THE UNMARVELOUS WEEKEND THREAD | FEATURING MELTDOWNS, ARMCHAIR ANALYSIS, AND SEXISM

[Zakiyyah6]

2 minutes ago, grim22 said:

I'm a bit confused why they didn't move up one week. Would have given them Veterans day on weekend 2 and given them 2 weeks of IMAX and PLF. Now it wastes the Veterans day boost and loses the highest grossing screens within a week. The drop next weekend won't be pretty.

The drop in weekend 2 would never be pretty because it has a B Cinemascore. 

[YM!]

27 minutes ago, grim22 said:

The Marvels didn't bomb because of feminism backlash any more than Captain Marvel did well because of feminism support. They are both products of their time in the franchise despite being just 4 years apart.

 

Captain Marvel was released between Infinity War and just before Endgame and on International Women's day. It was released in a franchise which was about to hit it's absolute peak just 6 weeks later. At that moment, Marvel could literally release Howard the Duck and get it to 250M domestic. And on the second weekend, Marvel released a trailer for Endgame which focused a lot on Captain Marvel and then it coasted on the Endgame fumes for a while to ensure great late legs.

 

The Marvels meanwhile is releasing when people have been treated to substandard MCU movies, depends on people having watched the least viewed Disney+ show and remembering a character who barely featured in a different Disney+ show, and a third show which was the worst reviewed and received in the MCU of all time and isn't even named Captain Marvel 2. The franchise is facing a lot of suspicion on the part of the general audience after 5 movies of the last 7 having a B+ or lower Cinemascore. 

 

There's a feeling of no one knowing where anything is going in the MCU. Previously, the post credits stuff would be resolved within 2 movies at most or at least be continued within that time. Now we have had Captain Marvel, The Hulk and Wong show up in the post credits of Shang Chi without any follow-up in their next appearances (no one even knows when Shang Chi will show up next), Charlize Theron randomly show up at the end of Doctor Strange 2, Harry Styles show up at the end of Eternals, that random dead thing in the middle of the ocean in Eternals, not even getting into the Jonathan Majors of it all. The franchise is currently rudderless and directionless except for the fans saying "It's the multiverse?".

 

All of this has culminated in the rejection of this movie. Any movie released at this moment would have had the same result, it's not a Marvels specific thing, just that this is when the audience decided they had enough.

In fairness there’s still unresolved Infinity Saga post credits (Mordo’s no more sorcerers, Scorpion, etc) and movies still had a longer gap for them to be solved but it was two to three movies and just that, and had a core group of members to focus on.
 

The MCU is in its DCEU era. Eternals was the Man of Steel, MoM was the BvS and Quantumania was the JL. Deadpool 3 might be the Aquaman as it should be a big hit and the Avengers movies, X-Men and F4 should be hits which is something the DCEU lacked post Aquaman but honestly think they can’t correct the ship the way things are right now. It just feels for the GA at the enough is enough point.

 

Oversaturation is what’s deeply hurt the MCU. Maybe they can turn it around Phase 5-6, but it just feels like the GA has had enough. Superhero films are basically what happened to the animation film industry after the CGI boom, unless you offer something special, have a big brand and/or are great, you likely won’t be a success due to oversaturation. As for Cinematic universes, unsure but I’m not entirely sure they’re dead either as I think Gunn’s DCU with a great Superman could bring life into the genre.

 

Think Feige already has a plan Either Feige does a hard reboot after Secret Wars which will be treated as a Marvel finale and takes an actual break a few years after SW maybe doing some shows or an animated movie or two in the meantime, go the soft reboot path and cut what’s not working right now and roughing it out until SW which is something I suspect he’s doing now with a small break after SW but only doing 2-3 projects a year post SW or just go gung-ho on just doing series out of a few franchises but they’re completely seperate.

Edited November 11, 2023 by YM!

[Godzilla]

7 hours ago, The GOAT said:

Tbh. Since summer, What movies haven’t flopped that aren’t Barbienheimer or Horror Flicks? Some perspective

Meg 2

[filmlover]

It really does seem like people are just not very enthusiastic about going to the movies anymore unless something that comes off as an actual event of some kind comes along (at least for opening weekend). Which seems like a sign of trouble for the movie studios this holiday season, given the apparent lack of a movie that's looking to unite everyone in excitement.

[Joyous Legion]

5 minutes ago, filmlover said:

It really does seem like people are just not very enthusiastic about going to the movies anymore unless something that comes off as an actual event of some kind comes along (at least for opening weekend). Which seems like a sign of trouble for the movie studios this holiday season, given the apparent lack of a movie that's looking to unite everyone in excitement.

The collapse of the MCU is going to put the industry in a very bleak place unless we can keep having random surprise hits like TGM Mario and Barbenheimer, which is a model I’m a little skeptical of. Interesting to see how the next few years shake out 

[Squire]

6 minutes ago, filmlover said:

It really does seem like people are just not very enthusiastic about going to the movies anymore unless something that comes off as an actual event of some kind comes along (at least for opening weekend). Which seems like a sign of trouble for the movie studios this holiday season, given the apparent lack of a movie that's looking to unite everyone in excitement.

Maybe Wonka? It seems like it could be an event for families. 

[Issac Newton]

 

 

[Jonwo]

I can't see no MCU movies being released at all after Secret Wars. Less movies maybe but not no movies at all. 

 

 

[Gavin Feng]

 

 

[filmlover]

2 minutes ago, Squire said:

Maybe Wonka? It seems like it could be an event for families. 

I'll see it, but...I dunno. It's kind of giving Dolittle vibes tbh.

 

Meanwhile, Universal is already plugging the hell out of Migration (more than they are the Trolls movie coming out next week tbh). Imagine if they swoop in with the surprise hit when no one's looking once again.

[Jonwo]

1 minute ago, filmlover said:

I'll see it, but...I dunno. It's kind of giving Dolittle vibes tbh.

 

Meanwhile, Universal is already plugging the hell out of Migration (more than they are the Trolls movie coming out next week tbh). Imagine if they swoop in with the surprise hit when no one's looking once again.

WB seems to all in in the home market of the UK for Wonka. It's being released a week earlier which could help the domestic run since reviews will come out earlier.

 

I get the sense that they're confident in Wonka and with Timmy back on promotion duty, it could do well.

 

The Color Purple I could see being strong domestically. 

[YM!]

2 minutes ago, Jonwo said:

I can't see no MCU movies being released at all after Secret Wars. Less movies maybe but not no movies at all. 

 

 

I mean there’s been no Star Wars movies since Skywalker.

 

Not saying no movies at all but Secret Wars acts a finale for Marvel history in 2027 (more likely 2028 tbh), they take a gap year and maybe release a few shows in the past time and an animated movie coproduction with either Disney or Pixar, comeback 2029 with a hard reboot starting with X-Men as the face.

 

If they manage to save face this phase and next (granted think the MCU will have a far lower ceiling ie numbers will look more like Phase 1 barring Avengers), they’ll likely continue with soft reboot but focus on a few main faces and try to rebuild.

 

Think it’s clear if they want event status again, they can really only do 2-3 projects a year. It’s best to truck along and trim any unnecessary fat they can until Avengers.

 

 

[YM!]

Think Wish can still do well. Presales seem healthily above Elemental (though ATP and discount Tuesday needs adjusting to figure out how well), the marketing campaign did a strong 180 and reactions seem to be pretty good. If reviews match reaction, I think a 60/200 (5 day/DOM) is possible.

 

Wonka seems likely to be a strong 180-250m hit and Migration can still breakout.

Edited November 11, 2023 by YM!

[grim22]

1 minute ago, YM! said:

 

Think it’s clear if they want event status again, they can really only do 2-3 projects a year. It’s best to truck along and trim any unnecessary fat they can until Avengers.

 

 

Meanwhile, 2025 is looking like there will be 5 MCU movies. Cap 4, Fantastic 4, Thunderbolts, Blade and Spiderman 4. Pretty much the opposite of reducing the output.

[Issac Newton]

 

 

[Scubasteve716]

9 minutes ago, filmlover said:

I'll see it, but...I dunno. It's kind of giving Dolittle vibes tbh.

 

Meanwhile, Universal is already plugging the hell out of Migration (more than they are the Trolls movie coming out next week tbh). Imagine if they swoop in with the surprise hit when no one's looking once again.

Dolittle’s director is no where near King, was dumped in January, and still managed 250 mil. I’m expecting pretty good numbers for Wonka

[Issac Newton]

 

 

[PlatnumRoyce]

2 minutes ago, Scubasteve716 said:

Dolittle’s director is no where near King, was dumped in January, and still managed 250 mil. I’m expecting pretty good numbers for Wonka

Yeah, I have a rant in me about how Doolittle is underrated and still sort of showcased how RDJ had some drawing power on his own. 

[Jonwo]

5 minutes ago, YM! said:

I mean there’s been no Star Wars movies since Skywalker.

 

Not saying no movies at all but Secret Wars acts a finale for Marvel history in 2027 (more likely 2028 tbh), they take a gap year and maybe release a few shows in the past time and an animated movie coproduction with either Disney or Pixar, comeback 2029 with a hard reboot starting with X-Men as the face.

 

If they manage to save face this phase and next (granted think the MCU will have a far lower ceiling ie numbers will look more like Phase 1 barring Avengers), they’ll likely continue with soft reboot but focus on a few main faces and try to rebuild.

 

Think it’s clear if they want event status again, they can really only do 2-3 projects a year. It’s best to truck along and trim any unnecessary fat they can until Avengers.

 

 

Star Wars is very different to Marvel. It's not a like for like comparison. 

 

 

 

[Hatebox]

18 minutes ago, Legion Again said:

The collapse of the MCU is going to put the industry in a very bleak place unless we can keep having random surprise hits like TGM Mario and Barbenheimer, which is a model I’m a little skeptical of. Interesting to see how the next few years shake out 

If the industry is that dependent on the mcu it’s already in a bleak place. 
 

scorcese was right: audiences have been conditioned to see films as content, and there’s a price to be paid for that when they also get content at home.