Social Network Futures: Will 'The Internship' Pay Off?

on May 17, 2013 by Shawn Robbins
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intern.pngVince Vaughn and Owen Wilson have delivered their fair share of comedic hits over the past decade, both together and individually. Their biggest success--Wedding Crashers--was one of 2005's box office sensations, cashing in more than $209 million domestically.

Unfortunately, indications are that their the latest collaboration won't follow suit.

The Internship's five-day tracking period beginning four weeks out from release has left something to be desired. On Twitter, activity was on par with last summer's The Campaign and a big 58 percent behind 2013's first comedy hit, Identity Thief. The tweet count for the heavily Google-themed flick did manage to outscore last July's The Watch--a film that was met with scathing reviews and a disastrous $34.4 million domestic haul.

The Internship: 1,309 tweets (10.6 positive-to-negative ratio)
Identity Thief: 3,097 tweets (19.2-to-1)
The Campaign: 1,347 tweets (36.2-to-1)
The Watch: 850 tweets (17.6-to-1)

The Facebook results look somewhat better. Through May 14, The Internship carried 87,502 fans on the social networking site. That compares favorably against Identity Thief and The Watch at the same points in their release cycles, and is more in line with The Campaign.

The Internship: 87,502 fans
Identity Thief: 39,553 fans
The Campaign: approx. 85,000 fans
The Watch: 23,969 fans

Flixster is a similarly mixed bag for the comedy. The film's 97 percent "want to see" score among 13,529 voters ranks the lowest among our four comparison films. It should have no trouble eclipsing the numbers of Identity Thief by June 6, but to be fair, even The Watch had a 94 percent score among 20,208 users.

The Internship: 13,123 "want to see" votes (24 days before release)
Identity Thief: 15,251 "want to see" votes (1 day before release)
The Campaign: 18,446 "want to see" votes (1 day before release)
The Watch: 19,996 "want to see" votes (1 day before release)

All told, most online signs are pointing to a disappointing box office performance for the latest Vaughn-Wilson laugher. One possible sign of encouragement in its favor: 11.94 million trailer views (as of May 14).

The BoxOffice team is currently forecasting a $15 million domestic opening weekend and $42 million domestic total for The Internship. Check back over the next few weeks as we continue to update our expectations based on up-to-date buzz.

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Tags: The Internship, Identity Thief, The Campaign, The Watch
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