THE BATMAN WEEKEND THREAD | 134M OW DOM, 258.2M WW | Biggest WB opening since BvS. First non Disney-affiliated 100M OW since 2018

[YM!]

37 minutes ago, Eric Says Trans Rights said:

I still think Flash and Aquaman’s current release dates are ridiculous. Putting Flash a week before and Aquaman the same day as the two biggest films for the year makes it seem like Warner wants to fail. Especially Aquaman, since it will get the short straw of PLFs compared to Avatar

I think both will move once we get trailers for both Avatar 2 and Wakanda Forever. Flash could do Labor Day weekend and Aquaman goes to 2023, as either Shazam, Batgirl or Wonka takes its spot.

[Porthos]

5 minutes ago, wintersoldier2021 said:

I guess its a decent opening but I wonder what it means that it opened so far below expectations scream 5 did well enough to green light scream 6 but expectations for its opening were higher as well is the market back or not?

 

Whose expectations though?  Last time I checked, this board didn't set the standard for "expectations".

 

I only say this, cause, to pick a random example, this board shit all over Cruella's OW (myself included) and ridiculed it for being below expectations even for the pandemic era and that not only got rumors of a sequel fairly quickly, but has more or less been greenlit/on track to happening.

 

Just sayin' that this board may not be the most reliable when it comes to what industry/studio "expectations" are.

 

Besides which, we don't even have that great of a sense of the legs yet, though True Fri-Sat bump is a rather good omen, IMO.

Edited March 6, 2022 by Porthos

[Krissykins]

9 minutes ago, wintersoldier2021 said:

I guess its a decent opening but I wonder what it means that it opened so far below expectations scream 5 did well enough to green light scream 6 but expectations for its opening were higher as well is the market back or not?

Both of those films beat both industry and studio expectations and that’s all Hollywood has to care about. 

[Eric is Anxious]

43 minutes ago, BruiseCruise said:

Aquaman will move once the first trailer for A2 releases and WB knows it's for real coming out 

I mean I'm sure WB has insider info on what Disney/Avatar is doing. And at this rate, every public press material is making it certain that Avatar 2, indeed, is coming out this year. Warner has no excuse.

 

28 minutes ago, PenguinXXR said:

 

That would be the smart move. March or April 2023 is open enough for it. 

As for Flash, it needs to move onto Labor Day Weekend (once BP:WF is truly confirmed to not be moving.)

I'm still confused why not one studio has jumped onto the Labor Day weekend yet. Shang-Chi proved an exciting film can work at that time, so why not do it already? It's dumb. It's weird.

[cax16]

Subtle trolls are so annoying, another one to the ignore list it is. 

[Krissykins]

23 minutes ago, BestPicturePlutoNash said:

Licorice Pizza went digital to purchase on Tuesday and this weekend was its 15th

 

West Side Story hit Disney+ this week and its week 13

Oh yeh West Side Story. I had no idea about Licorice Pizza, just assumed that was on digital last year. Could explain some of Spider-Man’s later holds though. 

[Eric is Anxious]

8 minutes ago, Porthos said:

 

Whose expectations though?  Last time I checked, this board didn't set the standard for "expectations".

 

I only say this, cause, to pick a random example, this board shit all over Cruella's OW (myself included) and ridiculed it for being below expectations even for the pandemic era and that not only got rumors of a sequel fairly quickly, but has more or less been greenlit/on track to happening.

 

Just sayin' that this board may not be the most reliable when it comes to what industry/studio "expectations" are.

 

Besides which, we don't even have that great of a sense of the legs yet, though True Fri-Sat bump is a rather good omen, IMO.

...did we? I'm not saying anybody wasn't down on Cruella, but it felt like people were commending its performance considering it didn't have a lot going for it compared to Quiet Place 2 or Black Widow or whatever and that it was a positive sign for moviegoing going forward.

[XXR & Friends]

Just now, Eric Says Trans Rights said:

I'm still confused why not one studio has jumped onto the Labor Day weekend yet. Shang-Chi proved an exciting film can work at that time, so why not do it already? It's dumb. It's weird.

 

Yea I don't get it either. Pretty much any holiday weekend should be prime real estate for a major film. Audience have shown they'll turn up for some thing they want to see, no matter when it releases. 

[cax16]

I’d be shocked if Aquaman kept the release date. Maybe it will move to the beginning of December cause Batgirl is supposed to be released in December as well and that will probably come out over xmas. 

Edited March 6, 2022 by cax16

[Porthos]

4 minutes ago, Eric Says Trans Rights said:

...did we? I'm not saying anybody wasn't down on Cruella, but it felt like people were commending its performance considering it didn't have a lot going for it compared to Quiet Place 2 or Black Widow or whatever and that it was a positive sign for moviegoing going forward.

 

I seem to recall it being ridiculed for not breaking 25m, and barely breaking 20m, yes.  It wasn't until its legs really started kicking in that it started getting reappraised.  Not that I'm going to go back and read it, but I recall the OW thread being less than impressed, even by our kneejerk standards.

 

But if you want to say "shitting on it" was overselling it, fine.  But I do recall at least some mockery and more fuel for the "theaters are dead" fires.

[Brainbug]

25 minutes ago, wintersoldier2021 said:

I guess its a decent opening

 

Its not, its a good opening. Very much in line with expectation from the industry and the tracking team here.

 

26 minutes ago, wintersoldier2021 said:

 scream 5 did well enough to green light scream 6 but expectations for its opening were higher as well

 

They were not. Scream 5 opened very much in line with expectation from the industry and the tracking team here.

27 minutes ago, wintersoldier2021 said:

 is the market back or not?

 

It is. Films are opening very much in line with industry expectations.

[ZeeSoh]

Jumanji showed that 2 big movies can coexist and do well during the Christmas holiday period. Granted that Avatar 2 is likely to be double of what TLJ did but Aquaman 2 is also sequel to DC's biggest grossing movie. Aquaman should however move a week forward or backward (or even to beginning of December as cax16 suggested) to get some breathing room. That should be enough for it do well. 

[Porthos]

1 minute ago, ZeeSoh said:

Jumanji showed that 2 big movies can coexist and do well during the Christmas holiday period. Granted that Avatar 2 is likely to be double of what TLJ did but Aquaman 2 is also sequel to DC's biggest grossing movie. Aquaman should however move a week forward or backward (or even to beginning of December as cax16 suggested) to get some breathing room. That should be enough for it do well. 

 

The one concern, well, no, more "gripe" I have with the casual talk I see of "moving things up" is... Who says it'll be ready to move up?  Especially to the beginning of December?

 

I dunno.  Just strikes me as... "Meh" that I see casual talk up moving films up the calendar when not too long ago when it looked like there might be an IATSE strike, we were all saying that the industry should have less crunch in it for workers, not more.  And it just stands to reason that moving a film up will lead to more crunch in post.

 

Maybe one week isn't that big of a deal.  Then again, with all of the legends of films getting worked on 'till the last moment just seems like...

 

...

 

Meh.  Just low-grade griping and not actually directed at you or anyone else in particular right now, but just something that's been eating at me a little bit the last few months, I guess.

 

(and perhaps reminding folks that "moving things up" does come at a cost)

 

NB:  This was made with at least a little in mind for you, @Plain Old Tele. 👍

[BruiseCruise]

Its less about coexisting and more maximizing aquaman, if you move it back to say march it will clean up house whereas going against Avatar especially in China will really put a dent in it

[cax16]

Personally I’d rather Aquaman get delayed till next year but honestly it’s probably gonna be up to Wan, they only finished filming a short time ago so I wouldn’t be surprised by a delay either. 

[AdrianL]

Aquaman should have premium screens. WB should move it to March and put Wonka in the summer.

[grim22]

56 minutes ago, Porthos said:

 

The one concern, well, no, more "gripe" I have with the casual talk I see of "moving things up" is... Who says it'll be ready to move up?  Especially to the beginning of December?

 

I dunno.  Just strikes me as... "Meh" that I see casual talk up moving films up the calendar when not too long ago when it looked like there might be an IATSE strike, we were all saying that the industry should have less crunch in it for workers, not more.  And it just stands to reason that moving a film up will lead to more crunch in post.

 

"Move it up" is my second favorite talking point about movies which people want to do well. 

 

My most favorite one is "Well, the first movie may not have done enough to warrant a sequel but fans loved it so if they can reduce the budget by 20%, bring back the entire cast from the first one, add a big star like The Rock or Tom Cruise, increase the number of big VFX scenes, and release it when no other movie is coming out, we can get a sequel made. Sign my petition" @MrPink

[Menor the Destroyer]

1 hour ago, Porthos said:

 

I seem to recall it being ridiculed for not breaking 25m, and barely breaking 20m, yes.  It wasn't until its legs really started kicking in that it started getting reappraised.  Not that I'm going to go back and read it, but I recall the OW thread being less than impressed, even by our kneejerk standards.

 

But if you want to say "shitting on it" was overselling it, fine.  But I do recall at least some mockery and more fuel for the "theaters are dead" fires.

You are right, Cruella's opening was not viewed as anything great. AQP2 was the reason that weekend had a positive vibe on the forums. 

[Legion Again]

1 hour ago, cax16 said:

Subtle trolls are so annoying, another one to the ignore list it is. 

Subtle?   
 

Anyway, is it even much short of board expectations? It’ll be within 10% of the derby avg. not sure what the avg in @PenguinXXR’s contest is.

[commendable]

throwback to when people said the theater experience is dead lol