BoxOfficeFangrl

LOL fair. Still, given how much the landscape has changed since Covid, it seems hard to believe a traditional studio would pay Lawrence more upfront for No Hard Feelings, than she got for Passengers or Red Sparrow. So many actors have said it's bad out there for mid-budget movies and it's known that the streaming services have been poaching original films and offering bigger paydays (to stars, at least). Comedy was dying at the box office even pre-Covid and since... This JLaw salary info seems to fly in the face of a lot of what's been reported/said about Hollywood in recent years, it's going to cause a reaction.

Maybe Sony is spending like crazy. I was baffled by A Man Called Otto's budget at $50 million. Covid protocols? Did they sit around Pittsburgh waiting for it to snow? Too much dog CGI? (The Swedish version cost $300,000). But if Sony is handing out $25 million checks for a theatrical raunch com in the 2020s, then Tom Hanks may have gotten that kind of money for an adaptation of a famous story. But I also read the article to mean that $25 million was her price for No Hard Feelings at some point, when the streaming services were still in the running. That was her reported payday for Don't Look Up, from Netflix (Leo got $30 million). All the streamers passed. Based on everything reported in recent years, traditional studios have tightened the purse strings for original films and usually get outbid by streamers. Either Sony was feeling very optimistic about movie attendance in 2021 when they made the deal, or the pay structure changed once it became a theatrical exclusive.

Thanks for the information. The story does note that the final package amount couldn't be verified and the streaming sevices dropped out of the bidding war because of the $25 million salary demand. The movie got made, but I wonder if it's like that scrapped Nancy Meyers movie where the budget/salaries were going to be higher at Netflix than a traditional studio. BOGO on Flash? Lolol

We're going on a decade of JLaw resentment for some people out there: they've felt she is overrated for years and thus can't wait to latch onto anything negative they read (any sourcing on the $25m for NHF?) and point out what "flops" her movies are. Some people too seem mentally incapable of discussing female celebrities without pitting them against each other and cattily bashing one of them to lift up the other. Also, because established IP/franchises have rebounded theatrically since the pandemic, it can cause a loss of perspective on how original comedies (and dramas) have performed since 2020. A result that is fine/good for the type of movie it is in the current climate, seems terrible to someone who normally only cares about CBMs, or is stuck on 1990s/2000s notions on what makes someone a box office draw. Except for 2020, JLaw's had at least one movie per year get released since 2010. She just isn't in franchises now, on top of the other stuff she'd make.

Many comedies (raunchy or not) in film history were popular despite extremely dubious/disturbing plot elements, played for laughs instead of serious drama. People back then knew Pretty Woman probably wouldn't work out that way in real life, and that no US or UK judge in the last 50 years would have ever signed off on the custody arrangement from The Parent Trap. Romcoms from the from the 1990s-2000s could present fairly dysfunctional relationships as totally ideal and trickery/deceit was often a common story beat, along with parents with no boundaries. My Big Fat Greek Wedding is one of the biggest romcoms ever. And I remember watching 50 First Dates in the theater and enjoying it, while also wondering if her character should really be dating anyone like that? However, it wasn't real life and Sandler/Barrymore were charming together, so I rolled with it. But it's a different time now: a comedy with an unethical premise is a turnoff to some and they can't engage with it at all, unless they can be 100 percent sure of the movie's moral message going into it. Is Deadline not updating the numbers because they were right this afternoon or they're back to minimal pandemic coverage since even if something hits $20m, that can wait until Saturday morning?

Seventeen year olds now are part of Gen Z, they were a little too young for the Knocked Up or Hangover series theatrical experience. But older Gen Zers were probably sneaking into those movies, yeah. I was on a movie-related subreddit where some posters were expressing their discomfort with the "icky" premise of No Hard Feelings, not only the age gap but the deception angle. Some will say it's just a movie, others will reject content where characters behave in less than ideal ways, even for the sake of plot. It doesn't make comedy impossible but different than the mentality 10-15 years ago.

Wouldn't be shocked if Gen Zers find the premise of No Hard Feelings uncomfortable due to the "massive" age gap and *quesTionabLe pOweR dyNaMics* of the leads. Maybe they don't all think that way, but the Twitter brained ones are very loud... Also, Gen Z missed out the 2005-2012ish era of huge R-rated comedy hits and experiencing the feeling of seeing movies like that with a crowd. A lot of people have the mindset that if it's not a visual spectacle or "event", seeing it at home is totally the same. To be fair it isn't only young people who feel that way these days.

Ticket to Paradise was a PG-13 romantic comedy with two stars, and it opened to $16.5 million. The Lost City was a PG-13 romantic comedy with two stars but also an action/adventure angle, and it opened to $30.5 million. An R-rated raunchy original comedy starring one famous person and an unknown, opening to $20 million, in 2023, that's very strong. Most original comedies with stars end up as streaming exclusives these days.

I live in a Top 40 metro area and our market did not get any screenings for No Hard Feelings last Saturday, so they were probably not a huge part of the $2.15m number. It's fun when the weekend #1 is a toss up!

Why waste time pretending that you care, LOL. Pascal's true colors and lack of professionalism were exposed in the Sony hack years ago. Guess she hasn't really changed... That Vulture article referred to a $150 million budget, which is 75 percent of $200 million. And all for Sony to treat the crew like crap, anyway!

James Cameron: Cameron is an expert on deep-sea exploration, in part because of his work on The Abyss and Titanic,[121] and his childhood fascination with shipwrecks. He has contributed to advancements in underwater filming and remotely operated vehicles, and helped develop the 3D Fusion Camera System.[129][130][131] In 2011, Cameron became a National Geographic explorer-in-residence.[132] In his role on March 7, 2012, he dived five miles deep to the bottom of the New Britain Trench with the Deepsea Challenger.[133] 19 days later, Cameron reached the Challenger Deep, the deepest part of the Mariana Trench.[134][135][136] He spent more than three hours exploring the ocean floor, becoming the first to accomplish the trip alone.[134][137] During his dive to the Challenger Deep, he discovered new species of sea cucumber, squid worm and a giant single-celled amoeba.[138] But, you know, who would to hear from that guy after an ocean exploration catastrophe? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I know people joke about certain real-life events feeling scripted, especially the sprawling saga of the Titan. The Netflix/Hulu documentary will have a good 15 minutes digression on the billionaire's alleged stalker stepson using his newfound notoriety to troll for women and go to Blink 182 concerts, earning the ire of Cardi B. Still, that's nothing compared to the latest discovery... Wendy Rush is the great-great-grandaughter of Ida and Isidor Straus, former co-owner of Macy's. Ida refused a seat on the lifeboats and died with her husband on the Titanic. In the 1997 movie, they are the older couple holding each other as water swells around their bed.

Expanded theatrical run of seven days, consecutive or non-consecutive, in 10 of the top 50 U.S. markets, no later than 45 days after the initial release in 2024. For late-in-the-year films with expansions after Jan. 10, 2025, distributors must submit release plans to the Academy for verification. Release plans for late-in-the-year films must include a planned expanded theatrical run, as described above, to be completed no later than Jan. 24, 2025. Non-U.S. territory releases can count towards two of the 10 markets. Qualifying non-U.S. markets include the top 15 international theatrical markets plus the home territory for the film. These rules are only for Best Picture, so the obscure minimum releases for acting-only plays and Diane Warren song vehicles will be unaffected.

Gutting TCM right as you're trying to woo Nolan back to the stable, real genius move there...

There were briefly reports of a $70m budget so $45m doesn't sound so bad, lol. Taking into account Covid protocols and inflation and the lower backend potential, something will have to give on a movie like this. There's no pay cut for prestige here: stars do these movies for the payday. Any comedy these days without IP attached starts out on the ropes theatrically, and without famous stars or critical acclaim? DOA. Movies don't only make money in theaters but PVOD and streaming. Sony sells their first run rights to Netflix, so they must think a theatrical release will add value to this vs selling to some service as a streaming exclusive.

Weren't they trying to smack down The Rock's shenanigans? His antics around Black Adam were pretty shameless (fake numbers to Deadline), and courting the Snyder fans with Cavill just gave those fans hope that version of the DCEU would continue. If WB wasn't going to offer The Rock a future with DC, there was no way they could get him to quietly shut up about it until Aquaman 2's release. Plus, there was other DCEU talent probably questioning their futures in private and on social media. WB announcimg Gunn/Safran changed the conversation about DC's future for good, but led to this 12+ months of a lame duck extended universe. After the results of Shazam 2 and The Flash, I bet they're wondering if they made the right choice. Deadline's second weekend prediction is hilariously noncommittal.

Dan Murrell punching the air rn (he's calculated this out on his Charts shows for months if not years)...

Going to the bottom of the ocean has inherent danger, but they were not exactly equipped like James Cameron.... Here's that whole segment: The reporter (David Pogue) says that on this excursion last year, the submersible lost contact with the ship for 5 hours and the ship's internet was cut off to prevent anyone from tweeting about it. He says the company told them it was about keeping channels of communication open during an emergency (the sub was able to send short texts). Uh huh. I bet this time, they thought the Titan would just turn up again soon enough, so they held off on calling outside authorities for hours.

Barbie Blowout Party tickets appear to be on sale in the US:

A $20 million opening would make Challengers practically the Endgame of tennis movies; it's been a weak genre at the box office for a very long time. The biggest hit (adjusted) in the genre is a Hitchcock thriller that's only partly set in the tennis world: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Tennis_films The social media activity seems promising so far, let's see how it goes. Tennis has a rep as a staid, snobby sport and maybe that repels the typical "sports movie" audience. Challengers seems a bit racy for a sports movie and youthful for the tennis audience, but it's not like the latter has been showing up to theaters anyway... Curious how this all turns out.

Yeats ago, Jonathan Nolan did an interview at a gaming event where he said his favorite video game memory was playing Halo with his brother in the backyard. They even had pizza! Starts at 1:43. Also, it continues to be wild that they have entirely different accents. I wonder if the third brother sounds Transatlantic? I mean, that Congressional hearing about banning TikTok in the US was embarrassing and that's just a social media app. So many of them don't understand how the internet works on a fundamental level; how could they know how to regulate AI? Maybe politicians in other countries are different, IDK. I was really surprised that Nolan seems not to be completely anti-AI in film.

Sounds grim...

It's a pop up exhibit and you get a T-shirt, too...

A $50 ticket option will help with that (one of Asteroid City's theaters is offering a pricier "premium experience" for some of its showtimes). Also they're counting "AMC Burbank" as one location for some reason, when it's actually playing at three different AMCs in Burbank (plus five other NY/LA theaters). Seems like a bit of a cheat on the per theater average?

That was the official story. I mean, it wasn't like anyone was going to say, "Her husband won't let her be away for months without religious minders on set," or, "Nolan is f---ing done with her professionally after her antics promoting Batman Begins." Mad Money made $26.4 million worldwide, somewhat less than The Dark Knight, but playing the doomed woman in a Nolan movie isn't artistically fulfilling for everyone... Yeah, thats it.