Eric Prime

At last, I'm finally done with my "Wins & Fails" list. Enjoy!

And thus, my recap is finally complete. My final thoughts? Like with any year, 2017 was full of ups and downs, but similar to 2016, the ups and downs were very strong. The ups showed the potential new face of blockbuster filmmaking, defined by bold visions, diverse casts, and high-quality features that offer something new to blockbusters. The downs showed the old hats of years prior, as a bunch of bumbling executives failed to understand what audiences want and what they will pay good money to see, relying on old franchises and tired concepts that failed to excite anyone. Then there was the biggest down, a down so low that it destroyed the beautiful escapism, fantasy, and wonder that cinema used to offer, almost like the scene when Dorothy removes the curtain to reveal the almighty Wizard is just an old man. But regardless of whether or not 2017 was by all accounts a good year for the film industry, the most important thing to remember is that there were still a lot of memorable moments throughout the year. Moments that excited us, moved us, shocked us, and more importantly, made us realize why we all love following the box office and the world of film. And now that we’re a month and a half into 2018, we’re still feeling that wonderful feeling. Jumanji and Greatest Showman continue to pull off incredible legs, Insidious 4 surprised everyone and continued Blumhouse’s hot streak, and Shape of Water, The Post, Three Billboards, and Darkest Hour, among others have delivered pretty decent grosses thanks to their recent Golden Globe wins or noms, as well as their Oscar nominations. All the while, this week finally sees the release of Black Panther, which is expected to break the February and President’s Day record Deadpool generated, and tries to follow up a similar success of Wonder Woman, delivering a feature for an underrepresented demographic and symbolizing what the future of blockbusters could be like. Could Black Panther also follow Wonder Woman and be the #1 win for next year? Will A Wrinkle in Time do for Ava DuVernay what Wonder Woman did for Patty Jenkins? Can Steven Spielberg jump back into the world of successful blockbuster films? Will Dwayne Johnson capitalize on his Jumanji success with Rampage and Skyscraper? How much money will Infinity War make? Will Deadpool 2 follow Guardians 2 and leapfrog over its predecessor? Can Solo turn things around after a disastrous production? Can Ocean’s 8 do what Ghostbusters could not? Will Incredibles 2 pull a Finding Dory or a Monsters University? How much money will Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom make? How big of a sequel bump will Ant-Man receive? Is Sony Animation able to bounce back after a mediocre 2017 with Hotel Transylvania and Into the Spider-Verse? Will Mamma Mia capitalize on 2017’s banner year for musicals? Could Mission: Impossible - Fallout be the biggest M:I film? How much of a flop will Robin Hood be? Will Venom be an Iron Man or a Mummy for Sony’s Spidey-less Spider-Man shared universe? Will Blumhouse deliver Split or Get Out numbers with their Halloween sequel? Can Dark Phoenix keep the McAvoy-Fassbender-Lawrence X-Men movies afloat? Will audiences want another Grinch movie, let alone an animated one? Is Fantastic Beasts able to avoid the box office poison that is Johnny Depp? How much of a bump will Wreck-It Ralph 2 receive, if at all? Will Aquaman swim like Wonder Woman or sink like Justice League? How will Mary Poppins stack up with Disney’s other fantasy live-action films? Will I do this “Wins & Fails” list again next year? Only time will tell. And before I close off, I just want to give a huge thank you to all of the people who liked my posts, commented, and shared their thoughts during the making of this list, including @WrathOfHan, @That One Guy, @DAJK, @aabattery, and more. I’ve got hit with a lot of stressful personal issues and an ungodly busy schedule, so without all of you lovely BOTers, I wouldn’t have bothered with finishing this list in the first place. So thank you guys for making this list happen, and Keep Calm and Movie On!

WIN #1 WONDER WOMAN "It's not about deserve, it's what you believe. And I believe in love." Release Date: June 2 Director: Patty Jenkins Cast: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, Connie Nielsen, Elena Anaya B.O. Gross: $412.6M DOM, $821.9M WW Like with The Weinstein Company, I can’t think of any other movie that was as impactful, as successful, and as incredible as the performance Wonder Woman made. It’s a film that was able to capitalize on a phenomenal opening and deliver incredible legs, and while everybody expected the film to be a hit, nobody expected it to be the monster it became...well, okay except Tele, but he’s a weenie, so who cares? A Wonder Woman film had been in development for years, with different directors and actresses at the helm. But with the birth of the DCEU, Warner Bros. finally fast-tracked the film in development, giving the role to Gal Gadot of Fast and Furious fame, and giving the director’s chair to Patty Jenkins, the director of 2003’s Monster. And while the character first debuted in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, seeing the iconic character in her own solo adventure. Tracking initally suggested the film would open to $65 million. But as time had gone on, the film’s buzz grew and grew. Reviews were absolutely stellar, citing the film as one the best DCEU film thus far, and delivered everything fans want and more, with a star-turning performance from Gal Gadot and fantastic direction from Jenkins. With some killer marketing that promised excitement and fun, the film overperformed on its opening weekend, landing with a $103.2 million opening. When it comes to superhero origin films, this made it the fifth highest opener, behind only Suicide Squad, Deadpool, Man of Steel, and Spider-Man. If you take out Man of Steel, which was a reboot, that moves it up to number 4. That kind of debut is already amazing, but what really made jaws drop was its second weekend hold, when the film dropped 43% and delivered $58.5 million, making it the ninth-highest superhero second weekend, and the third-highest DC second weekend, behind Dark Knight and Dark Knight Rises. To put things into context, superhero films, even the ones that are well-received, almost always drop more than 50% on their second weekends. This proved that audiences loved the movie, were coming back for seconds, and were bringing along their friends. And as the summer went along, things got even crazier. Weekend three saw the film only dropped 30%, delivering $40.8 million, the fourth-highest third weekend for a superhero flick, only behind Avengers, Spider-Man and The Dark Knight. Weekend four dropped only 40%, resulting in a $24.9 million weekend, which was, again the fourth-highest fourth weekend for a superhero flick. Weekend five saw a 37% drop to $15.7 million, but the real jaw-dropper came with weekend six, the weekend when Spider-Man: Homecoming debuted. With the feature being direct competition, it should have garnered a pretty substantial drop, especially after a month of release. But when it debuted, Wonder Woman miraculously held on, only dropping 37.5%, and delivering a $9.8 million weekend. Most superhero flicks suffer a substantial drop when another superhero flick joins the multiplexes, but here, both films managed to successfully coexist, showing just how much of a crowdpleasing monster the film truly was. For the rest of the summer, the film continued to pull in both new and repeat viewers, resulting in a glorious $412.6 million domestic gross, with $821.9 million worldwide. That opening weekend and that gross resulted in a massive slew of records, including: -The biggest domestic opening for a female director -The biggest DC Comics release without Batman or Superman -The biggest film ever directed by a woman -The highest-grossing woman-led superhero film ever -Warner Bros. third-biggest domestic movie ever -The highest-grossing superhero origin film -The second highest-grossing 2017 film domestically And that’s only to name a few. So how exactly did this film be such a cultural touchstone last year? For one, it’s the character of Wonder Woman herself. Alongside the likes of Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man, Wonder Woman is arguably one of the most recognizable, iconic, and beloved figures in comic book history, becoming one of the rare characters that people who have never read a comic book in their life can instantly recognize. Second, the film was an easy crowdpleaser. Diana and Steve are both fun, likable characters with strong personalities and charismatic actors, making them rootable and entertaining, and appealing to young, old, man, and woman. Third, it offered plenty of iconic and memorable moments that made audience members tell their friends to see them, most notably the “No Man’s Land” sequence where Diana triumphantly walks across the battlefield to save a small village on the edge of death. It was inspiring, beautiful, empowering, and meaningful for audience members everywhere, and only further helped the film’s word of mouth and potential. But what is perhaps most important is that Wonder Woman, as a character, and as a film, was an important watershed antidote to a world of doom, gloom, and misery. As I’ve stated many times, 2017 was an awful year for the world, and it doesn’t look like it’ll be getting better any time soon. Diana is nothing like 2017. She’s a powerful fighter, and is always willing to kick ass and take names, but deep down she is a nurturer, a carer, a protector. A protector who cares about the innocent, and hates the idea of evil torturing those who never deserved it. Even when she discovers that humanity is inherently corrupt, she knows that people are willing to do good things, and it’s important to keep them alive, even if their moral code as a whole is nothing but a gray area. Even as someone who wasn’t as enthused with the film as many others, that kind of character moved me, showing why figures like Diana are necessary in a society full of hatred and corruption, and having this character in a year when women revealed they have been abused, mistreated, and have lost their agency, really makes its amazing opening, amazing word of mouth, and incredible total, all the more powerful. And with this film being such a success, this could very well lead to a rebirth in the way global blockbuster cinema is portrayed and presented, and I can’t wait to see what the future of the industry will be after this film’s success. And of course, thanks to this film being such a monster, Wonder Woman 2 has already been fast-tracked for development, with all of the original creative team coming together again, with the film expected to release in November 2019. (Man, 2019’s really gonna be an incredible year for the box office, isn’t it?)

FAIL #1 THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY This doesn't deserve a quote. Warning: The following post discusses sexual harassment and misconduct. Reader discretion is strongly advised. While the main reason for this studio being #1 isn’t because of its box office, this company was one of the most integral parts of the film industry, and it still has connections to the overall box office over the past 20 or so years, so it feels necessary for this to be the biggest fail of 2017. But before we get into the main reason, let’s do a quick overview of TWC's final year. Late January saw two Weinstein films release back-to-back: The Founder and Gold. These star-driven films were originally slated for 2016, but due to the Company focusing all of their attention on Lion, and the Weinsteins didn’t have the money to release so many films in one year, both features were delayed at the last second of their intended release all the way to January, when people were more focused on holiday holdovers, Golden Globe winners, and Oscar nominees. As a result, both films were dumped in about 1,000 theaters, made very little money, and were completely forgotten by the sands of time. In Februrary, Lion went into wide release, and riding on the coattails of its Oscar nominations, the film managed to be a decent success with both critics and audiences, grossing over $46.4 million in the 2017 calendar year. The Weinsteins would later be MIA for the next few months unti the release of 3 Generations. Originally titled About Ray, the film was originally slated to release in September of 2015. But due to the film earning mixed to negative reviews, and garnering controversy due to cis actress Elle Fanning portraying a trans male, the film was pulled just days before its release, only to be unceremoniously dumped on the first weekend of May, was only in theaters for three weeks, and only made around $155 thousand. Once again, the Weinsteins were MIA until August, where they would release not one, but two different movies. The first was Wind River. It had a strong limited debut, and thanks to a weak August lineup, the film became the only real success story for the studio when it came to new releases, grossing $33.8 million, and garnering critical acclaim for director Taylor Sheridan and star Jeremy Renner. At one point, Renner was considered a contender for Best Actor, but that didn’t happen, because...well, we’ll get into that. A few weeks later saw the release of Leap!, an animated feature from France. Called Ballerina around the rest of the world, the film was supposed to come out in America in March of this year. And while the film did get a March release in Canada, this film would later get pushed back to April 21. That didn’t last long, because the film would be pushed back yet again, all the way to August 30, only to move up a few days later to August 25. Similar to other Weinstein animated acquisitions like Doogal and Underdogs, this film, which already had an English dub, was redubbed by Harvey and Bob, with Dane DeHaan being replaced by Nat Wolff, and Julie Khaner was replaced with Kate McKinnon. Mel Brooks was also added, in spite of his character not even having a voice role in any of the other dubs. Why? I dunno. Regardless, the film opened to only $4.7 million, but had enough gas in the tank to leg its way to $21.8 million at the domestic box office, so...I guess that’s something? The American dub garnered poor reviews, while the original received decent reviews. The second-biggest loser for The Weinstein Company that year was a notorious film named Tulip Fever. This costume period drama based on the famous novel was originally supposed to happen back in 2004, on a $48 million budget, with Keira Knightley, Jude Law, and Jim Broadbent as the stars, with John Madden as the director, and with Spielberg as a producer. But the film’s production was put to a halt due to changes in tax rules with producing movies in the UK. Ten years later, the idea returned in the hands of Harvey Weinstein, with another star-studded cast, including Christoph Waltz, Judi Dench, Zack Galifianakis, and rising stars Dane DeHaan and Alicia Vikander. The film was shot in summer of 2014, with the first footage unviled at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. It was slated to release in November of 2015. A few months later, the film was pushed to July 2016. Nine days before it was supposed to release, due to money issues and the film being terrible, Tulip Fever would later get delayed to Feburary 2017. And once again, Alicia Vikander and company would get delayed all the way to August 2017 just a few days before its February premiere. Then after another week in delay, the film finally came out on Labor Day weekend, on September 1, 2017. The film had zero press screenings, and at the last second, in a desperate attempt to boost ticket sales, the marketing team ditched selling the movie as a costume period drama, but as a “sexy thriller,” even though that wasn't the movie whatsoever. In the end, nobody showed up, as the film was panned as one of the worst films of the year, and only made $1.4 million in its opening and ended its run at $2.4 million domestic and $8.4 million worldwide. A hilarious end to a hilarious cycle. Then in October, the Weinstein Company’s last film was Amityville: The Awakening. Like Tulip Fever, this iteration in the horror franchise was filmed in 2014, and was supposed to come out in January 2015. The film would later be pushed to April 2016, then to January 2017, due to poor test screenings, then to June 2017, only for the film to end up releasing in only a few select theaters and being released for free on Google Play. Again, hilarious end to a hilarious cycle. But before Amityville's release, scandal broke out, and everything changed. Again, this will delve into very heavy and uncomfortable topics, so reader discretion is highly advised. Also, if you really want to say some dumb apologist shit over what Harvey Weinstein or any of the other men have done, go fuck yourself. On October 5, 2017, The New York Times released a story that explains Weinstein Company owner and famous producer Harvey Weinstein had gotten away with over 30 years of sexual harassment, towards actresses and female workers at both Miramax and The Weinstein Company. Five days later, NBC News correspondent Ronan Farrow, who is the son of Woody Allen, another man with sexual misconduct allegations tied to his name, had also broken out more information. Within the next few weeks, a massive firestorm of accusations towards Weinstein had taken place, with 90 women accusing Weinstein of harassment, assault, or rape, with nearly 100 alleged instances of sexual abuse. With this media firestorm, The Weinstein Company, as well as Weinstein’s respect and stature in the entertaniment industry completely fell apart. His wife Georgina Chapman filed for divorce, dozens of companies had ended their collaborations with his company, he was condemned by all of Hollywood, and all of his future films went kaput. The Current War, which was slated as Weinstein’s awards season film, was pulled just days after the allegations and awful reviews from festival screenings, and has since been stuck in limbo. The same happened to the horror film Polaroid, the family comedy The War with Grandpa, the comedy-drama The Upside, and the biblical drama Mary Magdalene. As of now, these films will likely never be distributed by The Weinstein Company, and will likely either just get picked up by other distributors, or get dumped on Netflix with zero fanfare. Paddington 2, which was slated to premiere this January under The Weinstein Company, was sold off by Weinstein in an attempt to save more money and because the production company Studiocanal was not happy with these allegations, which led to a long bidding war where Warner Bros. ended up owning the North American distribution rights. The Six Billion Dollar Man, a Mark Wahlberg-led adaptation of the famous television show, also got its distribution rights taken by Warner Bros. But the most important part of what this debacle led to was what many scholars called “The Weinstein effect.” Shortly after, actors like Kevin Spacey and Jeremy Piven, directors like Brett Ratner and John Lassetter, comedian Louis C.K., senator Al Franken, television figures Matt Lauer and Charlie Rose, and many more were accused of assault, misconduct, and other vile acts. Not only did this result in these men losing their careers, and in some cases many other projects (Kevin Spacey will be removed in the next House of Cards season, while Christopher Plummer replaced Spacey in All the Money in the World, Louis C.K.’s shows for FX were dropped, as were his role in Secret Life of Pets and his directorial debut I Love You, Daddy) but this also sparked the famous Me Too movement, where women (and men) who have been assaulted in some way, shape, or form, tweeted out one simple hashtag, telling the world they have gone through these traumatic events, and that this isn’t an isolated incident, but a systemic issue across the world. As some may read this, they might be confused as to why this is #1, when it technically isn’t about box office, but the industry. The issue just comes down to how much of a systemic issue this problem really is, and how our escapist entertainment take part in this issue. So many amazing actors and directors we all respected are nothing more than perverted creeps. The people in charge of movies we love did disgusting things under our noses, and we paid them to keep doing it. Of course, nobody knew about all of these actions, but it still makes the moviegoing experience a tough pill to swallow, that we as a culture indirectly supported these men for years and years without anybody knowing. So for decades of assault, abuse, harassment, and rape, having The Weinstein Company, the poster child of this culture in both the industry and in world society, is the perfect “winner” as the biggest “Fail” within the 2017 box office and film industry as a whole. But on the bright side, once you hit rock bottom, there’s nowhere to go but up, and as Oprah Winfrey said at the 75th Golden Globe Awards, “a new day is on the horizon.” The new social movement, Time’s Up, had been announced on New Year’s Day, and had garnered massive headlines thanks to the Golden Globes Awards. Within this movement, a legal defense fund to support lower-income women, advocacy for stronger legislation and gender parity, and other initiatives so no one will ever have to say “Me Too” again. It’s still a bumpy road, as James Franco and Aziz Ansari have already garnered headlines for their allegations, in spite of wearing “Time’s Up” pins at the Golden Globes, many people are criticizing the movement for being a “witch hunt,” and the Me Too members have gotten their fair share of criticisms, including a recent case where Rose McGowan had made transphobic remarks at a Barnes and Noble event. But at the very least, there is progress being made, and we’re at least closer to that beautiful day Mrs. Winfrey said is just on the horizon.

The #1 rankings are about to pop up in a bit, so get ready!

http://deadline.com/2018/02/hellfest-amy-forsyth-reign-edwards-bex-taylor-klaus-cbs-films-gregory-plotkin-1202288289/ Amy Forsyth, Reign Edwards, and Bex Taylor-Klaus, whoever the hell these people are, join the cast.

LOL at you thinking this was a dramedy.

I didn't know we were the same age.

Megan Ellison knows what's what.

http://deadline.com/2018/02/zootopia-copywright-lawsuit-gary-goldman-new-filing-1202287756/ @cannastop @Jason Here We Go Again!

Florida Project's ending made me cry. That included the last 30 seconds. There's my hot take.

LET'S DO THIS PEOPLE

From what I can gather, you're @'ing TOG for his benefit or to fuck with him. Either you're going to edit Luc Besson's next movie or you're going to edit Favreau's Lion King.

For Jeff's "That one might surprise people," is he talking about Sequelizer or Darkest Minds? If it's the latter, then that's happy to hear (Jennifer Yuh Nelson <3)

Also, http://www.nowyoureinthesunkenplace.com/

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/schedule/?view=changes&p=.htm Moved up to March 23.

That's false advertising. Everybody knows Blades of Glory's the Goodfellas of figure skating movies.