The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) (2 Viewers)

[Sean Bryan]

Well, Part 3 (There and Back Again) has been moved to December 17th, 2014. http://www.superherohype.com/news/articles/175283-the-hobbit-there-and-back-again-moves-to-december-2014

 

[Malcolm R]

I think that's a better decision. I never understood why they wanted to rush out the third film. These films seem better suited to a holiday release, than summer IMO. Release windows of less than a year between sequels generally always result in perceived box office disappointment for the third film (see Back to the Future III, The Matrix Revolutions, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, all of which were considered to have under-performed compared to the prior release).

 

[Brandon Conway]

Originally Posted by Malcolm R
I think that's a better decision. I never understood why they wanted to rush out the third film. These films seem better suited to a holiday release, than summer IMO.
Release windows of less than a year between sequels generally always result in perceived box office disappointment for the third film (see Back to the Future III, The Matrix Revolutions, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, all of which were considered to have under-performed compared to the prior release).

Not that it matters THAT much, but all of those examples under performed because the anticipated 2nd film before it was underwhelming due to the much earlier first film. In other words, I think the quality drop for part 2's are more to blame for box office downturns for those than the 6 month between release window.

 

[Malcolm R]

Possible, though one would think word of mouth would have dampened the grosses of the 2nd films. The Matrix Reloaded made about $278M and POTC: Dead Man's Chest $425M domestic. Those seem like pretty high totals if the audience was disappointed in the quality of those films.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Originally Posted by Malcolm R
Possible, though one would think word of mouth would have dampened the grosses of the 2nd films. The Matrix Reloaded made about $278M and POTC: Dead Man's Chest $425M domestic. Those seem like pretty high totals if the audience was disappointed in the quality of those films.

Those numbers are a reflection of people's enjoyment of the previous film. That's the reality with box office so front-loaded in today's market.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

I don't totally buy that, Brandon. Though I acknowledge your point. For example, The Dark Knight is both the highest grossing and most popular of the Nolan Batman films. Rises didn't gross more than TDK due to TDK's popularity. And there is absolutely a burnout factor. BTTF3 is a grand film, but came out quickly after 2, and the public was a bit burnt out. I do agree that the perceived quality of a previous film is an input. I just don't agree that it is the single largest driver of success. As always, the film itself is.

 

[Chuck Anstey]

I don't totally buy that, Brandon. Though I acknowledge your point. For example, The Dark Knight is both the highest grossing and most popular of the Nolan Batman films. Rises didn't gross more than TDK due to TDK's popularity.

But it did gross a lot more than it deserved because of TDK. I agree with the others but add one caveat, the second movie of a series grosses depend a lot more on the first movie than the quality of the second movie assuming it is at least on the order of the first one, even if a fair bit worse by most people's standards, especially if the first movie wasn't as popular in the theater as it deserved. Austin Powers : IMOM, Batman Begins, and Pirates of the Caribbean come to mind.

 

[Sean Bryan]

A new poster

The trailer should be out on Tuesday

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Lovely poster. Expected the teaser this week. Man of Steel and all that.

 

[Brett_M]

A very cool poster. My tail -- a thunderbolt!

 

[Bob_S.]

Love the poster!

 

[Sean Bryan]

The trailer is out, but I won't get to view it until later tonight.

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

And if that embed doesn't work, here's the link.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Here ya go:

 

[Brandon Conway]

Really looking forward to it!

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Sweet! Legolas: The Movie.Just kidding.Not really.Still, I liked the teaser.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Chiming in after 80 pages of conversation and just having watched
the new trailer....

First, let me stress that I am a huge fan of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

I read all the books as a teen, and felt Peter Jackson did a superb job
translating them to film.

That being said, I really disliked The Hobbit....

...and I was reminded as to how much dislike I had for it when I finally
sat and watched the 3D Blu-ray this past weekend.

There are two major problems with the film as far as I am concerned.

The first problem is that it's more of the same of what we have seen
already. Best way to describe the experience is...been there, done that.

The second problem is the greed involved in expanding this book out to
three films. It was unnecessary to do. As a result, The Hobbit took too
much time to tell its story. In fact, I found it a complete bore to sit through.

I am hoping that the next two installments that follow will be better paced.
Hard to imagine having to sit and watch an extended version of what has
already been released --- and this is coming from someone that prefers the
longer editions of The Lord of The Rings.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Chiming in after 80 pages of conversation and just having watched
the new trailer....

First, let me stress that I am a huge fan of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

I read all the books as a teen, and felt Peter Jackson did a superb job
translating them to film.

That being said, I really disliked The Hobbit....

...and I was reminded as to how much dislike I had for it when I finally
sat and watched the 3D Blu-ray this past weekend.

There are two major problems with the film as far as I am concerned.

The first problem is that it's more of the same of what we have seen
already. Best way to describe the experience is...been there, done that.

The second problem is the greed involved in expanding this book out to
three films. It was unnecessary to do. As a result, The Hobbit took too
much time to tell its story. In fact, I found it a complete bore to sit through.

I am hoping that the next two installments that follow will be better paced.
Hard to imagine having to sit and watch an extended version of what has
already been released --- and this is coming from someone that prefers the
longer editions of The Lord of The Rings.

Bringing The Hobbit to the big screen, I don't know how they avoid the first problem for the most part.

However, the second problem I do agree with you that it probably was best to show this in just two films, but I'll resist final judgment until I see all three films.

 

[Brett_M]

I had chills and a grin during that whole teaser. I cannot wait until December.

 

[Brandon Conway]

The only greed I saw was Jackson's for the material, a vice I completely share. AUJ could have been twice as long and I probably still would have loved it.