Apart from a couple of movies Tom Cruise has spent his entire career playing "Tom Cruise". You would never say he's great actor, but over-hyped celebrity brand, he's a winner.

The "Barbie" movie has gotten caught up in a cultural phenomenon that I can only compare to the start of "Sex and the City". When that show first aired there was so much talk about it. I was late to it because I didn't have the channel. By the time I got around to seeing it I was expecting greatness. I found it average at its best and cringe worthy in those times that seemed to have garnered the most interest. I never watched it beyond the first season, but many did. Enough to keep up the heap of trash it is now too.

Out of the millions of people who ran to see "Barbie", a brave minority are starting to say that they really didn't like it very much. After all, it is at its heart not about the doll, which is why it wasn't recommended for the children who still play with Barbie. It was created to be a teaching moment, for all those who need teaching, according to whoever needs to be the teacher.

I'll catch up to it when it streams, but I think that for me at least, it's going to be "Sex and the City" all over again.

All of these sequels have so far underwhelmed at the box office this summer: Mission Impossible, Indiana Jones, Fast X, Transformers. Looks like most will settle in the 140 to 160 M range which is not exactly spectacular, unlike the films that have made 300 M plus.

And yet we have more sequels coming in 2024...

I remember in the late 1980s and 1990s and throughout the 2000s, it seemed as if every single year he had a major movie released which was a big hit. Sort of like Julia Roberts back in the 1990s. It was almost as if he knew (or Hollywood knew) that they would all make money.

I recall seeing The Color of Money (1986), Top Gun (1986), Rain Man (1988), A Few Good Men (1992), The Firm (1993), etc. and all were considered to be big films back in the day. In the 2000s and 2010s he had a few misses, but not that many.

quote:

Originally posted by Hedgehog Witch:
Apart from a couple of movies Tom Cruise has spent his entire career playing "Tom Cruise". You would never say he's great actor, but over-hyped celebrity brand, he's a winner.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
The "Barbie" movie has gotten caught up in a cultural phenomenon that I can only compare to the start of "Sex and the City". When that show first aired there was so much talk about it. I was late to it because I didn't have the channel. By the time I got around to seeing it I was expecting greatness. I found it average at its best and cringe worthy in those times that seemed to have garnered the most interest. I never watched it beyond the first season, but many did. Enough to keep up the heap of trash it is now too.

Out of the millions of people who ran to see "Barbie", a brave minority are starting to say that they really didn't like it very much. After all, it is at its heart not about the doll, which is why it wasn't recommended for the children who still play with Barbie. It was created to be a teaching moment, for all those who need teaching, according to whoever needs to be the teacher.

I'll catch up to it when it streams, but I think that for me at least, it's going to be "Sex and the City" all over again.

It was finding it's footing during the first season, which I didn't like either, but it quickly got much, much better, and became must-see TV by the end of the original series.

The sequel series which followed two feature films (one good, one not so much) is called "And Just Like That". It's in its second season now (but on HBOMax, as opposed to regular HBO) and is excellent, although it lacks Kim Cattrall, which is unfortunate. She's slated to make at brief cameo in the season finale, but hopefully that will lead to her full return in Season 3.

Barbie is up to about 240 M domestically, passing Ant Man 3, and is now the # 5 film of the year.

Mission Impossible is a lowly # 14. Oppenheimer almost up to 120 M, making it # 15 so far.

Went to see Barbie pretty much knowing it wasn't going to be my sort of film. Have to admit I was a little disappointed that "The Real World" wasn't a land of sweatshops with kids sewing new fashion designs.

I thought that Gosling and McKinnon were the most interesting characters however; Gosling lost me when he dove into a back to back musical number. The over simplistic social narrative was annoying and looking around the theater it seemed as if the real little kids weren't getting any of it. There are always exceptions but I would think that this isn't for most kids 10 and under.

It had some good lines and the humor mostly seemed geared towards adults, I didn't really hear any of the kids laughing. The opening and ending scenes were funny.

I think Raven is correct about the cultural tornado Barbie is in right now because it is difficult to imagine very many people wanting to watch it more than once. My wife who is named Barbie (thus my dilemma in the first place) liked it but didn't love it.


On a side note, I started watching Twisted Metal based on the video game. Hilarious!!!!

Looks like "Haunted Mansion" is going to be another big miss for Disney and I'm not sure why they even put this one out, unless it was for a tax write off. It would appear to be neither a remake or a sequel to the Eddie Murphy "Haunted Mansion" film. I don't think the ride has a storyline other than ghosts popping out. It sounds to be too serious for comedy and not scary enough for horror. And it's not even close to Halloween.

With "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" both looking strong in their second weekend, I don't know where "Haunted Mansion" and its 150M plus budget is going to scare up much money.

Haunted Mansion reporting $24M Domestic and 9M International. Massive miss for team Disney.

Talk to Me rolls in at $10M on a $4.5M budget.

Barbie should peg out at #2 for the year while Indiana and Ethan Hunt continue to slip.

Barbie will be the # 3 film of the year domestically as it is about to pass Guardians 3. In another week it will likely pass Spider Man. Oppenheimer is now # 8 while Sound of Freedom is # 12 and it will be #10 very soon. Mission Impossible continues to sink and fade away.

According to reports, Disney is set to lose 900 M this year based upon summer flops-- Indiana Jones, Elementals, and Haunted Mansion. And while The Little Mermaid made 300 M in the U.S., it didn't do very well overseas.

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
According to reports, Disney is set to lose 900 M this year based upon summer flops-- Indiana Jones, Elementals, and Haunted Mansion. And while The Little Mermaid made 300 M in the U.S., it didn't do very well overseas.

Which is crazy they consider them flops since all but Haunted Mansion have made their production budgets back, in the case of Elemental and Little Mermaid double (worldwide). I don't know what they've spent on advertising.

According to sources, Elementals cost 200 M to make and it has grossed 397 M

Little Mermaid cost 250 M and has grossed 564 M worldwide.

Apparently making back double the budget is not considered to be profitable. For a 200 M film, you need to make 600 to 800 M, otherwise it's not worth the investment

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:

Apparently making back double the budget is not considered to be profitable. For a 200 M film, you need to make 600 to 800 M, otherwise it's not worth the investment

Which I don't understand. If I double ANY investment, I'm making a profit. Like I said, I don't think they consider marketing dollars when talking budget, but I can't imagine that number is more than 25% of the budget number. So even adding 25% onto a budget number, making double should be a good thing, right?

Is it just pure greed, or am I still missing something? They can't expect every movie to be Infinity War.

You're not missing anything. The studios use creative accounting to keep crying poverty about profits. That's why the writers' and actors' unions are striking now. The fudged numbers keep their members from getting what they deserve.

However as for pure greed, it is my considered opinion that all of them are guilty of pure greed given the chance, and that's why the cost of a trip to the movies is approaching what used to include the before or after meal for us.

Even back in the day, it didn't make sense to me.

For example, the 1989 James Bond film "License to Kill" cost 30 M to make and it grossed about 155 M worldwide. It was considered to be a major failure, and supposedly the Bond film series almost ended after that one. This was because the 4 prior Bond films in the 1980s made about 190 M each.

So even back then, making 5 times the budget was considered to be a failure.

Barbie has moved to the # 2 position of the year, domestically, passing Spider-Man. I doubt it will come close to Super Mario Bros. which will likely remain # 1 for 2023.

Oppenheimer is now # 7, passing John Wick.

Barbie is currently $180 million shy of catching Mario at the US box office.

It made 13 million yesterday, so basically it needs two more weeks of averaging that number to take the top spot domestically. It's quite possible considering it should almost certainly top that daily average amount this weekend, which will give it some cushion to get there as it finally slows down next week.

Internationally, it's currently at 429 million which is well behind Mario's 777 million. I don't think even Barbie has the legs to catch the number.

Barbie should hit 400 M domestically this weekend.

Sound of Freedom is 2 M away from passing Creed 3 and Transformers and becoming # 10 for the year. Pretty impressive for a film that cost 14 M to make.

Mission Impossible might reach # 13 in a few days

Both the Meg 2 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are expected to gross about 40 M each this weekend