tommycruise Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 On paper 2013 looked like a great year for science fiction. You had a sequel to the most successful star trek movie of all time, an original movie with Will Smith who is arguably the biggest star on the planet, an original movie with Tom Cruise who had been doing better ever since MI:GP, a sci-fi creature feature directed by a man with one of the best styles these days and finally we will see Elysium which doesn't come out till august and theres still the chance that it could be a major breakout. However, things did not go according to plan Oblivion received only middling reviews and an only decent opening weekend. It got steamrolled by Iron man 2 weeks later and audiences soon forgot about it. Even overseas where Tom Cruise still has a lot more drawing power it couldn't even manage 200m despite getting released in china. Of course a lot of the films lack of being a real success can attributed to the so-so marketing. The first trailer was pretty bland and although the next two trailers were improvements they weren't enough for Oblivion to really break out. Thankfully though the budget was only 120m which at least allowed it to double its budget worldwide. But you can just feel that the studio must have been dissapointed that it couldn't even make it to 300m worldwide. Next we have Star Trek:Into Darkness another film that look liked it was gauranteed for large minnimum benchmark. Most people were predicting at least 300m domestic which didn't feel like much of a stretch considering the previous one made 257m. But it has so far been able to only make 224m domestic which can only be seen as fairly dissapointing. This was despite strong reviews(87% on RT the highest for any summer blockbuster). But once again it can be attributed to lackluster marketing and poor scheduling where it was sandwhiched between the behemoth Iron man 3, the great gatsby and the arguably more relevent to general audiences Fast 6. I for one thought the trailers(especially the first one) were terrific but apparently general audiences didn't agree. Thankfully it was at least able to expand overseas a place where star trek has never been too strong, its made an amazing 56m in china and it still has a couple of markets to open. It seems we are all but gauranteed a sequel sometime but you can't help but feel Paramount will want a much smaller budget and a better release date. Then we come to After Earth, Will Smith's career launcher for his son. After the bland first trailer and with M. Night Shymalan I don't think anybody was really expecting this film to break out to much(except for shayhiri!). But considering Will Smith was in it I would say most people were expecting at least 300m. Piss poor reviews certainly didn't do the film any favors(currently the second worst reviewed film of the summer, only GU2 was able to beat it) and the fact that the movie and the marketing didn't put Will Smith in his zone( in the action while giving a strong dose of humor) can be blamed for the fact that it will be one of the biggest dissapointments of the year. Being directed by M. Night certainly didn't do the film any favors either. Now for something a little more recent, Pacific Rim a film that some thought would be burned into the hearts of nine-year olds(ok mainly just Neo). This was arguably the most problematic sci-fi movie of the year. It has a director who is unknown to general audiences, actors who most people haven't even heard about and a premise that sounded stupid (giant robots fighting giant monsters?). Luckily for it though it got solid reviews but it seems they weren't enough to change audiences minds, it was barely able to out-open Oblivion despite have a larger marketing campaign and opening up in the middle of the summer. It now appears it will barely have a 55% drop this week and it looks like if it does cross 100m it will barely do it. Overseas has also been a mixed bag it had terrific openings in South Korea, and Russia but its doing poorly in europe and the legs are collapsing. There would nothing wrong with 400m worldwide if it weren't for the fact that it has a massive 190m budget much bigger than either After Earth or Oblivion. Finally that brings us to Elysium which still has some time to turn things around and become a major breakout. Considering it stars Matt Damon, Jodie Foster and its directed by Neil Blomkamp whose District 9 is widely considered one of the best Sci-fi movies of last decade it seems like the perfect recipe for success. Unfortunately for Elysium Matt Damon has never been able to open a movie more than 25m out of the Bourne Series and Jodie Foster while well known is no longer Bona-Fide star like she was back in the 90's. Additionally Neil Blomkamp may be well liked among the geek community and he may have struck lightning with District 9 he is no proven draw amongst general audiences and one terrific is just enough to solidify anyones career. Thats not to say it doesn't have a couple things working in its favor though, it does have an appealing premise and its budget is apparently only 90m which means that anything over 100m domestic will gaurantee its success. Plus its look likes even in the worst case scenario the reviews will be in the Oblivion, so it chance of being a good movie is extremely high but then again anything could happen. It also has a much better release date then Oblivion, Star Trek or After Earth and competition does not look to strong either considering its the last big action blockbuster of the summer. However it seems like the marketing just isn't connecting with audiences enough and twitter buzz has only been so-so at best. Boxoffice.com is currently predicting a 30m opening and a 90m total which would be decent business but nowhere near enough to turn around everything else that has been dissapointing thisyear. Ever since Star Wars, Sci-fi has always been one of the biggest genres around but I feel after this year studios will definitely start cutting back on original science fiction movies which in the end means even more sequels, prequels and reboots. That's not to say that studios will completely get rid of sci-fis, we're still going to see a gazillion star wars movies, 3 Avatar sequels and Interstellar from Christoper Nolan. But we will almost certainly see less original sci-fi movies unless they happen to be directed by Nolan, Spielberg or Cameron. This of course makes me sad because science fiction movies are some of my favorites and I feel that this is only going to further harm sci-fi harm in the future. I am curious to hear what all of you think. Do you think that studios will majorly cut back on original sci-fi in the next few years or do you think they will just try harder and be more cautious from now on. Additionally do you think that most sci-fi released this year failed due to middling marketing or more to bad scheduling? How do you think studios will view this year? Do you think that this could be the end of most original sci-fi without a guaranteed director? Science Fiction is a memory worth fighting for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozymandias Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 (edited) I don't think scifi really failed this year other than After Earf and Pacific Rim. Oblivion and Star Trek 2 did alright. Both probably barely broke even, plus a lot of people really liked those movies. With After Earf, I think most people knew it was just gonna be another M. Night turd, audiences weren't fooled by him again. Plus, the trailers were really bland. Pacific Rim is the only real tragedy this year so far. Edited July 21, 2013 by Shpongle 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Pacific Rim's still going to outgross Oblivion handedly. I'd label all three movies financial disappointments, and the causes are very straightforward: Oblivion got slaughtered by IM3 and word of mouth wasn't strong enough to keep it steady. After Earth looked like ass and apparently was ass. Pacific Rim had a poor marketing campaign and became a geeks-only affair at the box office. Star Trek 2 wasn't a massive hit but it was a hit nonetheless. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonytr87 Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Star Trek is still a hit. Oblivion suffered due to IM3, Cruise's still-fading star, and mediocre quality. Pacific Rim...what Gopher said. And After Earth had poor marketing and poor quality to contend with. There's still Elysium which could break out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxmoser3 Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Elsyium looks like the only scifi success beside Star Trek this year 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonytr87 Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Elsyium looks like the only scifi success beside Star Trek this year Gravity. Although I'm not sure it qualifies as sci-fi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lab276 Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 I don't think so. Only Oblivion and Pac Rim so far have been good movies that disappointed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Marvel Fanboy Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Yeah, they failed. Already writen on history book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatrickvD Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 i think Elysium looks great. The combination of Jodie Foster, Matt Damon and Neil Blomkamp is more interesting than any other sic-fi this year. I think mainstream audiences would much more easily check this out than After Earth or Oblivion. Which looked geek-exclusive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessie Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 (edited) I don't think the genre failed as much, the films just haven't really been that great. Edited July 21, 2013 by Jessie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChD Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 I think Elysium will go the same way Pacific Rim, Oblivion and After Earth went. It wont cross 80M DOM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Stingray Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Elysium and Gravity ain't even out yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladyevenstar22 Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 oblivion was a lovely surprise, star trek i loved!!! the rest can't say haven't seen them what is more tragic to me is the lack of scifi on tv now there's something to cry over and this tragedy is spearheaded by syfy formely know as a scifi channel who only shows WWF wrestling and fake ghost hunting shows i watch defiance its ok but nothing groundbreaking or awe-inspiring so yeah you won't find me sneezing at the scifi movies that came out when some years there are hardly any Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Marvel Fanboy Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 I think Elysium will go the same way Pacific Rim, Oblivion and After Earth went. It wont cross 80M DOM. I wont be surprised. Waiting to see how people react... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Futurist Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 gravity is not sci fi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luna Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 hard sci-fi has got nothing to do with aliens and spaceships, but rather a deeper exploration of science/technology and its relation to society, relationships and the future. depending on the track it takes, gravity could be much more of a sci-fi flick than any of the other films, certainly if the film is microcosmic of humanity's place in the universe. though i have no idea what the script is about. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanboy Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 ^Yes this. A lot of people don't seem to realise that even movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind fall under the sci-fi genre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kik Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Is THG considered sci fi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommycruise Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 Is THG considered sci fi Well one could make the argument that because its in the future that means its a sci-fi. Additionally I thought Gravity was supposed to be like uber realistic film set in space? So I'm not really sure it counts as sci-fi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mahnamahna Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 If 2001: A Space Odyssey is sci-fi, then Gravity certainly is... and I could see it being more successful than every sci-fi film this year except Star Trek 2 based on the buzz it's getting... Sandra Bullock and Alfonso Cuaron are getting some Oscar talk - George Clooney will settle for Monuments Men Elysium could do fairly well considering there's no competition until Riddick (Mortal Instruments and KA2 will both do meh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
