Weekly Box Office and Film Discussion Thread

[D'Snowth]

Another Melissa McCarthy movie? Really?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2702724/

At least it looks like this time around she's finally playing something other than a revolting fat slob. But my guess is that, once again, Kristen Bell will serve no real purpose in the movie other than to stand around and look pretty.

 

[Drtooth]

was the Scout Zombie movie pull from theaters? I was going to review but wasn't able to find it.

Sure seems like it. So didn't Stoopid Buddies' stop motion Halloween film. They both seem like they were made for midnight movies or cult classics but somehow were advertised like they were mainstream films. I couldn't find either of them, actually. Not that I was looking for that Scout film. It looked like it was trying too hard to be what a cult film is, but comes off as a collection of discredited and non-started memes.

I'm guessing the studios clearly don't have any faith in both Tina Fey and Amy Poehlers Sisters movie or the new Alvin and the Chipmunks film by putting it up against Star Wars. They both look dreadful and I can't see why any studio would want to waste such an investment on basically allowing it to be so easily crushed.

The Chipmunk movie is for little kids who wouldn't sit still through the 2+ hours of a Star Wars film. And it shows. I remember hearing little kids crying all through Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Really?! Parents bringing kids that young to a PG-13 Marvel film?

Meanwhile, Star Wars already made an impressive over 50 million take in advance ticket sales alone. I hope this adds to the weekend take when it's finally released. I'm sure it's going to be nigh on impossible to get an actual movie ticket on the day of the showing.

The Hunger Games is on top, no surprise there, and Spectre is a distant 2nd. Meanwhile, The Peanuts Movie has more or less much made back its budget.

I'm glad Peanuts is doing modestly well, but I'm a little disappointed it isn't pulling in better numbers. Even though I kinda saw the movie for free with the purchase of Book of Life, which I got for 6 bucks at a supermarket. Yeah. And in 3-D too. Didn't even have to pay the surcharge for 3-D showings because the ticket seller was baffled by it. Still shocked this thing didn't blow up internationally. Peanuts seems to be one of those things that's popular enough in the US, but more so on the international markets.

 

[mr3urious]

Now here's an interesting read: it's a post from our good friend the Rowdy Reviewer on how the Jem movie could have worked in this day and age without watering down the source material or making it a period piece.

http://rowdyc.com/a-truly-outrageous-disaster/

 

[Drtooth]

Now here's an interesting read: it's a post from our good friend the Rowdy Reviewer on how the Jem movie could have worked in this day and age without watering down the source material or making it a period piece.

Here's what was revealed. It totally could have worked as a big budget version of the original series, but none of the studios would touch it. My theory was that the film was picked up as a contractual obligation, given a paper thin budget, and no time to punch up the script to make the most of it. I agree, even updating the film to be the same concept would have worked. But the film just was doomed from the start. As I said, movie based on a cartoon series made to sell toys bankrolled by a toy company not using the movie to make a toy line speaks volumes about how little anyone cared about the film. Heck. The funniest thing is Barbie Rockn' Royals and even Lego Friends cashed in off very Jem-esque toy lines. It's like a mockbuster to a film that never completed production. This film was destined to be a failure, they treated it like a failure, and surprise surprise it failed. Even laughing stock Battleship did well overseas and had a toy line. When something that shouldn't be a movie gets more care than something that should have (just not in how it came out), you know they screwed up. Jem should have been a cartoon series revival. Apparently the comic boom is getting praise especially because it was updated in the right ways.

 

[mr3urious]

Mockingjay remains the top movie from Thanksgiving weekend, followed by The Good Dinosaur and Creed.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2015&wknd=48&p=.htm

Let's hope TGD can make some more over December before Star Wars comes out!

 

[Drtooth]

I was kinda...well...screwed over for seeing TGD this weekend, so I have to wait a week. I rather like seeing these things on opening weekend, and sometimes the theaters I go to take the 3-D showings away after a week. Animation is the only medium where 3-D movies work.

But yeah. It's a strongish, hopefully opening for the all or nothing Thanksgiving weekend for that movie. Peanuts came in with the early November weekend that usually works better for a film's run, and no way the two films' respective studios would want to be in that direct of competition. The following weeks get a little...soft. Hopefully Peanuts and TGD will run nicely against Star Wars in their won right and keep the fourth Chipmunks movie down where it belongs. That film series needs to end, as the third one was a painful statement that it should have.

But yeah. There's no stopping that Thanksgiving Weekend Tween Lit movie franchise. I have a begrudging respect for Hunger Games because it seems to be the only competent one of those types of films. Plus it's the last one, so some lame clone of it can take its place. They seem to all follow the Harry Potter system of making the last book two movies, though in HP's case it was because those freaking books increasingly became bigger and bigger doorstops (and all the praise in the world for getting kids to actually read something that big).

I'm hoping that timing doesn't hurt TGD much. Pixar had a great breakthrough with Inside Out (still don't get the hate for Monsters U), and TGD looks like another return to form. Maybe the delay helped the film more than hurting it? I can't tell until I see the darn thing.

 

[mr3urious]

But yeah. There's no stopping that Thanksgiving Weekend Tween Lit movie franchise. I have a begrudging respect for Hunger Games because it seems to be the only competent one of those types of films. Plus it's the last one, so some lame clone of it can take its place. They seem to all follow the Harry Potter system of making the last book two movies, though in HP's case it was because those freaking books increasingly became bigger and bigger doorstops (and all the praise in the world for getting kids to actually read something that big).

I don't like how certain TV shows have gone that route of splitting a supposedly complete final season in two, namely AMC's shows. It's just a frustrating cash-grab.

I'm hoping that timing doesn't hurt TGD much. Pixar had a great breakthrough with Inside Out (still don't get the hate for Monsters U), and TGD looks like another return to form. Maybe the delay helped the film more than hurting it? I can't tell until I see the darn thing.

Maybe because it didn't "give them feels" like their past stuff.

 

[DARTH MUPPET]

I saw the Good Dinosaur Yesterday I don't get why people are saying only the Animation is good and not the story, I loved it!!!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully it makes some serious Cash early in December !!!!!!!!!!!! Disney should have waited to Release it till 2016, May be in the Spring, In The Heart Of The Sea is going to get killed at the Box Office by star wars as well

 

[Drtooth]

People expect too much out of Pixar. Lest we forget they also did the more kid friendly "A Bug's Life." I think everyone just expects the first 10 minutes of Up out of all their movies. Yet, for the most part their animated movies are still more daring than most. Dreamworks can from time to time come up with something pretty bold. I don't get the hate Home gets, it was actually pretty risky to do a film about aliens taking over the world, but from the perspective of a little girl (a non-Cacausian one at that, something even Pixar has yet to do), and as a road trip. That was their best non-sequel film in years.

The Heart of the Sea, I just can't take that seriously. It's Maleficent with Moby Dick, essentially. The big retelling of "what really happened." Only more narmy with this one. Also, I'm surprised no one said a thing about Victor Frankenstein just...doing poorly and disappearing. It feels like they just dumped that movie in that release date to get rid of it. It probably wasn't a bad film, and I'd admit it looked pretty interesting, just it looks like it came off a long string of failures like that Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter thing, going all the way back to Cowboys vs. Aliens.

 

[DARTH MUPPET]

People expect too much out of Pixar. Lest we forget they also did the more kid friendly "A Bug's Life." I think everyone just expects the first 10 minutes of Up out of all their movies. Yet, for the most part their animated movies are still more daring than most. Dreamworks can from time to time come up with something pretty bold. I don't get the hate Home gets, it was actually pretty risky to do a film about aliens taking over the world, but from the perspective of a little girl (a non-Cacausian one at that, something even Pixar has yet to do), and as a road trip. That was their best non-sequel film in years.

The Heart of the Sea, I just can't take that seriously. It's Maleficent with Moby Dick, essentially. The big retelling of "what really happened." Only more narmy with this one. Also, I'm surprised no one said a thing about Victor Frankenstein just...doing poorly and disappearing. It feels like they just dumped that movie in that release date to get rid of it. It probably wasn't a bad film, and I'd admit it looked pretty interesting, just it looks like it came off a long string of failures like that Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter thing, going all the way back to Cowboys vs. Aliens.

I think the Pixar as bold as the Movie Home was Inside Out and as for In The Heart Of The Sea first and foremost as the son of a baby Boomer born in 1954 who loved The Andy Griffith Show I am automatically going to Love Ron Howard as not Just an Actor but what I grew up to know Ronny as A great Film Director. So I usually Love Ron Howard Directed films and this is no Exception, Hey if not for nothing some guy on IMDB who claims to have seen the movie at a select sneak peak screening, and I believe him because he was substantiated by a Tweet on The Real Ron Howard twitter Account which is Ron Howards Twitter account that there was indeed a screening with a picture of Ronny to prove it, the guy on the IMDB message board said he read the book which was the basis for Moby Dick but based on a true Story he said the movie was excellent and really close to the book except for one change, in the movie they make the ship go up in a blaze of glory from the Whale Oil on board, that did not happen in the book but he said it did not ruin it in any way he still loved it!!!!!!!!!!!