Deadlines? What Deadlines?

2 hours ago, DMC said:

I'm not watching it, but the freakout is entertaining enough all on its own.  Saves me $15 bucks a month!

These are free and quite entertaining. Seriously, the Brits have lost their shit. 

https://youtu.be/sBZPaDH2aK0

https://youtu.be/2rY64ycSU3M

I loved Pinocchio. What an amazing movie. The craft is absolutely outstanding; but about 20 minutes in I got over the uncanny-valley-ness of the animation and got sucked into the characters and story. I may have had something in my eye at the end...

I'm also watching the Harry and Meghan doc and am enjoying quite a bit. Not just for the show but also for the freakout from the English tabloid press. 

starting...

Yes!

Now we will see if my "unreliable-narrator-humans-as-animals" theory for which I was so mercilessly mocked plays out. I'll want apologies in writing, Suckas. 

nom,nom,nom,nom,nom,nom,nom,nom,nom...

Now it's being reported that Jenkins is off WW3. This is Umberto Gonzales and "inside sources" so take it for what it's worth.

https://www.thewrap.com/wonder-woman-3-patty-jenkins-what-really-happened/

1 hour ago, polishgenius said:

 

I don't know what they were targeting but a Shazam sequel got green-lit and started production immediately. They seemed fine with it.

I'm sure it passed some minimum threshold, especially considering the positivity of the critical consensus; they were convinced they had good foundation to build on. Maybe it was the marketing campaign, the release date, CBM saturation or proximity to other big tentpole releases; but, "lowest grossing DC film since Green Lantern" probably had them scratching their heads. Plus it's not like they had a lot of irons in the fire at the time. Interesting point about tentpole dates: Shazam 2 was originally supposed to open opposite Avatar 2! Then they pushed it out a week. Later they pushed it to mid-March. 4 weeks after Ant-Man and 6 weeks before GotG vol 3. Also 3 weeks after Cocaine Bear. They might be OK.  

Keep in mind, one report claimed WB's standard for success for Superman Returns was $500 million, which is roughly what X-Men films were doing at the time. If the film could hit that benchmark they'd be convinced they had what they needed to move forward. However, at $500 million, Superman Returns would have lost money.  

DC announcing projects have been "greenlit" is pretty meaningless. and Shazam 2 didn't start shooting until 2021 if memory serves. Covid likely impacted that but it's pretty clear they didn't have a sequel mapped out beforehand. 

34 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

I’m genuinely curious as to whether the theatre release landscape right now means that you either need to be a serious ‘tent pole’ event movie that everyone wants to see, or you are a tiny low budget movie that can somehow find an audience. Otherwise you don’t make back your budget. 

I think there's just less certainty. If that breeds more variety then great. Mea Culpa: I predicted that the Rock's star power would be enough to propel Black Adam to considerable success. 'Shows what I know. 

38 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

I don’t think DC are able to create the sort of buzz to make all their movies fit into the first category, not in the way that Marvel are somehow sort of managing too, although I am not optimistic about that either 

One can debate the importance of it but franchise momentum is real. The MCU still has it. 

1 hour ago, JGP said:

All you've said, but this quoted in particular.  No way they won't be cautious. This division is in a bad, bad way.

Some more points:

This goes back even further:

BoP was almost certainly effected by Covid. But when it opened, the 'rona wasn't much of a concern domestically and it opened really soft. I'm speculating a bit but It's unlikely that the lockdowns, when they eventually came, took much more than 10-20% off the B.O. Still barely break even. This for a film that got decent critical praise with an A list actress and a popular character.  

Shazam! basically did Black Adam Money. It was profitable by virtue of a low production budget and low participations and residuals (according to Deadline) but no question it underperformed. I can't imagine coming in $150 million below Ant-Man was what these guys were targeting. 

I have to wonder how TSS and WW84 would have done in a world where no one ever heard of Covid. TSS never seemed to generate much sustained buzz and WW84... happened. 

ETA: I won't comment on conflicting reports of Batgirl screenings because of how unreliable that stuff is, but I did see the leaked "trailer" and I wonder if the decision to bin it wasn't the correct one.  I kind of think it was.

4 hours ago, JGP said:

I know I'm coming way late to this. Been skimming the thread.

I find DC's fight boarding, directing, and choreography horrible, personally. I know a fair bit of it was Snyders' stamp on overall direction maybe? Anyway, if I had to put my last point on Black Adam, as a long time fan of the genre... keep Cyclone and Atom Smasher. Hodge is very talented which makes me feel he's being wasted. Would've been an incredible Icon. They can recast Fate, but whew, didn't they do Dr Fate dirty. They design concepts behind his magic, just, everything was absolute heehaw donkey hour crap. 

I could do without Johnson as Black Adam as well, but guess we might be stuck with that.

Now I'm curious. My niece (16) saw it and said it wasn't very good. 

A few points:

It's interesting how DC: League of Super Pets kind of fell down the memory hole. It's likely that one also lost money at the box office. 2022 has been absolutely brutal for big screen animation.

Regarding the general lack of enthusiasm for stuff coming out of DC, I wouldn't rule out the influence the TV side of things is having. Between the arrowverse and all the other stuff on the CW, you've had about 50 seasons totaling over 1,000 hours of live action CBM content. In sheer volume that outstrips everything out there. Speaking of my 16 year old niece, she has never demonstrated any awareness of BvS or MoS but she used to be an avid fan of The Flash. My other niece (18) watched The Flash and Supergirl.

"Used to be" is the operative term here. They stopped watching because it just isn't very good. Granted, this is anecdotal, but I suspect it's pretty universal. Those shows still have their fans but they tend to generate very little online discourse as far as I can tell, and what they do generate is mostly concerned with a general overall decline; bad/repetitive story lines, meaningless character arcs, poor production values, etc. Maybe they poisoned the well? I can't comment on the quality because I'm barely a casual viewer. 

Additionally, anyone who has read my posts knows I'm generally bearish on capeshit and extremely bullish on Avatar. Avatar 2 will be the highest grossing film of 2022; given that it only needs $1.5 billion in order to do that.

So, in a year with 6 CBM's (3 MCU sequels and 3 DC non-sequels) and no F&F or Star Wars films in release:

• No CBM's in the W.W. Box Office top 3
• Only one (Dr Strange 2) in the top 5
• 2 of them underperformed (Wakanda Forever and Thor L&T)**
• 2 of them lost money (Black Adam and DC: Pets)

"Aha", I hear you say, "Spider-Man made all the moneys last year, you silly human!" That's true but that movie was the first MCU film not effected by Covid Lockdowns, and, the movie was pretty good apparently, and, Spider-Man is unique as being an extremely durable character and that film had three of them. They smashed the nostalgia button on this one in a way probably no film has ever done. You can only do that so many times before you get into deminishing returns. 

Don't get me wrong, these films will continue to get made and they will be massively profitable for years to come. But the cracks are starting to show. I wonder if DC's "relaunch" is coming at exactly the wrong time. 

**These movies both had (reported) $250 million production budgets. You don't spend that kind of money on an MCU sequel without expecting to join the billion dollar club. Thor 4 didn't get anywhere near that and Wakanda Forever looks unlikely to cross $900 million. 

Nana visitor should be in it. Maybe we can make that happen for season 2. #nanavisitorinwednesdayseason2

That last episode was pretty hardcore. 

1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said:

With Chris O'Donnell too! 

Think of it as the Tim Curry one. He's great as the evil Cardinal. 

ETA: Trailers from the 90's. What a time:

 

I watch that trailer and I think to myself, "That guy's tripping balls. And that guy's tripping balls. And that guy's tripping balls. And that guy's tripping balls. She's definitely tripping balls..."

Well, it goes on like that. 

35 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

I went to see Puss in Boots 2: The Last Wish today. No idea why it took so long for them to release a sequel (11 years), but between this and Top Gun 2 it has been a year in which the delayed sequel has definitely shown that it can deliver in spades. I thought the film was excellent. Exactly the type of movie you can go and see with your children without having to fear for their cognitive development.

Mentioned in the same breath as Top Gun 2, eh? You know, this movie wasn't on my radar at all but now I'm intrigued. 

And Avatar 2 is about to drop! Maybe 2022 will be remembered as, "the year the dormant franchise struck back".

4 hours ago, Myrddin said:

I can't fathom paying to see an IMAX movie and still sit in the first five rows.

They want to be the first one through the Stargate to Pandora. It opens during the post credits scene. 

What do you think Cameron's been doing in New Zealand for the last decade? Scratching himself?

A goddamn hero, that's who. 

I'm up to episode 6 of that there Wednesday show on Netflix. 

I'm not sure what I was expecting. It's more Nancy Drew than I thought it would be. I'm clearly not in the target demographic but I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

There's something clearly sinister about that coffee shop kid. He is literally driving the only first generation Dodge Neon in the world.The rest of them have been recycled into washing machines but somehow he keeps this one running? I can't remember the last time I even saw one. 'Commands the forces of darkness, he does. 

The BALLS on this man.

57 minutes ago, Nictarion said:

It’s not. 

Yeah it really isn't. Maybe only slightly better than The Spirit, which had an interesting evolution of Sin City's visual style but otherwise was absolutely awful. 

3 hours ago, RumHam said:

@Deadlines? What Deadlines? does Coca cola still do those holiday ads with the polar bears? It could be a great opportunity for cross promotion.

That would obviously be amazing, but somehow I don't see it happening. They might work in some comedic moment that references the polar bears; i.e. Cocaine Bear sees a billboard or sneaks into a movie theater.

And Coca Cola will be making those polar bear ads every day 'till the earth stops spinning.  

So I said to myself, "Self, why not let's check out the Star Wars thread because why not."

Nice to see the bi-weekly sequel trilogy back-and-forth rages on.

As you were.  

3 minutes ago, Week said:

There has also been a reported uptick in pornography too. 

The world needs more love. 

Also,

"Negativity should and will get less reach than positivity."

Setting aside exactly what he means by those things, some "free speech absolutist" he turned out to be. Does this mean people who post things he thinks are negative will get, (gasp), "shadow banned"?

16 minutes ago, Varysblackfyre321 said:

So is making the numberss whole cloth or is has he just changed the definition of hate speech?

They don't really look down at all. It looks like there was a significant bump on or around Election Day and then it dropped to a fairly constant level. 

I'd also be suspicious about that "user growth" claim; unless he's saying the average user got a little taller and/or fatter since then. Then he's probably correct. 

Daaaaaayum. Milky. 

is that Brett Farvre?

1 hour ago, Varysblackfyre321 said:

Yeah, his pontificating is less concerning than the fact mainstream conservative figures even in office  have tried to normalize his nazism.

I don't know about this "locking him up" business. I'm not completely up to speed on some of these discussions and I completely avoided the Heard/Depp soap opera. No, I don't think Ye should be jailed or committed.

But West is not "just a guy". He's a guy who said this stuff while appearing as a guest of Alex Jones; a guy who the former president once described as "a close friend" and who many on the American right have tried to turn into a free speech martyr for the Sandy Hood judgements that have gone against him. A colossal piece of shit who built a media empire on the corpses of murdered children, among other things. 

West is also a guy who, about a week ago, was a dinner guest of the same former president. A man who could reasonably be accused of intentionally trying to overthrow American Democracy, continues to subvert American democracy, and who ~30-40% of Americans still believe is the rightful POTUS. Among the topics discussed was a possible 2024 presidential run. Normally I'd say, "Pfft, whatever", but I don't know anymore.