“Blockbuster” = LOUD, endless and boring CGI, lots of explosions, no plot, no character development, and crappy acting. No thanks.
Good movies require good screenplays. It’s easier just to feature a bunch of explosions and CGI crap. Of course if you did have a good screenplay, you’d need someone who could actually act, versus posing on a red carpet.
I’m surprised few have addressed this factor:
Really, how many people are keen on seeing new movies _opening_day_ or _opening_weekend_?
“Blockbuster” currently is defined in terms of the first few days of release. That made more sense in a day when seeing good movies at all was an effort, but now with the inundation of media (flat-rate on-demand 4K content to the home, nearly full access to anything anytime for <$6), the sense of urgency is waning. A growing number would rather pay $4 to watch all but the very latest on demand, and while waiting for the very latest to work its way around to Redbox, iTunes, or Netflix. Heck, many would rather pay $20 to own it opening day than >$30 to go see it in a theater.
Theater-centered movie releases are passing. There’s a growing audience for first-day on-demand streaming, replacing the “opening-day blockbuster” fans.
The good news is that just as box-office flops used to see early release on DVD, we should start to see them showing up on streaming shortly after their "release". That means that more people will watch them at their own convenience, and in the comfort of their own home.
I took my 95 year-old mother to see the last Star Wars movie. She hadn’t been to a theater in decades. I thought she would be wowed by the special effects. Afterwards I asked her if she liked it. “No,” she replied. “Please, next time let’s stay at home and re-watch one of the oldies. The Star Wars movie moved to fast to follow, and there was little to like. No romance.”
“The kind that will make a billion dollars but will never be financially profitable, thanks to Hollywood’s shady accounting practices?”
This is so misleading it is incorrect. The thing is that NO Hollywood movie makes money. On the books. They find a way to lose money on EVERY movie, for tax reasons. They can always dump more on marketing or some other thing so that the movies always ‘lose money’. The reality is that everyone got paid and many of the people involved made millions. The only one that really lost out is the tax man. This has been going on for years. So the idea that having more movies that lose money will be a problem for Hollywood is false because they all, technically and legally, lose money.
You might be thinking, oh but I heard of one that did well. Nope. You probably heard quoted a comparison of the box office take and the cost to make it. That might look good but that is not the whole story. At least not as far as what the studios tell the tax man. The rest of the money that would be profit is ‘lost’ in marketing and other ‘expenses’ which mostly go back into the pockets of whoever the studio wants to pay. So the studio ‘loses’ a tiny bit for tax reasons, everyone gets paid a huge amount and life goes on.
So if you ever somehow get offered a movie deal for a book or something, never never never sign a deal to get a percentage of the net profit.
I’ll likely go to see Infinity War and Tomb Raider.
Glad to see Maze Runner is back on track, enjoyed the first two.
What a fantastic lineup of movies!
There’ll be sure to be a line around
the block of expectant 12 year-olds.
If they want adult viewers, forget it.
Two of us saw Star Wars Saturday morning for $10.
Still a packed show.
I am in agreement that it takes a special movie to leave the house for.
We sat through 40 minutes of previews and commercials, 100% avoidable by the theatre owners in making patrons happy and a big contribution to why I no longe consider a dinner and a movie date attractive.
Aquaman will be the Waterworld of superhero movies. Warner has NO ideas how to do comic books (outside of Batman’s success). Aquaman is not a strong enough or interesting character to base a big movie on.
DC has never been able to bring its great stable of characters to the Big Screen effectively.. outside of Superman and Batman.... And their latest reboot of Superman was a dud and a half....
Wonder Woman was the sole exception to this, and my bet is they will somehow figure out a way to muck it up whenever they make the sequel.
WB just can’t seem to, in general, get the corporate crap out of the way.
Rebirth has saved the actual comic books, though DC has gone too PC and full on poofer promoting in a lot of its books as well.
Marvel hasn’t had a flop yet.... though IMHO some of its movies have been stinkers, so far they haven’t seen a drop in attendance. Quality has clearly visibly dropped, but audience haven’t had fatigue yet.. though I think they will soon. We shall see.
“Mary Poppins Returns”
And I missed it....dang
Ready Player One - eh, maybe
Pacific Rim 2 - Definitely no
Aquaman - slimy gill man, no thanks, feel sorry for the actor cast in that role
Toy Story 4 - no, been downhill since the first one
Deadpool 2 - Yes, probably the winner for 2018
Black Panther - no, and I am not a racist
The Flash - no
How To Train Your Dragon 3 - if you didn't learn how by 2, you will never learn
Ant-Man And The Wasp - Just silly, I'll wait for red box
Jurassic World 2 - Red box
The Predator - is this a remake?
Fifty Shades Freed - My wife dragged me to the first and second installment of this trash, I will probably have to sit through this one as well. Ugg.
Jungle Book: Origins - again???
Marry Poppins Returns - again, again???
Tomb Raider - again, again, again???
Alita: Battle Angel - no thanks
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them 2 - I might see this one
The Secret Life Of Pets 2 - please Gawd, no
animated Spider-Man movie - no, no, and no
Hotel Transylvania 3 - this is a trck question, right? NO
The Wolf Man - hmmm, have to see wha this one is about before making a call
Wreck-It Ralph 2 - nope
Star Wars Han Solo spinoff - please, Disney, don't screw this one up. I am actually hoping it is good.
Transformers Bumblebee spinoff - Hell no
Maze Runner: The Death Cure - Red box
How The Grinch Stole Christmas - prefer the original cartoon, and this has already been made into a movie with Jim Carrey, so why again?
Gigantic (Disney's next hand-drawn animated musical) - not interested.
Yep, looks like a pretty dismal year at the box office.
All...here is a film recommendation for you — “ A Very Long Engagement.” Wkik — “it is a 2004 French romantic war film, co-written and directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and starring Audrey Tautou. It is a fictional tale about a young woman’s desperate search for her fiancé who might have been killed during World War I. It was based on the novel of the same name, written by Sebastien Japrisot, first published in 1991.”
It is actually a lot more than that. It masterfully weaves together the extreme folly of war, a fantastic mystery and investigation, the ways men sought to escape the sheer insanity of WW I, murder, government corruption and coverup, and the incredible determination of the young female protagonist to find the truth. Magnificently acted, a superb original musical score that perfectly fits the somber theme, and tremendous cinematography. It also has some of the best WW I war scenes I’ve ever seen.
It’s in French, so you must be comfortable reading subtitles.
I’m not sure it’s available on streaming; I got the Netflix BluRay disc.
Because the word “blockbuster” has come to mean “clickbait”.
Are we to infer from this article that “Fifty Shades Freed” costs the same to make as “Avengers: Infinity War”?
A bunch of these are some real apples vs. oranges comparisons.
Ant-Man and the Wasp sounds like a comedy.
Tomb Raider sounds like another cheap rip-off of a video game.
Fifty Shades Freed isn't going to attract the kids who go to comic book movies.
Disney movies attract massive audiences, but they aren't competing for the dollars from the teen/young adult audience.
Heck, I'd say most of them aren't expected to be real "blockbusters" if that measn Star Wars or Raiders of the Lost Ark or Titanic sensations.
Comic book superhero movies may be dying, but if you can tweak the formula a bit, you can still make money.
Those teen hero sagas will attract big audiences at least until the current series end, and if you can get something that appeals to adults and children as well as teens, you could find an audience.
Will? I tried to rent a movie from them last month, but it had closed.
lots of sequels and super hero planned for release next year. If this holds, a lot of money will be lost. Disney has two top hits right now. Coco is over 450 mill and the new one already hit 450 million worldwide in less than a week. Difficult to know how to bet.
I have been going to movies since 1950. At time sone a week. Now one the last 11 months. Content to stream and wait for them to be available on streaming services. But teens go and mommy and daddy give them money.
https://www.google.com/searchclient=safari&rls=en&q=movies+being+released+in+2018&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
I am looking forward to the social justice “pressure” to see Black Panther. They will be “shocked” that white people will go see it. If it sucks we will all be racist for not going.