Jump to content

Eric Prime

Junior Admin
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    37,191

  • Joined

  • Days Won

    454

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Eric Prime

    Top 10 Wins and Fails of 2017 (& 5 Disappointments) l LIST COMPLETE l #1 ON P. 7

    in Box Office Discussion

    Posted

    DISAPPOINTMENT #2

    CARS 3

    "I decide when I'm done."

    cars_three_ver3_xlg.jpg

     

    Release Date: June 16

    Director: Brian Fee

    Cast: Owen Wilson, Cristela Alonzo, Chris Cooper, Armie Hammer, Larry the Cable Guy, Bonnie Hunt, Nathan Fillion, Lea DeLaria, Kerry Washington

    B.O. Gross: $152.9M DOM, $383.7M WW

     

    I honestly feel bad for Cars 1 and 2. While most of the other Pixar films are celebrated, adored, and appreciated for their technical wizardry and beautiful storytelling, these films are often considered the black sheeps of the Pixar family. Cars had solid reception, but it wasn’t as acclaimed or as celebrated as films like Finding Nemo or The Incredibles, although it was still a solid hit. Cars 2 on the other hand became Pixar’s first film to garner negative reviews, and is still considered Pixar’s worst movie. The film also wasn’t that big of a hit at the box office, becoming the first Pixar film since A Bug’s Life to gross less than $200 million domestically.

     

    Once Cars 3 was announced, the Internet collectively groaned. Why is Pixar wasting their time on this movie? Who asked for another film in this series?

     

    While people more or less ignored its existence after its announcement, when the first official teaser came out, it was somewhat unique. It was darker, portrayed a serious crash towards Lightning McQueen, and seemed to take itself far more serious than the other two movies had. And with the film going back to its roots and focusing on Route 66 instead of the globe-trotting escapades of Cars 2, as well as a surprise lack of Mater and friends, maybe this can course correct and at least improve on Cars 2’s performance.

     

    In the end, that didn’t happen. Reception was right in between both movies, and was considered an improvement to Cars 2, but it opened to only $53.7 million, the lowest of the franchise, and one of the lowest in Pixar history. Word of mouth also wasn’t so hot, as the film dropped considerably with 55% and 60% in the following weekends, leading to a mediocre $152.9 million gross, making it the lowest-grossing Pixar film since The Good Dinosaur. OS was never really fond of the property to begin with, meaning the film only grossed around $383.8 million, the lowest-grossing of the Cars franchise.

     

    Similar to Pirates, Cars was a franchise that people just weren’t interested in anymore. In 2011, people couldn’t stand Cars 2, and it wasn’t like the first Cars was that beloved to begin with. And considering the film’s premise of an aging racer dealing with technology and the youth, there really wasn’t anything appealing towards kids, the demographic that made Cars popular in the first place. This resulted in a medicore gross for a mediocre movie.

     

    A Cars 4 is unlikely to come anytime soon, and following Incredibles 2 and Toy Story 4, Pixar is expected to scale back on their sequel craze with original pieces, so the chances for another outing with Lightning McQueen is looking dimmer and dimmer. So as the unofficial end, Cars 3 ended with a dud at the box office, but it was still better than Cars 2, so...I guess that’s something?

    • Like 3

    Top 10 Wins and Fails of 2017 (& 5 Disappointments) l LIST COMPLETE l #1 ON P. 7

    in Box Office Discussion

    Posted

    To remind people, the films in the "disappointment" category by all technicalities didn’t do horrible. In some cases, you can argue they were still financial successes. They broke even, made a lot of money, and still offered their studios a lot of profit. However, there’s still the argument that they underperformed to what was expected, whether it be with critics or at the box office. Essentially, the problem isn’t that they didn’t make money. They did. But they not only could have made more money, they should have made more money. Also, these will go by release date.

     

    DISAPPOINTMENT #1

    PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES

    "You'd have seen a lot more if you kept your cakehole shut."

    MV5BMTYyMTcxNzc5M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwOTg2

     

    Release Date: May 26

    Director: Joachim Ronning, Espen Sandberg

    Cast: Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario, Kevin McNally, Geoffrey Rush

    B.O. Gross: $172.6M DOM, $794.8M

     

    When the first Pirates film, a feature that was expected to be one of Disney’s biggest bombs in history, became one of Disney’s biggest movies ever, with a boffo opening and stellar legs to boot, Michael Eisner saw dollar signs, and immediately demanded Gore Verbinski to produce two sequels at the exact same time. Dead Man’s Chest would of course become an even bigger phenomenon, and At World’s End didn’t do so shabby either. Naturally, Disney would greenlight a fourth film, On Stranger Tides. And while it was a massive success, grossing over $1 billion worldwide, there was a sense that the property was becoming a touch passe. Although OST grossed $1 billion, a good chunk of that came to the incredible exchange rates and overseas boost, going from around $600M from the last two films to nearly $800M to the 2011 flick. And in the case of domestic, it suffered a pretty substantial drop, with around $240 million, making it the lowest-grossing of the series in that region at the time, far from the $305 million Curse of the Black Pearl got nearly 8 years ago. But seeing as how the property was still very, very popular, Disney still thought they could squeeze one more film out of the waning property.

     

    And you can’t say Disney didn’t pull out all the stops, with a massive marketing campaign featuring several strong and appealing trailers, as well as a Super Bowl spot that garnered a lot of head turns from viewers.

     

    When the film first hit tracking, it was expected to gross over $115 million on its 4-day Memorial Day weekend. But when the days had gone by, those projections got lower and lower, going from $90-100 million, all the way to $80-85 million. And when the film finally did open, it couldn’t even make that threshold, as the 4-day weekend was only $78.5 million. It definitely did better than Disney’s other Memorial Day stinkers, like Alice Through the Looking Glass and Tomorrowland, but it was still a disappointment in that it couldn’t even reach the low-end of tracking. And following a disastrous second-weekend hold of more than 65%, the film essentially petered out, grossing only $172.6 million domestically, making it the lowest-grossing entry in the series in that region. Worldwide was a little bit rosier, because around $795 million isn’t anything to sneeze at, but it still became the second-lowest grossing film in the franchise, only behind the 2003 original.

     

    There were a lot of people wondering why something that should have been a slam dunk did below-average results, and while many pointed to the low Rotten Tomatoes rating, I think the main issue is that both Pirates and Johnny Depp are kinda yesterday’s news. It had been nearly six years since the last film, and by that point there were so many other new franchises Pirates had to deal with, and this one didn’t have nearly as strong of a hook as the previous films, nor as other flicks like Guardians 2 or Wonder Woman. And since Depp’s eccentric acting style was gaining more and more groans from audiences in between Stranger Tides and Dead Men Tell No Tales, why would they come back for something they’ve grown tired of? His recent domestic abuse allegations likely didn’t help either.

     

    As of now, a sixth film is in the works, as Dead Men ended on a post-credits cliffhanger, but with the diminishing returns and Disney having so many other, more bigger properties and franchises at the moment, I doubt it will come into fruition any time soon. And so, Pirates has ended with somewhat of a whimper that might have still made Disney oodles of money, but definitely nothing like what Dead Man’s Chest gave them nearly 12 years ago. (Man, it’s really been that long?)

    • Like 5
    • Haha 1

    Classic Conversation Thread

    in Box Office Discussion

    Posted

    22 minutes ago, WrathOfHan said:

    The Greatest Showman's soundtrack>>>>>>>>>Any song from a soundtrack in 2017 except I Don't Wanna Live Forever (and even then several songs from TGS are ahead of it). I can honestly say I have not listened to Remember Me once since watching Coco.

    Han, are you ill?

    • Like 1

    Mission: Impossible - Fallout | July 27 2018 | Paramount | Reactions coming in | "Best action movie since Fury Road"

    in Box Office Discussion

    Posted

    3 hours ago, ThePhasmid said:

    Since this series is clearly shaping up to be the American version of Bond, who would be an acceptable replacement of Cruise for Hunt? Cruise is inevitably going to have to take a backseat to the role, and solely stick to producing duties with this beloved action franchise. Who can seriously replace Cruise's magnetism? It's gonna be tough, but I don't see how Cruise/studios avoid it.

    If Bond can't get him, then I am all for a Mission: Impossible adventure with Idris Elba. Better yet, every movie should have Idris Elba.

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1

    Moviepass and its Impact on the Box Office

    in Box Office Discussion

    Posted

    Cross-post from the I, Tonya thread

     

    http://www.slashfilm.com/moviepass-i-tonya/

     

    Quote

    In December, MoviePass announced that they’d signed a marketing and distribution deal with a mysterious “independent movie distribution company,” and now we have a pretty good idea of what that company is: Neon, the distribution company co-founded by Alamo Drafthouse head Tim League. Neon was formed in the early days of 2017, and quickly became a major player in the distribution game; over the last year alone, they released movies like Ingrid Goes West, Beach Rats, The Bad Batch, Borg vs. McEnroe, Colossal, and I, Tonya – the latter of which is the subject of one of MoviePass’s first major advertising pushes.

     

    In a new e-mail sent to members, MoviePass praises Craig Gillespie’s Tonya Harding biopic/crime film by citing positive reviews from professional film critics and a random MoviePass member. After explaining the film’s premise and who stars in it, the e-mail goes on to offer ten 12-month MoviePasses as a prize for its membership. Here’s the relevant info:

    We are giving one person ten annual MoviePass subscriptions, to be given to anyone of your choosing. See I, TONYA in theaters by Friday night and automatically enter to win ten 12-month MoviePasses. No catch here. See the film and we’ll automatically enter you. Winner will be notified by January 15th.

    Is winning ten more MoviePass subscriptions a tantalizing prospect for people who already have a subscription themselves? Will winners be able to cancel their own paid subscription and replace it with one of the free subscriptions they just won, or will they be penalized with a nine month suspension if they cancel their original paid plan? Oh well – at least they’re not asking people to jump through hoops to enter; if you see I, Tonya in theaters, you’re automatically in contention for the prizes. But considering how MoviePass has actually shown a proven track record when it comes to improving a film’s performance at the box office, it seems like Neon may get their money’s worth out of this deal.

     

    I, Tonya | Limited release December 8 2017 | Margot Robbie stars in biopic directed by Craig Gillespie (d. of Mr. Woodcock, 2007) | going for them oscars and what not

    in Box Office Discussion

    Posted

    http://www.slashfilm.com/moviepass-i-tonya/

     

    Quote

    In December, MoviePass announced that they’d signed a marketing and distribution deal with a mysterious “independent movie distribution company,” and now we have a pretty good idea of what that company is: Neon, the distribution company co-founded by Alamo Drafthouse head Tim League. Neon was formed in the early days of 2017, and quickly became a major player in the distribution game; over the last year alone, they released movies like Ingrid Goes West, Beach Rats, The Bad Batch, Borg vs. McEnroe, Colossal, and I, Tonya – the latter of which is the subject of one of MoviePass’s first major advertising pushes.

     

    In a new e-mail sent to members, MoviePass praises Craig Gillespie’s Tonya Harding biopic/crime film by citing positive reviews from professional film critics and a random MoviePass member. After explaining the film’s premise and who stars in it, the e-mail goes on to offer ten 12-month MoviePasses as a prize for its membership. Here’s the relevant info:

    We are giving one person ten annual MoviePass subscriptions, to be given to anyone of your choosing. See I, TONYA in theaters by Friday night and automatically enter to win ten 12-month MoviePasses. No catch here. See the film and we’ll automatically enter you. Winner will be notified by January 15th.

    Is winning ten more MoviePass subscriptions a tantalizing prospect for people who already have a subscription themselves? Will winners be able to cancel their own paid subscription and replace it with one of the free subscriptions they just won, or will they be penalized with a nine month suspension if they cancel their original paid plan? Oh well – at least they’re not asking people to jump through hoops to enter; if you see I, Tonya in theaters, you’re automatically in contention for the prizes. But considering how MoviePass has actually shown a proven track record when it comes to improving a film’s performance at the box office, it seems like Neon may get their money’s worth out of this deal.

    Well...that's certainly a giveaway.

    The Kid Who Would be King | March 1 2019 | Fox | Joe Cornish directs

    in Box Office Discussion

    Posted

    44 minutes ago, Just Tele said:

    "Now, with the most powerful sword in history in the hands of the most powerless schoolboy in Britain, an epic adventure begins as Alex and his friends must thwart a medieval villain named Morgana..."

     

    Ow, my brain hurts.

     

    I mean, the people involved are smart. Hopefully this is a clever and mythologically faithful spin on a contemporary Arthur, rather than the dreary slop the synopsis suggests. (tbf the synopsis was probably written by studio marketers and aimed at catching the YA eye.)

    Honestly, the whole "modern kid discovers Camelot" thing reminds me of this little Disney masterpiece:

    Kid_in_king_arthurs_court_poster.jpg

     

    That's probably not a good sign.

    WrathOfHan's Controversial 2018 Box Office Predictions

    in Box Office Discussion

    Posted

    On 1/6/2018 at 12:02 PM, WrathOfHan said:

    April 13

    The New Mutants: No other movie is daring to face this, and it’s for a good reason. The New Mutants represents a new endeavor in the comic book movie craze: horror. Both genres are coming off record-breaking years, and people want new, unique movies. This fits that bill and is releasing on the perfect date. Friday the 13th always leads to big grosses for horror movies, but how will it affect a superhero horror movie? I’m betting a lot! It also helps that the rest of April and May look a bit light on competition (though it will drop a bit in its second weekend and May 4). Don’t be surprised if this comes close to Logan. 70/200 (2.86x)

    tenor.gif

    • Like 1
    • Haha 3

    The Box Office Buzz and Tracking Thread: Electric Boogaloo

    in Numbers and Data

    Posted

    Final Update for this weekend, including 3-Day and 4-Day

    Paddington (3-Day) 153 1737 8.81%
    Paddington (4-Day) 175 2252 4.22%
    Proud Mary (3-Day) 356 1437 24.77%
    Proud Mary (4-Day) 372 1845 20.16%
    The Commuter (3-Day) 80 1795 4.46%
    The Commuter (4-Day) 84 2318 3.62%

     

     

    For Paddington, its 3-Day is 215% of Ferdinand ($28.9M) and 209% of My Little Pony ($18.6M).

     

    The only good comp I have for The Commuter is The Foreigner, which is about 222% of that film ($29.1M...yeah, it's not reaching that)

     

    No good comps for Proud Mary unfortunately.

    • Like 4
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Guidelines. Feel free to read our Privacy Policy as well.

  I accept