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SUNDAY AM, 6TH UPDATE: Warner Bros’ 3D Green Lantern ($21.6M Friday, dropping -21% for $17.1M Saturday, and only a $52.6M weekend) underperforms, unable to meet even the studio’s lowered expectation for North America despite the higher 3D ticket prices. And Fox’s Mr. Popper’s Penguins ($6.4M Friday, up only +2% for $6.5M Saturday meaning it failed to get any significant kiddie matinee bump, and only an $18.2M weekend) falls to No. 3 behind Paramount’s holdover Super 8 which cast no stars moves up to No. 2. But these numbers also signal falling stars in Hollywood. 
Green Lantern had well-known actor Ryan Reynolds playing the superhero, yet won’t come near that other non-sequel Thor‘s recent $65.7M opening weekend for Marvel yet starring a complete unknown. Even though for weeks now, Green Lantern had been tracking better than Thor, which also was tasked with introducing a superhero to moviegoers. Warner Bros and DC Entertainment began freaking out Friday about the continuing negative buzz around Green Lantern especially the bad reviews.
This was fanned by rival studios looking at U.S. box office. Competitors also told me that the foreign day-and-date opening grosses were off to a “very soft start” in the UK, Russia, New Zealand, Asia, and some Middle East markets with an estimated $17M from 3,253 screens. They were right: though UK opened #1 with £2.6M (US$4.9M) from 907 situations. That’s less than this summer’s openings of X-Men: First Class, Fast Five, and Thor. And the Russia and South Korea debuts weren’t strong even though these territories usually love action movies, but Green Lantern couldnt even beat Super 8 in Russia.
Meanwhile, Mr. Popper‘s weak result demonstrates how Jim Carrey’s popularity keeps waning in live-action movies. His last films were Fun With Dick And Jane (2005) opening to $14.6M, and The Number 23 (2007) debuted to $14.3M and Yes Man (2008) which first released to $18.2M. (I Love You, Phillip Morris never received wide distribution.) That this latest grossed at all is due to the penguins, I’m certain.
The total moviegoing weekend ends up an estimated -22% from last year (when Toy Story 3 opened to $110.3M. The big qualifier for all the above is the Sunday drop for Father’s Day.
Full analysis below. Refined numbers in the morning. Here’s the Top 10:
1. Green Lantern 3D (Warner Bros) NEW [3,816 Runs]
Friday $21.6M, Saturday $16.8M, Weekend $52.6M
Warner Bros said it was very pleased with DC Entertainment’s Green Lantern 3D opening of $3.35M midnight showings from 1,810 venues, which bettered Marvel/Paramount’s Thor midnights ($3.2M from 1,800 locations) and were on a par with Marvel/Fox’s X-Men: First Class prequel midnights ($3.3M from 1,783 theaters). “It’s an excellent result setting up for a strong Father’s Day weekend at the box office,” a Warner Bros exec emailed me this morning. But it was all downhill from there. Green Lantern starring Ryan Reynolds (the romantic comedy lead voted People‘s Sexiest Man Alive) and directed by Martin Campbell (who rebooted James Bond with Daniel Craig in Casino Royale) opened in a wide but by no means record-setting release into 3,816 theaters, of which 2,711 were 3D. Hollywood estimated a North American weekend opening of at least the mid-$50M range with the upside as much as $60M-$65M-$70M if the fan boys went for it in 3D despite the poor reviews. The studio now can only hope for a big Father’s Day judging from strong results from past superhero films.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros marketing saw the finished film extremely late in the game, I’ve confirmed, because the visual effects were much delayed coming in and delayed aspects of the campaign. Marketing didn’t have access to more than 70% of the finished movie until two weeks ago so it appeared as if the campaign changed three times which is unusual. The studio claims its campaign has been consistent since launch — but even I have eyes — though admits it may seem like that. Sources also tell me that Warner Bros film chief Jeff Robinov and DC Entertainment “pressured the campaign to feature the alien characters too much in the name of ‘franchise building’,” But not everyone was on board having to feature these side characters so much especially given their marginal roles in the finished film.” The result is that, at a time when $35M is the average marketing cost and $70M the domestic norm for a big summer tentpole, Warner Bros spent $55M on Green Lantern‘s domestic TV ads, and a total $100 million for the overall domestic campaign. (“Every time I turn my TV on, I think I’m watching the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, there’s so much green slime going on,” a rival studio exec snarked to me.)
Hollywood is expecting director Martin Campbell to be made the scapegoat: he’s already publicly suggested he won’t be back if there’s a sequel. Some point to Geoff Johns, DC Entertainment’s chief creative officer who also writes the Green Lantern comics and was integrally involved (reputedly even the deciding vote) on every big decision. And he’s respected but also controversial in some quarters. But Warner Bros execs Jeff Robinov and Greg Silverman should have made sure this movie was much better than a score of only 21% positive on Rotten Tomatoes (compared to Thor‘s 77% and X-Men‘s 87%). Looks like there’s plenty of blame to go around. “I’m not going to tell you this is the greatest movie,” a studio exec admits to me about why the film wasn’t better. The problem sounds like it was filmmaking by committee.
2. Super 8 (Paramount Week 2 [3,408 Runs]
Friday $6M, Saturday $8M, Weekend $21.2M (-40%), Cume $72.7M
For all those doubters: this $50M-budget movie frm JJ Abrams and Steven Spielberg had a very strong hold.
3. Mr. Popper’s Penguins (Fox) NEW [3,338 Runs]
Friday $6.4M, Saturday $6.5M, Weekend $18.2M
This weekend’s other major studio release Mr. Popper’s Penguins also scored poor reviews with only 43% positive on Rotten Tomatoes. The family fare starring Jim Carrey doing what he’s done in films a hundred times (over-acting) but also those adorable live birds (who doesn’t like penguins?) was tracking soft generally but strong in the special parents-young kids tracking. So Hollywood expected a high teens to low $20sM result for the $55M budget laugher and a fight for No. 2 with Paramount’s holdover Super 8.
I’m a sucker for animal films but always worry how the critters are treated by Hollywood, and this one had to be made on a refrigerated set because this breed of sub-Antartic Gentoo penguin has to be kept cold all the time. So the crew had to bundle up in down parkas and knit caps and mittens in the 36 to 40 degree temperatures as a result. Never before have wild live birds held such a key role in a narrative film, so filmmakers had to cast Captain, Lovey, Bitey, Nimrod, Stinky, and Loudy (so named for their distinctive traits). Birds & Animals Unlimited, Hollywood’s top animal trainers, was enlisted along with scientist Scott Drieschman, the penguin guru making his first foray into the movie biz. Before the Gentoos were transported to the U.S., a facility was built for them next to Steiner Studios in Brooklyn where some of the film was to be shot. The penguin production home included a living area, swimming pool, training space, and massive air conditioning built to simulate their environment in the wild. (Hey, I know top human actors who don’t get this many perks from Fox tightwad Tom Rothman…)
Drieschman himself moved into a trailer home next to the penguin habitat on call 24/7. Then the trainers at Birds & Animals went to work trying to train the wild birds to hit their marks. Problem was, the minute they even smelled food, it became complete mayhem on the set. Supposedly, that dining scene was improvised where the penguins leap onto the dinner table and start attacking each other’s sardines while Jim Carrey just sits there and keeps eating only to ask very politely, ‘Could you pass the salt?’ in the middle of it all. Only when the birds had to “act” by performing a very specific action, or when the filming location could not be made hospitable to the birds, did the production’s visual effects team take over with CG penguins.
4. X-Men: First Class (Fox) Week 3 [3,375 Runs]
Friday $3.3M, Saturday $4.4M, Weekend $11.5M, Cume $119.9M
5. The Hangover Part II (Legendary/Warner Bros) Week 4 [3,460 Runs]
Friday $3.2M, Saturday $3M, Weekend $9.6M, Cume $232.6M
This weekend, The Hangover Part II generated an estimated $21.4M from approximately 5,800 screens in 55 markets, bringing the international total to $256M. With a worldwide gross of $488M, the sequel now surpasses the original’s gross of $468M to become
the biggest R-rated comedy globally. The combined worldwide box office for both pics now exceeds $1 billion. Yowza!
6. Kung Fu Panda 2 (Paramount) Week 4 [3,469 Runs]
Friday $2.5M, Saturday $3.4M, Weekend $8.7M, Cume $143.3M
Pic went to #1 at the international box office this weekend, grossing $52.5M from 10,267 locations in 55 markets. This takes the cume to an excellent $280 million. Kung Fu Panda 2 expanded into 10 territories this weekend, clinching #1 in every one.
7. Bridesmaids (Universal) Week 5 [2,573 Runs]
Friday $2.3M, Saturday $2.9M, Weekend $7.4M, Estimated Cume $136.8M
Unversal opened Bridesmaids overseas this weekend with $7.3M in 7 territories. Australia opened No. 1 with $6.8M at 234 dates
and 36% market share. This opening is 19% bigger than Knocked Up, 22% bigger than The Hangover and 16% bigger than The Proposal.
8. Pirates Of The Caribbean 4 (Disney) Week 5 [2,742 Runs]
Friday $1.7M, Saaturday $2.4M, Weekend $6.2M, Cume $220.3M
9. Midnight In Paris (Sony Classics) Week 5 [1,083 Runs]
Friday $1.4M, Saturday $2.1M, Weekend $5.2M, Cume $21.7M
This is Woody Allen’s biggest hit in years, looking to exceed both Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) and Match Point (2005), both of which grossed $23+M domestic at the box office.
10. Judy Moody (Relativity) Week 2 [2,524 Runs]
Friday $785K, Saturday $825K, Weekend $2.2M (-63%), Cume $11.1M
Fox Searchlight expands Terence Malick’s Tree of Life into 114 screens and grossed $323K Friday and $450K Saturday for an estimated $1.1M weekend and an estimated cume of $3.8M. The specialty house also opened newcomer The Art Of Getting By onto 610 screens and grossed $296K for Friday and a disastrous $230K for Saturday with a disappointing weekend of $700K. Focus Features’ Beginners playing in 44 theaters grossed $154K for a $354K weekend and $908K cume. Beginners increased 66% from Friday to Saturday this weekend indicating
positive word of mouth.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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1% of the production budget recouped, 99% to go.
Yes WB is going to take a bath on Green Lantern but it’s a little bullshit that the traditional Hollywood press gave Paramount a pass on the fail that is Super 8.
For weeks I saw both Lantern and 8 running TV spots in the same NBA finals games, the Today show and everywhere else. Yes WB gets called out for their real marketing spend and we all pretend that Paramount magically spent a quarter of that? Please, this town isn’t stupid.
EXACTLY!!!
Difference being that “Super 8″ won’t lose most of its audience this weekend.
And “Green Lantern” may lose audience between shows.
Two things: First, I saw Super 8 today because it was the lesser of MANY evils, and I’m NOT paying extra money for 3D in this economy with this salary. There’s NO WAY this cost 50 million. The quality of the camera, sets and, yes, special effects (the town under seige, the train, the spaceship and floating cars, ect.) HAD to push this over 50.
You know what I thought? Eh, it was okay. GOONIES-lite.
And with a summer opening with JJ & Spielberg & Alien attached, it’s underperforming BIG time.
Second, did GL really cost 200 million?!?! I checked it on Wikipedia and if that’s accurate someone’s in deep dog shit.
But you can’t blame it on Campbell. He’s made some great films (Casino Royale, f.i.) and instead of blaming the talent, how about we blame the writers. They’re always whining about not getting enough recoginition and then when the movie TANKS, they say “Well I didn’t write that.”
So why don’t the writers step up and admit it. They did a HACK JOB.
Sorry the fail is on the director. Even if the writers are culpable, you can’t give them shit and give the director a pass. Just doesn’t work that way.
Why don’t we stop judging quality by gross? Are you honestly saying HANGOVER 2 is a better written film than GREEN LANTERN?
For that matter, I could objectively point out why the script for GREEN LANTERN is better than FIRST CLASS and THOR. But it doesn’t matter because no one really cares about the writing. People judged the GL trailer as “not cool” and the others as “cool” and that was it. Even Hollywood insiders are as superficial as the rest of America, sometimes even more so.
And I have nothing to do with GREEN LANTERN but I think you’re an idiot if you honestly believe there are better characters and a tighter storyline in any other superhero film this year to date.
yeah $200M was a huge gamble, especially on a second-tier superhero hardly in the mainstream consciousness, except for a few appearances on the cartoons Justice League Unlimited, and The Brave and the Bold.
It’s still a good movie, better than Batman & Robin, Catwoman, Superman IV, Jonah Hex, or Fantastic Four I, but… that aint sayin much
If I were Jeff Rabinov, knowing that GL is such a second-tier SH, I wouldn’t have made the movie for more than $100M, using mostly green-screen tech (pardon the pun) just like the movie “300″. But I know, he has to compete with Marvel/Disney…
The most logical SH after Superman and Batman should have been the Flash. The Flash is already better known to most people, having had his own multi-season TV show, and many appearances on JLU – that would have been the safer bet, especially since it wouldn’t have involved extra-terresterial excursions, so could have been made cheaper
a lot of this is just monday morning QB
That you are checking film budgets on Wiki speaks perfectly to the value of your opinion that Green Lantern’s deficiencies are largely attributable to the writers doing “a hack job.”
Here’s a VERY old joke that I’ll wager you’ve never heard. Hear about the Stupid Starlet? How dumb was she? She was so dumb she fucked a writer.
Yeah, the writers should take the heat. Because we all know that no producer or director would DREAM of changing a good script.
Writers no longer write tentpoles, the marketing departments do, winnowing through drafts & writers ’til they have the mush that scares the suits the least.
Lots of blame to go around. But don’t pin it all on the writers.
How about we admit it was a dumbassed idea for a film in the first place.
The Fanboy audience is worth jack-nothing in box office. They are good for a little internet buzz, but that’s it.
Audiences are sick to death of super hero films, so if you don’t have something really special, turn off the green light and make three or four solid mid-budget films instead.
If you make a great film the aud will show up, If not. they won’t it’s that damn simple and it doesn’t matter if it’s based on some tired-assed graphic novel.
The x-men franchise got off to a great start because they made a great story and film from it. Even the mighty x-men GN title would have been worth NOTHING if the film hadn’t been good.
For the love of God – Htown. Buy good stories and make them. Enough with this blind belief that a title can overcome a bad story. It can’t.
IDK. My zero-comic knowledge gf and I saw Green Lantern and she felt like it explained the universe in an interesting way. We took away that the second Green Lantern would probably be better than what we just saw. That says to me the movie was at least properly structured initially before it was beaten to death with the “Can we try more -blank” stick.
Consider all the forced character development scenes between the leads – the ink from the studio notes is still wet: “More romance! More comic relief! Can we make the hero more of a bad ass but also more vulnerable – for ze ladies?”. There was an audible thud from one of the “jokes” hitting the floor so hard. That smells like one of the suits insisting it “it would be hilarious if he said…”
Way to much of the universe’s most powerful hero sitting down talking about his feelings and instead of smashing fools with giant green tennis racquets and what not.
On behalf of Green Lanterns all over. when braking in a new supperhero. such as G/L you have got to set up an addveirtiseing campaign People wont go if they don’t know.
P;ease don’t give up on Greem Lantern.
Willis Martin
They gave Super 8 a pass because it’s obviously a cheaper and better movie.
This is another classic example of fanboy fatigue and the studios being out of step with the general audience. 3D is done. Please send the memo. You can sell it in the rest of the world, but Americans don’t want to pay almost twenty dollars a ticket for dark movies that hurt our eyes. Spending three hundred million dollars on a comic book hero that no one cares was not good business.
Thor had the advantage of being the first superhero of the Summer. It’s important to be first. X-Men is a flop. Fox will need international receipts to recoup their invest. These niche fanboy directors don’t bring in a general audience. They should have known that when Kickass flopped. GL takes a loss, and I’d venture a guess that Captain America will underperform.
The current biggest movie is Pirates because of the international figures. That’s why Depp makes the megabucks. The second biggest movie of the year is Fast Five from Universal. Again, that movie benefited from being first. It came out when audiences were looking for a high octane action film. All the studios can do is chalk 2011 up to a learning experience. Mid level and low budget films are the future. There will still be a couple of event films, but they will have to have something attached that makes the investments worthwhile.
In broad brushstrokes, the rest of the world is not buying 3D the way it used to either. Looking to international to pull domestic’s ass out of the fire is also no longer a safe bet. People are getting tired of Hollywood flushing its toilet on them.
Well said sir. I enjoyed your summation, well done. Never under estimate the economy forcing people to rethink their entertainment options.
This is entirely spot-on. I would like to add, though, that X-Men: First Class underperformed because (a) there were no “marquee” mutants to get excited about like Wolverine, and (b) audiences don’t like to be fooled three times in a row. They went to X3, they went to Wolverine…they were done. Sadly First Class is by far the best since X2.
In other words, I don’t think it had anything to do with Matthew Vaughn’s direction. It had to do with Fox rushing X3, hiring Brett Ratner, and effectively giving the franchise a poison pill that soured audiences on it.
I don’t know anybody who has ever mentioned Green Lantern before this, even as a kid. Seems like a niche comic; he’s the Phantom but green? The Green Arrow but with a lantern?
By contrast Super 8 is a charmer with tons of nostalgia, quippy cute kids and gorgeous shots of small town America. Super 8′s Smallville vibe is working to make it a sleeper with hold.
In what universe is SUPER 8 a fail?? Oh, wait, in your bitter, angry universe where you didn’t get to have *your* studio movie greenlit, huh?
The fact is, even if SUPER 8 cost $100 million, it’s still going to be a hit when you factor in overseas and ancillaries. For a movie with no stars and a marketing campaign that’s never shown the monster, that’s a huge accomplishment.
Personally, I think the budget is closer to $80 million myself. But for an original picture that’s not a sequel, nor is it based on a Milton Bradley board game or a famous pop song, this is a spectacular achievement. We all ought to be hailing the film for staking out territory for original ideas in Hollywood instead of wallowing in our bitterness. But that’s probably a bit too much to ask of some people.
Couldn’t have said it better myself. I’m a little surprise that deadline.com gave a pass on Super 8 soft opening BUT
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Don’t understand why deadline.com is giving a pass to Super 8 soft opening BUT falls like a ton of bricks on Green Lantern. Both films had the SAME HUGE P&A behind them. Mind you, I knew that Green Lantern wasn’t going to be in the 70 million range but 53 million is pretty decent (cracking the 50 million unlike Super 8)for a film that had such negative reviews. Super 8 maybe spent 50 million for the production but P&A wise, it would be at least 50 million and NOT the 20-25 million that Paramount is claiming. It’s especially true since this article confirms that the average for marketing cost is 35 million.
WOM will send this thing into the dumper come Sunday – will do 1/2 of Friday’s business come Sunday. Lively is apparently dead on screen.
Less dead than really rigor mortis dead January Jones in X Men:First Class but dead nonetheless.
Lively was quite good in THE TOWN, but she had nothing to work with in GL. As for Jones, yeah–she was awful in a role any actress worth her salt would have stolen the movie with. She’s so good on MAD MEN…maybe she needs certain directors to really make it worth.
Lively was anything but dead. She’s far more active than most standard love interests out there. There’s one scene in particular near the end of the film that is really great.
Yeah, you get to see a little side boob!
There is NO scene in this whole movie that even approaches great. What a steaming pile of garbage. Geoff Johns should be taken out back.
I think being in the bubble of H’wood makes people forget that Lively is on a show with a microscopic viewing audience; she’s loathed in the flyover states despite all the lovely buzz she gets in NYLA. She’s a young Heigl or smart Paris Hilton; either way it spells box office poison.
Boy based on this, the movie is going to be a complete flop.
(Boy, look at those red clouds in the purple sky.) ;-Þ
Please, enough with this “comic-book” brainwashing mindless entertainment… these films all have the same story beats, loaded with EFX & sound that gives you headache…. how about some entertainment that entertains, emotionally engages the audience and also stimulates a bit the “dormant” intellect…. No?!! I guess not in the US…alas
“the same story beats”
Which is going to make Superman II: The Snyder Cut, even more tiresome than most films of the ilk. That’s going to land with an epic thud.
Movies for adults: A truly dying genre.
These things (I saw X-Men yesterday for my annual Mindless Summer Blockbuster, and was actually rather bored for a bit of it, although I thought it’s self-conscious campiness saved it) are supposed to draw in that entire generation of infantalised boy-men I see around me everywhere (North America, Ireland, England), and suck their money out of their pockets. If you can’t do even that much, something’s wrong. Pity turning back to us grown-ups doesn’t seem to be an option.
@ginothefilmbuff
What does that mean “I guess not in the US”? These films always do better overseas than here in the US so stop with the stupid cracks about the tastes of people here. The fact is the big dumb action flicks are made because the Limeys and the Frogs and all the other folks love them much more than we do.
‘Kay. Your comment isn’t xenophobic at all.
Don’t be too sure of that. Whilst overseas has saved domestic’s ass more than once, goodwill is drying up, especially when the property and/or lead is unfamiliar or too parochial. Letting a Frenchman direct The Green Hornet didn’t make it any better.
“goodwill is drying up”
based on what? nothing? oh okay.
Oh, little things like reviews, total income when set against overseas P&A, surveys and data from cinemagoers, studios and distributors to which you don’t have access. Little things like that. It has nothing to do with xenophobia, although sending the rest of the world poorly written, high-priced, effects-heavy 3D films with an unfamiliar lead does not win the U.S. any friends (Guess what? There’s a recession in Europe too). Overseas audiences cannot be counted on to pull domestic chestnuts out the fire. If you think everyone with a non-U.S. passport is going to go see The Green Lantern ten times each then I’ve some real estate in Florida I know you’ll going to love.
It’s because the REST OF THE WORLD is bigger than America. Ingnorant oath.
At least he’s not an ignorant oaf.
Who’s ignorant pinhead. These films finish number one at the box office all over the world so it doesn’t matter who is bigger and who isn’t. The only country that has it’s own industry that can take away from US product is India. And if you’ve ever seen a Bollywood flick you would know they aren’t producing high end art flicks over there. (Not knocking their films, I love em, but they aren’t indie fare like Win Win and Beginners.)
As far as xenophobic, whatever. I’m pretty sure I travel a lot more than anyone on this board. I just hate that whole anti-American strain of morons who claim “US audiences only like crap”. Fact is big tent pole films dominate everywhere, and many do better overseas than in the US. Which either means people outside the US are even bigger morons according to the people who make these statements or maybe, just maybe Hollywood films are generally better made and more entertaining than people give them credit for.
Amen, Bill — what do you expect from Hollywood/lib posters? Flag waving?
most of asia have their own cinema which usually beats hollywood. u have no idea what u r talking about.
As long as there’s some big fucking green lasers, I am going!
As a commenter observed, America loves crap. Especially 2nd and 3rd time reheated.
Well Im surprised.
I gotta say I really want this movie to fail,
Why you ask?…If this movie does well it will green light the C and D tier comic movies NO ONE wants to see, like The Archies, Betty and Veronica, Aquaman, Flash, Prince Namor, the wonder twins, Thor, richie rich, howard the duck and daredevil..oh sorry, some of those have already been made.
NO more…stop this, no one EVER wanted to see green lantern, whats next hawkeye?
i wanted to see a green lantern movie…i guess some other people did too since it made over 3 mill on just its midnight showings…if you want to bash a movie that is fine, just don’t try and speak for everyone else.
hey — don’t throw Aquaman under the bus, just cuz Green lantern sucked.
I love it when people assume that they speak for everyone else. The midnight numbers alone indicate you are dead wrong. The Green Lantern has been a comic book staple for decades and a personal favorite of mine when I was just a wee lad. If it isn’t successful, it won’t be because people didn’t want to see the character brought to life. Although I have read less-than-flattering reviews for the film, many reviews have stated that Ryan Reynolds does his best to rise above the weak story, poor direction, marginal CGI effects and wooden performance of Blake Lively.
Sounds like you are more of a fan of Ryan Reynolds than Green Lantern. Who are you really defending here?
Uhhhh…I’d like to see an Aquaman film. There’s no reason why it can’t work if done by the right people.
Why would you settle for DC’s lame old Aquaman when you can have Marvel’s badass Sub-mariner? (And, more to the point, why would you want another botched Warners adaptation when Marvel has got their act together?)
Uh, Subby never really did it for me. Too much angst and outright hatred in the character.
Yeah, get Vincent Chase in the lead, Jame Cameron to direct, maybe Mandy Moore as the love interest. It’ll be bigger than Spider-Man!
yep for someone who Hates Comic book films you sure do know a lot about them !!!! Hawk eye will be next !!!! and thousands after that so sit tight I would rather have these films than have are theaters full of Segal and Van dam Garbage movies like in the nighties !
I happen to agree with this person. These superhero movies are just getting ridiculous. Green Lantern looks like a CGI nightmare with a goofy lead. It will do very well this weekend, but will die slowly. Just like X-Men did and Thor. These movies need to be doing far better to make up for their bloated budgets and marketing campaigns.
how did xmen die if it made over a 1oo mill in a week?
“Thor” is fading away? Are you blind? It’s going to cross $450 million worldwide this weekend, and X-Men is still going strong.
I’m kinda hurting for a wonder twins film, complete with incest yay.
I beg your pardon? Is your post actually supposed to be serious or are you just looking for a reaction?
I know! What an “oath”!
And don’t forget — Jim Cameron already made AQUAMAN (which blew Spider-Man off his at the time thought to be unassailable perch).
The problem is, despite the amazingly talented Geoff Johns resuscitating the Green Lantern comicbook property over the past four or so years, Green Lantern has, and always will remain, a second tier superhero to the public at large. Warners thought they had another Superman, but he’s really more of a curiosity in green spandex with a cool ring that makes neat constructs out of emerald light. The only surefire superhero properties out there are Batman, Spider-Man and Wolverine. And if you’re shaking your head at Wolverine, consider this: two years ago, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE was leaked a month early by streaming pirates, not to mention it garnered horrible reviews, starting with the assessment of the fanboy contingent it was aimed at, yet it still had an opening frame of $85 million and went on do about $180 million domestic. That’s a franchise! Which is why Marvel’s THE WOLVERINE, not unlike the actual comicbook character, simply won’t die.
I think there’s an outside shot that the opening weekend turns out to be critic-proof and does go to the high end of the estimates. However, if that were to happen, this looks like a prime candidate to repeat the terribly low opening weekend multiple that Ang Lee’s Hulk had.
I don’t care that reviews are horrible. I’m seeing it tonight and fully expect to enjoy it! Mindless summer fun.
It’s somewhat scary that this is said with such pride.
Not nearly as scary as the smarmy response to something perfectly acceptable to say and think.
Amen, brother Dave! I’m constantly amazed at all these bitter wannabees in this forum who are, for all intents and purposes, standing in the operating room berating the surgeon for slicing the wrong valve.
so true! i only can enjoy an awful movie when it’s free !
That’s the attitude that elected Bush twice. Stupidity reigns in the US.The dumber the more successful you are.
yes people should only see weighty, serious, art house dramas for the rest of their lives
I’m a little sick of the notion that a movie has to be dumb to be fun, and that a smart movie can’t be enjoyable by the masses. It’s lazy, and Christopher Nolan, John Favreau and countless others have completely dispelled it.
ehmalo01 – I’m sorry but “mindless” is not an attribute I want to equate with my cinema going experience. I’d suggest you spend your hard earned money on Midnight in Paris but it’s not mindless, so you’re probably not in the market for that. Enjoy the digital, green pixels.
“Hey kids! I’ve changed my mind about the movie we’re seeing tonight! Instead of that mindless comic book adventure, we’re all going to see an arthouse film by Woody Allen!”
“Uh, Pop? Who’s Woody Allen?”
Crack is mindless summer fun, but I’m not hittin’ the rock, yo.
are you an idiot?
This movie looks like such complete and utter crap, I am shocked that it could put up these kind of midnights and be aiming for a $60M opening weekend. It’s not that it’s a comic book movie. It’s that the trailer is GOD AWFUL! It looks corny, camp, unfunny, stupid, and just plain bad. Seriously America.. no taste!
Why on Earth did they cast the embodiment of Gen-X IRONY as their Classic Hero? The finalists for the role were two frat boys and a twink. Classic Heroes require complete sincerity. No archness, no winking at the audience, no irony. It requires total commitment to role and the conveyance of extreme earnestness. But the studio is obsessed with getting the big names instead of getting the right actors.
+1 on your comment. Green Reynolds will sink or swim on the back of Ryan Reynolds. I don’t get why all super hero flicks have a forced romanced and a bunch of cheesy one-liners.
“I don’t get why all super hero flicks have a forced romanced and a bunch of cheesy one-liners.”
Probably because that describes comic BOOKS perfectly?
Can I say I agree completely. Couple of decades ago, comic fans were campy and were laughed at. Now they are having their revenge.
Excellent post. Like many, I had misgivings about Ryan Reynolds in this role. Not saying he’s a bad actor, but he brings no sense of weight or gravitas necessary to carry a picture like this. He’s just too lightweight. (However, he might have been a good choice for the Flash)
Light weight eh? This is not shakespear, and no comic book movie is based on reality. This is the first one that has stayed true to genre, but the true afficionados of CMB know that aliens are real and a guy who wears a “Green Ring” well should just like the real DEA officer. I saw it 2x and it was an enjoyable film and Ryan was a joy to watch as usual.
@joe idaho
Apparently in 2006, David S. Goyer wrote a FLASH movie treatment for WB and he wanted Reynolds to be The Flash (Wally West, not Barry Allen). It didn’t go forward however (this is all according to Goyer’s own Myspace page circa 06-07). I would have bought Reynolds as The Flash wayyyyyyy before GL. I still think he’s miscast.
And a lot of people were questioning Toby Maguire as Spiderman. That gamble worked. Not so sure about Reynolds, even with the slightly higher name recognition. It still takes a good script and even better directing.
Yet RDJ pulled of a wink-to-the-camera perf in Iron Man. So you never know.
you cannot put RDJ and Ryan Reynolds in the same category – which is, then, making “Diana”‘s point.
I thought RDJ gave a sincere, believeable performance in both Iron Man flicks. He’s got a very comfortable screen presence and is adept at balancing dramatic and comedic elements of a character and script. Ryan Reynolds has a screen preseence that works best with lighter material, comedies or romcoms (imo). As someone previously mentioned, RR is no RDJ.
Ryan Reynolds’ best performance–by far–was his completely straight, serious and very dramatic turn in BURIED. Too bad no one saw it.
RDJ is RDJ in Iron Man: charming,charismatic & douchy!
To: michael,
Ryan Reynolds was also very good in the movie The Nines, and he did a good job as crazy George Lutz in The Amityville Horror remake.
Diana, you should be running a studio. Your comments show badly needed insight.
Valid comment regarding casting for superhero’s… but I think the 3D/CGI format warrants some consideration for it’s effect on inhibiting the organic process of story-telling and film making. Once 3D Environements are created and moving on to texturing, etc., the film essentially approaches ‘picture lock’ prior to the start of production. While Avitar was a huge success, there are a few places in the film where the story seems a bit off-center. For me, it seemed, as just described, changes were made to story and/or character after the creation of the 3D Environments. Once committed… you’re committed. Remember the good old days when, “we’ll fix it in Post”?
John V. Karavitis I for one can not wait to see this movie! The Green Lantern was one of my favorite comics as a kid, and now that CGI is available, this superhero’s amazing feats can be brought to the silver screen. I’m not sure exactly how I feel about having Ryan Reynolds be The Green Lantern, but he definitely has the physique for it. 9I’m guessing Christian Bale, already having played The Batman, was out from the start, and also would have been regardless because of his flat and dour personality). The last few superhero-to-movie translations have flopped (Thor, Iron Man 2, etc.), so I have my fingers crossed for this one. The storyline behind the “Green Lantern universe” is somewhat complicated, this might give the producers a lot of latitude when it comes to sequels (I refer you to, for example, Wikipedia’s entry on “Abin Sur”, as an example). Here’s hoping for the best! John V. Karavitis
How did Thor and Iron Man 2 “flop”, exactly?
Iron Man 2 and Thor flopped?
THOR – Worldwide Gross $433 million to date (Budget $150 mil)
IRON MAN 2 – Worldwide Gross $622 million (Budget $200 million)
What are you smoking? Sober up and come back to reality, lol.
This is not about the content of Mr. Karavitis’s post…he is obviously just trying to get his name on the DH site no matter how misinformed he is.
This follows the Charlie Sheen concept of the more stupid and outrageouss the comment…the better the chance people will listen…but, as always…sooner or later…the noise will only fall on deaf ears.
They “flopped” in the sense that I wouldn’t waste my time going to see their sequels. Iron Man 2 made me cringe, it was THAT BAD (IMHO), and Thor was a let-down. Sure, they made good box office, but that’s because, in Iron Man’s case, people were hungry for more, and in Thor’s, because of the novelty. You can’t seriously say that Iron Man 2 was “‘good”?!?!?! And Thor really did feel like a comic book – the acting was THAT FLAT! John V. Karavitis
This movie is horrible ’nuff said
Seconded.
Went to a midnight screening last night.
Horrible, horrible movie.
I used to think Hollywood hated people like me because it insisted on releasing dumbass superhero movies all the time. Now the movies have gotten so bad, I think they just hate me personally.
It shows Green Lantern is a very strong brand name, more than some people seem to have thought. Hopefully that encourages DC to go for Wonder Woman, Flash and maybe Justice League and some other properties. After Captain America, Marvel really has no more new, well-known characters to bring to the big screen.
Unfortunately the word-of-mouth is not going to be very strong for GL and we’re probably going to settle in for a Fantastic Four-like box office run at best. Parents/children are going to be the audience that responds to it the best since it is one of the most clean, unobjectionable, unsexy, non-violent superhero or action films made to date that remains at least watchable for adults. But Cars 2 will be competing for that same audience.
>it is one of the most clean, unobjectionable, unsexy, non-violent superhero or action films made to date that remains at least watchable
So, what, I say to my girl, “Hey, sweetheart, let’s go spend a hundred dollars and put up with the awful traffic and the nuts in the theater to see a movie that is unsexy, non-violent but at least watchable” ?
Wow, I’m glad Hollywood knows what I want to do this weekend.
Non-violent?! What movie did you see? This movie is too frightening for young children. It’s a shame really.
Give me $100 MILLION to spend in 7 months and I can create a very very strong “brand name” also. I could sell $20 Million in Pickle Flavored Water with that budget. This is a stinker. When are people going to realize that their dollars are the only voice they (we) have anymore. Spend, and spend wisely. Support what’s worthy of support.
You can argue all you want that Marvel “really has no more new, well-known characters”, but what you’re neglecting to notice is how they’ve wisely placed second-tier characters in supporting roles in their movies – Black Widow in IM2, Hawkeye in Thor, and a whole slew I’d imagine in the upcoming Avengers flick.
DC, by contrast, has done essentially nothing to take advantage of its successful franchises through Warners. When’s the last time Chris Nolan, Joel Schumacher, or Tim Burton used any character from the DC universe that wasn’t directly related to Batman? Any other DC characters pop up in that Superman reboot?
Marvel’s (now Disney) been playing their cards very wisely, especially compared to DC, which arguably has (or at least HAD) the more popular pantheon of characters overall. Hate all you want, but Marvel cracked the code.
Foreign results will be interesting… does the Green Lantern have any resonance beyond the US?
The comic book: only among the kind of people who really, really need a life. The film: it’s been teased, trailed. I’m forecasting a giant ‘Meh’ beyond the hardcore audience. “Ryan Reynolds? Who’s he?”, is what most will say. Followed by, “Not another superhero film already!” International won’t save it if domestic flops.
They better pray for a HELL of an opening weekend because word of mouth is not going to carry them to the numbers they need.
It’s bad. Some good people were involved, but the movie is just bad!
I just don’t see this being the franchise Warner Brothers is looking for.
“I don’t care that reviews are horrible. I’m seeing it tonight and fully expect to enjoy it! Mindless summer fun.”
How can we expect studios to make better movies when there’s a huge audience for pure slop?
Ah, the common misconception. The amount of good movies hasn’t gone “down,” it’s just perceived that way because more films that might not have gotten made years ago are being made now for cash grabs.
People will go out to see anything that will make them forget about the crappy lives they lead–to each their own. I personally think Green Lantern is undoubtedly better than every Adam Sandler movie ever made, but those will continue to be made until people stop paying.
I’m amazed how FIRST CLASS and THOR get a pass when GREEN LANTERN has way more character development AND better visual effects. It’s confusing. I think everyone who considers the former two movies good and the later awful is laughably misguided and needs to actually pay attention to what they are watching. GL isn’t a great film but it’s certainly solid.
Should I go into the plot holes in FIRST CLASS in detail? Or the general laziness of THOR in detail? Or does no one care because one features European actors and a British director that make you feel smart and the other features a fresh face with fresh abs and (again) European actors and a British director that make you feel smart and really cool?
Sheep.
Saw the movie last night and was very disappointed. So many years and so much money to actually make a Green Lantern movie and Warner Bros. gives us another Jonah Hex. I’m going to tell my friends to not see it since it sucked. WB needs to be punished for ruining a good potential franchise.
Enough with the superhero films! What’s next….”Hong Kong Phooey-The Motion Picture?”
LOL. Um… Yes.
Funny but I was just thinking the other day how Hong Kong Phooey would be awesome.
What I’d really like to see though is a live-action Silverhawks.
Everyone was excited when SUPERMAN RETURNS opened too. Look where that ended up going…
WB would have to call it a victory if Green Lantern ended up at $200m domestic and $390m worldwide.
Well, that ain’t going to happen. Warners might end up sweating whether Green Lantern can make it to 100 mil. The forecasts have gone down all weekend and are now at 51 mil. If the recent spate of studio lies concerning estimates hold it could be that it won’t even make 50 mil when the the actuals come out. Next week the drop could easily be 70 % with the bad word of mouth combined with Cars 2 coming out. That’s means the film might need a decent 4th weekend just to get over 100 mil. And the worldwide results haven’t been anything to write home about. This flick could easily lose close to 200 mil when all is said and done on it’s initial release.
And just think, last week there was one of the usual “unnamed” WB execs crowing about how their summer was going to crush everyone else’s summer. Funny, I think I’d take Disney’s portion of Thor, Pirates and Cars 2 over Warners slate even with Potter and the Hangover 2.
I saw the movie, and it was better than Thor.
I thought Thor’s effects were terrible.
Script-wise, X-Men First Class was better.
Thor got a freebie from the critics.
Yeah, why was that? Thor was really nothing special. Quite dull and uneventful. Looking at the TV spots and trailer for GL gives me the same feeling I get when I eat too much of something sweet. It’s sickening with all its silly characters and ridiculous CG.
Geoff Johns is a controversial figure “to put it mildly”? How so? Not being snarky, I just want to know what the word is about him.
Yeah, I have to second this. What about Geoff Johns is controversial?
I’m no insider — but I do know he was put in charge of bringing all the DC superheroes to the screen — and since then, he’s done nothing but mothball the Wonder Woman, JLA and the Flash movies (they were on the fast-track at Warners, some of them with directors attached and now they’re back “in development” with no dates.) He’s writing the Flash one himself, right? and that’s still “in development” — nowhere near getting made, they say.
the NBC WWoman pilot didn’t go, that was under Geoff’s supervision, right?
That Aquaman pilot and Jonah Hex were TERRIBLE… but that might have been before Geoff was put in charge of EVERYTHING DC. I dunno.
He has NOTHING to do with the DC movies under Nolan — those seem to be the only ones that work.
marvel is making Billions with their heroes, all of DC’s heroes are on the bench. Except for Glantern, and it’s BAAAAD. What makes a good comic, doesn’t necessarily translate. Nolan knows that.
That’s Geoff’s fault — right?
I believe most of what you described was well before Geoff (Jonah Hex was already shooting, Justice League and Wonder Woman had been moth-balled for awhile). I’m not saying the guy’s doing a great job, because you’r right that the Wonder Woman TV thing was definitely on his watch and none of the other TV ideas he’s been behind have even shot a pilot (Blue Beetle comes to mind). Even Green Lantern started before he was in his position, but the train didn’t leave the station until after he’d been given a chance to check things over.
I think the most substantial output (in terms of volume) that’s come while he’s been in his position is the DC DTV releases, which I think are usually fun but are 90% material that would never work in live action. All in all, I’m not ready to say that Geoff isn’t cut out for such a high position, but the next movie (assuming there is one) that comes from DC’s characters and doesn’t have the Nolan name on it had better deliver. It’s just a shame that Green Lantern is leaving people so cold because, other than Batman and Superman, he’s really the most movie-friendly franchise-potential material that DC has.
Geoff’s been CCO of Dc for over a year — and so far they’ve done a few failed pilots and this Green Lantern turkey (which may not even make it’s money back, much less be a HIT.) And… that’s it.
DC has as many good heroes as Marvel, they just don’t seem to know how to bring them to screen, and Geoff won’t delegate to people who do…
When they announced Iron Man, and Thor movies, people said – “those characters? really?”
It’s all about smart movie making, which this, and the last few DC regimes doesn’t seem to have.
Nolan’s been a Batman fan his whole life. He came in and said — “i’m gonna do it my way, stay out of my way.” Someone at DC was smart enough to say yes — and that’s been just about the only smart TV/film decision DC has made in a decade.
Even their straight-to-DVD animated movies fail. The did a green lantern one last year that was also gonna start a franchise. It was bad, no one bought it, franchise cancelled.
he has a huge ego and makes pretty rash decisions on properties. He sees things as a comic book writer, not as an executive
I thought the second part was why he was appointed, since the traditional executive mindset had completely dropped the ball on mining the DC characters while Marvel’s properties have been in successful films for about 10 years.
not a damn thing, he’s just another corny writer/ editor on a 3rd tier line of characters…moving on now
Geoff Johns is a VERY controversial figure in the comic book world. While he has managed to bring in new fans to things like Green Lantern over the course of the last six years as he has risen to fame in the industry, he has consistantly alienated long standing fans of various characters (including Green Lantern) with his reckless writing, and unthought retcons. The man has a type of retcon named after him, for god’s sake (search for “Geoffcon” on google… go ahead, I’ll wait). This makes him controversial as many younger readers shout his praises whilst many older readers (such as myself) scream his failures.
That’s from the POV of the comics fan. I didn’t think that was something Nikki would be in-tune with though when she said he was “controversial”.
I enjoy the guy’s writing enough that I’m willing to cast aside his impact on the continuity that DC now feels compelled to ditch. I’d agree that it’s generally too drastic though, as someone who grew up with Wally West as Flash and Kyle Rayner as Green Lantern (I didn’t need them to bring back Hal and especially Barry).
I agree. Wonder if Green Lantern’ll get him fired as CCO?
He doesn’t really have anything else in the pipeline movie-wise, does he? He killed a bunch of stuff, and the Flash movie he wrote the treatment for himself has ground to a halt.
Did he kill the Captain Marvel movie too, does anyone know?
Captain Marvel was killed before Geoff Johns became CCO. John August had a write-up on his shit about it, basically it went from “Big with super powers” through a bunch of re-writes, ground to a halt during the writer’s strike, and, after the success of The Dark Knight, the decision to do darker film takes on DC heroes killed the whole idea in the crib.
I read some of his Green Lanter stuff. I thought it was awesome. This is from a Marvel fan. Marvel has destroyed their most popular character and don’t care what fans have to say about it, but I’d never been interested in DC’s characters who weren’t Super or Bat-like. I wish I could of read the whole crossover. I’ll definently be picking up some of the #1s in November. Spider-man. Not so much.
I agree there’s way too many superhero movies, but Marvel is to blame for this since they’ve turned every single one of their characters, even 3rd, 4th, 5th tier ones into movies.
Besides, that’s like complaining there’s too many horror movies, too many romantic comedies, and too many mindless action movies.
Um, isn’t GL DC? I think even Superman’s home planet Krypton is in one of the Green Lantern sectors.
I did see Green Lantern, last night. I enjoyed the experience, and am glad I stayed up extra late after and before work today. I don’t have any real complaint apart from I really don’t care about seeing the sequel (which I think I can say is teased at the end of this film.)
I think Marvel has a better franchise with Iron Man and The Avengers. People saw Thor because it was teased following the Iron Man 2 credits. And next we will have Captain America which sets up The Avengers (which is the one I am most excited to see.)
Sorry, Ryan Reynolds I like you and wish you a successful career, but Green Lantern looks just horrible.
I’ll be watching Mr. Popper’s Penguins because of the great Angela Lansbury (with hope that she’ll get better film scripts soon). To have talented and charismatic Jim Carrey as lead and not some Adam Sandler, or Ben Stiller, or Jack Black, or Eddie Murphy, or Rob Schneider is just a nice bonus.
Actually, Brett Ratner owns the rights to HONG KONG PHOOEY. The business is so far gone that it’s sarcasm proof.
Genius. I’m working on the screenplay now.
After seeing the trailers for this movie I have no interest whatsoever in seeing it.
It looks like it’s 90% CGI.
And that CGI looks like crap.
I guess they figure kids who’ve grown up with video games will think the movie looks cool. That and the fact it’s about a super hero.
The studio won’t be getting any of my money.
Relatively speaking, I mean you don’t see a metal object driven through anyone’s skull and out the other end in this one. You barely see a speck of blood in it. When people die, it’s offscreen or they disappear in a puff of smoke so you can barely tell what happens. I really doubt Parallax would be any scarier for children than the Rancor monster in Star Wars was when I was a kid. It’s cartoon scary, nothing serious. Hammond’s mutation might be a little creepier since it’s more human and tangible, but, again, not much different than a creepy Star Wars alien. The only real problem for kids might be getting through the interminably long and stilted dialogue passages between Reynolds and Lively without getting restless.
Shouldn’t be scary. I’m prepared for it to not be all that good, but I can still enjoy it. Haven’t you ever enjoyed a “bad” movie? Besides, maybe if it does well enough in theaters it will get a chance to redeem the Character in a sequel…
I thought the same thing. But it’s not good bad. It’s just bad bad.
I saw GL last night and loved it – can’t wait to see it again (but don’t see it in the 3D)