GambitPool

The Barbieheimer memes were great. But to see both film get stellar reviews is even better. This is what the industry should be about.

Take it one step further. Memory wipe upon leaving the screening... Every film's a potential billion grosser...

I say everything gets treated as a mystery box now. No announced release dates. No reviews. No trailers. You walk up to your theater, or ticket purchasing site, and go, "Oh neat. Oppenheimer is playing." Infinite legs.

I got out of MI after an emergency alarm forced the film to stop and everyone leave the theater. Thankfully they started it back where it left off once it was safe to go back in. And this movie is f*cking great! Like potentially best of the franchise great. If you want to pace your three hour film, you study this one because it's one of the best paced 3 hours films I've ever seen. America! C'mon!

Maybe Summertime just isn't the time for movies anymore, aside from one or two big hits. Maybe the early stages of COVID, when lockdowns were enforced/highly recommended, changed people in ways we haven't realized yet. Like perhaps people would rather be outside in the sun instead of a dark theater watching non-interactive media reminding them of that time they had to sit at home and do nothing but watch streaming. Maybe I'm an idiot lol.

Verbinski blockbusters have a scale and grandeur most blockbusters believe they're creating. They feel massive. Shame he's in director's jail. Gareth Edwards is another large scale blockbuster director and I hope the Creator is a damn good film.

I agree. I think another big issue, related to yours, is they attached the first trailer with Maverick - nearly 14 months out from the actual release date. Then released the next trailer just a couple months before release when everything was flopping or underwhelming. It's hard to keep something in the public consciousness when you promote it almost a year out, forget about it for most of that year, then use generic marketing attached to stuff people aren't even paying attention to. In that time, the Barbie/Oppenheimer campaign started, grew bigger, then grew out of control and is seeing the fruits of it's labor just a week before release. If you want long term marketing, actually market it during that long-term.

Long as I get paid on the Zuck vs Elon card.

Fallout has something Dead Reckoning doesn't. CAN'T FIGHT THE FRICTION!

There's crossing a line and then there's burying it for no one to see. Safe to say studios had their shovels out.

I think it's a good route to take. We have established heroes who've been doing this for a while and they've grown more jaded and cynical. Then Superman shows up and he upends the typical superhero by being way more powerful, but inspires hope the other heroes never did.

And we thought Barbie was gonna be the hottest film of the summer. 🥵

Having rewatched the first 3 the past few days, MI:3 has the unfortunate placement of being the bridge in between MI:2 and the rest of the best films lol. Its genuinely a great film in itself that's completely overshadowed by the industry-defining stunts and action the latter films have. It sets the groundwork for what the franchise becomes. Philip Seymour Hoffman is chilling and arguably the franchise's best villain. The opening scene grabs you immediately with his and Cruise's back and forth arguing. There's a sense of dread and tension thanks to him and the plot with the tiny brain bombs. The bridge scene is aces. Plus it introduces Simon Pegg to the franchise and that's a major win in itself. Like I said it gets overshadowed but that's because 4-6 (and now 7) are just phenomenal films.

I literally didn't know they made Insidious films past 2 and thought this was a trilogy lol.

Then she saw Dark Phoenix and was, "This is good."

So many bombs last month, Nolan's preparing his biographical movie pitch as speak.

This was stressed in 2008 and it's even more relevant in 2023. The original trilogy was magical and classic due in part to it's practical effects that still hold up today. That's how people remember Indiana Jones. The giant boulder, the melting bodies, the heart rip, the rapidly aging Nazi, etc. Crystal Skull pulled the rug out from everyone by going over board with green screen and CGI that has not aged well. It's like Star Wars. The OG trilogy was ground-breaking in its effects. The prequel are derided for its CG and green screen. The sequel trilogy knew they had to try with it's practical effects to get that classic feel back and they did it perfectly with Force Awakens. But Indy kept with the heavy CG and green screen - no thanks to Ford's age. It's visually similar to Crystal Skull than the OG trilogy. Young CG Indy and Old CG Indy riding a horse through a green screen subway aren't selling anyone on this film.

Top Gun: Maverick proved that audiences want to see the main character still kick ass while helping the young generation. That was a film that completely respected Mav, almost deified him, while also developing his guilt over Goose and his hesitancy to train younger pilots who can't match his skill. Indy's trailers told same story as Han, Luke, Wolverine, Keaton's Batman, etc. Made him depressed, out of his prime, no purpose in his twilight years. So some plucky young hero can save him from himself. Audiences weren't buying this again. They want Maverick and No Way Home type stories.

My friend who is a massive Indy fan, and usually likes most sequels including the Star Wars ones, said this is one of the biggest disappointments he's seen in a long time.

He seems to be taking "He's white?" to the extreme.

Well aside from a myriad of lessons to be learned from The Flash, maybe Hollywood needs to understand that nobody wants to see old, depressed, defeated versions of their childhood heroes anymore. Han in TFA began the fracture in the Star Wars fan base while Luke shattered it in half. From the trailers, Keaton appeared to be in a retired, depressed state. Not to go into spoilers, but I can see why anyone seeing the film for Keaton would not be satisfied. Indy's in the same boat with the trailers hinting he's depressed without adventure. Hollywood has an obsession with taking nostalgic characters and making them losers for the new, young hero to get back in the fight. No Way Home subverted this by having the nostalgic characters help the new hero in their broken state. It's the gold standard for fan service movies and audiences want more of that.

Civil War never marketed Ant-Man as a main character. He's in the trailers for literal seconds. Kamala and Monica are co-leads.

I think route to go for Marvel and Disney+ are more one offs like Werewolf by Night. Utilize obscure characters and concepts with absolutely no attachment to the grander universe or build up to a future project. No more demanding audiences to sit through 6 episodes of a show so they know who that character is in an upcoming film. No more forcing plot points because the show is either getting a film sequel or is connected to another movie. I honestly think Moon Knight could've been the template for what a Disney+ show could be if it was better. No important stakes to the larger universe and no concern with building up 5 different sequels or spin offs. It just let the audience watch a new character without them wondering if they're gonna be in the Avengers or another movie.

Seeing as the DCEU is done, maybe they should've went all out on the joke ending. Barry changed things again and somehow Affleck, Clooney, and Keaton all end up in the same universe lol. Not like they have to follow up on it.