Quick Takes 7/6/07

• Movie tie-in video games are often lackluster, uninspired products that exist solely to cash in on the name recognition. The best ones, exceptions to this rule, are ones that extend the movie’s storyline and characters instead of simply plugging characters into existing formats like first-person shooters or side-scrollers.
• Hasbro has received a stock analyst’s endorsement based largely on the range and success of its movie tie-in licenses, which include a number of Marvel Comics properties as well as Transformers. Both of those give the company access to properties that are new and hot as well as time-tested and rich in terms of depth.
• Deborah Netburn has a great article up at the LA Times about the reasons Evan Almighty did not meet with the box-office success of its predecessor. While many theories have been thrown around Netburn applies Occam’s Razor (the simplest solution is the most likely) and pegs the lack of star power/mainstream recognition held by the leads as the reason it’s only brought in about $68 million to date.

Paramount hoping not to register strike two with new A Mighty Heart release

Paramount Vantage is adjusting the reach of A Mighty Heart in hopes of extending its box-office life, reports Variety.

The studio is planning to cut back the number of screens the Angelina Jolie-starring biopic is playing on from 1,350 to just 651 this weekend and limiting those screens to a select few urban and other markets. The movie has so far under-performed in its initial release and scaling back the screen reach could help it stay in theaters longer and then build a bit of word-of-mouth buzz. It’s received a number of critical lauds but has also been the subject of much debate because of its politically-tinged story line.

An increase in the number of adult-geared films this summer, something there hasn’t been much of in the past, is at least partly being pinned as the cause for the underwhelming box-office performance. Vantage still plans a heavy awards-season campaign for the flick, which will be on DVD by the time nominations are being pursued. [via Spout]