Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom | December 22, 2023 | David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (co-writer of first film) returns

[WittyUsername]

1 hour ago, HummingLemon496 said:

How much would've Black Adam and Aqua 2 would've done if they swapped release dates? B/c Black Adam had the advantage of being before the superhero collapse

Black Adam was set up to be the future of the DC franchise, or at least that was how The Rock advertised it. It definitely benefitted from that, which is why it remains the highest grossing DCEU film since the first Aquaman, even if it still flopped because of its ridiculous budget. 

[Dominic Draper]

1 hour ago, HummingLemon496 said:

Why do you think they aren't marketing it properly?

WB has been utterly inept for over a decade now, so I don't even try to make sense of their decisions to be honest.

[Super]

16 minutes ago, dudalb said:

I admit I did not catch that.

It’s okay. 

 

But on a side note to @Gavin Feng after doing some research, isn’t Wanda an even bigger/more successful distributor in China? 

[Gavin Feng]

4 minutes ago, Super said:

It’s okay. 

 

But on a side note to @Gavin Feng after doing some research, isn’t Wanda an even bigger/more successful distributor in China? 

 

Wanda as a theater chain is very powerful. But it's not a successful production company or distributor. Most Hollywood movies don't really want a partner like that. In recent, its parent company Wanda Group are being out of the film business except keeping Legendary. Big debt crisis due to its identity of property developer.

 

The marketing is fine. Few Hollywood movie stars come to China recently. I'm not sure if it helps. But they really did anything they could.

[Super]

29 minutes ago, Gavin Feng said:

 

Wanda as a theater chain is very powerful. But it's not a successful production company or distributor. Most Hollywood movies don't really want a partner like that. In recent, its parent company Wanda Group are being out of the film business except keeping Legendary. Big debt crisis due to its identity of property developer.

 

The marketing is fine. Few Hollywood movie stars come to China recently. I'm not sure if it helps. But they really did anything they could.

Okay, that puts some things in perspective. Thanks. 

[Bob Train]

8 hours ago, ChipDerby said:

 

It's not going to make money because they aren't fucking marketing it.

If they don't market it, they get Blue Beetle tier gross. If they do, they get Flash tier gross. Either way, it will flop. Announcing the reboot turned all of DC's 2023 into Dark Phoenix-esque lame ducks. It's just how things are.

[Bob Train]

8 hours ago, Dominic Draper said:

If they can't market the sequel to the highest grossing DC film of all time then they have deep problems.

WB had the best marketing campaign of the year easily with Barbie. They aren't marketing this one because it has tested poorly and is from a dead universe, so chances of it being a hit are low, as audiences are rejecting this kind of movie en masse. They are probably prioritizing Color Purple and Wonka over Aquaman to salvage their December slate.

[PrinceRico]

WB definitely seems to just be dumping this and focusing on Wonka and The Color Purple. 

[ChipDerby]

3 hours ago, Bob Train said:

WB had the best marketing campaign of the year easily with Barbie. They aren't marketing this one because it has tested poorly and is from a dead universe, so chances of it being a hit are low, as audiences are rejecting this kind of movie en masse. They are probably prioritizing Color Purple and Wonka over Aquaman to salvage their December slate.

 

Fury Road tested poorly and they gave that one of the best marketing campaigns in their history. Just saying shit online.

[Avatree]

anything DCEU has been doomed since they announced last year that the universe is getting rebooted.

 

This is the final DCEU movie right? They should have kept the reboot plans quiet until after this had released. Would have helped not just this film but Flash and Shazam 2 too.

 

Edited December 8, 2023 by Avatree

[HummingLemon496]

6 hours ago, Bob Train said:

If they don't market it, they get Blue Beetle tier gross. If they do, they get Flash tier gross. Either way, it will flop. Announcing the reboot turned all of DC's 2023 into Dark Phoenix-esque lame ducks. It's just how things are.

Idk if you're joking or not, but without the holidays, yes Aquaman 2 does around Blue Beetle DOM total.

[dudalb]

6 hours ago, PrinceRico said:

WB definitely seems to just be dumping this and focusing on Wonka and The Color Purple. 

I have not seen that much marketing for  Color Purple. I think they are using more of a Oscar Bait movie approach for that rather then a big blockbuster marketing approach.

But as far as Womka/Aqua 2, WB created a lot of marketing prolbems for themselves with that one week between the openings.

They are competing wiith each other for marketing attention (though because it opens first Wonka has an advantage) and that is completly a self inflicted wound by Warners.

[dudalb]

I see some people are still in denial about CBM's losing their box office dominance.

[JimmyB]

WB is marketing this movie. I've seen commercials for this movie during Sunday and Monday Night football for weeks.  These are expensive TV spots.  The trailer has played in front of pretty much every film I've seen in the past 2 months.  WB flew Momoa and Wan to China for a big promotional event.  The movie is going to bomb like The Marvels even with large marketing costs. 

 

 

Edited December 8, 2023 by JimmyB

[dudalb]

5 minutes ago, JimmyB said:

WB is marketing this movie. I've seen commercials for this movie during Sunday and Monday Night football for weeks.  These are expensive TV spots.  The trailer has played in front of pretty much every film I've seen in the past 2 months.  WB flew Momoa and Wan to China for a big promotional event.  The movie is going to bomb like The Marvels even with large marketing costs. 

 

 

I repeat, it is competing for attention with Wonka, and that is completly Warners's fault.

[JimmyB]

10 minutes ago, dudalb said:

I repeat, it is competing for attention with Wonka, and that is completly Warners's fault.

Thats fine but I'm seeing comments that WB isnt marketing the film and that's just false.

[dudalb]

Just now, JimmyB said:

Thats fine but I'm seeing comments that WB isnt marketing the film and that's just false.

Of course they are marketing it; you don't throw away a movie with that big a budget; you have to roll the dice. But that they only have one week where Warners marketing can focus 100% on the film is not a good thing.

Irony is hte more expensive a film is, the less chance a studio will dump it. Look at Dark Phoenix and New Mutants Disney, after it took over FOx  was not impressed by either movie put a lot of money into marketing Dark Phoenix because Phoenix cost so much and c ould not be thrown away, but the low budget New Mutants was just plain dumped.

[WittyUsername]

Yeah, I don’t know why people would argue that WB isn’t marketing this. They are. People know this is coming out. They just aren’t itching to see it. 

[ChipDerby]

5 hours ago, Avatree said:

anything DCEU has been doomed since they announced last year that the universe is getting rebooted.

 

This is the final DCEU movie right? They should have kept the reboot plans quiet until after this had released. Would have helped not just this film but Flash and Shazam 2 too.

 

 

Then you push the reboot start date to 2026. 

[ChipDerby]

48 minutes ago, JimmyB said:

Thats fine but I'm seeing comments that WB isnt marketing the film and that's just false.

 

They've released 1.5 trailers for the film, and did not market the film one ounce prior to the first trailer in september. Attaching it to movies and having a TV spot is not what I mean by "marketing" the film. Just look at the marketing for Barbie, Flash, etc etc. Those weren't just a trailer and some TV spots.

 

(yes, they are marketing it in China! that's what they should be doing here. but they're not)