“The Help”: Box office hit
It’s not a sequel. It doesn’t feature a superhero. Its budget ($25M) is less than most summer movie’s CGI costs. It has no A-level stars to boost its visibility. It is a — gasp! — period piece. And yet in its opening weekend, The Help is a hit, threatening to be a big one:
Riding solid reviews and great word-of-mouth among moviegoers, DreamWorks’ film adaptation of best-seller “The Help” enjoyed a strong first weekend at the domestic box office, grossing $25.5 million, according to studio estimates.
The Disney-distributed film, produced by DreamWorks and Participant Media for around $25 million, met its pre-release expectations. And with its Wednesday and Thursday midweek tallies, it has grossed an estimated $35.4 million through Sunday.
Noting the film’s exceptionally strong Heartland play — its top five-grossing theaters were in Memphis, Tenn., Jackson, Miss., Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas — Disney executive VP of distribution Dave Hollis said, “I’m not sure we’ll ever have another conversation when any of those [locations] are in the top five.”
This appears to be a classic example of a ‘flyover’ hit, that is a movie which connects to middle America. Hollywood seems to do its very best to avoid these type of movies despite the success of films like The King’s Speech ($277M B.O.), True Grit ($229M), and The Fighter ($108M).
So as screenwriters, let’s look at these four movies: The King’s Speech, True Grit, The Fighter, The Help. What are their common narrative elements? What can we learn as possible keys to story ideas we choose to develop? One thing we know for sure: None of these four movies cost more than $35M to make, most under $30M. If a movie with that type of budget becomes a hit, the ROI can be huge.
Here is a trailer for The Help:
http://movieclips.com/e/Xawg2/
Here is the movie’s IMDB page.
And here is the plot summary provided by Walt Disney Pictures:
Set in Mississippi during the 1960s, Skeeter (Stone) is a southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends’ lives — and a Mississippi town — upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families. Aibileen (Davis), Skeeter’s best friend’s housekeeper, is the first to open up — to the dismay of her friends in the tight-knit black community. Despite Skeeter’s life-long friendships hanging in the balance, she and Aibileen continue their collaboration and soon more women come forward to tell their stories — and as it turns out, they have a lot to say. Along the way, unlikely friendships are forged and a new sisterhood emerges, but not before everyone in town has a thing or two to say themselves when they become unwittingly — and unwillingly — caught up in the changing times.
Who has seen The Help? What is your reaction to it? Why do you think it’s become a big hit?
UPDATE: Excellent first person tale of how The Help came to the big screen from Brunson Green, one of the film’s producers.
UPDATE #2: Variety on the success of The Help.