The Universal Thread | Dreamworks Animation seeing layoffs, set to outsource their work

[iceroll]

I haven't been on here long, but I was wondering if someone could give the the lowdown on why some members on here root and have allegiance to Universal. Not knocking it at all, just hoping someone could explain it as without a backstory, seems kind of strange.

Thanks for any feedback.

They were struggling a lot a few years ago and managed to turn that around tremendously. Before FF7, they didn't have a single movie that opened to more than 100m, now they have 3 this year including the OW record holder.

[Planodisney]

I get that, but what I'm asking about are the many members on here who root against movies that aren't Universal, inspite of quality, and root for Universal movies, inspite of quality. I'm just curious about the backstory. Is it a love of Universal movies from youth, is it just anti-other studios?

[samsha22]

I haven't been on here long, but I was wondering if someone could give the the lowdown on why some members on here root and have allegiance to Universal. Not knocking it at all, just hoping someone could explain it as without a backstory, seems kind of strange.

Thanks for any feedback.

What is your username again?

[passerby]

I'm still marveling over the Jurassic World BO. Incredible! 

[sgrave]

I have to admit that I have an "allegiance" (way of speaking) to Universal.

It started in 1998 after that horrible year they had  (http://www.boxofficeguru.com/studio98_uni.htm)

 

That year, they ended with total gross of less than 400M$ (with 2 costly flops, Meet Joe Black and Babe 2)

 

After that, I was simply happy for them when they have had success.  It started in 1999 with a great summer (Mummy 1, Notting Hill, American Pie) 2000 (Erin Brockovich, Meet The Parents, the Grinch)...  And it never really stopped.

 

2015 is some kind of a change for them cause they capitalize on franchises, but I think they made their mark by having success with movies that are not part of big franchises

 

I'm not an "anti-other studios" because of that.  The only one I'm happy when they flop is Disney... only because I'm tired of SuperHeroe movies and want to see something new.

 

So, because of that, seeing Jurassic World having much better sucess than Avengers 2 was a great, great new  

[Mattrek]

Congrats to Universal! Also anyone notice of the top 10 fastest to 1 billion that Paramount has 5 of the top 10? Now they're a mess. I wonder what made everything go so horribly wrong for them.

[TServo2049]

Hmm, maybe it was losing Marvel to Disney in 2012, and then DreamWorks Animation to Fox in 2013, and not having enough to replace them?

If you add The Avengers to Paramount's total for 2012 and subtract it from Disney's, Paramount would have been in third place. And for 2013x you take the Marvel stuff away from Disney and the DWA stuff away from Fox, and add them to Paramount, they would have come out in first place.

Paramount was in a slump from 2002-06, they got out of it largely through their acquisition of DreamWorks SKG (live-action), their distribution deal with DWA, and then the Marvel distribution deal. When they lost those, their fortunes reversed.

Edited August 6, 2015 by TServo2049

[TServo2049]

As for why Universal has people rooting for it, here's my theory. (Warning, this is long and full of tangents.)

Out of the big studios, Universal is one of only three studios (along with Disney and WB) that - during my 27-year lifetime - that has truly felt like a unified "studio", an entertainment "brand" and not just a company that happens to make movies. Much like how the old studios were built on their stables of stars, Disney/WB/Universal were the ones who thrived on franchises and "name" properties (including a few filmmakers and name stars who seemed mostly associated with one studio). As a kid, Disney was Disney, with all their classic and new animated properties and their theme parks and oodles of merchandise. WB was Batman, Bugs Bunny, Lethal Weapon, Clint Eastwood, Steven Seagal.

And Universal had the oeuvre of Spielberg and his Amblin fiefdom on the lot - Jaws, E.T., Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, An American Tail - along with Ron Howard stuff like Backdraft and Apollo 13, the crapload of merchandise from the Monsters franchise (with Dracula, Frankenstein and co. being instantly associated with their Universal movie depictions) and King Kong, and the way they seemed to venerate the Universal stars (or Paramount stars whose films were now owned by Universal) and personalities of decades past - Abbott and Costello, Jimmy Stewart, W.C. Fields, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, the Marx Brothers, and the master of suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock. And this was all tied together with Universal Studios, with the real working studio you could actually see up close, and all the theme park trappings built up around it. Universal was the live-action Disney, they were the working movie studio that was right in front of you, with a history of stars and a modern collection of franchises.

And to this day, those three seem the only ones with a solid brand and identity. The other studios never really got there; they had disparate collections of franchises and faces you could associate with them - Columbia/Sony had Ghostbusters and Men in Black and Spider-Man, Fox had Star Wars (by way of Lucas) and Alien and Die Hard, Paramount had Star Trek and Mission: Impossible and Indiana Jones (also by way of Lucas) - but they just seemed to be companies who made movies. MGM had their legendary Hollywood legacy (even if they had to lease it from Ted Turner), but other than Bond, they had nothing new of any worth. (And after the late 90s, when WB bought Turner, MGM didn't even have the rights to distribute their own back catalog.)

I'm sorry if I'm rambling, but the point is that I think Universal is one of the Hollywood studios that is still a true brand, like a sports team or a car. You don't see people rooting for Paramount or Sony in the same way as Universal, or Disney, or WB.

Edited August 6, 2015 by TServo2049

[department store basement]

So, how much is Universal's theme park tourism going to increase?

[zackzack]

I'm still marveling over the Jurassic World BO. Incredible! 

 

Even the most optimistic people at Universal will be baffled by JW's run at the  box office. 

Few people here predicted it earning more than $300M. I thought it would do LW/War of the World numbers:

$220M - $230M. My most optimistic prediction put it at $350M which I myself said is kinda

unlikely. Baffling, inexplicable

Edited August 7, 2015 by zackzack

[Jonwo]

Universal has their big franchises but they still make and distribute films that don't necessarily have US appeal with companies like Working Title, something like Johnny English despite being a dud in the U.S. was successful just from OS and the Richard Curtis films as well.

[Robot308]

Honestly I am mostly fan of Universal Pictures because of their own diverse slate of films and big franchises.....what i'm trying to say is the 2010s decade will be a game changer for studio and its corporate parent Comcast. Just like it was a game changer in the 90s for Disney & Sony Pictures & in the 2000s for Warner Bros...the same will be said about Universal and 20th Century Fox in the 2010s

Edited August 7, 2015 by Red-Ops 9

[Boxx93]

I get that, but what I'm asking about are the many members on here who root against movies that aren't Universal, inspite of quality, and root for Universal movies, inspite of quality. I'm just curious about the backstory. Is it a love of Universal movies from youth, is it just anti-other studios?

 

No one here rooted for 50 Shades of Grey and that is a Universal Pictures movie.

[kowhite]

No one here rooted for 50 Shades of Grey and that is a Universal Pictures movie.

The notion that this forum has Universal fanboys is...puzzling to me.

Maybe their slate was just impressive this year?

Let's not pretend anyone was praising them last year.

[grim22]

The notion that this forum has Universal fanboys is...puzzling to me.

Maybe their slate was just impressive this year?

Let's not pretend anyone was praising them last year.

True, Furious 7 has its set of fans, Jurassic World has its own fans, same thing with Minions and Pitch a Perfect. They all just converged to release this year and all by Universal.

[kowhite]

True, Furious 7 has its set of fans, Jurassic World has its own fans, same thing with Minions and Pitch a Perfect. They all just converged to release this year and all by Universal.

Universal has an amazing year.

Not because they're Universal, but because they had the movies.

Let's be real, nobody gives a shit about the studio making the movies. Well, unless you're Disney/Marvel/Lucasfilm.

And even then...John Carter? Strange Magic?

Production entities don't sell movies.

[The Futurist]

Universal has an amazing year.

Not because they're Universal, but because they had the movies.

Let's be real, nobody gives a shit about the studio making the movies. Well, unless you're Disney/Marvel/Lucasfilm.

And even then...John Carter? Strange Magic?

Production entities don't sell movies.

 

Some people refer to Jurassic World as Jurassic Park and believe it s a Steven Spielberg joint.

They couldn't give two fucks about the studio logo at the beginning of a movie they see.

Edited August 7, 2015 by The Futurist

[zackzack]

Honestly I am mostly fan of Universal Pictures because of their own diverse slate of films and big franchises.....what i'm trying to say is the 2010s decade will be a game changer for studio and its corporate parent Comcast. Just like it was a game changer in the 90s for Disney & Sony Pictures & in the 2000s for Warner Bros...the same will be said about Universal and 20th Century Fox in the 2010s

 

Look at their ambitious 2012 slate:

 

Safe House, Contraband, Lorax started the year well for Universal but summer is another matter:

 

Battleship, an unsuccessful attempt to do Transformers lite (actually not bad if you see it on BluRay)

Snow White, a so-so attempt to do fantasy genre (kinda like it)

Bourne Legacy, rather uninspired stuff, ends with the damsel-in-distress kicking the villain (what are they thinking?)

[Robot308]

Look at their ambitious 2012 slate:

 

Safe House, Contraband, Lorax started the year well for Universal but summer is another matter:

 

Battleship, an unsuccessful attempt to do Transformers lite (actually not bad if you see it on BluRay)

Snow White, a so-so attempt to do fantasy genre (kinda like it)

Bourne Legacy, rather uninspired stuff, ends with the damsel-in-distress kicking the villain (what are they thinking?)

And then There was Ted.

[kayumanggi]

Congrats to Universal! Also anyone notice of the top 10 fastest to 1 billion that Paramount has 5 of the top 10? Now they're a mess. I wonder what made everything go so horribly wrong for them.

 

No more Marvel. No more Dreamworks.