| Author |
Topic:
Is August a good time to release a SW movie?
|
JediOverlord
Registered:
Apr '00
|
Date Posted:
7/1 1:41pm
Subject:
Is August a good time to release a SW movie?
|
This is what worries me about SW:TCW's release date: movies released in August/September usually don't do well, because they're usually the bad ones the studios are holding off until after the summer blockbuster season winds down, and you don't normally see movies with such big merchandising pushes as SW: TCW will have released at time.
But then again, August is back-to-school shopping season, so a movie with merchandising tie-ins released at the time is an interesting experiment.
What I'm saying is, I hope GL and WB know what they're doing.
-----signature-----
On Lord of the Rings: I could never get behind a franchise where, in the back of my mind, I know the characters are tending to their restroom needs in a bucket.
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
darth_nemisis
Registered:
May '04
|
Date Posted:
7/1 1:58pm
Subject:
RE: Is August a good time to release a SW movie?
|
|
I would have preferred a May release date...but I don't see the trouble in having in August. I guess that's only because I watch movies in August. I would think that August is included in the "Blockbuster" season or whatever.
-----signature-----
 ~Dark Lord - Acolytes of Darkness (SWC)~ My new homepage! http://www.aaronnemisis.com !~!~stormBoards now available~!~! http://stormboards.aaronnemisis.com/
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
Cellist
Registered:
Jul '03
|
Date Posted:
7/1 2:36pm
Subject:
RE: Is August a good time to release a SW movie?
|
May would have been nice, but ultimately it would have fared worse for the movie because of the competition with Iron Man, Indiana Jones and Prince Caspian. Releasing it in August is definitely more sensible as far as the box office goes.
-----signature-----
"Baron Of Not Catching On" of the JCC Shiny Council http://www.getphpbb.com/phpbb/index.php?mforum=shinycouncil Sir Cellulitis of Lardipuss of the Knights of the Round Espy I believe in mermaids
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
The2ndQuest
Title: :
-Games
-LACWAC
-Lit Mod of Death
Registered:
Jan '00
|
Date Posted:
7/1 3:30pm
Subject:
RE: Is August a good time to release a SW movie?
|
August is still a month for big movies- but only the first 2 weeks. The last two weeks are usually dumping grounds. But the first two weeks usually feature a few big movies. High profile comedies like American Pie or Super Bad often are released during that timeframe, but usually there's at least 1 big action movie being the last hurrah of the blockbuster season.
This August's first 2 weeks contains Mummy 3, Pineapple Express & Tropic Thunder as far as major releases go, besides SWCW.
I think another big factor at play here is the debut of the TV series proper- releasing the movie in August helps hype people up for the Tv debut in Sept/Oct. So this way the show hits with the movie still pretty fresh in the minds of audiences. Had they released it earlier in the season, Iron Man, Indy, Hulk, Panda, Wall*E, Wanted, Dark Knight & X-Files would have overshadowed it big time.
-----signature-----
K'Kruhk, 140 ABY: "Why haven't I come forth earlier to share my Jedi knowledge with Skywalker?
Well, it's kinda a long story, see, I had this freaking sweet hat..."
Is your Death Magnetic?
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
Gry Sarth
Registered:
Jun '99
|
Date Posted:
7/1 3:36pm
Subject:
RE: Is August a good time to release a SW movie?
|
I have a real hard time understanding this whole north-american mindset of "movie seasons". I mean, if they're showing a movie that interests me, I go to the cinema and watch it. It doesn't matter if it's winter, spring, august, mid-april, christmas, yom-kippur or carnaval.
Another thing I have a hard time understanding is why people worry about whether the movie will "do well" or not. All I care is whether it "is good" or not, Lucas' accountants can worry about the box office.
-----signature-----
If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all.
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
JediOverlord
Registered:
Apr '00
|
Date Posted:
7/1 4:22pm
Subject:
RE: Is August a good time to release a SW movie?
|
Gry Sarth posted:
I have a real hard time understanding this whole north-american mindset of "movie seasons". I mean, if they're showing a movie that interests me, I go to the cinema and watch it. It doesn't matter if it's winter, spring, august, mid-april, christmas, yom-kippur or carnaval.
Another thing I have a hard time understanding is why people worry about whether the movie will "do well" or not. All I care is whether it "is good" or not, Lucas' accountants can worry about the box office.
Me too, but it's something I was just wondering, because you don't often see movies with such a big merchandising push being released in late summer/early fall.
Also, Hollywood likes to think they know when to release certain movies.
-----signature-----
On Lord of the Rings: I could never get behind a franchise where, in the back of my mind, I know the characters are tending to their restroom needs in a bucket.
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
vong333
Registered:
Oct '03
|
Date Posted:
7/1 4:28pm
Subject:
RE: Is August a good time to release a SW movie?
|
|
I agree with The2ndQuest. To release the clone wars in May would have been suicide, and GL would be cutting his own throat. I think that the release in Aug will be fine, and the fact that it is animated will cause many families to bring the kids, teenagers and preteens to watch it. So far, Kung Fu Panda has done well, and Wall-E is well on the way to success. Also, GL is on the verge of a very big milestone. Indy has already made worldwide approximately $714 million and counting, when the clone wars comes out, you can bet your rockers that the movie will make at least 300 million giving GL the distiction of having two movies gross over a billion dollars worldwide. Not bad. It sucks that everything is done with marketing in mind and success at the boxoffice is an indicator of success for a movie. Even if you like the movie and its not a success comercially, its going to be billed a failure. Case in point, I truly liked Speed Racer, and thought that the family storyplot was good, the special effect worthy of getting the dvd in blue ray with all the bursting colors, but fianancially it was a bust. So box office does play an important part in a franchise continuing. If the Clone Wars movie does real well, GL may want to repeat it again in 3 years or so.
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
MissPadme
Registered:
Jul '98
|
Date Posted:
7/1 8:10pm
Subject:
RE: Is August a good time to release a SW movie?
|
The decision to release CW in the theaters was a late one. Indiana Jones was already on track for a May 2008 release and there was no way Lucasfilm was going to pit two of its projects against each other. Don't forget that just about all of the folks at Lucasfilm who were working on promoting Indiana Jones ALSO work on SW. It ain't that big of a company.
The release date has its advantages. Kids are still out of school in August, the bigger hyped films will already be out, Indiana Jones' run will be about over, and it's close enough to the show's debut. The idea is to get people jazzed for the t.v. series, not really to rack in TPM-esque box office totals.
--MissPadme
-----signature-----
http://lazypadawan.livejournal.com The Star Wars Prequel Appreciation Society http://starwarsprequelappreciationsociety.wordpress.com/ I spent too much on collectibles! Where's my bailout?
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
darth_nemisis
Registered:
May '04
|
Date Posted:
7/2 3:58am
Subject:
RE: Is August a good time to release a SW movie?
|
The only reason I mentioned May is because, to me, that is Star Wars Month. All 6 movies were released in may and May the 4th be with you is just awesome.  I do understand the whole thing about all the big movies that came out. I've already been to the movies...6 times this month...give or take some. Star Wars would've been another trip.
The2ndQuest posted:
This August's first 2 weeks contains Mummy 3, Pineapple Express & Tropic Thunder as far as major releases go, besides SWCW.
That's at least four trips to the movie theater for me in August. So, yeah, August does seem to be a good month for movies.
-----signature-----
~Dark Lord - Acolytes of Darkness (SWC)~ My new homepage! http://www.aaronnemisis.com !~!~stormBoards now available~!~! http://stormboards.aaronnemisis.com/
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
MatthewZ
Registered:
Sep '03
|
Date Posted:
7/2 4:22am
Subject:
RE: Is August a good time to release a SW movie?
|
Gry Sarth posted:
I have a real hard time understanding this whole north-american mindset of "movie seasons". I mean, if they're showing a movie that interests me, I go to the cinema and watch it. It doesn't matter if it's winter, spring, august, mid-april, christmas, yom-kippur or carnaval.
Another thing I have a hard time understanding is why people worry about whether the movie will "do well" or not. All I care is whether it "is good" or not, Lucas' accountants can worry about the box office.
It is school age kids (mainly boys) who drive the box office. Movie season is when they have easiest access to theaters.
-----signature-----
What I posted was true......from a certain point of view.
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
SaberJedi2
Registered:
Apr '07
|
Date Posted:
7/2 5:41am
Subject:
RE: Is August a good time to release a SW movie?
|
|
Seeing as today is July 2, we would have seen the release nearly two months ago if it were in May. Because the release is going to be in August, we all still have something to look forward to.
-----signature-----
October 3 - The Clone Wars comes to TV
November 26 - Fanboys
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
The2ndQuest
Title: :
-Games
-LACWAC
-Lit Mod of Death
Registered:
Jan '00
|
Date Posted:
7/2 6:35am
Subject:
RE: Is August a good time to release a SW movie?
|
MatthewZ posted:
Gry Sarth posted:
I have a real hard time understanding this whole north-american mindset of "movie seasons". I mean, if they're showing a movie that interests me, I go to the cinema and watch it. It doesn't matter if it's winter, spring, august, mid-april, christmas, yom-kippur or carnaval.
Another thing I have a hard time understanding is why people worry about whether the movie will "do well" or not. All I care is whether it "is good" or not, Lucas' accountants can worry about the box office.
It is school age kids (mainly boys) who drive the box office. Movie season is when they have easiest access to theaters.
It's also families. When you have either major holidays or vacations, more familes and school-age kids can go out more often to things like the movies. It's why movies that are top-tier titles are positioned to coincide with those times to maximize potential audiences and revenues. You get them during spring break season, summer vacation, thanksgiving & christmas/new years.
There's also the issue of the feel of movies usually associated with the various times. Valentine's Day weekend usually is the aim of movies with either a major love story or counter-programming to a movie with a major love story. Spring break you get a good arrangement of 2nd-tier event films. Summer is dominated by the huge spectacle films, august usually is the strongest for comedies, especially teen comedies, though late august is usually a dumping ground (but sometimes a few decent smaller action flicks sometimes sneak through hoping to survive where there's less huge titles crowding them). The fall gets a huge wave of more dramatic and oscar-hoepfull films for the older crowds that most frequent movies while kids are still in the back-to-school mode, as well as horror films as you approach Halloween. November and December get the big family films as well as event films that would feel out of place in the summer or would get overshadowed or lost amongst the packed summer schedule. January is usually another dumping ground, but over the past 10 years since the Special Editions we've started to see some films find success there.
As for why we should care- the success of a film matters to the viewer in several ways. It's success can determine how long it'll remain in theaters (longer period of time to reccomend a movie to friends/family so they can get a chance to see it too and discuss it with you and/or more time to see the movie again with people who haven't), as well as how well it will be treated post-theaters in terms of DVD/Blueray features and care, and, most importantly, how sustainable a particular franchise will be in the future.
For example- if you loved Speed Racer or The Love Guru, it's lack of success means you won't get further installments of those worlds and characters that you might otherwise have liked to have seen. If we want to see more we need it to do well.
-----signature-----
K'Kruhk, 140 ABY: "Why haven't I come forth earlier to share my Jedi knowledge with Skywalker?
Well, it's kinda a long story, see, I had this freaking sweet hat..."
Is your Death Magnetic?
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
Gry Sarth
Registered:
Jun '99
|
Date Posted:
7/2 9:30am
Subject:
RE: Is August a good time to release a SW movie?
|
Thanks, 2ndQuest, that was a thoughtful response.
I'm still not quite convinced on some of the points though. The whole children and vacation thing makes perfect sense, but I don't really see how that affects the whole adult market. As far as I know, adults go to movies whenever they feel like... Are children really so predominant in the box-office?
And your reasons why we should care about the box office make perfect sense. Although I don't think they apply so much to Star Wars. George Lucas has already stated that he'll pretty much make whatever he wants, as much as he wants, whether or not it makes money. He's the one financing it and is not really concerned with the box-office/tv ratings.
-----signature-----
If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all.
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
The2ndQuest
Title: :
-Games
-LACWAC
-Lit Mod of Death
Registered:
Jan '00
|
Date Posted:
7/2 9:50am
Subject:
RE: Is August a good time to release a SW movie?
- Date Edited:
7/2 9:54am (2 edits total)
Edited By:
The2ndQuest
|
Well, Star Wars is more the exception to the rule. There aren't many Lucas's out there who can just do whatever they want to regardless of financial success- though in the case of Clone Wars, if the theatrical debut underperforms, I think it's a safe bet even Lucas, being the smart businessman that he is, would avoid doing further CW theatrical films and just let it stick to TV. However, if CW exceeds expectations, it does bode well for the possibility of future theatrical CW films (perhaps even kicking off every season with one?). So even there, how something performs is applicable.
Gry Sarth posted:
...I don't really see how that affects the whole adult market. As far as I know, adults go to movies whenever they feel like... Are children really so predominant in the box-office?
The 18-25 market is a massive demographic- thats your highschoolers-with-cars and college kids demographic, who have less time when school is in session.
25+ is a bit different, but it depends on what one's job is. Those with jobs tied to education or businesses that are reduced in demand during the summer, would have more free time from the weekly grind to relax and catch a flick. Ditto for parents of kids in school. People in general prefer to go out somewhere during the warmer seasons and when they have more free time. Summer/holiday/vacations are linked in this way even to adults.
Though, in a way, it's more about getting as many demographics into the seats as possible. Adults might be able to come out en masse whenever they want if they so desired, but the kids can't. Grouping the releases to take maximum advantage of the kids allows a movie to get the numbers from the kids AND the adults who could go anytime.
-----signature-----
K'Kruhk, 140 ABY: "Why haven't I come forth earlier to share my Jedi knowledge with Skywalker?
Well, it's kinda a long story, see, I had this freaking sweet hat..."
Is your Death Magnetic?
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
Cid
Registered:
Aug '07
|
Date Posted:
7/2 2:58pm
Subject:
RE: Is August a good time to release a SW movie?
|
|
I'll never understand why anybody but the studio pencil necks are the least bit concerned with release dates and box office.
-----signature-----
Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who wants to live in an institution?
--Groucho Marx
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
JediOverlord
Registered:
Apr '00
|
Date Posted:
7/2 3:07pm
Subject:
RE: Is August a good time to release a SW movie?
|
Cid posted:
I'll never understand why anybody but the studio pencil necks are the least bit concerned with release dates and box office.
So true.
I heard that Paramount moved back the release date of the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie from this Christmas to next May because they think it'll do better then, but J.J. is kinda upset at this, because he thinks it would've done well this holiday season regardless.
Studio suits are weird.
-----signature-----
On Lord of the Rings: I could never get behind a franchise where, in the back of my mind, I know the characters are tending to their restroom needs in a bucket.
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
