Macleod

The main factor in this underperforming is that it's simply pretty dumb, even for a disaster movie, having just seen it myself...and yes, the five year distance didn't help matters. But I thought Godzilla looked better and more "realistic" (whatever that means) in Edwards' movie. I couldn't buy into most of this. Watanabe's exit was almost poetic, though. Bradley Whitford was annoying as hell. Loved Zhang Ziyi's "That bitch!" line, though. 😆 But now I know what kids mean by "random," which is what I thought just about everything in this script was. Did Vera Farmiga's character seriously assemble a PowerPoint of global catastrophes to play alongside when she cold-called her husband on the base to reveal her agenda? Ludicrous. I'm not going through 14 pages to see if anyone's said this already...I'm sure they have. Directed by Michael Dougherty, protoge of Bryan Singer, by the way...and co-writer of Superman Returns. He learned how to fuck things up with style.

They did with Days of Future Past, a significantly different cut with all kinds of unused footage....bet they will with this, too...eventually. They put so much money into it, and it doesn't take much to manufacture a few Blu-rays (or just put it alongside the released film) or throw it on streaming.

"Hellboy" had a lower second weekend drop than Dark Phoenix?? Wow. ("Hellboy" is in quotes because I don't really acknowledge it legitimately.)

It hasn't moved, yet...but it probably will, judging by some Warner Bros. Exec comments.

John Ottman and his protoge worked on a BEAST script that will probably not be made: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/x-men-a-beast-spinoff-was-pitched-fox-before-dark-phoenix-1218313 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/custom2/X-MEN Fear The Beast .pdf Simon Kinberg on Dark Phoenix failure: "That's On Me." https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/dark-phoenix-director-opens-up-his-box-office-bomb-1218485 Podcast link: https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/the-business/director-simon-kinberg-on-the-dark-fate-of-dark-phoenix/the-business-exclusive-simon-kinberg-on-the-dark-fate-of-dark-phoenix Confirms that Feige now fully takes over X-Men franchise... and HR seems to claim that there will still be New Mutants reshoots(!) ...though I am skeptical on that point...

Shouldn't the casting "rumor" on the topic be kept quiet since it will possibly be a spoiler for many audiences? It's not officially announced or confirmed by anyone attached to the film.

As an investor, studio exec (or talent, these days), or simply critical observer or audience member, I'll put my bets on Feige over Kinberg on any matter in their profession for the time being, thanks.

Kinberg claiming there will still be reshoots was "hopeful optimistic PR Kinberg" right before Dark Phoenix's bombing weekend... everything changes when something like this happens. It was already moving this direction, anyway...but this past weekend solidifies it: I see Disney low-key dropping this over to Hulu next year sometime...with minimal further investment.

The fact that Disney/Marvel Studios very rapidly took over presenting duties for the Hollywood premiere of Dark Phoenix (and live streamed it through the Marvel Studios channel on YouTube) shows me that they're already involved. That's a pretty gracious thing they did, considering the already bad buzz surrounding the production...they could have just washed their hands of it. I'd expect at the very least that Feige is a "consultant" at this point (even if just virtually/Skype) for any further/final decisions on New Mutants.

Had a bet with my friend that Aladdin wouldn't go above $445 mil worldwide...should have played it more daring and bet on Godzilla or Dark Phoenix (the more obvious predictable flop if any, I guess). Goddamn I hate Disney. 🤣

I'm sure its been said 100 times already both here and elsewhere, right? But it's rather fitting that FOX's second ill-fated attempt at deciphering the Phoenix story for the big screen has gone down in flames... But this weekend is really showing us that American audiences in particular don't have the patience for boring, badly-written or conceived sequels. Quality will have to win out, otherwise blockbusters will die for a while.

She and her iconic director husband (Dick Donner) are also old, and she clearly doesn't give a shit anymore, you have to remember that. (No knock, just stating facts.) Even if you're only distantly involved with a production (having helped start the franchise, in this case), you aren't necessarily relegated to "Executive Producer" credit. "Producers" can sometimes do nothing, too. 😉

Just a nick, folks... I know the movie is kind of flopping, but in your (much appreciated) answers, I've already come across multiple things I would consider narrative spoilers, having not ready many reviews, etc.

I just think GODZILLA is a niche thing for westerners, and will always be. It doesn't quite work outside of its own cultural context and history. One movie every ten or twenty years, but Americans don't understand an ongoing franchise out of this. It doesn't communicate the same way that superhero films do (even though those have arguably also become equally redundant). And it was FIVE YEARS since the last one...this felt like a new movie to many...thus a further disconnection.

Full disclosure: I haven't seen this, yet, but curious... I got to be in the room for a great 2-hour talk at Cannes with Zhang Ziyi, and she was pretty honest about the nature of perfunctory Hollywood roles that have been thrown her way over the years, and that she's rejected a lot of them due to that. But she was also pretty gushy about claiming that her role in Godzilla: KOTM was "a real character"...and not a trope. Maybe it was there on paper or in what they originally shot, but...I suppose even that's not true in the final cut of this?