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Holiday Movie Boycott 2011

Discussion in 'Archive: The Amphitheatre' started by Jabbadabbado, Dec 13, 2011.

  1. Jabbadabbado

    Jabbadabbado Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Mar 19, 1999
    Another movie season, another long list of reasons to stay home. Mission Impossible 4? Sherlock Holmes 2? Alvin and the Chipmunks 3? An American remake of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo...still set in Sweden????1?

    Ugh. Time to spike the eggnog, put another log on the fire, then watch the fire for 2 hours.
     
  2. Obi Anne

    Obi Anne Celebration Mistress of Ceremonies star 8 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Nov 4, 1998
    I've already promised my aunt and nephew that we're going to see Sherlock Holmes together.

    Now I wasn't interested in the Girl with the Dragon tatoo, after all I didn't enjoy the original, but I think I've gotten caught a bit in the hype around it. Still don't think I'll go watch it though.
     
  3. Mastadge

    Mastadge Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 4, 1999
    I'm probably going to see more movies this month than I have in the last six. I don't care much about Sherlock Holmes, but my brother wants to see it when he's home. Ghost Protocol, on the other hand, is getting excellent early reviews and, more importantly, looks like a lot of fun from a director I trust. Fincher is one of the few directors whom I'll consistently see in the theater anymore.
     
  4. Jabbadabbado

    Jabbadabbado Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Mar 19, 1999
    Yes, I admit I'm a Fincher fan too. I really enjoyed the original Dragon Tattoo Girl, but I think the American remake will be a much better deal than the Americanization of Let the Right One In.

    So, I'll see that one. And probably Tin Tin and War Horse. And The Darkest Hour, because the last two alien invasion movies out were awful. Third time's the charm, right? Ok, and We Bought a Zoo, because it looks like a cute family film. But that's it. Other than that, my holiday movie boycott will be complete.
     
  5. Nevermind

    Nevermind Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Oct 14, 2001
    Just read a bad review of "Tintin" in EW...
     
  6. Jabbadabbado

    Jabbadabbado Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Mar 19, 1999
    Tintin has made $230 million plus in box office outside the U.S. I don't think it will make that much here, but bad or good it's going to make around $400 million worldwide.

    I don't see any movies coming out this month with megablockbuster potential.
     
  7. DarthBoba

    DarthBoba Manager Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2000
    Of course not. The last Christmas blockbusters were the LOTR films as far as I'm aware; it's a season where travel & gift-shopping burn up most of the money that might get spent on films.


    Anyway, I'll be seeing Sherlock Holmes, Tin Tin, and maybe War Horse if my wife wants to. (She's a horse person.)

    The Darkest Hour is an alien invasion film? Kind of a weird time to put one out. I mean, if it turns out the title is a total misnomer and it's more like ET than Independence Day, then it'd be more season-appropriate, but people aren't usually into armageddon at Christmastime. :p
     
  8. Mastadge

    Mastadge Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jun 4, 1999
    Avatar, released in December 2009?
     
  9. DarthBoba

    DarthBoba Manager Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jun 29, 2000
    That wasnt't a blockbuster in my universe. :p

    But yeah, you're right. Still, Christmastime isn't typically synonymous with blockbusters as far as I know.
     
  10. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    I think it depends on the year- given that the winter holiday breaks from school and work center around Xmas.

    Usually that means family fare or Oscar bait, but it allows blockbusters to have a better chance of ataining that status than any other non-summer release date. But they more often hit the week before (like TRON Legacy did last year or Avatar the year before) so they can get a normal big weekend and then get the holiday weekend as a bonus gravy boost.
     
  11. DAR

    DAR Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 2004
    I wouldn't have thought that a fourth Mission Impossible would have been on my radar. But Brad Bird all but assures my attendence
     
  12. Rogue1-and-a-half

    Rogue1-and-a-half Manager Emeritus who is writing his masterpiece star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Nov 2, 2000
    Fincher is one of four or five directors that I will actually make an effort to catch in the theater, so I'm going to go see Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I've been a Tintin fan for a couple of decades now, so I'm definitely going to see Secret of the Unicorn; it's my favorite of the books and I'm not missing a chance to see Tintin on the big screen. I actually try to catch Spielberg in theaters too, but War Horse is probably a bridge too far; the trailer looked spectacularly MOR and just how much money am I supposed to spend over Christmas going to the movies anyway? Probably give War Horse a miss. Ghost Protocol, on the other hand, I probably will go see; I love Brad Bird and I'm excited to see what the guy who crafted the best animated action movie of all time (The Incredibles) can do with live action. Plus, Jeremy Renner and Josh Holloway? That's enough badass right there to make me endure Tom Cruise vanity shots if I have to.

     
  13. Rox

    Rox Administrator Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Nov 24, 2000
    Christmas is the biggest box office day of the year. So I don't know where you get your info from. I know Christmas is on a Sunday this year so that will hit the box office a bit. But it's the biggest day of the year for every movie theater I have ever ran or worked at.
     
  14. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Sep 29, 2005
    I think studios are increasingly catching on to the wisdom of counterprogramming. If you've got a medium-quality action or genre flick, sure, you can try releasing it during the summer when it's the "season" for those kind of movies, and hope that it miraculously becomes a breakout hit or that enough people are "in the mood" for that sort of fare to go out and see it, but you're likely to get crushed by the actual blockbusters. Instead, why not release it during a period when it's going to be the only film of its type in theaters and people looking for something other than Oscar bait and the usual handful of holiday-season blockbusters will have that as their only option to get their genre fix? It's the same reason studios have been releasing more medium-quality movies during the post-December-pre-May dumping season: people are so desperate for anything good to go to during that period that it gets merely decent films way more money than they'd get during the packed blockbuster or Oscar-bait seasons where they'd just be overshadowed by bigger or better movies.
     
  15. Rox

    Rox Administrator Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Nov 24, 2000
    You hit the nail on the head. February is a good place to look at what you are talking about. It used to be the film dead zone now you get a few nice surprises each year.
     
  16. DarthBoba

    DarthBoba Manager Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jun 29, 2000
    Typically my general movie-going tastes don't include much of anything that's ever come out in December.
     
  17. Jabbadabbado

    Jabbadabbado Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Mar 19, 1999
    Mid November has more major blockbusters than December, but Titanic and Avatar are the biggest holiday hits of all time with the LOTR trilogy in the tier just below them as billion dollar hits. That's two directors who've cornered the market.

    After that, Narnia/Lion/Witch/Wardrobe is the most successful major December release. Then I am Legend. Night at the Museum, King Kong, Sherlock Holmes, Meet the Fockers are all grouped together.

    The $500 million worldwide range is no longer a difficult bar for a major release, so I expect a few December movies to hit it. I don't think anything this year is going to climb into the $700 million range. On the other hand, no December release broke much past the $400 million barrier in 2010 - Tron Legacy and Dawn Treader enjoyed only mediocre returns.

    The Hobbit of course is a moonshot for December 2012. It's going to trample LOTR box office and take aim at Titanic.






     
  18. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    Feb has actually been a pretty strong month for a very long time- particularly around Valentine's Day, and not just for romantic comedies and horror films. Studios usually have at least one or two major flicks for Feb- and this goes back at least as far as Hannibal in 2001 and Daredevil in 2003, which had then-record openings. Not as big as preJan months, but it wasn't the dumping ground Jan was.

    Jan seems to be the one they've tried to build up over the past 14 years (ever since the SW SE showed you could do 30+ mil in a weekend in that month) but it's been less successful. Mar and April have had the most improvement, though. Ever since The Matrix, and recently reinforced by Fast Five, we're seeing that last week of April become the unofficial start of the summer blockbuster season. While fare like 300 has shown March can support big hits too.
     
  19. Nevermind

    Nevermind Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Oct 14, 2001
    I saw a trailer for a film coming out this week and I immediately wondered how bad it was, rather than how good. If it was good, it wouldn't be released early in January.
     
  20. JohnWesleyDowney

    JohnWesleyDowney Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2004

    While fare like 300 has shown March can support big hits too.

    Very true. Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland was released in early March and passed 1 billion dollars
    in ticket sales.
     
  21. Nevermind

    Nevermind Jedi Knight star 6

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    Oct 14, 2001
    But not January.
     
  22. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

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    Jan 27, 2000
    Still, you often get at least one movie that performs very well in january every year.
     
  23. Rox

    Rox Administrator Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Nov 24, 2000
    That and we get a decent carry over from Christmas and New Years. It's busy this weekend and it was last weekend. Even with all the Rated R product coming out we have had big crowds and attendance is up over last year. This time last year I was pretty much playing Angry Birds in my office on my phone because we were so slow.