“THE FORCE AWAKENS.” Could it end up as the top grosser of all time?
TWO THOUSAND SIXTEEN is turning out to be the year for setting records in show business—and promptly breaking them. On the local film screen, the “top grosser ever” record was established by the Vice Ganda starrer, “Praybeyt Benjamin,” eventually eclipsed by “A Second Chance” topbilling Bea Alonzo and John Lloyd Cruz—and then broken anew by another Vice Ganda starrer (with Coco Martin), “Beauty and the Bestie.”
On the global film scene, the battle for the top spot is more complicated, because factors like “adjustment for inflation” are sometimes considered in coming up with the “ultimate” rankings. Thus, if ticket prices “then” are adjusted to comparative prices “now,” the top grosser of them all could still be the ’50s war saga, “Gone With The Wind,” with over $3 billion. It’s followed by “Avatar” with over $2 billion, and “Titanic.”
New blockbuster
What about “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”—will it eventually end up on top? At last count, the new blockbuster had already earned almost $2 billion in record time. Eventually, its US take hit over $800 million—the first production to do so.
As for its global gross, it’s already the third top earner, and its first week of release in China added $53 million, just for starters.
But, it’s still an iffy proposition for the latest “Star Wars” installment to snag the top plum.
On the local television scene, the big to-do has been over how “Eat Bulaga” with its AlDub kal-yeserye has been ruling the daily noontime slot.
Recently, however, ratings figures suggest that, after six months on the tube, the kalyeserye “folded into” “Eat Bulaga” has been tapering off, with its once outclassed rival, “It’s Showtime,” inching back up.
We’ll have to keep tabs of how the two shows fare in the coming days, but if the initial impression does pan out, follow-up moves may have to be implemented.
For instance, is it time for the hit AlDub tandem to launch its projected spin-off teleserye? In which case, who or what will take their place on “EB?”
Shifting the focus on “It’s Showtime,” what has caused it to start to bounce back? Is its own “folded in” show-within-a-show, the revived “Tawag ng Tanghalan” singing tilt, a key factor? —The analyses thicken.