Posted on 03/01/2020 5:28:20 PM PST by EdnaMode
Harrison Fords canine adventure The Call of the Wild is shaping up to be the latest box office dud for the Disney-owned 20th Century.
The film, based on Jack Londons best-selling novel, has made $45 million in the U.S. and $79 million globally after two weeks in theaters. That wouldnt be a bad result, had The Call of the Wild cost a moderate amount to make and market. However, it carries a price tag above $125 million, meaning the film needs to make between $250 million and $275 million to break even, according to sources close to the production and rival studio executives. Given the unlikeliness that itll reach those ticket sales, The Call of the Wild is expected to lose around $50 million. TSG co-financed the film, which will help mitigate damages for Disney.
After Disney broke box office records last year with billion-dollar blockbusters like Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King and Captain Marvel, the studio is well positioned to withstand a hit or two. Since formally acquiring 20th Century Fox last year, Disney has jettisoned off a string of box office misfires. Most notably, the company blamed much of its $170 million quarterly write-down in August on X-Men spin-off Dark Phoenix, a film that cost $200 million and tapped out with $250 million globally. Underwater with Kristen Stewart, buddy comedy Stuber and the animated Spies in Disguise were also theatrical disappointments.
The Call of the Wild received mixed reviews from critics, though audiences seemed to like it more and gave it an A- CinemaScore. The film debuted to $24.8 million last weekend, ahead of expectations. Box office analysts believe it benefitted as Fords first major on-screen film role in years. The Call of the Wild declined 46% in its sophomore outing and brought in $13.3 million in North America, an average result for a family film. Internationally, The Call of the Wild has made $33 million from 50 foreign markets, representing 91% of its overseas footprint. However, Coronavirus has closed theaters in China, Italy and Korea, which could hinder ticket sales abroad.
The Call of the Wild was written by Michael Green (Logan, Blade Runner 2049) and directed by Chris Sanders. It follows a man (Ford) who crosses paths with a dog named Buck, who was captured from his California home and sold to freight haulers.
RE amazon and google:
They’re NOT our friends, brother...
That was a Ryan PT-22 Recruit. 1941 vintage trainer. I’d never heard of one before he crashed his.
“My dad had a T28..:”
That was a great learner plane back in the day.
I think it was a 28D
He trained in them
Flew 84, 86, 100 and 104.....104 a vertical beast but temperamental handling
Wanted a 47 or 51
Too pricey
The 28 was 90 grand fresh annual
Big radial...14-1500 horses
Bright silver a pretty bird
Dad died with I think pushing 25,000 hours military and private hours...from 1955-1995
He loved it and was good at it....his personal business plane was one of the last Duke ever made...before that he and his partners had big corporate planes but the Duke was his baby he flew ...it was convenient
Sorry, I don’t do that, anymore than I would not read Hemingway because he was a socialist. I stopped reading Stephen King, not because he was a loonie lefty, but because his monsters were never interesting and he was totally predictable.
Brad Thor, on the other hand, was already on the “bubble,” so I easily gave him up when he became a neverTrumper.
That’s a magnificent full aviation life that I could only dream of as an aviation enthusiast! Great story.
Ford isn't even the biggest left-winger involved in The Call of the Wild. It would actually be the writer of original novel himself, Mr. Jack London. London was certainly to the LEFT of Ford and was an outspoken, card-carrying Socialist. Ideologically he was where Bernie Sanders is, whereas Ford is more of a Chuck Schumer type RAT. What's more, Jack London actually tried to use his writing career to promote the cause of socialism and saw it as his calling (pun intended) to write novels "exposing" evil greedy American capitalism and talk about the plight of the homeless and poverty and blah blah blah, but when his Socialist manifestos failed to sell copies (ah, there's karma for you), he turned to writing cute "man-and-his-dog-survive-together-in-the-outdoors" adventure novels like Call of the Wild and White Fang. He always preferred the stuff preaching socialism instead though.
I've known all this from college. I suppose it would be poetic justice if someone took a Jack London novel and turned it into a patriotic, pro-American conservative movie, which would have London spinning in his grave, sort of a reverse of how Hollywood turned Little Orphan Annie into a love letter for FDR and the New Deal. Pretty much the opposite of what the creator of Little Orphan Annie would have wanted.
In any case, the dog adventure stories were much more apolitical and designed to appeal to everybody. I'm usually against remakes, but the most recent adaptation of COTW was an obscure 1972 flop with Charleton Heston (which doubt would have pissed off London) and before that, the 1935 movie which I doubt you will get today's kids and teens to watch. So in this case I'm all for "bringing the story to a new generation of viewers", as I was for the Dr. Doolittle remake (which also sadly flopped).
I'd say the failure here can be squarely aimed at the film's $150 million price tag (seriously, how can they blow $150 million making this kind of low-key, one-man story set in real life?) and the stupidity of making the dog 100% CGI. It should have been 0% CGI, I doubt there is anything in the book you couldn't get a well trained real-life dog to do on-set for a movie, not to mention they could probably use 7-8 lookalike dogs to play the role.
Billy, I never knew Ford was anything like how you described. Thank you for the insight.
My rule of thumb with Hollywood celebrities is always "Assume they are liberal Democrats until PROVEN otherwise"
And I've noticed a number of FReepers are crushed to discover Clint Eastwood is voting RAT in 2020 and is anti-Trump. Some are still in denial about it and think its "fake news". A bunch of FReepers assumed Clint was a conservative Republican just because he opposed Obama's re-election. Not me. Clint's politics are actually mostly left-of-center (pro gay marriage, gun control, tree hugging, etc.), along with a handful of conservative economic beliefs.
Ford and Eastwood are very different than the typical grizzled, no-nonsense tough guy roles they play in movies.
A concept becoming easier and easier with each passing day.
These days I pretty much only watch foreign movies.
Most of our “domestic” movies seem like they come from a strange, foreign land known as Sodom.
A concept becoming easier and easier with each passing day.
Yep. I havent been to the movies in years.
can someone explain how a movie has a “price tag:” of say 100 mill, but needs 200 mill to “break even?”
Marketing costs and splitting profits with the movie theaters is why they have to earn double the budget.
So when they say budget. The costs you mention are not in the budget. I worked budgets 20 years and we projected and included everything we could thanx. Guess thats why I dont work Hollywood.
So when they say budget. The costs you mention are not in the budget. I worked budgets 20 years and we projected and included everything we could thanx. Guess thats why I dont work Hollywood.
Deadline has an annual column about the most profitable films of the year. This one shows how the profits were calculated. Marketing is listed under “Worldwide prints and ads.”
Thanx
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