quote:

Originally posted by Raven:

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
TOY STORY 5 should gross at least 150 M domestically for the weekend, when it opens this Friday.

It is expected to crush everything for a few weeks, including SUPERGIRL which opens June 24.

This idea that blockbuster movies must be Summer movies is counterproductive. It pits them all against each other and even if they take #1 on the opening weekend, which is not guaranteed, by the next weekend someone else appears and the box office drops 60%. There is no time to be left alone and make good theatre money.

If "Project Hail Mary" can come out early and make a lot of cash for a movie not many people knew of before, why couldn't "Supergirl" come out in the Spring or in the Fall? Doesn't DC have enough trouble without going head-to-head with everybody's big movie? If we can figure this out, how come the smart studio executives can't see the logic? Sometimes I think they try to fail on purpose.

It was pre-COVID, but The Force Awakens made obscene amounts of money when it released in December. To be fair, it was the first of "new" Star Wars and likely would have done as well releasing at any time.

Warner Bros/DC Comics has the Batman villain movie Clayface coming in Oct. Now there are reports that the studio is reducing the number of theaters which will be showing it, which is not a good sign.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Tommy C,

Add Spielberg's Disclosure Day to the list of summer flops. Should reach about 75 M domestically in its second weekend. Probably won't make much more after that. Film cost at least 120 M to produce.

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Originally posted by Tommy C:
Do you remember the summer of 1989 when BATMAN, the third INDIANA JONES film, and LETHAL WEAPON 2 crushed everything else ?

I was a teenager then and I remember it like it was yesterday. Those films blew away almost every other summer blockbuster, including STAR TREK V, the James Bond film LICENCE TO KILL, as well as KARATE KID III. They also hurt the box office for GHOSTBUSTERS II to some extent.

It certainly didn't help that Licence To Kill, Karate Kid III, Star Trek V, and Ghostbusters II were all lousy movies.

"Honey, I Shrunk The Kids" opened along with "Batman" and also did blockbuster numbers, in part because so many showings of Batman were completely sold out. We went to Hollywood opening night, and couldn't get tickets to Batman, but we at least got to see Burgess Meredith in person as he was attending a screening of the 1966 Batman movie that one of the smaller theaters was holding.

Toy Story 5 has done even better than expected, with a 160M domestic take and a franchise record of 312M globally on opening weekend.

From what I have gathered, I think it's because the script is really smart at a time when the message may resonate even more with the parents than the kids. This time it's the old school dolls of our childhood up against the AI wonders that are the babysitters of our grandchildren. Everybody can relate to that dilemma on some level, and it taps into all that nostalgia and guilt going around with new technology.

I will definitely see it. I just don't know if I want to brave the theatre or wait till streaming. Depends on if I can grab my friend's kid as I still wouldn't want to show up without one.

I think the only true summer hits aside from the horror films released in May, will be Toy Story, Moana,Spider Man and the next Minions coming in a week or two.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Tommy C,

Looks like "Michael" will fall a little short of the 1 billion worldwide mark, so "Super Mario Galaxy" is still the only movie this year to hit it. We'll see if any others can join it. Certainly, Toy Story 5 is off to a great start at 312 million total in 3 days.

There were 4 billion+ movies last year: Avatar 3, Zootopia 2, Lilo & Stitch live-action, and Ne Zha 2 (which made 99 percent of its 2.2 billion outside of the US).

Total USA box office the last few years:
2023: 8.9 billion
2024: 8.57 billion
2025: 8.65 billion
2026: 4.4 billion

Next week will be the halfway point, so it'll be on-pace to top the recent high from 2023, but it may never again hit the 11 billion mark it hovered around in the 5 years prior to Covid. The all-time domestic high remains nearly 12 billion, set in 2018.

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Originally posted by chesspieceface:
Next week will be the halfway point, so it'll be on-pace to top the recent high from 2023, but it may never again hit the 11 billion mark it hovered around in the 5 years prior to Covid. The all-time domestic high remains nearly 12 billion, set in 2018.

Yes to that. It's true that the fast advance of the streaming business has changed the entertainment industry, but the whole Covid period that started in January 2020 and really didn't let up until late 2023 was the key driver. Years from now historians will be examining the ways the pandemic uprooted modern society and effected people's way of thinking forever. It's still too soon. Things are still being denied, and information remains hidden.

But some day the picture will be made clearer and things we never thought about will turn up, but for now we already know that some stuff will never peak again. I think movie attendance is one of them. Not necessarily the money, which goes up on its own, just the number of seats occupied to watch a film on movie night.

Toy Story 5 should make it to 300 M domestically by the end of this weekend, making it the # 4 film of the year. It will continue to rise up the charts. In another few weeks, the Mandalorian will be out of the Top 10 for 2026 once Moana and Minions open. Unheard of for a Star Wars film.

I haven't seen Mandalorian yet but I'm going to try to this weekend. My dad saw it and liked it but said that it looks like they tried to do it as cheaply as possible. Some of the backgrounds and other things didn't look right. If that's what other people are seeing, they will wait to see it again when it's on Disney+ rather than going back to the theater.

Good luck finding it in the theaters more than a month after it was released. From what I have read after 2 weeks it was mostly pulled. Might be all gone by today.

Supergirl made only 38 M this weekend domestically, which is quite poor. It is not expected to recoup its 170 M plus budget.

I saw it today. It was okay.

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Originally posted by Tommy C:
Good luck finding it in the theaters more than a month after it was released. From what I have read after 2 weeks it was mostly pulled. Might be all gone by today.

I stopped at a local comic shop today. They started moving to a larger location up the road a couple of weeks ago. They were playing the 1984 movie while I was there.

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
Supergirl made only 38 M this weekend domestically, which is quite poor. It is not expected to recoup its 170 M plus budget.

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
Supergirl made only 38 M this weekend domestically, which is quite poor. It is not expected to recoup its 170 M plus budget.

I can't say how well this film works because I won't be seeing it until, if and when, it gets to one of my streaming subscriptions, but I do think that the studio marketing dropped the ball and whoever was in charge just lost the plot.

"Supergirl" is rated PG-13, but it has a grungy, violent look to it. Both Lobo and Krem could replace any member of Kiss. Milly Alcock's Supergirl has a frozen sneer on her face in all publicity photos. As it turns out, she looks the exact same way in candid pictures at premieres and parties, so that could be her natural expression. Either way, it's not coming across as a sunny disposition.

So parents are not apt to take the pre-teens to this one for a fun time. However older teens would rather worm their way into an R than see a PG-13 starring a character that their little sister likes. The studio has not defined this as a movie for kids or a movie for adult DC fans. Not being one or the other doesn't double the audience, it satisfies neither camp.

So it has to be marketed as the hybrid that it is and hope it finds the elusive cult following that appreciates it as unique. Unfortunately, the studio spent blockbuster money on it and wasn't going for unique. That they cut the runtime down to under 2 hours and still spent all that money shows how much went to waste here. If "Supergirl" fails expectations, it will be because the whole production was flawed from the start.

It'll be on HBO Max when the time comes, which might not be too long from mow.
I'm going to see it tomorrow, understanding ahead of time that it's going to be difficult for them to match the visuals of the comic series it is based on, particularly the numerous alien landscapes and multitude of alien characters. It really was beautifully drawn.

Here is the Top 10 domestically as of today.

I am sure that TOY STORY will be #3 on the list by the fourth of July.

MINIONS (coming July 1) will no doubt be high on the list, also.



1) SUPER MARIO GALAXY
2) MICHAEL
3) PROJECT HAIL MARY
4) TOY STORY 5
5) OBSESSION
6) DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2
7) BACKROOMS
8) STAR WARS MANDALORIAN
9) HOPPERS
10) SCREAM 7

For what it's worth, I saw Masters of the Universe last week and as dumb as it was, I enjoyed every minute of it. As someone who grew up with the cartoon and played with the toys, I can't imagine there ever being a better take. Shame it did so poorly, but the budget was out of control.

"Supergirl" opened with a 38M domestic take, which makes it a bigger bomb than the former biggest loser of a comic book film, Marvel's "Morbius". I really can't believe that it is worse than that one. There is going to be a lot of discussion again about female driven movies and how the public won't get behind them. The studio won't take the blame. It must be the actors or the audience.

To that I say, Sigourney Weaver in "Alien", but especially "Aliens". The first "Wonder Woman" didn't do too badly either. Try making a good movie, with a good script and good characters that a wide section of viewers wants to see.

I haven't even seen "Supergirl" yet and I could tell you a half dozen things they did wrong in production, promotion and script. And I'll still bet it's better than "Morbius", but that's hardly a compliment.

Re: Supergirl. When she showed up in the final scene of the SUPERMAN movie last summer, drunk and cursing, that may have shocked alot of people.

Is that supposed to be "cool" ? More like a turnoff for me and my kids !