Super 8's 'super' box office win: 3 theories

Many in Hollywood were sure that Super 8 would debut this past weekend as a major box office failure. Not only did J.J. Abrams' sci-fi flick boast no stars, but early audience-interest tracking revealed that most Americans were either unaware of, or indifferent to the film. Factor in a determinedly coy marketing campaign that concealed the most exciting plot points, and Super 8 seemed doomed to underwhelm at the box office. Turns out, the film tallied $38 million and won the weekend. What happened? Here, three theories:

1. Super 8 was saved by Twitter

Paramount Pictures, the studio behind Super 8, launched a last-ditch social-media campaign Thursday, says Michelle King at The Wall Street Journal. The studio successfully promoted nationwide Thursday screenings on Twitter, generating good word of mouth when a healthy proportion of the tweeps who saw the film tweeted about it positively. "Being able to come out of a movie and instantly tell your friends to see it because you heard about it under the radar is helpful," says Paramount vice president Don Harris, as quoted by the Journal.

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2. Super 8 was saved by older viewers

In a rare demographic twist for a summer blockbuster, nearly three-quarters of the Super 8 audience was 25 or older. Indeed, the film has been "embraced by older movie lovers who grew up in the '80s and see Super 8 as a modern version of films like E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial or The Goonies," says Amy Kaufman in The Los Angeles Times. Not only did that get Super 8 off to a "solid start at the box office," the resulting buzz hints that Super 8 could be as successful as Bridesmaids and True Grit, two films that also "crossed generational divides."

3. Super 8 didn't need to be saved

The film's budget was only $50 million, says Scott Mendelson at The Huffington Post, so pundits who were eager to label Super 8 an "automatic flop" if it opened at $30 million, as projected, should never have been taken seriously. The movie's "rock-solid" $38 million haul, a bit above the projections that caused so much hand-wringing, should be considered "a huge win for Paramount."