Box Office Mojo – The Business of Hollywood Thread

Topic

Discuss box office results and the business side of the movie, television, and streaming industries here!

Replies

“Accidentally”, sure…

Obviously we weren’t expecting it to be exactly like Star Wars, but, you know, the publicity material had space ships, space suits, and, uh, it had the word “alien” in the title. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t expecting a slasher movie.

DavidM wrote:

“Accidentally”, sure…

Obviously we weren’t expecting it to be exactly like Star Wars, but, you know, the publicity material had space ships, space suits, and, uh, it had the word “alien” in the title. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t expecting a slasher movie.

 
Funny tidbit, in Mexico it was called “Alien: The eight passenger” for some reason… it certainly sounds more like a horror flick with that title though.

Yeah it’s kinda funny how Terminator, Alien and Predator strated out as horror movies, then had a big succesful action movie for a sequel. And the three of them franchises share the same issues today. When you think about it, there’s little difference between the terminators, the aliens, the predators and creatures like Jason or Freddy… the only difference is Jason and Freddy are not sci-fi AND stayed in their horror lanes… I wonder what would’ve happened if the former 3 franchises had also stayed in the horror genre.

Never mind that. I’m too busy thinking about big-budget action sequels for Jason and Freddy.

Imagine if they pump out a Fast & Furious movie in thirty years with Vin Diesel in the lead role to attempt to revive the franchise. Would the kids of the future give a shit? Would the grumpier, older people who watched the originals at the time of release be bothered to go and see it?

saga wrote:

Imagine if they pump out a Fast & Furious movie in thirty years with Vin Diesel in the lead role to attempt to revive the franchise. Would the kids of the future give a shit? Would the grumpier, older people who watched the originals at the time of release be bothered to go and see it?

Here’s a real kicker for you: The Fast and the Furious franchise is 19 years old. In 2021, it will be celebrating it’s 20th anniversary. Vin Diesel is 52 years old.

saga wrote:

Imagine if they pump out a Fast & Furious movie in thirty years with Vin Diesel in the lead role to attempt to revive the franchise. Would the kids of the future give a shit? Would the grumpier, older people who watched the originals at the time of release be bothered to go and see it?

That’s what F&F4 was.

F&F is about the most puzzling franchise ever… It shouldn’t work… it’s just too crappy… and yet…
 
It’s probably gonna remain the one “how the fuck” question in hollywood for a loooong time… xD

SteveUK wrote:

A producer can’t pay themselves $2.5m on a $1m movie (even with Hollywood accounting), but it’s not unusual on a $100m film.

I knew a writer director who made low budget movies who talked about that. He had a potential producer actually tell him that he liked a movie he pitched but that he just couldn’t steal enough on a budget that low. There were and probably still are all sorts of crazy reasons movies get made or don’t get made that really have nothing to do with the final product or its expected performance.

Even the Mel Brooks’ comedy THE PRODUCERS is not as absurd as many of the real show business deals.

That’s really a dodgy philosophy when you think about it – the producers cut *should* be proportionate to the box office take, not the budget.

If only I could bold and underline “should” and have neon arrows pointing to it.

rory wrote:

saga wrote:

Imagine if they pump out a Fast & Furious movie in thirty years with Vin Diesel in the lead role to attempt to revive the franchise. Would the kids of the future give a shit? Would the grumpier, older people who watched the originals at the time of release be bothered to go and see it?

That’s what F&F4 was.

That was less than a decade from the first movie, so the audience was still there. The second and third movies had also been quite different and cheaper films. It was also when they started to change the tone of the movies to really amp up the batshit insanity aspects (obviously the fifth movie perfected this).

Point being, Terminator is outdated, can’t find a sizeable new audience and the older one is losing interest. If it has to just be a nostalgia thing then that’s going to require cutting way back on the budget, like the recent Stallone efforts. If they want something new then let Arnie go and come up with something other than ridiculous time travel stories.

Or just admit it didn’t work and move on.

The only direction they can go now is proper parody

Sky net gets the calculations off by a few decimal points and gives us A Terminator in King Arthur’s Court.

Anonymous wrote:

The only direction they can go now is proper parody

That was better than the Terminator 3 we actually got.

How ‘Doctor Sleep’ Went Into A Coma At The B.O. With Dreary $12M+ Opening, Following Surprise $18M+ Attack By ‘Midway’ – Update

I saw DOCTOR SLEEP and I practically didn’t even know that MIDWAY was a movie or that it was out.

‘Midway’ looks like all those old war movies that either starred John Wayne or should’ve done and I have no doubt I’ll watch it on TV eventually. Sometimes you want a familiar story and want it (I hope) well told.
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I can see why the battle scenes would be a reason to catch it at a cinema, but I’m not compelled by the advertising.
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If I get a free evening I might see ‘Dr Sleep’.
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And it’s reactions like this that remind me I’m not indication of what will, or wont, be a box office hit.

Wait, so Midway isn’t a documentary about the development of Mortal Kombat, Rampage and NBA Jam?

SteveUK wrote:

Midway’ looks like all those old war movies that either starred John Wayne

Dave wrote:

Wait, so Midway isn’t a documentary about the development of Mortal Kombat, Rampage and NBA Jam?

No, it is.

Phew! I was kompletely konfused there for a second.

There’s a great scene where they interview Ed Boon about the development of Sub-Zero and he gets into his F4F3-Wildcat to go have a dog-fight with Capcom’s Takashi Nishiyama.

Toasty!

SteveUK wrote:

‘Midway’ looks like all those old war movies that either starred John Wayne or should’ve done

Would you settle for Charlton Heston?
Midway (1976)

He’s not available.
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As I recall, the 1976 film was mostly historically accurate. Call me cynical, but I’ll be surprised if the same can be said about the new one.

Anonymous wrote:

SteveUK wrote:
Midway’ looks like all those old war movies that either starred John Wayne

DaveWallace wrote:
Wait, so Midway isn’t a documentary about the development of Mortal Kombat, Rampage and NBA Jam?

It can be two things

So, JOKER is now the most profitable movie ever that was based on a comic book and it didn’t even play in China.

I think there will be strong pressure to make a sequel but it will not be easy to do that again.

Maybe the potential “serious” THE MASK reboot/remake will get some momentum out of it, though.

Anonymous wrote:

I think there will be strong pressure to make a sequel but it will not be easy to do that again.

There’s always pressure to make sequel to hit films, but making a hit makes a lot of the people involved richer and more powerful as well. They don’t have to say yes if they don’t want to.
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The one who has to say yes is Phoenix, without him, no matter what else they do, it’s not a sequel, and I think it’s unlikely the he’ll be interested.

Anonymous wrote:

So, JOKER is now the most profitable movie ever that was based on a comic book and it didn’t even play in China.

This is all really beyond crazy. I guess I do have to see it in theatres now, while I still have the chance.
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This is really going to mess with the studio guys’ heads. I mean, what are they supposed to take away from this? If everybody tries to make movies “like” The Joker now, that’s going to fail miserably, but I bet they’ll try. Maybe they’ll go back to doing the Aaranofsky version of The Batman and then do a sequel with that Batman and the Joker, that’d be cool :)
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Whatever happens, it’ll probably further diversify the superhero genre, which is cool. Deadpool pushed it further towards dirty comedy/violence, Venom towards horror, now this towards crime anti-hero drama á la Scorcese.

Hopefully the lesson isn’t to directly imitate any one of these successful movies, but to emulate them spiritually by continuing to push superheroes into new and different arenas.

In terms of non-MCU superhero movies, audiences seem to respond best to those that are trying to do something genuinely different and slightly subversive with the genre. That’s how you compete with Marvel: offer something different while they rely on the same old formula.

The reason JOKER is successful is because its most iconic scene was filmed in The Bronx, a 10 minute walk from where I went to 1st grade. The reason THE IRISHMAN is getting critical acclaim is because some of the scenes were filmed on the block where I lived from age 6 until I graduated college.
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I’m not boasting, but the connection is obvious.

Dave wrote:

Hopefully the lesson isn’t to directly imitate any one of these successful movies, but to emulate them spiritually by continuing to push superheroes into new and different arenas.

That’s kinda what we said when DP was released… so it seems, for now at least, that the studios got the right idea… we’ll see if/for how long that holds true.

SteveUK wrote:

The one who has to say yes is Phoenix, without him, no matter what else they do, it’s not a sequel, and I think it’s unlikely the he’ll be interested.

He has some very specific ideas:

Joaquin Phoenix Created ‘Joker’ Sequel Posters to Show Todd Phillips What’s Possible

And yet, Phoenix says the idea of sequel didn’t take long to manifest. “Long before the release or before we had any idea if it would be successful, we talked about sequels,” Phoenix said. “In the second or third week of shooting, I was like, ‘Todd, can you start working on a sequel? There’s way too much to explore.’ It was kind of in jest — but not really.”

“I basically said, ‘You could take this character and put him in any movie,’” Phoenix said. “So I did a photo shoot with the on-set photographer and we made posters where I photoshopped Joker into 10 classic movies: ‘Rosemary’s Baby,’ ‘Raging Bull,’ ‘Yentl.’ If you see it, you’re like, ‘Yeah, I’d watch that movie.’ ‘Yentl’ with Joker? That would be amazing!”

So Doctor Sleep went into a coma and the new Terminator movies Financial fate was pitch black despite good reviews and plenty of marketing.

What does it take to get people to see a movie?

Having Tony Stark in them might have helped.

Anonymous wrote:

So Doctor Sleep went into a coma and the new Terminator movies Financial fate was pitch black despite good reviews and plenty of marketing.

What does it take to get people to see a movie?

Disney and/or The Rock.

The Joker.

It.

My elevator pitch is a Disney Live Action remake of Snow White, except she’s a superhero played by the rock and she has to fight a creepy clown.

Money please?

Also there’s lots of cars and tits.

But it’s four quadrant family fun.

Anonymous wrote:

What does it take to get people to see a movie?

I think Joker was one of those movie that got really lucky, in that it got people talking and somehow there was a critical mass of curiosity and then you had to go see it because everybody else had and you didn’t want to miss the conversation. Same thing that happened – even more mysteriously – with the new Jurassic Park.

Christian wrote:

Same thing that happened – even more mysteriously – with the new Jurassic Park.

Or people just like state of the art dinosaur mayhem?

Anonymous wrote:

What does it take to get people to see a movie?

Didn’t you read my last post? FILM IT IN THE BRONX!!!

Disney+ Hits 10 Million Signups Since Launch
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Walt Disney, led by chairman and CEO Bob Iger, has been projecting between 60 million and 90 million global streaming subscribers by 2024.
Disney backed up its claims that Disney+’s first-day glitches were the result of high consumer demand, revealing Tuesday that the streaming service had hit 10 million signups since its Nov. 12 launch.
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CEO Bob Iger expects the $7-per-month offering, which launched with original Star Wars series The Mandalorian as well as a library of movies and TV shows, to reach between 60 million and 90 million global subscribers within its first five years, though one analyst recently forecast that it would hit more than 100 million subscribers by 2025.
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Disney, which launched a full-on marketing assault ahead of the Disney+ launch, has been using a number of tactics to boost signups, including offering discounts to fan club members, inking a deal with Verizon to give it away for free to the cellphone giant’s customers and bundling it with Hulu and ESPN+. The company did not disclose how many of those signups included people on promotional offers, including a seven-day free trial offered to new users.
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Going forward, Disney said that it would not provide subscriber updates about Disney+ outside of its quarterly earnings call. The company isn’t set to report fourth-quarter earnings until February.
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–SNIP–

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https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-reaches-10-million-sign-ups-launch-1254437?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%27s%20Today%20in%20Entertainment_now_2019-11-14%2007:06:46_aweprin&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_tie

Christian wrote:

Johnathan Henning wrote:

What does it take to get people to see a movie?

I think Joker was one of those movie that got really lucky, in that it got people talking and somehow there was a critical mass of curiosity and then you had to go see it because everybody else had and you didn’t want to miss the conversation. Same thing that happened – even more mysteriously – with the new Jurassic Park.

I think there’s a general fascination with the Joker character and seeing how different actors tackle the role. There’s an argument that can be made that says Dark Knight, Suicide Squad and Joker were at least partly succesful because audiences want to see how a familiar but complex character is handled.

Similar reasoning can be applied to Batman generally, but I think there’s less scope for an actor to make the character their own there, and I think audiences know that.

Anonymous wrote:

I think there’s a general fascination with the Joker character and seeing how different actors tackle the role. There’s an argument that can be made that says Dark Knight, Suicide Squad and Joker were at least partly succesful because audiences want to see how a familiar but complex character is handled.

I think that’s true, but that it doesn’t account for a billion bucks made. It’s lightning in a bottle.

SteveUK wrote:

Or people just like state of the art dinosaur mayhem?

They also like to see state of the art aliens blowing up the world mayhem, but ID Resurgence didn’t make Jurassic World money. Sometimes, a movie manages to find and ride a wave that others don’t, and I don’t think there’s much of a way to explain it beyond, This is just how things turned out in this case.

It was the buzz… the whole “gun violence” snaffu or whatever it was probably helped make it an “it” movie. I might be one of the few who hasn’t seen it =P
 
Also, again we gotta remember we’re old =(
 
So that means there’s a fuckton of younger folk who might’ve never seen something like this…

Jon wrote:

It was the buzz… the whole “gun violence” snaffu or whatever it was probably helped make it an “it” movie. I might be one of the few who hasn’t seen it =P

Me neither. Yet. Still want to, but still don’t feel any pressure to do it soon.

Jon wrote:

So that means there’s a fuckton of younger folk who might’ve never seen something like this…

That’s an important point. I mean, it’s a bit ironic given Scorcese’s recent comments, but he is right to some extent that the kind of movie he does are split from mainstream entertainment more than they used to be. Teenagers and twenty-somethings these days aren’t all that likely to have seen Taxi Driver; mabye not even Fight Club, or anything like those movies. So, putting a superhero label onto this and getting them to watch it will probably generate more need for discussion than this kind of movie would have with the kinds of audiences that are used to them.

This is fun

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100708/02510310122.shtml

 

(Ps it’s 10 years old)

 

Following up on that, as the writer of the article said; there would be appeals.

And Disney lost theirs;

https://variety.com/2012/tv/news/disney-loses-appeal-on-millionaire-lawsuit-1118063050/

https://variety.com/2013/tv/news/disney_millionaire_verdict-819608/

Yeah I saw that too.

 

It was really the Harry Potter receipt which I thought was the most interesting thing.

 

I’m not really a tax lawyer but I dabble in the area, in Australia it’s really hard to appeal a ruling on tax if you lose in the first instance because at it’s barest, it’s a judge scrutinizing the books.  You basically have to argue for abuse of process or appeal for a special ruling because the circumstances are somehow ‘unique’ . (Which they never are, and would not be in the Disney case)

This sort of goes back to what I was saying the other day. These corps are all bad, and they all try to get away with murder (not literally)

…

(Maybe literally, idk)

 

 

‘Frozen 2’ Breaks Box Office Records With $350 Million Worldwide Debut

Of course it does.

A pretty impressive opening either way though, especially given that it’s outside of summer. As the article notes, it doesn’t hurt that stuff like Wonder Woman and James Bond slipped down the calendar, having originally been slated for around now.

I watched an interview with Kristin Bell yesterday where she explained why she is confident Frozen 2 will be a success.  To paraphrase her:  “If I bake a cake on Monday and it tastes delicious, if I use the same recipe on Tuesday, it is likely that cake will be just as delicious.”

Disney’s strategy in a nutshell: don’t change the recipe.

njerry wrote:

I watched an interview with Kristin Bell yesterday where she explained why she is confident Frozen 2 will be a success.  To paraphrase her:  “If I bake a cake on Monday and it tastes delicious, if I use the same recipe on Tuesday, it is likely that cake will be just as delicious.”

Disney’s strategy in a nutshell: don’t change the recipe.

And the key to good parenting is letting the kids eat cake whenever they want!

I have a feeling this might be a bigger deal than has been reported so far

Paramount Consent Decree to be ended

<p style=”box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1rem 0px 1em; padding: 0px; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia, system; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #000000; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;”>If a judge approves the motion, it would clear the way for studios to once again take significant ownership of theater chains. But more importantly to exhibitors is the impact that it would have on a host of business practices that have been prohibited since the late 1940s.</p>
<p style=”box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1rem 0px 1em; padding: 0px; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia, system; line-height: 1.5; caret-color: #000000; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;”>The decrees prohibit such things as the practice of “block booking,” in which theaters have to take a package of movies in one license, and “circuit dealing,” or demanding a single license that covers all theaters in a circuit.</p>

“There is no reason to believe that [studios] would or could re-establish the industry-wide horizontal conspiracy or cartel that was the basis for the original enforcement action by the United States and the resulting Decrees,” the Justice Department said in its motion.

“Such a conspiracy or cartel is particularly unlikely and improbable today because of the technological and marketplace changes that have transformed the movie industry over the last seventy years. Additionally, since the motion picture industry has always remained fully subject to the antitrust laws, any recurrence of the anti-competitive collusion that the Decrees enjoined would be prohibited under existing law.”

I would love to read the actual judgment at some point because I don’t understand the law forming the basis of the rationale.

I wonder where the pressure for this came from? Or is it just that the people in the Trump administration are ideologically opposed to regulation wherever it is?

SteveUK wrote:

I wonder where the pressure for this came from? Or is it just that the people in the Trump administration are ideologically opposed to regulation wherever it is?

Exactly, if nobody is asking for it, then it’s a waste of time, but if there is someone asking for it, then there must be something else in the works – potentially not related necessarily to theaters, but to some other form of ownership over both production and distribution channels.

I don’t think the DOJ just do whatever Trump tells them. I don’t think it works like that.

I know we like to think that, but I’m pretty sure that’s not how government works.

I wasn’t implying that Trump told the DOJ to do this. While he’s a media obsessed president I don’t think this is a policy area he has a lot of personal interest in.

I was wondering whether anyone who does have a personal interest had lobbied for it? Are any of the major media companies pushing this from behind the scenes?

They might not be, as I said, this is a Republican, post-Reagan, free market government right now. It might just be the next thing they got to on their “To Do” list.

 

I believe Netflix just opened its own theater. Is this somehow connected?

I don’t think so. Maybe there is a deeper strategy there but the way I read that story is they took over a prestigious old theatre to show off new movies.

SteveUK wrote:

I wasn’t implying that Trump told the DOJ to do this. While he’s a media obsessed president I don’t think this is a policy area he has a lot of personal interest in.

I was wondering whether anyone who does have a personal interest had lobbied for it? Are any of the major media companies pushing this from behind the scenes?

They might not be, as I said, this is a Republican, post-Reagan, free market government right now. It might just be the next thing they got to on their “To Do” list.

 

SteveUK wrote:

I wasn’t implying that Trump told the DOJ to do this. While he’s a media obsessed president I don’t think this is a policy area he has a lot of personal interest in. I was wondering whether anyone who does have a personal interest had lobbied for it? Are any of the major media companies pushing this from behind the scenes? They might not be, as I said, this is a Republican, post-Reagan, free market government right now. It might just be the next thing they got to on their “To Do” list.

The article does address this sort of.  There was an initial period where interested parties put forth submissions for and against.  That’s fairly usual for proposed policy changes when they address particular industries.   Nothing from any studios but complaints from the National Theatres body.

Box Office Bomb: ‘Playmobil’ Flops in Historic Fashion

Anonymous wrote:

Nothing from any studios but complaints from the National Theatres body.

Perhaps they intend to start producing their own content.

Well I did see a script for “Theatre Man vs Drama Kid” on the Black List.

Disney Crossing Record $10 Billion At Worldwide Box Office; First Studio In History To The Mark

Frozen 2 and its cumulative $919.7M in global snow dust, have helped bring Disney to the $10B threshold worldwide for 2019. Officially, the studio will cross the mark within the next day. Current studio cumes stand at $3.28B domestic and $6.717B from the international box office. That’s $9.997B global through today. This is a new record for worldwide box office for any studio in a calendar year, and surpasses Disney’s previous placeholder of $7.6B that was posted in 2016.

The above numbers do not take into account Fox titles. When they are added, the combined global box office for Dis is $11.94B ($3.8B domestic/$8.14B overseas) so far. Wow.

And all of this is before Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker starts strutting around the world on December 18 overseas, and December 20 domestically.
Along with Frozen 2, films contributing to Disney’s massive haul this year have been Avengers: Endgame ($2.798B), The Lion King ($1.656B), Captain Marvel ($1.130B), Toy Story 4 ($1.074B) and Aladdin ($1.051B).

Meanwhile, Frozen 2 should get to the $1B mark globally next weekend. The domestic cume is $337.6M, to make it the No.7 pic of the year after just 17 days of release. Internationally, Frozen 2 is at $582.1M as it continues to be No. 1 in many markets. It is about to pass Shrek 2 globally to nab the No. 12 animated release slot of all time, and become the 4th Walt Disney Animation Studios movie within that top 12.

In August, Disney became the first studio to have five movies gross over $1B in a single calendar year. With Frozen 2 nearing the mark and The Rise Of Skywalker likely to hit it as well, that will bring the count to a mindboggling seven titles.

They’ve clearly planned for a big year.

Releasing Endgame, Episode 9, new Frozen and Toy Story and remakes of two of their most beloved animated films AND Disney + in the same year is deliberate.  I don’t think we’ll see as big a show next year.

Everyone is thinking Disney right now and that’s the game plan.

rory wrote:

Box Office Bomb: ‘Playmobil’ Flops in Historic Fashion

Yikes. You’d have thought the holiday season and it being based on beloved toys would at least guarantee some tickets.

It might’ve done but it wasn’t supported;

<p style=”box-sizing: inherit; color: #000000; font-family: ‘Graphik Web’, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;”>In the wake of the dismal start, there was plenty of finger-pointing but very little acceptance of responsibility over the $75 million film that stands to lose tens of millions in its theatrical run. “Playmobil” was co-financed by Wild Bunch, Pathe, Dimitri Rassam and the Paris-based On Animation and distributed by STX in North America.</p>
<p style=”box-sizing: inherit; color: #000000; font-family: ‘Graphik Web’, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;”>Sources close to the distributors say producers will bear the burden since STX kept marketing costs low and recouped money from TV sales. Sources close to the producers say the distributors in several countries will share the losses because the movie was almost entirely financed through presales. One thing is clear: Somebody lost their shirt.</p>
<p style=”box-sizing: inherit; color: #000000; font-family: ‘Graphik Web’, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;”>“Playmobil” is an ignominious blemish that STX never wanted in the first place. The studio, which inherited the movie from Open Road after the company went bankrupt, pushed back its release multiple times. STX was contractually obligated to release the film in theaters but refrained from overspending on promotion after seeing how poorly it was received in Europe, where the toy company that inspired the cartoon originated. “Playmobil,” which first debuted overseas in August, ran out of steam with a dismal $12.5 million at the international box office. It’s still supposed to be released in China, however no release date has been set yet.</p>
–SNIP–

STX reportedly kept marketing costs around $3 million, which checks out considering hardly anyone knew the film was opening. Moreover, Playmobil is relatively unknown compared to a brand like Lego, which Warner Bros. successfully mined into multiple feature films. In hindsight, “Playmobil” hardly stood a chance against “Frozen 2,” Disney’s animated sequel that continues to dazzle the box office in its third weekend of release as it nears the $1 billion mark globally.

https://variety.com/2019/film/news/playmobil-box-office-bomb-worst-opening-weekend-1203429014/

I think calling Playmobil “beloved” is a stretch.

(Shhhhh, he’s German.  They don’t understand)

(Shhhhh, he’s German.  They don’t understand)

paul f wrote:

I think calling Playmobil “beloved” is a stretch.

I mean, okay, as much as you can love something that mainly provides a canvas. Let’s say popular. But over here, Playmobil really is about as popular as Lego.

The LEGO movies also depended upon the other content they provided like BATMAN and STAR WARS and it also looked like actual Legos were used to make the movie.

All true, and I wouldn’t have expected the Playmobil movie to make half a billion bucks. Just… something.

Also, if the numbers given for the production budget are right, it seems like the Playmobil movie cost 75 million dollars to make? Which is way too much for this kind of movie. Hell, it’s more than the Lego movie cost.

Box Office Bust: Clint Eastwood’s ‘Richard Jewell’ Derailed by Apathy, Not Controversy

Over the weekend, the biographical drama launched nationwide to an estimated $4.7 million in a near-career worst showing for the prolific director. His only movie to have opened lower was Bronco Billy ($3.7 million) nearly 40 years ago, and that’s not adjusted for inflation, according to Comscore. On Sunday, Warner Bros. put the film’s tally at an estimated $5 million, but lowered it on Monday morning.

The subject matter didn’t interest me at all. Sounds like that was true for most people.

It was over 20 years ago and it was not really that promoted then. The actor who played Jewell was possibly authentic but not attractive to moviegoers.

The initial story was huge and everywhere in the US. By the time his innocence had been established in had fallen off though.

I’m slightly interested in the movie, but all the stuff with the Olivia Wilde character (claiming a now-dead actual reporter slept with an FBI agent to get a story) is gross.

Review: ‘Cats’ is a horror — and an occasional hoot

Christian wrote:

All true, and I wouldn’t have expected the Playmobil movie to make half a billion bucks. Just… something. Also, if the numbers given for the production budget are right, it seems like the Playmobil movie cost 75 million dollars to make? Which is way too much for this kind of movie. Hell, it’s more than the Lego movie cost.

It is but it’s getting a crowded field right now. They have seen it’s quite possible with animated movies to spend less than $100m but still make blockbuster takings of live action films that cost significantly more. The Ice Age and Despicable Me series hitting the billion dollar marks.

It’s bringing a little bit of a glut of them and some are falling by the wayside with the only so much attention to share around. Even with two kids in the target demographic some completely pass me by and Playmobil didn’t get much traction.

 

Ouch.
‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ Flops in China on Friday Debut

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” is expected to be the biggest film of the weekend globally, with an estimated opening weekend of $170 million to $200 million in North America alone. But in China, it’s on course to be the weakest-performing installment of the new batch of “Star Wars” films.

On Friday, in its first official sessions in Chinese theaters, the film was barely crawling. By 8.00 p.m. local time, “The Rise of Skywalker” had earned just $2.2 million (RMB15.4 million), according to multiple data tracking services. It stood in fourth place behind three Chinese titles.

Topping the chart with a comfortable 46% market share is the new release Donnie Yen-starring martial arts actioner “Ip Man 4: The Finale” with $10.3 million (RMB72.0 million).

Second place belongs to holdover crime thriller “Sheep Without A Shepherd,” ahead of new release “Only Cloud Knows,” a whimsical New Zealand-set romance from the acclaimed, but tarnished Feng Xiaogang, in third. By 8.00 pm, they had scored $4.57 million (RMB32 million) and $2.57 million (RMB18.0 million) respectively.

The 5.30pm figure for “Rise of Skywalker” produces a running total of $5.85 million that includes a full day of previews on Wednesday, and midnight screenings on Thursday evening.

That wimpish performance gives online ticketing agency Maoyan reason to forecast a lifetime box office of just $18 million (RMB125 million) for “Rise of Skywalker.”

That figure, if accurate, points to “Rise of Skywalker” completing its China run with a cumulative score of less even than the opening weekend performances of the other “Skywalker” franchise titles. And it strongly suggests that the “Star Wars” franchise may be in terminal decline in the Middle Kingdom.
In Jan. 2016, “The Force Awakens” opened with a $52.3 million weekend and achieved a lifetime score of $126 million. “Rogue One,” the “Star Wars” side story, that released in Dec. 2016 with Chinese stars Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen in prominent roles, managed $30.6 million on opening and a lifetime $69.4 million. In 2017, “The Last Jedi” slipped further, registering an opening weekend of $28.7 million and a lifetime cumulative of $42.6 million.

Yeah, well. Star Wars has always been dead in the water in China; at this time, they might as well give up on that market.

I think they largely have, you may as well release films nowadays as it’s just a download to a hard drive and not making prints but I was in Hong Kong this week and the ads were all for Chinese movies and no Star Wars in sight.

We already knew China doesn’t give a shit about SW no? None of these new movies have done much… it’s really not news at this point… it’d be surprising if it did well, actually… =/

‘Cats’ Poor Reception Prompts Universal to Send an ‘Improved,’ Updated Version to Theaters

After Universal Pictures’ new film “Cats” was clawed and torn to shreds by critics last week, the studio told movie theaters on Friday that it would be sending a new version of the film with “some improved visual effects.”

The move of replacing a film already in theaters with an “improved” version is unheard of But according to a copy of a memo obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, director Tom Hooper has been upfront about the fact that he barely finished the CGI on the film in time for the world premiere in New York City last week, and the switch is at his request.

Jon wrote:

We already knew China doesn’t give a shit about SW no? None of these new movies have done much… it’s really not news at this point… it’d be surprising if it did well, actually… =/

I also think that – having seen many Chinese fantasy films and television series – the basic elements of Star Wars are not very novel compared to what is already produced in China. Essentially, compared to an average Chinese fantasy melodrama – which is what Star Wars really is, fantasy not science fiction – it’s subpar in drama and complexity. There is very little romance and deep character conflict while in Chinese movies, it’s rarely so starkly clear that the heroes are good or that they have something as simple as a Death Star to destroy or Emperor Palpatine to defeat.

I think that cultural aspect is a strong element but a really big part of it too is zero nostalgia factor. When the original trilogy came out China was closed off to western films so they never saw it. If you look at the trailers they trade very heavily on that familiarity and existing appeal, they barely touch on what the story actually is but give you John Williams’ score and clips of tie fighters and lightsabers and the Millennium Falcon.

Imagine if you knew absolutely nothing about Star Wars what the appeal of this trailer would be? Nothing happens.

Todd wrote:

‘Cats’ Poor Reception Prompts Universal to Send an ‘Improved,’ Updated Version to Theaters

After Universal Pictures’ new film “Cats” was clawed and torn to shreds by critics last week, the studio told movie theaters on Friday that it would be sending a new version of the film with “some improved visual effects.”

The move of replacing a film already in theaters with an “improved” version is unheard of But according to a copy of a memo obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, director Tom Hooper has been upfront about the fact that he barely finished the CGI on the film in time for the world premiere in New York City last week, and the switch is at his request.

‘Cats’ has been in trouble for months.

Even if it was a masterpiece it’s been a mess in post-production. So this version is unlikely to be “finished”, they ran out of time.

Why wouldn’t they just delay it? Seems like they were married to the idea of a Christmas box office haul.

 

 

 

garjones wrote:

Imagine if you knew absolutely nothing about Star Wars what the appeal of this trailer would be? Nothing happens.

Actually I thought that trailer was really neat… but it’s more like a teaser… the only thing I don’t like is the SW theme at the end with the millenium falcon bits, because A) The tune of the theme completely goes against what you just watched, and b) the millenium falcon is one fuckin ugly-looking ship (yes, I know that’s heresy for SW fans, but it’s true). But everything before that is very visually appealing and sets up an intriguing tone.
 
If I knew absolutely nothing about SW, I’d be intrigued by that teaser on a purely visual level at least… But even chinese people know what a Star Wars is… the thing is, they just don’t give a shit, and that’s okay… not everyone grew up with it and the truth is that SW just isn’t all that… yes, it was back then, but today it’s barely mediocre… so yeah, remove the nostalgia factor and you don’t have much there…

Anonymous wrote:

Why wouldn’t they just delay it? Seems like they were married to the idea of a Christmas box office haul.

 

 

 

They are, that’s definitely a big factor.

Apart from that? Moving a film at the last minute shows that the studio has lost confidence in the film, which isn’t something they like to admit. they prefer to pretend they love the film and then hope no-one realises it’s got problems until after they’ve bought their tickets.

There also needs to be a level of honesty inside the office when looking at the project and the problems that emerge while making it. We may see some articles soon about that aspect of the situation. Everything I know (and it’s not a lot) about it second hand from people who worked on it. They said that there have been problems for months and that they were not sorted out, but allowed to drag on.

But did anyone want to admit that to themselves or each other? We don’t know.

also, would taking more time to fix the FX help all that much? I mean, from what I’ve read, part of the problem is the “source material”, which isn’t a lot of material to begin with… Cats is not known for the story… so I’m not sure fixing the FX would’ve made much of a difference in the end result

Most of the bad reviews I have seen place most of the blame on the vfx, particular the real faces not moving in sync with the cgi bodies and the cgi bodies feeling weightless which spoils the dance numbers. The othtbig criticism is that the editing is a mess because they don’t want to stay on the bad cgi for too long.

Most of the reviews I saw read were about the story, or the lack of story rather, that it’s a complete clusterfuck of nonsense (like the play)… and sure, the bad FX.

‘Star Wars’ Box Office: ‘Rise Of Skywalker’ Won’t Top ‘Last Jedi’

It’ll still likely top a billion worldwide, so not a disaster by any means, but still maybe less than they were hoping for.

Netflix are going to stop counting a “view” as the mostly useless “70% of one episode/movie,” and instead counting it as the completely useless “two minutes of any TV show/movie.” https://deadline.com/2020/01/netflix-explains-new-ratings-methods-viewership-you-the-witcher-1202837149/

http://whatisaview.com/

Wow damn… I guess RDJ is really a one-trick tony….
 
…
 
yeah I went there… u_u

Two tricks, Stark and Sherlock.

It’s a shame, but he doesn’t sell tickets generally. Put him in the right roles though and the sky is the limit.

Was his Sherlock that well received? I get the impression it was kinda forgotten rather quickly… Also, wasn’t there a third one coming? I hope so, I did enjoy him more as Sherlock than Tony tbh…

Both his Sherlock films were international hits.

I assume everyone involved has been too busy to make a third?

It’s cynical to say it, but RDJ might be a bit more interested in getting the next sequel made after this weekend..?

Last I heard it was already actively in the works.

Looking it up, it seems like Dexter Fletcher is directing and it’s slated for a December 2021 release.

MoviePass Files For Bankruptcy In Last Shoe To Drop

It’s no surprise but MoviePass, the once high flying movie ticket subscription service that crashed to earth in a mountain of red ink last year, has announced its final demise, declaring Chapter 7 bankruptcy. So has its oddly-named parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics.

Unlike Chapter 11, where companies can be reorganized and survive, this gang is dissolving, shutting its doors and everyone has resigned. Four months after the MoviePass service closed down it’s clear it’s not coming back.

The company’s interim CEO Parthasarathy Krishnan and CFO Robert Damon both tendered their resignations, as did remaining members of the board of directors, Prathap Singh, Gavriel Ralbag, Muralikrishna Gadiyaram, and Joseph Fried.

The company was hot, hot, hot with moviegoers and Wall Street for a time. But it couldn’t sustain the financial burden of lowering its subscription price from $50 to $10 a month to let fans see a movie a day. MoviePass had to subsidize the difference with theaters.

“After considering strategic alternatives, Helios and Matheson Analytics and its subsidiaries MoviePass and Zone Technologies each filed a voluntary petition for relief … under the provisions of Chapter 7 of Title 11 of the United States Code,” the companies said in a filing with the SEC.

The filing was made in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.