Gopher

WB has to be kicking itself for putting out JL when they did. The kids they would want are going to Wonder and Coco (both of which are getting a better reception than their own studios dreamed of). The adults they would want are going to see real, legitimate movies. And the people who want a good superhero movie are stiil going to Ragnarok ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I think its IM might be a bit lower than Moana’s because of how strong Tuesday business was. Still a good start. Good Dinosaur was two years ago? You could tell me it was a 2009 release and I wouldn’t blink

Wondy 2 would clear 450 if it opened in the summer. In November I’m not quite as sure but I don’t see it dipping when its opening will be at least 150. There’s gonna be a lot of talk about where WB goes from here. I don’t think this is going to stall Flash or Batman or a young Joker movie, all of which if positively received will do well (Shazam is a doozy- I don’t understand how that character works and nothing about the team convinces me it’ll make any sense). I do think this will give them a bit more hesitancy before, say, running Suicide Squad 2 into production without a script or direction they feel good about.

I could see Thor ticking up next weekend- it might lose showtimes but with only Coco it won’t be losing screens. Wonder’s gonna have the most surprising OW of the year behind It. Gonna do 3x what tracking pegged it for.

BvS, Suicide Squad, they wowed me with their badness. They found ways of being dysfunctional I didn't know were possible in big-budget filmmaking. The only thing interesting about Justice League's badness is that it doesn't feel like a Snyder film, a Whedon film, or anybody's film. It's a completely anonymous movie, more disposable than the worst of the Marvel franchise, that manages to cut out themes and arcs in exchange for pure functionality. It's the worst looking mega-blockbuster I've ever seen: I'm hard-pressed to think of an uglier one. Even the second Transformers had a more interesting visual design. Cyborg, De-stached Superman and the bad guys are all very difficult to look at. Ezra Miller is great in this, and I have respect for the performances Fisher and Cavill are giving. Affleck, Gadot and Mamoa are disasters, Gadot deserving of material that serves her and Affleck and Mamoa wrong for this franchise.

Doctor Strange legs from here take Ragnarok to 318m. Dark World legs take it to 306m. I'm willing to bet it's going to dip a bit higher than Strange next weekend (closer to 60%) and hold better over thanksgiving and through Last Jedi. The key will be if it can hang onto more theaters over Xmas than Strange, and its grosses might be just large enough.

Ferrell's an amazing character actor. His best leading roles are character pieces (Step Brothers, Ricky Bobby, etc).

Is there actually that little interest in Justice League or is WB purposefully lowballing? Anything below Ragnarok would be bad. Even Man of Steel adjusts to 137m OW.

Sorry bud. Schedule's been crazy the past couple months. Hit me up next time you're here and we'll get a drink

It's going to get a big bump today because of the Friday holiday. Not really concerned.

Myopic way to think about this. This is a movie a thousand people worked on and an iconic director is hoping will finally earn him a Best Director statue. The Spacey news breaks six weeks from now and this opportunity isn't here. It's here and they're doing the right thing by taking it.

Assuming a 6.8m Thurs - 20.2m Fri (+196%) 24m Sat (+19%... Friday's a holiday, right?) 16.3m Sun (-32%) 60.5m (-50.7%) (216m 10-day) Thor 2 did 2.67x from its second weekend, collapsing against Catching Fire. Those same legs would push Ragnarok to 317m. Pretty sure that's the minimum of where it'll end up.

They are doing it. And as far as I'm aware nothing like this has been attempted in a studio film before.

They're recasting Spacey. They're going to attempt to reshoot and reedit in time to qualify for awards.

120 mil opening is locked with that estimate. Incredible year for Marvel. Three 300 mil movies, all critically acclaimed, on the heels of what seems like even greater promise to come between Panther and Infinity War.

46 mil would translate to a 114m weekend with Thor 2's Saturday/Sunday holds. Only Marvel could produce exponential increases in a franchise that has not been well liked until literally last night (+34% from Dark World, which was up 30% from Thor).

*pops back into forum for usually every-other-month check in* Infinity War won't do 200m OW or 500m total Incredibles will open as high as Dory but won't hit 400m Mamma Mia and Oceans Eight will both do 150m+ WOW WHY IS SUMMER '18 SO SLAMMED WHERE WAS THIS LOVE LAST AUGUST ok goodbye! *runs back out*

This is one of the most surprising bombs in years. It seemed like they delivered a perfectly good and bold movie and it's not like exposure wasn't there. I think people assumed a reverence with the original among mainstream audiences, and the trailers didn't do any favors as to explaining how that world worked.

It's a very disturbing movie but I don't think audiences will hate it. The ensemble is so strong that I was convinced Rodriquez and Leigh would've gotten awards attention if it hit in the fall. It'll last the test of time which is the mark of good weird sci-fi.

One of WB's main 'silos' just blew a tire this weekend. I thought Ninjago was completely fine but it's not a memorable movie by any stretch, and if there's already a TV show on the air families aren't gonna spend the $100 to go out for more.

If I had seen this, I'd say Paramount's awards lineup this year would have nothing on how weird and wild this movie is. But of course I haven't seen it...

Silly to read people use phrases like crazy, striking or polarizing as negatives. mother! is all of those things and we're better off for it, we need movies that can provoke and divide and we can wrestle with. The movie is a ton of fun - the two 'ensemble' sequences are deliriously paced and heightened, and my favorite parts of the film. I ultimately had trouble separating Aronofsky (who wrote the movie as a response to his divorce from Rachel Weitz) from Bardem's character, and felt the movie's intentions were a little confused. The religious allegories particularly fall flat for me - the film has better success when its allusions aren't so on the nose. But I can't say I was bored for a minute. Couldn't possibly give it a rating, or even say I loved it, but it's a must-see.

The year's most overlooked movie. I was expecting surreality and weirdness from Mooney and Lonely Island Co. which I was totally down for. I was NOT expecting a story that paints our attachment to pop culture as a coping mechanism for trauma, one that can isolate but can also bring people together and inspire. It's one of the best stories about storytelling I've seen, anchored in an understated and humane central performance.

I think I'm particularly harsh to movies that have the capacity to be better, as opposed to movies that never really stand a chance from their opening scene. I enjoyed this quite a bit: I found its imagery inspired, its casting impeccable, its one-liners funny, and its point of view (kids in fear of adults) specific and consistent. Moments from this movie - a tortured lamb, a dancing clown, a balloon delivering a knife - will stay with me as long as any other horror movie's. Its knee-capping problem is how every beat feels executed within its own vacuum: Muschietti is so delicate at telling stories at a micro-level of a scene, he largely ignores the cumulative effects these dreams hold on these kids. Nothing changes, no real shift in character between the first and third acts. By not letting the time and space of its world build momentum, It becomes a slog, a 135-minute barrage of jump-scares that wears out its welcome well before they stroll up to the haunted house. Also this might be sacrilege to say but it could've lost a couple of kids. Would've happily said goodbye to Little Jew to get more scenes with Mike.