I’m dizzy from all of the spin in this article. This movie has a very long way to go before it breaks even.
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The spin on this movie from both sides is wild. One side is making up fake success stories to defend it, and the other is forcing a narrative of failure to tear it down. To one crowd, it proves you can ‘go woke and not go broke’; to the other, it ‘needs a billion just to break even’, which is hilarious.
Both sides are wrong, no matter how much that statement would irate people (ironically, both sides would hate what I just said :). )
The truth, as it often tends to be, is in the middle. Yes, there were ridiculous woke elements that detracted from the movie and took away from it, no matter what its supporters may want/think. But it’s also a massive Nolan film, and it’s going to make money and won’t be the colossal flop some want.
Both things are true.
What’s funny is this happens every year. For example, when the movie Sinners came out last year, the same weirdness was seen. This time from Hollywood, which NEEDED that movie to fail. Why? Because of the deal its creator/director had that threatened to shift power dynamics/economics away from Hollywood. This made Hollywood (and its trade media) want to paint it as a financial disaster. Even after it made $60m the first weekend (on a $90m budget), they said that it would need to this or that to break even. Then it got to that level, and it kept doing well. They eventually went silent, especially after it made $350m in theaters alone (breaking several records for an original, R-rated film, and that money made before it went into digital and streaming) but it was hilarious to see how bad Hollywood studios and media like Variety and Vulture really tried to make it look like a failure, until it was clear that it was not going to fail.
‘Our side’ does the same too. I’ve been in FR long enough to remember what some were saying here when Avatar (the first one) was coming out, and how some were saying it would absolutely fail and that it was anti-West and what not. I don’t think ‘woke’ was a word then. It did not fail, becoming the highest grossing movie of all time at $2.9bn, and people went quiet.
Bottom line: The Odyssey is far from a perfect movie and will not make as much as those who love it would have wanted it to make. The Odyssey is also far from a useless movie and will make more profit than those who hate it would like it to.
Not all that long. More importantly, profits are assured, even if it might take a couple of years. TV, cable, DVDs, streaming, merchandising.
At some point it becomes a cash cow within the studio's film library, still earning revenue decades after its release.
Since maybe the 1980s, theatrical box office has represented only a small percentage of a film's total revenue.
The story is so compelling that it would have made money with midgets in the roles. The question is why? Why the departure from the book? The answer is wokeness. It’s across the street from me, I will see it, and report back to you all.
a fool and his money are soon parted
I felt the same way - but four days in - it looks healthy.
Budget - $250 million
Four Day Box Office - $264 million
Four days include the one night Grand Opening in London, which might have been Zero Box Office.
Rule of Thumb for break even...
Two times (2X) the projected budget.
Break Even Estimate - $500 million