Deathlife

If Avengers 2 gets to $600M, then I will eat my hat. The Avengers was a phenomenon and without the novelty effect of seeing the characters together for the first time, there's no way it gets to $600M.It'll be like Empire Strikes Back to the original Star Wars. It will drop considerably but still be successful.Although based on the hyperbole (and outright trolling I see on these forums) Empire Strikes Back would have been called a flop if it opened today and dropped so far off from the original.

Why are folks saying Thor is underperforming? Or are folks looking for reasons to meltdown?An $82M weekend is huge in November. It's increased over its predecessor, so there's obviously some Avengers effect (I'm beginning to hate that phrase). Despite what folks are saying, I don't expect Captain America to do much more than this. Thor isn't Twilight or Potter or even James Bond.

I'm sorry, I'm thoroughly confused.Apart from BKB and a few others, I think most people expected Thor to open in the range it did (I remember arguing very hard that it's not going to open to around $100M).$82M is a pretty solid number for a superhero that doesn't have "man" in the name. Lots of franchises dream of numbers like this.

I don't know about America but the popularity of the Avengers has increased awareness about Thor in South Africa.The Avengers effect is more overseas than domestic I think.

So what are we looking at for the opening weekend? $70-$75M?That's fine I guess. I predicted $83M but I don't know how feasible that will be.In all some expectations, I think folks forget that IM3 domestic gross (I say domestic because its international gross was jacked up by Avengers awareness) was amped up by 3-D. Yes, Thor will increase but it won't be as pronounced because the first movie was already in 3-D.All this being said, for Marvel to get a character like Thor to open up to anything above $50M is actually a minor miracle. A lot of comic fans find the character hard to like talk much less of the general audience. As someone that reads comics (and has done for most of his life), it's always a joy to see a second tier character like Thor enjoy success on the big screen.Now, if WB can just give me my Wonder Woman movie....

That's solid.Considering Thor (and Marvel movies in general) don't have massive midnight appeal, it could have a very strong weekend.Should open between $80M-$95M.

Black Panther.

Guess that means I'm getting a Netflix account.

In South Africa the first Hunger games had a very small impact, the sequel is set to continue that.For whatever reason, young adult movies (outside of Twilight) have been very lukewarm in SA.The only X-mas movies generating heat here are Thor and the Hobbit.

SM2 SM1 SM3 TASM

Just read the review. I don't know if it was meant to be sarcastic or not because it didn't make much sense.

So, this is a good opening, right?

Im out.For now.

How much did Wolverine do on Wednesday.

Well, at the time, Iron Man was a b-lister and when you adjust IM1 and 2 WW gross (dont forget to add in 3-D).its pretty close to MOS.

I didn't make any comparison between IM and Batman in my post.

The parallels between Iron man 1 and 2 and MOS aren't too good because:1. IM1 and IM2 did not have 3-D and MOS didn't beat any of those domestically despite that.2.The international box office hadnt exploded like the way it is now.3.When IM1 came out, Iron man was a b-list Marvel character without much pop culture exposure. Superman is the most recognizable superhero in the world and has had 5 major movies prior to MOS . A lot of folks hated Superman returns but the movie was well received by critics and actually increased over the previous Superman movies despite the total train wreck (critically and commercially) that was Superman 4.Comparing MOS to Iron man doesn't make it look any better. It actually makes it look worse.

Fox are really underestimating the general audiences intelligence with the way they're handling the X-men franchise.Yes, they have talented actors and creators working on them but the incoherent continuity and totally senseless and twisted injection of characters (for rights reasons only) have pretty much crashed the franchise. Even a 12 year old will realize that Fox doesn't have a clear plan for the franchise and its hurting it big time.First Class would have been an opportunity to re-boot the franchise but they foolishly tied it to the original movies and even messed things up further.IMO, its time for a full X-men reboot from the ground up with a clear plan in mind like Nolan's Batman movies. Either that or allow the rights revert to the owners of the property who will treat it with some modicum of care.

If that number holds, that's pretty good.Hugh Jackman is to the X-men franchise what Robert Downey Jr is to Marvel.

The MPAAs system of rating is pretty odd especially regarding violence. I'm firmly of the belief that both graphic sex and hardcore violence should receive equal weighting. It's pretty silly that the NC-17 rating has been restricted to "sex movies", it has already defeated its purpose. I also don't know why so many cinemas in the U.S refuse to carry movies with the NC-17 rating. It's as if the NC-17 has already been equated to the X rating previously restricted to hardcore porn movies. In other parts of the world, cinemas carry movies with 18 and above ratings with ease. Movies like the aforementioned Evil Dead and Hostel should NEVER have been released with just an R rating. Both those movies are pure NC-17 material. Heck, I would argue that most "gore" movies these days are actually taking advantage of the fact that the MPAA is more focused on sex than on violence to include some pretty sadistic stuff. Another example (this might be controversial though) was the Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox animated movie. I actually watched this with my niece of 13 and she was rather horrified by the violence in the movie. For those who haven't seen it, there's tons of people getting holes blown in their heads, a decapitation with the head being displayed, dismemberments, human beings burnt to ash and a child being murdered (off camera but we see his body dropping to the ground with his eyes open) and this was all "superhero on superhero violence". I was surprised that this movie passed with a PG-13 but since its only "violence" it doesn't mean much. That's just a ridiculous and unnecessary double standard.In most other parts of the world, the movie would get at least a 15+ rating that would make it easier for unsuspecting adults to determine when and who they will allow to watch it. I think the MPAA might need to review the rating system particularly as it applies to NC-17. It makes no sense whatsoever that Blue Valentine (a movie that should receive no more than a 15+ rating) should be NC-17 while stuff like Saw, Hostel,Evil Dead and The Last House on the Left get R-ratings.

2013 will always be remembered as the year that Grown Ups 2 beat out Pacific Rim in the U.S handily (I'm surprised people even liked the first one). I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this concept.

Wow, saw this last nite. What can I say, it was amazing! I haven't enjoyed any movie more than this this summer.

Wll MOS get to $300M?

You know things are bad when Bay's work is somehow viewed as superior to Del Toro.

I have officially lost faith in humanity.