Box Office Fact or Fiction: The big heroic interstellar return w/ Telemachos, #ED and MrPink

[grim22]

This thing still on? Hello everyone and welcome to the triumphant return (just in time for the holiday movie season) of Box Office Fact or Fiction.

 

The 3 contributors for the return week are;

 

Nolanite #1: MrPink

Nolanite #2: #ED

The anti-Nolanite: Telemachos

 

Let's get started

 

1. Interstellar will open bigger than Inception

 

 

MrPink: FACT. While I'm skeptical at this point that this will actually outgross Inception in the long run, I do think this can open higher because there hasn't been a major blockbuster released since August and Christopher Nolan has only gotten more popular since 2010. While reviews are slightly less rapturous than expected, I don't think this has much impact on its opening weekend, there's going to be a large audience wanting to check this out regardless and from there is where the reviews and general audience reception will matter. If it doesn't outgross Inception's opening weekend, I would attribute it more to the presence of Big Hero 6 which will draw away some adults who will take their kids to see that.

 

Tele: FACT. The Nolanites are a mighty army at this point, and even inflation alone could get INTERSTELLAR there. The fact that Nolan now has 2 more huge blockbusters to his name since INCEPTION's release means awareness will be all the higher. (And btw, if it doesn't beat INCEPTION's OW, my club will be looking good).

 

 

#ED:  

 

1 for 1

 

2. You will be watching more than 50% of the DC and Marvel movies on tap for release over the next 6 years

 

 

MrPink: FACT. Yes, I'm probably going to, but that's only because I tend to check out almost all big releases that are budgeted over $125 million dollars, and I presume all of these films will be. Really, there's a good chance I'll see 90% of all the future movies slated by DC/Marvel unless they end up being really really bad. Despite all this, I can't say I'm super jazzed to see many of the announced movies, it'll be more like seeing it out of obligation just to partake in the conversation.

 

Tele: FICTION. As a casual CBM fan (at best) there are few titles that interest me. I'll probably see the really big/well-known ones, though (BVS, Avengers 2).

 

 

#ED: FACT. Comicbook movies are big and I'm happy to be living in an era that has these great movies. 

 

1 for 2

 

 

3. Michael Bay directing a movie about Benghazi is a good idea

 

 

MrPink: FICTION. While it's nice to see Michael Bay try and take on more serious matter, I don't think he has the deftness to handle the subject material in a way that both sides of the political spectrum will be able to appreciate. Obviously Bay isn't going to turn this into explosions galore but the real problem is that he won't have the subtlety to make a compelling and objective film. But I'd love to be proven wrong and I think this would be his most challenging project to date for him. There's some begrudging respect there for finally breaking free from the Transformers franchise.

 

Tele: FICTION. Michael Bay directing anything based on historical or contemporary facts that requires more than a sledgehammer's touch is LOL-worthy.

 

 

#ED: FICTION. Michael Bay needs to stick to blowing things up. Although I suspect this movie will contain some type of explosion. Whatever.

 

2 for 3

 

SWITCH

 

 

 

 

4. Big Hero 6 will make over 250M at the domestic box office

 

 

Tele: FICTION. No. It'll do WIR numbers, except a bit bigger. 

 

 

#ED: FICTION. It will barely miss but I suspect something around 200M would be great regardless. I still have no clue what the movie is about or care for it.

 

MrPink: FICTION. I think it'll definitely make it over 200 million but I think it probably ends up somewhere around 220-230 million, not that far off from Interstellar actually. I suppose Penguins of Madagascar took the Frozen slot, but I figured Disney would have tried to land this closer to Thanksgiving and also get a bit of a boost from the holidays as well, but no go. Either way, anything over Wreck-It Ralph numbers will be solid for the film.

 

3 for 4

 

 

5. The Terminator:Genisys magazine covers have caused your excitement level for the movie to drop

 

 

Tele: FACT. The pictures themselves? No, not really, mainly because my excitement was already pretty low (although I am somewhat curious about the end result). The vague plot descriptions lowered my interest, though. 

 

 

#ED: FICTION. No one cares about Terminator anymore. Seriously. Arnold needs to go back and govern Tele's state. 

 

MrPink: FICTION. I can't say I was all that excited in the first place, if anything, if the movie is as big of a trainwreck as the pictures are, I might be even more interested. But seriously, no, I would at least wait for a trailer before making any judgments, these are just a photoshoot that EW (unwisely) thought was suitable for print.

 

3 for 5. I really hope Arnold doesn't come back to CA to govern ever again.

 

 

 

6. Rotten Tomatoes ratings and movie runtimes influence your movie going decisions #Halba

 

 

Tele: FICTION. Ratings? Not so much. Runtime? Occasionally, depending on my schedule and if I'm trying to watch something in a particular window.

 

 

#ED: FICTION. RT matters only if the movie is something I don't care for. Runtime is never an issue though.

 

MrPink: FACT.  I don't want to say RT or runtimes decide my movies for me, 100% of the time. But do they influence my decisions? From time to time, and it would be dishonest for me to say so. Sometimes there's a movie that is not on my radar at all and if I see strong reactions, I might be compelled to see it whereas I wouldn't have been otherwise. It's always going to be combined with other factors and is not the main component, and I'm not against seeing a film like Transformers despite poor reviews nor am I going to let some rotten reviews of Interstellar get me down. It's just one component of many, such as cast, director, trailers, runtime, word of mouth, etc that can influence me. Runtime can occasionally be an issue depending on my schedule. I do think that people pay too much attention to them, but within reason, it's a helpful tool.

 

3 for 6

 

SWITCH #2

 

 

7. You liked the Furious 7 trailer and think that the movie will break the April OW record

 

 

#ED: FACT. The trailer shows that the series is still full of action. It will break the OW record for April. I wouldnt be surprised if it grossed 1B WW.

 

MrPink: FACT.  I liked the trailer however I didn't love it as much as the Fast and Furious 6 trailers. I think it was a mistake to have the first half of the trailer pretty much be an extended clip of a major action sequence regardless of how cool it was. But Kurt Russell! More family references! The Rock with a minigun! I do think it will break the April OW record considering that right now it's Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Fast and Furious 6 already had a bigger opening weekend though Memorial Day weekend played a part in to that. But with Paul Walker's death and no competition, the OW should be going to the stratosphere.

 

Tele: FACT. I thought the trailer was great, and it should be able to open to over 95. FAST 6 did 97, albeit on a holiday May weekend, but I think the good reception from 6 plus the fanbase turning out for Paul Walker plus inflation should push FURIOUS 7 to the record. I don't see it grossing a billion WW, though

 

4 for 7

 

 

8. Interstellar will be the second highest grossing movie of the winter

 

 

 

#ED: FACT. It can be close. I would say top 3 for sure.

 

MrPink: FICTION.  Right now I'm leaning towards The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies being #2 but by a fairly small amount. I see somewhere around 240-250 million for Interstellar and The Hobbit might do similar numbers to Desolation of Smaug. Big Hero 6 could always surprise as well. It all comes down to how the general audience will receive Interstellar, but it's hard to get a read on it given the reviews so far.

 

Tele: FICTION. My lowball predictions for INTERSTELLAR are already on record. I think the only way it finishes #2 is if it overperforms *and* TH3 underperforms. That's not even including something like BIG HERO 6 or UNBROKEN surprising as well.

 

4 for 8

 

 

 

9. Michael Keaton and Jake Gyllenhaal are both locks for the Best Actor Oscar nominations

 

#ED: FICTION. lol wut!?

 

MrPink: FICTION. I think Michael Keaton is a lock however Jake Gyllenhaal may miss out unfortunately. I think Birdman has gotten a lot of traction with the critics as a darling but Nightcrawler might end up being forgotten by the time we end up in December/January when voting will take place. I don't think Open Road has the resources to campaign as well as Fox or the Weinstein Company will with their nominees. That's not to say Gyllenhaal won't get nominated but he's far from a lock. And considering this is supposed to be yet another competitive year in the Best Actor race, I think he ends up being a #6 or #7, though I haven't seen the film myself.

 

Tele: FICTION. Keaton's stronger than Gyllenhaal right now, but the Best Actor field is really competitive this year, and I don't think anyone can be called a lock at this point.

 

5 for 9

 

So the 3 of them end up agreeing a lot more than being in disagreement, we will see who will come up on the right side of the Interstellar box office argument - Tele or ED.

 

Feel free to join in and provide your answers in this thread as well. Please do vote as to who you felt answered the questions better. Poll is at the top of this thread.

 

ALSO, please include any questions which you think should be asked to the next 3 contributors. I realize that most of the questions asked are based on what I follow and would like to incorporate more viewpoints into the feature. Please leave your probable questions as comments, or PM them to me and I will include them for the next edition.

 

I would like to thank Tele, ED and MrPink for taking time out to provide their opinions here. Thanks a lot guys.

 

I am looking for participants, please let me know if you would be interested in providing your opinions for future editions of this column.

 

Until Next Time.

Edited November 5, 2014 by grim22

[CJohn]

Voted on my boss. 

 

Do we really believe Interstellar is going to open above Inception? I am having serious doubts right now...

[Dementeleus]

Grim wins for the Governator smackdown.

[Blankments]

This is the first time I've completely agreed with one person's choices

 

HAIL PINK

[darkelf]

There's only one true winner here and that's obviously Mistah Pink since he was the only one to put any effort into this

[Empire]

MrPink had the best answers so he gets my vote.

[#ED]

Really?

[MrPink]

I will take this impending victory with grace.

 

Suck it, victory is finally mine

[Empire]

Really?

Yes.

Your answers were good, but Pink's were just better. No need to be sad.

[4815162342]

Pink wins

[#ED]

LOCK DELETE BANN.

[RobinHood26]

Tele won 5 or 6 in my mind. So yeah.

Edited November 6, 2014 by Jay Hollywood

[4815162342]

LOCK DELETE BANN.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j4lnym8Crc