Weekly Box Office and Film Discussion Thread

[Drtooth]

I did like his 90's movies, but Adam Sandler just doesn't have it anymore. The last good thing he did was that vampire movie, and it was a long time since he did anything else decent.

DM2 will probably get a huge bump, being a family film and all (please clobber that snail thing next week).... But I really want PR to not flop so we can get that live action American Mazinger Z film they've been threatening. Then and ONLY then will we get the show on DVD in the US again.

So, I'm pushing for a semi-related movie to spawn a movie of a famous anime franchise so we can get some merchandise over here.

 

[Scooterforever]

Ooof, Pacific isn't doing well at the box office- http://movies.yahoo.com/news/pacific-rim-third-despicable-2-edges-grown-ups-152638490.html. I saw PR twice in two days and thought it was fantastic, so it's a shame to see it do poorly. Still, many of my all-time favorite films, including Labyrinth and Dark Crystal, flopped in theaters but gained massive followings later on. My main complaint about PR is that their should have been more Giant Robot v. Kaiju fights. They definitely could have trimmed the fat out of the LOOOONNNNGGG Becket/ Mori romance subplot to give us twenty more minutes of monster fighting. Still, good movie overall. Idris Elba's portrayal of the hardened but secretly soft-hearted Marshall Stacker Pentecost was by far the greatest performance, though my favorite character was Herc Hansen (Max Martini), pilot of the Jaeger "Striker Eureka."

 

[Drtooth]

I HATE how they call it Sunday Morning. There's still a whole day for the movies to make more money.

I'm hugely disappointed that Grown Ups 2 is doing well. People would rather see Adam Sandler make fart jokes than a crazy tribute to Japanese Monster vs Robot films. Seriously, I've never seen Blockbuster fatigue so badly before.

 

[charlietheowl]

I saw The Heat today. Melissa McCarthy was great, but the movie dragged whenever she wasn't the main focus. Plus they hired Kaitin Olson from It's Always Sunny and gave her only one scene! When you have a good actress like that you shouldn't waste her.

 

[KremlingWhatnot]

This weekend's Box Office
1 1 Despicable Me 2 Uni. $43,892,895 -47.4% 4,003 +6 $10,965 $228,376,775 $76 2
2 N Grown Ups 2 Sony $41,508,572 - 3,491 - $11,890 $41,508,572 $80 1
3 N Pacific Rim WB $37,285,325 - 3,275 - $11,385 $37,285,325 $190 1
4 3 The Heat Fox $14,002,080 -43.5% 3,128 -56 $4,476 $112,365,557 $43 3
5 2 The Lone Ranger BV $11,506,100 -60.6% 3,904 - $2,947 $71,467,292 $215 2
6 4 Monsters University BV $10,631,576 -46.1% 3,142 -597 $3,384 $237,771,003 - 4
7 5 World War Z Par. $9,314,862 -49.4% 3,003 -313 $3,102 $176,971,782 $190 4
8 6 White House Down Sony $6,162,633 -54.3% 2,566 -656 $2,402 $62,975,566 $150 3
9 8 Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain LG/S $4,754,152 -52.6% 892 +16 $5,330 $26,132,461 - 2
10 7 Man of Steel WB $4,719,084 -58.7% 2,150 -755 $2,195 $280,888,962 $225 5
11 9 This is the End Sony $2,850,571 -51.4% 1,394 -710 $2,045 $91,639,011 $32 5
12 10 Now You See Me LG/S $1,305,391 -54.2% 850 -756 $1,536 $113,283,093 $75 7
13 13 The Way, Way Back FoxS $1,121,851 +102.9% 79 +60 $14,201 $1,866,336 -
I'm glad Despicable Me 2 beat Grown Ups 2 for a LOT OF REASONS.

 

[Scooterforever]

Hopefully Pacific Rim can make up for its losses overseas. As with Iron Man 3 and World War Z, PR was made with the Chinese audience in mind; there's a Chinese Jaeger, Crimson Typhoon, not to mention 75% of the film takes place in China, off the coast of Hong Kong. Considering it's inspired by the classic Japanese Kaiju films, it struck me as odd that the film takes place in China instead of Japan, and as I said I believe this decision was made with the Chinese audience in mind.

 

[Drtooth]

It's very eerie that we're making films for everyone else.

We're basically one of the only countries, if not THE only country that makes stuff with other countries in mind to export. Yes, Pacific Rim will hopefully do better overseas. There's no reason why that should fall into the fact that Hollywood makes too many big budget films and releases them all at once, causing the Blockbuster fatigue that's clearly part of the reason why Lone Ranger flopped. White House Down was mostly because of that other movie with the same exact premise... though WHD looks like the less stoic, actually fun action film one.

I'm starting to think even July isn't as hot as it once was. There's too much stock in The second half of Summer movie season. The first half is the make or break. The second half, only certain family films usually get the gold.

Still... Groan Ups 2. Really. I know Pacific Rim is a niche thing and all... but really? Adam Sandler as a man child? I'd rather live in a world where giant monsters and robots could kill you walking out the door like an extra than a world where they keep making Manchild comedies.

 

[Drtooth]

Okay, I'm officially not reading these stupid Box Office stories anymore

As much as I like the idea of Turbo flopping, the film was released only today and considering how early it is, I don't think anyone's seen it yet. The film is already considered a failure because of speculation. Jeezuz. No wonder films aren't doing well... you have these stupid speculators saying a film's already a flop for not making money when it hasn't even come out yet.

Wait for the movie to come out THEN call it a failure for not sweating gold every 2 seconds.

 

[robodog]

The fact that Grown Ups 2 beat Pacific Rim fills me with a disgust for the moviegoing public at large.

 

[Drtooth]

And the fact that the very same critics who took a dump all over Man of Steel for being "disappointing" for some reason (as if any of the other Superman movies were better) are praising Snail Film. But I guess it looks so stupid from the previews, that everyone's expectations were so incredibly low, it had to be good on that level. I read one review that essentially said (paraphrasing) It isn't as smartly written as Monsters University, or with lovable characters like Despeicable Me 2... but Underdog story we've seen a billion times.... WOO!

You know what? Fair enough. The next movie (unless I manage to get to Pacific Rim this weekend) I'm looking forward to seeing is The Smurfs 2. You know what member of this forum complained and whined and hated the concept of the movie and the trailers the loudest? Me. And I went in with the lowest expectations possible, like I was trying to watch it as shock therapy to make me hate stuff I used to like as a kid (in a fit of self loathing) and I actually enjoyed it. By the thinnest definition of enjoyment, sure... and only because Hank Azaria stole the film (a crime to be applauded)... but I didn't hate it as much as I thought I would.

So, I am entertaining the thought of seeing Turbo IF I can go on a bargain Tuesday afternoon somewhere if I can scrounge up enough money. While I initially didn't mind missing out on The Lorax, I kinda feel a bit left out. Plus, it's not like, After Pacfic Rim, Smurfs 2, and that thing about Jason Sudakis smuggling drugs for Ed Helms, there's nothing that really sounds interesting to me until Thor comes out in November.

But that's about it. I still refuse to see Cloudy with a Chance of Destroying the Source Material 2 and Disney Car Planes. No matter how John Cleese, I refuse to Dane Cook.