Old Spice

Really bummed at this news. Season 1, after a great start, kind of meandered off into mediocrity, but Season 2 was flat out dazzling. The numbers are the numbers, but damn.

Not that goat!

I really dug the first one; it's a perfectly crafted trifle that knows and delivers exactly what its audience wants, but I have no interest in the sequel. With all the things Fellowes could explore- the stock crash and subsequent global depression, the rise of fascism, Dame Maggie's seemingly dire health teased at the end of movie one- we get a trailer about a secret villa in Italy she's inherited? Even for Downton, it just seems so... pointless.

Right? That was hilarious!

Fantastic Beasts 3 update, Sugarhouse Cinemark, Tuesday 5:50 AM. I mentioned in an earlier post that Wizarding World tends to overindex in Utah, and that's definitely true at my theater. 152 tix sold so far for Thursday and two more screenings just added. Here are the current comps against finals. Ghostbusters: $7.83 Uncharted: $6.77 Batman: $7.78 Morbius: $12.54 Lost City: $7.48 Sonic: $11.28 Eternals: $7.33 Even throwing out Morbius and Sonic as outliers, with 2.5 days of sales left, I don't see how this doesn't break into double digits across the other comps. Still think we're looking at an OW of $50+.

Somebody said in the FB thread that COG was $115. If that's true, and even allowing for much of China being shuttered, I can't imagine David Zaslav is going to look at these numbers and see much incentive for going ahead with a 4th installment.

For me, peak Jim Carrey, at least artistically, will always be Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. But that's cool that he could still find that crazy, fun part of his persona now that he's morphed into a sort of wizened philosopher. And I love hearing all these raves for Sonic. Any hedgehog that reads Flash Comics, I'm a fan of. In fact, I kind of wish he was starring in the Flash movie, TBH.

Morbius second Fri would be bad even for China.

Quick hitter from Salt Lake Cinemark Sugarhouse, 1:20 PM MST. Sonic is solid, 85 tix sold so far for tonight. Don't have any kids' comps, but this puts it almost exactly even with Uncharted and Ghostbusters. DS has slowed dramatically from yesterday as it had to, and has sold six seats since early this morning. Total is now 253 and it should pass NTTD final by Saturday at the latest. FB3 is still chugging along. 80 tix sold currently and normal bumps next week should get this into $50M+ OW territory. And saving the worst for last, Ambulance has sold a total of 2 tickets so far for tonight. Brings back memories of the pandemic days when a couple could have a whole auditorium to themselves.

And, BOOM! In less than half a day, Dr. Strange tops Eternals' total presale, 208 to 197 at my theater. Crazy. 👀

DS started off with a bang in Salt Lake this morning and hasn't really let up all day. Thursday tix at Sugarhouse are now at 177 over 15 showtimes, which puts it less than 100 away from NTTD's final, which is second highest on my list. Batman is number 1 with 421. Unfortunately I don't have any NWH numbers, but this is a truly amazing start when one considers that most of the action today has been at the PLFs.

I always used to get pumped whenever I would see a new post in this thread; now it's like a 3:00 AM phone call- you hope for the best, but... To those who know a thing or two about film production, money concerns aside, would it even be possible at this stage to film a new actor in Miller's place without having to bring back the whole cast, or would that be the equivalent of a two hour Cavill's mustache fiasco?

50%ish drop for Morbius from true FSS seems incredibly optimistic. Current counts at my theater for Thursday/Friday are as follows: Thur 0/470 Fri 2/240 I didn't even bother looking up Saturday. 🪦

Just waking up in Salt Lake City and holy cow, Strange is on 🔥🔥🔥! 92 tix already sold for Thursday at the Cinemark Sugarhouse, which is greater than the entire presale for Ghostbusters, Uncharted, Lost City, and Morbius. PLFs around town are doing even better with most of the prime evening shows 60-80% sold. Huuuuuge!!

Even with Asia still reeling from Covid and Russia off the table, the intl market will give this enough of a backstop to eke out a profit, but WB and their new boss are going to look at the trend here and probably stanch the bleeding with this one. But that doesn't mean the end of the WW. It's too valuable of a franchise. Wait 3-4 years, get some new blood in the writing room, and come back with a prestige limited series on HBO Max. People are forgiving and memories are short. Look at the Batman franchise. Dead in the water after B&R, and then this guy Nolan comes in...

This was going to be a struggle for breakeven with the original budget of $65, when Covid ballooned it to $90 that was game, set, match. That New Yorker article got me pumped though and I can't wait to see it. Gonna rewatch The Witch tomorrow night to see how it stands up to a second viewing.

It has had a really strange trajectory for a fan-driven IP here in Salt Lake. First day was pretty tame, but it has been strong ever since. Would have expected the opposite.

Where the Crawdads Sing is one of my most anticipated films of the year. The book was great; a slow-burn murder mystery, and the girl who plays the lead was amazing in Hulu's Normal People. Done right, it has huge appeal.

Paddington 2 is about as perfect a family film as anyone could ever ask for. Excited to see what he does with Wonka. And yes, he would be an inspired choice if the FB series continues after this one.

For an OW, evening shows are pretty slow in Salt Lake City. It could be activities related to the LDS General Conference (bi-annual meeting for members), Duke-N. Carolina at the Final Four, or tepid WOM, hard to say. Probably all three.

Salt Lake Cinemark Sugarhouse update for Morbius, 3:30 MST. Total Tix sold 69/434 15.9% Comps: Batman .16389 x 21.6 = $3.54M Uncharted .83132 x 3.7 = 3.08 Ghostbusters After .79310 x 4.5 = 3.57 Eternals .35025 x 9.5 = 3.33 Halloween Kills .77528 x 4.8 = 3.72 Pretty much what I expected and I doubt those reviews are going to entice many fence-sitters. Assuming a significant edge for the PLFs, I'll go with $4.6/37/83. Also, FB3 has had a slight uptick and now sits where Morbius was at T-4.

I remember watching that F4 disaster unfold like a slow motion train wreck and thinking, "I will never see the likes of this again." I guess never say never.

36 after 16 on Meta.

37 on Metacritic after five reviews.