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[PhoncipleBone]

Universal has apparently figured out to make animated successes. Is it too early to call them the new Dreamworks? Or is that a disparaging comparison at this point?

Called them that in that last thread:

Illumination is the new early era Dreamworks? A few monster hit films that won't hold up as well over time, much like the Shrek films?
Of course, if Illumination were to put out something near as good as the How to Train Your Dragon films, it would be nice.
But for now, they make entertaining fluff, but I don't see much of it aging well.

 

[Plasticine]

Ghostbusters might not be opening in China, but do you know what movie will be?

The Legend of Tarzan.

China is so excited about the movie, the government lifted the summer blackout so the movie could be released. Well. Not really. But still. The ban was lifted and The Legend of Tarzan is going to get that China money.

 

[alfredofroylan]

I wish more people understood that there is no direct correlation to the quality of a trailer to the quality of a movie.

The thing is, trailers today are quite possibly the best way to sell a movie, just look at the Force awakens trailers, they had a little bit of everything, classic characters, new characters, action sequences, mysterious sequences, etc. Those trailers catch audience's, Ghostbusters trailers had the opposite effect.

 

[Jarrod38]

Kids still care about Ice Age?

Yes. Good family films.

 

[Tobor]

Sony screwed up. Had they had Akroyd and Ernie Hudson handing the baton to a new generation, in other words a sequel rather than a reboot, it would have done much more.

Jurrassic World and Star Wars Episode 7, that's the template for how you bring a franchise back. Ghostbusters could have tapped into that.

 

[tkscz]

Kids still care about Ice Age?

I keep asking that, but they keep succeeding. It's like the Chipmunk movies. They are awful, but they keep succeeding, even with Star Wars as their competitor.

 

[Kusagari]

Ice Age has been tending downward in America with each release and this one is coming after a long hiatus and two other animated smashes.

Doubt the OW breaks 40m.

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

The only good thing to come out of Ice Age was the delicious Burger King icee float.

That shit was better than milkshakes.

 

[Sapiens]

I'll never understand the appeal of Ice Age ( I can't deal with the combined unfunny matrix dark void of shit that is Ray Romano, John Leguizamo and Denis Leary) and maybe sequel fatigue will finally set in with the 20th instalment. And ST3 looks kind of shit (I'm hearing no buzz about it, no one even knows its coming out), so maybe GB has a chance to make a little more money. God knows at least people KNEW GB was coming out.

 

[Sanjuro]

[
*click pic for full list/source*

 

[Yeezus H. Christ]

Man, Tarzan looks like such cynical trash. Wish it didn't do okay.

 

[BlueTsunami]

The Purge had a 10m budget? Gawdamn

 

[vinnygambini]

We did it, Vinny!

 

[IdreamofHIME]

Ghostbusters might not be opening in China, but do you know what movie will be?

The Legend of Tarzan.



China is so excited about the movie, the government lifted the summer blackout so the movie could be released. Well. Not really. But still. The ban was lifted and The Legend of Tarzan is going to get that China money.

Secret life of pets has been given a green light for Chinese release during their school summer holidays?
Holy shit, the money that will be made.

 

[Ridley327]

The Purge had a 10m budget? Gawdamn

Horror films tend to carry a low price tag. IIRC, the budget for The Witch was ~$3 million, almost in spite of how great it looks from a visual standpoint.

 

[Sapiens]

Sony screwed up. Had they had Akroyd and Ernie Hudson handing the baton to a new generation, in other words a sequel rather than a reboot, it would have done much more.

Jurrassic World and Star Wars Episode 7, that's the template for how you bring a franchise back. Ghostbusters could have tapped into that.

I honestly don't think it being a reboot had anything to do with the performance. They needed to keep McCarthy and replace the rest of the cast with people like Sandra Bullock and other big draws (Charleze Theron would have been great too).

 

[The Elite]

it's dead. No chance with Star Trek and Ice Age coming out this week

Another talking animal film? Great. I expect 3 out of the top 5 films to feature talking animals next week.

 

[Hickbilly Deluxe]

The Purge had a 10m budget? Gawdamn

It's the new Saw. Stupid cheap to make, yet still popular. It's east green for them.

 

[Plasticine]

Secret life of pets has been given a green light for Chinese release during their school summer holidays?
Holy shit, the money that will be made.

Ice Age is opening too. The key to getting past the blackout is either talking, animated animals or abs.

 

[mugurumakensei]

Sony screwed up. Had they had Akroyd and Ernie Hudson handing the baton to a new generation, in other words a sequel rather than a reboot, it would have done much more.

Jurrassic World and Star Wars Episode 7, that's the template for how you bring a franchise back. Ghostbusters could have tapped into that.

nah, that would have severely limited what the movie could do. it would also still bomb cause the biggest thing that killed was the subconscious sexism of male film critics.

it may be a bomb, but it was a nice take on the franchise with a great main cast.

 

[Sgt. Kabukiman]

What are the tracking numbers for Star Trek next week? I'm very excited to see it but I'm afraid it's going to get lost in the shuffle.

 

[Travo]

Albert Brooks must be elated.

 

[HeartlessNobody213]

Ice Age is sort of like Transformers. It performs horribly domestically but does well internationally. The last one didn't crack $200 million domestic but made over $700 million overseas.

I'm not too sure on Star Trek. Being that it's the 50th anniversary and also it's been getting good reviews it might do better than expected.

I think Ghostbusters might just be doomed to fail. It doesn't help that it's not getting a release in China.

 

[Sibersk Esto]

nah, that would have severely limited what the movie could do. it would also still bomb cause the biggest thing that killed was the subconscious sexism of male film critics.

What

 

[Plasticine]

What are the tracking numbers for Star Trek next week? I'm very excited to see it but I'm afraid it's going to get lost in the shuffle.

$48M-$60M

 

[Kacho]

What

Just roll with it.

 

[Tobor]

I honestly don't think it being a reboot had anything to do with the performance.

Anecdotally, It cost them my ticket, and my group of friends. Throwing out the old characters and starting over was a mistake. I would have gone and seen it if they had made it a sequel instead of a reboot.

As for the all female team, I do think the full gender swap was also a mistake. Had they cast a mixed gender team and made them the next generation in the story, they would still be seen as progressive but with no drama, and the movie would have been set up to be a great success.

 

[alfredofroylan]

Just checking the forecast for this week, GB fell $10M below.

le Distributor Weekend Domestic Total through
Sunday, July 17
Ghostbusters Sony / Columbia $56,000,000 $56,000,000
The Secret Life of Pets Universal $53,500,000 $206,000,000
The Legend of Tarzan Warner Bros. $11,500,000 $103,750,000

 

[vinnygambini]

To me, Ghostbusters had a stellar opening weekend - let's see how wow plays out domestically; however, overseas it's not playing too well at all so any chance of a sequel is kaput at this point.

Tarzan keeps delivering, praise jesus.

NYSM2 run overseas is quite impressive $203M + 63.5M domestically, should have no problem reaching it's predecessors gross of $350M

 

[BronsonLee]

Those fake magic fuckers are gonna beat Ghostbusters

 

[Sgt. Kabukiman]

$48M-$60M

Ouch, that's too bad. Hopefully it overperforms thanks to the positive word of mouth so far. Maybe the international box-office will help too, there was a huge jump from Trek 09 to Into Darkness. I don't know why but I'm really excited for Beyond, it's my most anticipated summer blockbuster, it just looks like a ton of fun.

 

[gutter_trash]

Life of Pets leads

Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!

 

[bananafactory]

If people think $46m is a 'bomb' for this, their expectations were kind of silly. It certainly isn't the ceiling for this type of thing, but given that it's by far Feig and the cast's biggest opening weekend, it's not completely terrible.

Here's a great post from the Forbes thread on the Ghostbusters BO predictions

So I wrote this whole thing on mobile and Safari ate it, so, here we go again.

We've discussed this before. The issue is Ghostbusters is an special effects heavy action -comedy. When you actually look at the numbers, the original Ghostbusters and Men in Black are special. They are not even matched by their sequels.

From Box Office Mojo (Budget, Opening weekend, Domestic Total, Worldwide Total)

Ghostbusters: $30 million budget | $13,578,151 OP | $242,212,467 Domestic | $295,212,467 WW
Ghostbusters II: $37 million budget | $29,472,894 OP | $112,494,738 Domestic | $215,394,738 WW
Men in Black: $90 million budget | $51,068,455 OP | $250,690,539 Domestic | $589,390,539 WW
Men in Black II: $140 million budget | $52,148,751 OP | $190,418,803 Domestic | $441,818,803 WW
MIB 3: $225 million budget | $54,592,779 OP | $179,020,854 Domestic | $624,026,776 WW

GB2 had less than half its predecessor's domestic take. MIB3 only beat MIB because of a growing international market.

The truth is the comedy film game is hard as hell above a certain budget. Comedies don't make money like that on the regular. Let's take a look at the lists.

Action - Buddy Comedy: The strongest list, led by MIB and Rush Hour 2. But number #6 is The Heat, starring McCarthy and directed by Feig, at only $159 million domestic. Sci Fi Comedy if all three MIB films and then Honey I Shrunk the Kids. Horror Comedy is Ghostbusters followed by Scary Movie, with $157 million domestic. Seriously, look at the drop offs.

Comedy films are usually predicated on making money because they have rather low budgets. Once you add special effects into the list, things start to go awry.

A great shot for the Geboot would $40-50 million and $200 million domestic, which would put it in 22 Jump Street and Men in Black II territory. Sony should be damned happy with that. The problem is the budget $140 million (same problem MIB2 had, by the by). 22 Jump Street made roughly $144 million in profit, since it had a worldwide take of $331 million and a production budget of $58 million. Throw another $90 million on that production budget and a ton of marketing and I think GB 2016 needs around $400+ million, which again, is hard for a comedy.

Even if it's amazing, the film has an uphill battle to profitability and if it hits it, you'll hear Sony shouting it from the rooftops and greenlighting that second GB film and a sequel immediately.

And no, the budget really isn't out there.

The budget is definitely the film's biggest problem, moreso than the opening BO numbers. But it's also not a crazy budget when you line it up with other action comedies. Its success hinges on whether or not it has good legs, and China not showing it will be a pretty big blow.

 

[mugurumakensei]

What

Male reviewers have a problem identifying with demos outside of their own which colors the review with that bias .

 

[JABEE]

Not a good debut for Ghostbusters. And its not like the film didn't have a big advertising spend.

 

[DeathyBoy]

Sony screwed up. Had they had Akroyd and Ernie Hudson handing the baton to a new generation, in other words a sequel rather than a reboot, it would have done much more.

Jurrassic World and Star Wars Episode 7, that's the template for how you bring a franchise back. Ghostbusters could have tapped into that.

It could have, had Bill Murray not been so petty that he only agreed to be in a Ghostbusters film after Ramis passed away.

 

[Dash_Riprock]

Tarzan is like that car who's engine stalled 10 seconds after the race started but is still puttering through the course out of shear inertia.

 

[PhoncipleBone]

Male reviewers have a problem identifying with demos outside of their own which colors the review with that bias .

Again, what?

 

[BronsonLee]

It could have, had Bill Murray not been so petty that he only agreed to be in a Ghostbusters film after Ramis passed away.

He really has been a total shit RE: Ghostbusters stuff

Tarzan is like that car who's engine stalled 10 seconds after the race started but is still puttering through the course out of shear inertia.

Or it's one of those Pinewood Derby cars I used to make in the Scouts!

 

[Tookay]

Male reviewers have a problem identifying with demos outside of their own which colors the review with that bias .

I appreciate the blanket generalizations.

 

[MHWilliams]

Bananafactory already covered my previous statements. Here's Deadline.

Rivals around town are divided on whether this is a good opening or not for Ghostbusters. Some believe that for the estimated $100M-plus P&A spent by Sony, Ghostbusters should have cleared $50M-$60M. Others who are hopeful about the 3x-plus leg factor that a Feig/McCarthy project carries off a B+ CinemaScore.

As we emphasized, a $46M opening for Ghostbusters puts more pressure on overseas to deliver, and that’s a grey cloud right now. Ghostbusters is a dormant cinema brand, it’s a comedy (and the best you can expect from one of those is an overseas gross equal to domestic), and neither Feig nor McCarthy have delivered overseas grosses in excess of $200M on their films.

Two reboots in current box office history provide a bit of reality check as to the stamina of Ghostbusters, despite the fact that they’re quite different movies: Last year’s Mad Max Fury Road from Warner Bros and Sony/MGM’s Bond title Casino Royale. Granted, both are male-heavy titles, but from a numbers perspective they carried similar production costs to Ghostbusters ($150M) and respectively opened to $45.4M and $40.8M. Mad Max, like Ghostbusters, was awakened after some 25-plus years, and there’s buzz of a sequel. Casino Royale repped a different angle on Bond, much like Ghostbusters, and took 007 to another level.

But huge differences abound: Both Mad Max and Casino Royale could easily depend on overseas ticket sales; neither alienated their core fan bases, not to mention more critics loved Mad Max than Ghostbusters; and the George Miller movie went on to earn 10 Oscar noms including Best Picture and six wins. The point being, Ghostbusters has more stacked against it than those franchises in regards to its longevity.

Essentially, comedy is hard. Taken as a comedy, GB had a great opening. But that $140 million price tag hurts and the international take is real fuzzy, because to be honest, GB is not that kind of brand, despite what fans believe. GB isn't a flop. It's not great either. Sony has to hope for those great McCarthy legs.

Male reviewers have a problem identifying with demos outside of their own which colors the review with that bias .

We've discussed this before, but let's shelve that for the time being.

 

[Tobor]

It could have, had Bill Murray not been so petty that he only agreed to be in a Ghostbusters film after Ramis passed away.

They could have done it without Murray. Akroyd and Hudson were both game, and their characters would have been enough to set up the story and pass the baton to the new team.

 

[bananafactory]

nah, that would have severely limited what the movie could do. it would also still bomb cause the biggest thing that killed was the subconscious sexism of male film critics.

it may be a bomb, but it was a nice take on the franchise with a great main cast.

I don't think the box office was really affected by 'sexist reviews'. Most people who go to the movies aren't listening to the guy on the internet shouting 'NO GHOSTBUSTERS REVIEW I REFUSE'. There's been a lot of shit flung back and forth from every side on this topic but I don't think there's any reality where a Ghostbusters movie without the original cast does much more than $50 million.

People are incredibly attached to the Murray/Ramis/Akroyd/Hudson team and their characters, there's not enough investment in the property itself to propel it to huge numbers without those guys.

 

[Alrus]

The Purge 3 is close to being the highest domestic grossing entry in the series, already way over the other ones overseas.

 

[Abounder]

Hey now Bill Murray already did enough ball busting with the GB video game. I'd stay away from these Sony shitshows too if I was a famous multimillionaire

Anyway yea revivals > reboots. We are in an era of canon and if you wants the fan$ then you best service 'em, lol

 

[DeathyBoy]

He really has been a total shit RE: Ghostbusters stuff



Or it's one of those Pinewood Derby cars I used to make in the Scouts!

Murray playing true to type as deluded, smug assholes who are miserable human beings in Wes Anderson films.

 

[Volimar]

I always thought that the Chinese ban was on skeletons, not ghosts. And there was a source that said China wasn't allowing the film because they didn't think it'd be profitable.

 

[Plasticine]

Tarzan is like that car who's engine stalled 10 seconds after the race started but is still puttering through the course out of shear inertia.

So, you're saying that Tarzan is a sleek, high performance machine that will reach the finish line? It just needs a tune up to perform great in its next race, ie. the sequel.

I'll accept that.

 

[SURGEdude]

More like Toastbusters amirite?

Spoiler

I actually thought it was fairly good but that's a poor debut despite Sony's spin

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

Tarzan is like that car who's engine stalled 10 seconds after the race started but is still puttering through the course out of shear inertia.

Skarsgard's abs are whats saving the movie.

This review can shed some light on it.

Best quote:

Nobody wants to sit with their teenage son while they’re imagining Alexander Skarsgard diving into their lady parts.