Now with 2011 over saturation of Superhero movies Captain America MUST be delayed

[Iceman]

Originally Posted by Wolvieboy17

But that's exactly what it did... HP's box office intake dropped because people WERE seeing Captain America... Hence the reason it was top of the box office for that weekend.... How is that NOT an achievement?

The only achievement part is that people are seeing Cap & it's making money. Doesn't matter whether they're sacrificing another film to see it or if that film makes zero or 10 times as much. The conversation should only be about Cap and the only reason it's not is because a stupid (or at least risky) release date was chosen which involved unnecessary competition.

[Wolvieboy17]

I'm starting to think the timing makes perfect sense though, mainly because having it during the Comic-Con weekend enabled them to build a lot of buzz and hype surrounding Avengers, which I think was definitely their intention. Also, there is ALWAYS going to be competition at this time of the year, there are always big movies in the summer period. Releasing it earlier, there still would have been competition and releasing it later, whilst there would be less competition, it's also not the prime time for people to see movies, hence the reason the summer period is chocablock with films in the first place.

And, whether you like it or not, taking viewers away from HP IS an achievement, considering that is the 8th film in a long running franchise, and this is a new film for a character people haven't seen before. For a new franchise to have that effect on a long running franchise is a huge achievement.

[Iceman]

I take your point on tying it together with Comic Con. Some sense in that I must admit.

[amazingfantasy15]

Originally Posted by Iceman

This decision might still have had a big effect on Cap's box office. We'll never know. Cap might have been as big as Iron Man, the embargo wouldn't have been so late and there would have been a lot more focus on Cap for 2 weeks giving time for the hype to build with the wider audience.

If TDK had been released on the same day as Titanic & Return of the King it would probably still have made significantly above $300m (if not $400m) and been hailed a big success. Cap's done fine but I think this was an unnecessary risk with a vital property.

Titanic's opening weekend was only $30 million, that was a movie that just had incredible legs. It's success was due to many, many multiple viewings over a long amount of time. In this day and age of opening weekend meaning so much and quick turnaround to DVD, it never would have made the money it did.

Originally Posted by Wolvieboy17

But that's exactly what it did... HP's box office intake dropped because people WERE seeing Captain America... Hence the reason it was top of the box office for that weekend.... How is that NOT an achievement?

Is it really that people were seeing Captain America instead of Harry Potter or that the majority of people that wanted to see Harry Potter saw it opening weekend? Just take a look at the releases for the last 3 books in the series, the release for the next installment book or movie of the franchise is an event. This weekend's box office was probably the people wanting to avoid the mob, casual viewers and rabid fans.

[Iceman]

Originally Posted by amazingfantasy15

Titanic's opening weekend was only $30 million, that was a movie that just had incredible legs. It's success was due to many, many multiple viewings over a long amount of time. In this day and age of opening weekend meaning so much and quick turnaround to DVD, it never would have made the money it did.

FYI the films I mentioned are just completely random & fully substitutable examples of tentpole competition to make a point. No value in looking at the specifics of the films themselves.

[Hotwire]

It's funny I actually found this thread. I had offered a little challenge to Dave40 regarding Cap's box office. Offered to create my own thread, and admit I was wrong if Dave was right. Had suggested he do the same. He never responded. Oh, well.

[Wolvieboy17]

Originally Posted by amazingfantasy15

Is it really that people were seeing Captain America instead of Harry Potter or that the majority of people that wanted to see Harry Potter saw it opening weekend? Just take a look at the releases for the last 3 books in the series, the release for the next installment book or movie of the franchise is an event. This weekend's box office was probably the people wanting to avoid the mob, casual viewers and rabid fans.

Just that it breaks the usual trend for a truly successful Box office movie, where the momentum keeps rolling through the next few few weekends, let alone just the second one. To have that huge a drop off so soon isn't that good.