The Force Awakens Early Star Wars 7 Box Office Prediction Thread - Part 2

[Iceman]

I'm Chinese but I'm not from there. Have ties and travel there often enough. I think I confused you because I interchange between 'here' and 'there' when referring to China. My bad! And I've never been interested in BO talk until TFA; it's like watching the stock market, but more fun.

Yep haha. Oh that makes sense. Good to have someone here who knows a bit more in depth about China as it's going to be the most interesting box office market in the future.

 

[PacificBoy]

Yep haha. Oh that makes sense. Good to have someone here who knows a bit more in depth about China as it's going to be the most interesting box office market in the future.

I wouldn't say I'm in the know. I'm guesstimating TFA's BO success in China just as much as the next guy. All I can say with more certainty is that the local top-grossing records are primed to be broken next year with the rate the market is expanding. So yeah, perhaps TFA is in with a better shout than I gave it. t:

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

@ERCboxoffice STAR WARS is at $627M int'l: UK ($116M) GER ($66M) FRA ($56M) OZ ($42M) JPN ($37M) ESP ($22M) MEX ($21M) ITA ($21M)

@BoxOffice With an estimated $37.7M overseas on Tuesday, STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS has grossed $627.4M overseas / $1.228B globally. #TheForceAwakens*

That U.K number is huge.

 

[InCali]

That U.K number is huge.

Prolly mostly Ice just blowing his dough....

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

Prolly mostly Ice just blowing his dough....

 

[Iceman]

Haha!

I did watch Fellowship of the Ring about 10 times in cinemas so you never know.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

LOTR is my favorite film trilogy.

 

[Iceman]

I wouldn't say I'm in the know. I'm guesstimating TFA's BO success in China just as much as the next guy. All I can say with more certainty is that the local top-grossing records are primed to be broken next year with the rate the market is expanding. So yeah, perhaps TFA is in with a better shout than I gave it. t:

I'm not even going to try to predict TFA's China numbers. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up low and I wouldn't be surprised if it's all time no.1. With the speed that the region's box office is changing and especially with properties new to the region anything could happen.

 

[Iceman]

LOTR is my favorite film trilogy.

I think it has my record for views at 10 (this might not be exact, could be slightly inaccurate in either direction) for FotR, and 4 for TTT and RotK. All trilogies have weaknesses but I think LotR has less than most. Whichever is deemed to be the weakest entry of the 3 is still very strong for a weakest entry.

 

[InCali]

LOTR is my favorite film trilogy.

I wish they would have made 6 movies. 1 for each book.

PJ didn't totally botch that particular trilogy though. He waited a few years to do that.......

 

[Erzengel]

I put the Star Wars OT over the LOTR Trilogy simply because I've grown to just almost hate all of the Hobbits. I find Aragorn, Legolas, Gandalf and Gimli far more appealing.

But I'd rate the LOTR Trilogy, 9, 10, 9.
And Star Wars a 10, 10 , 9.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

I think it has my record for views at 10 (this might not be exact, could be slightly inaccurate in either direction) for FotR, and 4 for TTT and RotK. All trilogies have weaknesses but I think LotR has less than most. Whichever is deemed to be the weakest entry of the 3 is still very strong for a weakest entry.

Fine assessment.

 

[Iceman]

I wish they would have made 6 movies. 1 for each book.

PJ didn't totally botch that particular trilogy though. He waited a few years to do that.......

It's disappointingly a bit like Lucas where a guy you think is a genius shows that actually they didn't quite understand what was great about the original work they created. Although I rate the Hobbit films much higher than the prequels.

 

[Erzengel]

I didn't even see the Hobbit Trilogy in the theaters. I waited for Netflix.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

Eh I only saw the first Hobbit in theaters and I still haven't watched the sequels.

Anyway I am so freaking curious to see how Star Wars performs in China. It's going to be so interesting when it opens.

 

[Iceman]

I put the Star Wars OT over the LOTR Trilogy simply because I've grown to just almost hate all of the Hobbits. I find Aragorn, Legolas, Gandalf and Gimli far more appealing.

But I'd rate the LOTR Trilogy, 9, 10, 9.
And Star Wars a 10, 10 , 9.

Is Star Wars also more your thing than LotR though, regardless of the quality of the 2? I just got that impression over the years. For me fantasy beats sci-fi (semi-fantasy in this case I guess) if everything else is equal. Unfortunately there have been dozens of amazing sci-fi films and hardly any fantasy! (I don't include younger-orientated or partially real-life based fantasy like Harry Potter or Narnia as my preference).

And I have the same feeling about the Hobbits, especially Pippin! Don't mind Fordo & Merry too much. Aragorn and Gandalf are 2 of my all time favourite film characters though.

 

[Erzengel]

If you have to include everything now, I'd rank the franchises:

1. Star Wars
2. MCU
3. Indiana Jones
4. Harry Potter
5. LOTR/Hobbit

I think the story for both Star Wars and LOTR are really good, then it falls to the characters. Like I wouldn't have been bummed if any of the Hobbits ate it, and I felt even less for the dwarves in the Hobbit. I guess in the end, I place heavy emphasis on characters.

 

[Iceman]

@ERCboxoffice STAR WARS is at $627M int'l: UK ($116M) GER ($66M) FRA ($56M) OZ ($42M) JPN ($37M) ESP ($22M) MEX ($21M) ITA ($21M)

@BoxOffice With an estimated $37.7M overseas on Tuesday, STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS has grossed $627.4M overseas / $1.228B globally. #TheForceAwakens*

I meant to mention that the current UK box office champ is Skyfall with £102.9m (about $152.5m at today's exchange rate). So $116m is very nice going so far. Hopefully it can clear Skyfall by a distance.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

How much did Spectre make in the U.K?

 

[Iceman]

Just over $138m (£93m at today's ER)

 

[Iceman]

If you have to include everything now, I'd rank the franchises:

1. Star Wars
2. MCU
3. Indiana Jones
4. Harry Potter
5. LOTR/Hobbit

Indiana Jones is a bit like LotR in that it doesn't have a bad film in it. Plus 2 all time greats. Harry Potter is very consistent. Star Wars and LotR are hamstrung by their sequel trilogies (although it looks like SW is going to give us a huge fix for that problem in the next decade) while the MCU is for the most part made up of lots of good films, not great ones. We'll see how Avengers holds up but nothing else, even the likes of the first Iron Man, TWS and GotG (my faves) are anywhere close to an Empire Strikes Back or Raiders of the Lost Ark.

For all of the above, the great films plus all the films being in an appealing well-created universe elevates the whole franchise and makes watching the weaker films more fun. I can't imagine watching The Phantom Menace if it was a one off film with no history/future or link to the Star Wars universe!

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

Just over $138m (£93m at today's ER)

So still a huge success but didn't quite sell as many tickets as Skyfall. Understandable really.

 

[InCali]

I didn't even see the Hobbit Trilogy in the theaters. I waited for Netflix.

With all due respect to my friend Ice t:, you didn't miss much. First PJ totally made up an Elven character that never existed and then he had her and a dwarf falling in love. AND.......I won't even go into the overlong....oh never mind.

 

[Iceman]

So still a huge success but didn't quite sell as many tickets as Skyfall. Understandable really.

Yeah after seeing it, that's kind of how I thought it would do.

 

[Iceman]

With all due respect to my friend Ice t:, you didn't miss much. First PJ totally made up an Elven character that never existed and then he had her and a dwarf falling in love. AND.......I won't even go into the overlong....oh never mind.

I don't defend the Hobbit films but I can definitely enjoy them a lot. They are nothing on LotR but with the dearth of my type of fantasy in cinema and with them taking place in the same universe, I'm happy to rewatch them along with LotR as part of the marathon. I watch the prequels too in my SW marathon. I like the lore being expanded and there are positive new elements even to the ****test of the films lol.