SLAM!

Red Sparrow has a shot at beating the entire domestic gross of mother! with its OW alone...

I was trying to remember what film was playing alongside A Wrinkle in Time, Gringo, and Strangers: Prey at Night next weekend, and when I saw this thread, I was like "oh... that one...".

Well, counterprogramming can't hurt if it's gonna be slim pickings either way...

The article says Marsai Martin not only came up with the specific idea herself, but is executive-producing the film. That's impressive.

It should be noted: this was the only film to move away from Avengers immediately. Bad Samaritan and Traffik, two much smaller releases, are still there; whether or not those films will attempt to counterprogram might be something that is currently being decided, but one thing to know for sure is thay those films didn't flee right away. But I Feel Pretty just did. And that is making me doubt its potential quality even more. And now the film is releasing on a weekend with two other comedies: Super Troopers 2 and Tully. If even one of those alternatives strikes a chord with audiences, I Feel Pretty might become one of the most notable bombs in recent memory.

What I'm about to say is going to inevitably become a controversial opinion about the trailer for some viewers, but here goes nothing: This looks like a legitimate upgrade. I'm serious. The acting looks better. There's more of an effort to implement artistry. There seems to even be more nuance. The narrative is exploring themes that are truly coloring the main protagonist as an imperfect person- this is a major step up. This looks like a film that gives glory to God, and this threequel as a whole seems to be taking more strides to be a better film than the previous two entries in the franchise. I would not be surprised at all if the film is able to find an audience among faith-bases moviegoers. I mean, seriously. Look at the one shot inside the church where the yellow backlighting looks slightly reminiscent of the colorization you might've seen in Blade Runner 2049. This by no means looks incredible, but I'm choosing to see the positives from the trailer, and I'm choosing to say that the positives are going to result in a stronger overall film that people will absolutely want to see.

It's disappointing to see Maquia flop. But hopefully the film can still get US distribution.

I think we're about to enter a new era of movie musicals. And I couldn't be more excited.

After the success of Black Panther, something like this was definitely going to happen. The premise sounds very good and the two lead actresses are very exemplary. I'm gonna keep my eye on this one!

I think I'm the only one thinking Sgt. Stubby has more potential than that; I mean, it won't be a slam dunk, but its subject matter can propel it to a better position if the film is of any noticeable quality. But it wouldn't beat Rampage. None of those films on that date would get an opening weekend above $10M against Rampage. That's why I'm hoping Warner Bros has the heart to let those films be and ler Rampage stand for itself.

Moving up a week will be easier said than done because of the *five* wide releases currently planning to release on that date. If Avengers' move is what'a getting them to consider going into a free-for-all in regards to which date they should migrate to, Rampage moving onto their exact date would be the thing to ignite that.

So Neon is making the decision to release this wide. In my opinion, April 13th, now with five wide releases, is getting congested. It feels like last year's congested April weekend (the one with films like Free Fire and The Promise) all over again. But if they focus on Shia Labouf as a star and find a way to advertise in a way that's different from the others, they just may be able to get this film over a $10M total, which wouldn't be bad. This feels like a power play on Neon' s behalf. This is the most aggressive thing they've done with distribution thus far.

(What would be the consequences of Warner and DC being sold?)

I think that date is a good choice by Neon because the weekend's largely small-scale releases may be able to direct attention towards it. We'll see.

I know Daniel Craig is said to be returning, but as soon as I saw this article, I knew I had to post it here. http://metro.co.uk/2018/02/19/black-panther-star-daniel-kaluuya-is-favourite-to-replace-daniel-craig-as-007-after-extraordinary-year-7325420/ The article basically suggests that Daniel Kaluuya is a new favorite to replace Daniel Craig as James Bond at least sometime in the future. Personally, I'd love to see it happen.

I think Samson ended up being too small of a release to convince companies one way or another. Samson's quality further limited Pure Flix's already-small ability to advertise it legitimately so that people could actually know it was coming out, whereas Mary Magdalene has palpable quality, meaning that whoever acquires distribution rights can freely advertise the film without fearing the possible alienation of moviegoers who care about quality, leading to the film being made known to audiences and the suddenly-possible 'click' of the audiences who turned God's Not Dead and War Room into successes. In other words, Pure Flix's marketing strategy is a set-up for failure to begin with because they have a seeming lack of an ability to display their films in an adequate manner. My challenge to you is this: see how the Apostle Paul film does in the coming weeks, and then you'll be able to really generalize the current state of the biblical story genre. I do agree that faith-based films about modern-day situations have recently been doing better than the biblical films. I think it's because the real-life ones are more immediately relatable to the majority of audiences. A film about Samson isn't sought after because there is more of a feeling of 'pledge-driving', or seeing the film for the sole reason that one is a Christian. But with stuff like War Room and Miracles from Heaven, there is more legitimacy because creative minds are being applied to original content. I think there may be many Christians who don't want to rush to see Samson because they remember being burned out by Noah and would rather read the Bible for the most accurate depiction, and because they want to ride waves of buzz so that they are not alone in seeing the film- which would be a weird reason for a Christian to have, but perhaps a plausible one.

I think that, similarly to Disney's Christopher Robin film, this was/is probably filmed largely in secret. If Disney didn't give up on Pete's Dragon, I do not think they will give up on this.

I think it's very weird for Focus Features to do this to Thoroughbreds; they distribute a wide variety of films ranging from Darkest Hour to Atomic Blonde, tending to each film according to its overall potential. Of course, I've seen online adverts for this film, but that's about it. Focus could've done a little more if they wanted to, I think.

Or they want the time to figure out the best marketing strategy. *grumble grumble*

It is such a shameless act for these guys to release this film so close to Sherlock Gnomes. I know Sherlock Gnomes looks mediocre, but this looks insidiously awful. I mean, seriously. Are they hoping 'that one family' gets confused on Sherlock Gnomes's opening weekend? Geez, Louise...

I'm about to make a broad statement about this year's potential Oscar projectory based on events that have happened in the film industry. My main prediction is this: At least one film distributed by Bleecker Street will be nominated for Best Picture this year. My reasoning is this: with The Weinstein Company sent crumbling by Harvey Weinstein scandal, a giant hole has been created in terms of celebrated prestige films such as The Artist, and The King's Speech, Inglorious Basterds, and Silver Linings Playbook. In fact, The Weinstein Company's collapse prevented Wind River from being a factor in the awards. But I believe that there is a company that can keep that niche of prestige picture going in a more successful manner, and that company is the relatively new Bleecker Street. The company has developed a brand of film, releasing features that tend to fit a certain mold that I find similar to The Weinstein Company's mold; the only difference, of course, is that Bleecker Street's films currently tend to be much, much better in quality. Films that Bleecker Street has released in the past include Beasts of No Nation, Eye in the Sky, Captain Fantastic, Denial, Paterson, The Lost City of Z, Megan Leavey, Logan Lucky, and The Man Who Invented Christmas. And notable films that the company plans to release this year include Leave No Trace, Papillon (2018), Colette, and What They Had, and that's probably not all they plan on releasing. Bleecker Street has had success in some acting categories in the past, but they have yet to truly have one of their films break through the Best Picture barrier. But I think, especially depending on the reception of Debra Granik's Leave No Trace and the quality of their Papillon remake (which stars Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek), that this could change as soon as this year. So enough of limiting the company's awards prospects to an understandable Keira-Knightley-for-Collete nod. I think it's time to view Bleecker Street as a threat.

Well, I'll try to look at this differently. Maybe Lionsgate did this because they're confident in the material and its ability to do well during Thanksgiving. But unfortunately, a lot of other films apparently have companies thinking the same. I think the specific film that steals many of this film's audience is Creed 2. With this Robin Hood being a modern-day reimagining (to my knowledge), both films are action-oriented 'cityscape'-type films. I really think that if both films end up feeling similar, people would rather see Creed 2. Especially because Creed 2 is guilty by association to Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler (even though Ryan Coogler is not the writer/director).

I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if Lionsgate places this in that Sept. 21st spot so they tore Robin Hood away from. Even if it is placed in Sept. 14th, they'll probably reevaluate... Alpha and The Predator seems like a double does of heavy competition.

Sounds like this might be like Mean Girls in the way it visualizes its comedy. That's a part of what made Mean Girls groundbreaking, and that may be a part of what makes Love, Simon groundbreaking.

Not good. Not good at all. Its competition is now Fantastic Beasts and Widows (from the weekend before), Creed 2, Wreck-It Ralph 2, and (potentially) Robert Zemeckis' next film. It was much better placed in September in terms of competition. Were they afraid of Alpha or something? Lionsgate has potentially made a grave mistake.