by Lee Tistaert

Continued...

Hearing talk or discussions on the internet or outside the online world can always be a pointer in terms of box office prospects or can give ideas about how well some films will execute themselves come ticket sales. Ever since mid-December when Disney unleashed its first two teaser images online for Signs, gossip has been frequent. Moviegoers from around the country have been asking questions about Shyamalan's new film and whether or not it will live up to the unexpected hit of 6th Sense, or if it will be better than his Unbreakable.

The thing with Sixth Sense was that it was a total box office amazement; no one saw it coming. Its debut was highly impressive and its long-term business was even more eye-catching. But the film garnered word of mouth describing the film as a creepy thriller that carried the feature to stardom. One of Unbreakable's possible weaknesses could live within the idea that it wasn't in the creepy genre, but Signs is. And the mere fact that this new tale (to many) is coming off as a great thriller/horror flick through its superb campaign is adding to the hype and buzz more than ever.

Beginning with the early days of its original publicity stills, I've heard nothing but "I can't wait" and "why can't August 2nd come sooner?" Disney has teased its audience for seven straight months and still has everyone begging for it. Sitting in my second Goldmember screening on July 27, a movie trivia question was on-screen and the answer was Signs. Immediately after the answer of, "Mel Gibson in 'Signs'" appeared, a guy in his early twenties in back of me replied, "I want to see that bad...", with the friend agreeing. If I am not mistaken, this is what I believe the anticipation is like across the world. It has the feel of a movie that could turn into an event picture at the box office, making it stand as the one late-summer film everyone can't wait to catch.

My basic feelings about Signs is that those not having a clear idea about what this is about will seek to movie theaters for the clear answer, while those who have a good sense of the material involved will want to see how M. Night Shyamalan handles it all. And the Disney flick has many great aspects going along with it as mentioned already. Inside the film itself, Signs carries various aspects that moviegoers should very well relate with in terms of connection. And I'm not talking about quality aspects, but factors involved that are very human. If we hear a sound or something that is very frightening very close by, the average person is not going to pull the Jeepers Creepers and attempt to run over our boogie-man with a truck four times; we're going to get the HELL out of there even if it means running like a pansy in doing so.

Many are placing their bets in the mid-to-high $30 range to the low $50 million vicinity for the movie's opening weekend. What Signs has over Unbreakable (if Signs pulled high $30's, it would gather around the same per-screen average as Unbreakable) is its uniqueness lying in the fact that Shyamalan has taken its subject material into a genre that hasn't been explored as of late. Unbreakable had lots of buzz, especially surrounding how the ending would execute itself, but was simply looked at as a thriller and nothing greatly significant in the genre before its opening. Signs has carried a durability in its ad-campaign that seems to outweigh the previous Shyamalan release by a large margin. Some are using the argument that the writer/director hasn't won over his Unbreakable disbelievers yet, but my guess is that many of those folks will head out regardless to find out if the filmmaker has graduated or not.

Some filmgoers are also placing their opinion that Signs could pull in the 6th Sense opening day per-screen average of $3,700 on August 2. Sixth Sense lasted a long while, which allowed it easily to build the name of Shyamalan into moviegoers' brains and make filmgoers keep an eye out for future works of his. Unbreakable had a Friday per-screen earning that closely connected with 6th Sense's (more so Saturday's Unbreakable sales), but buzz is nowhere in comparison.

Because Unbreakable saw its theatrical entrance on a Wednesday whereas Signs will have only 3-days to capture a weekend figure, its grosses were spread out throughout the 5-day frame. And if you look at the facts, if you combine Unbreakable's Wednesday and Thursday averages, it adds up to $5,872 per-screen; a dead-on arrival at Hannibal and extremely close to Independence Day. This points out that if the same quantity of moviegoers who saw Unbreakable in its first two days in release shows up to Signs on opening day/night, it would clear a gross of roughly $18.5 million in ticket sales. But Signs is not purely going after that audience, as it holds many elements under its belt that Unbreakable just didn't have.

Before going on to the last stages of this column, I have to honestly clear up the fact that my (quality) reaction to the movie has had no real impact on my high box office forecast. When seeing Signs, it felt like a film big in scope, with certain scenes attached I could no way seeing an audience size that some are predicting could be Minority Report-like. It seriously had the vibe of a possible event picture underway. While over the last month I've been known for some out-there predictions, this one seems too irresistible to pass up.

When comparing box office statistics, I have been turning to Jurassic Park, Independence Day, JP3, Hannibal, and even The Mummy Returns, Planet of the Apes and The Lost World. Signs has been selling itself as a big ride a la Jurassic Park, ID4 ($50.2 million openings) and JP3 ($50.8 million opening), while Shyamalan's return to the screen with this particular genre could be seen as Hannibal Lecter's comeback ($58.0 million opening). However, if this does turn out to be the movie everyone cannot wait to see, it holds the capability of witnessing the blockbuster status of Mummy Returns ($68.1 million opening), Planet of the Apes ($68.5 million opening) or even The Lost World ($73.1 million opening). The latter is probably a long-shot on the probability scale, but Signs would not surprise me if it pulled a high $60's (million) weekend box office delivery.

Signs may not have an opening day as beefy as Goldmember ($26.5 million), but it will face the benefit of carrying a demographic among its wide range that can likely wait until Saturday to catch the show (adults), whereas many fans rushed to see Austin Powers 3 on its premiere day which caused a slight slowdown on Saturday. Such gives Signs a good shot at a second day boost in sales. The estimated invasion of Signs is at 3000+ theaters. With my forecast at a theater count of around 3150 venues, my prediction sits at $55 - 65 million for the 3-day frame, with center focus at $62.0 million in ticket sales.

Box office aside, I have to spread on some words of wisdom. First of all, Signs is the movie of the summer to experience having knowing barely anything surrounding the important details. The less you know, the greater the impact will make once unscrambling on the big-screen. Second of all, this is one of those movies that comes along once and a while where having an audience present is a fun factor of its own. My advice is to see Signs with a large crowd, as audience reactions to various moments on-screen from 400+ people can be priceless and very memorable in the long run. As many look back at some of their best movie theater experiences, Signs is one film that could be added on to the list for many.

The jumps are one thing (and most will almost definitely fill auditoriums in loud screams and jolts; I'm typically good at calling jumps a mile away, and just look at the bare facts - Signs carries five or six jolts of surprises - I only saw one coming, but the sound effect of an obvious one got me), but purely hearing moviegoers reactions to anticipating terror approaching is where some of the biggest moments of "fun" appears. Typical filmgoers may not care, but when it comes down to the hardcore groups out there, crowd reactions is key to the full experience.

Second to last, try and see Signs at night, as the atmosphere works best for the nature of this movie and the after effect some if not many will get will play stronger. Midnight shows are all the better, as nothing's creepier than walking out of a scary movie to a ghost town city at two in the morning. And last of all, don't fully concentrate on the climax of Signs for your satisfaction. As to me, this flick is more about the ride that it creates along the way more so than the actual payoff. The ending will please some, dissatisfy others, but when it comes down to enjoyment and the fear factor, Signs will most likely have freaked the living crap out of even the brave souls.

Try to place Unbreakable on the other side of the table and give Signs a chance. As here, there are no super-heroes, no kid seeing dead people, but only a story that has been debated since the existence of life. The movie's not trying to answer the meaning of life, but when it comes down to exploring a topic that can lead to hours of discussion along with feeding on to various types of "fear", Signs sells.

On a side and concluding note, gossip is one of the more popular, influential yet sometimes misleading activities of today. Rumors are a tough item to judge, as sometimes they are factual while at others, they fall flat. After several rounds of early reviews became available online for Signs, a rumor picked up that M. Night Shyamalan may have purposely shown preview audiences the alternative ending so anyone who attended wouldn't know the real truth until August 2. The believability part of this stood with the fact that many critiques blamed the ending for being somewhat of a letdown, but having the ride itself be very worth it.

With the studio's and Shyamalan's efforts in keeping almost everything surrounding the movie silent, it is almost a logical rumor to behold as there's always bound to be at least one online character who feels the need to spoil the climax. And while I don't especially prefer to live off gossip or rumors created by the anonymous, this one will stay with me until August 2 comes so I can see if there is any truth within it. And if it turns out to be factual information, I will definitely relay the message to you all.

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