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Wkd Box Office - 12•12-16•18 - Spider-verse buries Mortal Engines domestically. Clint does fine. Aquaman rules the world with $262M overseas.
- Thread starter kswiston
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I will read spoilers first, then decide if it is worth a go
Really have to wonder what went wrong with Into the Bombaverse.
It flew completely under the radar for most of my friends who are into comic book films, so maybe the ad spend was misplaced?
It flew completely under the radar for most of my friends who are into comic book films, so maybe the ad spend was misplaced?
OP
OP
Depends on the Saturday numbers. Studios could be going conservative on Sunday's drop, which was 10-20% the last time that Dec 23rd was Sunday
I imagine its just a large mix of factors. Lot of older folks not knowing who Miles is, holiday competition, animated movie. Seen lot of folks dig on how the movie looks (the style) too, as if they saw it as some cheap spin off that should have been direct to video.
Holiday weekend, people are travelling, shopping etc.
And despite Aquaman leading the pack. IT's still competing with Bee, Spiderverse and Poppins. At my theater they had more showings for Poppins compared to AM, Bee and Spiderverse. I feel throughout this next week and into next weekend theaters will start change a lot of that.
And despite Aquaman leading the pack. IT's still competing with Bee, Spiderverse and Poppins. At my theater they had more showings for Poppins compared to AM, Bee and Spiderverse. I feel throughout this next week and into next weekend theaters will start change a lot of that.
If I had to guess it would be simply this:
Superhero fans/MCU fans and animated fans may not overlap as much as people thought. The only real successful animated superhero movies were made to appeal to non-comic book fans so Lego Batman, which performed disappointingly, but still made good money, and Big Hero 6 did well. More mainstream comic book animated movies are almost always direct to DVD, so people may have thought that Into the Spiderverse was of the same vein, but pushed out into theaters. I would have thought that WoM and reviews would have helped overcome that, however. To use Lego Batman again people assumed it would be a much bigger hit than it was by bringing Lego Movie's audience and Batman fans together. Instead it under-performed.
In other news:
I wonder if it's too late to change the name from Mortal Engines to Terminal Engines. As bad as it looked in previews I assumed that it would draw in the Transformers crowd of people that just like to see giant crap explode on screen. Glad that it didn't as it looks irredeemably bad.
People never should have expected Spider-verse to play like a SH Movie up front. It's the same misguided logic that had people saying 'but it's LEGO + BATMAN! 900m confirmed'. Best case scenario are markets like China where it's opening like (very popular) cartoon film but bouncing like a popular SH movie. I've said it before but direct animated adaptations of existing well know properties (especially those that already have ongoing live action) are going to be seen as disposable gimmicks, and Spider-verse did play into that perception with its marketing. Luckily the movie is exceptional so word of mouth has been strong!
Nothing has gone wrong with Spiderverse though. People just do not understand or know what its projections and expectations were leading up and are probably unfamiliar with the Christmas period on top of misinterpreting SHs release schedule as bombing. Holding this well against the new entries is good, and it's still far too early to call it a bomb with the real leg period of the holidays still having to play out.
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For Spiderverse I don't think you can blame lack of ads or ad spend. I saw them everywhere. Facebook, TV, etc. When my mom a 63 year old woman knows about it. I don't think advertising is the problem.
Yikes! Taking the kids a couple of hours. They've been looking forward to it for months.
Looking at the BO they are the rarity. LOL!
I blame Spider-Verse for all the other movies not performing well
We should've just CANCELLED THE MOVIE
We should've just CANCELLED THE MOVIE
I do wonder if a "cleaner" art style a la Incredibles 2 would have pushed up the total. The DoF/CA effect is really distracting and probably looks worse blown up on the big screen.
In the end, Spider-verse is a spinoff though. The entire movie takes place in a roughly Ultimate universe, and serves as reworked origin story for the second Ultimate Spiderman.
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OP
OP
Looks like the Saturdays floating around on BoT last night were all a few hundred thousand too high. Which explains why these estimates are all about 1M lower than what I was posting last night. Poppins and Bumblebee are estimated to drop 20-21%, so they may increase some.
Aquaman has an estimated 17% drop. I was using 15%. If it changes, it probably will not be by much.
Spider-verse is using a 10% drop and many be overestimated. That early Saturday was off by quite a bit.
Aquaman has an estimated 17% drop. I was using 15%. If it changes, it probably will not be by much.
Spider-verse is using a 10% drop and many be overestimated. That early Saturday was off by quite a bit.
A movie can be good and still bomb if no one wanted it. I know it's good, and yet feel zero interest in seeing it. Nothing about it seems worth seeing or important to the story of Spider-Man.
BB estimated to do 20-35M hit the low end.
that's a lot of screens
that's a lot of screens
It's the quite possibly the best on screen adaptation of Spider-Man? One of the best comic book movies ever? The incredible and unique art style? Even the soundtrack is bumping! What exactly are you looking for?
Maybe Alita should have stayed this weekend, that's the film everyone was wanting to watch this christmas and would have helped all the other films as well.
Except Mortal Engines, nothing could help Mortal Engines.
The art style is odd and not something I personally would want. What about the advertisements and trailers (which I've seen even the extended venom one) makes me or anyone think it's the best adaptation of Spider-Man? Being animated immediately means it's not the best adaptation to me honestly. Then there is a lack of iconic Spider-Man villains and a lack of cinergy with the universe that's going on around it. Just seems like a silly kid side story. And I like animated movies and superhero movies.
Edit: my point of view is coming from the adverts and media that's been released.
I've seen dozens of Mortal Engines trailers and I still don't know who the star is, who the villain is, or what they're fighting for. Something about a mother?
They kind of assume that everyone is familiar with the source material.
They kind of assume that everyone is familiar with the source material.
So Aquaman is cleaning up huh? Good, I like Momoa's Aquaman. Him and Gadot as Wonder Woman are the saving graces of that awkward EU.
STX was smart to target Hispanics and older women with Second Act. Both groups go to the movies over the holidays and were being ignored by the other production companies.
Mortal Engines is going to run away with the Bomb of Year award. $10M against a $100M budget? And it finished in 13th place in week two? DAAMMMMNNN...
Mortal Engines is going to run away with the Bomb of Year award. $10M against a $100M budget? And it finished in 13th place in week two? DAAMMMMNNN...
There are actually
half a dozen classic Spider villains prominently in the movie, some of them changed significantly from 616, some of them straight up Ultimate adaptations - they chose to keep most of them a secret to avoid spoilers I guess?
It's not the best Spider-Man movie because it's animated. It's the best because it understands the essence of the character better than any of the movies before it. It captures the comic book roots and heart of both Spider-Man and the underdog relatablity of the man behind the mask better than any of the other movies. It's emotionally resonant without feeling cheap or forced, funny and heartfelt without feeling saccharine, has visually dynamic action and is gorgeously animated in general, marries the visual language of comics and the kinetic possibilities of animations unlike anything else, and is the best realization of adapting the nature of comic book yet.
Spider-Verse has all the personality and heart and sincerity of the Raimi films with none of the camp. And it embraces its comic roots better than any comic book film in the history of the genre. And it also feels revolutionary in terms in both animation technique and how superhero films could be told.
If you're a fan of the character, of superhero films, of animation, you owe it to yourself to see it.
Oh man you need to watch the movie. The trailers dont do it justice.
Kingpin isn't an iconic Spiderman villain?
I think I'm not alone in just being dumbfounded that someone who likes "animated movies and superhero movies" would not have any interest in seeing an animated superhero movie that both critics and fans are near-universally calling "the best Spiderman movie ever, the best superhero movie this year, one of the best superhero movies ever", etc (and yes, having seen it, I'm saying those things too).
Obviously, making the $200 million budget back is going to be one uphill climb, Cameron box office black magic or not.
China Sunday estimates Dec.23 (Yuan)
Spider-Verse - 60.2M / 179,5M -19%
Link to me predicting 180m Yuan for the weekend.
2nd best animated 2018 opening in China, doom sayers.
Aquamans - 58m / 1609m -17%
Airpocalypse 19.5m / 84.84m -28%
Master Z 16.6m / 42m +9%
Robbers Meet The Monster - 14.3m / 51.6m -31%
Totoro 10.4m / 131m +9%
Padman 2.2m / 60.6m
Grinch 1.5m / 24.3m
Don't let the terrible marketing rob you from seeing a fantastic movie. People aren't exaggerating. It's like the best reviewed movie of the year my dude. It has a great story to tell on its own merits, you just see none of it in the crappy trailers (aside from the first trailer which gives you a small small fraction of it)
Spider-Verse - 60.2M / 179,5M -19%
Link to me predicting 180m Yuan for the weekend.
2nd best animated 2018 opening in China, doom sayers.
Aquamans - 58m / 1609m -17%
Airpocalypse 19.5m / 84.84m -28%
Master Z 16.6m / 42m +9%
Robbers Meet The Monster - 14.3m / 51.6m -31%
Totoro 10.4m / 131m +9%
Padman 2.2m / 60.6m
Grinch 1.5m / 24.3m
Don't let the terrible marketing rob you from seeing a fantastic movie. People aren't exaggerating. It's like the best reviewed movie of the year my dude. It has a great story to tell on its own merits, you just see none of it in the crappy trailers (aside from the first trailer which gives you a small small fraction of it)
Yes, as a long time reader it was like stepping through the various eras of the comic in a way no other Spider-Man movie has done - culminating in the new guard of Miles Morales. It had the heart the comic was always known for but was never really translated fully in previous films. Miller and Lord finally captured what so many other writers and directors have been trying to capture for well over a decade.
Others have already said what I was going to but just look at the score on rotten tomatoes where it has a better average than The Dark Knight and many Oscar Best Picture winners. Or the OT where I don't think I've seen a more positive and enthusiastic response to a film since Mad Max Fury Road, maybe even more so.
They should just slap 'directed by James Cameron' onto every trailer.
Surprised they haven't, but then again, didn't help Mortal Engines slapping Peter Jackson on everyone one of it's trailers.
The thing is you're not wrong for having that take. Everything you've said is totally reasonable as are you default preferences for animated or villains etc. I had/have the same default position of the weird choppy animation.
It's literally one of the best spider-man movies ever, maybe best ever. It's a treat and fantastic. Even if it's neother of those things, it's beyond simply 'good'. It also has something to say about Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and being a hero that is completely missing in... basically all the live action stuff.
I'll probably wait for spiderverse to hit blu ray simply because there are no 3d screenings in my country. I generally don't have a lot of opportunities to go to the cinema and I want something ekstra out of it when I go. I would try to make the effort and have it arranged if there was a 3d showing, but all of the cinemas are showing it in 2d only. I'm probably not in a majority with this, but it might be more than people think. This is in europe btw.
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