Review of the Tim Burton "Planet of the Apes" film (2001) on Blu-ray & my take on the ending (1 Viewer)

[Tino]

It was a hit, just not as big a hit as he producers wanted or needed it to be for the franchise they planned to make out of it.

And yet it was still more successful than all three of the recent Ape films domestically. Go figure.

 

[JoshZ]

And yet it was still more successful than all three of the recent Ape films domestically. Go figure.

The nature of the business has changed. International markets are much more important to the studios now than they used to be, and there's less emphasis on domestic revenue above all else.

 

[BobO'Link]

While it had a very good US/Canada opening weekend of $68,532,960, for its second weekend it made a total of $28.5 million. That's a significant drop off and it continued to bleed ~50% of its box office every weekend it was in release.

It also cost $100 million (estimated) to produce. Add a huge advertising push/campaign and it likely made at best double its production/promotion costs from *worldwide* receipts.

It was profitable but I wouldn't exactly call it a "hit."

 

[Tino]

It was profitable but I wouldn't exactly call it a "hit."

We’ll agree to disagree.

 

[Tino]

The nature of the business has changed. International markets are much more important to the studios now than they used to be, and there's less emphasis on domestic revenue above all else.

Agreed. It also made more adjusted worldwide than the first and third films. And was close to the second.

 

[Robert Saccone]

I like Burton’s movie despite the confusing ending. and having grown up with the original movies and tv series I prefer John Chamber’s take on the Apes over the look in the current series. I still enjoy the current series though.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

$638,172,713
Adjusted for inflation, $362,000,000 in 2001 is equal to $638,172,713 in 2024.

$315 million domestic in todays dollars.

I’d say that was a hit.

We didn't pay much attention to international grosses in 2001, so the US grosses were the big focus.

$180m was more than adequate back then, but the issue with "PotA" is that it nosedived after a big opening.

It had no legs - it made more than half its total US gross in its opening week.

Bad WOM doomed it.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

We’ll agree to disagree.

A "hit" goes beyond just $$$.

"PotA" 2001 did turn a profit - though not a huge one, given it took in $362m and cost $100m.

But as I mentioned, it was intensely frontloaded in terms of box office.

Poor WOM meant it sank like a stone after a big opening week.

Did it make some money? Sure, but I view a "hit" as a movie that's actually liked and popular, not one that zooms out of the box due to hype and then plummets.