Weekend #s Hobbit 84.7 ROG 7.4 Linc 7.2 Sky 7.0 Pi 5.4 BD2 5.2 pg 90

[cookie]

Midnights aren't everything. The Avengers "only" made 18 million midnights yet still took the OW record and ran with it. So far TH1 seems to be within expectations.

[Poseidon]

Yes I'm aware but my point is what makes you think LOTR would have been one of the huge midnight franchises today? Oh yeah it could break the mid records back in the day when there was little midnight competition, but why would it have been a midnight record breaker today? It's midnight admissions certainly don't indicate that,

How would it not be, when ROTK beat Star Wars Ep 1, Ep. 2 and Spider Man back then?

[fishstick]

This TASM all over again. Fanboys post Haters Gonna Hate gifs, swear that their friends who didn`t know anything about LOTR,etc loved TH and didn`t think it was boring at all and so want to see it 100 times so GA buzz is through the roof (although midnight, you know, doesn`t exactly support that but whatever), averige midnight and OS numbers are called amazing and you just wait for holidays if you don`t think this is a proof that the fandom not only remained but grew. OTOH, anti-fanboys, well, you know.

[Alpha]

Midnights aren't everything. The Avengers "only" made 18 million midnights yet still took the OW record and ran with it. So far TH1 seems to be within expectations.

Exactly. The Hobbit has the advantage of college kids who won't rush out to see it because of exams. So yeah, big opening. And the possible legs seem promising

[Alpha]

This TASM all over again. Fanboys post Haters Gonna Hate gifs, swear that their friends who didn`t know anything about LOTR,etc loved TH and didn`t think it was boring at all and so want to see it 100 times so GA buzz is through the roof (although midnight, you know, doesn`t exactly support that but whatever), averige midnight and OS numbers are called amazing and you just wait for holidays if you don`t think this is a proof that the fandom not only remained but grew. OTOH, anti-fanboys, well, you know.

Average fishnets post

[John Marston]

How many of the 40+ year old Tolkien fans will rush out to see this at midnight?

[fishstick]

How many of the 40+ year old Tolkien fans will rush out to see this at midnight?

I`m sorry but what? What happened to LOTR movie fandom expending so much so that TH was going to beat TA? Why are 40+ years old Tolkien fans even in conversation? Edited December 14, 2012 by fishnets

[Alpha]

How many of the 40+ year old Tolkien fans will rush out to see this at midnight?

Not many . So that's why the midnight opening was good. On par with ROTK ticket sales.

[Noctis]

It's fine, but I wouldn't be happy about the number. It did what RoTK did nine years ago...in a box office climate that is VASTLY more front-loaded.

[fishstick]

Average fishnets post

I`m sorry but who are you? I don`t recall ever seeing you on BOF before. I see that you made about 1000 messages none of them that I remember and I bet they are all recent TH-related.

[cookie]

What happened to LOTR movie fandom expending so much so that TH was going to beat TA?

I refuse to believe that anyone in the right mind expected that much.

[Cochofles]

It's fine, but I wouldn't be happy about the number. It did what RoTK did nine years ago...in a box office climate that is VASTLY more front-loaded.

It is a meh number.

I thought that after all these years, a gazillion DVDs and books sold, and the fandom allegedly expanding, this prequel/unofficial sequel to the uber-popular, uber-loved LOTR trilogy would open with a much bigger midnight number, especially with fantasy/Tolkien fans being exactly the type of fans (not unlike Twilight fans) that live for these midnight showings and for "being first in line."

And let's not delude ourselves: this is not going to flop, but the mainstream audiences excitement and buzz that we all saw during the first three films is not there. This is strictly a fandom thing. Granted, it's a huge group of fans, but Avatar, Titanic, The Avengers, and TDK are all safe.

Edited December 14, 2012 by cochofles

[Elessar]

That you even bring up Avatar and Titanic... as if it was ever not safe...Avengers as well if we are talking strictly domestic.

Edited December 14, 2012 by Elessar

[Dementeleus]

but Avatar, Titanic, The Avengers, and TDK are all safe.

I think everyone except the most insane of the insane assumed this, even months (if not years) ago.

[Noctis]

If there is a God (je suis atheist, bitch) then TH1 will finish with $290m.

[Sims]

100M weekend is dead.

[cookie]

If there is a God (je suis atheist, bitch) then TH1 will finish with $290m.

Is Potter in any way related to that number?

[The Futurist]

The Hobbit is NOT The Lord of the Rings.Never have, never will.Despite what PJ tried to do wit he movie to make you believe so.Why can't people acknowledge this very simple fact ???There never was passion for The Hobbit book, it was a child book the author himself was not even fond of.The Lord of The Rings trilogy books are like the Holy grail of Fantasy litterature for the past 60 years.

[Cochofles]

For a mega franchise with what was said to be a massive fanbase, I don't see how $13m can be seen as anything but disappointing. I mean, even Sith 7 1/2 years ago did 17m.The review results are as I expected, down to 65% and a bad rating. This is Ang Lee Hulk ugly. But the Hobbit should be critic proof, and the bad reviews were held back for as long as possibble, so what are the reasons for the weaker midnights?I'm open to any ideas for this discussipn, because the only thing that makes any sense is that time has not been kind to LOTR and many lost interest in this world. Also, perhaps repeat viewings over the past decade exposed the flaws and excesses in the LOTR trilogy, and people don't view more of that as MUST SEE and are content to just wait until it comes out on video so they can have the remote in hand ready to skip through the boring parts.Thoughts?

Interesting post.

[Sims]

At least The Phantom Menace was a mega-blockbuster.