quote:

Originally posted by Kennywood:
The latest information about "WW1984 is that it will be released in theaters on December 25th....for 2 weeks. Then it will be dumped onto HBO Max.

They changed again. It will release in theatres and start streaming on HBO Max all on the same day, Christmas.

Although this could change with the release of Wonder Woman 1984 on Dec 25, right now the Top 10 hits of 2020 at the U.S. box office are:

1) BAD BOYS FOR LIFE
2) SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
3) BIRDS OF PREY
4) DOLITTLE
5) THE INVISIBLE MAN
6) THE CALL OF THE WILD
7) ONWARD
8) THE GENTLEMEN
9) FANTASY ISLAND
10) THE CROODS: A NEW AGE


Notably, only the first two made more than 100 M. And the Top 7 made more than 50 M each but less than 100.

Only in this crazy year could this have happened.

The last time we had less than 2 films make 100 M domestically ? The year 1979.

Went to check out Monster Hunter in IMAX yesterday.

It's a full on action movie with little substance or character development. Still, I enjoyed it for what it was.

The end is obviously hoping for a sequel.....I kind of doubt that will happen.

Pretty sure Tenet should be on this list. I know it did better than Fantasy Island.

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
Although this could change with the release of Wonder Woman 1984 on Dec 25, right now the Top 10 hits of 2020 at the U.S. box office are:

1) BAD BOYS FOR LIFE
2) SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
3) BIRDS OF PREY
4) DOLITTLE
5) THE INVISIBLE MAN
6) THE CALL OF THE WILD
7) ONWARD
8) THE GENTLEMEN
9) FANTASY ISLAND
10) THE CROODS: A NEW AGE


Notably, only the first two made more than 100 M. And the Top 7 made more than 50 M each but less than 100.

Only in this crazy year could this have happened.

The last time we had less than 2 films make 100 M domestically ? The year 1979.

You are correct. TENET is the eighth highest grossing film of the year domestically so far. So it should be # 8 on the list after Onward.

And Croods has now surpassed Fantasy Island which means the latter has dropped out of the Top 10.

What DCU movie is better than WW84? All of them.

A $200 Million dollar dumpster fire.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
What DCU movie is better than WW84? All of them.

A $200 Million dollar dumpster fire.

The majority of the early reviews seem to be positive, but if you read between the lines, they are saying its an excessive mess, but we really want to like an escapist movie at this time.

Not surprising that a sequel to an unexpected smash should try to copy, while also outdo, the formula that came before. That's why second films rarely match the original.

I don't know if it can make enough streaming money and limited box office to get back its production costs in this environment, but what else is there for new films? That's why there seems to be a collective effort by many in the media to not pan it. They want a hit.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
What DCU movie is better than WW84? All of them.

A $200 Million dollar dumpster fire.

The majority of the early reviews seem to be positive, but if you read between the lines, they are saying its an excessive mess, but we really want to like an escapist movie at this time.

Not surprising that a sequel to an unexpected smash should try to copy, while also outdo, the formula that came before. That's why second films rarely match the original.

I don't know if it can make enough streaming money and limited box office to get back its production costs in this environment, but what else is there for new films? That's why there seems to be a collective effort by many in the media to not pan it. They want a hit.

I wish I could give this one credit for just being a fun ride but somehow they manged to rip out everything that made the first film great. Even the opening scene on the island of Themyscira was senseless. Consistency within the story repeatedly falls apart with no explanation.

Looks like China didn't care much for it either which is pretty much the kiss of death for box office take.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
Looks like China didn't care much for it either which is pretty much the kiss of death for box office take.

Yeah, it did poorly over there so far, as did TENANT and other western made films this year, including Mulan, but I have a theory about that which makes sense to me.

China is still a closed society when they want to be and the government controls everything. The world wide film industry has been depending on the Asian market for awhile now to contribute to these movies that cost over 100M to make. As the trade agreements and tariffs go bad, why would China let foreign films rack up the box office over there when they can just as easily keep any movie out of the country? Or just not make a lot of money?

If China can make or break a blockbuster at will, they had better start making cheaper films or risk losing a lot of money even on good pictures.

And yes, WW84 does have an extremely weak plot, even by the standards of what it is. I guess you are supposed to love the characters so much, you don't notice.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
The majority of the early reviews seem to be positive,

You must be seeing different reviews. Everything I've seen so far said it was a bad movie. Which is a shame, because I was really enjoyed the first one. The scene where Diana jumps out of the trench and goes across no-man's land was one of the best sequences I've seen in a movie in years.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
What DCU movie is better than WW84? All of them.

A $200 Million dollar dumpster fire.

I have to agree. Courtesy of being in a social bubble visiting my best friend and his wife and family over Christmas, I got to see WW84. Apparently, it is 165 minutes long. Being generous, I think they could have easily lost about 65 minutes and it would still have been too long and drawn out.

The first WW was great fun and an entertaining ride, which was something of a first for recent DC releases. This sequel was just plain bad. It does feature a nice credits scene but sitting through the rest just to see that really wasn't my idea of a great way to spend nearly 3 hours

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Mullins:

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
The majority of the early reviews seem to be positive,

You must be seeing different reviews. Everything I've seen so far said it was a bad movie. Which is a shame, because I was really enjoyed the first one. The scene where Diana jumps out of the trench and goes across no-man's land was one of the best sequences I've seen in a movie in years.

The initial search reviews were definitely accentuating the positive. LA Times, Ebert, NY Times, even Rotten Tomatoes was over 80%. Now it's coming down, but still at 72%.

As people are starting to see it, the tide is turning negative. I'm disappointed because I wanted to see it and I like Kristen Wiig. I actually had hopes that she and Pascal would be worthy villains, because the best villains always make the heroes that much better. By all accounts now, they have fallen flat, which leaves the comic banter of Gadot and Pine as the prime character focus.

Same thing with special effects. They can be impressive, but when overused it becomes boring. You still always need a story, even in Marvel and DC movies. Because Wonder Woman was so well liked, it looks as though some people are disliking this one more than they would otherwise. But at roughly 2 1/2 hours running time it would take some really good banter to be entertaining.

It's a definite misfire, WW84, but still better than any DC movie thus far that featured Cavill as Superman, Affleck as Batman, or Robbie as Harley Quinn, so in those terms, it could've been even worse...

Warner Brothers has announced that all of its scheduled 2021 movies will be simultaneously released on HBO Max on the same day. It's supposed to be a one year plan. Films would include Dune, Suicide Squad and others.

Remains to be seen how closely other studios follow the same route and if the speeding up of streaming as the popular choice due to COVID will result in a quick decline in movie theatres, even after restrictions are removed.

Wonder Woman grossed about 17 M in theaters domestically this past weekend, so in terms of 2020 releases, it is the # 19 film of the year, but will be moving up the list.

To make the Top 10 it will have to get up to about 31 M. To get to the Top 5 it will have to make 65 M

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
Wonder Woman grossed about 17 M in theaters domestically this past weekend, so in terms of 2020 releases, it is the # 19 film of the year, but will be moving up the list.

To make the Top 10 it will have to get up to about 31 M. To get to the Top 5 it will have to make 65 M

I find it odd that they are already using these numbers to green light the next installment. Although I understand these are good covid numbers I have a strong suspicion that next weekend is going to take a harder than normal tumble.

RT's critic score has dropped to 62% and verified audience is at 72% while total audience is at 43%

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
Wonder Woman grossed about 17 M in theaters domestically this past weekend, so in terms of 2020 releases, it is the # 19 film of the year, but will be moving up the list.

To make the Top 10 it will have to get up to about 31 M. To get to the Top 5 it will have to make 65 M

I find it odd that they are already using these numbers to green light the next installment. Although I understand these are good covid numbers I have a strong suspicion that next weekend is going to take a harder than normal tumble.

RT's critic score has dropped to 62% and verified audience is at 72% while total audience is at 43%

Judging by the figures in China, I think that is a pretty fair bet. First weekend it made $18 million, second weekend that dropped to $1.5 million.

WB may be working off the initial streaming figures from HBO Max which were apparently really good. However, I suspect the fact it was free for subscribers and very few 'actual' reviews had appeared helped a lot with those figures.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
I find it odd that they are already using these numbers to green light the next installment.

I'm pretty sure it was already green lighted, regardless of the numbers. The way no new film can really succeed due to COVID is the same way that no new film can really fail because of COVID. It's the go-to excuse for a lot of things that were going to be bad to begin with, but can now claim to be "victims of circumstance".

Everyone saves face with WW84, since there was no way it could make blockbuster figures, and they can just go on to the next one without getting the blame for a poor franchise installment.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
Wonder Woman grossed about 17 M in theaters domestically this past weekend, so in terms of 2020 releases, it is the # 19 film of the year, but will be moving up the list.

To make the Top 10 it will have to get up to about 31 M. To get to the Top 5 it will have to make 65 M

I find it odd that they are already using these numbers to green light the next installment. Although I understand these are good covid numbers I have a strong suspicion that next weekend is going to take a harder than normal tumble.

RT's critic score has dropped to 62% and verified audience is at 72% while total audience is at 43%

They probably had to officially confirm a third movie so the director and star could be booked into making it.