Box Office Thread

I only know it from the fact it apparently uses footage from the actual Beirut explosion for its LA explosion. Which uh is a bit weird....

I actually think Chan is rather stiff as an actress so maybe that's just the niche she works best in. (I also think the same of JDW, so I am personally not really rushing to see this one...)

I have seen quite a bit of marketing for it but I live not too far from NYC so I am probably not representative of the average moviegoer.

Edited by Synchronicity on Sep 19th 2023 at 3:07:13 AM

I think the deciding factor is gonna be how much of middle America sees ads for this on TV then. Word of mouth so far is good though. That can only help.

Really, I am hoping that Disney gives this the same treatment they did Elemental - let it run a good while and build up buzz. But I’m an optimist.

I've personally seen plenty of ads for the movie on TV... then again, I use Hulu for TV, which is majority owned by Disney/20th Century, so I don't know how much it's being pushed elsewhere.

The movie looks good from what I saw. That said, yeah. Since Tony Gilroy is considered the main reason why Rogue One and Andor are each as beloved as they both are, the former at least will probably do no favors for Gareth Edwards here.

I also don't know if the layman knows who Edwards and Gilroy are, though =)

More people probably know Tony Gilroy and those who do revere him. Gareth Edwards is probably a name I think less people know too. Anybody who does him doesn't hate him, but it's clear that he's not someone who's wowed a lot of people though.

Yeah uh maybe a few years and sucusses from now will make then James Cameron and Christopher Nolan where people will go to their films on name alone. But that ain't now.

While people want more original things that aren't either sequels; remakes or adaptations of things, a recognizable brand sells. A franchise name draws people in. A lot more is required to engage people in something not relying on any of those things nowadays and it's a lot harder than it used to be.

The movie's subtle even though it's upfront, while also not being totally close-minded. You look at Charlie's Angels 2019–which I liked—and that movie's not subtle at all. The feminist ideas there smack you over the head so hard that they could give you a concussion—and they're alienating in presenting something that while in many cases is probably a hard truth, is a lot less palatable as is.

Edited by futuremoviewriter on Sep 19th 2023 at 2:21:14 AM

This whole thing reminds me a bit of last month when there was this conversation about how TMNT Mutant Mayhem was gonna do.

Well, that's a bit different, considering it's about one of the biggest long-lasting brands in pop culture, whereas The Creator is a completely new thing.

Also it cost $10 mil less.

Is it normal these days for movies to suddenly go to streaming like a few months after its theatrical release? I remembered when movies were coming out in theaters before the pandemic, they would stay in theaters for like 4 to 5 months, allowing more time for the movies to make some money back.

Sometimes depends on the studio.

It’s weird but I think it has to do with how well a movie does at the box office. The worse a movie does, the sooner it’s on streaming.

Elemental bucked that trend and did well. I’m hoping Disney keeps it in mind with the Creator.

X3: As implied, various studios have negotiated for shorter theater to early premium digital home releases since the lockdown period, to avoid the complications caused from 2020 releases. Physical home releases still take a while, but some studios like Universal have a new rule to the effect of: "films with an opening worldwide weekend debut under $50 million, Universal would put the film on digital store markets at a premium price, after 17 days in theaters."

Universal has specifically noted that this has been a pretty lucrative idea for a while.

As noted in the last post about Dan Murrell's recent video, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is the rare post-COVID animated film to stay in theaters for almost 6 months straight. (From Spring through the whole summer). The film had released on digital during that time, but it still had longevity.

Edited by XMenMutant22 on Sep 19th 2023 at 10:23:09 AM

So according to this Forbes article here, the budget for the Marvels is actually like $219 to $270 Million. It will need to make $440 Mill to break even.

I suppose it’s POSSIBLE, if Disney can end the strikes and get the press tour going, plus the film gets better reviews than most of Marvel’s recent stuff.

Edited by BigBadShadow25 on Sep 20th 2023 at 1:52:12 PM

If it is on the MOM / Guardians 3 level it will make its budget back. Marvel somehow avoided the ballooning budget traps the other studios fell straight into. Seriously, who is in charge of the Budget of the Flash and MI 7?

Remember, part of that reason is the pandemic. Hopefully the same goodwill will apply to Deadpool 3 with its delays.

If the strikes continue I think things will get worse because Disney can't help reshooting and adding to their budgets.

This week's Charts with Dan looks at the "second worst [domestic] weekend of the year," with the debut of A Haunting in Venice (which ended up in second place to The Nun II) and Nicolas Cage's The Retirement Plan. The effects of the Strikes seem to be hurting the momentum of some film releases for the filmgoing audiences, as Dan theorized prior. Lastly, Expend4bles is getting an early international take at the box office.

• 0:47: Weekend Top 10
  • A Haunting in Venice opens "soft", against a $60 million budget, and technically ahead of director Kenneth Branagh's previous release in his Hercule Poirot series. However, Dan thinks this is a possible financial disappointment for 20th Century Studios (by extension, Disney). (1:00)
  • TMNT: Mutant Mayhem has the best hold in the Top 10 on its seventh weekend; Barbie has the best hold in the Top 5 in its ninth week. (2:48)

• 4:00: Road to Recovery Domestic Box Office Chart
  • This past weekend has dropped to around the second weekend of Shang-Chi, when theaters were still reopening. Dan figures this is one of the effects of the Writers' and SAG-AFTA strikes, as Zendaya's upcoming and buzzy Challengers (2024) was supposed to drop this past weekend, but got delayed. Likewise, other films Dune Part II and Kraven the Hunter were supposed to come out this Fall season. (4:30)

• 5:10: Weekend International Box Office
  • 5:47: Weekend Worldwide Box Office

• Movie Updates
  • 6:52: The Nun II

  • 8:06: Kenneth Branagh's Openings (Acting and/or Directing)

• 8:47: Barbie (2023)

• 9:43: Oppenheimer

• 10:33: The Retirement Plan and Nicolas Cage's Worst Film Openings

• 13:18: Per Theater Averages
  • Dumb Money, the film chronicling the GameStop stock-shorting investment saga during the early COVID-19 days, also opened "soft" in limited release. Dan figures that the All-Star Cast involved, like Seth Rogen, not being able to promote the film due to the strikes (13:43).
  • Just to reinforce the point about audience slowdown for the weekend: no wide-release film (opened in 3,000 or more theaters) showed up on this chart. (14:35)
• 14:46: Limited Release Films
  • The lastest stop-motion animated film, The Inventor, opens poorly in limited release.
  • 15:42: 2023 Top Grossing Limited Release Films
• 18:00: 2023 Fall/Holiday US Domestic Box Office
• 18:43: 2023 Annual Domestic Box Office
  • 19:37: 2023 Worldwide Box Office
• 20:00: Box Office Flashback

I didnt even know A Haunting in Venice was related to Murder on the Orient Express or Death on the Nile. I looked like a horror movie by the posters

The first trailer leans very hard into the horror vibes, so I figured it was just a generic horror period piece. It's only in the last scene where you even see Poirot, and even that is a horror jumpscare.

And even there I wasn't sure if that was Branagh as Poirot or just him sporting the ubique mustache to fit the period setting.

If I hadn't caught the second trailer (don't remember where) that explicitly namedrops Poirot, I might have skipped on this entirely.

It's really good imo.

I would've thought the disassociation and being sold more as a Horror film would've helped A Haunting in Venice financially. I guess audiences saw through it though.

Apparently no word about when Dead Reckoming Part One goes to Paramount+ while its DVD/home video release will be on Halloween—and Paramount may not even send it to the streamer for a while actually is what I'm hearing too. They definitely are gonna make a push for forcing those who waited to see the movie to pay money for it—and pay well for it—in order to make up for its lack of success in the theater. That to me is definitely the smart move.