TServo2049

Actually, I was thinking within the last 40 years. I feel like we've built up somewhat of a myth of something which didn't really exist to the degree we "remember." The only risky, original blockbusters I can think of off the top of my head is Star Wars, Titanic (if you count historical fiction) and Avatar. Almost everything else, I can think of ways it either wasn't risky or wasn't original.

Here's a fun game. How many risky, original blockbusters/hits of the past can we all actually name? (Should we include adaptations of existing works that were still risky projects, or stuff based on historical events?)

Another contributing factor to the decline if "original" movies - nowadays you can't attach a huge star to a non-franchise stand-alone thing and expect people to show up. Let's go back just 15 years. Big original films in 2000: Cast Away - Tom Hanks, reuniting with the director of Forrest Gump Gladiator - This one was a surprise, Russell Crowe wasn't that big yet, this is what put him on the map What Women Want - Mel Gibson was still Mr. Nice Guy, everyone loved him The Perfect Storm - OK, is this cheating because it's a true story? Either way, George Clooney plus giant waves (Classic "SFX money shot" marketing of the 90s era) What Lies Beneath - Harrison Ford Also, this whole "blockbusters used to be original" is only really half-true. Yeah, it applies to some, but stuff like Speed is no more original than San Andreas, except in the specific high concept. The pitch for Speed was literally "Die Hard on a bus". Original, yet simultaneously derivative.

ATJ's "ruggedly handsome meatbag" performance in Godzilla was partially redeemed by his Quicksilver. I can't even make fun of his accent, I had a Russian coworker who sounded exactly like that (and like Anton Yelchin's Chekov). On-topic: I wanted IO to keep #2 and overtake Greek Wedding, but it's looking less likely by the day. Unless JW overtakes IO for the 3-day (which is entirely possible), IO will be #1. Though all the people who hate on MBFGW, I still think that of any movie deserves that crown, it's MBFGW. That film was a true slow-burner, a WOM phenomenon, and even if the film doesn't seem that good in retrospect (I disagree, it's perfectly fine, and my mom and dad still quote Andrea Martin's lines), its run was shocking at the time, not just compared to movie performances now. It tapped underserved demographics; adult women carried it to crazy-good legs (I saw it because it was recommended to my mom by one of her friends).

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/counts/chart/?yr=2015&wk=27&p=.htm You have to go to the June 12 one and then manually edit the week number in the URL. IO is actually adding 26 more theaters.

I brought that one up, as an example of a film where the product placement doesn't call attention to itself. All the soft drinks in the movies are Pepsi, but the labels are not always obviously pointed to the camera, and when they do directly reference Pepsi it's for the purpose of jokes (the "Pepsi Free" joke, Marty not knowing how to open the 1955 Pepsi bottle or the 2015 Pepsi bottle)

I guess they won't update until Thursday. (Ray would always update on Tuesday for 5-day weekends, looks like Keith doesn't...)

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/counts/chart/?yr=2015&wk=27&p=.htm You have to go to the current one listed on the site (JW's OW) and manually count up how many weeks to the current week, then change the "wk=24" to whatever. I know, it's tedious, but technically you CAN get to this weekend's theater counts even if the main theater counts page doesn't list it.

Technically, Arnold smiled in T2, but Cameron cut that scene out of the theatrical version. (Which I think was a good call, that scene was totally goofy too. Though at least the T2 version had a kind of charm which I cannot imagine Genisys has. Still was the right decision to cut it out, though.)

Those other two Fox animated dates were placeholders staked out a long time ago. BOM never removed the 6/29 untitled after HTTYD3 was moved there, and I have no clue if anything is actually going to open in July. It would have to be a Blue Sky or something else, it wouldn't be DWA. There is no point talking about release schedules 3 years out, even if these dates are now publicized to the entire world. Also, we should all know by know that sequels always get officially slated long before originals do. (This is also why the animated films that are sequels usually have their titles announced early, while the originals remain on the schedule as "untitled" much longer.)

When I said a small-scale TMNT, I meant...

"We have to get these two together." "I think that would be extraordinarily dangerous."

So basically a small-scale TMNT?

I know Bananaman was British, so I keep envisioning an Edgar Wright adaptation. (And no, that has nothing to do with the whole Ant-Man thing, I thought Bananaman -> British -> Simon Pegg -> Edgar Wright) Someone needs to do a parody trailer of that.

I just think it's unnecessary. I know Hollywood loves money, so this was never going to happen, but the franchise should have stopped at T2. The "no fate" message, the ambivalence of "did we stop Judgment Day?" was a perfect ending (thank you James Cameron for changing the ending at almost the last minute). I got burned once by T3, never again for me. I will not rage about the fact that new Terminator films exist, but I will stand firm with my opinion by not seeing this or any future Terminator film.

That's what Disney said about Frozen 2 until they officially announced that it WAS in development. If it's not in development yet, that doesn't mean it won't be in the future, and they obviously won't announce it until they are doing it. This is why I almost never read industry and fan speculation articles, it's all meaningless. A new Indy is probably inevitable, but it's not in development right at this moment.

We get tripped up on the Khan thing because The Wrath of Khan is the greatest Trek movie of all time, and STID glommed into it and fed off of it like some kind of parasite. I think STID would have been a better movie, and could have still told much the same story, if Benedict Cumberbatch's character wasn't Khan.

Yes, the two Trek movies about exploring the unknown have been two of the least-regarded. Maybe someday we'll get a good Trek movie that runs with the concept.

This reminds me of the early script leak for TMNT, which was exponentially worse than the final movie. Hopefully that turns out to be the case this time (though this movie probably won't be very good regardless).

The El Capitan showings of IO must be awesome. I had the fortune to see Ratatouille on opening night at the EC while visiting L.A. (a Disney fan friend of mine got two tickets), it was great.

JP4 at Hacienda Crossings has made the top 25 for 3 weeks straight, yay!!!

They still don't have its OS opening weekend either, so DH2 is still listed as having the OS/WW OW records. Forget it Jake, it's Keith Siman-town.

I think a live-action Thundarr the Barbarian could work as a Guardians of the Galaxy-style throwback to 80s sword-and-sorcery movies. (And it's got post-apocalyptic sci-fi mixed in too - it could be like Yor: Hunter from the Future, except actually good.)

Everywhere I turn, it's BLACKHAT! BLACKHAT! BLACKHAT!

Everyone (including me at one point) seemed to treat that movie like it was directed by the Wachowskis, but it actually wasn't, they just wrote and produced it.