Eric is Anxious

The sequel to that DisneyWar book is going to be amazing

Yes, famous actors did sell a movie over other aspects, but that's just how business works. That's like saying it's depressing that a horror movie emphasized the kills and thrills over plot or character. You need to get a hook to bring in people. And those hooks are still true today. The greater of a film's % of a movie's performance these days doesn't come from plot or characters, but how cool and shiny the brand is or just how much nostalgia-pandering there is in the movie. If Twilight wasn't a famous book series, Pattinson wouldn't have become Batman. If Jurassic World was an ordinary dinosaur movie, nobody would show up, even if it had the greatest script in the world. If Shang-Chi or Captain Marvel didn't have the MCU connections, it would tank. People don't care about plot or characters with this stuff, they just want to see something they're familiar with, like how they want to see a movie star they like. Most people did not give a damn about the FFH cliffhanger when going into NWH, they wanted to see it because it had "Marvel" on the title (and also nostalgia pandering). And if I can be blunt here, the actors and famed celebrities do play an important part of the movie, since...well, they're the ones that are front and center, have to make these characters interesting, and have to deliver the plot. And if they don't pull this off, then it's not going to be a good movie. Would Jerry Maguire, Pretty Woman, Hitch, or even A Star is Born make as much as they do if the casting was off or if the famous actors who were chosen just for their starpower didn't do a good job? Probably not. Sorry, but I don't get why one era of starpower was bad, but somehow brandpower, which does the exact same effect on people, is somehow okay.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Greater Philadelphia Area Seat Report T-19 and Counting Sellouts Showings Seats Sold Total Seats Perct Sold TOTALS 0 57 401 10373 3.87% Total Seats Sold Today: 34 Comp 1.087x of Venom 2 T-19 (12.61M) 0.272x of Sing 2 w/ Early Access T-19 (2.65M) 6.076x Sing 2 WITHOUT Early Access T-19 (49.42M) Adjusted Comp 7.548x of Sonic the Hedgehog T-19 (22.64M)

Morbius Greater Philadelphia Area Seat Report T-12 and Counting Sellouts Showings Seats Sold Total Seats Perct Sold TOTALS 0 69 650 14751 4.41% Total Seats Sold Today: 35 Comp 0.664x of Shang-Chi T-12 (5.85M) 0.919x of Venom 2 T-12 (10.66M) 0.395x of Eternals T-12 (3.75M)

The Lost City Greater Philadelphia Area Seat Report T-5 and Counting Sellouts Showings Seats Sold Total Seats Perct Sold TOTALS 0 58 463 12715 3.64% Total Seats Sold Today: 175 Comp 3.924x of Jungle Cruise T-5 (10.59M) 4.409x of Free Guy T-5 (9.7M) 1.031x of Uncharted T-5 (3.81M) Of the 175 tickets sold, 159 of them were for the Fandango showings tonight. And of those Fandango showings, they make up...282 tickets. About 61% of all current tickets sold. An interesting dichotomy for sure, though of course that percentage will shrink in the days ahead. These preview days are really getting out of hand.

Honestly I think Sandra Bullock is the bigger deal for Lost City. She is catnip to every suburban mother. Tatum fans, please don't yell at me for saying this.

Dude...he did make Army of the Dead. It's on Netflix. Right now.

...I don't remember anybody laughing at you?

The Lost City is still fascinating to me, because it's one of those "easy to sell" package deals when it comes to its starpower and concept and quality. 10 years ago, it would have easily earned 45/160 and be a constant presence on cable, Netflix, Amazon, and Tubi. 5 years ago, would have done 35/115, still pop up on cable, and maybe get a following on Amazon or Netflix. And today, it will probably do 25/80, be trapped in the walled garden of Paramount+ for all eternity, and get some lame streaming series spin-off that inexplicably gets 3 seasons. Just a fascinating decline, original filmmaking has had. And Lost City's not even that original an idea!

It’ll be like it always is with these services. They’ll play exclusively in Cinemarks, smaller chains, and indie theaters. A week or two before the streaming premiere at best, same day at worst. Netflix and Amazon are comfortable in those lanes and I doubt Apple is any different

Famous last words, but do these variants really matter anymore domestically? I feel most people have given up or don’t care about COVID anymore, even the most stalwart, masked everywhere people. Shang-Chi and Scream arguably only got shaved like 5-10% when they were at the peak of these variants, and we’re getting into warmer weather. We might have a few delays/streaming shifts, but those will probably be more on propping up their services/studio disinterest in theatrical/production delays kind of deals than anything to do with COVID. Whether or not that is a good thing is up to you of course.

I'm sorry, when did we decide that X was going to be this mega-successful sensational opener? Outside of really good reviews, what exactly was the big hook for people outside of the horror scene? It's a starless, ultraviolent 70s slasher throwback. I can understand maybe it could have opened similar to The Witch and being bummed about that, but I don't think we need to go "WOE IS ME MOVIES ARE DEAD 4EVER GAIZ OMGGGG :(((((((((((("

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Greater Philadelphia Area Seat Report T-20 and Counting Sellouts Showings Seats Sold Total Seats Perct Sold TOTALS 0 56 367 10201 3.60% Total Seats Sold Today: 51 Comp 1.049x of Venom 2 T-20 (12.16M) 0.248x of Sing 2 w/ Early Access T-20 (2.42M) 5.561x of Sing 2 WITHOUT Early Access (45.23M) Adjusted Comp 7.308x of Sonic the Hedgehog T-20 (21.92M)

Morbius Greater Philadelphia Area Seat Report T-13 and Counting Sellouts Showings Seats Sold Total Seats Perct Sold TOTALS 0 69 615 14751 4.17% Total Seats Sold Today: 40 Comp 0.653x of Shang-Chi T-13 (5.75M) 0.911x of Venom 2 T-13 (10.57M) 0.394x of Eternals T-13 (3.74M)

The Lost City Greater Philadelphia Area Seat Report T-6 and Counting Sellouts Showings Seats Sold Total Seats Perct Sold TOTALS 0 58 288 12715 2.27% Total Seats Sold Today: 75 Comp 2.504x of Jungle Cruise T-6 (6.76M) 2.909x of Free Guy T-6 (6.4M) 0.713x of Uncharted T-6 (2.64M) Of the 75 seats sold, 65 of them were sold for the Fandango Early Showings tomorrow. I don't know how good or bad that is, but it will all get rolled in together anyways, so... 🤷‍♂️

I'm dying lmao

Plus George Lopez

There were posts here that were just talking about the quality of the franchise away from the BOPro postings, but one of the staff members moved those posts into the Secrets of Dumbledore thread. Sorry for the confusion. In this context, feel free to do so

Moderation Not the Fantastic Beasts thread