Apocalypse X-Men: Apocalypse Box Office Prediction Thread

[Altie]

That was violence. I'm not talking about violence. For whatever reason, that's okay in a movie (lol) as long as not gratuitous, graphic or bloody. The pencil-in-the-eye in TDK got huge laughs at one screening I went to, we didn't see anything graphic... Wolverine's hacking and slashing is also acceptable because it's mostly bloodless and is seen as 'cartoon violence.'

But in my view other dark topics (like drug abuse and profanities) have to be sensitively handled. There isn't any need for swearing in the X-Men (unless it's done as a well-timed comedic quip like the Wolverine f-bomb in First Class). In a film series that isn't performing as highly as TDK or the Marvel films, then you have to eliminate anything that might put off a potential audience. It has to be remembered that lots of kids go to see comic book movies. Deadpool is perhaps a special case as you couldn't really do it justice without a higher rating.

I'll never understand how, in the US, swearing is considered more serious for young kids than violence, and as serious as drug abuse.
I went to watch DoFP with my (then) 10-year old, and clearly I would have wanted to be warned about the close-up when Charles is getting his fix. But I culdn't care less about the swearing, seriously.

 

[Mystique's Leg]

But in my view other dark topics (like drug abuse and profanities) have to be sensitively handled. There isn't any need for swearing in the X-Men (unless it's done as a well-timed comedic quip like the Wolverine f-bomb in First Class). In a film series that isn't performing as highly as TDK or the Marvel films, then you have to eliminate anything that might put off a potential audience. It has to be remembered that lots of kids go to see comic book movies. Deadpool is perhaps a special case as you couldn't really do it justice without a higher rating.

I think the drugs abuse of Charles was perfectly handled and it fits the story arc of Charles. The overall message/theme of the X-Men movies could be quite interesting for a younger public and it doesn't dumb down its audience. It's what I like about these movies. They're blockbusters, but they're more substantial than other comicbook movies. It's probably also the reason why I don't see an X-Men movie reaching a billion dollars.

I don't see why professor X using those shots or swear words sprinkled throughout the franchise are wrong. Young Charles using the F-word was actually a powerful, a little bit funny and well-acted scene by McAvoy. And I'd rather not have them compromise and censor things, because of 'not so great box office performances' or because of 'the children'. A good story/script/performance should always come first.

The MCU has its merits, but often I don't like its humor. It can be quite saltless (like that 'Language!' joke in Age of Ultron).

 

[def28]

That point is no longer valid since we saw TDK and TDKR grossing over a billion at the BO and those films were as dark if not darker than the X-men flicks. That sort of stuff is no different than the neck snap in MoS, or the suicide bombers in IM3, or Klaw losing his hand in AoU. I have no idea why some people think its the reason these Xmen films don't make that much money. They're not even R-rated.

I agree the dark nature (or violence) aint the reason. The themes and tones in Nolans Batman feel just as if not more dark, people will still show up.

The main reason the X-Men films have not grossed as high is because of the drop of quality when X3 hit and some meh advertising imo. Anytime a series has two not so well received films (X3, XMOW) it obviously hurts the box office and the series rep. This happened with Batman and Spider-Man as well. I also think with X-Men its because of the lack of supporting the more fantastical ideas that the series was known for until recently. The animated series still has an extremely stonrg impression on peolpe especially the 80s/90s kids. They didn't have alot of things people wanted to see for quite some time and failed to focus on a majority of their top sellers. And after so many films it hit a bit of over redundancy. First Class started to change a few of these things imo (mainly no Wolverine focus), but X-Men films have never stopped so they need to make sure they keep things fresh from now on.

I like their slate next year and it really plays on the 90s gen which I think is smart. Deadpool, Apocalypse and Gambit are all pretty well known within the casual X-Men fan and have been in demand. More so then Prof X, Wolverine and Magento. Who have had plenty of time in the series being in 5-7 films in less then 20 years. So hopefully they all can put out on why fans liked them growing up and market them well. The Deadpool marketing has been fantastic so far. It's what that audience wants from the character, and feels new. Hope to see them handle Apocalypse and Gambit as well too.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

I think the nail has been hit on the head regarding the fantasy aspect. Singer has toned it down, it's there but it is presented in a more grounded way. The costuming being so muted doesn't help matters either. Singer's films have a decent amount of humor so that's not an issue but the fantasy has been grounded. Batman doesn't have superpowers so he can make a billion when his movie has such a tone but the X-Men? I doubt it. I'll admit if I'm wrong next year but I don't think I will be.

 

[def28]

Yeah, and even with Batman people were starting to get a little anxious to see some of the more fantasy/horror aspects of villains that couldn't be allowed in the Nolan films.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

Yeah, and even with Batman people were starting to get a little anxious to see some of the more fantasy/horror aspects of villains that couldn't be allowed in the Nolan films.

True, true.

 

[psylockolussus]

The X-Men movies aren't just marketed as family films and they also dont rely much on action and vfx in selling the films.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

You're acting as if the Billion number was such an easy one to reach and all it took was quality. X-Men has needed 3 good X-Men films back-to-back in order to get to the 700 million number, it's not a small one at all, considering how much the past films in the franchise had made. In order to keep improving at the box office you'll need more films of the quality of First Class and Days of Future Past.

Also, what do you mean with X-Men not being a rising brand? Days of Future Past's grossing improved a lot, and The Wolverine wasn't arguably one of the best X-Men films, it was liked but far from being put on the same level as X-2, First Class or DoFP. As long as they keep delivering this quality, the franchise has high chances of keeping rising, in least that's what happened with DoFP's success, it came after 2 well liked X-Men films and had a lot of publicity, as well as a very positive critical reception.

I do not think announcing so many X-Men spin-offs was a good idea and if they're weak films, they can easily hurt the brand, but i'm not sure Apocalypse will suffer from that, if it suffers when it comes to how much money it makes, it will be due to negative word of mouth, otherwise, it has the potential to pull big numbers.

A Billion is an exageration, not every franchise needs to reach that number, before Jurassic World and Furious 7 came out, many didn't even think those franchises would be able to reach a number like that.

The major hitters don't make a billion anymore. They make well over a billion. DoFP grossed similar number to two Marvel solo flicks. And it did so without putting much of a dent in the domestic box office. That $800m would be a "big win" kind of tells the story.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Not being comic accurate or larger than life didn't stop the last two Nolan batman films from grossing a billion.

Different time. Different Bat channel. But I would say that Nolan's Batman shares more with the source material then Singer's X-Men.

Well, Singer is at least promising Snyder/MOS levels of destruction for this film.

I think that going from First Class to Dofp and expecting Avengers level numbers would be a mistake. As much as people like to bash Iron Man 2, the Iron Man films really set up Avengers for success. And I think AoU shows, that the first Avengers was just as much novelty as it was quality. I really think X-men is still in a rebuilding phase. Dofp did a lot of work in rebuilding the brand. I don't think a billion is that likely, though breaking $300 million domestic would show healthy growth, imo.

Now, I'm not so sure Singer is bad at action, so much as he doesn't make action oriented films. We do know he is capable of doing action. Nightcrawler in the white house still holds up as one of the best action scenes in superhero movies. And Dofp shows that he has promise in that area.

I love the Nightcrawler scene, but that is the only one he really nailed imo. The Wolverine and First Class had better, more creative scenes then the rest of Singer's work imo.

I agree a higher domestic growth would be a good sign. Much better then adding the same amount internationally. But at what point is it not rebuilding? After all X-Men has never been up there.

I think the nail has been hit on the head regarding the fantasy aspect. Singer has toned it down, it's there but it is presented in a more grounded way. The costuming being so muted doesn't help matters either. Singer's films have a decent amount of humor so that's not an issue but the fantasy has been grounded. Batman doesn't have superpowers so he can make a billion when his movie has such a tone but the X-Men? I doubt it. I'll admit if I'm wrong next year but I don't think I will be.

The thing about the X-Men is that they just come off as normal people. They aren't these crazy superhumans, not with Singer. Heck look at the new Batman. The ultimate techo-ninja. He believes in prep time. The BvS trailer shows a trio of Gods about to do battle.

 

[Snow Queen]

Around DOFP's $750 million. I don't think X-Men, for whatever reason, has the big hook for the audience like most superhero films unfortunately. They're reliable quality wise, apart from two, but I'm not sure they'll ever be the billion dollar film series.

 

[Sithborg]

I love the Nightcrawler scene, but that is the only one he really nailed imo. The Wolverine and First Class had better, more creative scenes then the rest of Singer's work imo.

I agree a higher domestic growth would be a good sign. Much better then adding the same amount internationally. But at what point is it not rebuilding? After all X-Men has never been up there.

I disagree. The new mutant stuff in the future was great. Especially the various combos with Blink. Granted, First Class was a bit stronger in how to show a team fighting another team. But, I think Singer can do it.

I do think the rebuilding phase is over. Now it is about growth. We will see if Deadpool and Apocalypse have the power to grow the brand with the general audience. I'm hesitant to call for a billion, just because it is still very rare, and difficult to get there (despite what this year may end up proving).

 

[Snow Queen]

I think the opening action sequence from DOFP was the most impressive of them.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I disagree. The new mutant stuff in the future was great. Especially the various combos with Blink. Granted, First Class was a bit stronger in how to show a team fighting another team. But, I think Singer can do it.

I do think the rebuilding phase is over. Now it is about growth. We will see if Deadpool and Apocalypse have the power to grow the brand with the general audience. I'm hesitant to call for a billion, just because it is still very rare, and difficult to get there (despite what this year may end up proving).

I like Blink, but everyone else moves like molasses, and aren't all that inventive. And the thing is, we now have two Avengers films and GotG to compare it to. So the super powered team dynamic has been shown, and to much better result.s

I think the opening action sequence from DOFP was the most impressive of them.

Do you mean in DoFP, or overall? Because for me, the best action scenes in X-Men are the White House attack, Wolverine/Yukio vs. Shingen, Charles/Erik vs. Shaw, DoFP opening, and Shaw's attack.

 

[Snow Queen]

Do you mean in DoFP, or overall? Because for me, the best action scenes in X-Men are the White House attack, Wolverine/Yukio vs. Shingen, Charles/Erik vs. Shaw, and Shaw's attack.

Overall as far as the X-Men series itself goes. Wolverine and Yukio vs Shingen though if we're counting the Wolverine spin offs, that was a thing of beauty.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Different time. Different Bat channel. But I would say that Nolan's Batman shares more with the source material then Singer's X-Men.

Were they larger than life though?

 

[Superhero 101]

I think the opening action sequence from DOFP was the most impressive of them.

No Nightcrawler attack on the White house in X2 is still one of the best opening sequences in a comic book film

 

[BlackFox]

Overall as far as the X-Men series itself goes. Wolverine and Yukio vs Shingen though if we're counting the Wolverine spin offs, that was a thing of beauty.

I'm hoping Psylocke can get at least one scene approaching that scenes level of intensity and sword play.

 

[psylockolussus]

Around DOFP's $750 million. I don't think X-Men, for whatever reason, has the big hook for the audience like most superhero films unfortunately. They're reliable quality wise, apart from two, but I'm not sure they'll ever be the billion dollar film series.

X-Men just don't have the same mass appeal as Jurassic Park and Transformers and thats just fine, as long as the films are successful.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Around DOFP's $750 million. I don't think X-Men, for whatever reason, has the big hook for the audience like most superhero films unfortunately.

I'm not clear what you mean by "like most superhero films", which from the sentence, can mean either that most don't have the hook or most do. If you mean the latter, that's really not the case; billion-dollar superhero films are the exception, not the rule, and DOFP's performance is in line with the MCU films that don't have Robert Downey Jr. in them.

 

[psylockolussus]

DOFP would have been closer to 800 million if it got an IMAX release and if it wasn't released 1 week before Maleficent.

 

[antonydelfini]

I originally predicted 1.2B. But the lack of Wolverine in this movie is gonna make its impact. 850M is my new prediction if the movie is great.

 

[Kermit_The_Frog]

I originally predicted 1.2B. But the lack of Wolverine in this movie is gonna make its impact. 850M is my new prediction if the movie is great.

I kinda refuse to believe Wolverine isn't in this. I think he is, and Singer and Co. are doing a great job keeping it underwraps.

 

[def28]

After DOFP and FC the audience now knows that Lawrence, McAvoy and Fassbender are leads. People didn't just like those films cause of Wolverine.

The list of marketable X-Men here is exceptional. If audiences like the property at all they will be here.

 

[GuestStar2004]

I kinda refuse to believe Wolverine isn't in this. I think he is, and Singer and Co. are doing a great job keeping it underwraps.

either that or they haven't filmed anything with jackman (yet) so what's to keep under wraps

I have a feeling if Jackman spends any time in Montreal someone would see him

 

[GuestStar2004]

I am pretty sure Bryan knows that this franchise can't depend on wolverine, even more so with wolverine 3 being his last you don't wanna keep showing the audience that it's wolverines franchise