quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
I guess you catch wind of what is being called woke these days but nothing I found to invoke any sort of reaction. It's a political/social book disguised as science fiction. As with many of the titles from that period you have to push forward the scifi and water down the polisci for it to work on the larger audience.

Good science fiction has always straddled the line between being entertaining and being that political/social commentary you mention. In general I think the novels and short stories can be much more political/social leaning than film adaptions, especially because films are going to need mainstream diverse audiences, whereas writers are often only attracting what are already genre fans.

Still movie sci-fi that has managed to do it well is stuff like Blade Runner, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Fahrenheit 451, 1984, although they may have not be accepted that well at release. More entertaining stuff that still carried some message was the Star Wars, Star Trek and even Alien and Robocop franchises. However recent films just like The Martian and Ad Astra that are critically well reviewed just want to beat you over the head with the message and forget to be entertaining.

Getting back to Dune, remember that director Denis Villeneuve also helmed Arrival, another message movie masquerading as an Alien invasion story. Unfortunately I had to sit through it and you can add it to the list of critical hits that were awful to watch as far as my opinion goes. Given that, it is hardly surprising to find his Dune weighted heavily on the political/social side and less concerned with the exciting adventure part. In the end you always need characters, whether heroes or villains, that are relatable and actors that can play them that way. Then you add some action scenes and you may have made a film people would watch again.

Just think about how many recent movies you see yourself watching over and over again, as opposed to those films that are 20 - 70 years old that you keep dragging out. I'll bet there aren't all that many newer ones.

Well I have to admit my re-watching habits are generally random or sparked by something I have read. Obviously there is that very short list of exceptions.

I was fine with the message/story of Dune I just wanted to kill the messenger anyway. How one tells the story is as much of importance. At least a third of this movie is a dull mumble of dialog. I was in an IMAX theater and I could hear people eating their popcorn.

With that said I am still hooked enough to want to see the second half. Will just make sure I take a good nap before I go.

1. Dune $40M $180.6M International
2. Halloween Kills $73M $18M International
3. No Time to Die $120M $406M International
4. Venom: Let There Be Carnage $182M $170M International
5. Ron's Gone Wrong $7.3M $10M International

No 8 Shang-Chi still plowing away $221M domestic.

Will we see the rest of Dune? If all of these were first weekend numbers I would say there was hope. Unfortunately it has been on many international markets for a month already. It was accepted into China's theater system that opened this weekend. Another week or two should give us a clear picture.

Gonna call Halloween and Venom a HIT!

No Time to Die still has some climbing to do.

AND Ron's Gone Wrong again thinking it was a good idea to open up against Dune. Still reviews seem more up than down.

The Top 10 of 2021 Domestically, So far

1. Shang Chi
2. Black Widow
3. Venom 2
4. F9
5. A Quiet Place 2
6. No Time to Die (James Bond)
7. Free Guy
8. Jungle Cruise
9. Godzilla vs. Kong
10. Cruella

Although Halloween and Dune may make it to the Top 10 in the weeks ahead.

It seems we will get to see Dune Part 2. According to various online reports it has been given the Green Light, e.g.

https://variety.com/2021/film/...2-sequel-1235094974/

quote:

Originally posted by Kevin F:
It seems we will get to see Dune Part 2. According to various online reports it has been given the Green Light, e.g.

https://variety.com/2021/film/...2-sequel-1235094974/

Looks like it came in second to the propaganda film The Battle at Lake Changjin in China. Pulling in roughly $21 Million for the first weekend.

Dune is nowhere near the break even point, odd that WB is green lighting this early.

So I think the next one out the shutt will be The Eternals. Buzz on this looks already bad with some predicting the worst opening of the MCU films.

I know nothing of the backstory other than what is showing up now because evidently I never followed this bunch, but the main premise seems to be a problem for me from the start. Besides featuring Angelina Jolie, which has become a tip off to a disaster for me, this group of super beings seems to have been hanging around all the time while Endgame etc. has been coexisting.

That may or may not match up to the source material, I really don't know, but its dumb. Guardians that don't guard anything while millions die, this according to the plot, is hardly heroic. Why couldn't this have been a separate, unconnected story? As each Marvel universe film or TV show is developed, they keep trying to tie it all altogether and making the whole thing complex and increasingly senseless.

I know some Marvel experts may disagree with me, but as am not a Marvel expert, the MCU has already lost me.

A friend who read the book called me yesterday. He said the movie was great with some of the dialogue near word-for-word if not word-for-word. This movie was made by fans of the book for fans of the book. It would seem to be a rather limited target audience but it's doing well. I know colleges have had sci-fi courses going back to the 80's at least with even more focused ones these days so "Dune" might be more widely read than generally assumed - more big fans than I thought anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
Well I have to admit my re-watching habits are generally random or sparked by something I have read. Obviously there is that very short list of exceptions.

I was fine with the message/story of Dune I just wanted to kill the messenger anyway. How one tells the story is as much of importance. At least a third of this movie is a dull mumble of dialog. I was in an IMAX theater and I could hear people eating their popcorn.

With that said I am still hooked enough to want to see the second half. Will just make sure I take a good nap before I go.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
So I think the next one out the shutt will be The Eternals. Buzz on this looks already bad with some predicting the worst opening of the MCU films.

I know nothing of the backstory other than what is showing up now because evidently I never followed this bunch, but the main premise seems to be a problem for me from the start. Besides featuring Angelina Jolie, which has become a tip off to a disaster for me, this group of super beings seems to have been hanging around all the time while Endgame etc. has been coexisting.

That may or may not match up to the source material, I really don't know, but its dumb. Guardians that don't guard anything while millions die, this according to the plot, is hardly heroic. Why couldn't this have been a separate, unconnected story? As each Marvel universe film or TV show is developed, they keep trying to tie it all altogether and making the whole thing complex and increasingly senseless.

I know some Marvel experts may disagree with me, but as am not a Marvel expert, the MCU has already lost me.

I bought and read The Eternals comics when they first came out. In the UK comic fandom that I was part of at the time, they were universally condemned as being dreadful. Jack Kirby wrote and drew them. If I remember correctly, he got this as part of his deal when he returned to Marvel after several years away. The story and premise did not fit in with the existing comic universe in any way shape or form. I jokingly suggested that the title should be part of an alternate universe or be placed under the heading of 'Kirby Koncepts' so that it could remain completely separate from everything else. I only ever had the first dozen or so issues but it just got worse with each new release.

Given the arthouse, Oscar winning director behind this film version, I have extremely low expectations for it.

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
A friend who read the book called me yesterday. He said the movie was great with some of the dialogue near word-for-word if not word-for-word. This movie was made by fans of the book for fans of the book.

Exactly, that's the problem.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
...Dune is nowhere near the break even point, odd that WB is green lighting this early.

They probably had to make a decision weeks ago or else the cast and crew would have to consider different future projects.

As the title of the thread goes, Dune has been a hit, even though in the current conditions it makes you wonder how many big budget hollywood films will make their money back.

quote:

Originally posted by WOMBLE:
As the title of the thread goes, Dune has been a hit, even though in the current conditions it makes you wonder how many big budget hollywood films will make their money back.

Movie finances in this era are going to be very murky until things settle down. With the streaming channels and added subscriptions or separate viewing fees, some films will do very well, although the final tally may take longer to achieve . Hollywood was already at the point pre-Covid where some blockbusters needing $400M to break even weren't going to do it. Budgets will probably be scaled back, but that was coming anyway.

What we haven't mentioned at all is the DVD instant market that has picked up a lot lately and how that may be seen as siphoning off revenue. The black market, which had been dormant for awhile mainly due to lack of product, is alive and well again. Maybe not in every town. but in every big city. Dune, which opened in China in advance, was on the street corners of NYC at least a full week before it was available to be seen here. Opening stuff in China isn't the best idea.

Nobody has heard a lot about this because the new movies were bottled up, but as they now get out through various channels, the studios are going to start to be concerned about losing this money I'm sure. You can tell business has picked up again just by the DVDs you see on illegal vendor tables all over the place.

Speaking about DVDs, I made some observations when going to the local Target about two weeks ago:

Are movies being released on DVD faster than normal ? I saw Free Guy already available for purchase. Didn't that just come out in the theaters in August ? How is it out on DVD within 2 months ?

Two months ago the local Target had a whole shelf of Marvel and Star Wars DVDs, and boxed sets of TV shows. When I went back, it was all gone and all they had in terms of DVDs was a small section of kids' stuff and new releases only.

Yeah, I saw "Free Guy" at a checkstand at Target two weeks ago as well and wondered the same thing.

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
Speaking about DVDs, I made some observations when going to the local Target about two weeks ago:

Are movies being released on DVD faster than normal ? I saw Free Guy already available for purchase. Didn't that just come out in the theaters in August ? How is it out on DVD within 2 months ?

Two months ago the local Target had a whole shelf of Marvel and Star Wars DVDs, and boxed sets of TV shows. When I went back, it was all gone and all they had in terms of DVDs was a small section of kids' stuff and new releases only.

Looks like "Halloween" is about to hit # 10 on the list below, knocking off "Cruella"

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
The Top 10 of 2021 Domestically, So far

1. Shang Chi
2. Black Widow
3. Venom 2
4. F9
5. A Quiet Place 2
6. No Time to Die (James Bond)
7. Free Guy
8. Jungle Cruise
9. Godzilla vs. Kong
10. Cruella

Although Halloween and Dune may make it to the Top 10 in the weeks ahead.

Dune is a hit in France, and I loved the movie. It's not your typical scifi movie, and that's a good change.

Still can't understand how you can release a movie in theaters and at the same time on streaming.

Black Widow was a pain to watch for the most part. No interest in the next Marvel "rings" nor Eternals. Looking forward to the next Spiderman and Dr Strange.

No interest to see Bond in theaters, next movie will be Wes Anderson's French dispatch. Bill Murray.

I don't think "Dune" will make the Top 10 in the U.S.

It is hovering around # 16 now, inching its way up, but there are more films coming in 2021 (Spider-Man, Ghostbusters) that will probably make more money than Dune.

Looking at the big picture of films released in 2021, these were all losers in terms of money made:

The Suicide Squad
Snake Eyes (G.I.Joe)
Mortal Kombat
In the Heights
The Green Knight
Dear Evan Hansen
Cry Macho
The Many Saints of Newark
The Last Duel

Those nine movies are interesting because there are good reasons for each of them to be losers without even the challenges of COVID. Two Broadway musicals no one wanted to see. Two medieval "action" movies that were weighted down by heavy messaging and pompous actors. One "no-action" with a 90 year old hero. One prequel of a long gone cable TV show. And three comic book/video related movies made on more secondary titles when the market was already saturated with main character films.

From that list I think only Suicide Squad got mostly positive reviews and of course you have to have viewers that are interested in watching it. Many people just are not, no matter how well it may stack up in the genre.

So yeah, they lost money because they weren't good enough to make money. See what happens with The Eternals this weekend. It may top your list soon.

Why do they keep making these Harley Quinn/Suicide Squad movies ? Isn't this like the third one ?

The second one ("Birds of Prey") cost at least 100 M to make and it grossed 200 M, and yet they brought Quinn back again.

Correct me if I am wrong but the first one was "Suicide Squad" and for the new one they just added "The"

Enough is enough.