RaidensSword

It's not a girl flick. It's a sci fi movie but the lead star is Lu Han, former kpop star, who has a large female fan base. The die hard fans of his are supporting it but it's not really the type of movie they want to see him in. Unfortunately it's a pretty bad movie (only slightly better than an original Syfy channel movie imo) so it can't grab the sci fi fans either so that explains the frontloading.

As I said, Bravest had no real buzz outside of that high rating score. It didn't tap into the same audience as Operation Red Sea or Operation Mekong and it's not as good as those movies. They made a big mistake with the director. Tony Chan is not Dante Lam. Happy to see Ne Zha doing well. I hope more Chinese animations can be successful.

I agree with Gavin

I agree his status has risen, but that doesn't mean his cheaper action movie days are over. Let's not forget he is the wrong side of 50, there's not many action stars that become more bankable over that age. I agree that it's no shame and I like Statham. To keep it on topic, I'd like to see him in some more Chinese co productions and get that consistency in China as a leading man that I mentioned he is lacking. They are already setting up Meg 2, so it will be interesting to see if that increases from the first.

The potential Chinese release version won't be the same as the R rated version. Look at Django or Deadpool 2 for examples of R rated movies that were edited to pass Chinese censors.

But all of that is because Status is not as big a star as The Rock,so he doesn't get the big budget movies or as many solo headlining movies. Unfortunately Hollywood has already decided that Status is not bankable enough to get big budget solo roles, so unless a Chinese company decides to finance one for him to tap in to this supposed big Chinese fanbase we may never get a fair comparison between him and The Rock.

Unfortunately these are the only movies we have to compare them on. We don't know what Meg would have made without him or without Li Bing Bing or if it starred The Rock instead. That is all guess work. As this is a box office discussion site, based on their recent box office, The Rock has more consistency and has earned more money in solo movies in China than Statham. That is irrefutable. Based on those statistics in my opinion The Rock is a bigger box office star in China.

There are so many things to unpack from this conversation. But it's an important discussion to have. I agree about the portrayal but I don't see how he can be a preachy character. All the marvel origin movies follow a simple formula, it's just going to be him using his powers for the first time and defeating a bad guy. Then overall tone needs to avoid any political messages but I'm sure Disney are going to be so soft with it, I can't even see them touching the colonialism type subject like Black Panther did. I think it's less than Black Panther outside China, but an increase on it inside China so it will even out. I think around Black Panther ww total would still be a big success for a basically unknown hero for most audiences im 2019. Well this goes back to the original discussion about the main character's heritage. At soms point Disney need to a draw a line about how far they are willing to go to satisfy this kind of criticism. Are we really going to have actors only being able to play characters who share the same blood in every movie? Luckily I still think this criticism comes from a vocal minority, especially when it comes to supporting characters. It's really a lose lose situation. If they cast someone with bigger eyes or more "western" looking, then they would get criticised for that too. That's why it's just a silly discussion road down to even go down . Let's just see how well all the actors play their parts, that's the most important thing in my eyes!

I think all of these social media comments need to be taken with a pinch of salt. As the first Chinese superhero in the MCU it was always going to attract praise and criticism. When you add in nationalistic views from some people, it just creates a different angle to other casting arguments /discussions. In a way it's good that it's creating a lot of buzz in China or at least people are talking about it. The worry is that I haven't seen much talk of it outside China since the announcement. I want Shang Qi to be a world wide success, so hopefully Marvel also focus on attracting the audience outside China too. That's the most pointless criticism I've read. Whoever said that is not even worth listening to.

Yes, I agree but that's why he is a B movie king. Fighting with my family is not relevant because The Rock just has a cameo in that, he produced the movie but he's not the star. I still think if we go by official box office The Rock is a bigger star in China right now. We can't base their star power of pirated movies. San Andreas, Rampage, Skyscraper, Jumanji are all real signs compared to The Mechanic Resurrection and Meg. BUT I agree Statham will help, just not a big enough impact to reach 200. Wow. This feels like Marvel's first big mis step in China since their new cinematic universe. I still don't like all these online reactions when we don't know what they are going to do with the character. They are probably trying to redefine it and empower the character for a new generation. Of course we don't know if it will hurt box office long term, these negative articles are damaging short term for a new superhero franchise. I'm really curious how Marvel will react.

Yes exactly. People pirate his movies a lot, it doesn't mean they support him in the cinema. Look at Mechanic Resurrection.

I'm only talking about in China. Rock is much more consistent in China than Statham and has had several more hit movies over recent years.

Maybe a low chance but Statham is even less of a star than The Rock. Meg was built around the shark as the star, people weren't turning up for a Statham movie. Even then it couldn't break 200 and that had a famous Chinese co lead in Li Bing Bing. Mechanic Resurrection is a good example of his drawing power in China by himself with a similar kind of movie to Hobbs Shaw. I think he and The Rock's fanbases overlap a lot too so I don't see him bringing much extra to it.

It can still do great without getting close to Zootopia, which is what my post was about.

Yes, the Fast & Furious brand name will help but it still needs the movie to be good or at least likeable enough for the Fast & Furious fanbase. I think around 150 would be a good result to be happy with.

I agree with your feeling. Rock can't carry this spin off movie to a 200+ hit in China imo. Pikachu should never have been predicted that high either, Pikachu is a cute character in China but the Pokemon brand is not that strong as a whole. Godzilla was a disappointment, I expected more from it too, but it squeezed out an ok run in the end. TLK is following the pattern of the remakes so not that surprising. I don't think Ne Zha is going to get close to Zootopia either. It will have bigger drops than people expect. Maybe some families want to see a Chinese themed animation right now but it's not going to grab the kid audience long term and doesn't have much appeal outside that. Just my opinion.

Comments under that twitter post also point out that the first movie’s patches were from his dad's tours and the new patches are his own and represent his own experiences as a pilot, so it makes complete sense regardless of any political reason. I am also not excited about his involvement but it looks to be so focused on Maverick that I think he won't be able to ruin it for me. However, he's not hidden completely in the trailer , you can see him singing at the piano during the bar scene and a brief shot of him having an argument with someone.

The Mummy was Cruise basically taking over someone else's franchise and giving it a completely different tone. Top Gun is Cruise returning to one of his own most popular movies and biggest box office hits. Completely different situations. You are being disingenuous comparing apples to oranges.

I agree that the American market is important but I think it will still translate well overseas and foreign markets are important to all Cruise movies. I think it will do well worldwide.

Sorry if you feel this way but why is it rude to ask someone for more something to back up an opinion? I never said his personal view didn't matter, I asked for more sources to support that view. Also seeing the way someone who is a box office analyst comes to a decision would be great information for other people. That's why we all here to study box office and discuss it.

Fantastic trailer for fans of the original. Online attention is even better than I hoped. I think the next trailer should step away from that a bit and show more of the plot. Miles Teller apparently has a pretty crucial role but this didn't touch that at all. That's what Jennifer Connelly is there for ;) Yes, it will be interesting to see if they can pull in a younger audience. Cruise does struggle a little outside of the MI series recently, even with solid projects. But with the stunts and big promotion, this could get a real must see vibe, similar to what the posters for MI Ghost Protocol did with the Burj Khalifa.

Ok, I understand, but that's just your personal review then, are there any tangible signs you've seen that point to it being such a box office hit? And do you have any prediction box office wise?

I think you make a lot of excellent points. My worry is that Arnold was in Genisys and couldn't help it break 100 dom. Now he's even older and possibly will have a smaller role in this one. Also, the fact he was in Genisys and it still wasn't well received by the audience may have ruined some of their faith that his involvement is a sign of it being worth seeing. Same can be said of Cameron considering his support of Genisys. If Arnold wasn't in Genisys and was coming back for this one, I'd be much more excited and positive about him making a big impact on the box office. But unfortunately I think there's only so many times you can go to the well. I would love to be proven wrong though. I think lack of strong competition is important too and an improvement with marketing can help, as you suggest.

Nothing is certain, swearing off having children isn't a guarantee of being a positive step long term. Maybe the kid that someone has will be the one to make a discovery that saves the planet or a realistic way to reach a different habitable one. Also, most importantly, they can experience the beautiful world Cameron has created in Avatar and help contribute to the series breaking box office records in the future!

What makes you so confident? I know these kind of stories can appeal to a certain audience but I'm just curious as I haven't seen much hype about this movie online and I don't see it appealing to families or younger people that much.