TPM Moves Down to #2 for Highest Opening Wednesday Gross

I can't understand what the deal is with Harry Potter either.
I saw most of it on TV, and I just didn't see what was so appealing about it.

 

That's the thing, I was much more emotionally moved by FOTR. Even TTT had more moments than ROTK. ROTK should've easily had the most emotional impact. But the characters were much too underdeveloped for scenes that should have been surefire moving scenes to have the right impact

Interesting that you say this, as I feel the opposite. FOTR and TTT provided us with plenty of basis for these characters to grow, and they come full circle in ROTK. While I agree that there were emotional scenes on both films, I personally felt more moved by FOTR than TTT, but most of all by ROTK.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS - DON'T READ THIS PARAGRAPH IF YOU'VE NOT SEEN ROTK - As for emotional impact, I personally was in tears during a number of scenes, not the least of which were Aragorn's bowing to the hobbits "Friends. You bow to no one." Or, even more so, Frodo's having to leave with Gandalf and Elrond on the ship to Valinor. The scene, between Merry, Pippin, Frodo and Sam, was devastating. They looked truly sad to be departed from each other. END SPOILERS

In the end, to each his own. I've found the films to be quite remarkable in execution, and a very good way for a director to try to raise the bar of Hollywood movies in the future.

Best,

Dave

 

Because, of all 3 films, ROTK has the weakest character development, worst pace, and major lack of screentime for a number of central characters, by the time we get to these moments you describe at the end, they just didn't have the emotional impact for me like they could've and should've.

 

Remember, this is NOT a LOTR discussion thread. This is for discussing the Box Office relating to TPM and includes ROTK and other films. Please make sure your posts are on that subject.

 

Opening weekends, days etc are meaningless. Total gross adjusted is the only real way to tell how many people went to see the film which is a close measure to popularity.

I also thought ROTK was the best in the trilogy. I was never that excited about LOTR until I sat and watched ROTK. It brought tears to my eyes.

 

Not sure if this has been posted yet:

http://www.the-movie-times.com/thrsdir/alltime.mv?adjusted+ByAG

It gives the top grossing films of all time- adjusted. Unfortunatly ROTK isnt on there yet as it is still current. But it does give you an idea of well TPM did- being at number 20- above the first 2 LOTR flicks.

 

Adjusted numbers are garbage. They don?t mean anything. Sure there were less theaters and ticket prices were cheaper back then but there were also no dvds and few VCRs. Each movie had a year-long release and were re-released numerous times. If any of those movies were releasesd today there is no way that they would have grossed that much with the amount of competition at the box office. We don't have one movie coming out every three weeks, we have 4 movies coming out every weekend. Gone with the Wind would have probably made about $80 million at the box office today. Not 1.8 billion.

 

I still say a head count would have been a way better way to compare films. How MANY people saw Gone With the Wind? How many saw A New Hope? How many will see ROTK?

 

^^^
I agree with that. There should be a chart showing tickets sold, not adjusted for inflation.

 

Adjusted for inflation doesn't show the actual number of ticket sales, but it does show what the order would be for the movie with the most tickets sold on down. Gone With the Wind sold the most tickets, followed by Star Wars, etc, etc.

 

too keep it on topic. can anyone explain to me how adjusted box office works? i understand there is no ticket count...so how do they get those numbers? do they take what average tickets cost then and adjust it the % that it increased or what?

 

They take the gross of the film and divide that by the average cost of a ticket at that time it was released. Then they multiply that number by the average price of a ticket today. It's a stupid method because ticket prices are different at different times. It's just better if they have a number of tickets sold chart. Just like the number of CDs sold by an artist. The movie industry doesn't like doing the tickets sold system becasue then they can't brag about breaking movie records, since it's impossible for a movie today to break a ticket record.

 

just to clarify for my knowledge...they do not count tickets right?

 

I think they have for a while but I am not sure how far back those counts go...

 

hmm, and is this list out to the public or sort of a illusive thing?

 

No it's not available.

$301.7 million for ROTK in 24 days and counting...

 

It's just better if they have a number of tickets sold chart. Just like the number of CDs sold by an artist.

Unless there's a different list, DM13, CD numbers aren't exactly what you think, either. The total number of units "sold", is more of a marketing ploy by the record labels, indicating how many total units have shipped to stores, not how many have actually been purchased by end users.

In any event, I see no reason why adjusted for inflation is wrong. Sure, it's the law of averages, but these are at least indicative of a BASE level price for tickets sold across the nation, if not the world, at any given time. The other thing to remember is that ticket count may not reflect true audience viewings either (if ticket count refers to tickets SOLD), as many people in the film and film related industries don't always pay for a ticket, but rather screen a film for free (like me - ). Factor in things like theater hopping, and it's impossible to say exactly how many people have seen a movie.To be honest, I'm not sure how much these things matter, if at all, but they are possibly contributing factors.

 

Adjusted figures are an indicator of theater attendance. They don't give you the number of tickets sold for each movie, but they do present the films the highest number sold on down. You get a precise popularity rating, just not a numerical one.

 

ROTK is falling behind SpiderMan ($403M), however I think it will have more staying power. It'll probably end up around $400M or a little lower.

 

While it is nice to have that which we are a fan of to be at the top/near the top, being at the top/near the top doesn't always equal the best. As long as it's tops with me, the best with me, I'm happy. And each STAR WARS movie is the tops, is the best with me.

 

Ah well. You can't stay on top forever.

This still doesn't make me like LOTR any better, or find it a better series, however, and as for those people who jumped bandwagons from SW to LOTR because it was no longer hip to be a SW fan, I say, good riddance.

I'd say TPM did remarkably well for a movie that we're supposed to believe was universally reviled.

 

Exactly.

TPM banked as much as it did because fans and the general public welcomed the movie. Have a look at it's legs at boxofficemojo. This is what makes Titanic even more freakish.

I fully expect ROTK to top Spidey and finish at about US$405mil.

 

This still doesn't make me like LOTR any better, or find it a better series, however, and as for those people who jumped bandwagons from SW to LOTR because it was no longer hip to be a SW fan, I say, good riddance.

Was it really hip to ever be a Star Wars fan? I don't really care what is "hip". I own DVDs that would make people laugh. I don't care.

I jumped the PT bandwagon because it was going down in flames. I also say, "good riddance" to those mediocre films and "Hello Dolly!" to the LOTR films, something with real feeling and substance.

 

MOD EDIT: That was unnecessary.

 

These box office arguments are silly. The only thing box office numbers can prove is how much money a movie made. Unless you want to argue that Twister is a cinematic masterpiece on par with Peter Jackon's The Lord of the Rings films, seeing as it made just as much money as each film in the trilogy (after applying the flawed inflation adjustments, that is). Heck, for that matter, Independence Day is better than any of the Rings films to the tune of over $100 million!

Point being, extrapolating anything other than dollar amounts from box office gross can lead to absurd conclussions. Quite often, popularity is mistaken for quality with circular reasoning providing the "proof". "It's popular because it's good. And how do I know it's good? Because it's popular."

So bottom line is, Return of the King had an opening day gross higher than The Phantom Menace. All that means is Return of the King had an opening day gross higher than The Phantom Menace. Nothing more and nothing less.