Baumer's Star Wars The Force Awakens Rant

[Lordmandeep]

I agree on all points on the box office run

 

However the film is far from being perfect. I am a huge SW fan, into the expanded universe and all and the ending scene made me have goosebumps.

 

The last fight lacked a good score compared to the past.

 

Duel of the fates makes the fight epic really

 

Duel of the fates set this  and the fight is 100times more epic. 

 

 

 

Edited January 5, 2016 by Lordmandeep

[baumer]

Not sure what you are trying to say in relation to what the thread is about Lordman.

[IronJimbo]

5 hours ago, Salacious Tree Crumb said:

 

Well then you don't know the definition of underperforming.

I've literally wrote the definition of underperforming in this thread so perhaps you should learn it yourself.

 

Like you realise 150M is 16x bigger than the previous Star Wars movie...

Revenge of the Sith was released in 2005.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_China

Apparently China's box office made 2 bil yen in 2005 and 44 yen bil in 2015, that's 22x more!

I'm skeptical though because if China's box office really had increased this much, surely someone in here would have mentioned it :>

 

The Force Awakens incredible US performance is largely based on the goodwill, love and nostalgia that many people have for the franchise; and that it's one of, if not THE, biggest known movie franchise.

Amen to that.

 

None of this is true for China - the original trilogy didn't get released in China, most people aren't familiar with the films.

Wrong.

 

150M in China may be PERSONALLY disappointing to you,

I swear I've been reading different predictions to everyone else in here.

 

but that doesn't make it an underperformance.

Incorrect.

 

I'm not going to make any predictions became honestly I'm not too knowledgeable about China's box office patterns, but 150M would be a good performance for an apparently fairly unknown brand.

Same, I was using others predictions when saying it will underperform.

[IronJimbo]

Zeng Maojun, president of Wanda Cinemas — China's largest theater group, operating an estimated 2,000 screens. 

"Star Wars will have a bigger impact in the U.S., because it means more to older generations there. To do well in China, it is the opposite: it has to reach young people ... I'll estimate $230 million. If it's effective at reaching the younger demographic — what we call the post-90s generation, which now make up 60 percent of China's box office — it could do even better." 

Yu Xin, CEO of Dadi Cinema Group — China's second-largest cinema chain, with 276 cinemas operating 1,300 screens.

"It will definitely be successful; the only thing we're waiting to see is just how successful. I'm quite confident it will break $310 million (2 billion Chinese yuan). Our young people love science fiction right now and I'm sure it will have an exciting, optimistic story. It will influence a new generation in China and create great potential for the future Star Wars films."

Lu Yao, chairman and president of UME Cinemas — one of China's longest-running movie theater groups, today operating 400 screens in 25 cinemas across the country.

"The Star Wars [prequel] movies did quite well in China when they were released, and our screen count and box office has grown by more than ten times since then. With that background in mind, I think The Force Awakens will sell roughly the same number of tickets as Transformers: Age of Extinction, [which amounted to $320 million in 2014]."

Jimmy Wu, chairman and CEO of Lumiere Pavilions — a prestige chain with 30 cinemas spread across 30 major Chinese cities, known for attracting an upscale clientele particularly interested in Hollywood imports.

"We're a smaller chain, but our audience is more attracted to these sorts of films. $200 million to $300 million is my prediction. The foreign promotion is having some impact, at least to our audience. The people who come to our cinemas like U.S. TV shows like Big Bang Theory, which has increased their awareness of Star Wars."

[Dementeleus]

1 minute ago, IronJimbo said:

Zeng Maojun, president of Wanda Cinemas — China's largest theater group, operating an estimated 2,000 screens. 

"Star Wars will have a bigger impact in the U.S., because it means more to older generations there. To do well in China, it is the opposite: it has to reach young people ... I'll estimate $230 million. If it's effective at reaching the younger demographic — what we call the post-90s generation, which now make up 60 percent of China's box office — it could do even better." 

Yu Xin, CEO of Dadi Cinema Group — China's second-largest cinema chain, with 276 cinemas operating 1,300 screens.

"It will definitely be successful; the only thing we're waiting to see is just how successful. I'm quite confident it will break $310 million (2 billion Chinese yuan). Our young people love science fiction right now and I'm sure it will have an exciting, optimistic story. It will influence a new generation in China and create great potential for the future Star Wars films."

Lu Yao, chairman and president of UME Cinemas — one of China's longest-running movie theater groups, today operating 400 screens in 25 cinemas across the country.

"The Star Wars [prequel] movies did quite well in China when they were released, and our screen count and box office has grown by more than ten times since then. With that background in mind, I think The Force Awakens will sell roughly the same number of tickets as Transformers: Age of Extinction, [which amounted to $320 million in 2014]."

Jimmy Wu, chairman and CEO of Lumiere Pavilions — a prestige chain with 30 cinemas spread across 30 major Chinese cities, known for attracting an upscale clientele particularly interested in Hollywood imports.

"We're a smaller chain, but our audience is more attracted to these sorts of films. $200 million to $300 million is my prediction. The foreign promotion is having some impact, at least to our audience. The people who come to our cinemas like U.S. TV shows like Big Bang Theory, which has increased their awareness of Star Wars."

 

They're full of shit.  

[IronJimbo]

2 minutes ago, Telemachos said:

They're full of shit.  

 

I've been reading 200m+ predictions for the last month, it kinda feels to me like everyone is saying 150m is too be expected just to be right about this underpeformance argument. I'm dropping it now I've said all I have to.

[Dementeleus]

15 minutes ago, IronJimbo said:

 

I've been reading 200m+ predictions for the last month, it kinda feels to me like everyone is saying 150m is too be expected just to be right about this underpeformance argument. I'm dropping it now I've said all I have to.

 

Just read through the China general discussion thread. It's been discussed off and on for months now.  

[vc2002]

I probably dont look at this the same way a lot of you guys do. There's a reason why dick measuring is a part of internet life for a lot of people. Well, I'm not saying it's a 100% reasonable thing to do but internet does offer a place for many to vent, and like how Lester in American Beauty has to jerk off in the men's room once a day to somewhat release the stress, this online dick-measuring thing is, I think, sometimes the same act just in a different form.

 

I myself always try to be objective on internet forums because I consider it a place to exchange information and opinion (which is IMO the MAIN purpose of most internet forums including BOT), but there're a lot of others who dont view it the same way and I'm not in the place to judge who's right and who's wrong. So I'm not really that againest this dick-measuring thing as long as it doesn't hurt our main conversation. In this case I think the mods of this site have done a beautiful job, such as creating a stand-alone "Cameron vs the world" thread, to not only keep the threads clean but also keep the dick-measuring stuff at a proper place instead of banning it totally.

Edited January 5, 2016 by vc2002

[baumer]

Yep, a lot of DICKS around here lately.  

[Dark 33Legend of the Sith]

9 hours ago, Baumer Fett said:

 

So I think Batman vs Superman should make 623 million in North America.  I base this on a similar property...the Avengers.  So naturally if it comes under that amount, it's a huge disappointment, right?

 

Also, Batman movies have broken the domestic opening weekend record 4 different times.  Any opening less than 250 is abysmal and a major disappointment I would say.

[baumer]

Good point 33Legend.

[RamblinRed]

Great rant Baumer.

How one feels about a movie really should have little impact on how one views the box office run of a movie. They are distinct entities.

There are some amazing runs out there. TFA is on one, Avatar and Titanic are 2 of the more impressive ever.

Just because i'm not a big fan of those last 2 (even though I love Cameron's earlier movies -esp T1, T2, Abyss and True Lies) I would never take away or demean how impressive those box office runs were or suggest they are less impressive because of TFA's current run. Nor will I demean TFA and downgrade it based on how it compares to those 2 (and other older) films. 

 

I'm just trying to enjoy the ride. 

 

[incognitoo]

13 hours ago, vc2002 said:

I probably dont look at this the same way a lot of you guys do. There's a reason why dick measuring is a part of internet life for a lot of people. Well, I'm not saying it's a 100% reasonable thing to do but internet does offer a place for many to vent, and like how Lester in American Beauty has to jerk off in the men's room once a day to somewhat release the stress, this online dick-measuring thing is, I think, sometimes the same act just in a different form.

 

I myself always try to be objective on internet forums because I consider it a place to exchange information and opinion (which is IMO the MAIN purpose of most internet forums including BOT), but there're a lot of others who dont view it the same way and I'm not in the place to judge who's right and who's wrong. So I'm not really that againest this dick-measuring thing as long as it doesn't hurt our main conversation. In this case I think the mods of this site have done a beautiful job, such as creating a stand-alone "Cameron vs the world" thread, to not only keep the threads clean but also keep the dick-measuring stuff at a proper place instead of banning it totally.

 

While I definately agree to the second part of your posting, I strongly disagree to the first. There is no excuse for acting like an a...... just because one is on teh internetz. If such a person would show up in real life, maybe at a party or a BBQ, constantly offending and/or aggravating my guests up to a point where it becomes unbearable, I am simply not able to marginalize or play down such rude behaviour by telling my people "Nah, he just has to vent himself so cut him some slack!". Instead I show him the door, case closed. Of course, to some degree I am able to spare some understanding for the Lesters of our world. However the cases in which I can do that normally don't lead to hurt feelings of anybody. Besides the toilet bowl's that is.

[vc2002]

8 hours ago, incognitoo said:

 

While I definately agree to the second part of your posting, I strongly disagree to the first. There is no excuse for acting like an a...... just because one is on teh internetz. If such a person would show up in real life, maybe at a party or a BBQ, constantly offending and/or aggravating my guests up to a point where it becomes unbearable, I am simply not able to marginalize or play down such rude behaviour by telling my people "Nah, he just has to vent himself so cut him some slack!". Instead I show him the door, case closed. Of course, to some degree I am able to spare some understanding for the Lesters of our world. However the cases in which I can do that normally don't lead to hurt feelings of anybody. Besides the toilet bowl's that is.

 

 

I think you didnt get my point.

 

Internet is NOT the real life. That's my whole point. People dont do dick-measuring in real life a lot because they risk a lot. People do it a lot on internet because they risk little. I won't defend that behavior, but it is the reality of the internet world. And because it's the reality, I said mods here did a great job of not treating online dick-measuring the "real-life" way.

 

 

 

 

 

[incognitoo]

45 minutes ago, vc2002 said:

I think you didnt get my point.

Internet is NOT the real life. That's my whole point. People dont do dick-measuring in real life a lot because they risk a lot. People do it a lot on internet because they risk little. I won't defend that behavior, but it is the reality of the internet world. And because it's the reality, I said mods here did a great job of not treating online dick-measuring the "real-life" way.

 

Oh, I got your point, no doubt about that. But as I said, just because one can get away with it "bacause itz teh internetz", that doesn't justify acting like a d... online as committable behaviour. And because the behaviour in the internet world sloshes over to the real world more often than desired (I've seen cyber bullying, facebook shaming, etc. more than once in the last few years) I refuse to simply dismiss such behaviour as an unavoidable background noise. Your mileage may vary though.

[junkshop36]

Awesome post Baumer and couldn't agree more. Following TFAs box office has been fantastic but it takes nothing away from what movies like Titanic and Avatar did.

[SteveJaros]

13 hours ago, junkshop36 said:

Awesome post Baumer and couldn't agree more. Following TFAs box office has been fantastic but it takes nothing away from what movies like Titanic and Avatar did.

 

FWIW, as far as DOM impact is concerned, TFA seems 'bigger' than Avatar, which is why it is going to pass Avatar not only in nominal dollars today but also will pass it in terms of adjusted dollars as well.

 

But, unless it builds some sturdier legs, it will not match Titanic's ' size'. And there's no shame in that. Titanic is the only movie released in the past 1/3 of a century to reach the same DOM category as Jaws, Star Wars, and ET for sheer "bigness". It really does sit alone on an island out there in these last three + decades.  

 

And that's not just because of the box office dollars, which of course vary on many factors as cultures change over time. If you were alive during the 1970s and early 1980s and remember how films like Jaws, Star Wars and ET "felt" culturally when they were out, Titanic is the only film since that created that same epic feeling, a feeling of cultural dominance. As big as TFA is, it hasn't reached that level, IMO. 

Edited January 6, 2016 by SteveJaros

[mcclaine]

Amen to EVERY word, Baumer!!

This is films and Box Office history in the making, and still, there are some people out there complaining about shit. Let them shit, who cares...!

 

 

[BK007]

40 posters + OP fanboying to the max. 

 

Criticism of the movie = die in a hole. 

 

Yup, great spirit here. 

 

 

[baumer]

22 hours ago, BK007 said:

40 posters + OP fanboying to the max. 

 

Criticism of the movie = die in a hole. 

 

Yup, great spirit here. 

 

 

 

Thanks, glad you see it my way.