quote:

Originally posted by Raven:

Sorry, I'm just mad about Lucifer. I started this year's second part from last season and I no longer know what I'm looking at or why, despite seeing the whole damn thing since 2016.

Venting is allowed.

A Quiet Place II has obliterated its $20M budget. Domestic will pass $100M this weekend and International could do the same.

The Conjuring 3 will be a hit but opening well below the last two films

Animated Spirit Untamed and Raya the Last Dragon are in trouble. Raya was made on a big budget while Spirit is going to have problems recovering $30 Million.

Cruella is at budget on the international box office which means it has to make more. Hopefully the at home screening plan worked.

Wrath of Man is doing well for a $40 Million dollar budget earning $124M on the world box office. Plus Statham films are always strong on rental, premium and streaming services.

Spiral bombed. Maybe this will finalize any more thoughts on future SAW related films.

Looks like they are letting Godzilla vs Kong ride until it breaks the $100M domestic mark. Should be this weekend. Although I think it would have done better non covid there is still no debate that the final numbers are in the same ball park as the other monster movies released since Godzilla 2014.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
Spiral bombed. Maybe this will finalize any more thoughts on future SAW related films.

Thank Goodness! That was a horrible series, so meanspirited and always the same plot and non-resolution at the end. Saw was full of unredeemable characters and, unlike Freddy and Jason etc., there was no humor to it. Just a bitter grind till everyone was dead and the culprit or multiple culprits got away for another sequel. I hope RIP Saw, maybe the box office finally did you in.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Raven,

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
Thank Goodness! That was a horrible series, so meanspirited and always the same plot and non-resolution at the end. Saw was full of unredeemable characters and, unlike Freddy and Jason etc., there was no humor to it. Just a bitter grind till everyone was dead and the culprit or multiple culprits got away for another sequel. I hope RIP Saw, maybe the box office finally did you in.

I did like the first one. As a horror movie it was an original entry idea into the genre. Had the sequel been used to finalize the terminally ill Jigsaw I probably could have accepted it but instead it began to ride the money train as far as it could go. The films became more interested in the method of the kill than as to the why. I stopped watching after the third one.

Top 5 for last weekend

1. The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (High chance of being a Miss) Stupid name for a movie.
2. A Quiet Place II (Hit!)
3. Peter Rabbit 2 (Strong International Box Office not quite a hit yet)
4. The Conjuring III (Hit!)
5. Cruella (Miss)

As predicted Godzilla vs Kong crawled past the $100M mark domestically being the second film to do so since covid.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
As predicted Godzilla vs Kong crawled past the $100M mark domestically being the second film to do so since covid.

Finally saw it when the DVD arrived. T thought the battles were entertaining and the little kid was cute, but the whole Hollow Earth/Journey to the Center of the Earth idea was a ripoff. Godzilla got the short shift personality wise. He just shows up to fight.
Otherwise it's Koko's, oh I mean Kong's, movie. Millie Brown is less annoying in Stranger Things.

I don't think I'm in for any more of this franchise having seen the last three, four if you count that Godzilla. They have taken this Titan methodology as far as it can go as a plot device in an actual world. You can suspend belief for good effects, but there still has to be some storyline and some dialog in between monster bashes.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
You can suspend belief for good effects, but there still has to be some storyline and some dialog in between monster bashes.

Storyline? What is this elusive thing you speak of?

I thought the center earth thing was kinda stupid but it was fun to look at. I wanted a check your brain at the door monster movie and that is what I got. I do agree that the idea machine is running out of gas.

F9 plowed through a $70M weekend to break the $400M world box office. I believe that is the strongest post covid domestic opening so far.

Quiet Place II continues to kill it with a higher domestic total of $136M while international lags a little behind at $112M.

FF9 was put out in movie theatres only, no streaming. This should make some studios rethink their policies of simultaneously releasing films in the movies and on TV screens.

There is also a glut of these small, niche cable shows streaming, all supposed to be wonderful, that I never heard about until I see the ads in the Hollywood Reporter. Wonder who is going to subscribe for some of this stuff now? Streaming revenue is being reported as under the estimated figure and they are already starting to cry.

Studios were betting that the shutdowns would last through 2021 and that this would be their new model. Happily it doesn't look like it yet.

Just got back from seeing F9 and wow it was bad. Up until this one I could at least enjoy the ride and humor. This one simply takes the audience for granted. There was actually a line about following the laws of physics.

Well I did hear something about a car going into Outer Space, so that could be FF's "jump the shark" moment.

But as a wise man once said, "Storyline? What is this elusive thing you speak of? "

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
Well I did hear something about a car going into Outer Space, so that could be FF's "jump the shark" moment.

A Ford Fiero to be exact and that is the scene where the laws of physics line was used. So maybe it was an attempt at humor.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
But as a wise man once said, "Storyline? What is this elusive thing you speak of? "

Hahahaha! Of course my bar was already pretty low for this one.

Although there is still some life in F9 I think it is possible this one will cause Universal to pause before green lighting 10.

Up until F9 every Vin Diesel appearing Fast film has earned an average of 5.3 times its production budget at the world wide box office.

Depending on what the actual budget is (I have read between $225 and $300M) it is currently sitting between 1.6 and 2.2 times cost and much of the international run is already over. Personally I like the look of the lesser budgeted films better.

In other news, Black Widow opened to strong first day totals of $13 Million and is looking at a possible $90M opening weekend on top of the $29 Disney plus viewers. Of course the upside for Disney is that paid home viewing eliminates theater profit sharing. The downside is that releasing to Disney plus also releases to the torrent sites. China is currently on a delayed opening date for showing the film in theaters. Rotten tomatoes has it certified fresh (just barely) but I get the overall impression that it is less than what people were hoping for.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
Rotten tomatoes has it certified fresh (just barely) but I get the overall impression that it is less than what people were hoping for.

From what I can gather, the movie plays more like a Bond spy type than Marvel superheroes. But Black Widow never had super powers, so that would be consistent to her story. It certainly doesn't sound any worse than a bunch Avengers running around time and the universe to collect a bunch of stones.

Also the reality part is that Scarlett Johansson is not coming back to the role, as far as anybody is saying anyway. We already know her supposed fate from the Avengers. So this origin story is set up less for Black Widow and more to pass the baton off to Florence Pugh.

I don't know if that's what the Marvel faithful wanted or not. Some say it's great and some say Black Widow doesn't get her due in her own film. I don't know, I'll see it eventually.

Black Widow weekend take:

80M domestic, 78M international, 60MDisney+, total 218M.

That settles that.

And they're really not going to do another one with ScarJo?

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
Black Widow weekend take:

80M domestic, 78M international, 60MDisney+, total 218M.

That settles that.

And they're really not going to do another one with ScarJo?

Went to go see it last night and it is really not that good. It's not WW84 bad but the whole thing feels stretched too thin. Both as a spy and MARVEL film it is unoriginal. You can't help but associate GI Joe and Fast & Furious to it. The main villain is dull and goofy. The big ending is (you guessed it) things and people falling from the sky. As a dysfunctional family dynamic film it is redundant. As a girl power movie it is overly obvious.

It's not unwatchable by any means and it is scattered with some good scenes but overall it goes to the low end of the MARVEL list for me.

I didn't realize that they are releasing a third G.I. Joe movie in the theaters this month.

Snake Eyes, coming July 23.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
Went to go see it last night and it is really not that good. It's not WW84 bad but the whole thing feels stretched too thin. Both as a spy and MARVEL film it is unoriginal. You can't help but associate GI Joe and Fast & Furious to it. The main villain is dull and goofy. The big ending is (you guessed it) things and people falling from the sky. As a dysfunctional family dynamic film it is redundant. As a girl power movie it is overly obvious.

It's not unwatchable by any means and it is scattered with some good scenes but overall it goes to the low end of the MARVEL list for me.

Ahh, then I may not even bother seeing it. I'm off the superhero drivel as it is, but I thought I might like this one as a stand-alone story and more Bond like. I haven't had a taste for girl power since as far back as when Buffy decided to gather up all the waiting in the wings Slayers for a finale that ruined the whole series. Still haven't gotten over that one.

I saw "Black Widow" yesterday as well. I agree that it was just kind of alright. It ran over two hours. A few scenes were long.

It helped when my baby niece clued me in on where in the chronology of events it took place especially since I haven't seen all the movies. Spoiler alert: Aquaman isn't in it.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
Black Widow weekend take:

80M domestic, 78M international, 60MDisney+, total 218M.

That settles that.

And they're really not going to do another one with ScarJo?

Went to go see it last night and it is really not that good. It's not WW84 bad but the whole thing feels stretched too thin. Both as a spy and MARVEL film it is unoriginal. You can't help but associate GI Joe and Fast & Furious to it. The main villain is dull and goofy. The big ending is (you guessed it) things and people falling from the sky. As a dysfunctional family dynamic film it is redundant. As a girl power movie it is overly obvious.

It's not unwatchable by any means and it is scattered with some good scenes but overall it goes to the low end of the MARVEL list for me.

Actually read an article where one of the writers admitted to downplaying the villain because of the time line. They didn't want it to overshadow what was already going on in the series. Big mistake. They should have just gone on to a basic Natasha loves Hawkeye origin story.

The fact that it fell to second place in one week to a kids movie is appropriate.

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
I saw "Black Widow" yesterday as well. I agree that it was just kind of alright. It ran over two hours. A few scenes were long.

It helped when my baby niece clued me in on where in the chronology of events it took place especially since I haven't seen all the movies. Spoiler alert: Aquaman isn't in it.