Weekly Box Office and Film Discussion Thread

[Drtooth]

But Finding Dory is underwhelming a bit at the foriegn box office with only $167 million total, but it'll likely pick up, and Finding Dory will probably become the highest grossing animated movie worldwide beating Frozen's record, it seems like something new keeps beating the record so quickly now.

Maybe because Dory doesn't blow up every five seconds so China doesn't know what the heck is going on.

I really shouldn't be harping on the fact China loves terrible movies since that's the only way Pacific Rim became profitable, cuz it wasn't released against an Adam Sandler movie that audiences actually paid to see. It's just somehow a little annoying that one of the only profitable in the US summer movies (if not the only one besides Civil War) isn't getting the same audience as it should overseas. Meanwhile, Warcraft will probably be a movie series even though by US box office standards, it was the least successful video game movie of the three released this year.

As for BFG...that's all on Disney. This screamed September/October release and they thought that it would actually be profitable opening against...what, like 3 other movies? It really looks like one of those films too scary for little kids to see, but that older kids just couldn't get into. What was their audience, then? It could have made a modest deal as a Halloween movie tie in. There's nothing summer movie-esque about it.

 

[C to the J]

What bugs me is the fact that there's not enough respect for live-action movies that are good for families and people looking to live wholesome lives.

I remember seeing the animated direct-to-video version of the BFG, and I figured those who saw it/heard of the story would also support the new version.

 

[D'Snowth]

I remember seeing the animated direct-to-video version of the BFG, and I figured those who saw it/heard of the story would also support the new version.

The thing of it is, in addition to sequels, all Hollywood's been doing as of late is remakes and rehashes or older stories, and people are getting sick of it. Heck, PAN bombed big time - the only thing interesting about that movie was the hammy Hook, who was more like an Indiana Jones-esque character.

It's funny how when it comes to film and television, people are wanting more and more originality, yet when it comes to the internet, people don't want originality.

 

[Drtooth]

What bugs me is the fact that there's not enough respect for live-action movies that are good for families and people looking to live wholesome lives.

I'd at least agree with that sentiment more if "wholesome family movies" didn't automatically turn into bad talking animal movies and/or manipulative garbage that even Hallmark Channel wouldn't touch by movie producers. I agree there should be quality family movies that aren't animated, but I really don't think we've seen anything of quality for a while, and families would be more likely to get dumped with mediocre "Alexander and the etc Day" type films that have a low budget and a low enough yield to keep making them, or some CGI hybrid thingy more along the lines of the "was this even necessary" Yogi Bear movie than the "actually not that bad" surprise hit of the first Chipmunks film.

I'm ecstatic that talking animal movies have all but gone the way of the pirate epic (not POTC pirate epics, that is) and disaster film. Except that freaking Kevin Spacey thing where he's a cat, and even then it looks at least slightly ironic. I have a very large reserve of hate for talking animal movies because of what they did to Underdog, first of all. And they all hit the same dumb animal movie cliches. They're cynically made, they're just...dreadful, and they really don't give the 4 year olds who could get any enjoyment out of them any credit. Seriously *&^%$ the Air Buddies movies and that &^%$ puppy obviously voiced by a white kid who talks like what a fifty year old white guy who lives in a gated community approximates what a black rapper from the early 90's talks like!

Sorry...tangent.

But when they don't go the cheap route, which is what made BFG the flop it was, they go too huge, try to make something in the vein of Harry Potter in look and tone and just coming off like it's more of a ripoff of the Potter films than they should be. Even if that just means that's how the movie marketing looks. Hugo pretty much used the same font.

Now, it seems that this may have been a case of sabotage from Disney after they had another falling out with Spielberg midway through production. That might explain why they put it so close to Dory. But I'm going to remove that and just say it's a book kids aren't familiar with (at least these days), and it's not like Dahl's other books made movies that were really that good. He certainly hated both the crappy Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 70's movie eeeeeeveryone loves (they BOTH suck...they do... nostalgia can only take you so far) and The Witches, which I'm disappointed in his reaction to. Fantastic Mr. Fox was basically Wes Anderson animated (no complaints from me, I think that's my favorite of the Dahl movies), and I'm not going to the obvious about Tim Burton and the Tim Burton Factory starring Tim Burton's favorite actor (again, they both suck, but at least the goth headache isn't as bad as the Kroft Brother's fever dream of the original).

The thing of it is, in addition to sequels, all Hollywood's been doing as of late is remakes and rehashes or older stories, and people are getting sick of it. Heck, PAN bombed big time - the only thing interesting about that movie was the hammy Hook, who was more like an Indiana Jones-esque character.

Like I said before, maybe the one directly about J. M. Barre did well with critics and a small audience. I mean, there's a musical that somehow exists based on it. But the last successful Peter Pan related thing was Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and that's a preschool kid's show. Ignoring the fact the straighter adaption from a decade before flopped big time, Pan was a hot mess. From everything I hear about it, it sounds somehow like someone was trying to out Baz Luhrmann Baz Luhrmann (down to even using the same freaking song they used in Moulin Rouge) all the while using a script so fan ficcy that it makes Once Upon a Time blush. No... it makes Once Upon a Time's Alice in Wonderland spinoff blush. And know what's more offensive than using source material that has a not currently culturally sensitive portrayal of Native Americans? Making those portrayals so "politically correct" (they aren't) that instead of being cartoonish stereotypes they go the way of the batcrap insane factor. If Johnny Depp couldn't pull off crazy Tonto with a bird on his head, how did they think Tiger Lilly looking like a crazy cat woman who fell into her hoarding pile of tangled yarn would go over?

 

[Drtooth]

To the surprise of no one Secret Life of Pets opened to a massive goldmine. Not quite as big as Dory's take, but only 37 million off. Not bad, considering the openings of other supposed "big" movies this season.

As far as the film goes, it was cute. I'd say an easy shoe in for third favorite animated film of the year of mine, though still kinda tied with Angry Birds which I liked far more than I should have. Easily Kevin Hart's best movie. Really enjoyed him as homicidal, human hating rabbit. Even bought a box of SLOP gummies to eat durning the thing, only to find out they were just surplus Hello Kitty gummies in a SLOP box. Between this and Angry Birds, they were right to have a cast of mainly comedians. They all worked nicely. Also great to see Albert Brooks as an animated character in direct competition with another movie with Albert Brooks as an animated character.

Dory seems to have held a steady, yet distant second place.

 

[Muppet Master]

Amazing for The Secret Life of Pets, no words, a $103 million opening weekend, that's just $32 million away from hyped up Finding Dory which is from a brand with tons of recognition. Honestly Illumination Entertainment is on fire, they just can't have a flop, they're barely just starting, move over Blue Sky, Illumination deserves to be the 3rd place animation studio, seriously The Lorax, Minions, and the Despicable Me movies have all made at least $200 million domestically, Blue Sky hasn't had a single movie reach $200 million domestically, and Minions crossed the $1 billion mark worldwide, and Despicable Me 2 was pretty close. Add that to how low of a budget these movies have and the fact that they're actually really good then it's just a huge win for Illumination. Back to The Secret Life of Pets, it only has a $75 million budget, so it's already made a profit.

Though on the other hand, there's The BFG which plummeted 60% from an already awful $18 million opening weekend to just $7.6 million, that's worse then MMW's $11 million week 2, honestly this flop just keeps getting worse. So far The BFG has only made $38 million domestically on a massive $140 million budget and just $11 million in foriegn markets, so just a $50 million worldwide total. It'll probably fall short of a $60 million domestic total, and that's just sad. The Legend of Tarzan isn't doing so hot either, a $81 million domestic total so far with a $180 million budget, but at least that might make some money back in foriegn markets. But The BFG is just sad, though not as bad as Mars Needs Moms.

 

[Drtooth]

There's rumblings that BFG's release date was chosen to basically screw Steven Spielberg, who had a serious level of infighting with Disney. This was the only Disney film directed by him, after all. And now if Indiana Jones 5 happens (which I don't think it should), they have a very awkward call to make to Spielberg so that he has an awkward task of directing it for Disney.

But even if that isn't true, the problem is clear. Disney wants to release at least one film a month, sometimes 2. I don't think that's wise. For whatever reasons BFG failed to capture audiences, the fact I only saw a trailer for Pete's Dragon once before Dory kinda hints that there's a level of arrogance to Disney's feature Film releases. Yep. The film that Disney so called sabotaged got more marketing and publicity than the one without his involvement. I didn't even realize Pete's Dragon was coming out this year until I saw they're releasing a Funko toy of the original version. And in September, there's going to be an African folk tale based movie who's name I can't remember that I didn't even know existed until I saw a poster for it at the theater I saw Pets at.

So far, Disney's live action remake of classic films has been successful, with Jungle Book being an unprecedented surprise of a success. Alice through the Looking Glass I don't know if I should count, and even then it was the sequel to a film successful to have a sequel. BFG is Disney's first massive loss since the year began, riding on a wave of Star Wars, Zootopia, Jungle Book, and Civil War back to back to back to back box office gold. Even with Alice underperforming, Dory's domestic pretty much made up for that. BFG could have been the one real bump in the road, but I don't see Pete's Dragon fairing any better. And BFG does look like something that will be discovered on home video/streaming. So at least it has potential to be cult, like most of Disney's movies were.

As for Pets, I'm glad that Illumination's second Non-Minion based movie is such a hit. The Lorax was a bit of a mess that I'd say plays better on television (never saw it theatrically). It has a good middle but the beginning and end padding kinda sucked. I have no interest in Sing, though I like between Seth MacFarline doing voice work for that and either Matt Stone or Trey Parker (forget which) is going to be the villain in Despicable Me 3, I like how they're getting cartoonist voice actors to do rolls in projects that aren't their own creation. Like how Paul Rugg has been a voice actor for years now, voicing Cricket in Pig Goat Banana Cricket. Only they're on a theatrical level.

Also...it...uh...it took them until Secret Life of Pets to realize that the word "Minion" makes up the word IlluMINatION, according to their new vanity plate.

Edit: Seems Tarzan did just manage to eke out a couple hundred thousand dollar win from Dory and had the distant second place. Still... Fourth week of Dory opposite another kid's movie, second week of Tarzan...it's a hollow victory.

 

[mr3urious]

Anyone else thinks Nine Lives looks really idiotic? I get that it's trying to be one of those throwbacks to '90s family movies with talking animals, but it still looks very by-the-numbers. At least the cat doesn't actually talk like in Homeward Bound, and there's somewhat of a budget behind it unlike A Talking Cat!?!.

 

[Drtooth]

Honestly, I cannot place Nine Lives at all. It really feels that on some level, somehow it wasn't meant to be taken seriously. Like the whole thing is really tongue in cheek, yet the previews seem to have me bouncing around "this was made as a joke" and "we're totally serious about this kind of family movie being made today."

Seriously, the casting of the father/cat and the Magic Man who turns him into one suggests it's satire, the casting of everyone else, not so much. Seriously, this actually has me baffled. Maybe it's at least a little ironic, but played straight. Best guess I can make about this, it's that level of 66 Batman where adults would think it's all a big, goofy joke, but it's just straight enough for kids to think it's sincere.

 

[Drtooth]

Ahem... Divergent part 3 failed so spectacularly, they'll dump the series on TV

Ahem...

Then again, it worked for the Harry Potter and the Cliche Fan Fic Monsters Mortal Instruments...for some reason...