MikeQ

Friday: 9.7M Saturday: 16M (+65%) Sunday: 10.1M (-37%) TOTAL: 35.8M (-52%) 2nd weekend grosses: Shang-Chi: $35.8 million Black Widow: $25.8 million Wonder if ERC will post about this? (This is not trying to put Black Widow down - only to poke fun at ERC and his poor analytical skills when it comes to box office.) Peace, Mike

Sign me up. I'm all in. Trailer has me intrigued. Without even knowing who their characters are, both Neil Patrick Harris and (especially) Jonathan Groff feel like excellent casting choices. I saw the original with my Dad in my teens, and I loved it. Just pure fun, with a well executed concept and novel action sequences. I remember everyone, myself included, making fun of Keanu Reeves for being a "wooden" actor, but today I've really grown to appreciate his style. My feelings about the sequels are complicated, but the films do contain interesting ideas and imagery that I admire. The "weirder" philosophical stuff was more engaging to me than the heavy focus on Zion characters and war that was so boring to me and that bogged the end of the trilogy down. But there are some beautiful/powerful moments in Revolutions. The moment when Trinity briefly sees the sun and unpolluted sky before plunging back into the dark world is seared in my mind to this day. I'm interested in seeing where this next film goes. The colour grading in the trailer reminds me of the freshly rebooted Matrix at the end of Revolutions, unless I'm misremembering. The trailer doesn't reveal why or for what purpose Neo is back in the Matrix... I could imagine a few possible explanations. I'm intrigued. Peace, Mike

Shang-Chi’s performance over the weekend has been very impressive to me. I did not see a weekend gross near $100M coming after the Thursday previews, and nor after the full Friday gross. To drop only 17% into Monday after dipping only 2% into Sunday is better than I ever expected. Seems promising to me. I’m very curious to see how it fares next weekend. It would be great to witness a leggy run. Peace, Mike

With a $21M Sunday (as per Charlie's projection), Shang-Chi is looking at ~$74M 3-day, and close to $90M 4-day - probably $88M+. The Sunday dip is about 9%, and it remains to be seen how it will hold up on Monday with the holiday. For me, this is a very strong performance in itself and certainly relative to expectations. And with a 3-day of $74M, the share of opening weekend from previews is 11.9%. Though not a totally adequate comparison, Black Panther, which also opened on a 4-day long weekend outside of summer, had 12.5% of it's opening weekend gross from previews. Shang-Chi is a new, lesser known MCU entity opening on a weekend historically never used to open a tentpole film. Families are focused on going back to work/school, at least here in Canada. The delta variant and concerns of another wave are in the public consciousness. Etc. I don't know how this can't be seen as a big win for theatres. A direct comparison to Black Widow's opening weekend is, from my perspective, unfair and inapt. Black Widow is an established character in the MCU who appeared in *seven* MCU films prior to her standalone film. Moreover, a lot of the discussion around theatrical exclusivity vs simultaneous PVOD will hinge on Shang-Chi's legs/retention, which I suspect will be good. Peace, Mike

Baumer, I would say the exact same thing about you! Seeing you around brings me back to the good ol’ BOM days, and has me feeling nostalgic, too. Life flies, eh? It always feels good to see you still around. I’m still connected with some of the old gang on social media. I hope you’re doing well and taking care of yourself. Peace, Mike

It feels good to have the box office back, and to have an exciting weekend with an MCU theatrical exclusive - silly thread meltdowns and all. 😂 Cracking out and updating one of my box office charts for Shang-Chi. As you can see below, it's had a healthy share of opening day from previews, hitting under 30%. I'm hopeful for a weekend that isn't frontloaded and benefits nicely from Labour Day. Preview Grosses for Some Comic Book Films and the Share of Opening Day Title / Preview Gross / Share of Opening Day Avengers: Endgame (2019) — 60.0 million (38.1%) Avengers: Infinity War (2018) — 39.0 million (36.7%) The Dark Knight Rises (2012) — 30.6 million (40.4%) Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) — 27.7 million (34.0%) Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) — 27.6 million (32.7%) Black Panther (2018) — 25.2 million (33.2%) Captain America: Civil War (2016) — 25 million (33.1%) Captain Marvel (2019) — 20.7 million (33.5%) Suicide Squad (2016) — 20.5 million (31.6%) Marvel's The Avengers (2012) — 18.7 million (23.1%) Deadpool 2 (2018) — 18.6 million (35.1%) The Dark Knight (2008) — 18.5 million (27.5%) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) — 17 million (30.2%) Iron Man 3 (2013) — 15.6 million (22.7%) Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) — 15.4 million (30.5%) Thor: Ragnarok (2017) — 14.5 million (31.0%) Black Widow — 13.2 million (33.4%) Deadpool (2016) — 12.7 million (26.8%) Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) — 11.5 million (34.1%) Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) — 11.2 million (29.6%) Wonder Woman (2017) — 11.0 million (28.3%) Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) — 10.2 million (27.6%) Venom (2018) — 10.0 million (30.8%) Doctor Strange (2016) — 9.4 million (28.8%) Aquaman (2018) — 9.0 million (32.1%) Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) — 8.8 million (29.7%) The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) — 8.7 million (24.7%) Peace, Mike

For me, this supports my earlier argument that it's important to unpack what one means by a film being boring or slow-paced, etc, and that a film that is unengaging for one flies by for another, for various reasons. I've watched action films that are filled to the brim with movement and action that felt like the longest slogs to get through (and yet were considered exciting and loved and appreciated by others). This is to say that I feel like I understand the two perspectives, because I've been on both sides. Both experiences of the film are valid. Peace, Mike

I appreciate you sharing your perspective! A lack of strong characters to connect with can definitely make for an unengaging experience for me, depending on the film. When I'm able to see it in October, I'll report back and let you know if I agree. Peace, Mike

Absolutely. My feeling is the film was destined to do poorly at the box office the moment it was announced as a simultaneous release. Of course, even if it was a theatrical exclusive, it may have still done poorly, if it is not something that resonates with general audiences. But I suppose what I'm saying is I haven't been concerned about the box office for a while since I've felt it was set up to do poorly to begin with, and have accepted that reality. Peace, Mike

I have to know what someone (a critic, a viewer) is meaning when they say or imply a film is “boring". Do they mean it is slow-paced? Not action-filled enough? Doesn’t have enough melodrama? The characters are uninteresting? It lacks a deeper emotional core? Intellectual core? It fails to say something interesting about the world? “Boring” and even "slow-paced" are imprecise terms - what is slow for one viewer is a film that engrosses and flies by for another. What exactly didn’t engage the person? Depending on their definition of “boring”, a film could still be incredibly interesting and compelling, from my vantage point. It depends. Arrival was "boring" for the average person in my life, but had me absolutely enthralled, thematically, philosophically, and viscerally - the exceedingly rare transcendent movie experience for me. Without knowing much about the original Dune novel, and without reading the reviews (as I don't want to spoil myself), it's hard for me to say what the approach of the film is and what it (and the source material) is aiming to do/say, and if I will be drawn in or not. I hope for the best, given the director, but we'll see. Peace, Mike

I saw the title of this thread and expected maybe 55-60% on RT. Went to RT and it currently sits at 84% with an 8.3 average rating - and a 78 on Metacritic, to boot. 'Tis a misleading thread title. Peace, Mike

Arrival, a slow and “boring” film, is literally one of my favourites of all time. How I receive this film will likely depend on how much it resonates with me thematically. Peace, Mike

Peace, Mike

Warner Bros have made mistakes, but right now, of the major studios, they’re making most of the movies I want to see in theatres. From that perspective, I’m thankful for them. Peace, Mike

Wow. I’m not at all a Marvel fanboy, and this looks incredible. The visuals and the real locations make a huge difference for me. This feels grounded, for a Marvel movie. I’ve only ever been drawn toward certain stuff from Marvel (e.g. the Guardians films), for whatever reason (I wish I could get sucked into it all). I haven’t seen any of the Avengers, Captain America, Spider-Man or Thor films. I only saw the first Iron Man. Etc. My MCU knowledge is therefore very incomplete. But I definitely want to see this in theatres. Hopefully there won’t be too much that goes over my head. Peace, Mike

Frankly, this post says a lot about you, not me. I'm by no stretch of the imagination a "youth" - but it really shouldn't matter anyway. I will give you the benefit of the doubt. Have you listened to the video? I shared it for a reason, because it's a thoughtful exploration of transphobia from a trans woman, that - in one place - addresses many of the points made about JK Rowling and her essay/comments. If you're not interested in listening and maybe learning something new, particularly from trans individuals (and we all can learn, myself included), then I don't know what to say. I don't wish to drag this out here, but if you choose to listen and want to have a dialogue with me later, either privately or in a different thread, I'm open to that. Peace, Mike

JK Rowling's transphobia is incredibly damaging not only because of her level of fame (power and status), but because she couches her transphobia in the language of being "concerned" for young people and women (conveniently ignoring trans women and young people in that concern). But hidden in her essay (and her comments elsewhere) are deeply damaging tropes about trans people. And she continued to espouse those damaging views through her platform, instead of actually educating herself. It's disappointing. It's time for people to educate themselves. Here's an excellent video essay from a trans woman that is a good start - a worthwhile listen from beginning to end. There's also a great documentary on Netflix called "Disclosure" that, while focused on trans representation in TV and movies, also gets at some of the damaging tropes that Rowling reinforces (and is full of trans voices we all can learn from). You can either do the work to unpack why Rowling's views are problematic, and deeply damaging to trans people, or continue to uphold decades old stereotypes that have been used to denigrate trans individuals. Peace, Mike

A nearly $50M 3-day, and nearly $60M 4-day, seems pretty excellent for A Quiet Place Part II, given all of the circumstances. I have to imagine that awareness & advertising was lower than under ideal, non-Covid, circumstances; some people are still hesitant and avoiding theatres; etc. Moreover, I live in the most populous province in Canada, and all of our movie theatres are still closed due to Covid restrictions - which already reduces box office potential domestically. I hope this is a sign of better times to come for the box office - I have definitely missed having theatres, and box office, in my life. Peace, Mike

I'm left wondering how there isn't a thread for this show. [Some light spoilers below] Though not always narratively elegant, perhaps - this show was pretty terrific. It was anchored by a wonderful and understated performance from Kate Winslet, and anchored in a real sense of time and place and character. The twists and turns that land are emotional, based on relationships, and rooted in things like grief and community. Julianne Nicholson is excellent. Evan Peters is adorable (Come on, when he says, "Have a good night, Mare!" and then criticizes himself for having wished her a "good nightmare" - that's just the most adorable and dorky thing ever.) The show has lovely moments like this where it doesn't take itself seriously. Mare's mother makes for some great comedy, too. But Kate Winslet is the real star here - just superb. There's so much happening in her performance of Mare, it's really wonderful to watch. She is a big part of why this show works. She deserves all the awards, in my book. Peace, Mike

Because the movie completely sidelined Andrew Rannells in a role with no character arc whatsoever. Cordon's character actually had substance - I wish Rannells was cast in Cordon's role instead. For me, I think the role would have resonated a whole lot more. (Admittedly, I'm not a big fan of Cordon to begin with.) Peace, Mike

Tina and Amy proving they are still the best Golden Globes hosts ever, even in a pandemic year and on opposite coasts. I was excited for this year's ceremony for them alone. I genuinely wish they would just settle into a permanent Globes residency and host every year. Peace, Mike

It's hard to fault them for this decision. Studios and companies are trying to do what makes sense for them given the world we live in now. Covid has changed how we can and want to live our lives, and in turn the media landscape. My sense is that people are still clinging to the notion that there will be a return to normal in the near future. Wonder Woman will be missing out on its box office potential, certainly, but I don't find it particularly persuasive to be looking at the film in isolation at this point. We're 8 months into this pandemic, and theatrical business is still severely depressed. It will be like this for many months still to come, with the worst of the pandemic still to come, and I expect all of 2021 will be impaired to some extent. It's not great for us cinema lovers and box office nerds, but this unfortunately is the way it is. For the sake of my own health and well-being, I have to acknowledge and adapt to our new reality, and find joy where I can find it. Though it won't be in the way I wanted to watch them, I am glad I have Soul and Wonder Woman to look forward to during the holidays. Peace, Mike

I'll watch almost anything with Lupita Nyong'o and Jessica Chastain. They're the main draw here for me. Peace, Mike

I can relate to this. I haven't read Dune, but I read Lord of the Rings for the first time when I was 12, and a big part of my appreciation for it at the time was that very aspect you identify. As I continue to re-read the book as I get older, I appreciate more about it (and different aspects of it). With the trailer release, I'm now discovering I have a lot of friends who have read Dune and have shared the trailer with enthusiasm. I'm choosing to take this as a good sign. Peace, Mike

I'm pretty excited, but I've been that way for a while, given Villeneuve and the cast. The trailer is good. It isn't mind-blowing or anything, but I'm not at all familiar with the story (I haven't read the book), so I don't know if we ought to expect a trailer like that (if it's more character driven vs action driven, etc). I'm pretty much always going to check out a Villeneuve movie. Peace, Mike