Oh that just sucks.
Zoe: So you two were kissin'? Book: Well. Isn't that... special?
'Our Mrs. Reynolds'
Buffista Movies 4: Straight to Video
A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
Frankenbuddha - Aug 18, 2005 8:13:04 am PDT #6545 of 10002
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
bon bon - Aug 18, 2005 8:15:52 am PDT #6546 of 10002
It's five thousand for kissing, ten thousand for snuggling... End of list.
March is the month for disastrous star vehicles (Be Cool, The Jacket, Miss Congeniality 2, Taking Lives, Jersey Girl, Bringing Down the House, Boat Trip, The Core) and smaller flicks that would get drowned out by summer release (Spartan, Eternal Sunshine, Bend it Like Beckham, Willard, Melinda & Melinda, The Ring 2).
§ ita § - Aug 18, 2005 8:24:55 am PDT #6547 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Hey -- Bringing Down The House opened to 2 mil less than its budget, and went on to do $132M domestically. That's not bad for either Queen Latifah or Steve Martin (his biggest opening, second highest grosser).
ChiKat - Aug 18, 2005 8:26:15 am PDT #6548 of 10002
That man was going to shank me. Over an omelette. Two eggs and a slice of government cheese. Is that what my life is worth?
I kinda liked Bringing Down the House.
bon bon - Aug 18, 2005 8:28:10 am PDT #6549 of 10002
It's five thousand for kissing, ten thousand for snuggling... End of list.
All of those movies could be profitable, but that doesn't mean the studio didn't tentpole it for a reason.
erikaj - Aug 18, 2005 8:29:56 am PDT #6550 of 10002
Always Anti-fascist!
It was fun enough...I chuckled a few times.
§ ita § - Aug 18, 2005 8:32:54 am PDT #6551 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
All of those movies could be profitable
But as a star vehicle, I don't know if you can consider it failed if it's the second highest grossing vehicle ever for either of the leads (and it's not like you can chalk Chicago up to QL). The other movies you listed did markedly less well.
Matt the Bruins fan - Aug 18, 2005 8:42:54 am PDT #6552 of 10002
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
Also, it's being made with the same kind of motion-capture animation that was used in Polar Express. I think I may be staying away from this one.
To be fair, a story about fear-haunted Germanic villagers watching their population get picked off nightly one-by-one at the hands of a freakish monstrosity might be a bit more forgiving of the Uncanny Valley phenomenon than one about kids travelling with Tom Hanks to Santa's Workshop.
Your childhood experience with department store Santas may vary.
DawnK - Aug 18, 2005 8:50:16 am PDT #6553 of 10002
giraffe mode
Matt, you have a point, but for me it made the film almost unwatchable. I couldn't look at the faces, so even though the story is more fitting, it's still probably not gonna work for me personally.
bon bon - Aug 18, 2005 8:53:36 am PDT #6554 of 10002
It's five thousand for kissing, ten thousand for snuggling... End of list.
I don't consider those movies failed; just the perception of it when a studio is scheduling its openings. I didn't see it, but it looked like a "disastrous star vehicle" from the trailers, and I am assuming it looked that way to the studio, too. I could be wrong, I just picked movies that fit my claim from the last couple years of March releases. I left out a few that didn't fit in.
FTR, I would dispute that it made back its budget that quickly, since the marketing budget probably doubled the reported budget. But I am surprised at how successful it was overall.