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ISLAND DESERTED - CHOCOLATE FACTORY, WEDDING TAKE CAKE (DreamWorks "The Island" BOMBS!)
BOX OFFICE MOJO.COM ^ | 07/25/2005 | BRANDON GRAY

Posted on 07/24/2005 10:40:27 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist

A candy man and a couple of randy men handily squelched a weak attack of the clones, though overall business suffered. The year-to-year down trend returned as the top 12 pictures generated an estimated $128.9 million, down seven percent from the comparable frame last year.

Intended as a summer tent-pole, DreamWorks' The Island transplanted a meager estimated $12.1 million from 3,122 theaters. Director Michael Bay's $122 million clone thriller, co-produced by DreamWorks and Warner Bros., earned a fraction of such similar summer science fiction events as I, Robot and Minority Report and stands as a massive misfire along the lines of XXX: State of the Union or Rollerball.

"Clearly, this is a disappointing opening," said DreamWorks' head of distribution Jim Tharp. "The tracking had indicated that we were looking at this kind of opening, but it is still disappointing. I liked the movie. We can only hope the film finds an audience down the road." According the studio's exit polling, 51 percent of the audience was male and 52 percent was over the age of 25.

The Island marked Michael Bay's first movie away from mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer and his first outright financial failure. Guided by Bruckheimer's slick, crowd-pleasing aesthetic, Bay's track record was five for five with the hits Bad Boys, The Rock, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor and Bad Boys II. The Island looked like Bay's past movies superficially, replete with cacophonous pyrotechnics and choppy editing, and it carried over the Bruckheimer tradition of off-beat casting with leads Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson.

Gone from the equation were an appealing premise and savvy marketing. The Island had a genre identity crisis, crudely mixing futuristic sci-fi with present-day action in what looked like a cross between Logan's Run and The 6th Day.

(Excerpt) Read more at boxofficemojo.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: dreamworks; hollywood; theisland
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To: mass55th

It's not so much a remake of the 1953 version as another crack at the novel. It's much more faithful to the spirit of the Wells text then the earlier film which was good in its own right.


81 posted on 07/25/2005 9:53:42 AM PDT by Borges
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To: Borges
Just some of the most admired works of recent American popular art...

Recent American popular art, well if you say so. I took "Theater Appreciation" too! Just don't get the cart before the horse there B. Shakespear and Sophocles had their rape, bloodshed, and mutliations occur off stage and out of sight. It wasn't splashed on the screen, over and over and over again.
82 posted on 07/25/2005 11:03:06 AM PDT by AD from SpringBay (We have the government we allow and deserve.)
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To: AD from SpringBay
Ever read Titus Andronicus or King Lear? The latter has a character gouge out another person's eyes on stage. The former is virtually nonstop carnage. And the films I mentioned are lot more then mindless violence.
83 posted on 07/25/2005 11:18:07 AM PDT by Borges
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To: Walkingfeather
Blade runner sucked.

Well BR is not an action movie it is a artistic scifi, noir, detective drama.

It's a good movie for it's type, you just have to watch it a very times to understand it.

Also, the music from the music is great, Blade Runner Blues is one my all time favorite pieces of music.

84 posted on 07/25/2005 1:48:39 PM PDT by Paul C. Jesup
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To: Paul C. Jesup

The Greek composer Vangelis did 'Chariots of Fire' and 'Blade Runner' in two consecutive years. Good peak.


85 posted on 07/25/2005 2:07:51 PM PDT by Borges
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To: SlowBoat407

Like I said I got that whole thing.... and you know who being an android.... and having more human charictaristics than others....Yada yada, I think the film was held together with hype and a six inch piece of string. The music I recall as interesting but even with the removal of the irritating naration I still walked out thinking of the kings new clothes. Glad you enjoyed it, it was not my experience.


86 posted on 07/25/2005 3:33:39 PM PDT by Walkingfeather
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To: Borges
The Greek composer Vangelis did 'Chariots of Fire' and 'Blade Runner' in two consecutive years. Good peak.

I agree, those are some good pieces of music.

87 posted on 07/25/2005 3:39:26 PM PDT by Paul C. Jesup
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To: Jhensy
Then there's 'Armageddon'... and 'Pearl Harbor'... he's the worst, most dishonest rip-off of all Hollywood directors. May he bomb forever.

Actually, "The Island" would be his first bomb. All of his movies, as reviled by some as they are, still were hits.
88 posted on 07/25/2005 4:20:36 PM PDT by Galactic Overlord-In-Chief ("I do know dumbass questions when I see dumbass questions." - Senator Orrin Hatch to Chuckie Schumer)
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