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David Poland

By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com

Weekend Estimates by Is That All There Is? Klady

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48 Responses to “Weekend Estimates by Is That All There Is? Klady”

  1. EtGuild2 says:

    Bound to get lost in the horror-show this weekend:

    ZOOTOPIA is the 2nd movie this decade after FROZEN to spend 13+ weeks in the top 10, and the 3rd in the last 14 years (AVATAR). It’s also a lock to hit $1 billion worldwide now. TJB is now a virtual lock for $950 million worldwide, with $1 billion an unlikely, though possible marker.

  2. Movieman says:

    No one took the bait yesterday, but does anyone have a possible explanation for why Fox Searchlight couldn’t turn “A Bigger Splash” into an indie/arthouse hit?
    Very good reviews, hot actors, buzzy premise, a director coming off a major indie/arthouse hit (“I Am Love”)….?
    It looked like pure gold on paper, but it failed as badly as F-S’s “Demolition” which wasn’t nearly as well-reviewed or “sexy.”

  3. JubbJubb says:

    5 words:

    Olivia Munn. box office poison.

  4. dinovelvet says:

    I think people would have to actually know who Olivia Munn is before she can be poison, though I was amused to read a bit about her turning down the female lead in Deadpool to do X-Men instead. Ouch.

  5. martin says:

    Super Fatigue didn’t hurt X-Apoc.

    Its fate was sealed with the abyssmal SDCC ’15 non-sizzle that leaked. They showcased a Babylon 5 reject and said it was Apocalypse.

    On 4/28 Fox bailed on SDCC for “piracy”. A week later, they screened X-Apoc and commenced implosion.

    Singer literally downscaled the entire concept simply cuz he didn’t like it. Same shit as Fantastic Tranks.

    They also grandstanded by opting to cut costs and claim they were passed Jackman, the RDJ of the X-Verse.

    LCD = Simon Kinberg = Time is up.

    I give Fox credit for showing smartz and not greening X90’s or New Mutants before X-Apoc’s release. That seems to be the real test behind the early screenings while Singer, Kinberg were trying to cement the idea, during the press run, those sequels were locked in.

    Fox “has to do something” per contract logic. I’m wondering if the TV shows count.

    As of now, it’s Tim Miller’s toys. He wants to produce X-Force, or a Deadpool/Wolverine Team-Up, Singer and Kinberg can’t change his direction.

  6. brack says:

    Olivia Munn was in Magic Mike, which was a huge hit. Also, she was the only one who showed any sort of real nudity IIRC.

    Early reviews didn’t help X-Men: Apocalypse. Lots of fans of this series are apprehensive with each entry ever since Last Stand. These aren’t MCU movies.

  7. Amblinman says:

    The biggest problem with X-Apoc is the last shot. Seeing the X-Men as they were depicted in the comics marching to fight in the Danger Room. This is the fucking X-Men movie we’ve been waiting for, the folks who resemble the actual source material.

    People need to stop invoking Deadpool when talking about this franchise. Nerfing any of these characters at the alter of The Mask Redux would be amazingly stupid. Just reboot with a new Wolverine, but NOT AN ORIGIN STORY.

  8. JS Partisan says:

    Deadpool, is the only X-Men film worth a shit, and it’s the only one of the films in this atrocious CINEMATIC UNIVERSE, that is worth expanding the universe around. Seriously.

    What you want from the X-men, is never going to happen, Man. Sure. It could happen. If Kev & Co. fix this fucking thing, and do it right. Funny how that works.

  9. Amblinman says:

    Deadpool was completely generic garbage. There is no “universe” to expand around. It’s a new version of The Mask. I’m personally betting the sequel is going to tank hard when this thing dies on repeat viewings. “Weird, this seemed funnier when I watched it opening night at a 10pm showing surrounded by 16 year olds.”

  10. JS Partisan says:

    Generic garbage? So yeah… anything like the MCU pisses you off, but these X-men movies are your jam? Interesting.

  11. Amblinman says:

    That’s silly, MCU doesn’t piss me off. They’re just mostly mediocre-okay films that occasionally rise to pretty good (Winter Soldier, airport fight in Civil War) because Feige has a template for these things with no deviation allowed. Deadpool is on the lower end of the spectrum. The title credits were brilliant, then it was rapidly downhill from there. First two X-Men movies absolutely were my jam. First one is the reason we have all the nice toys we do today. Singer’s treatment of the material was brilliant and groundbreaking. Feige and co took what Singer started and proved you can treat the material seriously and use the source material (original costumes – within limits – origins, etc). Apocolypse fails on its own terms but it still has so many better moments than most of the MCU because Singer is ten times the filmmaker than most of what directs MCU stuff. There isn’t a single sequence in any MCU film that is as original and inspired as the two Quicksilver set pieces, in example.

    So I’d meet you halfway: Bryan Singer directing an MCU produced version of the X-Men would probably be superhero nirvana.

  12. Shane says:

    Movieman: I manage an arthouse theater showing A Bigger Splash, and I can tell you that audiences *hate* it. We have walkouts nearly every show. It’s definitely a critic’s movie. My customers are very influenced by reviews, so they initially came out for it, but word of mouth on it is toxic, and it dropped hard this weekend. I thought it was decent enough, for what it’s worth.

  13. James says:

    So glad both underwhelmed. Depp may be getting close to box office poison and Singer probably should be in prison or exiled like Polanski.

  14. Gustavo says:

    “Singer probably should be in prison or exiled like Polanski.”

    For what, exactly? For those contradictory charges made by a now convicted fraudster that were later dropped? That’s rich.

    http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bryan-singers-sex-abuse-accuser-846992

  15. Hcat says:

    Of course these will slip up, what franchises get to this number without massive stumbles. I still prefer the higher highs lower lows of batman and xmen over the even keel of mediocrity that is marvel. All Disney films feel like they are directed by Jon Turtlieb using different Nome De Plumes.

  16. Bulldog68 says:

    Xmen 1&2 always gets more repeat views than Avengers for me. Gotta say though, there is a sense of foreboding and respect for The Hulk by the other team members that screams for that tone where Hulk is the center attraction.

  17. EtGuild2 says:

    I likewise have a soft spot for XMEN, but to blanket the whole MCU discounts the contributions of James Gunn, and Whedon (in the first one) and the original IRON MAN. There is no way any of the XMEN films are as entertaining as GUARDIANS or the 2008 original MCU film. Gunn has a totality of control over GUARDIANS 2, while We Trust in Coogler for BLACK PANTHER and even Derrickson has quite a bit of a hand over STRANGE. Just because a lot of it feels like assembly line product, especially after the Edgar Wright fiasco, doesn’t mean all of it is.

  18. Movieman says:

    That’s interesting, Shane.
    Seeing “Splash” in a bubble (a daytime press screening w/ three other people in the auditorium) isn’t the real world.
    I’m surprised the reaction to the film among laymen has been so negative.
    Sometimes you just never know what’s going to click w/ auds (and, in this case, what’s not). Even–and sometimes especially–in the arthouse world.

  19. EtGuild2 says:

    The most recent phenomenon of this, for me, was going to a screening of IT FOLLOWS last, and witnessing a restless audience filled with scattered boos at the end. Walking out, I heard complaints that they need to make more SAW movies asap.

    ‘MURICA.

  20. Amblinman says:

    @et yeah, big time agree to disagree. Guardians has some entertaining character beats but ultimately as a film it is as generic as the rest of the lineup. And again, not a single memorable set piece. Original Iron man is probably the best of the lot when they didn’t know what they had yet and thus Favs might have have had more freedom. As for future results…hope you’re right. I’m not optimistic. Even when they hire a director who has a track record and specific style they tend to mute those attributes. Thor was the most cookie cutter of the bunch, as an example.

  21. EtGuild2 says:

    Yeah, that’s true on Thor, while Alan Taylor seemed to be in over his head, you def can’t tell the first one is Branaugh and I fear my beloved Taika Waititi is going to have the Peyton Reed-treatment, especially since he isn’t involved in punching up the script. A lot of the XMen movies have suffered from Kinberg’s meddling though. For the first two X-Men and Raimi’s Spider-Men, the template hadn’t really been been created yet for the genre as a business model, so I doubt we’ll see that again on a 9-figure scale barring a Nolan return to the arena or a Scorsese-helmed “Cable” spin-off.

    But yeah, Coogler has been really outspoken in that he’s getting carte blanche , though maybe it’s a vocal attempt to declaw Feige and co (or a result of blowback from the Ava DuVernay fallout/complaints that we’re going to be 18 movies in with our first non-white male fronted project). I am holding out hope on the fact that STRANGE is the first movie to be released without Isaac Perlmutter and the comic division’s hands in the cookie jar, so we will get to see what the issues of the studio’s longstanding complaints re: his involvement are, if anything.

  22. Mike says:

    For me, the X-Men have been better than the MCU because there’s a real idea at the heart of the X-Men franchise, which is the MLK vs. Malcolm X dynamic with superpowers. The lack of really good/sympathetic villains has hurt the MCU.

  23. Monco says:

    I have more desire to rewatch Batman v Superman than anthing from the MCU. And i thought BvS was an awful movie. The MCU is just so bland and generic that i have had absolutely no desire to revist any of their movies. Not saying they aren’t incredibly popular and that millions of people love them but to me they are not interesting.

    Disney is doing the same thing to Star Wars. No POV like Lucas had, just remakes and bland cookie cutter crap. With the rumors that Disney is forcing reshoots for Rogue One I dont believe any director has absolute final say at that studio.

  24. amblinman says:

    @ET agree 100% re: X-Men after X2. I wasn’t even a big fan of DOFP save for a few sequences (First Class is the exception but it’s not even a good X-Men movie, quite frankly. Except for Xavier and Magneto, the characters arent’ terribly interesting. I would have much preferred a whole movie based around Magneto hunting down Nazis). Fox is funny in their adamant refusal to adjust to current movie going taste when it comes to these characters. If they would just give audiences the characters they know but allow the directors they hire to have freedom, I think you’d see a much superior product to MCU stuff. Same for WB. For fuck’s sake, can I have a Superman that isn’t an angsty teenager with mother issues?

    @Monco, Rogue One is going to be more of the same in line with MCU films. Way too much money is at stake to allow any director too many liberties.

  25. Stella's Boy says:

    I’m with Monco (though not on BvS as I haven’t seen it). None of the MCU movies have done anything at all for me, whereas I really enjoyed the first two X-Men flicks as well as First Class. All the MCU I’ve seen (and I have not seen all of them) including Civil War feel way too assembly line. They bore me, even the airport action scene that everyone seems to love. That felt like a series of clips showing off each superhero, not a coherent action scene. Deadpool bored me too. A routine origin story with lots of F words.

  26. leahnz says:

    i can’t even imagine how bizarre taika’s ‘thor’ would be if they just said ‘here’s your cash man you do you’ but i fear this will not come to pass, esp since he’s not writing it. i want him to write/direct ‘squirrel girl’ perfect for him, but i guess someone else is doing it, probably fuck it up

  27. Pete B. says:

    Can someone more well versed in theater bookings share, was Alice Through The Looking Glass originally only scheduled for one week in IMAX? I thought movies were usually booked for 2 weeks, unless a special engagement like Metallica’s Through the Never.

    I know its doing poorly, but to be yanked for Turtles 2?

  28. EtGuild2 says:

    @Leah have you gotten to see his “Hunt for The Wilderpeople” yet? Looks great, 3 for 3! THOR 2….it’s like how you feel when a great mixtape rapper finally lands an album deal. You’re so happy one of your favorite artists caught his big break, but concerned that things will never be the same.

  29. brack says:

    Cracks me up some here calling MCU movies generic, while the X-Men series, which is enjoyable enough, all pretty much have the same exact story every time, with not a lot of growth in terms the characters, except for maybe Wolverine at times.

  30. Amblinman says:

    Does it really crack you up? Are you sitting there slapping your knee?

    MCU is generic in execution. The filmmaking is incredibly pedestrian. X-Men films as movies have many more interesting beats.

  31. brack says:

    It’s a figure of speech. Lighten up Francis.

    All the X-Men movies are ever about is discrimination. Time to move on after 6 movies of beating a dead horse. And no, they’re not literally beating dead horse. The action sequences in the MCU alone are better than X-Men. Heck, certain characters are only in X-Men movies to show off their powers, and do nothing else, not even a line of dialogue. True story.

  32. Mike says:

    Yes, because the country has moved on so well from discrimination.

    I’ll grant you the action is mostly better in the MCU, but since so much of it is wall-to-wall CGI, it doesn’t do much for me whether it is good or bad.

    I still say that the X-Men movies have just plain had better villains, with Magneto being the best.

    Other than Loki, does the MCU have any decent villains?

  33. amblinman says:

    I actually agree with Brack’s point regarding the X-Men’s repetitive mutants-as-stand-ins-for-minorities theme. It should be part of the background. As for the action in MCU films being better, yeah no. At least not to my taste. Other than a couple of exceptions, action sequences in MCU films seem to consist of CGI things battering other CGI things through walls. No real sense of pace or choreography. Very bland. Despite being a shit villain, I thought the final battle with Apocalypse in the current X-Men movie was fantastic. There are ebbs and flows to it, it’s telling a self-contained story within the fight while touching larger themes introduced in the film. My biggest complaint with Singer as a director is that he doesn’t always stick the landing in his climaxes but I thought this one was stellar.

  34. Mike says:

    It’s hard to put the discrimination theme in the background when two of the most recent involve the ’60s/’70s and the best storylines from the comics treat it as the major theme informing the series (with Dark Phoenix being the exception, which Fox botched).

    Personally, I think Fox has done a good job of having the standalone Wolverine movies stray away from the theme (or at least the one decent Wolverine movie). But then again, I think they also don’t have much heft to them, like the MCU movies.

  35. leahnz says:

    EtG: ‘wilderpeople’ is a bit of a gem, probably taika’s zaniest flick yet, kind of a throwback homage to the ’80s madcap enzed flicks of yesteryear with the ushe waititi pathos and irreverence and nicely performed oddball characters (and humour of course; i always wonder how people outside the country will react to niche kiwi humour but i probably need to get over that now since waititi’s sensibility appears well-liked) – and like all his films at heart it’s about the nature of family and where we find connection and the sense of belonging and ‘home’ we all crave.
    i was thinking about it and it should be an interesting test of voice and vision, this thor thing, since waititi’s sensibility is probably the most unique and niche in terms of his filmic flair amongst the new superhero ‘hired guns’. how will his very kiwi auteurism translate into something very outside that realm (hopefully like a firecracker, obviously, best case scenario his unique humour and pathos translates into something different and offbeat amongst all this generic superhero crap)

    on another note it’s always great to see sam neill up on the big screen, i was watching ‘red october’ the other night – as i do sometimes when i feel down and blue for some reason, who says ‘mother of god!’ like James Earl Jones, nobody that’s who, so dorky haha – and i find neill’s ‘borodin’ so sublime, he and ramius have a lovely heartfelt dynamic and when borodin gets shot it’s like NOOO HE’S NOT GOING TO GET TO DRIVE A FORD TRUCK IN MONTANA WITH HIS PLUMP WIFE AND RABBITS SOB TEARS anyway i digress, but it’s good to see sam still in the saddle now and again

  36. brack says:

    “Yes, because the country has moved on so well from discrimination.”

    I’m talking about the X-Men franchise, which spent the last three movies being semi reboot sequels. How many times are we supposed to be in awe of Cerebro? Also, Magneto is getting off scot-free after causing a thousand times or so more destruction than the end of Man of Steel? Wtf. The X-Men could be great franchise, it’s fine for what it is now, but Fox doesn’t seem to want to focus on individual stories as much as recycle the same theme over and over again. Take a page from Marvel Studios and do an adaptation, something more than just a wink at the Phoenix saga or Weapon X. And having Mystique as the de facto leader of the X-Men? We’re subjected to J-Law in Katniss mode once again, which I guess is better than her trying to act in that blue makeup, where she fails compared to Rebecca Romijn.

    The X-Men have had only one good villain, Magneto. That’s it. You’ve had Loki, Redskull, Ronan, Thanos (who’s just getting warmed up), and Robert Redford, just to name a few, in the MCU.

  37. Pete B. says:

    Did anyone not know Robert Redford was the bad guy in Winter Soldier as soon as he showed up on screen? My main gripe with the film is the “shocking” reveal that Redford’s evil. Really? The guy who’s been walking around with a giant flashing neon VILLAIN sign above his head? Gee, who else could it be?

  38. Mike says:

    Redford was the same villain in a suit that Jeff Bridges played in Iron Man and the guy from Ant Man. I have no memory of Ronan and Thanos is a purple guy in the credits Red Skull looked great, but was some Hitler knock off. Claiming these villains are better than the X-men’s is a stretch.

    Going by villains, Batman wins, hands down, though the Chris Reeves Superman had good ones, too.

  39. John E. says:

    Best rogue galleries:
    1. Batman
    2. Spider-Man
    3. Whoever’s next is a distant 3rd

  40. amblinman says:

    “The X-Men have had only one good villain, Magneto. That’s it. You’ve had Loki, Redskull, Ronan, Thanos (who’s just getting warmed up), and Robert Redford, just to name a few, in the MCU.”

    All those villains sucked though. Loki was presented as a giant goofball. Red Skull was so good they never bothered with the character again. Thanos might be good, dunno. Their track record suggests probably not.

    “Best rogue galleries:
    1. Batman
    2. Spider-Man
    3. Whoever’s next is a distant 3rd”

    I was the BIGGEST BIGGEST BIGGEST Spider-Man nerd growing up. Read every issue of the approximately 5 billion titles Marvel had for the character in the 80’s and early 90’s. So I can say this with some knowledge on the subject: his rogue gallery is probably the worst of all the 1st tier superheroes. Just awful. Green Goblin was always a shitty Joker ripoff. And then you had…ummm…Mysterio? Vulture? Doc Ock and Venom are fine, I guess.

  41. Mike says:

    “Best rogue galleries:
    1. Batman
    2. Spider-Man
    3. Whoever’s next is a distant 3rd”

    Movie wise, Spider-Man’s only really had one good villain in Doc. Ock. Green Goblin (all three! incarnations) started off bad and got worse as they went. And who in their right mind thought singing Electro was a good idea?

    Christopher Reeves’ Superman had Gene Hackman as a great Lex Luthor, the fun triplets and evil Superman/Richard Pryor. Maybe I’m just looking back with rose-colored glasses, but I’d put them above anyone but Batman.

  42. Dr Wally Rises says:

    Hackman is a great actor, but he fouled up Luthor, big time. He didn’t understand the character at all, and just came over like a paycheck player for Donner. He’s not unique in that respect. Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever was a later example. To be honest, Kevin Spacey is the one who at least had the right instincts in playing Lex. A decade on, Superman Returns has to me become better in retrospect. For all its faults, at least it has moments of genuine grandeur. It just needs Mcadams or even Hathaway as Lois primarily.

  43. EtGuild2 says:

    It’s funny to me that the best villains who haven’t appeared on screen are from Superman…the first real features we got…Brainiac, Darkseid and Bizarro (the latter two of which will almost certainly happen)..

    Other than that, I can only really think of Galactus (I refuse to count Hurricane Katrina’s portrayal of him in Rise of the Silver Surfer) and Carnage, the latter of whom I have a hunch wouldn’t be welcome in a Disney-associated universe.

    If you think the MCU has been lacking…well, they’re running out fast post-2016. Marvelman is pretty good, but Black Panther and Ant-Man have pretty terrible enemies. I do wonder if they’re saving Bullseye for the MCU or The Defenders.

  44. brack says:

    If you think Ronan, Thanos, etc from Guardians of the Galaxy sucked, then you must have hated that movie.

  45. Mike says:

    Right, because with Rocket, the plant guy and Chris Pratt, the best things about the movie are the forgettable villain and the guy in the credits?

    I always enjoyed Hackman’s scenery chewing, in the same way I enjoyed Nicholson’s Joker. There’s more than one way to portray these characters.

  46. JS Partisan says:

    Oh my fucking god. I ignore a thread for a week, and come back to LOVE FOR THE X-MEN FILMS, the shitty Burton Batman films, and a bunch of Marvel bashing.

    Once again, let’s bring up the scoreboard:

    MARVEL: 10 BILLION! Most of you? 0!

    Singer has made one great Superhero movie, and that’s Superman Returns. Sure. The villain plot is stupid, but he really captured the essence of Clark in ways, that no one ever has, even Donner. All of the X-Men movies, are just such tedious shit. It’s the same damn movie over and over again, and that’s why First Class is the X film stand out. It’s fucking different. Once Singer got involved… again. He pumped out the same tired shit from 1999, and fuck that wack shit. If your idea of fucking NIRVANA, is Bryan fucking Singer directing a Marvel movie, then I would like to ask you to keep your head canon to yourself. Also, Ethan, dude is making the movie less dark. Chill.

    Back to the fucking shitty X-men movies. They were tiresome then; and it’s even more tiresome now. If you folks want to watch those god awful movies over something like Iron Man 3, then have a fun day. I will keep on looking at those blu-rays in Best Buy, and keep smiling from those movies meaning jack and shit to me. The same goes with the previous five Spider-Man movies, any Batman movies not directed by Nolan or Affleck, and Man of fucking Steel. Batman v. Superman is awesome for what is fucking is.

    I get that some of you love those movies, but you know… they were never what some of us wanted. What some of us wanted, was Steve Rogers wearing his suit, and no one laughing at it. Superheroes, wearing bright colors, and still being serious. If you want to praise the X-men movies, then understand Singer and even Raimi, never ever grasped what these characters are about. If they did, Wolvie would always wear his colors, and Spidey would have never had a FUCKING DANCE NUMBER. Those movies feature superheroes, but guess what? THEY AREN’T SUPERHERO MOVIES. Shit. Ghost World is a more of a superhero movie, then any X-Men movie.

    Here’s a better analogy: The MCU and Nolan films are like eating a real steak, after years of eating tofu.

    AND BEST ROGUES?

    1) THE FLASH
    2) SPIDER-MAN
    3) BATMAN

  47. JS Partisan says:

    My god, this thread. LOKI A GOOFBALL? Really? The guy running Asgard, a goofball?

    Ronan had more fucking pathos, then Magneto ever has. Any incarnation of fucking Magneto, is just such a hackneyed fucking villain. His holocaust background, is fucking tossed aside, for petty fucking grudges. It’s always a fucking grudge. This is why the best MAGNETO, is THE GOD DAMN GOOD GUY MAGNETO! He, is at least, interesting. Funny, that the god damn X-men movies, can never pull that shit off. Tiresome, boring, and triffling movies.

    Ethan, Marvel is going to get the FF back, and that means GALACTUS and Norrin Rad, getting proper fucking on screen representations. They even got Namor back, so he should make the Inhumans, in PHASE FUCKING FOUR, rather interesting.

    I am just glad the box office shows, that people have moved on from these tedious fucking X-men films. It’s fucking heartening to know, that scoreboard don’t lie.

  48. Stella's Boy says:

    So those posts are the Internet equivalent of someone getting up in your face and screaming that you’re an idiot. That always wins arguments.

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