Weekly Box Office and Film Discussion Thread

[Drtooth]

Moving on... I haven't seen so many promotions for the Transformer movie lately. Usually there's a crapton of commercials for these things, and a huge amount of product tie ins. I just find it ...odd. Seems that none of these big companies are going after this one. IDW isn't even going to publish a tie-in, focusing only on the 3 or 4 Transformers comics they already have.

It goes without saying that the toyline is out, but considering the movie franchise is based on a toyline, produced by the toy company to boot.

Meanwhile, I see, every single commercial break, that weird found footage space alien with kids thing. That doesn't even come out for a month, yet.

 

[mr3urious]

Looks like Dreamworks' Dragon sequel has no competition, so it should sweep the BO in its category.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/schedule/?view=bydate&release=theatrical&date=2014-06-13&p=.htm

 

[Drtooth]

Looks like Dreamworks' Dragon sequel has no competition, so it should sweep the BO in its category.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/schedule/?view=bydate&release=theatrical&date=2014-06-13&p=.htm

I think 22 Jump Street is also due out, but usually family movies do better. Plus, there's been a real trend of these comedies underperforming next to huge blockbusters. And it's a dirty shame for A Million Ways to Die. I saw that last week, and it was pretty funny. Seth's movies are far better than Family Guy. There's at least character depth that was totally erased a couple seasons after the comeback.

Anyway, I FINALLY saw HTTYD last night. And considering I watched it on a crappy small screen with flow destroying commercials (which were like every 5 minutes, BTW), I'd say I like this film as much as I did Kung Fu Panda and it's sequel. That is, KFP is my favorite Dreamworks property. I'm quite pumped to see this film now. Though I'm very disappointed that CN hasn't been doing any reruns of Riders of Berk to promote the movie. Seems like an obvious move.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Moving on... I haven't seen so many promotions for the Transformer movie lately. Usually there's a crapton of commercials for these things, and a huge amount of product tie ins. I just find it ...odd. Seems that none of these big companies are going after this one. IDW isn't even going to publish a tie-in, focusing only on the 3 or 4 Transformers comics they already have.

It goes without saying that the toyline is out, but considering the movie franchise is based on a toyline, produced by the toy company to boot.

Meanwhile, I see, every single commercial break, that weird found footage space alien with kids thing. That doesn't even come out for a month, yet.

Is it possible at this point they figure they have a built in audience?

 

[Drtooth]

Yes, but it's very strange this is the only film without all the product tie ins. So much for getting cheap Grimlocks. Only thing I've seen is like an Oreo package. It's... strange. Probably because you'd expect it. That said, I'm not really complaining about the fact Burger King has some sort of odd Soccer Themed Tom and Jerry promotion instead.

But yeah, the commercials ramped up in the last week. But it's odd that the TMNT film, which doesn't come out for 2 more months is getting more play... but to be fair, Nickelodeon is the movie's producer (and character rights owners), so they're going to be shoving that down everyone's throats for a while.

 

[CensoredAlso]

But yeah, the commercials ramped up in the last week. But it's odd that the TMNT film, which doesn't come out for 2 more months is getting more play

Well it's new, fresh and untested. They're hoping they can entice a wary audience. While with a 4th (wow) Bayformers movie, people pretty much know what they're getting.

 

[Drtooth]

That's mainly because Viacom sunk a lot into buying TMNT from Laird, so they're going to shove that film down everyone's faces to get the most of that investment. Though the current cartoon series seems to sell toys quite well in very big toy buying portions of the year (they disappeared Christmas time, and the Target Exclusive Kendo foot tall figures were a well sought after purchase). I'm sure the movie may just get the 12 and under audience of the cartoon show, as older fans will either ignore the film or go just to be able to complain about it more roundly. The only real blocks would be A) it being released in August, a really bad time for any movie, and B) Guardians of the Galaxy which may be competition for the film, I guess. The Marvel brand is strong, but putting the most off beat series they have in August? TMNT has better brand recognition, so it actually may work out to their favor, where as GOTG may only get die hard Marvel fans.

That said, there is one TF movie tie in of note. A Dinobot focused single disk release of the G1 cartoon. Personally, I find it a ripoff. It has both parts of Heavy Metal War, but not Call of the Primitives. If you're going to have a definitive, Grimlock focused DVD, why leave out his finest moment?

Seriously. That's like the BEST episode (or at least in the top 5) of the G1 series written by someone who hated working on the show. Sure as heck didn't show up in his work.

 

[Muppet Master]

Wow, didn't think HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 would reach shrek 2 levels, but its friday total was quite meh. 22 Jump Street actually nailed first by a long-shot grabbing $25 million while Dragon only managed $18.5 million. That's quite a mixed total for dragon since it was expected to be dreamwork's next cash cow, but for 22 that is awesome! That 1-day total is the 2nd highest first day gross for an R rated movie ever! Here are my weekend predictions

Dragon: Day 2: $20 mil. Day 3: $17 mil. Opening Weekend: $55 mil.

22 : Day 2: $30 mil. Day 3: $22 mil. Opening Weekend: $77 mil.

 

[Drtooth]

Dragon's going to do fine in the weekdays once school's out. There's no competition for animated films, and it's pretty much THE animated film of the summer. Pixar moved its film up to next year, and all we've seen are Legends of Oz (that opened incredibly poorly), and Planes 2, which pretty much is only going to attract kids under 5 years old. I'm sure big budget Transformers 4 will eat heartily into Dragon's profits, but it has enough breathing time to do well.

EDIT:

Without any fanfare, Dreamworks released the trailer for the Penguins of Madagascar spinoff movie.

Sucks they decided to go with the movie cast. Jeff Bennet was a better Kowalski. And Rico better the heck have lines in it. Of course they have to completely ignore the cartoon series of the same name. Typical.

 

[Muppet Master]

Anyways, I can go as far to say that DRAGON FAILED at the box office! Instead of raising its totals on Sat. and Sun. it dropped both days leading to a dissapointing total of $50 million (might even have $49 mil. after the actuals got out). In all considering the first films was really successful and critically acclaimed, and that this film couldn't hit $60 million, that kinda sucks! I don't get it, Despicable Me 2 made so much money, and it wasn't nearly as popular as Dragon! In the long run Dragon may even be considered a flop considering that it's might not reach its $175 million budget. Anyways "Dragon 2" was a real fail for dreamworks, good look finding another cash cow! Meanwhile "22" pulled in $60 million, which is the 2nd highest R rated movie opening EVER. Considering they promoted Dragon so much opposed to jump street, its quite sad!