Box Office

The Hottie and the Nottie didn’t attract a lot of people to theaters when it was released on February 15, 2008. In other words, the movie flopped on Box Office.

Domestic total as of February 10, 2008 was $27 696. the Hottie and the Nottie was ranked at #45 on Box Office. This means every theater earned $225 during the weekend. 111 theaters were playing the movie. In comparison, "Fool’s Gold" made $22 010 000 with 3 125 theaters.

Normally, the film should’ve made: 22 010 000 * 111 / 3 125 = 781795.2$

Why the Hottie and the Nottie Did Not Do Well

It had nothing to do with Paris Hilton's acting stills or her work, but probably everything to do with her public image and the ever rude public, itself. Even though the Hottie and the Nottie was savagely attacked by those so-called movie critics, we were expecting it to do OK, but for a reason, Paris was all alone in promoting it. The biggest mistake that many movie studios make is think that Paris' fame is enough to make people want to see her movie.

It doesn't work that way all the time (from past experiences we already know), mainly because Paris always gets special treatment. When the movie was released, 90% of the population still didn't have a neutral opinion about her, and the mild fans were never reliable. So nothing really had changed with the public.

During interviews, Paris said she wanted to ignore haters, but we saw the result of this ignorance. She just needed to do something to win over the soft haters and then, maybe people would've been far less bias. Back then, most members at ParisHiltonSite.net agreed that her public image was causing problems to her movie career.

The amount of promotion they did wasn't even big, compared to Fool's Gold. The interviews that Paris did with the media people were good, but they weren’t all done by major studios, with the exception of her interviews with David Letterman and Ellen DeGeneres. But we knew all along that all these little promotions weren’t generating enough interest. All we had to do is look at the stats.

However, even though it did bad on its first weekend, we must still recognize Paris' efforts and the amount of time she put to work on her acting skills with her coach. Her efforts in acting and music should not be ignored, even though they're no longer her #1 priorities.

What the Fans Were Saying

A couple of Paris Hilton fans had a few comments about the Box Office resultats.

Fan Sabrinia

I think one of the biggest problems is that it’s a limited release instead of being released everywhere. I live in Kentucky and I know the Hottie and the Nottie website doesn’t list it as being played in ANY theaters in Kentucky, Ohio or West Virginia. And Ohio particularly has 3 major cities in it (Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati). So you can’t compare Hottie’s sales to the sales of a movie that was released on a much bigger and national release b/c there’s no way Hottie could do better than a movie that’s playing in more cities, states, and theaters. It’s a HUGE mistake them doing it on a limited release and it’s going to lead to the movie flopping which is sad b/c I’d go out and support Paris if it were released here.

Fan juju

agree with all. it’s not in my town or i would go see it. limited release can really hurt a film and keep it from generating enough buzz, unless it is a huge indee favorite coming out of a festival release, which is usually a more thought provoking subject or script than a hollywood rom-com.

also, i agree with admin’s comments. Most people don’t take Paris seriously as an actress, so for her to carry a film at this point is impossible, especially for a formula rom-com, even if it’s every bit as good as most films in this genre. at this point, people will still bash her before they even see it.

I think Repo will do better, because she is part of an ensemble cast and is not the lead or biggest name in the film. but again, ONLY so long as it is promoted based on the story and unique script and not as a Paris vehicle. If the genral public sees it as only a paris effort, they won’t go see it. period.

In fact, I’d rather see it promoted by other cast memebers and the director without highlighting paris. That way you can at least get people into the theatre to see it. if paris does well, people may be more inclined to admit that she isn’t so bad and start to giver her some credit for her work. I don’t think paris should do any independant promotion of the film. Just the main cast. The goal being to get people into the theatre, which is better than people thinking it’s a paris film. If the advance promotion is left to paris or she is made out to have too large a role in the movie, then people won’t go see it.

if she continues with supporting roles in better movies and can develop her acting skills, then she can build her credibility if she does well. I think that is a better route to take to win over critics.

it’s hard for anyone to cross over into acting and paris has a huge credibility problem with the general public. it doesn’t matter that it isn’t her fault. It is what it is and if you are a producer or director of a movie she is in, then you have to deal with that reality and be very smart about how you promote the film.

Fan James

I agree with everything everyone has said so far. Especially with the part about it not being played in enough theaters. I live in Santa Monica and it wasn’t being played in any theaters here. I didn’t have time to get to Hollywood or Beverly Hills this weekend where it was being played. I will find a time to get out there some time this week, but the general public won’t go out of their way to see this film. Maybe if it were being played in more theaters, people might just decide to see it because it’s not out of their way and they just wanna see a movie. so that would help.

Also they didn’t have any commercials on tv to promote the movie, so while many people might have heard of it, they didn’t know anything about it, so if they’re not interested in Paris they have no reason to see it, cuz it’s just like a lot of other movies people have already seen.

And of course there are all the haters who wouldn’t see anyway, but the main problem to me is that people aren’t interested enough to see it, especially cuz it’s not even being played in a theater near them.

Fan david

She did what she could with a not so great project. It was good to see her promote it so hard. It sucks that it didn’t do well commercially.

Also, the problem isn’t necessarily the overall number of theaters or the box office revenue. First, they’re going to have a hard time even breaking even on dvd sales after it bombed this badly. (I thought that it would at least make $100k-$250k) Second, if you break out the numbers, it works out to about 30 people per theater. It ran for three days. Averaging that out, that’s only TEN people per theater per day. If it showed five times a day, then that averages out to TWO people per showing. (One couple per showing for a date movie) Obviously, that’s not the way it worked, so there were many showings where NO ONE showed up at all. Limited release or not, that’s rough. Third, she may not see many more scripts with her as the lead. Supposedly, according to an article from E, Hottie was possibly going to become some sort of tv show. I doubt that Hottie is going to become a reality show after this performance and almost certainly won’t be a scripted comedy with Paris as the lead.

I wrote this before when someone complained about the Repo producers continuing to justify Paris’ inclusion in the movie. Perhaps, I stated it too harshly, but the point holds, whoever produces an entertainment project with Paris in it, particularly, starring in it, MUST justify to the public why Paris is in it, if they want it to be successful commercially. Unfortunately, the public simply views her as the sex tape, reality star, party girl. It’s going to take time to transform that image. For Repo, they can state that she auditioned, was good, earned the part, and held her own with the likes of Paul Sorvino, etc.

I think that Juju is definitely right about taking ensemble parts, etc. and proving that she has skills and improving those skills at the same time. I think that Paris is starting to do this. The L-word will help.

In the future, she has two audiences to win over, the industry insiders and the public. She probably has to shed the party girl image if she wants to win over either or both. That may be unfair, but the “party girls” Paris, Jessica Simpson (last movies and album bombed) Lindsay Lohan (numerous string of failed movies) Britney Spears (album bombed and has had repeatedly declining sales for years), are simply not selling in the entertainment field. I think that not only the studios, but the media as well, Entertainment tonight, E, People, etc, mistake paparazzi attention/tabloid sales for the ability to carry entertainment ventures. These women then wind up trying to carry projects that MAYBE weren’t right for them. I think that Paris has the talent, but needs to work on her image.

For Paris, since at least November she’s kind of reverted back to the party girl, if she ever really stopped. She’s been pic’d swinging from ceiling pipes, hooking up with people in the middle of parties/bars, drinking (other things???) falling over couches/out of SUV’s, “eat it, lick it, snort it” etc. There’s nothing particularly wrong with these things, but, especially with her image and history, it doesn’t help her credibility. At Sundance, she and Leto were way too public and she allegedly was pretty tipsy. Katzenberg allegedly whipping out his package probably didn’t help (party guilt by asssociation,) Most of the press she received from Sundance was of “the Hilton’s are ruining Sundance” variety. Unfair, but those were the reports. Now, Reese Witherspoon could’ve hooked up with the Dallas Cowboys in the middle of the street and openly done drugs at an after party, but she has an established track record and an Oscar. So, it might not be fair, but if Paris is going to win over industry insiders, then at events like Sundance, she literally just has to do the press junkets, a little bit of networking (during the day) and avoid the parties/bars at night. I’m only talking about industry type events like Sundance. It’s only a couple of days. However, it could be seen as “she’s actually serious, she’s not here for the parties” etc. It would take time, but it could be done.

Finally, she could continue to work her businessess and let people know how hard she works. I think that people would truly accept her if they knew that she was a great business woman who also had the talent to do entertainment projects. I think that’s a good image for her. A smart, fun business woman who also loves to entertain. She also probably needs to do (and be seen doing it) some charity work. Some things are simple, such as when she launced her clothing line, she had kids from the Children’s Hospital there. Other things may require more effort, whether it’s a halfway house or not. (Paris Hilton Foundation would be great, if it materializes)

She doesn’t HAVE to do these things or anything like them. Obviously, it is just my opinion. Also, as it’s been pointed out numerous times before, she doesn’t owe anybody anything. And, no, she didn’t sign a contract to do anything. But, IF she wants to be a viable entertainer, then she has to repair her image and doing some of these things might help.

Fan Jen

With “Hottie” Paris made a movie she can be proud of, in spite of negative comments by people who have never even seen it. Opinions about the movie may change as it goes to DVD and is shown in different countries.

My Bf liked the movie too and he commented right away that it’s a shame the movie did not get more advertising.

Anyone who has ever been in business knows that some things work out and some don’t, in spite of everyone’s best efforts and planning.

Paris has no doubt moved on already and is exploring other prospects. As I recall, she said she always concentrates on the positive. That’s a winner’s attitiude and things have a way of working out in the long run.

Interesting Facts

The movie was possibly threatened to go straight to video, after the producer Peter Schlessel bought the "straight to video" rights for Sony, when the movie was in pre-production. However, Paul Colichman of Regent, stepped in and said that Regent was interested in releasing the movie theatrically.