Weekly Box Office and Film Discussion Thread

[jvcarroll]

I wonder how the new Transformers will fare. It's Pride weekend in SF so I probably won't be doing the movies. I've been rather disappointed in the films so far. The battle scenes are so redundant and void of human emotion that I've actually dozed off during them before. This one reportedly has a more modest budget closer to the original. We'll see. Foreign markets make up for about 52-69% of the total box office so the investment is safe. But will US audiences bite? We've been so fickle this year. The performance of this film could be a good indicator of how healthy the US box office is this year.

 

[Drtooth]

Transformer movies are about 2 things. The toy sales (natch) and the foreign markets. Those foreign markets tend to eat these things up because nothing needs translation. But this one especially seems geared towards China, what with the reality TV show for Chinese actor casting. The actual fanbase is split, but supposedly, they're split on everything, and it seems the hate for the movies stem from A) the bad directing and B) the second one which even the writers and said bad director didn't like.

Now, I've said before I'm seeing this film for one reason and one reason only...

Though I would say I'd almost like to check out the third film, since the story actually sounds good. They are definitely planning a fifth one, even though this was supposed to be the last one. Hopefully that one will be in better hands. Maybe they can get Simon Furman to write a pass of the script or something. Other than that, with Kiss Players, The Unicron Trilogy, and both Carnage in C-Minor and B.O.T. these are hardly the worst thing the franchise has to offer.

 

[Drtooth]

Looks like the relatively low box office take for Pacific Rim isn't keeping that franchise down. There's a lot of hope in that one. The movie was elevated to cult status as soon as it hit, rather than the years and years it usually takes. And it did make money overseas. But the best news is an Animated series and a comic book. World building for a cult movie. And of course the sequel in 2017.

 

[jvcarroll]

Looks like the relatively low box office take for Pacific Rim isn't keeping that franchise down. There's a lot of hope in that one. The movie was elevated to cult status as soon as it hit, rather than the years and years it usually takes. And it did make money overseas. But the best news is an Animated series and a comic book. World building for a cult movie. And of course the sequel in 2017.

Pacific Rim presents an odd dilemma. Its US performance of $101 million barely put a dent in the $190 million budget. The fact that's only 25% of the worldwide gross is why they're giving it a sequel. Plus, DelToro is a guy studios really want in their corner.

Pacific Rim is a beautifully directed, yet somewhat mindless, summer action film. However, it stars Charlie Hunnam and Idris Elba rather than that sparkly vampire guy and Bruce Willis. I guarantee you that sort of cast change, while icky, would have resulted in a higher domestic box office. I'm glad they didn't pander. The cast was perfect as is. Pacific Rim was one of my favorites last year. Once again, DelToro can do no wrong in my eyes.

 

[Drtooth]

The cult status success of that film is in no small part of being both playful and serious, and having the right combination of both. It didn't have it's head up its butt nor was it playing super wacky fun time. DelToro is a very capable director and watched enough mech animes to get the formula down as a delightful homage. All the right ingredients of a fun action film.

It's just too bad the general public was freaking confused by it and just flocked to see Adam Sandler farting, and acting 20 years younger than he should, where it comes off kinda disturbing. I'm so glad Blended ate it against Godzilla this year.

 

[Drtooth]

I wonder how the new Transformers will fare. It's Pride weekend in SF so I probably won't be doing the movies. I've been rather disappointed in the films so far. The battle scenes are so redundant and void of human emotion that I've actually dozed off during them before. This one reportedly has a more modest budget closer to the original. We'll see. Foreign markets make up for about 52-69% of the total box office so the investment is safe. But will US audiences bite? We've been so fickle this year. The performance of this film could be a good indicator of how healthy the US box office is this year.

How is $301 million overall, $100 million domestic? Biggest opening of the year, putting Marvel movies and Godzilla to moderate... well, not shame certainly. Doing several mil better, at any rate.

For a movie series everyone supposedly hates, these sure are popular. And I'm very annoyed that I wasn't able to see Grimlock in all his glory this weekend. I did get a pretty good discounted Shockwave for 3 bucks. I guess that's something.

 

[Muppet Master]

How to Train Your Dragon 2 dropped 47 percent to an estimated $13.1 million. That's another weak hold for the well-reviewed sequel. To date, Dragon 2 has grossed $121.8 million, and there's a good chance it ultimately winds up below $170 million.
(boxofficemojo)

that's just sad

 

[jvcarroll]

How to Train Your Dragon 2 dropped 47 percent to an estimated $13.1 million. That's another weak hold for the well-reviewed sequel. To date, Dragon 2 has grossed $121.8 million, and there's a good chance it ultimately winds up below $170 million.
(boxofficemojo)

that's just sad

That's just idiotic.

 

[jvcarroll]

Forbes article about domestic vs overseas box office:
'Pacific Rim 2' May Be A Box Office Game-Changer
America no longer drives the box office for American movies. This will change the shape of entertainment.

 

[Mynameisdean]

Am I the only one who feels like"Planes 2" Will not fail, but simply underperform? I expect a $30-35 mil debut.