2011 at the Box Office (1 Viewer)

[Cory S.]

I'm starting to think that this film is a victim of fatigue because having seen it twice, it's not 25% at rottentomatoes.com bad. It's above 50% easily.


It's flawed but it's essentially the exact same film as Thor, with better production values and better visual effects.

 

[mattCR]

"But it was laughably, horribly, astonishingly bad."



I have to laugh when people use prose like this. I just watched Puma Man again on MST3K. You don't have a clue when it comes to laughably, horribly, astonishingly bad.

Somedays I miss mst3k. But green lantern does qualify. It's not great but not horrible.

 

[Thomas Newton]

Originally Posted by Greg_S_H

You hurt your argument by comparing it to Tron. Tron ees good! I haven't seen GL and don't want to, but the recent comic update of GL's origin explained why Abin Sur was in a spaceship. It was prophesied that his ring would fail him at a crucial moment, so he was afraid to rely on it for space travel. His captive wisely pointed out that he FEARED his ring failing, but Sur explained it away as his just being cautious. But, it was a crack in his control and the captive used it to break free, leading to Sur's crash and death. Obviously, I have no idea if any of that made it into the film.

This goes back to a great Alan Moore story from years ago, which recent events in DCU comics have built upon.


In the story, Abin Sur follows a crashing spaceship onto a forbidden world. The ring tells him that it is a "corpse-world" and "none may go there save by the Guardians' permission"; it is the prison of unspeakably cruel "deathless essences" who the Guardians fought many thousands of years ago. Abin Sur decides that Oa is too far away to contact and goes there anyway.


Quill of the Five Inversions offers to answer three questions. Abin Sur asks about the location of the spacecraft, his own future, and that of the Corps. Quill answers the first two questions truthfully. The third answer is a gruesome prophecy of the death of the Corps, with a particular emphasis on the deaths of Sodam Yat, Mogo, and the Guardians. It's this answer that causes Abin Sur to claim not to believe the predictions. When Abin Sur leaves, the demons laugh for a long time over how they have "destroyed" him.


Recent GL comic story lines have made many references to this story. It was revealed that the Guardians buried Quill's prophecies; they seemed to be particularly disturbed about the one concerning their own fate. There was a story line where the deaths of Yat and Mogo almost came true. That was followed by more "prophecies" and story lines. Along the line, the whole backstory for Ysmault changed.


In Moore's story, the Five Inversions were demons (or things pretty close to it) imprisoned for unspeakable atrocities that they had inflicted upon countless innocents. In the retcon, the Manhunters (robotic predecessors to the Green Lantern Corps) had gone out of control, and had wiped out nearly every living sentient on Ysmault. Atrocitus is the sole survivor, or one of a very few survivors, and wishes revenge upon the Guardians. The Guardians' response? To cover up the Manhunters' crime, to dismiss it as a "programming error", and to label the Five Inversions as "terrorists". This seems to be the background behind the Abin Sur / Atrocitus segment of Emerald Knights, where Sinestro claims that Atrocitus is a member of a "terrorist cell".

 

[TerryRL]

http://www.deadline.com/2011/06/first-box-office-cars-2-bad-teacher-look-to-be-overperforming-friday/


After last weekend's disappointing outcome, Summer 2011 returns with bigtime North American grosses. Expect an overall total of $230M, which is up +40% from last year. Here's the Top 10.

1. Cars 2 3D (Pixar/Disney) NEW [4,115 Theaters]
Friday $28M, Estimated Weekend $75M

Wow, even Pixar's clunker exceeded expectations. Strange that the special studio parent/kids' tracking was only showing a $50M weekend for Cars 2 even with 3D's higher ticket prices. What a crock. Other studios tonight think the toon can zoom between $71.5M-$75M for the weekend, but Disney is staying conservative with projections of "just" $68M. No matter -- it's still a big bump up from the original's $60.1M. This puts the sequel near the top of the Pixar food chain, trailing only Toy Story 3's $110M opening, despite much poorer reviews.


2. Bad Teacher (Sony) NEW [3,049 Theaters]
Friday $12M, Estimated Weekend $31M

Welcome to the brave new moviemaking world of Bad Gals and raunchy 'R-rated' movies starring women. (Hard to believe feminists fought for this kind of film equality, huh?) Given the mega-success of Bridesmaids and now Bad Teacher, expect a lot of clones coming to the megaplex near you.


3. Green Lantern 3D (Warner Bros) Week 2 [3,816 Theaters]
Friday $6M (-72%), Estimated Weekend $19.4M (-63%), Estimated Cume $91M

TerryRL Note: Ouch! A 72% Friday-to-Friday dip (on top of lower-than-expected overseas grosses thus far) have killed any chances that of this one turning into a big franchise for WB.


4. Mr. Popper’s Penguins (Fox) Week 2 [3,342 Theaters]
Friday $4M (-37%), Estimated Weekend $13M, Estimated Cume $42.5M


5. Super 8 (Paramount) Week 3 [3,424 Theaters]
Friday $3.9M (-34%), Estimated Weekend $12.1M, Estimated Cume $95.3M


6. X-Men: First Class (Fox) Week 4 [2,633 Theaters]
Friday $2.2M, Estimated Weekend $7M, Estimated Cume $133.4M


7. The Hangover Part II (Legendary/Warner Bros) Week 5 [2,755 Theaters]
Friday $1.9M, Estimated Weekend $6M, Estimated Cume $244.1M


8. Bridesmaids (Universal) Week 7 [2,031 Theaters]
Friday $1.8M, Estimated Weekend $6M, Estimated Cume $147.3M


9. Kung Fu Panda 2 3D (DWA/Paramount) Week 5 [2,527 Theaters]
Friday $1.3M, Estimated Weekend $4.5M, Estimated Cume $153.4M


10. Midnight In Paris (Sony Classics) Week 6 [1,038 Theaters]
Friday $1.2M, Estimated Weekend $4.5M, Estimated Cume $28.6M

---Nikki Finke

 

[Chuck Anstey]

Originally Posted by TerryRL


3. Green Lantern 3D (Warner Bros) Week 2 [3,816 Theaters]
Friday $6M (-72%), Estimated Weekend $19.4M (-63%), Estimated Cume $91M

TerryRL Note: Ouch! A 72% Friday-to-Friday dip (on top of lower-than-expected overseas grosses thus far) have killed any chances that of this one turning into a big franchise for WB.

To me that sucks because I really like GL as a superhero and while the storyline definitely needed some more work, it isn't nearly as bad as the WOM and deserves better at the BO. I guess we will have to see how Captain America does at the BO to see if there is a limit to how many non-top tier superhero movies can be released in a summer. My guess is that the limit is two and for best results they need to be released in May. I think only top-tier superheroes like Batman, Superman, Spiderman can be released without concern for how many other superhero movies were released before them.

 

[mattCR]

This summer doesn't seem to have many "big" blockbusters; I expect XMen will get to $150M, maybe $175 or something by the end (Maybe), but you would have thought potential lock at $200M. GL won't get that far... I don't know, no real breakouts.


I say that, but I have been waiting with baited breath for Harry Potter since December, that will be the first film this summer I think where I may end up lining up at a midnight show.. as long as I can get a 2D showing.

 

[TravisR]

I guess we will have to see how Captain America does at the BO to see if there is a limit to how many non-top tier superhero movies can be released in a summer.  My guess is that the limit is two and for best results they need to be released in May.  I think only top-tier superheroes like Batman, Superman, Spiderman can be released without concern for how many other superhero movies were released before them.

 

 

 

I think you're correct. Captain America is beating up Nazis (who doesn't like that?) so that might give that movie a bit more of a boost than Green Lantern had.

 

[TerryRL]

WB/DC will very likely opt to use Hollywood's favorite R word right now...reboot in regards to "Green Lantern".


Look for the studio to attempt to once again launch a GL flick after they put together a "Justice League" movie. That way they can also launch films based on characters like The Flash and whoever else they decide to put in the movie not named Batman or Superman.


At Matt pointed out, this summer hasn't seen many movies with mega-blockbuster numbers. "The Hangover Part II" and Pirates 4 have so far been the only summer releases to top the $200 million mark domestically. Studios will probably reach their goal of at least five such hits by the end of the summer (The Hangover 2, Pirates 4, Cars 2, Transformers 4, and Harry Potter). The previous six summer seasons all produced at least five $200 million-plus performers. Six last year, five in '09, six in '08, seven in '07 (industry record), five in '06, and five in '05. So it looks like that streak will stay alive.


Studios are hoping for bigger-than-expected hauls (i.e. domestic hauls past the double-century plateau) from 'Captain America' and "Cowboys & Aliens", but at this point who knows?

 

[Malcolm R]

Studios are hoping for bigger-than-expected hauls (i.e. domestic hauls past the double-century plateau) from 'Captain America' and "Cowboys & Aliens", but at this point who knows?

I'm there for "Captain America." From the trailers I've seen, it doesn't appear to have all the CGI weirdness that turned me off about "Green Lantern."


The trailers for "Cowboys & Aliens" just look awful, so I'm planning to pass on that one.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Originally Posted by TerryRL

WB/DC will very likely opt to use Hollywood's favorite R word right now...reboot in regards to "Green Lantern".

They'd be smart to completely scrap all non Batman/Superman DC film pre-productions until they can get someone who knows how to properly bring the properties in with solid stories at a reasonable budget. If they stayed under the $80-85 million mark they'd be able to do it right. Far, far less risk that way. Spending $300 million (after marketing) on Green Lantern was asinine, especially when its biggest problems were inexpensive fixes (story/writing).

 

[Greg_S_H]

I can't imagine the studio wasting any more time with GL. I don't think it's a concept the mass audience is dying to see done right. I personally think CA has more mass appeal, but I guess we'll find out soon enough.

 

[Patrick Sun]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/warner-bros-pursue-green-lantern-205703

 

[TerryRL]

Ballsy.


Given how big of a loss (financially) GL's lower-than-expected box office performance is going to be for the studio, I'm surprised (more like stunned actually) that they are going forward with another one. I think we can pretty much count on one thing for the next movie...a much stronger script. I wonder if they're planning on giving Campbell another crack at it or are they going to opt for a new director.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Either ballsy, or Warner Bros. was so sure that GL would be a surefire hit that plans are too far along on the sequel to give up on it. My guess is that we wouldn't have seen this in the Alan Horn era; he knew when to cut his losses and move on.

 

[TerryRL]

You're probably right.


With Reynolds inked to a multi-picture deal the ball probably got rolling on a sequel weeks ago.


Plus, as the article linked in Patrick's post indicates, the studio is going to need the rather large void left by the ending of the Harry Potter series to be filled. It will take more than one big-money franchise to fill the gap left by the Potter films.

The studio is pretty jazzed about next year though, with "The Dark Knight Rises", 'The Hobbit', "Man of Steel", the 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' sequel, "Wrath of the Titans", "Rock of Ages", "Jack the Giant Killer", and "Dark Shadows" all on their current schedule. WB brass see a ton of franchise potential in their future and I guess it does make sense to give GL another shot in 2013 or 2014.

 

[Brandon Conway]

I'm also rather stunned at the moving forward. However, I can see why, given the need to push the DC properties as much as possible with Harry Potter ending. Guarantee that they push for a much more polished script and that they do their best to keep the budget under $100 million. To their advantage in that area is that all the models and CGI framework of Oa and those characters are now on file.


Campbell has said he will not be doing another one, so I think that's a good move. Considering the rumors of how the suits gutted the character development as well as botching the Parallax 3rd act reveal I'm not surprised that he's moving on to other things.

 

[Greg_S_H]

It could also be a lot of talk to try to drive up the current movie's take. "They're going ahead with another? Maybe I better catch this one after all."

 

[TravisR]

...they do their best to keep the budget under $100 million.

Let me preface this by saying that by no means do I know business- Anyway, sometimes you gotta spend money to make money but spending $300 million on an unknown (to the general public) character when the box office is already saturated with super hero movies was not a very bright move. If you spend $300 million on one movie, it has to be HUGE in order to make its money back. If you're making a movie based on a known property or a sequel or has bankable talent or that is actually a good exciting movie, maybe $300 million is not as big of a risk but spending that much on Green Lantern (especially when I think most will agree that the script wasn't that great) seems like an incredibly reckless bet to make.

 

[Chris_T]

Terry...is Paramount expecting a bigger haul (domestic & worldwide) for T3 over its predecessors or did the negativity associated with T2 temper their expectations?

 

[TerryRL]

From what I understand, the studio is hoping for a domestic run between the $319.2 million and the $402.1 million respective hauls of TF1 and TF2. They are expecting TF3 to be the biggest overseas performer of the franchise. Paramount believes that the movie will have little difficulty passing the $434.2 million international haul of TF2. Paramount execs feel that TF3 can end up earning north of the $900 million worldwide mark, making it the biggest hit of the series. When all is said and done, the studio feels that TF3 will end the year as the third biggest global hit of 2011, coming in behind Harry Potter (which everyone thinks will easily clear $1 billion-plus) and Pirates 4.