Halloween Weekend Thread (10/28-30) | Weekend Estimates: Adam 27.7, Paradise 10, Devil 7, Smile 5, Ends 3.8

[filmlover]

3 minutes ago, WrathOfHan said:

She Said will be lucky if it makes 10M. I haven't seen it yet, but nobody wants to see a Harvey Weinstein expose when this only happened a few years ago (it was actually fairly easy to get tickets to secondary NYFF showings of it compared to Women Talking lol). Women Talking at least has a unique narrative and is being sold on its ensemble (which tbf general audience members won't care much about).

I'm excited for She Said (the book it's based on was super compelling and I'm always here for a good "investigative journalism" movie) but yeah, I'm not expecting much at the box office. In fact, I plan on seeing all 7 of November's releases (Black Panther, The Menu, She Said, Bones and All, Devotion, The Fabelmans, Strange World) in theaters, but suspect Black Panther will be the only one that breaks $100M total, leading to more hyperbolic "the tentpoles are killing movies" articles.

[WrathOfHan]

11 minutes ago, filmlover said:

I'm excited for She Said (the book it's based on was super compelling and I'm always here for a good "investigative journalism" movie) but yeah, I'm not expecting much at the box office. In fact, I plan on seeing all 7 of November's releases (Black Panther, The Menu, She Said, Bones and All, Devotion, The Fabelmans, Strange World) in theaters, but suspect Black Panther will be the only one that breaks $100M total, leading to more hyperbolic "the tentpoles are killing movies" articles.

That Strange World and Devotion tracking is bleak. Kind of crazy that The Menu is tracking higher than the latter. I want to know what Bones and All is tracking for (when you can share, of course @Shawn  )

[filmlover]

Just now, WrathOfHan said:

That Strange World and Devotion tracking is bleak. Kind of crazy that The Menu is tracking higher than the latter. I want to know what Bones and All is tracking for (when you can share, of course @Shawn  )

Devotion reminds me of Only the Brave tbh. Well-reviewed, action-centric true story drama that unfortunately utterly bombs in theaters.

[Cooper Legion]

1 hour ago, Cmasterclay said:

aka the good ones)

This is the part of your post that makes it real hard for me to be sympathetic.

 

Maybe the movies that people actually want to see are good too?

[CoolioD1]

38 minutes ago, WrathOfHan said:

Saw Banshees tonight and the PTA drop makes sense. My audience liked it but I heard several people saying it was a bit strange on the way out. It probably won't find a larger audience until it's on Hulu like Nightmare Alley did; don't think a low box office will impact its Oscar chances tho

my missus wouldn't come to see banshees with me because a couple of her friends on facebook called it "the most boring movie they've ever seen"

[CJohn]

48 minutes ago, Ericstein's Monster said:

For what it's worth, I do remember some Twitter discourse on Till and how it was another 12 Years a Slave-style "Black trauma" movie and that Emmett was being "exploited" by Hollywood. They even had to put out a whole behind the scenes video where the director said to the camera that Emmett's abuse wouldn't be shown on screen and that the Till family backed the whole thing. I definitely have a lot of disagreements on that whole discourse, but like...I guess that's an issue? Certainly not the main one of course.

 

Still think the main issue hurting the moviegoing market, as I keep saying, is on audiences and their refusal to see anything that isn't a nostalgic toy commercial or a horror movie. Like even the few exceptions to this rule we all went gonzo over like Crawdads or Lost City, while obviously still strong and commendable hits that deserve praise, would have made way more money 10 years ago. It's a sad state of current moviegoing that's only going to get worse as time goes on.

People are not refusing to watch them. These movies are being watched, just at home instead of in theaters. People have decided that these movies are not worth the time spent, the price to pay and hassle of dealing with noisy people in movie theaters. Add to that the fact that movies are getting to streamers in like 45-90 days and I can frankly understand all of this.

 

I look at the November schedule and I wonder why would I go to theaters for anything besides Black Panther which is a big screen spetacle. Why should I deal with people talking and cellphones on top of having to pay 15€ for 2 tickets plus 5€ for food and drinks to see The Menu or Devotion when I can be watching them on my couch by early January?

Edited October 31, 2022 by CJohn

[ringedmortality]

10 minutes ago, filmlover said:

Devotion reminds me of Only the Brave tbh. Well-reviewed, action-centric true story drama that unfortunately utterly bombs in theaters.

 

Devotion has more mixed reviews than Only the brave though.

[Eric Prime]

5 minutes ago, CJohn said:

People are not refusing to watch them. These movies are being watched, just at home instead of in theaters. People have decided that these movies are not worth the time spent, the price to pay and hassle of dealing with noisy people in movie theaters. Add to that the fact that movies are getting to streamers in like 45-90 days and I can frankly understand all of this.

 

I look at the November schedule and I wonder why would I go to theaters for anything besides Black Panther which is a big screen spetacle. Why should I deal with people talking and cellphones on top of having to pay 15€ for 2 tickets plus 5€ for food and drinks to see The Menu or Devotion when I can be watching them on my couch by early January?

Are they though? Almost all of Netflix's biggest movies are cheesy big-budget schlockfests like Red Notice or Bird Box plus corny teen romances like Purple Hearts (though there is still Irishman and to an extent Don't Look Up, so I guess exceptions to the rule?). And the biggest movies on Nielsen are either animated kids movies that exist to sell toys, blockbusters that were previously in theaters like Uncharted, or similar action cheese like Gray Man or Tomorrow War. It's not just a theatrical issue IMO.

[CJohn]

19 minutes ago, Ericstein's Monster said:

Are they though? Almost all of Netflix's biggest movies are cheesy big-budget schlockfests like Red Notice or Bird Box plus corny teen romances like Purple Hearts (though there is still Irishman and to an extent Don't Look Up, so I guess exceptions to the rule?). And the biggest movies on Nielsen are either animated kids movies that exist to sell toys, blockbusters that were previously in theaters like Uncharted, or similar action cheese like Gray Man or Tomorrow War. It's not just a theatrical issue IMO.

The Good Nurse is literally the number one movie in the world on Netflix right now. It would do like 20-30M WW if it opened theatrically. Different types of movies are being watched on streaming services. Of course big budget stuff is bigger there as well, but there is room for other stuff unlike in theaters.

Edited October 31, 2022 by CJohn

[M37]

1 hour ago, datpepper said:

All of this is completely anecdotal, so take this for what you will, but a lot of older family members and friends of mine post-COVID have made it clear that they no longer wish to see "dark" or "depressing" movies at all anymore, no matter how good the reviews are. I don't think it helps that these awards contenders always seem to be the most dour and bleak things you can find in theaters, and sure enough all the ones I've been to in the past couple years (which is nearly all of them!) have played to an otherwise mostly-deserted auditorium. I've talked to plenty of people who are absolutely certain that Till is a great movie, for instance, but not a single one of those individuals actually wants to see it or any of the other award-hopefuls this year, and these were people who normally would've gone to see all of them in time for the Oscars ceremony. They made time for CODA, but didn't even see the otherwise-hopeful Belfast because even that had a slightly depressing subject matter.

 

But there's also streaming, shorter windows, COVID concerns, lower product output, etc., which I don't doubt are also taking a toll on these kinds of movies in particular. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

You know, I’ve repeatedly noted the weakness especially in the adult drama market, but pointed towards audience behavior changes and rise of steaming content as the cause … but the tone factor may very well be playing a large roll
 

I find this being a hurdle for myself, where I really have to be talked/pushed into watching the deeper and darker films. Right now, I’m probably out on Tar, we’ll see and Banshies, and Till probably gets added to the streaming queue … and stays there for months.  All of these are titles that in years past I would have seen in theaters for sure. Yet I’ve already rewatched Free Guy [a lot of times].

 

Darker, deeper, dramatic tone films can be still be escapism entertainment, but probably less so when reality is already kinda grim 

[grim22]

1 minute ago, M37 said:

You know, I’ve repeatedly noted the weakness especially in the adult drama market, but pointed towards audience behavior changes and rise of steaming content as the cause … but the tone factor may very well be playing a large roll
 

I find this being a hurdle for myself, where I really have to be talked/pushed into watching the deeper and darker films. Right now, I’m probably out on Tar, we’ll see and Banshies, and Till probably gets added to the streaming queue … and stays there for months.  All of these are titles that in years past I would have seen in theaters for sure. Yet I’ve already rewatched Free Guy [a lot of times].

 

Darker, deeper, dramatic tone films can be still be escapism entertainment, but probably less so when reality is already kinda grim 

 

I agree, and my username makes it clear I'm well versed in grimness.

 

There's way too many movies I pass on watching just based on the description. And downer ending movies have just been cut from rotation altogether. 

 

With bad and downer news everyday, it's good to have escapism rather than actual reflections of current events. 

[Eric Prime]

Honestly I'm the opposite. A good dark and sad movie is like catharsis. Really gives me a chance to express my emotions on any issues I'm facing from the real world. Distracting it with a goofy comedy or upbeat film doesn't distract me at all, because I'm still thinking about how sad and frustrated I am and end up not getting anything out of the Bob's Burgers episodes I typically laugh at.

 

Obviously not trying to discredit the other side, because they deserve entertainment that makes them feel good, but I really hope the current world affairs doesn't mean "dark" or "depressing" movies will go away forever. Because honestly, trying to force optimism in everything would have some real bad repercussions.

[filmlover]

Cinema is wide and allows for all types of storytelling. I wouldn't expect dark dramas to make much money in theaters though, given how bleak the current reality is. The "why pay $12 for what I can see in the news for free" factor, if you want to call it that.

[Cooper Legion]

I am upbeat about the actual world and mostly only watch upbeat movies, so that’s 3/4 quadrants accounted for. Now we just gotta find the guy who thinks real life is great and prefers downers.

Edited October 31, 2022 by Legion By Night

[Johnny Tran]

11 hours ago, Coneilg93 said:

I think the problem is that 200M budget +marketing. Without China, I don't think it will break even.  WB was crazy to put that much money into this movie.

 

So what though that was the old guard... 

[misterpepp]

11 minutes ago, Ericstein's Monster said:

Obviously not trying to discredit the other side, because they deserve entertainment that makes them feel good, but I really hope the current world affairs doesn't mean "dark" or "depressing" movies will go away forever. Because honestly, trying to force optimism in everything would have some real bad repercussions.

 

Oh, I hope me bringing this point up didn't come off as wanting these movies to not get made, as I'm a fan of all sorts of material, both optimistic and pessimistic (hence why I still go out to them)! I do feel like it's something that a significant amount of people are feeling right now though. I don't really know what the solution is, but I hope it's not to stop producing them outright.

Edited October 31, 2022 by datpepper

[Cooper Legion]

The solution is for people to log off social media and go do fun stuff with their friends more so they perceive the world as a better place and don’t need manufactured escapism 👀🙃😤

[excel1]

 

 

DatPepper is definitely on to something. In particular with the subject of race. Serious convo incoming:

 

With regards to Till, I think there is a very, very large chunk of the population that is tired of all of the "dramatic racism!" movies that seem to have come out over the last 10 years or so. 

 

The Help, 13 Years A Slave, Selma, The Butler, Hidden Figures, Green Book, Harriet, Loving, Fences, Just Mercy, Beale Street, Django,  etc etc. Even Black Panther touched directly on some of these themes. The list goes on and on. Emancipation is going to be just the latest one.

 

This subject became VERY trendy and feels pretty stale to the average movie goer at this point. I felt Selma had the most commercial potential of all since MLK is widely worshipped as a god and that film was of exceptionally high quality, but even that just did "OK". I think there is a large amount of people who hear about "Till" and think to themselves something along the lines of "Ugh, yeah, that was an absolutely horrible thing. I feel sick thinking about it, just like I felt sick watching some of those other films, and then felt even more sick watching the news some times and seeing that this is STILL somehow a problem. Yeah, I definitely don't want or need to experience that movie."

Edited October 31, 2022 by excel1

[excel1]

2 minutes ago, Legion By Night said:

The solution is for people to log off social media or internet web forums and go do fun stuff with their friends more so they perceive the world as a better place and don’t need manufactured escapism 👀🙃😤

FIFY  

[filmlover]

2 minutes ago, Legion By Night said:

The solution is for people to log off social media and go do fun stuff with their friends more so they perceive the world as a better place and don’t need manufactured escapism 👀🙃😤

But what about the folks who watch both the "manufactured escapism" and the "serious stuff" in equal measure?