KGator

Haha. Yeah, pretty soon that might have to be a minimum wage position for them!

ESPN is going to start hemorraging money over the next 5 years or so. They are locked into some pretty hefty sports contracts signed before it became obvious that the loss of viewers was not isolated but would become a constant, yearly occurrence. They have no real way of making up the loss in subscriber fees which gets worse every year while contract payouts to leagues and conferences remains steady or increases. At this rate, their collapse seems inevitable due to a shortsighted business model.

Which government is that? The one world government that controls the Internet? Hell, governments can't even protect their citizens from cybercrime, terrorism, blackmail and data theft. Online piracy is pretty low on the priority list and rightfully so.

I thought both films were . . . . okay . . . . but yeah, commenting on movies you haven't seen should be a permanent credibility killer. For FB and DS I'd say the special effects were probably the best features of the films. The story didn't really grab me in either one though I thought they had potential (missed potential). I thought Cumberbatch was solid in DS but for FB it's probably not a good sign that, for me at least, the best performance and most charismatic character in the film was Colin Farrell.

(Removed)

Yes it was a highly . . . . . . "suckish" . . . . event. He was great on News Radio.

This post would probably have more impact if there weren't about 25 sitcoms on prime time network television in the 2016-2017 broadcast year. And that doesn't include all the cable networks that have their own original comedy programming.

And that means what to this discussion? Whether you individually like Friends or not doesn't change the fact that a lot of teenage girls in the US love the show and it has found new generations of devoted fans in syndication and on Netflix.

As a father of a 4 year old, Moana just doesn't seem to have that much buzz to me. I've seen items in stores and even some marketing at Disney World a week or two ago on a recent trip but it seems more like a "Tangled", "Chicken Little" or "Princess and the Frog" as one of those movies you look back and wonder . . . "When did that come out again?". Frozen didn't set the world on fire upon release. The song "Let it Go" was not only insanely popular as a cultural phenomenon but added a ton of visibility to the movie. Disney could not buy that kind of marketing. I believe it is what caused the long legs as people who ignored it when it opened finally became curious and did eventually go see the movie. As well as a lot of repeat viewings from children who saw the movie and became obsessed with it and the music. The longer a movie hangs around in theaters the more that WOM can take effect and the more repeat viewings you can have from the fanatical devotees.

Are you just being argumentative or do you not realize that 2/3rds of WOW players are college age or below and only 10% are above the age of 30. So basically, when people reach the age where they have families and responsibility they are no longer enjoying "high fantasy". And that doesn't even go into all the derogatory stereotypes floating around regarding such fans.

Just let it go. It's over. There's no reason to insult millions of people because something doesn't go the way you want it to. There's an old saying that "you can tell more about a person by what he says about others than what others say about him". And if insulting other people you know nothing about makes you feel better about yourself . . . what does that really say about you?

Pretty much.

And you are ignoring the secondary revenue streams which can be as much if not MORE than the box office revenue. So considering marketing costs and secondary revenue to be a push is a perfectly valid and defendable approach to these types of rough "profit" estimates.

I normally take reviews with a grain of salt but with that kind of consensus for this type of movie . . . this is now a must see for me.

Any idea why Star Trek is getting an extra month in China? https://www.thebeijinger.com/blog/2016/09/29/star-trek-beyond-lives-longer-prosper-china-co-writer-simon-pegg-beamed-beijing

After Japan it will probably end up in the $340-345 million WW range. Even if it does as well as STID in Japan it's still not getting to Tarzan's $355m.

I just saw the trailer to this film the other day. It looks like a good film but unfortunately it doesn't seem like an "event" movie. With a budget that big it has to be something people feel compelled to see in the theater. If I end up watching this on DVD or streaming, etc, . . . the experience might not be as good but the price will be a lot better.

I agree with your "hidden" comment. I thought the same thing.

I think STB did have IMAX when it was released. However, the Star Trek demo is older male and tends not to see movies in 3D, IMAX, DBOX, etc. So it doesn't gain much advantage from those more expensive technologies.

It has all of Latin America to open up in yet along with whatever is left in the tank for Spain, France and Korea. So even if China fell it should hit $300 million easily. It should end up somewhere in the mid $300s and if it does well in Latin America and China perhaps pushing around $375+ million.

It doesn't look too promising until you look at the rest of what Paramount put out this year . . . Then it starts to seem successful in comparison. If it gets to $350m WW I think Paramount has to try and figure out what went wrong and right the ship. Unless they are sitting back already pre-planning the rest of their "Monster Trucks" trilogy. They literally have next to nothing when it comes to franchises. Transformers, Mission Impossible and Star Trek . . . That's it.

Oh good counter argument. So exactly how am I wrong? If it eeks over $300 million you are going to stand there and say that if something like Dr. Strange or Fantastic Beasts had come out in its 4th or 5th weekend that it wouldn't have negatively impacted SS's box office total? I mean this is like intuitively obvious, we see movies all the time hit by big competition that cuts its legs out. SS has a great release date in terms of smaller, less hyped competition. The months before it were much more brutal. Do you even think about the posts you read before you make a comment or would that slow you down too much?

If it does cross $300 million it might be more due to a lack of blockbuster and comic book competition than a testament to its overall reception.

And I don't think this particular type of animation appeals to the younger viewers who (let's face it) make up the bulk of the audience for animated films. When I first saw the trailer I thought it was a foreign made film being brought to a US audience. I thought, "Hey cool, a foreign film with foreign cultural themes exposed to a US audience. This might be interesting." Only later did I realize it was a North American production. Since US audiences typically shun movies that are dubbed or have subtitles. I've long thought that the easiest way for an overseas company to gain a foothold in the US would be with animation. Those kinds of films can truly be tailored with voice overs for each individual market without being too distracting. I was thinking Kubo might have been a big successful film overseas that was so popular they decided to give it a try in the States and see how it did. Unfortunately, that isn't the case.

No. Are you? I think I'd have probably enjoyed it if I were only 5. Now don't go blowing a gasket about this, you don't have to rip all your Joy and Riley posters off the wall because someone has a different opinion than you. Someday you will learn that cartoons about girl teenage angst doesn't necessarily play well across all the different demographics. There's a reason that IO was the only 2015 film in the top five that drew a majority FEMALE audience. If you liked it great! Maybe it changed your life or affected you on a deep personal level. I don't feel the same. I'd be just as happy or happier if I had skipped it altogether.