Weekly Box Office and Film Discussion Thread

[Drtooth]

Eh, still would rather see that than Planes*.

(*winds up going to see Planes anyway)

 

[jvcarroll]

Well, RIPD still has no reviews. That's not a good sign. At least it looks like Ryan Reynolds will have a hit with Turbo. I'm not wild about that film, but it looks funnier and better animated than Planes. I don't know. I actually hope it's good even though that it's not on my list of films to see. RED2 doesn't look as good as its predecessor. It's on my list. Either way it looks to be Turbo's weekend. Oh, and there's the Conjuring. There's no telling how horror films will play. Sometimes the good ones get buried and the bad ones make bank.

Here are my approximate predictions for this 7/19-21/13 weekend:

1. Turbo $55M
2. Red2 $30M
3. RIPD $20M
4. Despicable Me 2 $18M
5. Pacific Rim $16M
6. Grown Ups 2$15M
7. The Conjuring $12M
8. Monsters University $5M
9. The Heat $7M
10. The Lone Ranger $6M

We'll see how close this is.

Well, it looks like my predictions were off. The Conjuring is this week's winner. Here are my adjusted expectations:

1. The Conjuring $50M
2. Despicable Me 2 $30M
3. Turbo $20M
4. Red2 $19M
5. Grown Ups 2 $18M
6. RIPD $15M
7. Pacific Rim $14M
8. The Heat $8M
9. Monsters University $5M
10. World War Z $4M

I saw RIPD. It would have made a great SyFy series, but it was a clumsy, disposable movie. It's not horrible by any means. It's just an expensive mess.

Disney and/or the theaters have started to pull the Lone Ranger. It's practically dropped off the map.

 

[mr3urious]

So far, Turbo has only made $31 mil.

 

[jvcarroll]

It was a good weekend for the Conjuring but a bad weekend for movies. Horror is always unpredictable, but that film received good reviews and good word of mouth.

Turbo didn't get the boost it was expecting. The Wednesday jump helped a little bit. Even though I never really liked the ads, I thought that kids would. Maybe they're getting smarter! I'll eventually catch it on cable.

RIPD would be considered a disappointment if not for the $130M spent on it. Whether snail or cop or superhero, Ryan Reynolds just can't catch a break. Mary Louise Parker also had two films out this week. RIPD and RED2. It also underperformed. I plan to see that too.

Some additional disappointments include Pacific Rim. The great word of mouth surrounding that film hasn't translated into box office success. I still plan to see it. The Lone Ranger looks like it'll go away before I have a chance to see it in theaters. It doesn't look like a bad film. The brand just doesn't seem to have an audience. Disney shouldn't have second-guessed their initial decision to close production. Regardless of the hiccup, they're having an amazing year! So yay for that!

The real winners of the weekend, aside from The Conjuring, were Despicable Me 2 and (unfortunately) Grown Ups 2. They've remained strong at the box office. The Heat has also performed remarkably well! I like Melissa McCarthy so I'm happy about that. The studio thinks it warrants a sequel. It seemed like more of a one-off. We'll see.

First Estimates:

1. The Conjuring $41,530,000
2. Despicable Me 2 $25,059,000
3. Turbo $21,500,000
4. Grown Ups 2 $20,000,000
5. Red 2 $18,500,000
6. Pacific Rim $15,955,000
7. R.I.P.D. $12,763,000
8. The Heat $9,325,000
9. World War Z $5,200,000
10. Monsters U $5,005,000
11. The Lone Ranger $4,260,000

 

[robodog]

So Turbo beat out Pacific rim? Where's that Professor Farnsworth "I don't want to live on this planet anymore" image when I really need it.

 

[Drtooth]

I call BS on Pacific Rim getting 7th place.

The theater I was in was so Crowded, I almost had to sit up front.

So Turbo beat out Pacific rim? Where's that Professor Farnsworth "I don't want to live on this planet anymore" image when I really need it.

Kid's movie vs. NOT Kid's movie. Simple as that. It's the fact Groan Ups keeps kicking it to the curb that has me ticked. Yeah, I saw PR, and it was epic. It's going to be a cult film, you kinda have to be an anime/sentai fan to really enjoy it. it's a low down dirty shame that this film isn't making the money it should because it's not an Aging Adam Sandler farting and making stale man-child jokes. I freaking loved Pacific Rim. I would have had to to have not walked out and demanded my money back for getting an awful seat. The scientists stole the show, as did Hannibal Chow.

Turbo didn't get the boost it was expecting. The Wednesday jump helped a little bit. Even though I never really liked the ads, I thought that kids would. Maybe they're getting smarter! I'll eventually catch it on cable.

Despicable Me just speaks better to kids. I mean, you have a movie about snails. Snails aren't exactly a kid's favorite thing. I mean, only cartoon snail I can think of is Gary from Spongebob. I may just bother seeing it yet, so someone on here can talk about it... but it shouts cliche storm. And I HATE the word cliche. The toys, however, are selling kinda briskly.

 

[Drtooth]

The moment you've been waiting for... I actually bothered to see Turbo this weekend.

The film was alright. Not great, but certainly not as terrible as I thought it would be. It's pretty good for a cliche storm (it's a sports movie after all, an Underdog one at that). It doesn't so much just "borrow" from Cars and Bug's Life... there's a strange Ratatouille-esque part in there (albeit not as smart as Ratatouille). The story basically follows the one crazy dreamer that no one has any faith in Underdog trope, little veering off it. The jokes that fell flat in the trailers actually work because of call backs, timing, and the fact the trailers contracted every exchange and subtle nuance.

I'll say that I did enjoy it more than I thought (not by very much), and it is much better than Shark Tale at least. No fart jokes and no dance party ending. I'll give it huge credit for that. But the thing that really held the film up was the animation and the actors giving the script much more enthusiasm than it deserved. Samuel L Jackson and Ken Jeong especially. Though their characters should have been used more.

The thing that confused me was that the humans and snails looked like cartoon characters, but they had realistic roaches and crows. That was kind of a big discrepancy on screen.

Also, I was disappointed that, out of the three trailers they showed, not one of them was Peabody and Sherman. That does not seem like a good sign. And it doesn't have anything to do with release date, since 2 of the trailers (Rio 2 and HTTYD 2- the Dreamworks film that comes out in June). Clearly, they have little faith in P&S, but they plan to milk HTTYD 2 a year in advance.

 

[Muppet fan 123]

Has anyone seen the Lone Ranger yet? I was really excited to see that movie, but it's been completely pulled from all the theaters since I got back from camp. It's only playing in one place at one time right now, and it's playing at the most expensive theater in the city.

Is it a good movie? Is it like another Man of Steel with two hours of non-stop fighting? (I've really gotten sick of those movies).

I think what's holding me back from going is the length of the film. I don't think I can sit through a 2.5 hour movie. I start to get antsy by a 2 hour movie, I don't think I can go any longer than that.

 

[Drtooth]

Is it a good movie? Is it like another Man of Steel with two hours of non-stop fighting? (I've really gotten sick of those movies)..

You actually even see that movie? The only "Non-Stop fighting" was the last 20 minutes or so of the film. The rest of it was setting up the Superman mythos and his past.

If anything, it was kinda talky.

 

[Muppet fan 123]

I did see the movie. I thought it was OK.
There was less script than WALL-E even had. The whole movie was full of jaw punching and building smashing for nearly two hours straight, filled with incredible 3D graphics, but after two hours, you're really sick of it.

It's become a recent trend to make movies like that. The Avengers was one of the first to do it, and I loved The Avengers, but the only reason it worked was becuase of all the movies leading up into it.
There was no character development, no humor, and no real story to Man of Steel. Was not what I wanted to see in a first movie.