Aronofsky's "mother!" (Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem)

[Black Narcissus]

Budget was 13 million.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Budget was 13 million.

There are conflicting reports. Earlier the 13 million production budget was being used everywhere but more recently the trades are reporting a prod. budget of 30 million with further P&A cost.

 

[terry78]

There was no way they'd be able to market this as anything but an avant garde artsy fartsy film. They knew no one outside a few circles would go unless they played it up as a horror. American assassin may even beat it.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

At this point there is no doubt that American Assassin will beat mother! to the 2nd spot.

 

[Kane52630]

My non spoiler review...

Spoiler

What a journey. I can see why this cause people to walk out, it's not an easy film to watch especially towards the end. The trailers are a bit misleading, but it's mostly because it's a very hard film to market. It's Darren Aronofsky at the top of his game here. It's not your standard horror film or a remake of Rosemary's Baby, it's in fact something else entirely which I don't want to spoil. As the movie progresses, it doesn't function as a movie set in our reality and once you figure out the pieces it's trying to tell you, it becomes a whole other movie. The themes in this movie works on a couple different ways and that made it even more fascinating. Performance wise, it might be my favorite Jennifer Lawrence movie. You are with her when things go crazy and you become as delirious as she is. Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, and Michelle Pfeiffer also knocked it out the park. Overall, it's a brilliant film that challenges you as a viewer and it sticks with you.

9.5/10

 

[terry78]

I feel like someone is gonna adapt this thing for a play.

 

[Fallen Angel]

There are conflicting reports. Earlier the 13 million production budget was being used everywhere but more recently the trades are reporting a prod. budget of 30 million with further P&A cost.

Which is absolutely nothing because it's a studio movie with a cast consisting of Lawrence (Arguably the biggest female star in the world) Bardem, Pfieffer and Harris in its' cast.

I mean B list actors are getting movie budgets of $30m these days.

 

[Primal Slayer]

I am suppose to see this Sunday but now I am kind of scared for what i'm in for..I havent spoiled myself but I was looking forward to a horror film so thats disappointing to hear.

 

[Kane52630]

It's a psychological horror, but more emphasis on the psychological side.

 

[BaelaTargaryen]

As expected, it got F Cinemascore.

http://deadline.com/2017/09/it-step...rican-assassin-weekend-box-office-1202170367/

3rd update: Refresh for updates Well, it’s clear: Moviegoers officially hate Darren Aronofsky’s mother! The film scored a rare F grade from CinemaScore audiences tonight, and there were many rivals heading into the weekend who were expecting that type of reaction. As we heard at noon, the bold Jennifer Lawrence pic is crashing well below its projections with an estimated $8M in third. Paramount has been in this situation before with 2012’s The Devil Inside which also earned an F (in fact that year had two more F grade films: the Brad Pitt gangster pic Killing Them Softly and Open Road’s Silent House). But they were able to buck that reaction on that $1M budgeted genre pic and make loads of cash with a $33.7M opening, final domestic $53.3M and global of $101.8M. Many attribute that win to a massive TV spot spend. mother! is a different beast at a reported $30M before P&A (some believe it’s much higher: Lawrence is known to get $15M alone with actors like Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer earning $3M-$5M each. Oy vey.

It’s very simple what happened here: Paramount backed an audacious auteur’s twisted genre film and aimed to sell it to a mass audience. It’s clear why they went wide with this movie and didn’t roll out: They knew it would greatly divide moviegoers. Going wide was the only means to make money, especially with Lawrence as headliner. There’s was no winning in a platform release, because bad word of mouth would travel anyway. Paramount’s marketing was passionate about the film, worked closely with Aronofsky on trying to craft something cool, and they knew the best place to tee the film off was the fall festival circuits where it was greatly embraced by critics (70% certified fresh). While we’ve dinged Rotten Tomatoes continually for impacting a wide release’s ticket sales, here’s another example of the disconnect between RT and moviegoers’ habits. RT organically favors auteurs. We saw this with Alien: Covenant this past summer which was 70% certified fresh and wasn’t one of the marquee tentpoles of the summer with a $74.3M domestic take.

I’m informed that there was a lot of last minute TV spot spend by mother! in an effort to hopefully spur a Devil Inside type of B.O. halo. Last weekend, Paramount had a custom in-theater trailer for mother! on It telling moviegoers “In one week, in this theater, one movie will mess you up for life…You will never forget where you were the first time you saw mother! After the movie, visit the box office to get your tickets.” One rival marketing head told Deadline, “If I was a horror fan and then went to see mother! I’d be pretty pissed because it’s not your run of the mill Screen Gems film.” What could Paramount do? How else could they sell this movie? mother! is largely a silent movie and then gets really gonzo toward the end. There is a gripping, ‘WTF is going on now?’ sensibility to the film, and in that sense, the marketing arguably didn’t betray.

Some will argue that it was suicidal for Paramount to put mother! right behind It. True, horror films are generally spaced out on the calendar by four weekends or more, but it really didn’t matter if you put mother! in the dregs of August: People were still going to hate it. These edgy auteur films are meant to be made as works of bold cinematic art; any distributor is lucky to make a buck off of them, and they never make money, read Nicolas Winding Refn’s Neon Demon ($1.3M), David Lynch’s Lost Highway ($3.7M) and even earlier Aronofsky works like The Fountain ($15M global B.O., $35M production cost). It’s just about who is brave enough to invest in them.

Another problem with mother! was that Lawrence was playing against type as a frightful woman versus the heroic, kickass we know her for in Hunger Games, Joy and American Hustle. Her fans, who turned out at 38%, didn’t appreciate that and gave her an F tonight. Forty-three percent came out because they thought mother! was a horror film, and they gave it an ‘F’. Females showed up at 56% with 82% over 25. Both demos graded mother with F. Aronofsky fans gave mother! its best score of C+, and they repped 10% of Friday night’s crowd.

 

[Marvolo]

A film like this should have been released on digital streaming services simultaneously. Theaters are going to start dropping this film like it's radioactive waste. Without a digital platform to counter the lost theaters it won't be making jack **** until the physical blu-ray release.

 

[Jekecy]

Half my theater hated this. Half my theater didn't get it at all (how, after that 3rd act, is beyond me).

I adored it. Thought it was solid as the credits rolled. The more I think about it, the more it grows on as an art piece.

This may have been a spectacular financial blunder, but its mark has been made on cinema.

 

[OfficerK]

It's almost like he make a Nicolas Winding Refn movie...

I'll never forget when The Neon Demon released last year and lasted less than 7 days in local theaters. I saw it three times during that time period. And each time there was less and less people. Amusingly enough the first time I saw it there was less than 15 people in there. By the third time it was like having a glorious private showing. I also just finished the fountain for the first time about 15 minutes ago and I thought it was brilliant. I got a lot more profound feelings out of that than I did Requiem, which was good in it's own different ways.

 

[Closerframe]

Saw this again last night and hearing people's reactions of how stupid it was because they didn't get it made me chuckle. A ton of them then proceeded to say they wish they saw IT again because that was a "real" horror movie. I honestly feel, like Requiem for a Dream, this will develop cult following and in turn become recognized in the years to come.

 

[titansupes]

Saw this again last night and hearing people's reactions of how stupid it was because they didn't get it made me chuckle. A ton of them then proceeded to say they wish they saw IT again because that was a "real" horror movie. I honestly feel, like Requiem for a Dream, this will develop cult following and in turn become recognized in the years to come.

Yup. Saw this from someone I know on Twitter earlier--

Convoluted, confusing & cryptically stupid. Jennifer Lawrence should stick to teaming up with Bradley Cooper. Absolutely dreadful. 1/10.

 

[guitarsingerguy]

Well, you KINDA need a bit of a refresher on basic Bible stories if it's been a while too.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

I should be seeing it today. Kinda nervous...

 

[Closerframe]

Well, you KINDA need a bit of a refresher on basic Bible stories if it's been a while too.

Kind of makes you wonder for all the people who have seen it, claim they don't get it and thus don't like it, also claim to be devout Christians. Then again, The Book of Genesis is probably the most memorable part of the Bible for Christians--I'm an atheist and I immediately picked up on the parallels

 

[I Am The Knight]

^^Trying to lure as many people as possible into seeing this because they know WOM will be toxic.

 

[guitarsingerguy]

Kind of makes you wonder for all the people who have seen it, claim they don't get it and thus don't like it, also claim to be devout Christians. Then again, The Book of Genesis is probably the most memorable part of the Bible for Christians--I'm an atheist and I immediately picked up on the parallels

Yeah, I'm agnostic, but I find that alot of atheists/agnostics have actually studies the Bible pretty thoroughly looking for answers before deciding they were either atheist/agnostic. I'm not saying that goes for all of us, and I'm certainly not claiming to know more than a devout Christian or... anyone else really, but alot of people don't realize we didn't come to these decisions lightly. We looked in all the places we were told to look for answers before we came to our decisions on faith. I obviously don't wanna get off on a tangent like this (even though I'm sure that's EXACTLY what Aranofsky wanted ), so we should probably get back on topic, but please, don't anyone take offense to what was said. I'm actually quite envious of people with blind faith or faith in general really. I am in no way, shape, or form saying anything negative about Christianity or ANYONE'S belief system. Ok...I think I've covered my ass enough. Hahaha!!!

 

[guitarsingerguy]

^^Trying to lure as many people as possible into seeing this because they know WOM will be toxic.

IDK if WOM will be toxic per say. You know what they say about no press being bad press. The WOM could potentially drag folks in. Curiosity is a hell of a thing.

 

[The Chris]

Well i adored this crazy little psycho film. I just can't stop thinking about what everything meant. I actually love when a film overwhelms me like this. Things can get so predictable these days, so i actually love it when a movie can make me say "what the hell is going on!!!!" over and over again. Definitely not a flick for conventional audiences.

 

[guitarsingerguy]

Well i adored this crazy little psycho film. I just can't stop thinking about what everything meant. I actually love when a film overwhelms me like this. Things can get so predictable these days, so i actually love it when a movie can make me say "what the hell is going on!!!!" over and over again. Definitely not a flick for conventional audiences.

You're absolutely right about this not being for conventional audiences, but I feel like the David Lynch crowd would be all over this...not that that's a huge audience either, but there is a fanbase.

 

[Kane52630]

My theater had a few people show up and strange enough nobody walked out angry but... there was a couple of older moms that weeped at the end of this (which rightfully so).

 

[terry78]

It's for film fans and hipsters that claim they're into this type of thing basically. Everybody else is just gonna be like...nah, bro. Let's just go see It again and wait till Kingsman comes out. Not that those are bad alternatives but they ain't exactly challenging you.