing on the Obama love. Even here.

Parent

And really the problem I have with this: (5.00 / 3) (#33)
by lilburro on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 08:33:09 PM EST

His isn't the administration I'd pick, but the proof will be in what he actually does. If for instance he sets up a panel to take on torture, opens up intelligence files and lets the public know how this horrible, malignant policy came to pass, it will go a long way towards assuring people that a choice like Brennan for CIA chief isn't just "business as usual."

is that if you think the panel is going to be able to learn about torture, and point fingers where they belong, while Tenet's BFF and participant/witness Brennan works for Obama, you've got to be nuts. Guess who ISN'T going to get blamed in such an investigation? Considering that some in the CIA have been preparing themselves for legal battles, Brennan must be p*ssing himself with glee over having chosen the right horse.

I just don't trust this scenario at all. Much as I like FDL.

Parent

Your point seems an obvious one to me (none / 0) (#37)
by Big Tent Democrat on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 08:35:06 PM EST

Not to others apparently.

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: If he is appointed (none / 0) (#41)
by lilburro on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 08:51:55 PM EST

things are only going to get more grotesque. Of that I am sure.

Parent

I think we have a case of (5.00 / 5) (#36)
by gyrfalcon on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 08:34:37 PM EST

ADS here (Armando Derangement Syndrome). Pathetic and hilarious.

And BTD, you are indeed an "obnoxious p***k," but you're a lovable one. You're also almost always right.

Pffffffttthhhhh!

In my career, I have toes ... (5.00 / 2) (#43)
by Robot Porter on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 09:13:48 PM EST

in both the publishing and movie businesses. And I've heard a lot of people whine and kvetch about the success of TWILIGHT.

The success is just indicative of how little media is geared to tween and teen girls. And when you find something they embrace it can generate huge revenues.

This group was instrumental in the success of TITANIC. Still, more than a decade later, the all time box office champ. This group has also been instrumental in creating the most successful series of video games, The Sims franchise. And, as we see, they've turned TWILIGHT into a publishing and box office phenom.

I also recommend that men (and older women) look at some of this media. Read one of the TWILIGHT books. And when you have the feeling that it isn't geared towards you, realize that this is how young girls feel about almost all the entertainment products that they see around them.

Anecdote: last week I (none / 0) (#46)
by oculus on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 10:25:47 PM EST

went to see Equus, in which Daniel Ratcliffe plays the 17-yr. old boy. I looked in vain for anyone in the audience who may have seen the play in the '70s when it first came out. But, the audience seemed to be mainly teenage girls or older and their moms. One mom bid and pd. $800 for an Equus t-shirt Ratcliffe signed whilst wearing it. Fund raiser for Broadway actors' charity.

Parent

That's great ... (5.00 / 2) (#47)
by Robot Porter on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 11:03:55 PM EST

they come to see Radcliffe naked. But they come away seeing on of the best plays written in the last 40 years.

And EQUUS is a challenging play that confronts many issues of interest to teens.

Parent

: I agree. Not sure if all the moms and (none / 0) (#48)
by oculus on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 11:17:54 PM EST

teenage girls knew exactly what they were getting into by picking this particular play. One girl stood in the corner when the horse-blinding scene started. Probably much better theatre than High School Musical III, although I haven't actually seen that, of course.

Parent

I read Conan books (none / 0) (#54)
by Fabian on Mon Nov 24, 2008 at 12:19:23 AM EST

when I was a girl teen. Liked them too, even though I know now they aren't exactly quality literature.

The one book I would probably give a teen age girl now is Strangers in Paradise. Francine is a curvy young woman with self esteem problems. Tired of guys just wanting to get into her knickers, she decides see if any guy will date her if she doesn't put out. She picks Freddy Femur, an attorney with self esteem issues. (Hint: Men and women deal with the same issue in very different ways.) One night she kicks a drunk, horny Freddy out of her bed and has a late night gripe session with her roomie Katchoo where she finds out that Katchoo has the hots for her.

Uh oh.

The funny thing is that took me over a year to find out that "Terry Moore" was a guy not a gal. I just assumed that it was written by a woman.

Parent

Hmm (5.00 / 1) (#56)
by joanneleon on Mon Nov 24, 2008 at 05:59:26 AM EST

Well, I know a lot of the history -- the public part of it anyway. I don't know what went on behind the scenes. But that post (or email or whatever it was) is pretty incredible (and I mean that figuratively and literally).

I hope you remain true to yourself, BTD. It won't make you popular with the in crowd, but at least you'll be able to defend your positions rationally, which the author of that post clearly can't do. That post is consistent with much of what went on during the past year. I'm scanning it again looking for one example of factual evidence to back the accusations and name calling. I don't see any. It's like CDS in a different form.

Joe Lieberman? What a stupid analogy.

The weirdest thing is that now, the prevailing wisdom on the blogs is that it's okay to criticize Obama constructively. We're seeing some of the productive analysis coming back that was "illegal" during the primaries. But apparently only selected people are allowed to criticize.

There are too many things to address in that post, IMHO, but one more thing I'd like to say: What some people seem to forget is that Obama did nearly a 180 degree turn at the convention. Had he not suddenly taken on the populist tone, and had he not adopted some of Clinton's specifics in policy, he very well may have lost the election. There was a big difference between the candidate in the primaries (which is when most of your criticisms were written) and the candidate after the convention.

Great for her. (none / 0) (#8)
by Faust on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 06:02:24 PM EST

Now I do wonder if the subtexts of vampire stories are empowering.

Never read twilight though. Maybe it's an exception to the rule.

Are you recommending the film? (none / 0) (#15)
by oculus on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 07:30:34 PM EST

: My daughter is (none / 0) (#16)
by Big Tent Democrat on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 07:38:14 PM EST

Some of her friends were quite upset with it, saying it was not faithful to the book.

Parent

Yes, I won't feel equality is ours (none / 0) (#26)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 08:06:15 PM EST

until a woman writes the highest grossing book series. Oh.

Or until a woman designs the highest grossing cloths. Oh.

Or until a woman invents the best candy bar. Oh.

Because people really wiegh the gender of a movie's directer/book's author/blah blah blah before they decide to be intersted in it. And decide not to see it if the "key" is a woman. Not. How sad.

: Indeed (5.00 / 1) (#28)
by Big Tent Democrat on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 08:08:19 PM EST

Your comment is sad.

Parent

Great point. Well thought out. Nicely expressed. (none / 0) (#30)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 08:24:07 PM EST

Clearly no one will learn anything here. Bonasera.

Ditto (none / 0) (#32)
by Big Tent Democrat on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 08:33:07 PM EST

BTW, TCHris has a post on criminal law just above this one.

Parent

Thanks. You didn't read the comments? (none / 0) (#34)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 08:34:05 PM EST

Parent

I do not venture into (none / 0) (#38)
by Big Tent Democrat on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 08:36:37 PM EST

Chris' or J's law posts.

They are Armando free zones. quite safe.

Parent

Fair enough. I commented there first. (none / 0) (#39)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 08:46:42 PM EST

Before I saw this [doesn't even scratch the surface of] thread about my industry.

Parent

Let me try again (none / 0) (#40)
by Big Tent Democrat on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 08:48:27 PM EST

My post merely states that it is good, (YES, GOOD) that a female director has shattered the record fro box office.

Why? Because sexism exists int eh world and this helps to tear it down.

Parent

: The movie/she (none / 0) (#45)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 09:44:08 PM EST

broke the female record.
Yes, sexism does exist. Yes, the BO of this movie has nothing to do with sexism. Yes, the BO of this movie might open up the director's ranks of more mid-budget-level movies to more women. And/or other minorities, ie., anyone who didn't go to school with, or play on the little league team of, or isn't in some other way a decades-long personal friend of the current studio head or the film's lead actor...

Parent