WEEKEND THREAD | B.O numbers Page 28: Final Divergent movie opens at $29m, Zoo: $38m

[baumer]

20 hours ago, La Binoche said:

We have yet to see JLaw prove herself to be a real, irrefutable draw. Joy proved neither here nor there, a middling "hit" that also benefit from David O. Russell's name. We have yet to see her carry a movie the way Julia Roberts followed up Pretty Woman with the $100M grossing Sleeping with the Enemy, or Sandra Bullock followed up Speed with While You Were Sleeping. It's all been franchises. The closest she came to carrying a hit was Silver Linings but that was a platform release that had the Weinstein awards season magic touch. 

 

I don't think anyone will ever have a run like Julia Roberts did.  Those films were sold on her name alone.  JLaw is smart enough to pick good projects.  Does that make her a draw?  Sure it does.  She's not stupid enough to audition for Expendables 4 or Gods of Egypt.  She's savvy enough to pick projects that people want to see her in.  

[filmlover]

1 hour ago, Baumer said:

 

I don't think anyone will ever have a run like Julia Roberts did.  Those films were sold on her name alone.  JLaw is smart enough to pick good projects.  Does that make her a draw?  Sure it does.  She's not stupid enough to audition for Expendables 4 or Gods of Egypt.  She's savvy enough to pick projects that people want to see her in.  

Julia did have a couple of misses between The Pelican Brief and My Best Friend's Wedding (I Love Trouble, anyone?). But yeah, JLaw will be more than blessed if she continues to get lead roles 20 years from now like Julia still does.

[filmlover]

Also, this will definitely be the end of studios splitting movies. Harry Potter justified it because of the sheer scope of the entire series deserving a grandiose send-off, but the rest (Twilight, The Hunger Games, The Hobbit, Divergent) have been primarily motivated by greed. After Mockingjay 1 underperformed, the studio should've reconsidered their plans of turning Allegiant into two movies (especially when the grosses were not even within the same orbit to begin with as all of the other movies that split, like come on now). Although The Hunger Games and The Hobbit saw diminished returns from overreach, unlike Divergent which has just completely imploded on its own terms.

[CJohn]

2 minutes ago, filmlover said:

Also, this will definitely be the end of studios splitting movies. Harry Potter justified it because of the sheer scope of the entire series deserving a grandiose send-off, but the rest (Twilight, The Hunger Games, The Hobbit, Divergent) have been primarily motivated by greed. After Mockingjay 1 underperformed, the studio should've reconsidered their plans of turning Allegiant into two movies (especially when the grosses were not even within the same orbit to begin with as all of the other movies that split, like come on now). Although The Hunger Games and The Hobbit saw diminished returns from overreach, unlike Divergent which has just completely imploded on its own terms.

Instead they decided to switch the titles  They should have gone the Maze Runner route. FOX was smart. It was a profitable franchise, but nothing justified the splitting of the final book into two movies. I am still shocked Lionsgate move forward with Divergent finale split into two movies. And instead of a final entry that would make some money (with 3D instead of this nonsense of going back to 2D only) they are now stuck with a bomb and the embarrassment of having to pull the final movie from schedule and cancelling it.

[filmlover]

On the bright side now, everyone is free! Teller and Elgort have a lot of promising stuff coming out within the next two years, so run to something that's actually worthy of your talent ASAP, Shailene.

Edited March 20, 2016 by filmlover

[CJohn]

7 minutes ago, filmlover said:

On the bright side now, everyone is free! Teller and Elgort have a lot of promising stuff coming out within the next two years, so run to something that's actually worthy of your talent ASAP, Shailene.

Theo James was funnily enough the best of the cast in Allegiant. He has come a long way since the charisma vacuum performance in the first movie.

 

He was also the best because the rest of the cast does not give a shit. Teller was good in I don't care mode (I bet he improvised all of his lines tbh). Ansel Elgort was not given much to do and the little he had he sleepwalked through it (I don't blame him for doing that btw). Jeff Daniels and Naomi Watts were there for that nice paycheck. Shailene Woodley, which was a bright spot and showed immense life in the first two movies, also stopped caring and gives a boring, lifeless performance (she was still good, but it is clear she is there for the paycheck and doesn't give a fuck anymore). 

[Frozen]

Can they really cancel the last film at this point? It starts filming this week and I assume they have to pay people now. Why have it be a total loss?

[Frozen]

Also I decided to go see Allegiant tonight, even though I had never seen the first two films. Nothing else was playing I wanted to see or haven't seen. It was good but I didn't understand a few things. Like her relationship with her brother or who Peter is (he's their friend or what)? But even I would say it deserved better than a 10%. It was way better than Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. 

[forg]

Very happy with Zootopia's performance! I hope it will still hold well against BvS

Is KF3  a success? DOM is below the sequel. I liked the movie but the story is fine ending on the 3rd movie

[cannastop]

7 minutes ago, forg said:

Very happy with Zootopia's performance! I hope it will still hold well against BvS

Is KF3  a success? DOM is below the sequel. I liked the movie but the story is fine ending on the 3rd movie

I think KFP3 is a disappointment for Dreamworks. Zootopia even beat it in China!

[La Binoche]

3 hours ago, Baumer said:

 

I don't think anyone will ever have a run like Julia Roberts did.  Those films were sold on her name alone.  JLaw is smart enough to pick good projects.  Does that make her a draw?  Sure it does.  She's not stupid enough to audition for Expendables 4 or Gods of Egypt.  She's savvy enough to pick projects that people want to see her in.  

 

So you agree that JLaw has yet to sell a movie on her name alone like Julia Roberts did several times? That was my point. 

[RyneOh1040]

If we're making the argument that J Law isn't a draw I don't think you CAN make that argument that any actor under 40 is.  Sure she's been in franchises, but she's been a HUGE part in those franchises putting up the numbers they did.  The Hunger Games was a perfect storm (with a lot of other factors besides her), but the numbers Catching Fire put up had a LOT to do with her being the it girl (as much as I hate that phrase).  Same goes for the X-Men franchise.  I certainly don't think she's the MAIN draw for that series but I think her involvement got a lot of cross over appeal it had been missing prior.  For me Silver Linings is ALL J-Law.  If you want to argue that it's David O.'s name carrying the project I'd counter with her involvement in Silver Linings and American Hustle is what got the mainstream audience to know HIS name.  Joy had terrible marketing and came out in a crowded season, yet it still put up decent numbers.  It certainly wasn't a miss, just not the home run of their last collaborations (but it's also a much tougher sell).

 

Like Baumer said, the girl (and her agent) have made some damn smart choices in terms of what projects she does but that doesn't mean she's not a part of the reason that seats get filled.  I think Passengers will give us a good idea of what she's capable of (yes Pratt helps, but his certainly not a bigger draw) but the thing I'd LOVE to see is a flat out comedy with her as the lead.  I know her and Amy Schumer have mentioned they're writing a film together and I think regardless of whether's Schumer's in it or not, with a smart script she could put up HUGE numbers.  Everyone already thinks she's the girl next door, let her play one in a film and people will eat.  it.  up.

Edited March 20, 2016 by RyneOh1040

[RyneOh1040]

On a different note i see NO WAY that Lionsgate cancels Allegiant Part 2.  I mean, I'm sure contractually it would be a nightmare, and splitting it was an awful decision, but it's literally one more film that has been marketed as a two part series.  It just seems like a sunk cost at this point to me.  Plus, this will close with around 80 domestic and make up the difference internationally to come close to breaking even.  It's not the travesty some people are making it out to be.

[Dingdong123]

Julia's movies during the 90s translate to what? 200 million today domestic? That's indeed insane to maintain for multiple films. She's clearly a massive box office draw compared to her peers.

 

Sandra Bullock is the closest these days. And I insanely love her versatility.

[department store basement]

1 minute ago, Dingdong123 said:

Sandra Bullock is the closest these days. And I insanely love her versatility.

 

remember our brand is crisis???

[Dingdong123]

Double post lol.

Edited March 20, 2016 by Dingdong123

[Clef Ment]

2 hours ago, filmlover said:

Also, this will definitely be the end of studios splitting movies. Harry Potter justified it because of the sheer scope of the entire series deserving a grandiose send-off, but the rest (Twilight, The Hunger Games, The Hobbit, Divergent) have been primarily motivated by greed. After Mockingjay 1 underperformed, the studio should've reconsidered their plans of turning Allegiant into two movies (especially when the grosses were not even within the same orbit to begin with as all of the other movies that split, like come on now). Although The Hunger Games and The Hobbit saw diminished returns from overreach, unlike Divergent which has just completely imploded on its own terms.

 

Infinity War will be alright!

[DAJK]

7 hours ago, RichWS said:

 

Why do YA films do better there?

Not sure, I guess we just have the audience for them in our town.

[TrendyWiz7]

29 minutes ago, Clef Ment said:

 

Infinity War will be alright!

Infinity War fits in more to that grandiose section filmlover described with Harry Potter. 

[filmlover]

2 hours ago, Frozen said:

Can they really cancel the last film at this point? It starts filming this week and I assume they have to pay people now. Why have it be a total loss?

It just got a new director less than three weeks ago and casting doesn't appear to have started. On top of this they just slashed the budget for it by quite a bit. It's going to be another month or two before filming would actually start.

 

But I think they'll just a shoot a 10-15 minute epilogue closing up whatever they have left and stick it on the DVD. They have no incentive to make an entire movie: the law of diminishing returns hasn't so much crept up as it has pounced on it, and given this movie's reception (no doubt a 10% RT score helped completely drive away people who were already losing interest in the series), the gross for the final movie will only plummet a ton more.