Weekend Thread (12/10-12) | WSS 800K Previews

[Merkel]

I do miss the time when often the biggest movie of the year was unexpected and a bit of a wild card. Stuff like Home Alone, Ghost, Mrs. Doubtfire, Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan. When was the last time when the biggest movie of the year wasn't seen coming at least one or two years away? The pattern has become too predictable

Edited December 12, 2021 by Merkel

[titanic2187]

6 minutes ago, Merkel said:

I do miss the time when often the biggest movie of the year was unexpected and a bit of a wild card. Stuff like Home Alone, Ghost, Mrs. Doubtfire, Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan. When was the last time when the biggest movie of the year wasn't seen coming at least one or two years away? The pattern has become too predictable

American Sniper from 2014, but >99% of the gross was from 2015. At the worldwide scale, it was Frozen that surprise me the most. 

[Legion Again]

34 minutes ago, Merkel said:

I do miss the time when often the biggest movie of the year was unexpected and a bit of a wild card. Stuff like Home Alone, Ghost, Mrs. Doubtfire, Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan. When was the last time when the biggest movie of the year wasn't seen coming at least one or two years away? The pattern has become too predictable

2018  
 

(I know this isn’t really what you’re looking for, but it definitely meets the description)

[charlie Jatinder]

42 minutes ago, Merkel said:

When was the last time when the biggest movie of the year wasn't seen coming at least one or two years away

2018.

 

Edit: I should have known seeing @Product Driven Legion answer that he would have answered it.

Edited December 12, 2021 by charlie Jatinder

[Legion Again]

The surprise winners before that were gotg in 2014 (Counting Sniper for 2014 is silly imo) and The Avengers in 2012

 

I mean, you’ve also got BB4L, but…

[KP1025]

47 minutes ago, titanic2187 said:

American Sniper from 2014, but >99% of the gross was from 2015. At the worldwide scale, it was Frozen that surprise me the most. 

 

I still remember following Frozen in 2013. Most people thought Iron Man 3 would easily win the year after it grossed over $1.2 billion WW, but the insane legs from Japan late into Frozen's run helped give it the WW crown in the end. It placed #5 all-time WW in the end, which I'm sure nobody saw coming. Most people didn't even predict it in their Top 5 WW for the year due to the number of other anticipated sequels that year (Hobbit, Hunger Games, Thor, etc)

[Darth Lehnsherr]

Ah Frozen's run was legendary as a WDAS fan to finally see the studio finally be back on top was amazing. I think people were expecting around slightly higher Tangled numbers for it (which I prefer Tangled but different discussion). 

 

Make me hope the 30 day theatrical window for animated films before Disney+ isn't permanent. You'd miss out on a Frozen or Zootopia unexpected run. 

[BadOlCatSylvester]

I'm willing to bet that had West Side Story's logo was garnished with a certain red rectangle, it would've pulled in the numbers it's currently pulling for its opening weekend on the Thursday night previews alone.

 

And that's just sad. Even before the apocalypse, as a foreigner I never got the chance to see movies like Knives Out and Uncut Gems in theaters where I live since the former wasn't released in my province and the latter was hauled off to Netflix outside of the US. If it's not a big blockbuster, you're likely going to have to wait for it to drop online. And these past couple of years will only make that problem worse.

 

I was briefly interested in seeing French Dispatch because of Timmy E-boy's Dune showing, but it only came out in, like, 50-something locations. So I likely won't be able to see it anytime soon.

[baumer]

31 minutes ago, KP1025 said:

 

I still remember following Frozen in 2013. Most people thought Iron Man 3 would easily win the year after it grossed over $1.2 billion WW, but the insane legs from Japan late into Frozen's run helped give it the WW crown in the end. It placed #5 all-time WW in the end, which I'm sure nobody saw coming. Most people didn't even predict it in their Top 5 WW for the year due to the number of other anticipated sequels that year (Hobbit, Hunger Games, Thor, etc)

 

Following the Japan run was one of the most fun times at the forums.  It just kept going and going and then they released a sing along version and that added another few weeks to its run.

[titanic2187]

1 hour ago, KP1025 said:

 

I still remember following Frozen in 2013. Most people thought Iron Man 3 would easily win the year after it grossed over $1.2 billion WW, but the insane legs from Japan late into Frozen's run helped give it the WW crown in the end. It placed #5 all-time WW in the end, which I'm sure nobody saw coming. Most people didn't even predict it in their Top 5 WW for the year due to the number of other anticipated sequels that year (Hobbit, Hunger Games, Thor, etc)

Frozen probably is the biggest surprise hit of the decade, whereas my surprise hit of the year in the past 10 years.

2010 - Inception

2011 - None

2012- Avengers / Skyfall

2013 - Frozen

2014 - None

2015 - Jurassic World

2016 - Zootopia or Deadpool

2017 - Jumanji

2018 - Bohemian Rhapsody

 2019 - Joker

2020/2021 - Demon Slayer

 

 

 

[cannastop]

6 hours ago, Cap said:

To be honest, we need to go back to block booking. You want Spider-Man, You need to play West Side Story. 🤷‍♀️
 

that's kind of what's happening now... So says Empire city at least. Says West Side Story must be played until January.

[Firepower]

9 hours ago, Lion Roar said:

It's strange to claim that audiences are less demanding than ever. If anything audiences are more demanding than ever because there are so many entertainment options available, so movies need to make a compelling case to the general public why they should allocate their limited time and resources to go watch something in theaters. Certain genres just are not worth the expense in most people's minds. Studios and chains really need to start lowering ticket prices for dramas/non IPs if they really want people to come back to them. 

They are not demanding at all, by your own take they are ready to eat the lowest quality product as long as it's attached to big IP. What would be demanding is ignore cash grab garbage and support good stuff, but I guess it's not easy to do for most people, to say the least.

Edited December 12, 2021 by Firepower

[cannastop]

6 hours ago, Cmasterclay said:

I'm thinking about my favorite stretch of movies ever, from 2005 to 2007. No Country for Old Men, The Departed, Inside Man, Children of Men, History of Violence, Munich, Michael Clayton, Gone Baby Gone, American Gangster, Eastern Promises.....all solid hits of varying degrees built around being star-powered thrillers for adults that balanced awards with box office.

The issue is I don't ultimately care about that. I can appreciate a good movie, of course. I love cinema. but I don't ultimately care if cinema is midbudget mainsteam or not.

[Napoleon]

Studios should be making mid budget films with the stars gay and female millenials are nostalgic about. No offense to these young fabulous girls, but no one's going to a theater to see Rachel Zegler and Jodie Comer. We don't want a new Adrian Lyne erotic thriller with Ana De Armas. Who we'd really love to see starring in great movies from great directors are people like Halle Berry, Sharon Stone, Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, Lucy Liu, Catherine Zeta Jones, etc. Hustlers was a hit because we were rooting for JLo, House of Gucci was the only adult drama that didn't bomb this year because we're excited for Gaga. This is why the mid budget film is dying, and we rather watch Netflix. They are making a new Lindsay Lohan movie, when would the old studios ever give us that? 

[snarkmachine]

WSS just seemed unnecessary. The trailer evoked enough of the original movie for me to be like "Why was this needed?" If there was a twist on it, like it's set in the present day or something, I would be more interested. 

 

The no-stars thing is a problem but I don't know how it could've been rectified. J-Lo as Anita? Harry Styles as Tony?

Edited December 12, 2021 by snarkmachine

[Firepower]

14 hours ago, Menor said:

I don't really care about the Oscars but there is no "pretend" here. There is no condition that a movie that is focus grouped or market researched can't be art. This definition of art is something I take issue with, it prioritizes process over result. If I like the result better, I don't care what process is used to make it. Especially this idea that "weight" is something that always needs to be prioritized in an action scene. It depends on the point of the action. The purpose of action scenes isn't always to be "brutal" or "realistic."  Point me to what definition of art says it can't have CGI. 

Process and intentions very much affect the result. When product is made only to sell toys and market cinematic universe without any artistic intention behind it, it's not comparable to any movie from real filmmakers who have something to say. And art can have CGI of course, who says it can't, it's just a tool, but you can easily see the difference between great movies which use it and generic CGI fests which overuse it.

Edited December 12, 2021 by Firepower

[vale900]

910 M WW for Bohemian Rhapsody is the biggest surprise of the last 5 years. 

[BadOlCatSylvester]

The demographic who is driving theater revenue the most these days is young nerdy men. I'm willing to bet almost none of them even know what West Side Story is. It's certainly not the icon people here seem to think it is.

 

Is it too late to pull the plug on Wicked?

[AJG]

15 hours ago, CrashBandicoot81 said:

Looking at the Deadline Article. It seems like someone overdosed on Copium. It even tries to pull a "What about" On Red Notice. One it isn't in Theaters, and two, it is there to provide content for Netflix. 

 

Deadline Anthony REFUSES to believe that the pandemic has fundamentally shifted how people watch movies. He desperately tries to grasps for straws every weekend. Justifying flop after flop.

[vale900]

20 minutes ago, BadOlCatSylvester said:

The demographic who is driving theater revenue the most these days is young nerdy men. I'm willing to bet almost none of them even know what West Side Story is. It's certainly not the icon people here seem to think it is.

 

Is it too late to pull the plug on Wicked?

 

Marvel movies are not film for nerdy men. We can like it or not but they are the forrest gump of this age. If you love popular movies, in any target, you go to see them.