The Official Start/Release Date & Location Thread

[Excel]

We all know the reaosn RETURNS failed was due to poor release date, well, most of us and I was checking a 2009 calendar...and I do believe I found the perfect date.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18TH, 2009.

w.b. CLAIM. IT. NOW!

1. It jives with reports Singer cant get it ready for summer 2009...so push it back to Holidays.

2. Superman 2 will NEED the box office legs (holidays give it and summer wont) to be a success.

3. Set up is PERFECT! Christmas day is its 2nd Friday, which would mean huge 2nd weekend in addition to big holiday weekdays and a big "frontloaded" opening weekend...then new years day is the following friday, thus ensuring another huge weekend and huge set of weekdays before!

it is, literally, pefect!

 

[nightcrawler29]

ya but have they even started filming yet

 

[Excel]

no...thats why i picked one thats 2 1/2 years away.

 

[nightcrawler29]

ya but for it to be good its gonna need alot of time in post production

 

[Mr. Socko]

I doubt think they'd release it in the winter, and I just dun see the them makin' a Summer '09 release either. Now I'll say Summer '10.

 

[Mr. Socko]

edit dp

 

[Mr. Socko]

omg stupid triple post. damn cpu

 

[nightcrawler29]

(deleted)

 

[nightcrawler29]

When do they plan on starting filming

 

[superbaby]

We all know the reaosn RETURNS failed was due to poor release date, well, most of us and I was checking a 2009 calendar...and I do believe I found the perfect date.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18TH, 2009.

w.b. CLAIM. IT. NOW!

1. It jives with reports Singer cant get it ready for summer 2009...so push it back to Holidays.

2. Superman 2 will NEED the box office legs (holidays give it and summer wont) to be a success.

3. Set up is PERFECT! Christmas day is its 2nd Friday, which would mean huge 2nd weekend in addition to big holiday weekdays and a big "frontloaded" opening weekend...then new years day is the following friday, thus ensuring another huge weekend and huge set of weekdays before!

it is, literally, pefect!

you blamed on the release date for SR's disappointment performance???
if WB is like you, never really look into the real problems of SR, the sequal will sure be a huge failure.

 

[Rob-el]

So I guess all WB had to do was take another date and SR would have doen better BO? Why? I know Pirates did great BO but look at this year. Three movies have already made over $300 million (Spidey 3, Shrek 3 and Pirates 3)with at least one (Transformers) and possibly a fith (Potter) joing the $300 million club. All released with a couple of months of each other. Bottom line is if you build it they will come - in swarms to multiple movies - if the public wants to see it. The release date was not the problem with SR. Let's face facts and learn from this and stop making excuses for the limited Box Office it did.

 

[Excel]

^dude, supes vs. pirates 2 was nothing like those. Its not if you build it they come.

The 3 flicks that made 300 million were all the 2nd sequels of huge franchises; superman wasn't even a sequel; let alone to a huge franchise. Put Transformers in Shreks spot, and it doesnt top 225 million.

Plus...none of them made close to what pirates made (430 million)....

 

[Rob-el]

^dude, supes vs. pirates 2 was nothing like those. Its not if you build it they come.

The 3 flicks that made 300 million were all the 2nd sequels of huge franchises; superman wasn't even a sequel; let alone to a huge franchise. Put Transformers in Shreks spot, and it doesnt top 225 million.

Plus...none of them made close to what pirates made (430 million)....

Spider-man, Shrek and Pirates are all down from what the second in each in their series made but are still huge hits at over $300 million. The point is there is enough $$$ out there to allow for multiple smashes ($300 million +) regardless of release dates. I can't prove you're wrong about Transformers simply because the facts are what we do know so you could present any alternate series of events to support your idea and I can't disprove it - the facts do support my contention though - there is enough Box Office $$$ out there and the public will give it over if they like your movie. In 2003 Spider-man (first in a series) netted $400 million plus while two weeks alter Star Wars:AOTC ( a dull movie by most accounts) netted $300 million plus. Both did well with release dates within two weeks of each other.

Let's also not forget this is Superman. This is a character that does have a lot of good will built up with the general public and is a very recognizable commoditity. SR had a relatively weak opening to begin with ($ 52 Million) to place it 53rd overall for best opening...

http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/weekends/

The date it opened had nothing to do with its lack of pull in the theaters - it didn't do well on the weekend when it was the big game in town and went downhill from there.

I thought it was good (with major concerns) and I'm not out to slam SInger or the movie. I am hoping though that the lessons of the movie are learned and not swept under the rug under the lame guise of a poor release date. Great B.O performers make their release dates look smart - poor performers look for excuses - its that simple.

 

[Superfreak]

We all know the reaosn RETURNS failed was due to poor release date, well, most of us and I was checking a 2009 calendar...and I do believe I found the perfect date.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18TH, 2009.

w.b. CLAIM. IT. NOW!

1. It jives with reports Singer cant get it ready for summer 2009...so push it back to Holidays.

2. Superman 2 will NEED the box office legs (holidays give it and summer wont) to be a success.

3. Set up is PERFECT! Christmas day is its 2nd Friday, which would mean huge 2nd weekend in addition to big holiday weekdays and a big "frontloaded" opening weekend...then new years day is the following friday, thus ensuring another huge weekend and huge set of weekdays before!

it is, literally, pefect!

too close to christmas... I would personally push it forward to late november. And here's a question: do movies ever open on friday's anymore? I thought the norm now was for movies to open on tuesdays or wednesdays to make their opening 'weekends' that much more successful looking?

 

[TheComicbookKid]

It's a little bit early for this thread, at least let the movie be greenlit before we start talking release dates.

Second, I love that scene from BattleStar, too cool!!!!!

 

[Mattchew]

man... there's actually been, so some degree, level-headed debate in this thread. if only we could get that going in other threads around here.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

We all know the reaosn RETURNS failed was due to poor release date, well, most of us and I was checking a 2009 calendar...and I do believe I found the perfect date.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18TH, 2009.

w.b. CLAIM. IT. NOW!

1. It jives with reports Singer cant get it ready for summer 2009...so push it back to Holidays.

2. Superman 2 will NEED the box office legs (holidays give it and summer wont) to be a success.

3. Set up is PERFECT! Christmas day is its 2nd Friday, which would mean huge 2nd weekend in addition to big holiday weekdays and a big "frontloaded" opening weekend...then new years day is the following friday, thus ensuring another huge weekend and huge set of weekdays before!

it is, literally, pefect!

I believe that to be an untrue statment made up by fanboys who like to ignore the fact that the movie "failed" because it featured nothing new or exciting.

 

[Excel]

I believe that to be an untrue statment made up by fanboys who like to ignore the fact that the movie "failed" because it featured nothing new or exciting.

Its a lot easier to say that...but had RETURNS had a better release date, it still coulda hit 500 million worldwide. The film itself was capible of a lot more than it did.

Sure, if theyd made it like Titanic, it coulda done 1 billiob +

It aint that simple. Your looking for the reason that impacted RETURNS box office gross the mostand it was the release date. Any film would have dropped as much against that competition.

 

[Excel]

Spider-man, Shrek and Pirates are all down from what the second in each in their series made but are still huge hits at over $300 million. The point is there is enough $$$ out there to allow for multiple smashes ($300 million +) regardless of release dates. I can't prove you're wrong about Transformers simply because the facts are what we do know so you could present any alternate series of events to support your idea and I can't disprove it - the facts do support my contention though - there is enough Box Office $$$ out there and the public will give it over if they like your movie. In 2003 Spider-man (first in a series) netted $400 million plus while two weeks alter Star Wars:AOTC ( a dull movie by most accounts) netted $300 million plus. Both did well with release dates within two weeks of each other.

Let's also not forget this is Superman. This is a character that does have a lot of good will built up with the general public and is a very recognizable commoditity. SR had a relatively weak opening to begin with ($ 52 Million) to place it 53rd overall for best opening...

http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/weekends/

The date it opened had nothing to do with its lack of pull in the theaters - it didn't do well on the weekend when it was the big game in town and went downhill from there.

I thought it was good (with major concerns) and I'm not out to slam SInger or the movie. I am hoping though that the lessons of the movie are learned and not swept under the rug under the lame guise of a poor release date. Great B.O performers make their release dates look smart - poor performers look for excuses - its that simple.

It opened fine...it wasnt a major breakout blockbuster, but it was not a dissappointment. Its opening week, at the time, was the 5th highest ever for a non sequel behind only Spiderman, Passion of Christ, Wotw, and Harry Potter 1.

It was looking good for 250 million until it dropped 60% because Pirates 2 took away virtually all of supes kiddie/action wanting/ roamnce loving audiences.

 

[matthooper]

It opened fine...it was a major breakout blockbuster, but it was not a dissappointment. Its opening week, at the time, was the 5th highest ever for a non sequel behind only Spiderman, Passion of Christ, Wotw, and Harry Potter 1.

It was looking good for 250 million until it dropped 60% because Pirates 2 took away virtually all of supes kiddie/action wanting/ roamnce loving audiences.

Are you joking? You can argue the level of box office dissapointment, but you can't argue that it was a dissapointment. Even the studio head admitted it was a dissapointment. The projections were $300 million domestic.

Stop deluding yourself. If you liked the movie that's great, but it has nothing to do with the box office failings. A week before it came out, if I told you that SR would make $200 million domestic, you'd say I was crazy. No one on earth thought SR would make just $200 million domestic.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

Its a lot easier to say that...but had RETURNS had a better release date, it still coulda hit 500 million worldwide. The film itself was capible of a lot more than it did.

Sure, if theyd made it like Titanic, it coulda done 1 billiob +

It aint that simple. Your looking for the reason that impacted RETURNS box office gross the mostand it was the release date. Any film would have dropped as much against that competition.

You don't understand, I don't think the movie was a misuderstood smart masterpiece. I think that it suffered from poor characterzations and just plain bad storytelling and overall rehashed boredom.

I believe if we would have gotten the updated but still the same Superman with the directors vision and a supervillain thrown in the movie would have been a big hit POTC2 or no. If last summer had two 300million dollar movies and more 200million dollars movies I would be with you but it didn't. It's looking like five movies are going to gross 300mil this summer. If Superman was done right it would have opened much better and despite Pirates 2 would have made alot more because it's Superman! But people weren't fooled and WB didn't try to fool them, there was very little new about the film.

 

[Rob-el]

It opened fine...it was a major breakout blockbuster, but it was not a dissappointment. Its opening week, at the time, was the 5th highest ever for a non sequel behind only Spiderman, Passion of Christ, Wotw, and Harry Potter 1.

It was looking good for 250 million until it dropped 60% because Pirates 2 took away virtually all of supes kiddie/action wanting/ roamnce loving audiences.

It opened fine?

OPENING WEEKENDS


$50+ M - $40-50M - $30-40M - $25-30M - $20-25M

Rank Title (click to view) Studio Opening* % of Total Theaters Average Total Gross^ Date**
1 Spider-Man 3 Sony $151,116,516 45.0% 4,252 $35,540 $335,625,539 5/04/2007
2 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest BV $135,634,554 32.0% 4,133 $32,817 $423,315,812 7/07/2006
3 Shrek the Third P/DW $121,629,270 38.1% 4,122 $29,507 $319,077,033 5/18/2007
4 Spider-Man Sony $114,844,116 28.4% 3,615 $31,768 $403,706,375 5/03/2002
5 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End BV $114,732,820 37.5% 4,362 $26,302 $306,263,273 5/25/2007
6 Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith Fox $108,435,841 28.5% 3,661 $29,619 $380,270,577 5/19/2005
7 Shrek 2 DW $108,037,878 24.5% 4,163 $25,951 $441,226,247 5/19/2004
8 X-Men: The Last Stand Fox $102,750,665 43.8% 3,690 $27,845 $234,362,462 5/26/2006
9 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire WB $102,685,961 35.4% 3,858 $26,616 $290,013,036 11/18/2005
10 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban WB $93,687,367 37.5% 3,855 $24,302 $249,541,069 6/04/2004
11 The Matrix Reloaded WB $91,774,413 32.6% 3,603 $25,471 $281,576,461 5/15/2003
12 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone WB $90,294,621 28.4% 3,672 $24,590 $317,575,550 11/16/2001
13 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets WB $88,357,488 33.7% 3,682 $23,997 $261,988,482 11/15/2002
14 Spider-Man 2 Sony $88,156,227 23.6% 4,152 $21,232 $373,585,825 6/30/2004
15 X2: X-Men United Fox $85,558,731 39.8% 3,741 $22,870 $214,949,694 5/02/2003
16 The Passion of the Christ NM $83,848,082 22.6% 3,043 $27,554 $370,274,604 2/25/2004
17 Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones Fox $80,027,814 26.5% 3,161 $25,317 $302,191,252 5/16/2002
18 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix WB $77,108,414 35.5% 4,285 $17,994 $217,083,411 7/11/2007
19 The Da Vinci Code Sony $77,073,388 35.4% 3,735 $20,635 $217,536,138 5/19/2006
20 Austin Powers in Goldmember NL $73,071,188 34.3% 3,613 $20,224 $213,307,889 7/26/2002
21 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King NL $72,629,713 19.3% 3,703 $19,613 $377,027,325 12/17/2003
22 The Lost World: Jurassic Park Uni. $72,132,785 31.5% 3,281 $21,985 $229,086,679 5/23/1997
23 300 WB $70,885,301 33.7% 3,103 $22,844 $210,614,939 3/09/2007
24 Transformers P/DW $70,502,384 26.3% 4,011 $17,577 $268,416,682 7/03/2007
25 The Incredibles BV $70,467,623 27.0% 3,933 $17,917 $261,441,092 11/05/2004
26 Finding Nemo BV $70,251,710 20.7% 3,374 $20,821 $339,714,978 5/30/2003
27 The Day After Tomorrow Fox $68,743,584 36.8% 3,425 $20,071 $186,740,799 5/28/2004
28 Planet of the Apes Fox $68,532,960 38.1% 3,500 $19,580 $180,011,740 7/27/2001
29 The Mummy Returns Uni. $68,139,035 33.7% 3,401 $20,035 $202,019,785 5/04/2001
30 Ice Age: The Meltdown Fox $68,033,544 34.8% 3,964 $17,162 $195,330,621 3/31/2006
31 Bruce Almighty Uni. $67,953,330 28.0% 3,483 $19,510 $242,829,261 5/23/2003
32 Rush Hour 2 NL $67,408,222 29.8% 3,118 $21,619 $226,164,286 8/03/2001
33 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe BV $65,556,312 22.5% 3,616 $18,129 $291,710,957 12/09/2005
34 War of the Worlds Par. $64,878,725 27.7% 3,908 $16,601 $234,280,354 6/29/2005
35 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace Fox $64,820,970 15.0% 2,970 $21,825 $431,088,301 5/19/1999
36 Monsters, Inc. BV $62,577,067 24.5% 3,237 $19,331 $255,873,250 11/02/2001
37 Hulk Uni. $62,128,420 47.0% 3,660 $16,974 $132,177,234 6/20/2003
38 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers NL $62,007,528 18.2% 3,622 $17,119 $339,789,881 12/18/2002
39 Cars BV $60,119,509 24.6% 3,985 $15,086 $244,082,982 6/09/2006
40 Signs BV $60,117,080 26.4% 3,264 $18,418 $227,966,634 8/02/2002
41 Pearl Harbor BV $59,078,912 29.8% 3,214 $18,381 $198,542,554 5/25/2001
42 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Fox $58,051,684 45.0% 3,959 $14,663 $129,086,752 6/15/2007
43 Hannibal MGM $58,003,121 35.1% 3,230 $17,957 $165,092,268 2/09/2001
44 Mission: Impossible II Par. $57,845,297 26.9% 3,653 $15,835 $215,409,889 5/24/2000
45 Toy Story 2 BV $57,388,839 23.3% 3,236 $17,734 $245,852,179 11/24/1999
46 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory WB $56,178,450 27.2% 3,770 $14,901 $206,459,076 7/15/2005
47 Fantastic Four Fox $56,061,504 36.2% 3,602 $15,563 $154,696,080 7/08/2005
48 How the Grinch Stole Christmas Uni. $55,082,330 21.2% 3,127 $17,615 $260,044,825 11/17/2000
49 Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me NL $54,917,604 26.7% 3,312 $16,581 $206,040,086 6/11/1999
50 X-Men Fox $54,471,475 34.6% 3,025 $18,007 $157,299,717 7/14/2000
51 Scooby-Doo WB $54,155,312 35.3% 3,447 $15,710 $153,294,164 6/14/2002
52 Batman Forever WB $52,784,433 28.7% 2,842 $18,572 $184,031,112 6/16/1995
53 Superman Returns WB $52,535,096 26.3% 4,065 $12,923 $200,081,192 6/28/2006

...I don't agree. Look at the average/thater numbers - $12,923 - not strong numbers. (Scoobey Doo @ $15,710!) Again I say I'm not slamming the movie or Singer but we need to get our heads out of the sand, give them a good shake and asks some serious questions here!

 

[Qwerty©]

Let's not turn this into another stupid box office thread.

 

[matthooper]

Let's not turn this into another stupid box office thread.

It really can't turn into that because there is no discussion. It's fact. It was a dissapointment, there is no rational argument that it wasn't. When the studio head admits it, you really can't look any further.

The passion comes from people who love the film (which is fine) who simply refuse to accept that the numbers were dissapointing. Regardless of release dates, when Rush Hour 3, Signs, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Meet The Fockers, and a host of other crappy films make more that Superman, something is seriously wrong.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

So I guess all WB had to do was take another date and SR would have doen better BO? Why? I know Pirates did great BO but look at this year. Three movies have already made over $300 million (Spidey 3, Shrek 3 and Pirates 3)with at least one (Transformers) and possibly a fith (Potter) joing the $300 million club. All released with a couple of months of each other. Bottom line is if you build it they will come - in swarms to multiple movies - if the public wants to see it. The release date was not the problem with SR. Let's face facts and learn from this and stop making excuses for the limited Box Office it did.

Dude, FOUR of those were sequels to already immensely successful franchises, SR was the first in a new franchise, it simply couldnt compete with those four no matter what. Transformers i'll give you, but i knew that would successful.