UPFRONTS 2013: The Overachievers 
‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ On Track For $27M … 
‘Mike & Molly’ Creator Mark Roberts To … 
Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts Set For … 
Hammond On Cannes: Weinstein Brings Out Stars For 2013 … 
Cannes: Fake Gunshots Interrupt Canal Plus Live Broadcast … 
‘The Great Gatsby’ Starts With $5.4M … 
Cannes: Music Box Acquires Competition’s … 
Cannes: Bruno Wu & Pierre-Ange Le Pogam Kick Up Angel … 
UPDATE: Amazon Studios Begins Pilot Pickups; … 
Bruce Rosenblum Bids Classy Goodbye 
RATINGS RAT RACE UPDATE: ‘American Idol’ Hits … 
UPDATE: ‘Iron Man 3′ Box Office Crosses $1B … 
John Lesher’s Le Grisbi Teams With DCM Productions … 
Upfront Market: Will Auto Makers Subsidize TV … 
Cannes: Thief Makes Off With $1M+ In Chopard Jewelry Meant … 
Cannes: Cyrus Nowrasteh To Helm Film On Soviet Dissident … 
‘Scandal’ Finale On Small Screen And Onstage At … 
Cannes: Cassian Elwes, Robert Ogden Barnum Launch e2b … 
SPOILER ALERT! NBC’s ‘The Office’ Finale 
‘Modern Family’ Gets Cable Makeover For Launch … 
July 13-15 Weekend Actuals
1. Ice Age 4 3D (Blue Sky/Fox) NEW [3,881 Theaters] PG
Friday $16.7M, Saturday $17.0M, Sunday $12.9M, Weekend $46.6M
International Cume $339M (65 territories), Global Cume $385.6M2. Amazing Spider-Man 3D (Col/Sony) Week 2 [4,318 Theaters] PG13
Friday $10.2M, Saturday $13.9M, Sunday $10.5M, Weekend $34.6M (-44%), Cume $200.5M International Cume $320.4M (88 territories), Global Cume $520.9M3. Ted (Universal) Week 3 [3,303 Theaters] R
Friday $6.9M, Saturday $8.7M, Sunday $6.8M Weekend $22.4M (-30%), Cume $159.3M International Cume $31.3M (5 territories), Global Cume #190.6M4. Brave 3D (Pixar/Disney) Week 4 [3,392 Theaters] PG
Friday $3.3M, Saturday $4.4M, Sunday $3.5M Weekend $11.2M, Cume $196.1M
International Cume $46.8M (18 territories), Global Cume $242.9M5. Savages (Universal) Week 2 [2,635 Theaters] R
Friday $2.7M, Saturday $3.6M, Sunday $3.1M Weekend $9.4M (-41%), Cume $32.1M
International Cume $1M (4 territories), Global Cume $33.1M6. Magic Mike (Warner Bros) Week 3 [3,090 Theaters] R
Friday $3.4M, Saturday $3.3M, Sunday $2.3M, Weekend $9.0M (-42%), Cume $91.8M
International Cume $6.4M (5 territories), Global Cume $98.2M7. Madea’s Witness Protection (TPerry/Lgate) Week 3 [2,004 Theaters] PG13
Friday $1.8M, Saturday $2.3M, Sunday $1.4M, Weekend $5.6M (-45%), Cume $55.6M8. Katy Perry 3D (Insurge/Paramount) Week 2 [2,732 Theaters] PG
Friday $1.3M, Saturday $1.3M, Sunday $1.1M, Weekend $3.8M (-47%), Cume $18.7M
International Cume $4.1M (5 territories), Global Cume $22.8M9. Moonrise Kingdom (Focus Features) Week 8 [924 Theaters] PG13
Friday $1.0M, Saturday $1.5M, Sunday $1.2M, Weekend $3.7M (-18%), Cume $32.5M
International Cume $12.3M (8 territories), Global Cume $44.8M10. Madasgascar 3 3D (DWA/Par) Week 6 [2,285 Theaters] PG
Friday $1.1M, Saturday $1.5M, Sunday $1.1M, Weekend $3.7M, Cume $203.9M
International Cume $270.1M (43 territories), Global Cume $474M
SUNDAY AM, 3RD UPDATE: Moviegoing this mid-July weekend was $161M, -38% compared to last year when the Harry Potter finale opened to $169.2M on its own. Thankfully for me, only one major studio movie released in North America this weekend after the fireworks of so many Fourth Of July films. I say nutty Scrat has more than earned his cursed acorn: c’mon, just give it to him and let’s be done with this prehistoric franchise finally. No such chance. This is only the second significant toon to reach a fourth installment following the Shrek series. And international grosses still remain strong so that Scrat’s pursuit reaches $339M worldwide by Monday after opening in 17 new territories this weekend, including the UK and Russia (where it’s the widest release of all time with 2,000). 
But here’s the thing: most 2012 toons have debuted between $50M-$70M domestic. But this Twentieth Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios and Vanessa Morrison toon Ice Age 4: Continental Drift opened to only $46M for the IA4 weekend for a lukewarm domestic start from 3,879 theaters (2,731 3D). That’s a lot less than the previous films in the series. With an ‘A-’ CinemaScore overall (and an ‘A’ with the under-18 audience) IA4 ”should be chillin’ at the box office for the remainder of the summer,” gushed a Fox exec. But a little movie called The Dark Knight Rises will suck all the air out of the box office next weekend just like The Avengers did in May.
Until now each subsequent chapter for Ice Age has been more successful than the previous one. For the record, 2D installment IA: The Meltdown made a $68M debut opening on a Friday. And 2009′s IA: Dawn of the Dinosaurs set an international foreign animated record. What’s the problem now? Some reviewerss pointed out how IA4′s continental cataclysm and seagoing pirates didn’t stand out creatively from the other installments.
From directors Steve Martino and Michael Thurmeier from a story by Michael Berg and Lori Forte and a screenplay by credited writers Michael Berg and Jason Fuchs, IA4 was produced by Lori Forte and John C. Donkin. The overall goal of the marketing of this film was to leverage the new voice talent to appeal to a broader audience — Jennifer Lopez, Wanda Sykes, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Keke Palmer, Piolin – and include Hispanic/African American audiences as well as mainstream tweens and teens. (Talk about the need for a new cast: just hearing Ray Romano’s nasal voice makes my skin crawl…) In terms of publicity beyond the usual, Fox created a dance video for the “Sid Shuffle” with the Fox O&O’s and beyond, culminating with John Leguizamo and Queen Latifah on The Today Show live teaching it to Hoda and Kathie Lee. (Any wonder ratings are down?) The boy band The Wanted and the new recording stars were all used in musical ways. Cast members used their Twitter pages to invite fans to an early screening of the film, then showed up and participated in a Q&A beforehand. Sponsors with tie-ins included McDonalds, Dannon, Post cereal, Movietickets, Pirate’s Booty, Topps, ValPak, and Orbitz.
Sony’s successful The Amazing Spider-Man 3D reboot came in at around $35M this North American weekend with a good -44% hold and a domestic cume passing $200M sometime Sunday. Spidey’s global cume is now $521.4M with Sony confident it will end up around $800M. (Interesting how Spidey or Scrat were either #1 or #2 in international theaters country by country last weekend. This weekend IA4 is #1.) There’s no doubt this Spider-Man franchise restart with another origins story for Marvel’s most popular character is a success, even if it didn’t break box office records or reinvent the genre or even please fanboys. So Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman Amy Pascal and vice chairman Jeff Blake deserve kudos for taking a commercial risk.
Here’s the rest of the Top Ten ranked according to weekend estimates:
1. Ice Age 4 3D (Blue Sky/Fox) NEW [3,879 Theaters] PG
Friday $16.5M, Saturday $16.5M, Weekend $46M
International Cume $339M (65 territories), Global Cume $385M
2. Amazing Spider-Man 3D (Col/Sony) Week 2 [4,318 Theaters] PG13
Friday $10.3M, Saturday $14M, Weekend $35M (-44%), Cume $200.9M
International Cume $320.4M (88 territories), Global Cume $521.2M
3. Ted (Universal) Week 3 [3,303 Theaters] R
Friday $6.9M, Saturday $8.9M, Weekend $22.1M, Cume $158.9M
International Cume $31.3M (5 territories), Global Cume #190.2M
4. Brave 3D (Pixar/Disney) Week 4 [3,392 Theaters] PG
Friday $3.4M, Saturday $4.4M, Weekend $10.6M, Cume $195.5M
International Cume $46.8M (18 territories), Global Cume $242.3M
5. Magic Mike (Warner Bros) Week 3 [3,090 Theaters] R
Friday $3.2M, SaturdayWeekend $9.0M, Cume $91.8M
International Cume $6.4M (5 territories), Global Cume $98.2M
6. Savages (Universal) Week 2 [2,635 Theaters] R
Friday $2.7M, Saturday $3.7M, Weekend $8.7M (-44%), Cume $31.4M
International Cume $1M (4 territories), Global Cume $32.4M
7. Madea’s Witness Protection (TPerry/Lgate) Week 3 [2,004 Theaters]
Friday $1.7M, Saturday $2.4M, Weekend $5.6M, Cume $55.6M
8. Katy Perry 3D (Insurge/Paramount) Week 2 [2,732 Theaters] PG
Friday $1.3M, Saturday $1.4M, Weekend $3.7M (-48%), Cume $18.5M
International Cume $4.1M (5 territories), Global Cume $22.1M
9. Moonrise Kingdom (Focus Features) Week 7 [924 Theaters] PG13
Friday $1.0M, Saturday $1.4M, Weekend $3.6M, Cume $32.4M
International Cume $12.3M (8 territories), Global Cume $44.7M
10. Madasgascar 3 3D (DWA/Par) Week 6 [2,285 Theaters] PG
Friday $1.0M, Saturday $1.5M, Weekend $3.5M, Cume $203.7M
International Cume $270.1M (43 territories), Global Cume $473.8M
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Wow – that is significantly less for ICE AGE than the previous ICE AGE films. And – it’s way less than the other recent animated openings. That’s what making shitty movies can do for a franchise. Blue Sky and Fox Animation will not weather this well. Especially with their next EPIC movie that looks like Ferngully 2.
Great news for Savages!
A terrific FILM that Universal NEVER should have moved into summer against The Amazing Spiderman.
Savages is a crap sandwich. Terrible word of mouth. Not enough marketing in the world to overcome that.
With all of the promotion/marketing dollars, I was expecting Ice Age to do 50-60 million this weekend. A wide-open release date is unheard of in today’s world.
Let’s start predictions now on DARK KNIGHT’s opening weekend. I predict 180 million.
Thoughts?
Wide-open release dates don’t happen often but they arent all that rare. It’s happened several times this year: The Devil Inside, 21 Jump Street, The Avengers, Snow White.
I think Dark Knight is going to crack 220 million in its opening weekend. Feels like there is more buzz for this movie than Avengers (and some of it is based on the excitement generated by Avengers).
Dark Knight is going to be huge.
That’s not out the realms of possibility for TDKR to open with, but i’ll say 165-170 million opening weekend.
Sure, I can pull a number out of a hat too: 174,2 million. Do I win something if I’m right?
I say 190 million for Dark Knight. I don’t think it will top Avengers. It doesn’t have the broader PG-13 rating.
I’m sure Fox is going to estimate a higher ICE AGE number like 46 or 47 for the weekend, but I bet the actuals end up lower on Monday. Look at the domestic estimates vs. actuals for past ICE AGE movies — they follow a similar pattern. I saw the movie on Saturday, and the theater was only a quarter full.
The curse of the Kitsch. THREE bombs in a single summer. Has that ever happened before?
Only a 41% drop represents a great hold for Savages and with actuals they could pull ahead of Magic Mike as they did last weekend with Sunday grosses. Not bad for Hard R film playing on only 2600 screens.
Perhaps in your world where you make minimum wage slinging hamburgers in a fast food restaurant a few million differential constitutes “significantly less”. But for those of us who bother to look at the facts before spewing vitriol, this installment is expected to open to roughly the same numbers as the original and the third one. By the end of the weekend, it will have a worldwide cume well over $350M. I’m sure when all is accounted for at the end of its run, everyone who worked on it will be happy spending their fat bonus checks with nary a cloud in the sky from this storm you are predicting.
You’re actually wrong, Idiot Policeman. The last Ice Age had a Wednesday opening and made 66 million through Sunday. This mid-40s opening (as the weekend’s only new release) doesn’t demonstrate any pent up excitement for this movie, especially in a year where animation is very hot again. It’s a disappointing domestic number. Believe me, Fox agrees. If they had made a movie that got better reviews (or simply didn’t look weak) the box office would have been bigger.
I’m only interested in comparing apples to apples, Correction. The Fri-Sunday numbers for the opening weekends are on par with one another without factoring in variables that IA: DOTD had in its favor: a holiday release; more screens and a non crowded animation market. UP was the closest release and it came out 5 or 6 weeks prior. Dreamworks didn’t have a summer release competing for screens/audience that year (Monsters vs. Aliens was released in the spring). That said, nowhere in my post did I suggest that there was pent up excitement for the IA: CD. (Incidentally, the reviews for this one were equally as bad for the IA:DOTD, and well, I’m sure Fox is still crying over that $886M result). At the end of the day, the domestic number is merely icing on the cake for this wildly successful franchise. The international number will make this an incredibly profitable film, and there will be no fallout at Fox Animation/Blue Sky as Lender suggested. And since bonuses are likely tied to d.b.o. anyway, I bet Fox is laughing all the way to the bank — and not “disappointed” as you suggest.
You just spent time to win an internet argument about Ice Age. Congratulations.
The studio now has people (or “Police”) to post prepared statistics about the movie’s release in comment boards?
There are some plants on this board, not naming screen names, that are terrible at their jobs!
The third film opened on Wednesday, so by Sunday it had grossed in the mid 60s.
Please check your “Facts” before you post them.
“I’m sure when all is accounted for at the end of its run, everyone who worked on it will be happy spending their fat bonus checks”
You don’t know much about how Fox/Blue Sky treat their animation crew, do you? The already overpaid voice talent and the idiot producers and writers who take too much credit WILL get fat bonus checks. The hundreds of animators, artists, and technical directors, not so much. That’s why the crew turn-over after every film is higher at Blue Sky than any other major animation studio.
Say what you want about voice talent and producers, but the writer will never be overpaid in Hollywood.
If Dickens were alive today, he’d be lower on the totem pole than the third male lead. That’s just fucked up.
Not a good sign. Especially when Ice Age had this weekend entirely to themselves. The movies work internationally where audiences don’t understand good storytelling vs. bad — the kids just enjoy the physical comedy. This franchise has progressively gone downhill.
Since kids are much more educated pretty much everywhere else, I don’t think it comes down to not ‘understanding’ storytelling.
the first ice age movie actually had heart, and a cute storyline. after that they started to become more and more stupid. this one? it looks horrible.
Not good for Ice Age, but most animated sequels haven’t been doing all that great lately. Madagascar was the exception, mostly thanks to that great trailer. Still, oversees numbers have been huge, so don’t be surprised to see Ice Age 5 in three years.
The last major animated opening was for BRAVE, and that opened to $66M, so what are you talking about exactly??
Brave was not a sequel. I wrote “animated sequels.”
Well, MADAGASCAR and ICE AGE are essentially the same franchise–wise-cracking, celebrity-voiced animals trying to get from Point A to Point B–with the only difference being the time frame. Releasing installments from both only a month or so apart might not have been the best idea…
Correct. Sorry to disappoint you folks, but if the rest of the planet likes a movie, for whatever reason, that’s a ‘hit’ too.
I still can’t believe Fox passed on Ted.
I expected 50+ for Ice Age 4
It may get there yet. Nikki did say “it’s very possible these numbers could jump higher by the end of the day.”
This ain’t such a bad figure for Ice Age 4.
Yes Ice Age the Meltdown opened bigger but that came out in March 2006. In other words it had a far less competitive enviroment.
This one has competition from Brave, Madagascar 3 and to some degree Spiderman
Me too. The first Ice Age opened $13 million Friday, $46 million weekend. Ice Age 2 had a $22M Friday opening, $68M opening weekend.
$15 – 16 million Friday = $45 – 55M weekend.
I still don’t understand how they’ve milked four movies out of this franchise…
Lackluster weekend before the 800lb gorilla gets here next week. I find it interesting, that not one film has grossed during their run this summer, what The Avengers grossed its first 3 days. Spiderman will do it next week and Madagascar after that and of course Dark Knight but a full two months after The Avengers. Also Ted, the one Fox let get away, with a budget under 60 mil, will outgross Fox’s Abraham Lincoln and Prometheus combined. They had a combined budget of 200 mil or so. Almost as bad as Columbia passing on E.T. to make Starman.
I love these movie weeks where everyone is sort of twidling their thumbs waiting for a mega picture to come and radically shift everything, just a matter of days til dark knight rises!
Go Scrat!! I saw today and it was soo much fun!
The name “Continental Drift” proved to be a bit prophetic, considering how much higher the percentage of international to domestic is likely to be.
I just have to wonder if the negative posters here (and some critics) saw the same ICE AGE: CD I did. I thought it was the funniest of the sequels–the stuff with Manny’s family was old hat but there was a lot of good slapstick and one-liners from the supporting characters. And the end scenes with Scrat were priceless.
Sorry to see this isn’t doing as well as the previous sequels, at least in the U.S. Why on Earth isn’t Fox making more of the great attached SIMPSONS short in its advertising?
I just saw it with my 10 year old kid. She was ready to leave after 15 minutes. The jokes were too-smart-by half, the music was that fake “Lets imitate John Williams” too loud bombast; the story barely made any sense. (She kept asking: Why are they doing that?)
It was awful.
I’m waiting for THE DARK KNIGHT RISES in IMAX that’s all.
Good grief, do we still have people here trying to perpetuate the myth that when Ice Age 4 ‘only’ hits $40 to $50 million it’s because US audiences can tell the difference between good and bad?
I guess when it’s a quiet weekend there’s nothing to do but make stupid remarks than can be easily dispelled by looking at the US grosses of more than a few films.
Or I could always just say ‘The Lorax’ instead.
Anyways, the film is already on a run to success based on the foreign take alone and the last two IA films both made over seventy per cent of their money abroad. Ice Age 5 will come along for the little ones in due course.
I’ve seen all of them, and The Lorax is the best animated movie of the year…so far. I realize that’s not saying much, but for me it worked. And it was shooting for something much more ambitious than any of the others.
My favorite animated movie of the year is Madagascar 3. I’m as surprised as you are. It was much better than the first two films and more entertaining than Brave. I didn’t see The Lorax or The Pirates: Band of Misfits, so I can’t really make a judgment until they come out on dvd.
Perhaps, but it’s about as subtle as a sledgehammer in doing so. Blunt force trauma would be better. And I have absolutely nothing against the basic message/theme of the film…………..just the appallingly hack like way it was conveyed on film.
What a terrible, terrible movie weekend for adults. Wanted to check out a flick but there was nothing to watch. (And yes, I am chompin at the bit for TDKR.
I was THIS close to watching The Amazing Spider-Man but that would have been hypocritical of me since I hated on that movie so much for doing the whole reboot bit.
So you hated on a movie because of the reboot yet you never even saw the movie? TAS is already a proven success as the article states above. Perhaps you should see the movie first before you tell us how bad you think the movie is.
Thanks Dan for giving a thoughtful response without resorting to insults. I have no doubt that ASM is a good movie but I was upset and did not want to watch another “origin” story when I remembered the original so vividly just recently. I would have preferred they continued with the story with different actors or even an “alternate” storyline without having to start over.
Thanks Dan for giving a pointed response without resorting to insults.
I did not want to watch ASM because I did not want to watch another origin story so recently after the original. I would have preferred a continuation from Raimi’s storyline with new actors or an alternate storyline that does not have to resort to repeating the same familiar beginning.
Success is subjective here. ASM needs to break $650M WW in order to make a profit. Currently it’s at $377M. $800M as the article suggests is slightly ridiculous given it will lose its target demo to Dark Knight Rises next weekend, BUT, time will tell…
No. $800 million for Spiderman world-wide is not ridiculous. It’s going to happen. I’m afraid Paul has no idea what he’s talking about…”Dark Knightt” will be big….But what does that have to so wirh Spiderman. Its going to make $#800 mill See how much its taken in already…. In fact the new Spiderman is a terrific film.
Better than ;pidey 2 and 3..
>that would have been hypocritical of me since I hated on that movie so much
What? What was that thing you said in a movie business blog? What was that word you used? Sounded something like hip-uh-krit-i-kuhl but I can’t even imagine what such a word might mean. Did your fingers hit the wrong keys?
That’s too bad friend, because you’ve costed yourself the experience of watching a pretty good film in my opinion. I was not crazy about a reboot either, but it was so much in home fighting between Raimi and Sony that after a while a separation became inevitable. After a while i just took it in stride and moved on, i came to just except the fact that it is what it is. Looking back on things i think a fresh new take on ‘Spidey’ was needed.
I was so against the whole reboot thing as well but Amazing spiderman is one of the best movies of the year and it doesn’t feel like another origin story and it’s got superb performances — especially be Andrew Garfield. So I would catch it in the theaters, look if you hate it (i honestly don’t think you will) then you can have even more ammunition on how the reboot was a bad idea (it surprisingly was not)
What Sony has to consider is whether the rebooted Spidey would continue to be a money maker in sequels. Spider-Man is Marvel’s most popular character. Yet Sony is struggling to keep him relevant, while Marvel was able to take a bunch of their second tier characters and create the smash hit of the summer.
The big, successful superhero movies of the future are the ones that will build on a shared universe. In comparison, rehashes of prior superhero movies are going to be seen as less and less relevant. The bad fan word of mouth around this Spidey reboot means Sony will have an even higher hill to climb with the next movie than with this first one, as well.
Honestly, Sony, you’re just setting yourself up for a fall. Time to quit while you’re ahead and sell the rights to Spidey back to Marvel. It’s what the fans want and it’s the right thing to do, and you’ll bring a lot of certain money to your studio this way. Taking a chance on a sequel, on the other hand…
I don’t really get how the move was “risky,” Nikki . . . Spidey will always do big business because it’s catering to the family demo. I think that’s the biggest reason so many of us — myself included — failed to anticipate the film making any money: Family crowds played the elephant in the room.
Oh, and I’m sorry if this was already posted, but why does Fox continue to give Ramano, Leary and Leguizamo inflated paychecks to provide the starring roles in a franchise that is now produced with foreign audiences at the center of the studio’s attention?
Same here. How is it remotely “risky” to make a reboot that is dictated by the need to hang onto the rights to a very high profile franchise?
If you have different actors voicing the Ice Age characters the kids will pick up on it immediately and they will wonder why you are trying to trick them.
Spider-Man is a billion dollar franchise, are Sony really going to make more money selling the rights than they are by making more films? And anyway, now that the origin is out of the way, I think the sequel could be huge.
Marvel fires directors faster than the Salkinds ever did on Superman. And they are just as willing to recast as any other studio, as seen on the Iron Man flicks with Don Cheadle. They’ve been hinting that Downey, Jr. is going to be recast for a while now. Marvel is extremely overrated, creating a bland, formula, studio system for their movies that has no innovation, creativity or imagination. They’re just about the only studio still doing 3D conversions instead of shooting in real 3D. I give the other studios credit for hiring exciting directors with unique visions and taking some chances. The non-Marvel Studios superhero movies are usually much more creatively successful and memorable than what Marvel Studios has done.
I assume however, because it’s unclear, that you are not referring to the copy and paste blandness of The Amazing Spider-Man which has most definitely not been made by anyone with unique vision or willing to take chances. There’s nothing but contractual obligations being met with Webb’s flick.
Nothing overrated about about a film making over 600 mil domestically and closing in on 1.5 billion worldwide, i don’t care how you rant in jealousy over it. And as far as not hiring visionary directors, your not talking about Joss Whedon, that’s for damn sure. And as far as RDJ, he’s not going anywhere anytime soon, he just got a massive pay hike, so check your facts friend. I will say you have one good point, that’s Marvel’s recent history on losing and replacing directors. They better not mess around and pull that crap with Whedon, they most certainly better re-sign him.
“They’re just about the only studio still doing 3D conversions instead of shooting in real 3D.”
That’s actually incorrect. The opposite is true. With the exception of a handful of films, most 3D projects these days are post-converted due to cost.
Amazing Spiderman will make it’s bones internationally. The foreign markets love sequels/reboots. Sony will make good money on Spidy this year and will make a fortune in 2014.
If Sony were to feature Carnage in the sequel they would blow the doors off of Marvel Studios in May 2014. I imagine AS2 will crush GOTG regardless of who the villain is though.
I saw Avengers 3 times, but I will wait until DVD to see Spiderman. I would definitely see a Spiderman with Carnage in theaters; likely multiple times.
I saw Spidey yesterday only because a girl I was with wanted to see it. My desires had been sullied by reading too many negative posts on this site.
Best Spiderman by far. By far. End of discussion.
Lesson learned.
I don’t know about “not pleasing fanboys” (many of whom seem to have the IQ of a radish), but virtually everyone I know who has seen the new Spider-Man film has really loved it- from superhero fans to mainstream moviegoers.
And many if not most of them liked it better than all of the Raimi films (I didn’t think it was as good as Spidey 2, but better than 1 or 3). Even on IMDB (not always perfect, granted), TASM has a higher score than all the previous films, including 2.
TU: the international audience understand good and bad storytelling as well as the US one. Your comment is utterly nonsense.
Really? I’ve also noticed that bad Hollywood movies get disproportionately hammered by negative word of mouth domestically, often showing steep dropoffs after the first weekend, while they seem immune to the same phenomenon in the global market, so that many movies that would have tanked (justifiably) if only released domestically were rescued by the global filmgoing public, who appear to be willing to watch anything as long as there is action, color and violence.
That may irk your ego, but numbers don’t lie.
Would it hurt your ego if I said you are an imbecile?
It’s very uncommon for the US *not* to be the biggest market for most movies.
You forget that North American box-office just means USA and Canada.
Overseas is comprised of more than SEVENTY markets.
No country in the world gave more money to ICE AGE 3 or THE LAST AIRBENDER or GODZILLA than the US. That’s a fact. So there goes tour xenophobic theory down the drain.
Foreign markets is the sole reason Justin Timeberlake keeps getting cast in movies.
Friends with Benefits and In Time did 2x – 4x more foreign box office than in the US. Those movies were panned here.
Yes, the US is the biggest SINGLE market, but we’re talking about the collective foreign total, dearie.
The COMBINED might of those “more than SEVENTY markets” often trump what the US can bring to the table.
My theory on foreign immunity to domestic stinkers? The language barrier.
Film-goers in countries where a film is subtitled wouldn’t necessarily be able to catch flat acting in a foreign language, and movies in countries where the film is dubbed are only as good or bad as the actors who dubbed it.
I love it when Americans don’t realise they are not actually at the center of the film universe anymore, in terms of box office. You are just the largest single market, and a noisy one.
Most large studio films don’t even open first here in the US anymore. They don’t have to, so why take the risk that the US audience won’t like it, and poison the water in other english speaking markets?
I also love when people point to the US audience requiring ‘sophisticated’ storytelling, then talk about how stupid and awful Hollywood’s output is.
Re the Justin Timberlake comment: Inception did 2x international to US gross. What does that say about Leonardo? What does it say about simplistic storytelling?
Maybe because foreign countries care less about good or bad word of mouth because people know that ‘word of mouth’ is in fact ‘word of internet’ artificially created to support or shoot down a film? I live in Europe and, generally, we do not care so much about box office grosses. A film which cost 200M to make tanks? It is a risk that the producing company takes and we do not crucify the lead actor for it or talk about it for decades. We watch a film. We like it, we don’t like it. It is not a tragedy. Two hours spent in a theater watching a film which turns up to be disappointing do not kill anyone. We certainly do not check Rotten Tomatoes or Box Office Mojo beforehand.
I expect it would be big as the trailer was awesome and catchy. But sadly end up with disappointed figure. Well, you can have MacDonald everyday but not Japanese food. First it was Lorax, then Madagascar 3, and Brave …. Can the market digest that many big animation moreover IA4 was the last amongst the big four animation of the year in the schedule for released. Definitively it would lost the most important market – teen to adult market. And yet the Spider effect is still there …..
Anyway the movie was too bored for me ….
Looks like “Magic Mike” will make over $100 mill before it drops out of the top 10, I thought it would bomb. Oh well, I’ve been wrong lots of times.
Watcher, naaah. The direction of this spiderman reboot is great. Right now, after ironman (for some), this rebooted spiderman is the most interesting marvel franchise around.
There will be a hugely successful sequel and avengers 3 will need to find a way to include this spidey if they want to keep their cult status. just too good.
IF there are still fan boys that don’t see how this spiderman is absolutely right, tough, let them watch captain america… (absolutely useless with or without avengers)
Actually, Nikki, what Amy and Jeff did with the Spiderman reboot is the absolute opposite of taking a risk. It was a very safe and calculated business decision. A successful decision, as it turns out, but no reason for celebration.
seriously? you’re going to praise sony execs for `taking a risk’ with the spider-man reboot? there’s not an original, daring, or creative bone in that movie’s body – its a cynical, recycled cash-grab by a corporation disseminating a successful brand in new packaging. let’s reserve our praise for studios willing to take chances on new ideas, great scripts, visionary directors, films that aim to enlighten as well as entertain. because if `the amazing spider-man’ is what passes for risk-taking in this climate, then movies are truly dead in the water.
Apparently the voice.of the general audience is louder than that.of Marvel fanboys. It didnt break any records or exactly set the world on fire but its.doing way better than i thought.it.would ( i thought.it would crap out at 200 million but its looks like itll end up near 300) and with a b+ cinemascore and a better drop off than any of the previous…what u saying is wishful thinking. There will be.a.sequel. Sony has to just make sure its near Spiderman 2 quality when they make it. The only way Sony is selling this is if marvel gives them a big billion dollar check
The general audience eats Marvel fanboys for breakfast. Too many superfans are sad corner junkies who think they have a say in how the cartel makes its product. I miss the days when reading comics or being a Dr. Who fan was the love that dare not speak its name. Today it’s the love never shuts up.
And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to post some Star Trek pics to must post on my Tumblr page.
“So Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman Amy Pascal and vice chairman Jeff Blake deserve kudos for taking a risk…”
I fail to see how being ‘contractually obliged’ to make a film so the rights don’t revert back to the original holders is brave?
Do Amy, Jeff and everyone at Sony deserve kudos for making a sequel to Ghost Rider that no one wanted? Because it’s the exact same situation.
If Sony were smart they’d invest money in developing IPs that the studio can OWN outright and then they won’t have to worry about original rights holders etc.
Don’t sweat it. In a year, Katzenberg will be running the studio.
“There’s no doubt this franchise restart with another origins story for Marvel’s most popular character is a success, even if it didn’t break box office records or reinvent the genre or even please fanboys. So Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman Amy Pascal and vice chairman Jeff Blake deserve kudos for taking a risk.”
You HAVE to be joking. TAKING A RISK? Regurgitating a ten-year-old $400 million domestic hit with a tweenified remake is taking a risk? It is the antithesis of taking a risk. It is everything stagnant and stupid and safe about Hollywood. There could not have been a more cowardly direction for this franchise to go in.
Agree. What risk? How vanilla can we go with this?
Amazing Spiderman is the antithesis of “taking a risk” in hollywood.
Let’s see, reboot a franchise or release a movie that features a bong smoking teddy bear in an r rated comedy? Seems clear to me who is taking chances.
Legalize it.
TED was definitely a risk, but Fox scewed up letting it walk.
ASM was ALSO a risk. How can you argue that spending $150M+ to reboot a film still fresh in the US audience’s mind (full disclosure: I HATED the Raimi films, and was baffled by the positive response they got) with an actor with not even TV profile and a no-name director wasn’t a risk?
If it hadn’t worked, heads would have rolled.