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Ghost in the Shell bombs at the box office
- Thread starter Korey
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GuitarAtomik
Member
I honestly don't think the whitewashing had much if anything to do with it's BO numbers but, if that's the lesson they take from it, I'm ok with that.
A stick figure looks white to white people. To them, white is neutral.
TheOfficeMut
Unconfirmed Member
Never saw the original but the trailers for this movie looked good. Not sure what the issue is (besides the whitewashing).
Then the theater has to take their cut too.
Yes, but would leading this bomb help them at all? I mean, I would have loved to see an Asian actress in the lead role here, but I would prefer primarily if it were a better, more competent project to begin with.
And it very well could have been, if the movie looked any good from the countless previews we saw, and it reviewed relatively well.
People are delusional if they think the reason this movie bombed was because they whitewashed the cast. The average moviegoer doesn't give a shit about that- The movie looked joyless and convoluted from the word go.
Lights and Waves
Member
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
Doctor Strange but that's mainly people being loyal to Disney and Marvel.
If white people can be in bombs so can Asian Americans. It's not about being in successful movies, it's about getting work as leads.
More_Badass
Member
It's not even that. This movie just wasn't good. I went in hoping for some decent action and cool cyberpunk visials and I barely got that.
The source material doesnt even matter if the movie is actually good, because most people arent going to see this because it's an anime adaptation. They'd see it because it's that stylish new sci-fi action movie with Scarlett Johansson that was getting good reviews and good word of mouth
GitS is probably the most prominent anime outside of Naruto/One Piece/Bleach/Whatever entry anime you want to pick that would be dogshit in a live action format.
Uh, what? It's one of the most well known, popular and influential anime films of all time. It's only second to Akira. The problem is it sucked and had a negative reception from the get go.
CountAntonius
Member
I thought the visuals of the trailers alone would give it at least one good week. damn.
Anecdotal but my wife did express interest in seeing "that new scarlet johansen movie" (not enough to actually go see it though). She had no idea it was an adaptation of a 20 year old anime.
I don't think you can totally discount star power or whatever. How much worse would the opening be with a no name actress?
I don't think you can totally discount star power or whatever. How much worse would the opening be with a no name actress?
Say goodbye to anime adaptations. lol
Also, after last year, so goodbye to video game adaptions for a long while.
Poor GRIMES
Banned
Breakfast At Tiffany's.
But then again that was so long ago you would think Hollywood would adapt
Reviews definitely do matter, though the elation people are expresing at it bombing seems to be attributing it only to the social faux pas aspect. The script is weak and some of the supporting acting is bad, but the cinematography, CGI and visuals are strong. If you look in the other thread, most people are surprised by how much they liked it in spite of what they've heard about it.
It's entirely possible that this was never going to excite American audiences no matter what it did. It's a fairly obscure anime.
Manmademan
Member
I'm on board with this. The movie had literally zero buzz.
The source material didn't have any mainstream recognition, and Scarjo doesn't have the star power to overcome a vague premise and blah trailers.
Casting an Asian actress would have done nothing to make this film a success. It was doomed from the jump.
Case in point here. No its not lol.
Razgriz-Specter
Member
Depends.
Jessica Henwick was in the PoS Iron Fist series and got a massive bump in notoriety.
K so you're saying the 2030 anime adaptation revival is gonna start with cowboy bebop which will hit 500m domestic?
Fine with me :B
Poor GRIMES
Banned
Is the excuse now that casting an Asian lead would have done nothing for this film commercially? Did anyone ever argue that? People were arguing that whitewashing was wrong
21
30 Days of Night
Argo
A Beautiful Mind
Apache
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Drive
Lawrence of Arabia
And probably many more in the eyes of Hollywood
Hari Seldon
Member
The biggest White Washing I have ever fucking seen is Marco Polo on Netflix. A show about Kublai Kahn, where ALL of the Kublai stuff was fucking fantastic with great acting and stunning visuals and storytelling. But they put god damn Marco Fucking Polo in there for no fucking reason at all and he ruins everything. It still pisses me off because it is not like we get great high budget shows about Chinese/Mongolian history very often.
milkham
Member
Oh yes the great and powerful Asian American conspiracy
Fallout-NL
Member
I think her casting is part of the problem. She feels like generic action hero #36 at this point. This film needed something different.
To be clear, I like Scarlet, but not for this.
Argo
Batman Begins
Doctor Strange
Drive
The King and I
Scarface
The Social Network
Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan
West Side Story
Starship Troopers
Muppet of a Man
Member
Should have utilized Japanese actors and should have been a hard R.
smokeymicpot
Beat EviLore at pool.
If you really want to toss in Batman and Batman Returns with Harvey Dent being played by Billy Dee Williams.
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
Puck Beaverton
Banned
I'm shocked.
Who knew an uninteresting movie that looked too weird for mainstream audiences would bomb. Didn't see that coming.
Who knew an uninteresting movie that looked too weird for mainstream audiences would bomb. Didn't see that coming.
Flying Toaster
Member
This cannot be said enough. Yet no one who makes these decisions will ever change how things are.
Manmademan
Member
People are arguing that whitewashing was why this film bombed, which doesn't seem to hold water.
Is whitewashing wrong? Yes. Avoid it whenever possible. But the film still would have tanked. The two issues aren't related.
Okay you're saying that any visibility is worthwhile, then? I don't have the metrics on hand to argue otherwise, but I will say that I just don't thnk Asian actors have the same luxury that white actors have of being given multiple chances after a high profile bomb.
GitS and Blade Runner are the parents for the modern cyberpunk scene.
StoppedInTracks
Member
It didn't bomb because of white washing IMO. Anime is just poison no matter the cast.
I'm not even in the US. This coming from anime means absolutely nothing because the number of people who even know of the source is insignificant to this being a success. If they made and advertised a better product it might not have bombed this hard.
BoogieWoogie
Banned
Only a live action Berserk movie can save us now (Starring Manu Bennett as Guts!)
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