Monday Morning Poll: How the Hell Did Shia LaBeouf Beat Willis, Berry, Ferrell and Tarantino?
Filed under: Thrillers, Box Office, Fandom, Newsstand
After taking a look at this weekend's box office numbers, I'm now convinced the rumor is indeed true -- Steven Spielberg can see into the future. Perhaps that's why he's been so hot on Shia LaBeouf, when the rest of us were all like, "Um, you mean that kid from The Battle of Shaker Heights? Really? You dig him?" Granted, if Disturbia opened up in the middle of January during what I like to call "Hollywood's version of spring training," then it's $23 million first place finish wouldn't have been such a big deal. However, Shia LaBeouf (whose last three films were Bobby, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints and The Greatest Game Ever Played) won this weekend's top spot by defeating some serious competition.
Shall we run down the list of top-notch actors LaBeouf out-box officed? Let's see, there's Will Ferrell, John Heder, Bruce Willis, Halle Berry, Hilary Swank and Ice Cube -- not to mention filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. I suppose one can make the argument that it wasn't so much Shia LaBeouf that attracted the crowds, but that Disturbia was the weekend's only new film geared toward the teenage audience. (Well, that's if you don't count the street-racing flick Redline which -- and I'm sure you'll agree -- didn't exactly shell out the dough when it came time for marketing. I'm sure most people showed up to the theater, saw the name 'Redline,' and thought it was some low-budget indie film about a red line.) Regardless, I think it's safe to say that Shia LaBeouf has officially arrived ... and just in time for a little film called Transformers, due out this July 4.
What do you think? Was Disturbia a fluke? Or does Shia really have a lot more fans than Catwoman, John McClane and that Pulp Fiction dude combined?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-16-2007 @ 11:11AM
Brian said...
I think people just really wanted to see "Read Window" but were too lazy to look through their local Blockbuster's poorly organized Classics section so they figured they'd watch the "For Dummies" version.
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4-16-2007 @ 11:13AM
movieac said...
The success of this film probably has less to do with Mr. Shia than with good advertising,good trailer and excellent promotion.
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4-16-2007 @ 11:27AM
panther said...
the films success has nothing to do with shia labouf, i would venture to guess that less than .01% of the people who went to see that movie said "hey lets go see that new shia lebouf film, whats it called?" "oh who cares its got shia leboufer in it."
The fact that it was the only big PG13 release of the weekend has everything to do with its success, every weekend parents of middle schoolers drop off there kids at the movies just to get rid of them for a while, and I am sure most the kids wanted to see grindhouse but couldnt get in so they had to see disturbia.
So he didnt beat out Ferrell, his movie has been out for 2 or 3 weeks now, so every middle schooler I am sure has been able to see it at least three or four times. As for Berry and Willis, that movie just looked like it sucks so theres that.
anyways dont believe the hype.
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4-16-2007 @ 12:09PM
Movies said...
How did he do it? It's really easy really.
Perfect Stranger looked uninteresting and got terrible reviews. Also, Brice Willis is a washed up actor who hadn't had a solid hit that depended on him in many years.
Halle Berry doesn't know how to pick a good project.
Shia is an intriguing new guy on the rise and "Disturbia" was a better reviewed film targeted at teens.
Add to that the added cloud of Steven Spielberg and things will make sense.
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4-16-2007 @ 12:13PM
Mikey-O said...
I think it was teenage thing rather than a fluke. How do you pronounce his name anyways?
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4-16-2007 @ 1:08PM
Ty said...
I saw Disturbia over the weekend and I really liked it. I think Shia is a good actor and he was good in this. I think Disturbia's appeal was that it looked like a good movie. Grindhouse is too long and it's not really going to play to a broad audience. I hadn't even seen any trailers or marketing for the Bruce Willis, Halle Berry movie, so I didn't know anything about it. Disturbia looked good, and it was good. It was well acted and the story was great.
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4-16-2007 @ 1:59PM
Jim Kosmicki said...
never underestimate the power of Disney Channel -- never. Shia has a very large following based on his years in Even Stevens on the Disney Channel. That show has not been produced for a while, but the kids who watched that show are just now getting old enough to want to see thrillers -- and pretty much every middle-school student reads Holes, and now they all watch the movie starring Shia as well. Many of the other movies that Shia has made are not going to mean anything to a younger audience, but Transformers definitely will. Getting him into Indy 4 was very canny on the film-maker's part to bring a new generation into the theatres.
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4-17-2007 @ 12:00AM
augustburns2 said...
Hey! I really like Shia. And I am not a teenage girl and never saw his show on The Disney Channel.
But! I did see Holes, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, and The Greatest Game Ever Played (yes, all in the theaters!) and I think he's a really great actor! I really like the guy...I think he's talented and a talent to watch...
I do want to see Disturbia, but I was too busy with a wedding and I saw a triple feature in San Francisco on Friday night..so I was "movie'd" out. But I do want to see it still!!
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4-18-2007 @ 12:06PM
flyingcupcake said...
You pronounce his name like Shy-ah Lah-Buff.
I went to see it specifically because he's in it. He's done an amazing job in all the other movies he's been in. I think he's worth the price of admission alone.
You shouldn't underestimate the clout of having been on Disney, but don't underestimate Shia's talent either. He's extremely charismatic onscreen and he picks good projects for the most part. I can't wait to see more of him in the future!
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