Weekly Box Office and Film Discussion Thread

[jvcarroll]

Transformers made about 900 million world wide. Not exactly a disappointment.

Exactly. Where is this weird standard of disappointment coming from and what does it mean? I'm not a fan of the franchise, but it's doing very well.

Hehe... Power Rangers having a nostalgia factor. Freakin' thing's still on the air. And we got the thing 20 years into the Super Sentai series. I don't see anything wrong with them doing a big budget film instead of the two 90 minute toy commercials they made in the 90's.

Anyway, saw GOTG yesterday and it was freaking amazing. They took some real risks in making a film based on such an obscure and off beat comic, and it totally paid off. I'd venture to say this is probably the most fun I've had at a Marvel movie... even more so than Avengers. Even without the Marvel tie in, they actually made a good sci-fi action comedy. Something that Hollywood's been struggling with since forever (cough cough Pluto Nash). Theater was pretty crowded when I saw it. That's a good sign. Is Friday's opening in addition to Thursday's 11 million? Seriously, between this and TMNT (say what you will about it, it don't look cheap), movie studios are really looking to turn August around this year.

It was awesome. $94 million projected and it knocked the wind out of every other film out now. An earlier release date would have probably propelled it further. I agree that it seems studios want to extend the summer into August. If so, this is the film to do that. Oh and the post-credits moment, featuring a particularly infamous character, was a nice touch!

 

[Muppet Master]

Well now I can guarentee that the "Clifford" movie will be live-action, BUT Clifford himself will be the "CGI Star" , according to boxofficemojo, anyways GOTG got off to a great start with $94 million in the bank, if it holds well then it will easily become the highest grossing film of the year, which isn't saying much since the highest grossing film of 2014 currently hasn't even made $260 million.

 

[Drtooth]

Exactly. Where is this weird standard of disappointment coming from and what does it mean? I'm not a fan of the franchise, but it's doing very well.

Actually... make that A BILLION! It just passed the billion mark, and is the highest earning movie of the year. Disappointment nothing. That's not even counting the toy sales, which are pretty much partially the reason these keep getting made. These films were meant for international consumption, and that was long before they decided to pander to China on this one. I just hope the stories about Bay stepping down are true, and the fifth film follows the story they set up in the end. Then we'd have an actual good one on our hands.

It was awesome. $94 million projected and it knocked the wind out of every other film out now. An earlier release date would have probably propelled it further. I agree that it seems studios want to extend the summer into August. If so, this is the film to do that. Oh and the post-credits moment, featuring a particularly infamous character, was a nice touch!

Here's the full story... it made about 160 million including overseas (which got a not that great 66 million outside the US opening in half the markets). Not only did it do well, it surpassed surpassing expectations set by ever climbing estimates in a dump month. Kinda worried about the foreign markets, though. Hopefully this can keep up the momentum with the following week's TMNT... and those other, crappier films like Step Up. Seriously.. anyone catch those TV spots? It looks like a Seltzer/Freiberg film, only with dancing instead of what can only be generously called jokes.

EDIT: In other news, Hercules TANKED! Not surprised since it barely looked like it could have been campy fun. Not to mention that it's based on an obscure comic book (which got no credit or mention in promotional material) and the trailers and TV spots are basically scenes that happen within the first 4 minutes of the movie, covering up the movie's real story. Lucy's only making money because it was low budget... but Hercules stands to be one of the bigger bombs of the year.

 

[jvcarroll]

Actually... make that A BILLION! It just passed the billion mark, and is the highest earning movie of the year. Disappointment nothing. That's not even counting the toy sales, which are pretty much partially the reason these keep getting made. These films were meant for international consumption, and that was long before they decided to pander to China on this one. I just hope the stories about Bay stepping down are true, and the fifth film follows the story they set up in the end. Then we'd have an actual good one on our hands.




Here's the full story... it made about 160 million including overseas (which got a not that great 66 million outside the US opening in half the markets). Not only did it do well, it surpassed surpassing expectations set by ever climbing estimates in a dump month. Kinda worried about the foreign markets, though. Hopefully this can keep up the momentum with the following week's TMNT... and those other, crappier films like Step Up. Seriously.. anyone catch those TV spots? It looks like a Seltzer/Freiberg film, only with dancing instead of what can only be generously called jokes.

EDIT: In other news, Hercules TANKED! Not surprised since it barely looked like it could have been campy fun. Not to mention that it's based on an obscure comic book (which got no credit or mention in promotional material) and the trailers and TV spots are basically scenes that happen within the first 4 minutes of the movie, covering up the movie's real story. Lucy's only making money because it was low budget... but Hercules stands to be one of the bigger bombs of the year.

All films aside from Guardians sank over 60% from last weekend and the (actually good looking) James Brown biopic didn't fare that great either. Hercules come out a week ago behind the impressive Lucy but it's tanking as much as dropping. $52 million domestic, $108 worldwide total is not to bad for a ten day run, particularly considering that it's the second Hercules movie this year. I don't see any movie passing the $100 million mark as being a bomb unless it cost more than that to make. However, I can't imagine how they thought it would do any better. The landscape of film has changed and no one wants to see those sorts of films anymore unless there's some kind of interesting hook.

I predict the Turtles will do very well and that Guardians will hang on to an impressive box office. Not sure who will win next week. Seeing as the Turtles are a well established brand, it likely will go to them. I'm not expecting them to win the battle of the Tomatometer. There are enough critics perched to hate on the film no matter what. We'll see.

And what about Into the Storm? That film looks terrible, but you can never tell about audience tastes these days. It kind of looks like Sharknado without the sharks.

 

[Drtooth]

All films aside from Guardians sank over 60% from last weekend and the (actually good looking) James Brown biopic didn't fare that great either.

Those things either tend to do well or cling onto obscurity until Oscar Nomination season. Biopics are Oscar Bait, after all. It's not about making money so much as it's about studios saying "Hey! We do art, too." Not that it doesn't look good, considering I don't care much for Biopics anyway. There was no way it was going to do that well, especially against a big film like Guardians.

Hercules come out a week ago behind the impressive Lucy but it's tanking as much as dropping. $52 million domestic, $108 worldwide total is not to bad for a ten day run, particularly considering that it's the second Hercules movie this year. I don't see any movie passing the $100 million mark as being a bomb unless it cost more than that to make. However, I can't imagine how they thought it would do any better. The landscape of film has changed and no one wants to see those sorts of films anymore unless there's some kind of interesting hook.

I wouldn't doubt it cost more than 100 mill to make, and it goes to show how important the international is. I agree. it looks exactly the same as any other Ancient Grome film we've seen the past few years, only more anemic. Didn't the 300 sequel completely disappear after the second week? Seems those films aren't in vogue anymore.

I predict the Turtles will do very well and that Guardians will hang on to an impressive box office. Not sure who will win next week. Seeing as the Turtles are a well established brand, it likely will go to them. I'm not expecting them to win the battle of the Tomatometer. There are enough critics perched to hate on the film no matter what. We'll see.

Yeah, the good TMNT movies didn't have much critical acclaim either. Roger Ebert's review of the first one was basically saying they made the best film possible. And no doubt younger critics will whine about it being an 80's throwback without realizing TMNT is a viable, evergreen brand and long running comic series. No different from any comic book series, really. But you know... that one cartoon and that's all they ever done. Nick's ownership of the franchise was something I dreaded back in 2009, but has since won me over. The cartoon seems like it's solid enough and selling enough toys to stand separate from the movie series if something should happen one way or another. This new movie I've warmed up to, and I'll see it in time (if not opening weekend). Can't be any worse than their dreaded Christmas special (not the episode from the 2k3 series, of course). Still, I'm a big TMNT fan and feel that they've had, out of four so far, 2 good films (first and Imagi's). The second pandered to the kid friendly audience, and the third was screwed up, but doesn't deserve the hate it gets (at least it had Casey Jones back).

I agree. it's a battle of the brands and something tells me TMNT will be more palatable overseas than Guardians, so it'll no doubt make it's money there. The toys aren't flying off the shelves before the film's release like the last time... then again, they don't look all that great. Good sculpting, but poor and stingy paint application.

And what about Into the Storm? That film looks terrible, but you can never tell about audience tastes these days. It kind of looks like Sharknado without the sharks.

I can see people going to it, I just can't picture it being successful. If it has a preachy environmental message, I see overpaid loudmouths on cable networks and AM radio whining about it. I just don't see why anyone would bother with a film about how screwed up the weather is when tornadoes are really touching down in places that never have seen them before. We had one a few towns away, and we're near the coast. That's some scary, unnatural stuff right there. Why should I care about imaginary towns with imaginary people when the unexpected can really happen?

 

[Mynameisdean]

All films aside from Guardians sank over 60% from last weekend and the (actually good looking) James Brown biopic didn't fare that great either. Hercules come out a week ago behind the impressive Lucy but it's tanking as much as dropping. $52 million domestic, $108 worldwide total is not to bad for a ten day run, particularly considering that it's the second Hercules movie this year. I don't see any movie passing the $100 million mark as being a bomb unless it cost more than that to make. However, I can't imagine how they thought it would do any better. The landscape of film has changed and no one wants to see those sorts of films anymore unless there's some kind of interesting hook.

I predict the Turtles will do very well and that Guardians will hang on to an impressive box office. Not sure who will win next week. Seeing as the Turtles are a well established brand, it likely will go to them. I'm not expecting them to win the battle of the Tomatometer. There are enough critics perched to hate on the film no matter what. We'll see.

And what about Into the Storm? That film looks terrible, but you can never tell about audience tastes these days. It kind of looks like Sharknado without the sharks.

EXCACTLY! The first commercial i saw for it, I thought it was for Sharknado 2! When I realized it wasn't, I knew it looked terrible IMO.

 

[jvcarroll]

Those things either tend to do well or cling onto obscurity until Oscar Nomination season. Biopics are Oscar Bait, after all. It's not about making money so much as it's about studios saying "Hey! We do art, too." Not that it doesn't look good, considering I don't care much for Biopics anyway. There was no way it was going to do that well, especially against a big film like Guardians.



I wouldn't doubt it cost more than 100 mill to make, and it goes to show how important the international is. I agree. it looks exactly the same as any other Ancient Grome film we've seen the past few years, only more anemic. Didn't the 300 sequel completely disappear after the second week? Seems those films aren't in vogue anymore.



Yeah, the good TMNT movies didn't have much critical acclaim either. Roger Ebert's review of the first one was basically saying they made the best film possible. And no doubt younger critics will whine about it being an 80's throwback without realizing TMNT is a viable, evergreen brand and long running comic series. No different from any comic book series, really. But you know... that one cartoon and that's all they ever done. Nick's ownership of the franchise was something I dreaded back in 2009, but has since won me over. The cartoon seems like it's solid enough and selling enough toys to stand separate from the movie series if something should happen one way or another. This new movie I've warmed up to, and I'll see it in time (if not opening weekend). Can't be any worse than their dreaded Christmas special (not the episode from the 2k3 series, of course). Still, I'm a big TMNT fan and feel that they've had, out of four so far, 2 good films (first and Imagi's). The second pandered to the kid friendly audience, and the third was screwed up, but doesn't deserve the hate it gets (at least it had Casey Jones back).

I agree. it's a battle of the brands and something tells me TMNT will be more palatable overseas than Guardians, so it'll no doubt make it's money there. The toys aren't flying off the shelves before the film's release like the last time... then again, they don't look all that great. Good sculpting, but poor and stingy paint application.



I can see people going to it, I just can't picture it being successful. If it has a preachy environmental message, I see overpaid loudmouths on cable networks and AM radio whining about it. I just don't see why anyone would bother with a film about how screwed up the weather is when tornadoes are really touching down in places that never have seen them before. We had one a few towns away, and we're near the coast. That's some scary, unnatural stuff right there. Why should I care about imaginary towns with imaginary people when the unexpected can really happen?

Hercules is reported to have a $100M budget. That's why I quoted the figure. I'll catch it on cable.

The 300 sequel had an impressive opening weekend, did very well internationally and it was pretty good considering there really isn't much of a story. No film has ever made mass decapitations look more beautiful on screen.

 

[Drtooth]

So 300 did well due to the international market? Heh... once again, don't underestimate the international gross. Second week 300 was out, it dropped significantly in the domestics. Even behind Peabody and Sherman's unimpressive second week take.

Anyway, I see TMNT doing better internationally due to the brand and the overuse of action sequences. The last TMNT movie was successful only because of the really low animation budget... but then again, it didn't get much of a release in certain international markets. Japan only got it DTV, unsurprising since they didn't quite care much for the 2k3 series (only got about a third of the series before ending it). By comparison, the first cartoon series (while they also didn't show the entire series) had 3 different dubs and an OVA series of 2 episodes. Then again, the last TMNT was a CGI cartoon film, where as this one's more big budget, so there's probably more reason to pay big money to see it.

Funny story concerning Spider-Man... A possible Black Cat or other Spider-Man based female starring film is in development in addition to the Venom and Sinister Six films. Considering how they're freaking out about the "under-performance" of Spider-Man 2 (still made a crapload of money), it seems they refuse to let the franchise go, trying to make it their own Marvel Cinematic Universe.

 

[jvcarroll]

So 300 did well due to the international market? Heh... once again, don't underestimate the international gross. Second week 300 was out, it dropped significantly in the domestics. Even behind Peabody and Sherman's unimpressive second week take.

Anyway, I see TMNT doing better internationally due to the brand and the overuse of action sequences. The last TMNT movie was successful only because of the really low animation budget... but then again, it didn't get much of a release in certain international markets. Japan only got it DTV, unsurprising since they didn't quite care much for the 2k3 series (only got about a third of the series before ending it). By comparison, the first cartoon series (while they also didn't show the entire series) had 3 different dubs and an OVA series of 2 episodes. Then again, the last TMNT was a CGI cartoon film, where as this one's more big budget, so there's probably more reason to pay big money to see it.

Funny story concerning Spider-Man... A possible Black Cat or other Spider-Man based female starring film is in development in addition to the Venom and Sinister Six films. Considering how they're freaking out about the "under-performance" of Spider-Man 2 (still made a crapload of money), it seems they refuse to let the franchise go, trying to make it their own Marvel Cinematic Universe.

I don't understand these arbitrary standards some people on the forums have for film. The 300 sequel nearly matched its $110M budget domestically and went on to boast over $331M globally. Feel what you will about the 300 films, but that's definitely in the win column.

Also, the Peabody and Sherman film didn't look appealing to me, but $268M Global is a lot more than I thought it would take. The way people talked it up made it seem that the numbers were robust. It fared well for a March release and hung on to the top spot in a tepid box office season.

Of course Sony won't give up their Spidey franchise. That's their "in" for the superhero genre and even the poorest performing Spider-Man film is extremely lucrative. People shouting doom and gloom for the franchise under Sony are either unaware of the facts, or just plain stupid. All the other franchises are world-building and this is their attempt at doing the same. That's why the reboot. That's why they're shoehorning of top stars into smaller roles. They've always wanted a Venom movie. The Sinister Six is a great idea. It's an all-new franchise that can help them maintain Spidey rights without having to make Spidey movies every few years. I'm not sure a Black Cat film would be a good idea. Nonetheless, pulling the reigns of the Spider-Man headlining films is a good idea. The last film should have done better. I think it's time to for some new writing and directing blood in that series. Web had some good ideas, but the novice director fell to spotty execution both times. I still like his reboot, however imperfect. I'm just not sure he has a third act in him better than the first two.

 

[Drtooth]

I don't understand these arbitrary standards some people on the forums have for film. The 300 sequel nearly matched its $110M budget domestically and went on to boast over $331M globally. Feel what you will about the 300 films, but that's definitely in the win column.

Okay... wow. Again... global.

Also, the Peabody and Sherman film didn't look appealing to me, but $268M Global is a lot more than I thought it would take. The way people talked it up made it seem that the numbers were robust. It fared well for a March release and hung on to the top spot in a tepid box office season.

It probably was the most profitable of all the Jay Ward based movies, that's for sure. It was also the best written. Of course, that group includes Boris and Natasha and Dudley Do-Right, so the bar wasn't raised very high to begin with.

Dudley Do-Right sucked as a movie is what I'm saying.

Of course Sony won't give up their Spidey franchise. That's their "in" for the superhero genre and even the poorest performing Spider-Man film is extremely lucrative. People shouting doom and gloom for the franchise under Sony are either unaware of the facts, or just plain stupid.

I give them lots of credit for making their own MCU with only one license and using every character they can for it. They should make a third Spider-Man movie about the rise of Venom before they give him his own film, but whatever. Spidey 2 made money, but they're actually concerned about the bad reviews it got. Or at least Robert Orci was too temperamental to have to deal with very negative criticism. I remember he went on an angry rant when Trekkies complained about Into Darkness. I wouldn't be surprised if that's why he just left the third film. No reason for Sony to scramble about the Spider-man movies. Iron Man 2 got bad reviews and word of mouth... the third one turned it around. And third super hero movies are usually the worst (except with Superman... 4th's supposedly even worse).

On another note... Megan Fox has choice words about detractors of the new TMNT movie...

"Let me tell you something about those people. How much money did 'Transformers 4' make? Exactly. Those people can complain -- they all go to the theater," Fox told reporters. "They’re gonna love it -- and if they don’t love it, they can **** off, and that’s the end of that.

...yeah... remind me why the public at large hates you again? This really wasn't the film for Michael Bay to forgive her (still think Jane Levy would have made a better April). While I agree that everyone hates the Transformers movies yet goes to see them anyway, this is far from the more encouraging words from Kevin Eastman who keeps saying how fans are going to love it, and with gusto. Telling the skeptics to &^%$ off? Yeah. That's going to get them to like you.