Weekend Estimates: Kong 61M, Logan 37.8M, Get Out 21M, Shack 10M, Lego Batman 7.8M

[babz06]

8 minutes ago, Alli said:

Yeah i agree. American audience have no idea who those actors are.     But look, Tom Hiddleston just starred in a hit. Curious what kind of offers he gets now

Nobody went to kong for Hiddleston, I doubt his offers will significantly change. Besides Kong isn't a huge hit.

[PPZVGOS]

14 minutes ago, Maxmoser3 said:

Those films had appealing premises though. An Officer and a Gentleman was an appealing adult R-rated romantic drama with some war related stuff added with Richard Gere attracting the female audience after American Gigolo did modest business in 1980. 

 

Rain Man was word of mouth and pairing Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman was a great idea for 1988! 

 

Basic Instinct was a big stiffie, Michael Douglas was in the 80's and somewhat in the 90's popular with women and was right after Fatal Attraction made a killing, it was a perfect time for Michael Douglas and using an attractive actress like Sharon Stone was a winner! Other films couldn't replace that afterwards, the erotic thriller was pretty much dead after that when Madonna tried it, and then Sharon Stone twice in 1993 and the sequel in 2006. 

 

Gump was something for a summer that featured two tv show adapted films, Schwarzenegger, The Circle Of Life, Axel Foley getting the ax, Jack Ryan still kicked ass, and a finale to an actor who was gone too soon with a film that could've started his career as a big star. Forest Gump was something for the adult audiences who didn't care about the circle of life, or any other of the above stuff, they wanted to see an adult-oriented movie that had memorable stuff such as the Vietnam war, Lieutant Dan, Jenny, and Bubba.

 

Pretty Woman was successful not because of the Roy Orbison song of the same name. But because it was a perfect adult date movie when the kiddies had TMNT '90, or were tired of Driving Miss Daisy in the first half of 1990. The concept and word of mouth also brought people into the film as well.

 

The Bodyguard was successful because of its soundtrack, and was also appealing to the female crowd and women thanks to something that wasn't in the Holiday season of 1992, which action fans had the holdover of Under Siege, Passenger 57. Horror fans had Bram Stoker's Dracula, and families had Home Alone 2. So it was perfect for The Bodyguard to be put in there.

 

Liar Liar was a comedy that had a silly interesting what if? Concept that audiences were intrigued by, after Jim Carrey had a misfire with The Cable Guy(which was an ok movie). It did great, and also there weren't any real comedies in the first half of 1997 except Howard Stern's Private Parts which also came out  the same month as Liar Liar.

 

Try making anything similar today. You are not making 20% of the money those movies did. 

[Barnack]

5 minutes ago, PenguinHyphy said:

 

Sandra Bullock still has star power, but notice that all of those actors are American actors. I think that the reason why it appears that star power is over is because Hollywood keeps putting foreign actors in lead roles, and American audiences are just not into them. Michael Fassbender and Thor keep bombing outside of any movie that is not a superhero movie for a reason. 

 

Well like it was pointed out Star Power today tend to be only when you are cast in what the audience expect of you, few have clout independently of the movie except Denzel Washington and Leonardo Dicaprio.

 

That said, one that has the most star power in the right role right now is Cumberbatch, he is one of the biggest foreign draw in China.

 

Hugh Jackman can help a movie too, there was a windows were Liam Neeson was a draw in an action movie, Seth Rogan in a comedy, and I am probably forgetting some other non americans.

 

The draw are dying is a common talk since at least the mid 90's, there is a press conference of studio head talking about it that occurred when Titanic was destroying everything with no star in the cast.

 

We still have star power, but it need to be the right match, it is the most obvious in humor, Sandler, Ferrel, McCarthy, Hart, etc... obviously have huge impact on a movie performance. One difficulty to evaluate star power is the sample size, it is really rare that we get some big movie with a big release, that has no IP attached to them or commercial high concept that do not have any star power attach to them, to be able to compare them to those who do. 

 

You will read in the same month: what were they thinking doing John Carter without any star and star power do not exist, from 2 different person.

 

[baumer]

I am personally on DaVinci's side in this race argument. I too am incredibly sick of seeing all of the black villains in every single movie especially superhero movies . I think what they should start doing these have European villains. In fact European villains with accents. I mean we've never seen those ever before have we? Might be a good idea.

 

[grey ghost]

Just now, PPZVGOS said:

 

Try making anything similar today. You are not making 20% of the money those movies did. 

 

People are less starved for entertainment now.

 

A court drama like A Few Good Men aint making the top 5 DOM for the year these days.

[Jonwo]

The romcom is a genre that is all but dead domestically, it still does well internationally but there isn't writers or actors who want to do them in the same way we had Nora Ephron, Nancy Meyers and Richard Curtis. 

 

Notting Hill and Runaway Bride came in 1999 both starred Julia Roberts at her peak but it's interesting that Runaway Bride was more successful domestically but not so much OS but vice versa for Notting Hill which was a huge OS hit and was more profitable as it cost a bit less. 

[Alli]

4 minutes ago, Barnack said:

 

 

 

 

The draw are dying is a common talk since at least the mid 90's, there is a press conference of studio head talking about it that occurred when Titanic was destroying everything with no star in the cast.

 

 

 

 

Leo was a nobody but i know i went to see Titanic for him. I was crazy for Leo. He definitely helped with the female demo.

[franfar]

If Forrest Gump were made today I could see it getting 150m DOM, at the very best. It would've been criticized even more for being sappy.

[Barnack]

3 minutes ago, Alli said:

Leo was a nobody but i know i went to see Titanic for him. I was crazy for Leo. He definitely helped with the female demo.

 

The theater run was so long that he had time to become a star and help the box office before the end of it in a way.

[filmlover]

2 hours ago, YourMother said:

Question of the day: Will Power Rangers underperform?

I think it's headed for a run in which it barely scraps by $100M. 

[Jonwo]

6 minutes ago, Barnack said:

 

Hugh Jackman can help a movie too, there was a windows were Liam Neeson was a draw in an action movie, Seth Rogan in a comedy, and I am probably forgetting some other non americans.

 

 

Jackman is a bit hit and miss as a draw, Prisoners was successful but it also had Jake Gyllenhaal, Les Mis sold itself and was pretty starry anyway. Pan was a failure but I don't think anyone could have saved that film. 

 

 

[Barnack]

4 minutes ago, franfar said:

If Forrest Gump were made today I could see it getting 150m DOM, at the very best. It would've been criticized even more for being sappy.

 

With the Internet today, the different interpretations (that it is not sappy at all, everyone that dream and try to reach for something get killed in that movie, while everyone that do not try or want to die on the battlefield live long and rich life) would maybe become popular.

[PPZVGOS]

13 minutes ago, grey ghost said:

 

People are less starved for entertainment now.

 

A court drama like A Few Good Men aint making the top 5 DOM for the year these days.

 

Cinema has changed a lot, it's not so much that people are not eager for entertainment. Nowadays, the only high-grossing movies are a) Animation for kids 2) Superhero Franchises 3) Big fantasy franchises (Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Transformers, Pirates) and nothing else. 

 

Only last night we were discussing how few non-Special-Effects heavy movies have manged to make over $200M in the past *decade* or so. We could barely name 5 or so!!!

 

Something like A Few Good Men, or The Firm, or Pretty Woman or Liar Liar today is inconceivable. Movies like that can't recoup even the smallest of budgets. 

 

BTW, those movies I listed, would never have been successful (even then) without the star-power they brought to the table. Back then, everyone was excited to see Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Julia Roberts, Jim Carrey etc etc in their latest movies. Now, we are all eagerly awaiting the next Star Wars, the next MCU, the next Batman, we argue about the Monsterverse and Potter. The star-vehicle, which once was almost all the rage, is now totally gone. Just put RDJ, or Ben Affleck or Chris Pratt in a random movie --> Nobody really cares...

[Brainiac5]

1 hour ago, Nova said:

BvS should have been made for $5M! Nothing more and nothing less! 

I'm trying to figure out how are we still talking about BVS in a weekend thread a year later .

#letitgoandmoveon

Edited March 12, 2017 by Brainiac5

[Jonwo]

18 minutes ago, PPZVGOS said:

BTW, those movies I listed, would never have been successful (even then) without the star-power they brought to the table. Back then, everyone was excited to see Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Julia Roberts, Jim Carrey etc etc in their latest movies. Now, we are all eagerly awaiting the next Star Wars, the next MCU, the next Batman, we argue about the Monsterverse and Potter. The star-vehicle, which once was almost all the rage, is now totally gone. Just put RDJ, or Ben Affleck or Chris Pratt in a random movie --> Nobody really cares...

 

IPs sells more than star power but I doubt an unknown would have sold films like The Martian or Gone Girl. 

Edited March 12, 2017 by Jonwo

[The Futurist]

The franchises movies that are all SF/Fantasy exist today for a very good reason :

 

you couldn't make them, the technology just wasn't there, you just couldn't produce those images.

 

Watch Superman 1978 and Man of Steel 2013 and see it for yourself.

 

 

[franfar]

29 minutes ago, Barnack said:

 

With the Internet today, the different interpretations (that it is not sappy at all, everyone that dream and try to reach for something get killed in that movie, while everyone that do not try or want to die on the battlefield live long and rich life) would maybe become popular.

So basically more depressing overtones. Why would someone pay to see that when it's reality?

[MrFanaticGuy34]

34 minutes ago, franfar said:

If Forrest Gump were made today I could see it getting 150m DOM, at the very best. It would've been criticized even more for being sappy.

Maybe, maybe not.

 

And also, let's not forget....it won an Oscar for Best Picture. That was the Holy power of Tom Hanks. One of the more beloved films of 1994, along with films like Pulp Fiction & The Lion King.

[therana]

Star power has certainly decreased these days. Even those actors with star power (Leo, Denzel, RDJ) are getting old. There are no young actors with true star power nowadays. Can't think of anyone.

Maybe Harry Styles will be if he's serious about acting. 

[PPZVGOS]

4 minutes ago, Jonwo said:

 

IPs sells more than star but I doubt an unknown would have sold films like The Martian or Gone Girl. 

 

I'm not saying actors don't count at all anymore, only that star-power has been greatly diminished as a BO factor. The Martian was also effects-heavy, but yes, I definitely accept your point, Matt Damon (plus Jessica Chastain) definitely came that movie a lot of boost. Gone Girl was a brilliant David Fincher thriller, but again, you are right, Affleck also helped considerably. I can't consider that Rosamund Pike counts as "star-power" since she was unknown to general audiences, even though she fitted the role perfectly and was the main attraction of the movie (IMO) 

 

Now, this gets me thinking, today picking the right actor for the right role, is far more important than old-school star-power. Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl, RDJ as Iron Man/Tony Stark, Jackman as Wolverine, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn are all prime examples of this new Hollywood trend.