"Act of Valor" number one at the box office this weekend with $25 million

Relativity’s R-rated Act Of Valor has stayed No. 1 all weekend. It’s the the Bandito Brothers’ independently financed low-budget U.S. Navy fighting force tale using actual SEALs from an original screenplay by Kurt Johnstad (300). (FYI, there was a novelization of that script, “Tom Clancy Presents Act of Valor”, written by Dick Couch and George Galdorsi and released in paperback by Clancy’s publisher. Relativity acquired the rights to the project last June for $13 million and a $30 million in prints and advertising commitment – the biggest money paid for a finished film with an unknown cast at that time. But Relativity didn’t spend $30M on P&A. That may have been the studio’s minimum legal commitment but it spent a lot more. Ryan Kavanaugh et al took out 4 wildely expensive Super Bowl ads. Yes, 4. That cost between $12M-14M alone. Educated guess is that they spent $45M-$50M total to hawk this actioner. Yes, they acquired domestic rights for cheap and aggressively pre-sold foreign. And, yes, the budget was only $12K. Looks like Relativity will recoup. Marketing-wise, Relativity launched an aggressive 400 screening program in over 40 markets as part of a multi-pronged strategy that spoke to gamers, action fans, sports fans, ethnic audiences, country music fans, patriots, military, women, and the faith-based community. It was all about word of mouth thena and now: audiences are complying by giving it an ‘A’ CinemaScore.