The Last Song
Release Date:
March 31, 2010
On the Big Board |
| Position |
Staff |
In Brief |
| 76/123 |
David Mumpower |
I didn't mind the movie but I also felt as if it should have been quite a bit better. Cyrus has a lot of natural talent, though. |
| 164/190 |
Max Braden |
I don't understand why anyone would for the character Miley Cyrus plays. |
Nicholas Sparks novels are like catnip for movie studios. Film adaptations of the man's novels target an underserved demographic - women and older teen girls, which means that not only do they perform well in theaters, but they're also highly lucrative when it comes to the home video market. Message in a Bottle and A Walk to Remember were proof of profitability, but it was The Notebook that really made people stand up and take notice when it came to films based on books by the author. After a modest debut of $13.5 million, the Rachel McAdams/Ryan Gosling weeper legged it out to $81 million by the time it left theaters - a ridiculous opening-to-total box office multiplier of 6.0.
After The Notebook, the awkwardly named Nights in Rodanthe was smaller though still successful at $41.9 million in total box office (its older leads didn't help it to reach that teen girl demographic that propelled the previous Sparks adaptations), but Dear John brought it all back with a remarkable $30.5 million opening and about $80 million total box office (similar to The Notebook - it just took a different trajectory to get there).
Yet another Sparks adaptation will be unleashed on audiences as teen star Miley Cyrus stars in The Last Song, a drama about a rebellious girl who is sent to a peaceful (read: boring) Southern town to live with her father for the summer. Their mutual love for music allows her to reconnect with him. Someone will probably die before it's all said and done, too, because that's what happens in Sparks stories. Hey, at least he's consistent.
The revenue potential for The Last Song is quite strong, given that teen girls can definitely make this a move event they can attend with their mothers. It's probably not quite to the same level as The Notebook or Dear John, but it's probably a step above those other songs in the Sparks pantheon. (Kim Hollis/BOP)
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