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SUNDAY AM, 7TH UPDATE: Both Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (Warner Bros) as well as Alvin And The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (Fox) badly trailedthe openings of their previous installments. (Sherlock 1/$62.3M vs Sherlock 2/$40M and Alvin 2/$48.8M vs Alvin 3/$23.5M.) The Robert Downey Jr-starring and Guy Ritchie-directed Sherlock 2 total included $1.25M from 1,650 Thursday midnight shows. Audiences keep rejecting Hollywood’s sequels and threequels. Of course, the movie studios point out that both the last Sherlock and Alvin opened either on Christmas or after kids were already out of school. Execs are hoping to make up the difference before year’s end. But more pics will open, too, creating clutter. So if this weekend’s low grosses continue, then the domestic box office slump may very well ruin Christmas for Hollywood.
One bright spot is the new Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol which had the best major release per screen average all weekend helped by its higher IMAX ticket prices. It also opened with a huge $1.1 million playing on just 425 screens in 425 locations from Thursday evening through midnight shows. (As reference, M:I3 did $1.1M of midnight business on over 2,000 screens.) Wanna know why? Because it was goosed by none other than Warner Bros’ 6-minute The Dark Knight Rises preview on 40 of the 300 giant screen 70mm IMAX theaters. Paramount tells me that, because of strong early sales 
for midnight shows, IMAX asked to open Thursday evening to get the word of mouth started. Since Sherlock wasn’t booked into IMAX, Warner Bros couldn’t pair its ‘Batman 3′ prologue with its own product and lost a valuable marketing opportunity which went instead to Paramount on a silver platter. To say that Warner Bros was annoyed is an understatement. But there is a Dark Knight Rises teaser playing with Sherlock 2. The Tom Cruise-Jeremy Renner starrer directed by Brad Bird M:I4 expands this coming week — and then Hollywood will find out how the reformulated franchise fares on its own.
Here’s the Top 10. Full analysis in the morning:
1. Sherlock Holmes: Game Of Shadows (Warner Bros) NEW [3,703 Theaters]
Friday $14.7M, Saturday $15M, Weekend $40M
2. Alvin And The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (Fox) NEW [3,723 Theaters]
Friday $6.8M, Saturday $9.9M, Weekend $23.5M
3. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol 3D (Paramount) NEW [425 Theaters]
Friday $4.7M, Saturday $4.8M, Weekend $13M, Cume $13.6M
4. New Year’s Eve (Warner Bros) Week 2 [3,505 Theaters]
Friday $2.5M, Saturday $2.9M, Weekend $7.4M (-42%), Cume $24.8M)
5. The Sitter (Fox) Week 2 [2,752 Theater]
Friday $1.4M, Saturday $1.8M, Weekend $4.4M (-55%), Cume $17.7M
6. Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (Summit) Week 5 [2,958 Theaters]
Friday $1.3M, Saturday, Weekend $4.3M, Cume $266.4M
7 Young Adult (Paramount) Week 2 [986 theaters]
Friday $1.1K, Saturday, Weekend $3.6M, Cume $4M
8. Hugo 3D (Paramount) Week 4 [2,532 Theaters]
Friday $1M, Saturday, Weekend $3.6M, Cume $39M
9. Arthur Christmas (Aardman/Sony) Week 5 [2,929 Theaters]
Friday $840K, Saturday $1.5M, Weekend $3.5M, Cume $38.5M
10. The Muppets (Disney) Week 4 [2,808 Theaters]
Friday $903K, Saturday, Weekend $3.4M, Cume $70.9M
Specialty Box Office: December 17-18
10:30 AM, 2ND UPDATE: Warner Bros is reporting that Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game Of Shadows opened to $1.25M from 1,650 midnight shows. That’s another very strong outing.
9:30 AM, UPDATE: It’s a holiday miracle considering how badly domestic box office has been slumping for the past five months. But now pent-up moviegoer demand for the big Christmas blockbusters — even though this weekend’s are three sequels — is looking to send grosses soaring. I’m told that, playing on just 425 screens in 425 locations from Thursday evening through midnight shows, the new Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol opened with a huge $1.1 million. As reference, M:I3 did $1.1M of midnight business on over 2,000 screens. ”This is a great start,” a Paramount exec gushed. Of course, Paramount’s M:I4 grosses were goosed by none other than Warner Bros’ The Dark Knight Rises 3D preview footage in IMAX theaters alongside the Tom Cruise-Jeremy Renner starrer. “It’s a pretty compelling package,” Paramount tells me. “Given how strong early sales were for midnight shows, IMAX asked to open Thursday evening to get the word of mouth started. Since the plan was getting people to see the film early, we gladly said OK.” This weekend, M:I4 debuts in just a handful of theaters — 425 runs — alongside what’s expected to be the biggest opener this holiday season in a very wide release, Warner Bros’ Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game Of Shadows, as well as Fox’s Alvin And The Chipmunks 3: Chipwrecked. Since Sherlock wasn’t booked into IMAX, Warner Bros couldn’t pair its Batman threequel prologue with its own product and lost a valuable marketing opportunity which went instead to Paramount on a silver platter. To say that Warner Bros was annoyed is an understatement. But I hear there is a Dark Knight Rises 2D teaser playing with Sherlock. More later today.
For more estimates listed by title, see box office results here...Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Go Tommy! But it is the IMAX surcharges that are goosing the numbers more than the Bat
MI:4 is great, but you’re kidding yourself if you don’t think the Dark Knight Rises prologue had a lot to do with these numbers. These midnight screenings were full of Batman fans.
…who left right after the trailer.
RIP Cruise’s career. 1981-2011
no doubt the Village Voice’s excellent undigging of the dirt on his cult helped with this low b.o.
Anyone who is foolish to spend 10 dollars to see a 3 minute imax teaser and not sit for the movie isn’t too bright either. Some of us can’t part with the money to get a Bucket of popcorn for a 2nd run feature in this economy.
You only paid $10.00 for IMAX? It’s $15.00 here in Riverside, California. It is $11.00 just for a regular movie. I got a large soda and popcorn and laid out another $14.50. After getting the snacks I thought, “Gee I’m $45.oo poorer for one movie.
Nobody twisted my arm. I just needed a break. In the long run I guess it is still a deal today for two people at $22.50 each for an escape from reality. My two sides of my brain keep fighting each other on the money though.
Who needs popcorn anyway? Silly americans who get so easily manipulated by the media. Do you really need something to eat while watching a movie? I don’t think so, you’re just used to it because society made you think that way
Mike….some dumbed-down people have different and insignificant
needs, like seeing a new logo, than us hard-working people who
have to watch every dime we spend. BTW, I went to only 1 movie
this year (8 MM) and was disappointed. Not much quality to pay
$8 for theses days.
@Billy,
Consider yourself lucky. I live in NYC and it’s $19 for IMAX. The line for MI4 was around the corner, and the shows were sold out so not sure why the numbers are reporting low.
Low BO? … you read the article, right? Highest per screen average, by a LOT.
the dark night preview was only on 40 screens.
mission impossible is GREAT. Brad Bird did a fantastic job. the movie has 95% on the rotten tomato meter.
Also worth noting, the unveiling of the new Paramount logo probably attracted some more people to see it as well. Can’t wait to see it in motion. The still I saw recently of the logo on the internet is stunning.
People would seriously go see a movie just to see a logo unveil? Please tell me you’re kidding…
Seeing how a significiant number of Americans have been dumded
down in the past 15 years, it would not surprise me if people
would go see a movie just to see a logo unveiled….how pathotic.
Good one. I laughed…
unless you honestly think that people would spend money to see a company’s logo.
Totally.
A whole row of people in front of me showed up right before the Paramount logo and then got up and left as soon as the logo was done.
And I totally understand because I saw a still of the logo recently.
Plus I live in Neverhappenedville where you can see this kind of thing along with all the other things that will never happen ever anywhere for all time, amen.
Yeah, I’m sure people swarmed the theaters to see the new Paramount logo. Are you for real?
Uh, you do recognize sarcasm when you see it, don’t you?
It’s funny to see the sarcasm of other readers/posters go SO far over some people’s heads. Those are probably the people who keep showing up to see terrible sequel after terrible sequel. Now, due to your stupidity, you’re running low on cash and the box office is hurting. Thanks a lot, dummies. Just want to give you guys a heads up: start saving now. Warner Bros. is counting on you guys to show up for Wrath of the Titans next March.
the most plants on this whole thread are the people who worked on the paramount logo! wow. good work guys (on the comment planting, not the logo)
Give some credit to the marketing. I skipped MI:3 until it was on cable, but I’ll definitely be seeing this one in an IMAX theater.
SHERLOCK HOLMES 2 — no surprise that it’s under-performing. The first SHERLOCK was not good and left audiences feeling unsatisfied. It came out at the height of Downey’s post-IRON MAN popularity and was the beneficiary of that movie’s quality (IRON MAN was VERY satisfying). Similar situation with Chipmunks — the first movie was very satisfying for audiences so they showed up for #2, which was a horrible sequel.
great theory sherlock only it doesn’t hold true. People actually really liked the firs Sherlock Holmes. Not loved, but liked.
imdb 7,5. 81% audience at rotten tomatos
I don’t know a single person who liked the first “Sherlock.” It was totally forgettable. I saw “Sherlock 2″ and actually thought it was worse than the first one. This weekend’s numbers are really disappointing for the franchise. Nothing new or different in this film – it’s just not a good movie. Watch the final box office numbers, and you’ll see that audiences agree.
I think a lot of people were sure they were going to like Sherlock 1 and came away with some cognitive dissonance after seeing how terrible it was.
Perhaps…but for all the hand wringing about the declining box office I can’t help but feel that this year has just underdelivered (quality-wise) on the blockbuster front.
One can’t expect that every year will INCREASE. If you put out a year full of Cowboys & Aliens you are bound to see a decrease.
With so much great content available at home I think the blockbuster will have to take it up a notch and write better stories to lure people out of their homes.
The movies I’m most interested in seeing this holiday season: The Artist, Hugo, Carnage, Dragon Tattoo, Young Adult, Like Crazy, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I will go see MI:4 too. But the majority of the really interesting films are indie. There’s been no inventive crossover films this year like Avatar or Inception.
Exactly.
Since the very start of the year this whole calendar yeas has unappealing slate of films from the get go and that has been reflected in the grosses.
There are bad years is all.
Most people are already seemingly much more interested in 2012 and 2013′s line up’s already so let’s see. If the slump continues with next year’s crop then there could be something more long term to it.
I agree with you completely. The only films I plan on seeing are The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, War Horse, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Artist (Saw The Arist at a Film Festival and have been looking out for its release ever since!). None of these other bigger budget supposed blockbuster films have any appeal to me at all. Luckily next Christmas we will at least have The Hobbit.
You’d better get a move on if you want to see Hugo. It’s reducing showings at my local cineplexes, much to my surprise when I checked today. I guess they needed the screens for the Chipmunks. Picture me rolling my eyes.
I’m going to see Hugo in 3D tomorrow, even tho 3D usually makes me nauseous. There’s no choice. It’s not showing in 2D anymore.
I had an idea SH2 was not going to be great but I was actually shocked about how stupid and unskillful it was – almost an insult to intelligent people.
Basil Rathbone would roll over in his grave if he were to see these horrible Downey movies. My grandmother, a writer in Hollywood and the New York theatre, knew Rathbone and would tell me stories…
trscons, I am a HUGE Rathbone fan. I would love to hear any grandmother stories you might care to share.
Thanks1
Had a bunch of teenagers come back to the house last night just raving how much they enjoyed SH2. I’m thinking if they are an indication of that age group the movie will do very well.
19 MI posts until the first mention of Sherlock Holmes says it all. I left right after Moriarty confirmed he’d killed Rachel McAdams’ character. Can someone let me know if she was ressurrected in the film’s climatic scene, or was my exit perfect timing?
I’d say the Dark Knight prologue is pushing numbers more than Tom Cruise. As for the overall state of the box office, there’s two things worth noting. The first is the myth that entertainment was immune to the failing economy during the Great Depression. Simply not true – studios struggled and had to slash ticket prices. I’d recommend a good dose of the same strategy here. The objective needs to be more higher seat occupancy, because there is an entire generation for whom the the movie theatre is a rarity – Video On Demand, DVD etc are the preferred viewing media. Cut ticket prices and get people back into theatres – $50 for a family of four to go to the movies is too much, should be more like $20. Second thing is that Hollywood is out of touch with what people want – bit like the early 1960s. People won’t spend money in troubled economic times to see films they feel like they’ve already seen. There’s a whole swathe of society that aren’t being served by Hollywood and why would teenage boys go to the movies to watch things being blown up, when they can stay at home and blow things up for themselves on the PS3 and X-Box? Instead of spending $300M on movies and having to boom or bust them on 3,000 screens, why not go back to the platforming strategy. Make films for $30M to $50M and give them an opportunity to build without a $100M marketing campaign? Lower theatre ticket prices and lower VOD prices to compete with DVD rental.
Come on, we all know what’s going on. This is what happens when banks and “marketing degrees” make creative products. They’re losing audiences and now want to pass crap like SOPA to blame the nosedive on their profits not on the dreck quality of their products I mean movies but on piracy.
Actually, movies will trend in exactly the opposite direction. Hollywood is leaning toward more blockbuster “events” that push massive box office than toward smaller hits which ultimately yield little gain despite better profit ratios.
The movie industry will become like the sports industry, where even though you can watch the game at home on cable, people still pay $40 a ticket to get the real deal.
The above is correct. See Disney.
I love the idea of increasing attendance. Movies are made for theaters. Ancillary formats have their place but they’ll never completely cannibalize the theatrical experience.
I agree, the studios are banking on ‘event’ movies, but I believe they’re wrong to do so for a number of reasons. The first is economic – a movie that cost $300M to produce and another $200M to market needs to make around $1BN in revenue to break even regardless of whether it’s revenue derived from theatrical, VOD or TV. By increasing the break-even point, studios are increasing the inevitability of a massive flop (think Heaven’s Gate, or Ishtar). I wouldn’t bet against John Carter of Mars being the big flop for this generation, but whether it’s that or another movie, eventually a studio will take a major hit and scare the town into working with smaller budgets. The second reason the ‘event’ strategy is wrong is social and psychological. We’re training people not to go to the theatres. We’re effectively saying that only ‘event’ movies are worth seeing in the theatres and that smaller movies can be watched on smaller screens. Going to the movies can become a habit like any other hobby. By producing fewer movies and focusing on the special effects, explosion, action extravaganzas, we’re conditioning people to only go to the theatre for a handful of events every year. We’re breaking the movie-going habit, which once lost is hard to recover. Studios should drop budgets, up output and encourage theater owners to cut ticket prices.
OMG Amen. I wish Hollywood would do a audience poll like they did years ago too see what audiences are into. How is the audience can see a movie being a bomb even before its released. I saw these movies bombing long before they were released. Unless the movie has some kind of gimmick or the fans are invested in the story line there is no reason to see a part 2 of anything. I have another point about these actors I feel as though Hollywood uses the same people over and over (George low box office Clooney, Johnny only makes money in costume Depp, Tom jumping off a building Cruise, Ryan smirk Gosling, Emma seriously Stone.) Seriously some of these people need to go away you had you twenty years no I am sick looking at you.
I agree with you about hollywood’s addiction to sequels whether audiences are asking for it or not, but your odd choice of including Johnny Depp and Emma Stone in your complaints doesn’t really hold water. Audiences like Depp; who cares if they prefer him in costume? money is money. Stone’s latest outing, The Help, is one of the few movies to have done really well domestically this year.
Emma Stone is WAY overexposed. I’ve seen a couple of her movies and liked her in them but enough already! Take a vacation for Pete’s sake! I heard The Help was a good film but I’m so sick of her already.
The only sequel which did GREAT and did not underperform these past 5 months is Breaking Dawn Part 1. Showing that a franchise directed at females still pulls in the numbers when all the fanboy franchises cannot pull them in anymore.
All of these suggestions make perfect sense.
Hence, no movie studio will pay any attention to them. Sad, really.
One of our local theaters has a family Tuesday deal, where the tickets are much, much cheaper. And big surprise, Tuesday nights, nearly every show sells out. I’d rather fill a theater for half-price than have a quarter of a theater full for full-price.
Exactly. The second-run $1.50 theatres near me do huge business, selling out shows for everything from blockbusters, to indies, to films that flopped on their opening weekend.
People are still very much interested in going to see a movie in theatres. It’s just that at this point, a lot of people have been priced out unless they know they’re getting a completely unique experience like an ‘Avatar’ or a ‘Dark Knight.’
Exactly.
Amen to lowering ticket prices. In SW La, movie tickets are about
$8, and a 20 oz. cup of ice…I mean soda…is $3. LOWER ALL
PRICES…and they will come!
Right on every single point…
FAN – you are ABSOLUTELY TRUE:
“Second thing is that Hollywood is out of touch with what people want – bit like the early 1960s. People won’t spend money in troubled economic times to see films they feel like they’ve already seen.”
EXACTLY! What’s it going to take for hwood to get it?
I was tired of the Chipmunks in 1962 ! That’s like telling the same tired joke over and over for 50-years !
Ditto for “Momma got runt over by a raindeer.”
Mission impossible 4 is AWESOME, saw it in a packed imax theater, and it really is the way to see it. 95 percent approval on rotten tomatoes and 91 percent approval from people.
Saw MI at IMAX in Riverside, Ca. There was not a preview for Batman. Out of all the Previews the one I heard to most noise over was “John Carter” from Disney.
It would appear that the career of Tom Cruise is not as dead as previously reported. Also, the campaign for Sherlock 2 has been dull and phoned-in, wouldn’t be surprised if Game of Shadows comes in under expectations.
My guess is that all movies this weekend will under perform. But I wouldn’t credit Cruise with helping MI grosses. Paramount wisely has kept him under wraps (no Oprah show, etc.) and has focused on the franchise and not its’ stars. MI grosses will look good for the weekend with Imax surcharges. But film will get crushed next week with Tin Tin and Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. Paramount will be lucky to break $100m domestic on MIGP.
Ghost Protocol is going to do well over 100 million domestic and might get as high as $165m or more. Also, this is totally a Tom Cruise movie and he has been all over the marketing material so I must give credit where credit is due. Obviously brad bird is a huge draw as well, but you cannot discount Cruise’ star power.
Brad Bird is a huge asset, not a huge draw.
it better do better than that or it won’t make it’s money back – the film needs to do over 200 mil domestic and 350 to 400 overseas just to break even -
Wow you couldn’t be more off. I’m highly involved with this film and we don’t need anywhere close to 550 million to “break even”. Where in God’s green earth did you get that crackpot number? The series is healthy and very profitable.
First, you think all of a films income comes from the theatrical release, whereas it’s usually less than half, sometimes significantly less. For a slam dunk moneymaker, studios have even sometimes agreed to give ALL of the theatrical profits to the people making the movie.
Secondly, you are using the rule of thumb that half of a movie’s theatrical gross goes to the studios. It’s actually a little more than that I believe.
Third, you seem to be vastly overestimating the amount of money spent to promote this film.
These are my opinions based on following box office results for the couple of years as a hobby.
@M.K.
That’s what Bill does. He has a reputation for calling ANY film that doesn’t make a billion dollars unprofitable. I remember he said that MI2 & MI3 lost a ton of money despite the listed grosses you can find on any movie website. The fact the studio continues to make more sequels means nothing to him. I’m sure he’ll be back any moment to “justify” his logic. According to him AVATAR wasn’t a big hit…
What he needs to do is go back to handing out Lyndon LaRouche pamplets.
That’s dumb Bill. That amount of coin will make this movie a smash hit. I believe far lesser BO numbers will suffice to make this a winner money-wise.
@MK. Bill just made a simple mistake, he meant Battleship, not MI4.
I saw Mission Impossible. It is a very good movie and that is why it will do well. I think it may do 200 million. The prologue is only on 42 screens of the 425 total (the giant Imax screens only). So 90 percent of the screens don’t have it. Tom Cruise is an extremely compelling screen presence.
“Tom Cruise is an extremely compelling screen presence.”
For me to poop on!
To the myopic “I never leave my studio lot” poster that claimed “Brad Bird is a huge draw”, allow me to recommend you step into the real world where 99% of the occupants have no clue who he is – riotous. As for SH2, Guy Richie’s manic style of overdirecting borders on torturous. RDJ’s mumbling and Jude Law’s now strip of hair are done. Only good move was to remove Ms. McAdams who has the sex appeal of a librarian. Cute girl – utterly unsexy. Filed under “Natalie Portman”.
I agree. Sherlock Holmes looks like one big snoozefest The marketing has been blah and I’m not nearly as excited to see Holmes vs Moriarty as I should be. I’ll probably catch it on DVD.
Seriously, if the Sherlock franchise can’t bring game when _Moriarty_ shows up, that says it all right there. Hell, there was more tension and sharp writing in the BBC’s SHERLOCK Holmes vs. Moriarty face-off than in most of SH: AGOS–and that was only in twenty minutes.
I agree with everything you said. The marketing and reviews for Mission Impossible has been excellent. I’m a huge Tom Cruise fan and am amped to see it.
I don’t feel that way about Sherlock Holmes at all. The first one was a bore to me and it looks like this sequel has not been given much media blitz. I’d be interested to see how it does.
Cruise’s career is dead to me. I’ll never spend a dime on any film that he’s in. The first MI movie sucked, and I can hardly wait until they reboot the franchise in a better way (and with much, much better actors).
Unfortunately for you this franchise belongs to Mr. Cruise (literally) so good luck with that reboot idea.
I thought the plan was to transition Jeremy Renner into the franchise and move Cruise out.
You’re thinking of the Bourne movies.
Jeremy Renner replaces Matt Damon in BOURNE.
thanks deadline,im so happy to hear this.
now give us some results from overseas markets.i hear the movie opened huge in japan and india and really big in france…
Dark Knight showed on about 40 of those 425 screen. I doubt it helped the box office at all. We’ve seen many movies where anticipated movie trailers do not help them at all and I don’t think this is any different. The movie made so much because it looks awesome.
Well said.
Only about 40 screens had the Dark Knight preview because it was only screened on 70mm IMAX screens. Most of the inflated gross was from the surcharge.
The prologue is just on 46 of the 425 screens. Not to mention they already played it on tues for the die hard fans.
Looks like Mr. Cruise has some value again.
Well I would not get too excited. I’ve heard the action described as “stunning” and Cruise described as “competent”. Not so sure he is the selling point here.
Let me guess… you’re quoting from the top of your head, right?
Actually yes, because I thought that was rather harsh!
Older fans are not going to see Mission Impossible without Tom Cruise anymore than they will see the Spiderman reboot without Toby McGuire. IMHO.
Don’t worry. Tom Cruise is huge overseas and this will be a highly profitable movie for him. Overseas fans dunno who is Oprah and his Scientology affiliations mean zilch to them.
Kaalis:
You do know that Oprah aired overseas, right? Besides, she’s off the air!! Get a passport and stop the cow tipping.
Salon’s Andrew O’Hehir gushed about M:I4 – and he’s one of the smarter critics out there. Guess I’ll have to give up my usual art-house snobbery and go see this one (plus, I loved Renner in Hurt Locker and The Town)
On the biz front, glad the b.o. is getting a boost. But people, the movies this year have suuuucked! The smartest writers are in TV right now, and who can blame them? You have a better chance of getting hit by an asteroid than getting a movie greenlit in this town these days…
i saw ‘the town’ recently and i was amazed by how bad it was, in light of the way it was received.
Agreed. The whole Jeremy Renner subplot was lame.
“The Town” is light weight all the way.
I thought the Jeremy Renner subplot was the only good thing in the movie.
AGain, the last five months have been a box office desert because the studios have been producing generally average to poor content. Audiences are not drawn to unnecessary reboots of televisionn shows, poorly conceived super hero adaptions, and 3D gimmickry.
The holiday season is supposed to when studios release their blockbusters. The three you mentioned are sequels. (Really? ANOTHER chipmunks movie??) And if people only come to the movie to see a trailer (The Dark Knight), how much does that say about the movie they actually paid to see?
So Warners is annoyed??
Lol.
Handing the Dark Knight Rises trailer to Paramount to show was one of the BEST presents one studio could ever give another.
LMFAO!!
its not Tom , the raves are all about Brad Birds direction.its action packed with an amazing opening.I’m not Fan of Toma , but am of Brad Bird .The only reason I saw the film. hated the last one
MI:4 is getting unbelievable reviews and will do huge numbers and will leave a lot of moviegoers satisfied with their purchase over the holidays.
Studio bosses, you see what happens when you hire an ACTUAL STORYTELLER like Brad Bird instead of your schlockmeisters like McG and Brett Ratner to direct your marquee pictures?
Honestly studio bosses, wake the f*ck up. Everyone will be happier in the end.
Wow, MI Ghost Protocol rotten tomatoes 94% from 100 reviews, and 100% top critics. Can’t wait to see it on a real IMAX screen!
You have it exactly right. The three movies that are about to save Hollywood’s ass after a terrible stream of crap are movies made by ACTUAL FILMMAKERS like Fincher, Nolan, Brad Bird.
Hmm, but what happens when the studios hand over 200M to the likes of McG and Brett Ratner and Len Wiseman and Peter Berg and all the hacks that for SOME REASON the studios insist on hiring over and over and over again. People leave the theater pissed wondering why they just paid to see that.
I agree, but it’s because Fincher, Nolan, and Brad Bird aren’t available all the time. They’re each doing their movie a year, so you can’t just go out and sign them from the the other team. There just isn’t a ton of directing talent right now, or at least established, can-handle-a-$200m-budget-and-restrain-the-egos-of-stars talent.
All the reviews are also acclaimed Cruise’s physical and engaged performance, his stunt work and the stuff he does for Bird is being highly praised.
It’s Bird, Cruise and Abrams that made this all come together and work, they got smart with this one.
Paramount didnt book Tom Cruise on The Oprah Show because it is no longer on the air.
There is an actual short trailer for Dark Knight Rises floating around that I believe is attached to Sherlock. One of the better trailers I have ever seen to be perfectly honest. A lot of emotion and build up. So I guess Batman fans are in for a good time either way.
Uh, nooo, I saw SHERLOCK HOLMES last night and the new Batman prologue DID PLAY before the movie!
I don’t think you know the difference between a prologue and a trailer.
L.M.V is correct….the prologue is only attached to IMAX showings of MI:GP….Sherlock Holmes 2 isn’t in IMAX and therefore wouldn’t have the prologue. You saw the trailer my friend….but I am betting it was impressive.
Yeah, the trailer played in front of Sherlock not the prologue. I think people are getting those confused.
I feel like M:I will have some solid money from Batman fans this week and then it will die next week when it will have wide release.
The first/two week-ends doesn’t matter. Matters the overall gross. Real Steel had solid $27 millions opening. But it made only $83 millions at the end. That’s failure.
Mission: Impossible needs at least $120 millions to be successful.
I’m sure there are a number of creepy Scienos on here and on other sites praising the movie and the “God-like” Cruise. Wake up, people.
Tom Cruise is a good actor who delivers, elevates the projects he takes on, and raises the game of everyone he works with.
If you want to boycott the guy, its your loss. And by the way, I consider Scientology dangerous and can’t believe they were even granted status as a religion.
Who cares about Tom Cruise’s religion? With these Hollywood types it is usually dope or fornication or violence. With him it is religion. I realize that Scientology is malignant nonsense, but who cares.
Scientology dangerous? As opposed to every other religion that has divided families, cities, countries and been responsible for millions of deaths?…. and all based on the same level of bizarro fairy tales and brain-washing as Scientology?
Malignant nonsense, yes, just like the rest of them.
I won’t see this movie because of Cruise’s Scientology. Does anyone know if Brad Bird is also a Scientologist? I would guess maybe since birds of a feather…
I think that beside each movie’s rating (PG-13, R, etc.) the studio should be required to list the religion of the three or four leads in a film. That way the audience can decide whether to give their hard earned money based on an important criteria.
I bet if they did this years ago Mel Gibson would never be a star since I heard he belongs to some cult in Malibu started by one of the Sheen boys, or is it Sean Penn.
Smug, self-righteous comment of the holiday season!
Spreading holiday cheer from one end of the internet to the other. Good job, your highness!
Mission impossible was great. Had a total blast. Expected decent movie that was hopefully better than the last two. It was frankly like a different franchise in a good way. Like the team feel versus the Ethan hunt show. Paula Patton killed it and so did cruise. And even Holloway was badass. Worth seeing on Imax… Especially when they were hanging from that building 180 stories off the ground. Too bad AMC where I went didn’t screen the dark knight preview where I was. I thought about asking for a refund but felt so satisfied after mission impossible I let it go.
Brad bird knocked it out of the park. Great script with cool gadgets suspense characters and spy vibe. Great set pieces… Music… Especially in India and Russia… Anyone know the name of that song at the Indian palace party that was playing? Great stunts cruise went all out. Brad bird looks to have the goods.
Great script? Are you kidding me right now? What POLICE ACADEMY sequel are you comparing it to?
Something to consider. I went to my local joint last night expecting to see the Dark Knight Rises prologue before MI4. After plunking down my 14 bucks, and sutton in the theatre, I found out in was I select theatres and of course not mine. I coul not have been the only dope that did that. That is the first Tom Cruise movie I paid to see since MI 2. I would nit have gone but for thinking i would see the Dark Knoght thing There is a reason for that. Cruise has been finished for years.
You paid money to watch an advertisement. Let that sink in.
The guy is worth over $1 billion, has been a household name and one of the top stars in his profession for 30+ years and can pretty much get greenlit to act in whichever 1 or 2 movies a year he wants to make.
And yet according to you, he’s been “finished for years.”
What does that say about the state of your career?
@Brian G, I feel no sympathy for people who didn’t see the Dark Knight Rises prologue. The studio released the list of IMAX theaters where it would be available like two weeks ago! All you had to do was Google it and you would have seen it. They announced 40 theaters not 425. If you were really interested in seeing it you would have double checked.It would have took what? Two minutes tops?
I know that now genius. But looking back they sure gave the impression it was part and parcel with MI4. And to the other gut, Cruise is garbage these days. I’d not care how Hollywood views him. His name doesn’t sell itself TO THE PUBLIC like it used to. Saying otherwise doesn’t make it so. And my career is just fine thanks. If my 3 million dollar trial verdict is upheld on appeal, I will be doing real fine.
Sherlock had some cool moments, probably 4 really cool set-piece action scenes. The cinematography was great. At the 55 minute mark, I still had no idea what the story was about. So I was rather bored – but it had some great action scenes.
Say what you want but TC still kicks ass! Actually, he’s really the only movie star still left in the world. I don’t care about what he does off the court, I care about an actor that brings it every time he makes a movie. In a time when it’ll cost you $50 bucks for two to see a flick at The Grove (if you want a few cokes and some popcorn) at least he gives a shit about the product he puts out there. Saw Sherlock today and was interesting but Ghost P a must at CC IMAX tomorrow. A plant? Nah. Just want studios/producers/all involved give us good product…
Cruise has to pay people to pretend to be his fans. Of all the washed up former stars, he is probably the most pathetic.
Washed up former stars? What planet do you live? He’s the biggest star on the planet….
And he has to pay people to pretend to be his fans. Pathetic. A dimmer star would be hard to find.
Big giant bitch please. Tom Cruise didn’t pay anyone to be his pretend fans. The company which was managing his visit in Mumbai, at the request of Mumbai police didn’t not inform the public of Tom Cruises arrival at the airport because they feared large crowds. Airport being a sensitive location and Mumbai being on the terrorist hitlist they didn’t want take a chance. So the management company hired a few people to welcome him. Big deal.
Look at all the paid stooges here (by Scientology or Paramount or both) building up Cruise. I’ve never seen such an obvious attempt to build up a film and actor on a movie site message board. Good grief.
I agree with you, Rusty James. Tom Cruise is far and away the most pathetic and annoying “star” in Hollywood.
I know. They are eye-poppingly clumsy and obvious about it too. You would think all that money would buy better hacks.
You’re overreacting about saying this weekend’s bad too! It’s doing better than last year’s releases so that’s a good sign