Weekly Box Office and Film Discussion Thread

[Drtooth]

Was this the plan all along, or is Disney getting all snotty that it didn't make Frozen money yet? I'd really hate to see this be considered a failure because of stupid international market distribution. It was one of their best solo films in years. Heck, it was even better than some of Pixar's films. It's just plain idiotic that it's in select markets after it hit the US. I want to see this succeed and have a boy's franchise to rival Frozen instead of those *&^%$ talking planes that no one actually likes. This film had much more heart... heck with it. This film had writing! And it's just as toyetic. I don't want to see this swept under the rug with Bolt because of this imbecilic strategy. It's a great film that deserves a sequel, cartoon series, or at least a new Marvel series rebooted to be more like the movies.

 

[jvcarroll]

Was this the plan all along, or is Disney getting all snotty that it didn't make Frozen money yet? I'd really hate to see this be considered a failure because of stupid international market distribution. It was one of their best solo films in years. Heck, it was even better than some of Pixar's films. It's just plain idiotic that it's in select markets after it hit the US. I want to see this succeed and have a boy's franchise to rival Frozen instead of those *&^%$ talking planes that no one actually likes. This film had much more heart... heck with it. This film had writing! And it's just as toyetic. I don't want to see this swept under the rug with Bolt because of this imbecilic strategy. It's a great film that deserves a sequel, cartoon series, or at least a new Marvel series rebooted to be more like the movies.

I'm sure they're pleased with Big Hero 6's performance so far, but this sort of mismanagement of the foreign distribution has to stop. It makes no sense to me why they'd withhold such major releases for months! Also, I found the lack of heavy-hitters this Thanksgiving to be weird. Hunger Games was released the week before with the Penguins film and Horrible Bosses 2 being the only new contenders. Tell me MMW wouldn't have fit better on that week. Or something - anything. There was so much space for a big hit, but no one put one out. Such an epic Hollywood fail.

 

[Drtooth]

I kinda don't see it that way. There seems to be too much films being released at once, especially in December. I've seen the last few years have good enough business on Thanksgiving weekend only to have a huge drop the weekend after. Certainly happened with TM. Seems there's probably a film or two less. Not the huge competition a December with a Chipmunks movie usually gets. Very crowded in there. Films that open earlier in November get more wiggle room.

I honestly don't think Disney would have put MMW this month. They're not going to have 2 of their family films compete against each other directly. If there was no BH6 and MMW was released near that time frame I'd see it doing slightly better if anything.

 

[jvcarroll]

I kinda don't see it that way. There seems to be too much films being released at once, especially in December. I've seen the last few years have good enough business on Thanksgiving weekend only to have a huge drop the weekend after. Certainly happened with TM. Seems there's probably a film or two less. Not the huge competition a December with a Chipmunks movie usually gets. Very crowded in there. Films that open earlier in November get more wiggle room.

I honestly don't think Disney would have put MMW this month. They're not going to have 2 of their family films compete against each other directly. If there was no BH6 and MMW was released near that time frame I'd see it doing slightly better if anything.

That aside, most studios had NOTHING for Thanksgiving weekend. Has the movie box office changed that much? Holidays are supposed to have tentpoles. Independence Day, Labor Day weekend, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day (and Halloween to a lesser extent for the horror market). Even Valentines Day receives an array of gushy love stories. This Thanksgiving was rather dry and that just seems odd to me.

On another note, even though Exodus won the weekend, it still seems to have under-performed. Aside from a few great hits, most films seemed to have plateaued, fizzled or bombed. Next year will be filled with heavy hitters, but just how well will they all do?

Those films include: the new Star Wars, the new Bond film, Jurassic World, Avengers 2, Ant-Man, Hunger Games final chapter, Mad Max reboot, Peanuts, the notorious Fantastic Four reboot, the much anticipated Tomorrowland, Minions, Ted 2, Magic Mike 2, Mission Impossible 5, Inside Out, The Jungle Book, Hotel Transylvania 2 with Mel Brooks added to the cast, Divergent sequel, Cinderella, B.O.O, the Terminator reboot and the Good Dinosaur.

 

[Drtooth]

That aside, most studios had NOTHING for Thanksgiving weekend. Has the movie box office changed that much? Holidays are supposed to have tentpoles. Independence Day, Labor Day weekend, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day (and Halloween to a lesser extent for the horror market). Even Valentines Day receives an array of gushy love stories. This Thanksgiving was rather dry and that just seems odd to me.

Like I said, I think they realized that the films do more business before Thanksgiving. Penguins really didn't seem to get a great opening, and that was the closest thing they released. Seems in between Thanksgiving Weekend and Christmas, families are going shopping instead. I don't think any movie would have made all that much if released that weekend. It was a pretty slow one anyway. I'd venture to say they include the entire November month as Thanksgiving time.

On another note, even though Exodus won the weekend, it still seems to have under-performed. Aside from a few great hits, most films seemed to have plateaued, fizzled or bombed. Next year will be filled with heavy hitters, but just how well will they all do?

The problem with this year was that too many big movies opened at once, and anything that didn't look big is just going to get an audience on Netflix because it's cheaper. May was a strange month. Other than a couple comedies, all the movies did well. Not spectacular, but well enough. And they were all released within a week or two of each other. Usually there's one movie that does great, one movie that does good enough, and one huge name film that bombs terribly. They all managed to do well, taking business from each other. Plus, not everyone can see every movie. Especially if the anticipated ones are released within a week of each other.

 

[jvcarroll]

Like I said, I think they realized that the films do more business before Thanksgiving. Penguins really didn't seem to get a great opening, and that was the closest thing they released. Seems in between Thanksgiving Weekend and Christmas, families are going shopping instead. I don't think any movie would have made all that much if released that weekend. It was a pretty slow one anyway. I'd venture to say they include the entire November month as Thanksgiving time.




The problem with this year was that too many big movies opened at once, and anything that didn't look big is just going to get an audience on Netflix because it's cheaper. May was a strange month. Other than a couple comedies, all the movies did well. Not spectacular, but well enough. And they were all released within a week or two of each other. Usually there's one movie that does great, one movie that does good enough, and one huge name film that bombs terribly. They all managed to do well, taking business from each other. Plus, not everyone can see every movie. Especially if the anticipated ones are released within a week of each other.

Hmm....see I don't think people were going to see the Penguin movie either way, but I heard a lot of friends complain there was nothing opening Thanksgiving weekend. I still blame the lack of major releases for the sluggish holiday box office last month. I stand by the idea that there was a clear opening for a major release that would have owned the weekend and made off with a healthy profit.

I also don't think as many major movies opened this year than last year or will next year, but you're right in saying the ones that did seemed to have come in competitive clusters. Some fared better than others.

This is often done in television too. Two good shows go head to head on different networks and the one that performs less gets canceled when it would have likely won its slot on any other night. There's very little counter programming anymore. Drama goes up against drama. Comedy goes up against comedy. Reality show goes up against reality show. And all of these are often similar ideas that audiences would like to enjoy on different nights. A lot of people don't DVR and for those who do, it's still ruining appointment television.

My point is, it's no longer about quality programming or smart programming. It's about one company executive winning over another company's executive. That's the strategy and it's leaving audiences cold.

 

[Drtooth]

I also don't think as many major movies opened this year than last year or will next year, but you're right in saying the ones that did seemed to have come in competitive clusters. Some fared better than others.

This is often done in television too. Two good shows go head to head on different networks and the one that performs less gets canceled when it would have likely won its slot on any other night. There's very little counter programming anymore. Drama goes up against drama. Comedy goes up against comedy. Reality show goes up against reality show. And all of these are often similar ideas that audiences would like to enjoy on different nights. A lot of people don't DVR and for those who do, it's still ruining appointment television.

My point is, it's no longer about quality programming or smart programming. It's about one company executive winning over another company's executive. That's the strategy and it's leaving audiences cold.

The funny thing is, I dreaded Guardians of the Galaxy's August opening because August is where movies go to die, and the choice of the most obscure and quirky Marvel comic there is would have certainly alienated everyone but die hard comic nerds who would only go to see it to complain about it. Made the most money of the year domestically.

Then there was the non-stop May barrage of Spider-Man, Godzilla, X-Men, Maleficent, I swear there's one more... with only comedies like Blended and Million ways to Die in the West underperforming. And I swear, quality aside, those aren't things that lose much in translation between movie screen and ipad/home video screen. There wasn't a single Battleship type failure in the bunch, and they all did well, but took competition directly from each other, and not everyone was able to see all 4 movies in that quick a time frame. I didn't even get to make it to X-Men. Then June comes, and while they tried with the thing based on the Japanese light novel, the only blockbuster in the month was Transformers... 22 Jump Street was not really a surprise hit, but made the most money that month until TF4. There was a huge gap in June, and by July, everyone's tired of the blockbusters (sure as heck happened last year).

 

[jvcarroll]

The funny thing is, I dreaded Guardians of the Galaxy's August opening because August is where movies go to die, and the choice of the most obscure and quirky Marvel comic there is would have certainly alienated everyone but die hard comic nerds who would only go to see it to complain about it. Made the most money of the year domestically.

Then there was the non-stop May barrage of Spider-Man, Godzilla, X-Men, Maleficent, I swear there's one more... with only comedies like Blended and Million ways to Die in the West underperforming. And I swear, quality aside, those aren't things that lose much in translation between movie screen and ipad/home video screen. There wasn't a single Battleship type failure in the bunch, and they all did well, but took competition directly from each other, and not everyone was able to see all 4 movies in that quick a time frame. I didn't even get to make it to X-Men. Then June comes, and while they tried with the thing based on the Japanese light novel, the only blockbuster in the month was Transformers... 22 Jump Street was not really a surprise hit, but made the most money that month until TF4. There was a huge gap in June, and by July, everyone's tired of the blockbusters (sure as heck happened last year).

John Carter and Battleship type bombs don't happen every year. Those are epic and both happened on years that had other runaway successes. 2014 certainly did have its share of big and small budget flops and fizzles (many of them good films). But yeah...quite a few outright flops. I stand by my statement.

 

[Drtooth]

There's usually that big budget flop in May that exists to make the higher performing movies look good and give them a boost in Box Office. Maybe not every year, but certainly most years. Of course there's the one that always does kinda well, but not great.

As far as releasing films en masse goes, I'm almost laughing that they just moved Paddington to January the last moment. Did they feel it was too crowded to release in December? Did they think there would be too much competition between Annie and Night at the Museum 3? That's what I feel. Apparently, the movie is actually getting good reviews, considering how awful the trailers look and how dopey the story is. I mean, seductive taxidermist? Even if that was in the original stories, I don't see that working for a film that isn't some weird parody. To me, at best it comes off as a Curious George movie knockoff. I have no desire to see it, but I'm surprised to hear the reviews are genuinely not bad.

That said, I have no desire to bother with the other two. I hate the heck out of Annie, the musical, comic strip, and far right nutjob creator. I'm sure what this film is may just be some sort of improvement or something. Best thing I can say is that Annie looks adorable, and not in a cloying way. While I'm not going to be all snobby about Night at the Museum, I only really saw the second for the Oscar/Vader scene and that was worth the price of admission right there. It looks...well...consistent. Even if I genuinely wanted to see this, I'd be too bummed about Robin Williams to enjoy it.

OH CRAP! I forgot Into the Woods. I don't think I'd see it even though I actually like that musical. Somehow, Tim Burton and Sondheim don't sound like they'd mix.

Of course, I'd like to check out Birdman and Big Eyes... if I could find them. Big Eyes does sound interesting. Especially since Tim actually had to tone down the actions of the real character because it would have seemed unrealistic, according to his interview with John Stewart.

 

[jvcarroll]

There's usually that big budget flop in May that exists to make the higher performing movies look good and give them a boost in Box Office. Maybe not every year, but certainly most years. Of course there's the one that always does kinda well, but not great.

As far as releasing films en masse goes, I'm almost laughing that they just moved Paddington to January the last moment. Did they feel it was too crowded to release in December? Did they think there would be too much competition between Annie and Night at the Museum 3? That's what I feel. Apparently, the movie is actually getting good reviews, considering how awful the trailers look and how dopey the story is. I mean, seductive taxidermist? Even if that was in the original stories, I don't see that working for a film that isn't some weird parody. To me, at best it comes off as a Curious George movie knockoff. I have no desire to see it, but I'm surprised to hear the reviews are genuinely not bad.

That said, I have no desire to bother with the other two. I hate the heck out of Annie, the musical, comic strip, and far right nutjob creator. I'm sure what this film is may just be some sort of improvement or something. Best thing I can say is that Annie looks adorable, and not in a cloying way. While I'm not going to be all snobby about Night at the Museum, I only really saw the second for the Oscar/Vader scene and that was worth the price of admission right there. It looks...well...consistent. Even if I genuinely wanted to see this, I'd be too bummed about Robin Williams to enjoy it.

OH CRAP! I forgot Into the Woods. I don't think I'd see it even though I actually like that musical. Somehow, Tim Burton and Sondheim don't sound like they'd mix.

Of course, I'd like to check out Birdman and Big Eyes... if I could find them. Big Eyes does sound interesting. Especially since Tim actually had to tone down the actions of the real character because it would have seemed unrealistic, according to his interview with John Stewart.

I agree that Into the Woods does have that Burtony feel even though it's not associated with him. That seems to be the fantasy film standard these days. I'll probably see it.

Annie is getting horrendous reviews. I remember when the original film was released and everyone gave John Huston flack for it, but in retrospect it's pretty nice. From the reports I've heard, this film almost seems apologetic of the source material and that's a shame.

Night at the Museum is fun camp with some pop culture references and one-liners mixed in. I have to admit that it was a first date movie with someone special a while back so it holds some memories for me. Other than that, the films are harmless and forgettable.

Birdman is excellent. Check that out. I hope I'm not giving anything away, but the reviews pretty much stated as much that the entire film is stitched together to be one continuous shot. Just the artistry of that gives it a solid review in my book. It's a little long, but I say that about nearly every film. Worth the ticket!!!

But yeah, this season is pretty dry. It'll be much different with next year's superhero glut.