Box Office 2014

[Marvin]

The transformers films have almost always had their "biggest of the year" title stolen by some other mega huge film. This might be the year that doesn't happen but then again, this is a reboot. That almost always means decline in sales I think.
Mark Whalberg's involvement is a huge variable.

This entire year is full of variable dark horses as far as I'm concerned. Will ASM make big spidey money now that it's established, will xmen stop making xmen money and start making some real bank, will cap enjoy his post avengers existence...

-Will the cliff hanger help or hurt THG, films like matrix and pirates suffered but unlike LOTR those sequels were mostly hated.

-Robocop and Godzilla(Prim), the ill timed reboots no one asked for, but are getting good buzz on the net.

-Train Dragon could be Dreamworks biggest hit since shrek..

-Guardians could be anything...
Same with ninja turtles...

The year that was slept on could turn out to be a huge consistent and surprising success.

 

[TheNextNolan22]

Not sure how Godzilla is "ill timed" considering it's coming out the same year as his 60th Anniversary and people have been wanting a proper American Godzilla film for ages. Also, it's been nearly 10 years since the last Godzilla film by TOHO. Robocop I can give you.

 

[Marvin]

Pacific Rim is how.

I hope they come up with something neat for the story/plot/concept, cause on paper, it's a step down in terms of scale, I think the audience might reflect the sentiment. Of course, there is branding but post 98, I'm not sure what good that will do outside of asian markets.

That's what I mean anyways. I'd feel differently if only it had been released prior to last year. Then again, maybe pRim will have helped the genre. Who knows.

 

[Liam_H]

Pacific Rim came and went...but a big thing in Godzilla's favor is that its a brand name. PR was scoffed at for how silly it looked. People just accept Godzilla for what it as they accepted Transformers for what it is.

 

[TheNextNolan22]

Godzilla is an easier sell. I was actually surprised how the toyline for PR was almost non-existent so it's good Godzilla is going to have an extensive toyline.

 

[Roose Bolton]

Godzilla is pretty much the Japanese equivalent to the James Bond franchise, and I'd imagine the 60th anniversary and the ten year absence will help sell this thing a lot.

 

[:eek:]

"Mockingjay" Tops 2014 Anticipation Poll

By Garth Franklin Wednesday January 1st 2014 11:42PM
Fandango has released a list of the most-anticipated film titles of 2014 according to a recent poll of thousands of users on the popular movie ticketing site.
"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1," the third film in the hit franchise, came out on top. Not a huge surprise considering 'Catching Fire' also topped last year's poll and went on to become the top-selling movie in Fandango history.
The rest of the top five consisted of "The Hobbit: There and Back Again," "X-Men: Days of Future Past," "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" and "Divergent".
The poll also asked for the sexiest men and women in movies next year. On the women's side it was Jennifer Lawrence, Mila Kunis and Jessica Alba that took the top positions. On the men's side Ryan Gosling, Channing Tatum and Bradley Cooper formed the top three.

 

[Marvin]

Pacific Rim came and went...but a big thing in Godzilla's favor is that its a brand name. PR was scoffed at for how silly it looked. People just accept Godzilla for what it as they accepted Transformers for what it is.

PRim was touted as transformers with actual heart and story by the favoring critics and online community, if you are suggesting the masses found it silly, and Godzilla is sillier that's quite the thing.
I personally find that interesting given how this trailer has been presented. Looks like the most tonally dior film of 2014 thus far. Then again TF trailers could be that way(half the time). We'll see.

Godzilla is an easier sell. I was actually surprised how the toyline for PR was almost non-existent so it's good Godzilla is going to have an extensive toyline.

That's great for the toy sales I suppose...

Godzilla is pretty much the Japanese equivalent to the James Bond franchise, and I'd imagine the 60th anniversary and the ten year absence will help sell this thing a lot.

That's great for japanese business I suppose.
Like Prim, it sold tickets over there, not here.

I'm hoping it does well and I think these producers have the right idea. American films need sell-able stars to sell films. Michael bay has understood this from the start(much to the chagrin of purists who want only robots). Prim was kinda confused on that matter. Between the two leads...not sure.

I just think it would have been better timed before Prim, is all. Not that it's some sort of death sentence. What does the public think of giant monsters destroying cities in 2014? What's the state of that brand/genre...Prim.

 

[Liam_H]

PRim was touted as transformers with actual heart and story by the favoring critics and online community, if you are suggesting the masses found it silly, and Godzilla is sillier that's quite the thing.
I personally find that interesting given how this trailer has been presented. Looks like the most tonally dior film of 2014 thus far. Then again TF trailers could be that way(half the time). We'll see.

Regardless of what everyone online thought the GA was very unreceptive of PR from the start. It looked like a B movie on the syfy channel. And once everyone saw it deemed alright, nothing special at best. Godzilla has been around for ages, so the concept of the giant radioactive lizard is welcomed from the start. There is no extra effort needed to sell the audience on the concept.

Also, PRim was met with a collective shrug in Japan. China was the country to embrace it.

 

[TheNextNolan22]

I think even the Legendary Facebook page asked audiences if they were excited for PR and not that many people responded. Not that this really means anything, but the film barely managed 400,000 Facebook likes by the time it was released in theaters whereas Godzilla is currently at 348,000 with just about 5 months left to go. Again, not the ultimate deciding factor when it comes to box office, but it shows a bit more of a general interest.

 

[kguillou]

I will never ever understand how it was possible for WB/Legendary's pr department to screw up the marketing for Pacific Rim. How the heck were there not tons of toys and merchandise? Kids LOVE giant robots (see: Transformers). This should have been an easy sell. How did they mess that up?? I hope whoever was in charge of that got fired.

 

[Marvin]

Regardless of what everyone online thought the GA was very unreceptive of PR from the start. It looked like a B movie on the syfy channel. And once everyone saw it deemed alright, nothing special at best. Godzilla has been around for ages, so the concept of the giant radioactive lizard is welcomed from the start. There is no extra effort needed to sell the audience on the concept.

Also, PRim was met with a collective shrug in Japan. China was the country to embrace it.

I appreciate how bad the tracking and buzz for for PR, I remember websites defending that and what not. I also appreciate how much strong the direction seems in this Godzilla material(more like MOS less like fun DelToro). If anything it harkens back to the Dark of the Moon marketing. I just think the genre is in a fickle place. Between 98/Cloverfield/Prim.....It's not like making an Alist superhero film in 2012.

Again I respect the direction. It's like the boys over at ThinkMcFly have been saying. The trailer is pretty great...then comes godzilla.

That's interesting about selling in china and not japan. I guess maybe they should have added a japanese jeager immediately discarded as well.

 

[MrMaooz]

'Zilla will do fine. I'm sure WB will try to push their 2 biggest blockbusters as hard as they can to make up for a possible flop in Jupiter Ascending.

 

[Marvin]

What's the other one?

 

[MrMaooz]

Edge of Tomorrow. I think that's a heck of a lot easier to market than Jupiter Ascending.

 

[Marvin]

Edge of Tomorrow. I think that's a heck of a lot easier to market than Jupiter Ascending.

I see.
If wb was smart they would have switched the male leads.
Oh to be a studio CEO lol.

 

[MrMaooz]

I see.
If wb was smart they would have switched the male leads.
Oh to be a studio CEO lol.

 

[Liam_H]

Switch their dates. If they really do have no faith in JA then give Edge of Tomorrow that spot or Godzilla.

 

[Marvin]

Tatum in EoT
and Cruise in Jupiter.
Apparently Edge was written with a young guy in mind...and I think the wSiblings do better with more talented/seasoned actors.

 

[Liam_H]

It was definitely suppose to be for a younger guy in mind. The way Cruise's character gets integrated into the plot is a bit silly and contrived. Tatum fits that bill but his normal physique might be a bit off.

 

[Rowsdower!]

Yeah, as much as I like Cruise, it seems like the role should go to a younger actor. The movie still looks cool though.

I don't think Regurgitant is going to be that big of a hit. Everyone keeps saying it just looks like a Hunger Games ripoff. I was initially interested in it, but the more I see of it, the less interested I am.

 

[TheNextNolan22]

I will never ever understand how it was possible for WB/Legendary's pr department to screw up the marketing for Pacific Rim. How the heck were there not tons of toys and merchandise? Kids LOVE giant robots (see: Transformers). This should have been an easy sell. How did they mess that up?? I hope whoever was in charge of that got fired.

Agreed. I'm still baffled that there was such a limited toyline for the film.

 

[:eek:]

2014 Preview (October-December): 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1', 'The Hobbit' Finale, & Christopher Nolan Headline Next Holiday Season

BoxOffice wraps up our first 2014 preview with a look at the most promising flicks of the final three months of the year.
Big Hero 6
(Disney/Marvel, 11/7)
In another first for Marvel in 2014, they take the leap into the animation format with this lower-tier group of unknown comic book characters. Disney Animation Studios is on a hot streak with Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph, and Tangled over the last few years, so the combination of that team working with Marvel's brain trust and source material makes for considerable potential. We think a solid domestic run is likely by default as Big Hero 6 won't have much direct competition. All told though, this one's a wild card until the studio releases something more tangible.

Interstellar
(Paramount, 11/7)
Christopher Nolan's first post-Dark Knight Trilogy project is generating significant buzz online despite very little information about the film. Should history repeat itself, general audiences will follow suit as marketing peels away layers of the film throughout the year. The holiday release is a first for the popular filmmaker, indicating studio intentions to gun for awards buzz if the pic is up to usual Nolan standards. He himself is consciously aware of the challenge of space-set films. The secrecy behind Interstellar makes it impossible to forecast whether or not the movie will approach Inception's $293 million domestic run, but overseas (where the dream-sharing blockbuster earned $531 million) success is a safe bet. Key foreign markets will include China, the U.K., France, and Japan.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1
(Lionsgate, 11/21)
As we speak, Catching Fire is bucking the domestic trend of sequels doing less business than their predecessors who seemingly reached a saturation point in audience size. The division of the book series' final entry into two films follows the pattern of the Harry Potter and Twilight series, both of which saw their penultimate installments fall slightly in gross before rebounding with the final film. Expect a similar behavior from Mockingjay domestically. Strong overseas markets should again include the U.K., Germany, and Australia.

Exodus
(Fox, 12/12)
Ridley Scott gets religious with this adaptation of the story of Moses, to be portrayed by Christian Bale. Scott hasn't delivered a crowd-pleasing blockbuster in awhile, but that could change here. Bale is on his A-game right now just a few years removed from his first Oscar, plus American Hustle's success, and a well-received biblical epic should play well through the holiday season. Like Noah earlier in the year, Brazil and Spain will be among the foreign territories that could put up big grosses for the film.

Hobbit: There and Back Again
(Warner Bros., 12/17)
Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy will come to a close in what will surely be the most aggressively marketed entry of the franchise since 2003's The Return of the King.A few fans/audiences initially shied away from The Desolation of Smaug after An Unexpected Journey didn't quite live up to the hype of its Oscar-winning predecessors, but the middle chapter's word of mouth is regaining some momentum for the series in a way that should benefit There and Back Again. Another run close to $1 billion globally is likely with a strong finale

Honorable Mentions: Gone Girl (10/3),The Interview (10/10), David Ayer's Untitled World War II Film starring Brad Pitt (11/14), Dumb and Dumber To (11/14), Horrible Bosses 2 (11/26), Annie (12/19), Into the Woods (12/25)

 

[Raiden]

I will never ever understand how it was possible for WB/Legendary's pr department to screw up the marketing for Pacific Rim. How the heck were there not tons of toys and merchandise? Kids LOVE giant robots (see: Transformers). This should have been an easy sell. How did they mess that up?? I hope whoever was in charge of that got fired.

I don't think I've seen a PR toy in the store, which baffles me.

 

[Drizzle]

The transformers films have almost always had their "biggest of the year" title stolen by some other mega huge film. This might be the year that doesn't happen but then again, this is a reboot. That almost always means decline in sales I think.
Mark Whalberg's involvement is a huge variable.

The only film that beat Transformers 3 was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. You could have predicted that would be the highest grossing film of 2011 years in advance since it was the last in the Harry Potter series, thus making it an event film.

This time around, it's hard to tell. Transformers is a proven franchise, but since this is a reboot and there are fresher franchises such as The Hunger Games and The Hobbit that will rear their heads in the later part of the year. If anything can top it, my money is on The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1.