Weekend #'s April 18-20 Cap2: 26.2 Rio 22.5 Heaven 21.5 Trans 11.1 pg32

[Harpospoke]

That may just be the studio, who can sometimes be very ignorant. Cameron's lowest grossing film (not counting Piranha 2) is IMAX documentary Ghosts of the Abyss (which did well given its somewhat limited release). His lowest grossing major film is the Terminator which made 38 million in 1984.

 

Cameron is smart because he spreads his films out. Making each and every one a new experience.

 

As for RDJ, in case your wondering he's doing a movie called The Judge, which sounds like an Oscar baiter.

I know Cameron has made successful films....I'm just wondering if the public actually knows it's the same guy making them.   It might be instructive to ask friends who aren't film nuts like us to talk about Cameron and see what happens.

 

I know RDJ is doing movies like that, I was talking about those who insist that he needs to make films like that in order to valid himself.   I think he took care of that prior to IM1.

[Harpospoke]

Take an actor like Harrison Ford.  Movies like Mosquito Coast didn't make money so he stopped bothering. At his apex he was offered tons of work in high caliber actor driven movies with the best directors but he turned them down in droves because they didn't come attached to the huge paycheck.  When his big movies began to under perform he's was left scrambling for better quality work.  Now I don't think he's great actor, but he's good and can be very good and he certainly should being do more than the shit he's been doing as he waits for a part in a sequel to a film he's done 30 years ago.

Check out Ford in 42...you might not even recognize him.  

[Fancyarcher]

Like I said in my post, I don't say Spielberg and Cameron are unknown to the audience but that Tarantino acts like the star of his movie on the same level as his lead actors and people now just check his last movies on Tarantino's name.

 

Yes well Tarantino does have a major ego as great a director as he is (anyone who's watched an interview of his, would anyone know that).

[Fancyarcher]

I know Cameron has made successful films....I'm just wondering if the public actually knows it's the same guy making them.   It might be instructive to ask friends who aren't film nuts like us to talk about Cameron and see what happens.

 

I know RDJ is doing movies like that, I was talking about those who insist that he needs to make films like that in order to valid himself.   I think he took care of that prior to IM1.

 

It depends. Cameron might have just been lucky, but his success had to have been for a reason.

[Harpospoke]

It depends. Cameron might have just been lucky, but his success had to have been for a reason.

I agree.   He's awesome.  You don't turn out that many popular movies by accident.

 

Which I guess is sorta my point.   It's not that the audience is going because of him....he just makes movies that people love.   I would be curious to see how a non-Avatar Cameron film would be marketed.   If he did a low-budget drama...would it say "A James Cameron film" or "from the director of Avatar and Titanic"?

[Fancyarcher]

I agree.   He's awesome.  You don't turn out that many popular movies by accident.

 

Which I guess is sorta my point.   It's not that the audience is going because of him....he just makes movies that people love.   I would be curious to see how a non-Avatar Cameron film would be marketed.   If he did a low-budget drama...would it say "A James Cameron film" or "from the director of Avatar and Titanic"?

 

Probably this, especially if Fox distributed it. Since they are apparently scared of using his name for no reason.

Edited April 20, 2014 by Fancyarcher

[Sam]

Why does he need to do that? Just check his filmography pre-Iron Man, you'll find those smaller projects. He got nothing to prove anymore. RDJ was a great character actor in small movies that now tastes superstardom in tentpoles, not the reverse.

Agree. I rewatched Natural Born Killers recently, one of the smaller movies that he was good in.

[Moviedweeb]

Agree. I rewatched Natural Born Killers recently, one of the smaller movies that he was good in.

 

He was great in that. Pitch perfect for the film. 

[lilmac]

But surely that's wrong? The film cost $125 million, the 3D conversion was $10 million on top of that and I'd put a rough guess on the marketing budget being around the $40 million mark. That makes a rough inclusive budget of $175 million. It's nearly grossed $300 million worldwide already, and including Japan (I don't know if it's going to open in China, but if it does the overall box office will be even larger) I would expect it to finish with something like $350 million - that's forgetting DVD/bly-ray digital sales. It's far from a flop and will definitely make its budget back, especially because Paramount International is distributing the film in most overseas markets which means they'll get the lion's share of the international box office takings.

 

 

 

Yes, I was referring to just box-office.  The marketing budget was far higher than $40 million.  I don't have a specific number but the budgets we DO get for similar saturation campaigns are ALWAYS north of $60 million.  Let's say $60 million (I think that's a low-end).  On top of $135 m budget, you get about $200m in overall costs.  Double that to get a break-even point and you need at least $400m.  Even if it makes its budget through ancillary revenues, it's not enough to warrant giving Aronofsky another $100m to adapt a biblical story in the way he did.  I would be extremely surprised if that happens.  For that, I am thankful.  

[lilmac]

Agree. I rewatched Natural Born Killers recently, one of the smaller movies that he was good in.

 

 

Johnny Depp has also proven himself IMO outside the big tentpoles.

[CoolioD1]

Johnny Depp has also proven himself IMO outside the big tentpoles.

Sure... in the 90s.

[lilmac]

Sure... in the 90s.

 

Good point.  I was thinking of Neverland but even that was 10 years ago.

[mahnamahna]

Is it bad I thought The Judge was a potential sleeper hit? It's got crowdpleasing Oscar bait drama written all over it. Gone Girl seems pretty gritty so it won't reach The Judge's audience. Plus, there's no competition for The Judge until Interstellar and Fury 

[tonytr87]

Is it bad I thought The Judge was a potential sleeper hit? It's got crowdpleasing Oscar bait drama written all over it. Gone Girl seems pretty gritty so it won't reach The Judge's audience. Plus, there's no competition for The Judge until Interstellar and Fury 

 

Fury's going to be a minor bust I think. David Ayer is hit and miss as a director. 

[a2k]

Irrespective of who you are, it's tough to open original films these days. I think this has happened because of the rise in quality and production values of small-screen shows. A lot of original works now go to tv and sites like netflix. What movies take care is of adapted larger than life and/or big budget works like Hunger Games/Hobbit/CBMs etc. that wouldn't do justice on a small screen. The pattern is visible :

 

 

In 2013, only one truly original film (Gravity) even cracked the top 10 grossing films of the year. Ten years ago, in 2003, there were three original films in the top 10 of the year — Finding Nemo, Bruce Almighty, and Elf. Just five years before that, the top five highest-grossing films of 1998 were all original stories — Saving Private Ryan, Armageddon, There’s Something About Mary, The Waterboy, and A Bug’s Life.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/adambvary/most-successful-original-films-of-2013 (dec 8, 2013 article)

EDIT: idk why Frozen is not included as an original film in that article. Maybe cause it was still in theaters or they are focusing on non-animations.

Edited April 20, 2014 by a2knet

[chuck0]

Irrespective of who you are, it's tough to open original films these days. I think this has happened because of the rise in quality and production values of small-screen shows. A lot of original works now go to tv and sites like netflix. What movies take care is of adapted larger than life and/or big budget works like Hunger Games/Hobbit/CBMs etc. that wouldn't do justice on a small screen. The pattern is visible :

 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/adambvary/most-successful-original-films-of-2013 (dec 8, 2013 article)

EDIT: idk why Frozen is not included as an original film in that article. Maybe cause it was still in theaters or they are focusing on non-animations.

 

they might count it as an adaption... though i think saying it is only inspired by The Snow Queen is closer to the truth.

[Ando918]

Irrespective of who you are, it's tough to open original films these days. I think this has happened because of the rise in quality and production values of small-screen shows. A lot of original works now go to tv and sites like netflix. What movies take care is of adapted larger than life and/or big budget works like Hunger Games/Hobbit/CBMs etc. that wouldn't do justice on a small screen. The pattern is visible :

 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/adambvary/most-successful-original-films-of-2013 (dec 8, 2013 article)

EDIT: idk why Frozen is not included as an original film in that article. Maybe cause it was still in theaters or they are focusing on non-animations.

Something else that is really terrifying is just how few movies in the top 10 or top 15 each year are rated R compared to years past or decades past.  If you go back to the 80s, half of the top 10 highest grossing movies would always be rated R.  The studios used to make a lot more movies for adults and were not terrified of losing the 14 year old mallrat.  Now they are completely dependent on the 14 year old mallrat and have to give anything with a big budget a PG-13 or PG rating.  It goes hand and hand with the lack of originality now.  On average, they pander too much to teenagers.

[CJohn]

I get more stupid every time I read a BOM article. Now, apparently, In Time is a legendary sci-fi bomb. In Time is a movie that costed 40M and did 175M WW. Legendary bomb indeed.

[The Futurist]

Spielberg, Cameron, Nolan and Tarantino are probably the only directors whose names alone can sell a movie to a decent-sized audience these days. Scorsese is definitely better known today than ever before, but if his films were only seen by those who know who he is, they would never cross $50m domestic.

 

Edited April 20, 2014 by The Futurist

[Deep Wang]

Did you already forget Pain and Gain?