this general trend of part 1 & 2 of films

[kedrell]

On another note: I dont think Avengers and Justice League being divided really counts since they arent basing it on one single piece source material, at least from what Ive heard.

Yep, with those it's more of a marketing strategy. They could call those films anything they wanted otherwise. They aren't trying to stretch a finite amount of content like a last book of a series.

 

[jmc]

They need to stop this trend. I think it will end with Divergent though...but now by me saying that I bet they'll split the last 50 Shades of Grey book into 2 parts

I do think HP suffered from the split. I thought Pt 1 was great and part II was just one long battle and wasnt that interesting to me really. If they were gonna split it I feel like they shouldve done it at a different part.
I didnt read the Hobbit books, but I didnt like the first Hobbit movie at all. I felt like nothing happened and I was just bored. Im assuming thats because of the split and not because nothing happens in The Hobbit story. Ive been meaning to watch the 2nd part.

On another note: I dont think Avengers and Justice League being divided really counts since they arent basing it on one single piece source material, at least from what Ive heard.

We could also start seeing a trend wearby the original authors stipulate in negotiations that you can't split the books up into multiple films unless they approve of it. Personally, if I'd had written a singular piece I'd have to be convinced there's merit in splitting it in two films.

 

[MadVillainy]

i dont know how much powers these authors have with their movie deals. I'd be surprised if an author really ended up with that power where they can make demands like that.
Hell, I dont imagine many of these directors, have that much power when it comes to splitting these movies up.

It seems more of a front office/suits type thing where those involved have to just roll with it.

 

[kedrell]

Even THG3 droppng a staggering $100m DOM between films(which is looking possible) ultimately won't be enough to dissuade studios6y from doing this because they still end up making so much more overall. Splitting this last book in 2 probably will end up making an extra half billion $ for the studio. They aren't going to say no to that simply out of integrity. They have a responsibility to their stockholders or whoever is paying the bills and without another big Y/A franchise to depend on they'll hold onto THG like grim death. In order for them to stop this they need to take a serious hit. Like THG4 bombing due to backlash. I'm talking Green Lantern level bombing.

 

[jmc]

i dont know how much powers these authors have with their movie deals. I'd be surprised if an author really ended up with that power where they can make demands like that.
Hell, I dont imagine many of these directors, have that much power when it comes to splitting these movies up.

It seems more of a front office/suits type thing where those involved have to just roll with it.

I think the thing is it's never been an issue for authors to consider until now when signing over the rights. If you sign an agreement for your work to be translated into film the contract is probably written in a way whereby it doesn't say you can't take one story and split it in 2 films, and until recently it probably wasn't even something authors would have worried about. I know if I was an author who wrote a trilogy I'd want it preserved as a trilogy on film.

 

[mclay18]

The reduced grosses of Mockingjay: Part 1 shows that people are getting tired over the 'split the final book into 2 films' strategy. It's still going to make a TON of money for Lionsgate though.

 

[kedrell]

That's the point. Lionsgate knew they could get away with it.

 

[mclay18]

Don't know if they can do the same for Divergent, especially since it's not the juggernaut THG was right off the bat. If Insurgent gets a big bump, maybe they'll keep Allegiant as a 2-parter.

As for Mockingjay Part 1, the Rotten Tomatoes score is still fresh, same creative personnel and goodwill riding from the first two installments. Yet the studio decision to make two movies is a breaking point for some people, who'll skip Part 1 in theaters in favor of Part 2. Had Lionsgate opted to do a trilogy, the o.w. record for Mockingjay would've eclipsed Catching Fire.

 

[mclay18]

The weekend estimates for Mockingjay Part 1 is $123M domestic. That's less tickets sold, even with inflation, than Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 in the same weekend back in 2010.

 

[Lord]

You can't realy compare Harry Potter with Hunger Games though, Harry Potter is still the biggest film franchise around, and probably the biggest film series through the 2000s, Hunter Games is successful, but not that big.

 

[mclay18]

Regardless, THG has demonstrated amazing staying power with its first two entries -- $152M and $158M opening weekends. (Save for the final HP film, the six other films didn't open that high even with inflation.) The fact that Mockingjay Part 1 failed to equal, let alone top them, shows that audiences are getting soured on the two-part finale gimmick.

Had Mockingjay been a single film, this wouldn't be an issue. It would've opened with over $150M easily, even break Catching Fire's record.

 

[jmc]

It's this strange situation with Mockingjay whereby it's not running off the back of a successful original film nor is it the finale to an epic series. It's this weird thing in between. There's a reason trilogies work.

 

[MadVillainy]

The thing Im worried about in terms of Mockingjay is that there is not much left to adapt in the 2nd part.
-There are some nice character moments, particularly between Katniss and Joanna
-Then theres the "final raid/battle" which could be done in like 45 mins before taking too long.

Im afraid/certain that it'll be like the Deathly Hollows thing where the last movie is just an extended action sequence

 

[mclay18]

I wouldn't be surprised if Mockingjay: Part 2 runs less than 2 hours, credits included. Even the two-part Twilight finale couldn't quite crack 2 hours apiece.

 

[kedrell]

I'd love for it to pull a Matrix Revolutions and make less than half of what it's immediate predecessor made.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

You can't realy compare Harry Potter with Hunger Games though, Harry Potter is still the biggest film franchise around, and probably the biggest film series through the 2000s, Hunter Games is successful, but not that big.

yes but it was telling a finite story. and it had 7 installments, lots of time to tell the damn story. and the hunger games films have been seeing the opposite of diminishing marginal returns. each film did better, if i'm not mistaken.

 

[Laderlappen]

It's this strange situation with Mockingjay whereby it's not running off the back of a successful original film nor is it the finale to an epic series. It's this weird thing in between. There's a reason trilogies work.

Yeah thats the thing. I would have been really excited about seeing the finale. But this is just a second middle film to me.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

Yep, with those it's more of a marketing strategy. They could call those films anything they wanted otherwise. They aren't trying to stretch a finite amount of content like a last book of a series.

even if that's the case, the fact that they're splitting up their story into 2 parts makes me think it is still part of the trend that the deathly hallows started. i'm not sure we would be seeing this trend at all had it not been for harry potter.

 

[jmc]

Potter probably had some justification for it, but even that is open for debate. There hasn't been a single two-part split in recent years that has actually done the story it's based off justice. I said this in the Hunger Games thread if studios want to further increase their profits they may want to considered reediting the two-part films as a single entity for release either on DVD/Bluray/Digital or as a short run theatre release in addition to releasing the split films.

 

[kedrell]

I think there's a significant difference between just calling 2 films part 1 and part 2 and the trend of splitting the last book in a series into 2 films when the rest were all 1 film per book. Otherwise Kill Bill was doing it well before HP ever did it.

 

[MadVillainy]

What is the next potential big YA film franchise? I wanna see if that will get divided in half.

I know Divergent is already getting divided. The Maze Runner (pretty underrated, imo better than the first Hunger Games movie) director said that they won't divide the last movie. Or at least he says that now. I'll be surprised if they divide it because it's not as big as the Harry Potter, Divergent or Hunger Games series

I know it's not a YA franchise by any stretch, but I wonder if they will divide the last book of the 50 Shades of Grey series in half

 

[terry78]

Infinity War is probably one of the few I get behind because anyone that's read the books knows how much of a saga that ****ing story is. You're pretty much getting every single character that may have been intro-ed in the MCU in on these.

 

[Lord]

The thing is, they're not realy adapting that arc, hell, i doubt it would even work since it didn't realy have the best writing around. It'll most likely have more in common with Infinity Gauntlet or Infinity, Infinity war itself wasn't even centered around thanos as the main villain from what i remember.

 

[MadVillainy]

I said it earlier in the thread, Avengers and Justice League being split in two should not be considered the same as The Hobbit, Hunger Games, etc. being split into unless theyre directly adapting a direct comic story.

 

[kedrell]

What is the next potential big YA film franchise? I wanna see if that will get divided in half.

I know Divergent is already getting divided. The Maze Runner (pretty underrated, imo better than the first Hunger Games movie) director said that they won't divide the last movie. Or at least he says that now. I'll be surprised if they divide it because it's not as big as the Harry Potter, Divergent or Hunger Games series

I know it's not a YA franchise by any stretch, but I wonder if they will divide the last book of the 50 Shades of Grey series in half

MR actually is bigger than Divergent WW by like $50m. It also cost less than 1/2 of Divergent.