The Hollywood Reporter – Director Zack Snyder’s “Watchmen” faded to second place with $13.5 million generated in 54 markets for an international total to date of $49.5 million. The adaptation of the comic-book series opened at No. 1 the previous weekend with a gross of $25.9 million.
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[twitter-widget username="DavidPoland" hiderss="true" hidereplies="true" hidefrom="true" items="3" showts="60" title=" " targetBlank="true"][twitter-widget username="MCNTweets" hiderss="true" hidereplies="true" hidefrom="true" items="3" showts="60" title=" " targetBlank="true"]
It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?
So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.
And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.
There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.
I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.
But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”
My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher
“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.
~ David Simon
So only $112,637,667 in eleven days? That’s only $10,239,797! Oh noes! Everything is lost! Fail!
Seriously, what did you think it was going to make?
Seriously, it has nothing to do with what I thought it was going to make. It has to do with the what the corporation that just laid off 300 people and its 2 partners thought it was going to make when it committed well over $250 million to the project, all in.
Why is this so hard to comprehend?
“when it committed well over $250 million to the project…”
what’s so hard to comprehend is why you think we should believe your analyses when you so clearly pull numbers out of your ass.
Winston’s right. It was probably more.
Please provide some confirmation of the $250 mnumber… any confirmation at all will do. I am not doubting you I am asking you to confirm something that you have stated. Coward.
Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. But, beware of men.
“Seriously, it has nothing to do with what I thought it was going to make.”
Really? You gave me all sorts of shit for a prediction, and you got all sorts of cocky with your retorts. Why? You did not CONNECT with the me. So it’s not about what you thought it was going to make? Really?
“It has to do with the what the corporation that just laid off 300 people and its 2 partners thought it was going to make when it committed well over $250 million to the project, all in.
Why is this so hard to comprehend?”
WHAT DOES ONE HAVE TO DO WITH THE OTHER, YOU FUCKING DOUCHE? Seriously, this is why you have treated Watchmen the way you have? You blame this production for costing JOBS and closing down New Line and WI? Really? What a fucking douchebag you have become.
Get this through your salt and pepper covered head: SPEED RACER. It’s just as logical a leap to take, that Speed Racer cost those people their jobs. Speed Racer made it more efficient to shut down New Line (GOLDEN FUCKING COMPASS) and WI (CRIMINAL!). You ignore this logical assumption because some asshole who knows some other asshole told you otherwise, and you attack a movie for no other reason but FAULTY FUCKING LOGIC? Jon Stewart, LET HIM HAVE IT! “FUCK YOU!”
This is it. You have lost it. The Mean Machine should spend all day responding to everyone of your post. He/She should call you out on the carpet. Until you realize that you have become a fucking douche.
Accusing this movie of all the economic problems at Warners not only represents ignorance of economics at the most basic degree. It pretty much declares this; “Warners are a bunch of bastards, I hate them, and they can go fuck themselves.” If you feel that way about a studio. May they feel that way about you back. GENERAL SCREENINGS FOR YOU BUDDY! WOOO!!!
To quote one of my favourite lines in any movie; “What’s wrong with you? What happened to you?” Seriously David; what the fuck happened to you?
What are you fools smoking?
Even Drew would admit that production and P&A on the film is over $250 million, committed as he is to the $150m number.
A putz hiding behind a fake name – perhaps one of three – calls someone else a coward for speaking basic and studio-acknowledged facts? Wow. What does your shit smell like to you? I’m sure it’s sweet and I’m sure you know, since your head is there so often.
And IO/whatever stupid name you made up this week… “douche?” Is this really how you expect anyone to take you in any way seriously… much less me? You have become a complete waste of time… which saddens me. I can’t even read your stuff in here anymore. It’s truly incomprehensible, except for the caps.
Poland, not only did you get old. You became everything you despised. You are no better than Finke now. You are more douche now than man. This is who you are, and I want to know why you became a douche? Any idea?
Reading you go on about this and that never ceases to lose it’s enjoyment. Now it’s taken on another level. Thanks to you becoming such a fucking douche.
Oh yeah, Captain of the All-Douche Squad: I have more nicks than you will ever know. I can blend into the background, and you will never know it’s me. I did it before. Jeff did not even catch on.
So if I were the Mean Machine. I would state that I indeed were the Mean Machine. Unfortunately for you: I am not. There are two sides on this blog now. Those who are with you, and those who are against you. Guess which side is going to win? Don’t think too hard now.
Pretty sad in here today. This last “evil nerd supervillain” post, especially.
Yes; I am a super-villain. Hold on. I must discuss things with my advisers Captain INSANO, Mistress Dyragnarok, and THE FOUNTAINHEAD! YES; THE FOUNTAINHEAD! TOGETHER: WE FORM THE LEGION OF INTERPRETIVE DANCE AND SINISTER BLACK TEXT MESSAGES! OR WFLIDSBTM!
Again: I still don’t understand how “douche” became an insult. To me, anything that makes eating pussy even more delightful and delicious is to be treasured. I can only assume that people who use “douche” as an insult don’t eat much pussy. Or get many opportunities to.
Joe: one should be clean without the aid of Ms. Massengil. You have lived long enough. You should know this by now.
Douching is like scumbag. You have been around long enough Hippie Santa. You should be able to put two and two together, and figure out what makes four.
Sorry, Curtis, but you sound like someone who doesn’t get to eat much pussy.
Fuck all this;
POLAND OWNS. Seems like a genial, nice, STANDUP guy. Yeah, I bagged on him once or twice in the early days to catch some attention, but all this hating just seems ugly. IO is sometimes the funniest thing ever, but a lot of this seems a little above the call; IO himself admitted many a time Poland’s persona is kind of bemused and “silly.” I think your mania for this project has you reading this nefarious intent into DP’s posts. Yeah, he goes on these “crusades” for or against something now and again, but don’t we all?
Mostly I just marvel at how all this impassioned fervor PRO something doesn’t end up RUINING it for you in the long run. I used to be the guy who’d browbeat others for not having the EXACT SAME TASTE, but found more often than not that all that leads to is having your detractors’ complaints rattling round your head next time you watch it, since you’re never gonna convince anyone to love something as much as you do.
it’s not hate on my end. i just think it’s sad that someone i used to find entertaining has become as twisted as some of the online pundits he spends so many paragraphs bagging on.
Is further crucifying of Watchmen worth yet another post? The horse was beaten to death weeks before release. Dave had a beef with the studio’s handling of the film and he believes the failure of Watchmen is somehow verifiable proof of his opinion of the online film community becoming true.
As for the layoffs, it’s total crap. It’s the kind of connection made by people who don’t understand industry or are warping stories to match their agenda. Pirates 2: Dead Man’s Chest broke all sorts of box office records and after the first weekend Disney laid off a bunch of employees.
Was there a number Watchmen could have made that would have saved those jobs? Absolutely not.
Specious reasoning, and you know it.
Dave’s not implying people are/were laid off due to a movie, but that no division can afford to be seen as taking high-risks. You can’t forecast this year or the next like business as usual. If the summer is soft it’s going to be harder to afford misfires.
Re: 250Mil. That’s always felt high. I didn’t see that much in P&A, such as no Superbowl ad. I could be wrong, no doubt, but IMO it seems closer to 200.
Whether the final total cost is $200 million or $250 million, does anyone truly believe that a final domestic tally of $120 million (that is where boxofficeguru says it’s headed) is not a disappointment or at the very least less than what the studio initially hoped for? DP has always been heavily invested in talking box office. That is nothing new. Some movies grab his attention more than others. All of us passionately love movies that have failed or underperformed at the box office. That’s the nature of the beast.
While I agree this constant bashing of David is uncalled for, he seems more combative than he claims I can be (called my post in the other thread “dumb,” but whatever, it’s his blog), though I hardly post/read on this blog, mainly because David’s writing isn’t as succinct as it once was.
Sigh.
This is getting boring because you refuse to stay on target.
If there is a “studio acknowledged number” then please link to it, liar. I don’t believe you.
And don’t speak for Drew, who quite eloquently put you down as a poseur man. He said he doesn’t believe your number, so how can you say he accepts it.
Come on Poland, stop sniping at me and answer the one challenge you’ve had all weekend aside from finding your feet to put your socks on- PROVE what you said and don’t just keep saying it.
And acknowledge that Larry Gordon never wrote an open letter. COME ON MAN- the truth is here!
Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. But, beware of men.
Hippie Santa: no, it’s just not old.
Lex: He has it coming. Read what anghus wrote, read his response to me and other posters, and you will see he has lost it.
Mr. S stated; “Dave’s not implying people are/were laid off due to a movie…”
Dog Balls stated; “It has to do with the what the corporation that just laid off 300 people and its 2 partners thought it was going to make when it committed well over $250 million to the project, all in.
Why is this so hard to comprehend?”
Mr. S, I do believe that you are wrong.
LOL at everything Joe Leydon just said.
Does anyone really know what the budget is? It only seems to be admitted when a movie is a massive hit and made on a shoestring with no back end to pay out.
Look. When you advertise a full year before a movie’s release. Have TV spots on every network, covered a city (LA) with billboards, and are in over 3600 theaters… YEAH. This isn’t great. And yeah, DP is being hard on it, but he’s being fair too.
I know people at Warner’s who got laid off earlier this year, I work just up the street from the studio. That was sad, seeing a movie they worked on tank like this even sadder.
let the slue of Mall Cop movies commence!
The Numbers and IMDB say $130 million. Boxofficemojo says $150 million. Boxofficeguru says it’s estimated at $125-$150 million.
Drew isn’t committed to the $150 number. He called it a “fantasy land” number on his blog.
And Stella… all of those places post what they are told or is published. None of them have any information outside of that. Even the LA Times is still dancing around the number.
Ironically, the studio’s interest in spinning the number speaks to whether the number really matters to them.
But again… some of these people in here… people who are turning more and more conversations into infantilized shouting matches… have no interest in what’s real. It’s not like any of them have actually suggested what they think is real and what it means. They just want to tell me to shut up for whatever sad reasons they have. They speak of being men and being tough in ways that suggest either is unlikely.
And yet, I hold out hope for trolls. Unfortunately, I realized recently that “the troll thing” is really what I went through with Wells and why I eventually has to cut him out of my life in every way. The problem is, it was easy to delete the link to Wells’ site and to stop responding to his e-mails and calls. Here, I believe in an open and unrestrained exchange, and to silence them would be to do to them what they would like, it seems, to be done to me. So can there be a win in any action I take as regards them?
Disappointing.
No, Perm… he called “over $150m” fantasy land.
His quote is:
“David’s “Watchmen” budgets of $150 million and up are fantasy-land.”
Which includes $150 million. So he’s saying it’s under 150. I’m not saying it’s more or less than that, obviously I have no idea. Still, you two are plugged in guys talking numbers on the same film, and you’re coming up different.
True… though again, he is plugged into Zach Snyder, who has a vested interest in keeping the number low.
No one at WB is disputing $150 million. They don’t much care for discussions of the number being bigger, but they aren’t attacking those numbers publicly either.
The people at Warners aren’t confirming any numbers either. So where do yours come from?
Your cheap trick of calling me a troll isn’t working… answer the questions. Did Larry Gordon send anyone on any site any open letter? Why won’t you correct yourself?
Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. But, beware of men.
Because I am not wrong, idiot.
The Gordon letter was published by Drew. How is that not public?
Who do you think you know at WB who isn’t confirming?
You keep positioning this as though you have facts, but you are making them up. It’s an obfuscation… designed so there can be no response. I am still pretty sure you are IO, which proves you know nothing. And I shouldn’t be responding to you and your games playing for those reasons.
Sorry, but whenever I read “Machina de La Verdad,” I can’t help thinking of the guy up on the castle wall in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, shouting: “I shake my testicles at you! I fart in your general direction!”
Things must be very slow on Transformers 2 right now.
My apologies to IO… unless… of course…
“Here, I believe in an open and unrestrained exchange, and to silence them would be to do to them what they would like, it seems, to be done to me. So can there be a win in any action I take as regards them? ”
While I understand how finding a “win” in this situation would be rough for you, given your stated goal with this board, but I assure you, it would be a win for most of your readers. If that counts for anything…
Out of curiosity, what would you do if Wells started posting here (assuming he hasn’t)?
Maybe it’s 130 million Canadian dollars, which would be 100 million dollars.
I’m pretty sure that we have hosted Wells, Finke, and various LA Times haters over the years under aliases.
Wells is not particularly welcome, but if he started commenting, I wouldn’t really consider banning him or anything. I wouldn’t engage him personally, but if he wasn’t just flaming all day, no skin off of my ass.
I see the troll situation very much along the same lines as Wells and Nikki… damned if I respond, damned if I don’t.
I just hate to write people off. For example, except for a 3am boner comment last night, LexG has been much better lately and contributing some good stuff.
But it is bothersome when we push away from the issues and into the personal. Didn’t like it in high school. Don’t like it now.
At this stage of the game, if I were David, I would deliberately post everything that makes Watchmen looks like a disappointment, just to provoke the hell out of people whose skin it gets under. It drives up comments and (probably) traffic.
Whether or not he ever had an agenda against it, I think an agenda now to annoy the people who are certain he did is eminently justifiable.
Joe’s comments are about as much funny as you can get from a man who looks like Santa Claus, and enjoys eating crusty crab level snatch.
Dog Balls: You have become a douche. I have posted here long efuckingnough to call you a DOUCHE. When you act like a DOUCHE. Your douche meter has been running since last June. Let’s see how long you can keep it running.
Also Douche; do you see me being able to BOLD any text? I have no idea how to use that type of shit with this blog. If I could figure out a signature. I would use a signature. So what on earth makes you think I am a the Mean Machine? I could give a shit about that letter, the budget of Watchmen, or anything else Watchmen related outside of your douchiness. So, really, get a check up from the neck up… douche.
IO – I see what you’re getting at, it certainly can be read that way. But because it seems as of late I see things closer to how Dave does, and the dots he’s connecting.
For example, Lionsgate. I mentioned months ago they were going to be one of the first in trouble. Soon after, they laid off about 10%, then defied all logic and bought the TV Guide channel. Then, The Spirit happened. Now, they are fighting to not be devoured by Icahn. So while the events can look disconnected, they’re not. If Lionsgate didn’t leverage itself with TV Guide, they could suffer The Spirit, Puinsher2, etc…but everything collapsed in one quarter, including DVD sales. So the purchase of TVG was like a cement block on the accelerator as your car drives off a cliff.
While things can’t happen that abruptly to T-W, they can be damaged. If superhero movies weren’t in full bloom, DC would be the first to compress since comic publication is akin to an open vein.
So while I know where you’re coming from, it’s not the same as Green Machine…Divine Machine…DM….Avid Fan…
So junior high school, IO.
David: there are junior high school students that makes your IQ seem quaint. Seriously; if you are so depressed about the way THINGS ARE NOW… HAVE A KID… RETIRE… AND HAVE A NICE LIFE! Seriously; you being put out is not enough reason for you becoming such a douche since last June.
Mr. S: No, Marvel or McFarlane or someone else would buy DC. Why? CROSSOVERS!
“someone else would buy DC”
Yes some entity will buy it alright and compress it to a small sliver of what it was. For publishing & comics it’s always a bear market. Anything that sells toys and Tshirts will likely survive and that’s it. If cult favorites don;t make money they will be history.
Artists already are now having the hardest time (comparatively in the last decade) surviving, including famed inkers and drawers that most comic book geeks have heard of. Almost no one is buying signed pictures or prints due to the economy.
It takes alot of work to put out a comic and most media companies don;t want to do the required work, they want easy acquisition profit.
If someone buys DC it might be for the sad reason to let it die (competitor) and move only the highly profitable properties into the marketplace under new ownership.
I can live with myself being competent at a few things.
Why don;t you work being competent at something Lex instead of drinking and whining all the time.
Use the money you are drinking to take a class in the evening. You might meet a nice woman.
I really hope you arent going to do this nonsense while Dave is gone or everyone else will be hanging you.
Lex: I got my master’s degree at age 55. So eat dirt and die, OK?
Fortunately Lex, you will never be famous. And you made that possible.
You have to work day and night–so you are binge drinking on the job?
With the way you talk, I have a feeling the only fame you are willing to work for is a closer relationship with John Law in your future…too much hate and blame towards women.
I think I agree with Joe.
Taking a class could be fun. Take a guitar class dipshit if you don’t want to be with actors.
Is this drunk Lex or the married Lex with supposedly a bunch of kids? They both suck. But at least the married Lex might get some action every once and awhile.
“COLLEGE IS A HUGE-ASS WASTE OF FUCKING TIME.”
That explains it all: Lex is a frat boy manqu
Medication and therapy, Lex. Get some.
You’re already a barely functioning zombie.
“But every chick at college walks around in that BIG STUPID SWEATSHIRT and clocks in at about 4-foot-9.”
Dude, where did you go to college, The Land of the Munckins? Oh, and where I went to grad school, the undergrad chicks might as well walk around naked for how much clothing they wear when it’s warm.
By the way, Lex, if you do have three degrees, you must have spent more than four years in college.
I’m with Blackcloud, springtime was always a treat when all the ladies shed the layers and broke out the t-shirts. I’m sitting here wistfully thinking about it. Even now there is a University nearby and warm weekends are a godsend for jiggle watching on the bike trail.
Lex, if you weren’t getting laid in college, maybe that has to do more with you than anything else. Not that I was pulling chicks right and left, but I didn’t come away empty handed either.
But I do know college girls don’t usually go for chunky dorks who aren’t funny, so there’s that.
It would be awesome if IO shot you to death.