Eric the Marxist
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Posts posted by Eric the Marxist
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FAIL #8
THE DARK TOWER
"I do not kill with my gun. He who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father. I kill with my heart."
Release Date: August 4
Director: Nikolaj Arcel
Cast: Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Taylor, Claudia Kim, Fran Kranz, Abbey Lee, Katheryn Winnick, Jackie Earle Hayley
B.O. Gross: $50.7M DOM, $111.8M WW
While Stephen King has always had strong years, 2017 was perhaps one of his biggest ever. His novel Sleeping Beauties, which he co-wrote with his son Owen King, became a hit best-seller, while Netflix released two critically-acclaimed adaptations of Gerald’s Game and 1922. And there was also a clown movie that came out that was based off one of his books. I don’t remember what it was called, but I heard it did very well.
But even the best years have some bumps in the road, and for King, that was found in the film adaptation of The Dark Tower. For nearly 10 years, the film had been in development, hopping from studio to studio and director to director, including J. J. Abrams and Ron Howard. But due to the project being such a massive feat, with seven novels to adapt, as well as the previous visions from Abrams and Howard having gargantuan budgets for a film that could potentially flop, the plans fell through. But soon, the rights landed to Sony, who took this sprawling epic, and turned it into a cost-effective midbudget feature. Well, okay, even if it may not be as grandiose as one would expect, it’s still based on Stephen King’s most beloved series. And while Idris Elba isn’t some famous superstar, he still seemed to be inspired casting. This had easy potential to be a great new franchise for Sony, a company that’s pretty barren on that front.
And Sony seemed incredibly confident in the film, as they announced plans to continue the film with a sequel and a television series starring Idris Elba before the film even came out. It seemed everything was going well, until the first initial test screenings were unveiled in October 2016. Audiences responded very negatively to the footage, finding it confusing and messy. This forced Sony to delay the film to August, and create new scenes that better explained Roland Deschain’s backstory. In the end however, they couldn’t save this turkey, as the film opened to a paltry $19.1 million. Even August legs couldn’t save it, as it dropped more than 50% the rest of its run, leading to a $50.7 million domestic run and a $111.8 million worldwide gross, meaning the film couldn’t even break even on its $60 million budget.
There were many reasons for this film’s downfall, but the main one came to its poor attempt in pleasing all audiences, from fans to newcomers. The film is technically not an adaptation of The Gunslinger, but instead a continuation from where the last novel left off. From what I can gather, the filmmakers made this decision to avoid criticisms from fans from “ruining” the source material, as well as said novel being so complex and seemingly unfilmable, that starting from scratch with a new story would make things easier from a filmmaking perspective. That did not turn out well at all. Instead, it was incomprehensible to newcomers and disappointing to fans who wanted to see their favorite story on the big screen.
It also didn’t help that the movie itself was flat-out horrible. It’s probably the worst movie I’ve seen last year. The script was incoherent, the editing was atrocious, the world and character arcs were barely developed, the actors looked completely bored and unenthused, the production looked more like a TNT show than an actual movie, and the tone was all over the place, going from gritty Western in the second act to a Last Action Hero knockoff in the third act, but somehow even worse. It was just a complete mess and was a disastrous end result for a film nearly 10 years in the making. As of now, the television series’ fate is up in the air, but considering how awful the movie was and how it performed, Sony has likely already put the kibosh in the idea, as well as the franchise as a whole.
I’m sure in a few years Dark Tower fans will finally get the adaptation they deserved, but in the end, The Dark Tower was a massive blunt on Stephen King’s year, as well as Sony’s relatively decent year.
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5 hours ago, dashrendar44 said:
I guess Jumanji's christmas success can also be chalked up to the timeless appeal of Chris Van Allsburg's children book.
By the way, Chris Van Allsburg's art is incredible. I know there has been a Jumanji cartoon back in the day but his original illustrations would be worthy of an animated movie (using Disney's short Paperman technique) that doesn't feature a creepy CG Tom Hanks:
I remember reading Polar Express all the time as a kid because of how gorgeous the illustrations were. It was like an actual painting you would find in an art museum. Everything about it oozed the feeling and wonder of Christmas. Still up there as one of my favorite picture books of all time.
That fucking Zemeckis movie.
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3 minutes ago, That One Guy said:
It’s...fun.
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16 hours ago, That One Guy said:
Please don't tell me you actually like King Arthur.
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Honestly, I feel like the more and more I read You-Know-Who's posts about the "Wizarding World," the more and more I've come to the realization that maybe Harry Potter wasn't that great of a series. :/
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Insidious 26 1789 1.45% Fifty Shades 139 1921 7.24% Insidious has all of their showtimes available, and as expected, it's pretty frontloaded, with almost all of the business being done on Thursday and Friday. Shades only saw a tiny bump.
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Ehh, I still think 15:17 has a shot at $100M. Eastwood's on a roll, everyone forgot about Act of Valor, and it's the only major adult-skewing film in February.
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On 1/2/2018 at 10:06 AM, MCKillswitch123 said:
When does the embargo break? Cause I'm really curious if this is yet another January horror masterpiece or if it manages to (sorta) break the trend.
I mean, we wouldn't wanna miss out on another legend like The Bye Bye Man or Texas Chainsaw 3D, would we?
Metacritic has a 57 score up. I'm assuming the RT score will be unveiled on See It/Skip It
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1. Deadpool 2 makes more than $400M, becomes #2 at the DOM box office, only behind Infinity War.
2. All of Disney's features, including Wrinkle in Time and Christopher Robin, will gross more than $100M DOM.
3. Incredibles 2 "disappoints" with only $350M
4. Comedy comes back in a big way: Game Night, Night School, Holmes and Watson, and Ocean's 8 all cross $100M, while Crazy Rich Asians becomes a modest success at over $70M.
5. Venom > Aquaman
6. Rampage over $200M
7. Love, Simon crosses $100M, becomes the sleeper hit of the Spring.
That's all I got.
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WIN #9
DUNKIRK
"You can practically see it from here...home."
Date: July 21
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Fionn Whitehead, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jack Lowden, Harry Styles, Aneurin Barnard, James D'Arcy, Barry Keoghan, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy
B.O. Gross: $188.4M DOM, $525.6M WW
There’s always a few things you can trust in life: The sun will rise, ice cream will taste wonderful, and Christopher Nolan will make a great, highly successful movie. Dunkirk is further proof of that. Currenlty, the film 2017's second-highest grossing original film worldwide, behind Pixar’s Coco, and looking back, it seems easy to see why, thanks to many factors playing a part in the film’s massive success. Of course there’s Christopher Nolan. Ever since The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan has become one of the few name directors to get general audiences excited and put their butts into seats, similar to Spielberg and Cameron. So having his name attached to a movie is already a great sign to success.
It also helps that WB’s marketing department was extremely on point throughout their campaign. Instead of treating it like an average war movie, Warner Bros. turned it into an event. Their marketing campaign began in earnest 11 months before the movie came out with a one-minute teaser playing in front of Suicide Squad. Following that, the first full trailer was released to play in front of Rogue One. It was expected, but what really made things interesting was a five-minute theater-exclusive prologue that played at select IMAX showings of the Star Wars flick. Said prologue also played during select Kong: Skull Island and Wonder Woman showings. Being theater-exclusive, it forced people not to wait for it to appear on YouTube, but to actually watch it in the theater and see it to believe it, and helped generate strong buzz. That kind of persuasion would be very important in this film's campaign later on.
With the public trailers and TV spots, what was unveiled depicted gritty violence, intense imagery, and wild spectacle, making it far more appealing than any average war film, and with a giant push on social media, including 360 Degree experiences and social media infographics explaining the war, it managed to gain appeal from younger viewers who would more than likely be turned away from other war movies, making this into a four-quad piece of entertainment.
But what really turned this movie into an event came down to the marketing team’s insistence on seeing the movie in theaters. Every review cited the film was jaw-dropping in IMAX and 70mm film, while TV spots kept things shrouded in mystery to ensure people see the movie in the biggest screen possible in the highest quality possible. Obviously, the tactic worked, and while it may not have been as high as Nolan’s other films, it still narrowly beat out Interstellar, which is an impressive feat for a film with zero starpower and none of the jaw-dropping visual effects of Interstellar, and only relied on the Christopher Nolan name, gritty war spectacle, and IMAX/70mm buzz.
Oh, and being critically acclaimed, being considered one of, if not the best Nolan film ever made, and awards buzz helped a lot too. Currently, rumors are spreading that Christopher Nolan’s next film will be Bond 25 in 2019, and whether or not it will actually happen, as Dunkirk shows, as long as Nolan’s name is slapped on all the trailers, and the marketing pushes it being a big screen spectacle, Nolan's next film will be another gigantic moneymaker.
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FAIL #9
KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD
"You're quickly becoming a legend."
Release Date: May 12
Director: Guy Ritchie
Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Jude Law, Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Djimon Honsou, Aidan Gillen, Eric Bana
B.O. Gross: $39.2M DOM, $148.7M WW
Even though the 2004 King Arthur film with Clive Owen and Keira Knightley tanked at the box office, and sword-and-sandal films were losing interest with moviegoers, Warner Bros. still saw potential in the timeless stories of King Arthur. After first attempting to remake Excalibur with Bryan Singer and later trying to make “Arthur & Lancelot” with Kit Harrington and Joel Kinnaman (Yes, that was a thing), the plans fell through. That was until WB had the brilliant idea...and by brilliant, I mean...not...to have a King Arthur cinematic universe...k. Legend of the Sword was planned as the film to kickstart this franchise, with the plan being a six-film series...k...depicting the other Arthurian legends, with the last movie being a giant team-up action film. Once the studio got Guy Ritchie on board, Legend of the Sword went into production and was planned for a July 2016 release. But then it got delayed to February 2017...then to March...and then finally to May, the weekend after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
WB was trying their hardest to make sure they got the most out of their $175 million baby, so not only was the film delayed multiple times, but they poured millions upon millions in its marketing budget, rumored to be around $135 million. They even had preview screenings a month before the movie came out at AMC shows in order to get word of mouth going, but it didn’t help at all. It opened the weekend after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 with only $15.4 million, and made a paltry $39.2 million domestic total, and only $148.7 million worldwide, below its gargantuan budget. The film is expected to lose over $150 million due to the film’s bombing.
Despite its gigantic money loss, I put it pretty low on the list for one simple fact: no one expected this to do good. No one. The second we heard “Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur” and saw the endless delays and gargantuan budget, we knew this was going to be a flop. However, unlike other movies that we all knew would tank, not only is there a huge amount of money lost, but it also taught an important lesson to Hollywood. Trying to force out a cinematic universe doesn’t work, especially if you’re focusing on your sixth film first, then your first film last. Focus on making one movie, and if it's successful, then try and make it into a franchise. By trying to make a universe happen instead of just making a good movie, you end up with Legend of the Sword, a cluttered mess that lost millions for Warner Bros. and once again destroyed any chance for another King Arthur film until the next reboot. Thankfully, Ritchie is currently filming Disney’s live-action remake of Aladdin, due in 2019, and while the film’s quality could be debatable, it’s sure to make far more money than King Arthur ever did.
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Well...it's not wrong.
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On 1/3/2017 at 6:02 PM, CoolEric258 said:
Ninjago over $200M DOM
Episode 8 crosses $1B DOM
Guardians of the Galaxy crosses $500M and becomes the second biggest MCU movie
Will update some other time.
YIKES
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Yay. Love seeing your predictions. (Even when what you write is wack.
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1 hour ago, CoolEric258 said:
I was talking about Insidious.
Sorry for not being clear.
For the record, my theater updated, and Insidious isn't getting the biggest theater next week. It's only getting the 2nd-biggest, and Star Wars is keeping the biggest.
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3 minutes ago, AndyChrono said:
It would be funny if The Last Jedi is both the #8 Fail because of some poor WOM, pissing off some long time fans, possibly damaging the future of the franchise, and coming in well short of general expectations... and yet also be listed as the #8 Win because it will still make over 600m dom / 1.3b ww.
I literally just said in the first post TLJ wasn't going to be on here, because I was going to create a massive flame war.
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20 minutes ago, WrathOfHan said:
Taking a look around the Orlando area, there's an AMC getting Darkest Hour with Thursday previews. We're probably screwed there, but dunno about SOW; my theater did 3B previews last month.
I was talking about Insidious.
Sorry for not being clear.
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11 minutes ago, WrathOfHan said:
I think my theater is breaching the SW contract because Insidious is in the biggest auditorium on Thursday night
Molly's Game is in an average aud. for Thursday, but no SOW/DH. Don't think my theater will be getting them this weekend 
That's the same case for me. Although it could just be for Thursday night.
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7 minutes ago, Ethan Hunt said:
I really should use my letterboxd more. I go on and check what other people are up to but I don't ever do anything with my own account
I was scrolling through your list.
Alvin and the Chipmunks: 4.5/5
Paul Blart: Mall Cop: 4.5/5
Push: 4.5/5
G.I. Joe: 4/5
In Time: 4/5
Hugo: 1/5
Life of Pi: 2/5
Gravity: 2.5/5
Hobbit 3: 5/5
Insurgent: 4/5
Ethan, are you ill?
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1 minute ago, CoolioD1 said:
same movie with brendan fraser would've made 350 million.
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3 minutes ago, Chewy said:
Sure but winning the year? Do we really expect it to be bigger than Dory or is this just the loonies talking?
I'm always wrong about Pixar so I'm really asking here
I feel people's assurance the movie will cross $400M is more on people's love and nostalgia for the first movie, rather than any actual statistical analysis. I do think at the very least it will cross the $330M mark, though.
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Molly's Game is in an average aud. for Thursday, but no SOW/DH. Don't think my theater will be getting them this weekend 
WrathOfHan's Controversial 2018 Box Office Predictions
in Box Office Discussion
Posted
Agree completely with your Red Sparrow prediction. J-Law's back baby!
Now I'm ready to debunk your
wackprediction for Wrinkle in Time.