Porthos

Referenced the same Lucas quote, but from different articles. 👍 (I spent longer on my post and research though 😉) ((which got me at the top of the next page, so... "I win" 😛))

@PlatnumRoyce Some quick checking has the budget of The Clone Wars movie at $8.5m. It is... exceedingly unwise to just divide by four to get a cost per episode, but that'd put it at around $1.8m per episode. Considering that also adds pre-production development costs as well as P&A that a regular season run wouldn't get, chopping that down considerably sounds wise. I've seen recent commentary that put TCW episodes at "$1m per episode", and frankly I can believe it. But a lot of that seems to be people repeating what other people are saying, but I'd start with somewhere around $1m to $2m per episode just as a ballpark figure. *does some more checking* Okay, here's something a bit more concrete: internal links got stripped on the copy-n-paste, but the quote works well enough. And while it is true that by refining software and reusing assets, they can cut costs, if they turn around and pour it back into the show to make it look even better, the overall budget will remain the same. Plus, you know, inflation. So START at $1m per episode, but probably presume up to $1.5m per (if not more), if only for inflation and art upgrades.

I've heard rumors/stray commentary on place like Twitter about how expensive TCW style animation is (even in the old Cartoon Network days), but I wouldn't want to supply a figure simply because I might be throwing out/repeating bad information. What I can say is the sheer polygon count has got to make this more expensive than a standard kids cartoon show, even with it being offshored to South Korea. I would also point out that a main reason why TCW lasted as long as it did was, and I'm paraphrasing a long ago deleted tweet from Pablo Hidalgo, is that it had a "eccentric billionaire helping foot the cost of the series." AIUI, even before the Disney sale, TCW was in trouble over at CN when it came to yearly renewals (and in fact, again as I understand it, TCW really didn't become ***TCW!!!*** until a later generation of fans discovered it on Netflix post-cancellation). As for the demo question and who they're targeting and that being a reason to pump more money in? Eh. Don't feel comfortable talking about that. Can say the ratings aren't anything to write home about, but then again neither was TCW S7 from what we can tell. I suppose if we get Yet Another TCW-style animated show from Disney Plus in the next couple of years, then we'll know that the suits are Happy Enough with how its doing. But if all we get is more short vignettes like the recent Tales of the Jedi? Perhaps not. Might try to track cost down, and see if I can get a more concrete number than "expensive".

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39768770/dodgers-shohei-ohtani-interpreter-fired-theft Uh-oh. That is.... That is some story alright. @4815162342 @TwoMisfits Just the sheer twists and turns within the initial report is making my head spin.

Or they just have different tastes than you. Imagine that. Anyway, not the GB2016 thread. Thankfully.

You know it's funny. I don't have it on hand, but a long time ago I read a BtS/Making of book about the Original Ghostbusters film and one of the central tensions behind the scenes was a battle between Dan Ackroyd and others (I'd name them but I don't recall who was in the "other" camp) over making GB a "serious" horror/SciFi film with comedic elements versus a comedy with SciFi/horror elements. Ackroyd was pushing relentlessly for the harder, more mythological, serious take. I think Bill Murray was more on the make it comedic end. That tension probably helped catch lightning in a bottle back in the 80s for the first film, but leaning on more than one side or the other upsets the delicate balance that the first found. My read of the situation is that one of the reasons why GB3 was never made was that central tension between a "serious" take on the GB universe and the more free-wheeling Regular Joes/Schmoes vibes of the original. And I personally think the Ordinary Schmoes/Everyman angle is somewhat overlooked in the success of GB. In a lot of ways it's a very blue collar film, with blue collar sensibilities (even if the leads are all college professors, or at that level of education) with a strong slobs vs snobs undertone that was a hallmark of the late 70s to mid 80s. The Ghostbusters have sometimes been analogized as garbage collectors and that's not that far off. Anyway, just something I wanted to throw out there as someone who doesn't have that much of a rooting interest either way or over the interminable fights over GB2016.

Gosh, you make it sound so easy when you put it that way.

Okay, notwithstanding that we haven't seen the reaction from any of the locals yet, think I'm gonna go public with my... I don't do projections/predictions this far out (I leave that to wizards like @M37) and instead say my expectations are at around 4.25m for GBFE for previews as things currently stand, and have been for a while now (prob for over a week/last 10 days). Somewhat rare for me to be more bearish than M37, but does occasionally happen. In fact, I won't be surprised at a flat 4m, if sales just tank thanks to these reviews. Yes, I've been open to it opening higher, but that's only because there was enough differences in the rollout between this and GBA (and frankly other recent releases) that I was allowing for a data pattern shift (or rather matching the data pattern of a v late acceleration). But gotta tell ya. If falling behind the pace of GBA fairly badly was Strike One, and not even hitting 4.5m lately against comps like RotB and trifecta of Wonka/THG:BOSS/Aquabro 2 was Strike Two, then these reviews? Well, stranger things have indeed happened with the GA ignoring Tomato Law, but for me... Well let's say I'm expecting to see Strike Three when I see T-1 numbers locally. At least it's enough for me to go public with this, at any rate (already shared 4.25 expectations with M37 privately a couple of days ago). In the end, there's been two competing points of data for me for about the last 10 days. GBA and BOSS/Wonka/Aqaubro 2. It doing pretty badly locally against GBA the biggest and most influential one (it sold *10* tickets last Fri at T-6 for Pete's sake!!!). On the other hand, did have a recent spate of vaguely similarly-ish comps that were saying 4.5m was still a possibility. And you know what? Might still be. I'm always open to outliers happening. I just don't expect them to. Anyway, we'll see how the public reacts to this. Maybe WOM from the base will be enough. And maybe Sacramento really is just under-performing here. But, again have to say, ain't expecting good news when I see T-1 and T-0.

*logs in* *sees initial reviews for GBFE* *pours one out for @leoh *

I think the slightly fairer way to put it is treating a completed higher budgeted movie as more akin to a failed TV pilot (where something is shot but never aired) is in fact pretty damn rare. If only for the price tags involved. When it comes to expensive failed TV pilots, there is the semi-famous example of the GoT prequel where HBO flushed at least 30m+ down the drain on a pilot for Bloodmoon, and that's not even counting all of the money on preproduction. I also seem to recall recently hearing about another expensive streaming series which was axed before it saw the light of day, though damned if I can remember it right now. With the blurring of movies and TV with the rise of streaming (and especially expensive streaming shows), perhaps it's not that surprising to see some companies/WB treat films more like TV pilots in that they'd rather eat the costs than try to recoup them in some sort of release. On the other hand, a great deal of the backlash to Batgirl and Coyote vs Acme and even Scoob 2 is that folks in the industry don't want completed films to go down the route of being seen as akin to TV pilots. If they cause enough of a stink now, maybe they can stop the practice from actually becoming a trend in the first place.

After some thought while on my evening walk... Assorted comps against recent sub 4m movies: 1.48702x Shazam 2 at T-2 [5.05m] 1.10064x Haunted Mansion at T-2 [3.41m] 1.51893x Blue Beetle at T-2 [5.01m] 1.33815x Kung Fu Panda 4 at T-2 [5.08m] So, yeah, there's a chance at 5m. But it needs fairly strong walkups to do it. See tomorrow which path is the most likely out of all the comps from the last two posts.

Quick and Dirty Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Sacramento Report [T-2] 1203/28455 (4.23% sold) [+223 tickets] [200 showtimes] 0.79669x GBA at T-2 [4.05m] [adj'ed for ATP hikes since 2021] 0.57395x Sonic 2 at T-2 [3.59m] 0.46828x BA at T-2 [3.56m] 0.37606x Wick 4 at T-2 [3.35m] 0.50483x Fast X at T-2 [3.79m] 0.48082x RotB at T-2 [4.23m] 0.76478x BOSS at T-2 [4.40m] 1.17595x Wonka at T-2 [4.12m] 0.94874x Aqua 2 at T-2 [4.27m] ==== Yeaaaaah... Thazza... That's not exactly the jump I was looking for here (+134 --> +223). Falling against GBA isn't a good sign at all. Mind, BOSS and Wonka more or less stayed steady and Aquabro 2 rose a tic. On the other hand, RotB fell a tic. Got a whoooole lot riding on reviews tomorrow, locally at least. Might just be under-performing/late arriving crowd here. ETA::: commentary made before I saw the post from @keysersoze123. Have to largely agree; was looking for a larger jump. That it sold fewer tickets than GBA did on its Tmobile day locally (333 vs 223)? Well... Like I said, whole lot riding on reviews/social media impressions.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire — Greater Sacramento Area Premiere Night Seat Report: T-9 days and counting Capped Sellouts Showings Seats left Total Seats Seats Sold Perct Sold TOTALS 0 0 130 19289 20233 944 4.67% Total Showings Added Today 4 Total Seats Added Today 370 Total Seats Sold Today 64 T-9 Comps % Sold T-12 Total Sold Sellouts Shows Seats Left Total Seats Perct Sold Final Sold % of Final Comp BA 79.19 71 1192 0/152 21769/22961 5.19% 4494 21.01% 6.80m Wick 4 64.52 71 1463 0/109 13836/15299 9.56% 5448 17.33% 5.74m Fast X 69.31 64 1362 0/179 26523/27885 4.88% 4122 22.90% 5.20m AtSV 36.41 192 2593 0/140 19549/22142 11.71% 9744 9.69% 6.32m RotB 86.29 80 1094 0/120 18343/19437 5.63% 9744 9.69% 7.59m FNAF 38.90 125 2427 0/122 15268/17695 13.72% 6466 14.60% 4.01m BOSS 150.08 43 629 0/85 12360/12989 4.84% 2701 34.95% 8.63m GBFE 160.27 39 589 0/123 20131/20720 2.84% —— ——% 0.00m FINAL SOLD NOTES: "Final sold" is the number of tickets sold for the movie in question at stop of tracking while "% of final" is the percentage of Godzilla x Kong's current tickets sold versus that final number. Regal: 194/7694 [2.52% sold] Matinee: 28/2085 [1.34% | 2.97% of all tickets sold] 3D: 81/4642 [1.74% | 8.58% of all tickets sold] PLF: 585/8686 [6.73% | 61.97% of all tickets sold]

Okay, now into spoilers: Aside from that observation, another solid entry. if one focused on character development. Might be the most "episodic" entry so far, even though it still did advance the plot a good deal. Have to admit, I'm getting more intrigued as to just where the Crosshair/Omega storyline is going. Might be an "old grumpy guy"/"idealistic young girl" ancient trope, but it's a well done version of said trope. Curious, might be the best word for it really. Solid 8/10, I think. Quieter episode than the last few, but good to take in a breath now and again. One of the nicer things a longer season allows.

No context dialogue: Crosshair: I'm not gonna like it, am I? Omega: You don't like anything. Crosshair [resigned sigh]: True.

Interesting. Pour one out for the Dathomiri: Got to say, reading shit like this makes my ears perk up in a good... nay, great way. I love it when SW remembers there's more to the Force than Jedi/Sith and if this show is gonna explore some of the underlying concepts of the Jedi amassing too much power and no matter how well intentioned a group is, no group should be the sole arbitrators of power? Well, this could be My Jam just as much as Andor was, just in a very different way. Really is a fantastic interview, and I encourage people to read it: https://collider.com/the-acolyte-jedi-clone-wars/ (also talks about the possibility of a Season 2, is this "a four hour movie" and other streaming concerns)

"Creating Magic is not for amateurs" is a hell of a pull quote. 👍 For all of the perhaps mixed emotions George may have in regards to how the sequel trilogy played out, let's not forget why he sold to Disney in the first place [as opposed to opening up bids or whatnot]: Overall he trusted them to back LFL and allow them to tell stories, as that was what was most important to him. Sure, it hasn't been all peaches and cream or sunshine and roses. Sure, "WeRE nEVeR GEttINg AnoTHer StAR wArS fILM eVeR AGaiN1!!" Sure sure sure. What the fuck ever. Hollywood is a difficult biz, even in easy economic times. Says a lot that even after all of that Lucas is putting out a pretty full throated endorsement of Iger and his team.

@Starphanluke link: https://www.starwars.com/news/leslye-headland-interview

Which is ironic, because the most criticized scenes were (mostly) on traditional green screens!

It's almost as if SW has a "Broken Base" of fans, to use the TV Tropes terminology. 😛 (the real "problem" is that SW has such a large fanbase/casually interested group of folks is that it is literally impossible to appeal to everyone, all the time) ((exasperated by the fact that OG SW is a mishmash of VERY different genres and cultural influences)) (((Further exasperated by the, shall we say, different tones/styles of stories of the various films and series over the last 45+ years)))

Def a teaser trailer. A good one, nonetheless, especially when it comes to setting tone and mood. V light on plot, however, which is why I can see some being a bit more reserved about it. But when it comes to selling what the series about? Does its job, especially when it comes to planting seeds/laying out breadcrums. ... Besides, Moar Trinity Carrie Anne Moss Being Awesome is always welcome! 👍

Quick and Dirty Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Sacramento Report [T-3] 980/27659 (3.02% sold) [+134 tickets] [192 showtimes] 0.83263x GBA at T-3 [4.24m] [adj'ed for ATP hikes since 2021] 0.60123x Sonic 2 at T-3 [3.76m] 0.45120x BA at T-3 [3.43m] 0.37023x Wick 4 at T-3 [3.30m] 0.47665x Fast X at T-3 [3.57m] 0.49545x RotB at T-3 [4.36m] 0.74924x BOSS at T-3 [4.31m] 1.13426x Wonka at T-3 [3.97m] 0.90239x Aqua 2 at T-3 [4.06m] ======= Eh. Not much movement at all from comps from yesterday. For those curious: 0.85025x GBA at T-4 [4.33m] [adj'ed for ATP hikes since 2021] 0.62160x Sonic 2 at T-4 [3.89m] 0.44857x BA at T-4 [3.41m] 0.36703x Wick 4 at T-4 [3.27m] 0.47157x Fast X at T-4 [3.54m] 0.49882x RotB at T-4 [4.39m] 0.75334x BOSS at T-4 [4.33m] 1.18987x Wonka at T-4 [4.16m] 0.90968x Aqua 2 at T-4 [4.09m] Wonka comp did move up a skosh, OTOH, the GBA comp went down a skosh. But also random noise can be random. All in all, no real movement to speak of. Still, tomorrow is the real acid test. 'till then while I have opinions on where this is gunna land, at least for previews, I'm open to them being adjusted depending on just how well it does T and W.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire — Greater Sacramento Area Premiere Night Seat Report: T-10 days and counting Capped Sellouts Showings Seats left Total Seats Seats Sold Perct Sold TOTALS 0 0 126 18983 19863 880 4.43% Total Seats Sold Today 63 T-10 Comps % Sold T-12 Total Sold Sellouts Shows Seats Left Total Seats Perct Sold Final Sold % of Final Comp BA 78.50 47 1121 0/148 21302/22423 5.00% 4494 19.58% 6.74m Wick 4 63.22 59 1392 0/95 12399/13791 10.09% 5448 16.15% 5.63m Fast X 67.80 82 1298 0/178 26412/27710 4.68% 4122 21.35% 5.08m AtSV 36.65 154 2401 0/129 18385/20786 11.55% 9744 9.03% 6.36m RotB 86.79 36 1014 0/120 18423/19437 5.22% 9744 9.03% 7.64m FNAF 38.23 154 2302 0/102 12969/15271 15.07% 6466 13.61% 3.94m BOSS 150.17 86 586 0/82 11953/12539 4.67% 2701 32.58% 8.63m GBFE 160.00 33 550 0/116 19266/19816 2.78% —— ——% 0.00m FINAL SOLD NOTES: "Final sold" is the number of tickets sold for the movie in question at stop of tracking while "% of final" is the percentage of Godzilla x Kong's current tickets sold versus that final number. Regal: 177/7318 [2.42% sold] Matinee: 20/2085 [0.96% | 2.27% of all tickets sold] 3D: 71/4642 [1.53% | 8.07% of all tickets sold] PLF: 548/8686 [6.31% | 62.27% of all tickets sold]

Okay, more seriously, while they can't match the sheer firepower of the Dodgers (but which team can), they've had a sneaky interesting offseason. Their pitching staff's gonna be fun to follow, that's for sure! Especially if the gamble on Jordan Hicks pays off.