April 22-24th Weekend thread | Northman conquers $5m Friday, Mr. Wolf’s fine ass and The Bad Guys steal $8m, and Unbearable Talent has an unbearable start at $3m

[Legion Again]

21 minutes ago, watcher1232 said:

I think this forum gets too mean when big films underperform too

Fair enough, I appreciate consistency 👍

21 minutes ago, watcher1232 said:

you also have to see the difference. Blockbusters, as much as I love many, are a dime-a-dozen. Smaller mid-budget films like this are not, and them dying out has been an issue.

I don’t come to the issue with any emotional baggage about preferring small films, it’s just numbers to me 🤷‍♂️
 

I will say, for people who *do* love smaller mid-budget films (which I know there are many of, and I have no beef with), caring about their profitability seems like it would be more important and not less, as it has a bearing on future prodiction volume. A 15M opening on a 50M budget would bode better for similar movies down the pipe than 15M on 70M, right?  
 

 

Edited April 23, 2022 by Thanos Legion

[Grebacio]

Can anyone explain me the V thing? Been reading about it all day and don't have a clue what it is. 

[ThomasNicole]

9 minutes ago, Thanos Legion said:

It’s funny to me that the complaints about talking about movie profitability come out when it’s a beloved smaller movie that probably wasn’t, when many of those same people would love talking about ROI if the context was instead a small movie that was a megahit or a big movie that was a poor investment. “why do you care, it’s not your money” just seems like such a strawman. Why are any of us here talking about any of this? Because we find it interesting. It’s not like box office is a for profit hobby.

While i agreed with this, i think the difference is how we talk about it. Of course the whole thing is interesting to us, we debate the successes and the failures. 

 

But i think the tone of questioning the existence of a movie because it doesn't sounds profitable is hurtful to read for anyone that worries about the quality of the movies we're getting. Getting big franchise movies is common, but getting big original movies is rare these days, and i really don't believe any of us that cares should agreed that a movie like this shouldn't be done because it won't make much money. I think we should hope more movies like this is done and that eventually people will watch it like they watched the franchises. 

 

The news of a failure for a movie like this definitely made me sad, but never thinking it shouldn't be made.

Edited April 23, 2022 by ThomasNicole

[CJohn]

2 minutes ago, Grebacio said:

Can anyone explain me the V thing? Been reading about it all day and don't have a clue what it is. 

 

18 minutes ago, Eric is a furry said:

Somebody found this wine mom review when Legend of Tarzan dropped. It's honestly incredible

 

https://www.emilywrites.co.nz/i-saw-tarzan-and-this-is-my-review-after-some-wines/

 

[BestPicturePlutoNash]

It's not just about numeric probability lol. A lot of studios work to appease talent, it's that simple. They like remaining in business with certain directors, stars, etc. Why they give certain talent the festival rollouts and the premieres. 

 

New Regency previously worked with Eggers on The Lighthouse. Already a relationship. They partnered with Focus on this one, a studio that makes artistic films under Universal's division and likes to keep momentum with name directors..James Gray, Todd Field, Edgar Wright, etc. They also have Downton Abbey revenue which affords them the ability and room to build their library. Both are also in talks for Eggers Nosferatu movie. They're obviously happy/content/wiser than all of us here regarding their business decisions. 

[Legion Again]

4 minutes ago, ThomasNicole said:

While i agreed with this, i think the difference is how we talk about it. Of course the whole thing is interesting to us, we debate the successes and the failures. 

 

But i think the tone of questioning the existence of a movie because it doesn't sounds profitable is hurtful to read for anyone that worries about the quality of the movies we're getting. Getting big franchise movies is common, but getting big original movies is rare these days, and i really don't believe any of us that cares should agreed that a movie like this shouldn't be done because it won't make much money. I think we should hope more movies like this is done and that eventually people will watch it like they watched the franchises. 

 

The news of a failure for a movie like this definitely made me sad, but never thinking it shouldn't be made.

I am somewhat sympathetic, but like… it’s a for profit industry, right? If something is self-funded (props to Shyamalan!), or from Kickstarter, or from a charity, then it doesn’t really matter whether it’s profitable whatsoever — it wasn’t intended to be. Most movies are intended to, though. Maybe not by the director, or the actors, or the fans, but certainly by the people spending money on them. If a movie loses a lot of money (and I am talking generally here, I don’t know the exact financials of Northman) then it probably shouldn’t have been made, and that applies equally whether it’s a small movie I don’t care about, or a small movie I loved, or a big movie I loved, or a big movie I don’t care about.

[Legion Again]

8 minutes ago, BestPicturePlutoNash said:

A lot of studios work to appease talent, it's that simple. They like remaining in business with certain directors, stars, etc. Why they give certain talent the festival rollouts and the premieres. 

Keeping talent happy is a good angle to think about, but the reason to keep talent happy is that you expect they will make enough profit down the line to make it worth it.  

[BestPicturePlutoNash]

If a movie loses a lot of money, it's completely unfair to say it did not deserve to get made. A lot of the greatest films ever made have lost money. It's a lot of luck what catches on. 

[CJohn]

Marvel's The Northman would have opened with 70M for sure. 

Edited April 23, 2022 by CJohn

[Pinacolada]

Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent's budget being $30m is kinda baffling. Bummer

[That One Girl]

i think it was a wise decision to pour a lot of money into The Northman because it looks incredible & has a great sense of scale. large budget definitely helped a lot there. i like it when movies get made at a budget level that matches their ambitions.

[CoolioD1]

2 minutes ago, CJohn said:

Marvel's The Northman would have opened with 70M for sure. 

It actually opened to like 65M but I suppose a decade of inflation puts it over that mark.

[Legion Again]

17 minutes ago, Thanos Legion said:

A 15M opening on a 50M budget would bode better for similar movies down the pipe than 15M on 70M, right?

I’ve gotta grab some food and start my shift, so I’m gonna leave this be for now, but I wanted to close by reiterating this part. I don’t want it to come across like I’m attacking small movies because I hate them or something — but it seems to me that the very people who want a lot more movie’s like Northman should be the most concerned about keeping the budgets of those movies reasonable relative to expected return. The world will give you more of things that were more profitable, ceteris paribus.

[BestPicturePlutoNash]

1 minute ago, Thanos Legion said:

Keeping talent happy is a good angle to think about, but the reason to keep talent happy is that you expect they will make enough profit down the line to make it worth it.  

Most talent (especially a director like Eggers with a rising fanbase and 3-0 in terms of critical acclaim) provide enough profit down the line and shelf life that it's worthwhile to bet on them. It's why Focus wanted to get on the Eggers train. They have enough of a safety net being a Universal division and having Downton Abbey, they can go half in on something like Northman or distribute Branagh's Belfast. It's why someone proven like QT or Nolan had every studio fighting for their last project. Same goes for the Coens--most of their most popular movies like Big Lebowski did not do well in theaters. 

[BestPicturePlutoNash]

3 minutes ago, Thanos Legion said:

I’ve gotta grab some food and start my shift, so I’m gonna leave this be for now, but I wanted to close by reiterating this part. I don’t want it to come across like I’m attacking small movies because I hate them or something — but it seems to me that the very people who want a lot more movie’s like Northman should be the most concerned about keeping the budgets of those movies reasonable relative to expected return. The world will give you more of things that were more profitable, ceteris paribus.

Yeah it would have been nice if Northman was like 40 million but it's easy to say lower the budget. If Northman had a smaller budget.. it would very likely be a different film and very likely less acclaimed. A more compromised vision that is lacking, probably no stars either. That alone would impact the perception. If it wasn't as well-received, that hurts the financial outlook. The reason you make this movie first of all is BECAUSE the reviews would be good. So you make it as good as you can. 70million for this is still cheaper than the average medieval, etc epic (Last Duel was over 100m, Revenant was over 150m, etc).

 

And again, it was a co-production, not a large sum, so it lessens a lot of the dangers and risks. 

[mikeymichael]

Man, my local suburban multiplex is JUMPING tonight. Northman, Bad Guys, Nic Cage, Dumbledore all sold out. I know it's purely anecdotal but I haven't seen this general level activity on a non-Marvel weekend since before the pandemic. 

[Grebacio]

Northman Verified score increased again and now stands at 79% with 250+ reviews.

Edited April 23, 2022 by Grebacio

[YM!]

I think you know what we want, so here’s your tribute.

[ringedmortality]

55 minutes ago, BestPicturePlutoNash said:

Both are also in talks for Eggers Nosferatu movie. They're obviously happy/content/wiser than all of us here regarding their business decisions. 

 

Eggers went on the WTF Podcast and said Nosferatu isn't happening anymore.

[CoolioD1]

9 minutes ago, ringedmortality said:

 

Eggers went on the WTF Podcast and said Nosferatu isn't happening anymore.

he saw morbius and said "well i can't compete with that".