So the good news was Animation Fund III finally delisted after reaching its $100 goal. The bad news that many have pointed out is how long it took to get there.
My options are sparkling. I closed out JACKR, a Jackie Robinson film Robert Redford was supposedly interested in. We all know about Redford and The Natural, but this one never got traction. As a baseball fan, I think it’s a shame. At $1.09 five years after its IPO, just close your position if you have one. Another sports movie it’s time to close out a short position on is Racing Dreams (RCDRM) that had a $3 IPO two days ago and is now at $2. Just pocket your change and move on. Finally, the Scanners remake is still hovering out there for some reason. Shut down that puppy too before David Cronenberg’s head explodes.
If Scanners is your thing, you might be one of those itching to see the Nightmare on Elm Street remake. For the genre, it was genius. For a scary date night, it wasn’t bad. I’m still interested to see what Jackie Earle Haley can do as Freddy. I record Human Target on my DVR just to watch his dark geeky character. HSXers are bullish on the film as befits the demographic. The IPO for the $35 million opening weekend call has more than doubled. That’s good buzz.
I’m not sure who is buzzing about Ghostbusters 3. As you can from Bill Murray’s hilarious turn on David Letterman last month, there is talk about the film, but the star is hardly positioning it as a slam dunk. Nightmare? Kill me off in the first reel? Dunno, but the HSXers sent it up another $2 yesterday. They also popped up another sequel, The Hobbit, Part 2, which will be a terrific film after, you know, The Hobbit is released.
On the other side of the coin, Despicable Me is starting to slide despite a July release and decent word of mouth. At $101, it may be time to close the position if you’re holding big quantities.
Today’s IPOs are some small films and some questionable Olivia Thirlby vehicles. The Trotsky is a moment for Jay Baruchel. In real life, he turns up in amazing movies like Million Dollar Baby, Almost Famous, Tropic Thunder and How to Train Your Dragon. I don’t think audiences are ready for him for him playing a quirky offbeat dude who believes he is the reincarnation of Trotsky. Also out in a week or so is Happiness Runs with a pretty unknown cast except for Andie Macdowell and Rutguer Hauer. It’s a period piece, the trailer is boring and it’s in limited release. I shorted both.
Now for Olivia. She’s attached to Jack and Diane, which must make John Mellencamp happy, but is a film in which she hides from her boyfriend that she is a werewolf. I wish it were a comedy. She’s also attached to The Darkest Hour. This is also a plot not played for laughs that has the pretty actress touring Russia when aliens invade. Sigh. She is a long way from Juno.
I have no idea what to do with either IPO. I know I don’t want to watch either film if they are ever released.
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