BadOlCatSylvester

Probably with Aquaman 2.

Fantastic Four was initially slated for next November, so I imagine it got moved to the main section before all the delays.

Another obstacle it faces is the property's awareness amongst young people, the primary moviegoers of today. How many today know who Willy Wonka is? And how many of them actually care? Mary Poppins Returns faced a similar problem back in 2018, and unfortunately wasn't able to overcome it. I'm thinking a similar underperformance is likely for Wonka. The people who are familiar with him don't go to the movies anymore, and the people who still do go could see Wonka as a washed up has-been character and not find the movie appealing.

For those of you who think the holidays are going to save Aquaman 2 if it sucks, I raise you this: As I've said time and time again, if the tentpole of any given season isn't up to par, then people just won't go to the movies. Lack of competition isn't the airbag it once was.

Two coughing babies pitted against each other. No hydrogen bombs this holiday season, the one dropped back in July was the last one we had left.

I'm still doubtful anything beyond Superman ever gets made. As I've said time and time again, this new DC universe feels like another pump-and-dump scheme by Zaslav to raise Warner's value for any potential buyers. Neither that, nor the Harry Potter reboot are going to be his concerns by the time he's done sucking Warner dry and offloads it to someone else. Who's to say Warner's next buyer won't want their own guy in charge of DC and jettisons whatever Gunn has planned in the name of corporate pride? But I do agree that if whoever's in charge of Warner by then sticks to these plans, then they should slam the breaks and halt development of any future projects until Superman is out. They can't just charge headfirst into a franchise without knowing if there's any actual demand for it or not.

He did, yes. Then again, Gemma Chan was also already in the franchise in a bit part and was brought back for Eternals, so there is precedent.

Multiverse of Madness getting the opening it got was a perfect storm. It was advertised as a sequel to No Way Home, one of the biggest cinematic events of all time. It was coming off of, barring Eternals and the Disney+ finales, a pretty good year for the Marvel brand. And much like WandaVision and the aforementioned No Way Home before it, it used cockteasing to its fullest potential during its promotional cycle. Unfortunately Marvel got too cocky and decided to put in some pretty sensitive stuff to the trailers, such as spoiling Patrick Stewart's Xavier returning. That especially raised expectations for everyone, and it blew up in Marvel's face in a humiliating way when the movie just didn't live up to that and everyone hated it, thus the B+ CinemaScore and the steep drops in the coming weeks. I'll always argue that was the beginning of the end for Marvel's dominance. That was the first time the audience was severely let down by a Marvel movie, and not merely divided like they were in response to previous lesser stories. They should've started course correcting as soon as the initial response was in, but they didn't, and now they're responsible for quite possibly the biggest flop of all timeat least until Captain America 4 gets devoured by its $300M+ budget. Hopefully future hotshots are paying close attention to this collapse and won't make the same mistakes once their turn in the spotlight comes.

I think Thor 4 used it, but I'm not fully sure.

They called me a madman. They dismissed me as a looney doomer. But in the end, I WON. MY CLUB HAS WON. Once again, I thank those of you who joined me. I took a shot in the dark, and it scored a bullseye landing. Here's to many more bullseyes to come!

Speaking of, they're taking The Marvels's performance pretty hard. One user in particular with a Kamala Khan profile picture is especially pissed and is adamant to blame racism and misogyny for the movie tanking. That same user was also a major Blue Beetle simp and was also similarly pissed when that bombed. Hopefully they read the room and realize that bigotry alone doesn't lead the sequel to a billion dollar blockbuster to nosedive to the level of Morbius.

Deadpool is a powerhouse on his own, and can thrive independent of the Marvel brand. There's a reason why Marvel's betting it all on that third movie next year.

The cast and crew of Aquaman 2 after they see The Marvels's drop: If not even Marvel is a selling point anymore, what makes anyone here think the final movie of a dead franchise stands a chance?

Fans were clearly not ready for the mighty vision of Josh Trank back then. Now his work looks like a Renessaince painting compared to the drivel of today. Now they'll happily get in the Trank. #G3t1nTh3Tr4nk #R3l34s3Th3Tr4nkC0t

I bet that Pedro Pascal Reed Richards tidbit was fed to the trades by Marvel as damage control. I imagine the rest of the Four not being finalized prevented them from making a formal announcement.

These family and kids' movies tend to be pretty backloaded barring unnaturally toxic word of mouth. Ironically enough Kamala and her family saved the movie for me. Otherwise it really is an unwatchable mess. Iman deserved so much better. I hope she flourishes elsewhere.

Yeah, Hunger Games had already fizzled out because of an underwhelming and pointlessly split finale by the time Flamin' Hot came into power. Anyway, color me surprised at the updated Hunger Games and Trolls projections being sizable improvements over the earlier tracking. $50M and $30M respectively aren't bad openings for the aforementioned has-been brands at all.

That number's not great on its own for Hunger Games, but against the backdrop of trying to resurrect a dead franchise and genre and the mixed reviews, a $40M opening ain't half-bad. Especially on a comparatively modest $100M budget. The early verified audience score is an indication it's already found its audience. Hopefully it holds well in the coming weeks. Trolls 3 and Thanksgiving both underperforming isn't very surprising. The former is a streaming gold rush baby in a year where they either underperformed or bombed in a marketplace very different from the one they were conceived in, and following up movies that didn't leave much of an impact on pop culture. Thanksgiving is a gory Eli Roth schlockfest, which by itself narrows down willing patrons quite a lot. Thankfully that one has a tiny $15M budget so even a paltry $10M launch will be more than enough for it. It also had solid reviews, so a cult following is inevitable. The second weekend drop for The Marvels will be the biggest bombshell for this weekend. Apparently its Thursday number was below Morbius's and potentially points to a sub-$10M weekend. I would not want to be a fly in Feige's office right now.

The Tomato Law reigns supreme yet again. Mario and Freddy were shielded from it because of their novelty factor, but for everyone else a Rotten Tomato is the kiss of death. This is nothing more than a self-inflicted wound on Hollywood's end. Hopefully a bad holiday season will teach them not to disrespect talent again once their contracts are up for renewal. Or when their ratification vote comes up next month.

Indy 5's performance proves that people can hold a hell of a grudge if they wanted to.

As I've said elsewhere, Multiverse of Madness was the beginning of the end for me. That was the first time I was severely underwhelmed by a Marvel movie. And judging by the steep drops it saw, I wasn't alone. And what can I say about that Marvels number that hasn't already been said? We're seeing the real-time implosion of an entire genre, a genre that saved exhibition from certain death time and time again, and that's crazy. Where will Marvel go from here? Will they have to reboot now like DC should have done years ago? Will the once or twice per year Barbenheimer-style breakouts be enough to last theaters through the decade? The next 5 or so years are going to be fascinating to say the least.

It should get to Eternals/Quantumania/Shang-Chi numbers on the novelty factor of a proper Marvel version of the property, but I definitely agree that Fox's decade-long abuse of the brand will bite this new movie in the ass big time. Much like how the stench of Batman and Robin handicapped Batman Begins, the awful memories of Fant4stic will come back to haunt this reboot. The Marvel brand as a whole taking a huge hit these past couple of years won't help in the slightest.

Sue is just as vital to the Four as Reed, so making her the lead can work well, provided Reed doesn't get sidelined. I don't feel the same way about a genderbent Silver Surfer. You shouldn't be taking risks like that when your brand is on the brink like Marvel's is right now, and especially when Fantastic Four hasn't been done true justice on film even once. I do agree that that rumour is probably a mixup and it'll likely be a different Galactus herald who happens to be a lady.