I haven't read the books, so no. The production was a mess, it went massively overbudget and that still doesn't include the massive marketing budget required for a movie of this caliber. Unless it's a massive break out hit (grossing at least over 500m worldwide), it won't make any money for Paramount... And considering how shitty the marketing has been so far (Why is Brad Pitt so important? What is he fighting? Those thing are never clear by looking at the trailer, which is not a good way to entice audiences), I really doubt it's going to be big.
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Wkd Box Office 531-6213 - Eisenberg, right ahead! of Mr & Mr Smith, Whitta am cry
- Thread starter xaosslug
- Start date
- Status
I haven't read the books, so no. The production was a mess, it went massively overbudget and that still doesn't include the massive marketing budget required for a movie of this caliber. Unless it's a massive break out hit (grossing at least over 500m worldwide), it won't make any money for Paramount... And considering how shitty the marketing has been so far (Why is Brad Pitt so important? What is he fighting? Those thing are never clear by looking at the trailer, which is not a good way to entice audiences), I really doubt it's going to be big.
No. Fuck Justin Lin. The last thing I want is Bad Boys going in the direction of Fast and Furious.
BattleMonkey
Member
No, just no
Charles Foster Kane
Rosebud
BattleMonkey
Member
Charles Foster Kane
Rosebud
I love to hate Bay movies (guilty pleasure), so I'd probably end up watching it if they made it. Don't really have a problem with any movie being made.
Phoenician_Viking
Banned
Escape Goat
Member
Why dont they want me, man? Why dont they want me?
I think he's saying that bad movies have the right to exist.....but bad movies are still bad movies.
I really don't know about the production for ST09, but didn't JJ have quite a bit of control? SW is now owned by Disney suits, and I can't help but feel like they're not going to want to give their massive new film to a director they can't "control." So it'll be a director without much say working on a script touched by no less than two-dozen writers, all overseen by at least three or four megolomanianic Disney producers who each feel very strongly about pulling the film in wildly different directions.
Star Wars will be a clusterfuck. Quote me!
Bad year for movies so far. What's the consensus best? Django? What else from this year has been great?
Django came out in Dec 2012.
You must be kidding me. There are what, 300 million people in the US and there's 7 Billion people around the world. That's what, 4-5% ratio?
The Horror the horror
Banned
If Will Smith keeps this up, he'll find himself as a cast member in Expendables 6.
Yeah those 7 billion people all have easy access to movie theaters and Cinema has been an integral part of their culture for decades... I don't really see your point, yeah American box office will be less and less relevant as years go with the rapidly growing markets in Russia, China and co, and they are less hostile towards awful sequels, which is what I said.
D
Deleted member 1235
Unconfirmed Member
I feel like... that bit in the GAF documentary when Gary Whitta says that GAF users don't know shit and their opinion isn't worth shit (paraphrased) I feel like this is what he's talking about. the question 'How the fuck does M Night keep getting jobs' is answered by over a billion bucks in profit buying him a shit ton of credit.
He probably won't stop getting jobs until stinkers like the last airbender fail to generate 170 million dollars of profit.
yankeehater
Member
I think ST:ID is a great movie and easily the best movie so far this year.
It ended up having pretty good legs, should finish at about 225 mil or so and beat the first one worldwide.
Star Wars 7 has one single screen writer. And Abrams will have control. He isn't just a director. But producer and Episode VII is being produced by Bad Robot his production house.
Oh and it doesn't have any Disney producers. It has one executive producer, Kathleen Kennedy from Lucasfilm and two regular producers, JJ Abrams and Bryan Burk from Bad Robot.
Disney is following the Marvel model on this one.
Movie theatres get a substantial cut of the box office take, so you have to multiply those numbers by .4 or so to get an idea of studio earnings. However, MNS was 5 for 7 on his movies as far as profitability goes before After Earth, which explains why he continues to get work.
Also, other than the Last Airbender, he's always worked on mid budget movies.
EDIT: Finally, Hollywood is complex. Oliver Stone continues to get money to direct films and he hasn't had a smash hit since the 80s.
The thing is marketing costs aren't taken in as part of the budget, nor is the fact the studios don't get 100 percent of money made back, especially overseas. So he's really just barely breaking even on a few of those. Nothing to be proud of
i really didn't think this was possible. absolutely crazy how that film has turned out.
Haha that sentence is a bit ironic considering the first part of your post. The Last Airbender didn't generate anything close to 170m in profit. The budget doesn't include marketing, and the studios don't get 100% of the gross.
True true, though it surely generated more profit off of DVD/BRs etc.
GitarooMan
Member
Yeah, it's definitely my favorite of the summer season so far of the ones I've seen. I really enjoyed it.
Hot Coldman
Banned
can Will Smith go away now
cheers
cheers
If one bomb meant the end of someone's acting career, there would be zero stars left in Hollywood.
Phinal Phantasy
Banned
http://www.*****************/tvshow...KEY-Oh-Brad-This-zombie-flick-brain-dead.html
WWZ early review. Bomba incoming?
Oh Brad! This zombie flick is brain dead: CHRIS TOOKEY reviews World War Z
By CHRIS TOOKEY
WORLD WAR Z (15, TBC)
Verdict: World War Zzzzzz
Rating: 2/5
Movies don’t come bigger than this, and zombie flicks tend to come an awful lot smaller. In Shaun of the Dead, the undead had to content themselves with snacking off a handful of British actors in a deserted pub. Here, it’s the future of humanity at stake.
This time, Brad Pitt is here to save us, and the skies are soon full of crashing helicopters, screaming jets and stuntpeople being sucked out of aircraft.
So what’s it like? Well, it’s awfully like all the epic action films made by Roland Emmerich, ranging from the nearly sublime (Independence Day) to the totally ridiculous (10,000 BC). It’s slap-bang in the middle of that quality spectrum, round about the level of Godzilla and not quite as classy as The Day the World Ended.
Scroll down for trailer
Brad Pitt in action in World War Z where he stars as an American UN worker and father
The film is most impressive in its big set-pieces. The initial panic on the streets of Philadelphia is thrillingly done, as is the fall of Jerusalem to the zombie horde. There’s also an effective airborne sequence.
But it is horrifyingly feeble when it comes to characterisation. Brad Pitt’s hero lacks personality. All we know is that he loves his family, but no one has given him or his relations any exceptional qualities.
More...
'I'm here for Brad, I'm so proud of him': Angelina Jolie misses aunt's funeral to attend Pitt's London premiere of World War Z as pair wear matching black
Byzantium: Well made, but was it worth making? Kinky vampires fail to excite
The Purge: Dystopic science fiction meets horror in this ingenious family-in-peril thriller
A key fault is that we never find out why the powers-that-be at the United Nations think so highly of Pitt. He’s resourceful, but he doesn’t seem particularly brave, bright or knowledgeable. It is a central weakness of the film that, without any particular expertise, he solves the mystery of how to fight the zombies before anyone else. It’s as though no one except him is paying attention.
World War Z has had what might euphemistically be called a troubled history, with producer-star Pitt publicly at odds with director Marc Forster, who shows here once again that he is more confident with small-scale projects (such as Finding Neverland) than action adventures (such as the Bond bore-a-thon, Quantum of Solace).
Pitt attended the UK premiere of World War Z with wife Angelina Jolie at the Empire, Leicester Square
After negative reaction within the studio, the final 40 minutes were rewritten and reshot at a cost of $200million. It’s hard to know where the money went. The long, would-be climactic sequence inside a Welsh research laboratory looks about as lavish as the average episode of Doctor Who.
Brad Pitt introduced the screening I attended, and promised the audience ‘the most intense film you’re going to see this summer’. He called it ‘original’ and ‘genre-bending’. If only it were.
Okay, the zombies are not the slow-moving undead of yesteryear. They’re sprightly, aggressive and eager to bite.
It’s like a planet seething with Mike Tysons and Luis Suarezes, doing lots of jerky, uncoordinated dance moves that look like Jarvis Cocker in the heyday of Pulp. But they’re not original. They were like that in Zack Snyder’s 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead.
It’s a tedious cliché that Pitt is torn between nurturing his cute children and rescuing the whole of mankind. No one except him is going to think that’s a tough call, but Pitt spends too much of the first hour chewing his lip over it.
If you’ve read Max Brooks’ original book, published in 2006, you will know that Pitt’s character is a UN worker trying to piece together the truth from a variety of sources.
Apparently, the first draft of the script, by J. Michael Straczynski, who wrote Changeling, Clint Eastwood’s classy drama starring Brad’s wife Angelina Jolie, was faithful to the source material.
Producer Pitt and Paramount junked that investigative structure, which might have turned into a movie along the lines of District 9, All The President’s Men or even Citizen Kane, in favour of a straightforward hero-to-the-rescue scenario.
That was written by Matthew Michael Carnahan, who scripted the undistinguished Kingdom and Lions for Lambs. Despite numerous others being recruited to rework the ending, Carnahan gets the main credit, shared with Drew Goddard (who directed The Cabin in the Woods) and Damon Lindelof, head writer on Lost.
None of the writers is at his best, and the film bears unmistakable signs of having been assembled by a Hollywood studio over-preoccupied with earning a family-friendly certificate. Virtually all the violence takes place fractionally off-screen. Disappointingly, the final product is much more conventional than the book and avoids its most interesting and innovative qualities.
Pitt's character in the film is a father torn between looking after his family and saving the world
'I would think about moving to the UK,' says Brad Pitt
Brooks’ purpose was to satirise the bungling of government, the excesses of survivalism and the dangers of corporate power. In the book, the zombie virus spreads from China via refugees and an illicit trade in human organs. Pakistan and Iran destroy each other in a nuclear dispute over border controls. Cuba becomes the world’s most thriving economy and the centre of international banking.
Paramount evidently think political stuff is too much for a cinema audience. Maybe they’re also nervous about how it might go down in China, Pakistan and Iran, not to mention America. So they’ve played safe and turned the story into a one-man triumph for an American UN operative with guts, intellect and movie-star looks.
World War Z isn’t terrible. Parts are impressive and exciting. But the incredibly long distance it falls short of its source material means it must rank as one of Hollywood’s most wasted opportunities.
There are estimates that the movie will have to gross $550million merely to break even. Its lack of originality, ingenuity and personality means that it has virtually no chance of making back that scale of investment.
Last year’s most underperforming blockbuster, John Carter, is said to have lost Disney over $200million and resulted in regime change within the studio.
If I were a senior Paramount executive, I would be afraid. Very, very afraid.
WWZ early review. Bomba incoming?
Oh Brad! This zombie flick is brain dead: CHRIS TOOKEY reviews World War Z
By CHRIS TOOKEY
WORLD WAR Z (15, TBC)
Verdict: World War Zzzzzz
Rating: 2/5
Movies don’t come bigger than this, and zombie flicks tend to come an awful lot smaller. In Shaun of the Dead, the undead had to content themselves with snacking off a handful of British actors in a deserted pub. Here, it’s the future of humanity at stake.
This time, Brad Pitt is here to save us, and the skies are soon full of crashing helicopters, screaming jets and stuntpeople being sucked out of aircraft.
So what’s it like? Well, it’s awfully like all the epic action films made by Roland Emmerich, ranging from the nearly sublime (Independence Day) to the totally ridiculous (10,000 BC). It’s slap-bang in the middle of that quality spectrum, round about the level of Godzilla and not quite as classy as The Day the World Ended.
Scroll down for trailer
Brad Pitt in action in World War Z where he stars as an American UN worker and father
The film is most impressive in its big set-pieces. The initial panic on the streets of Philadelphia is thrillingly done, as is the fall of Jerusalem to the zombie horde. There’s also an effective airborne sequence.
But it is horrifyingly feeble when it comes to characterisation. Brad Pitt’s hero lacks personality. All we know is that he loves his family, but no one has given him or his relations any exceptional qualities.
More...
'I'm here for Brad, I'm so proud of him': Angelina Jolie misses aunt's funeral to attend Pitt's London premiere of World War Z as pair wear matching black
Byzantium: Well made, but was it worth making? Kinky vampires fail to excite
The Purge: Dystopic science fiction meets horror in this ingenious family-in-peril thriller
A key fault is that we never find out why the powers-that-be at the United Nations think so highly of Pitt. He’s resourceful, but he doesn’t seem particularly brave, bright or knowledgeable. It is a central weakness of the film that, without any particular expertise, he solves the mystery of how to fight the zombies before anyone else. It’s as though no one except him is paying attention.
World War Z has had what might euphemistically be called a troubled history, with producer-star Pitt publicly at odds with director Marc Forster, who shows here once again that he is more confident with small-scale projects (such as Finding Neverland) than action adventures (such as the Bond bore-a-thon, Quantum of Solace).
Pitt attended the UK premiere of World War Z with wife Angelina Jolie at the Empire, Leicester Square
After negative reaction within the studio, the final 40 minutes were rewritten and reshot at a cost of $200million. It’s hard to know where the money went. The long, would-be climactic sequence inside a Welsh research laboratory looks about as lavish as the average episode of Doctor Who.
Brad Pitt introduced the screening I attended, and promised the audience ‘the most intense film you’re going to see this summer’. He called it ‘original’ and ‘genre-bending’. If only it were.
Okay, the zombies are not the slow-moving undead of yesteryear. They’re sprightly, aggressive and eager to bite.
It’s like a planet seething with Mike Tysons and Luis Suarezes, doing lots of jerky, uncoordinated dance moves that look like Jarvis Cocker in the heyday of Pulp. But they’re not original. They were like that in Zack Snyder’s 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead.
It’s a tedious cliché that Pitt is torn between nurturing his cute children and rescuing the whole of mankind. No one except him is going to think that’s a tough call, but Pitt spends too much of the first hour chewing his lip over it.
If you’ve read Max Brooks’ original book, published in 2006, you will know that Pitt’s character is a UN worker trying to piece together the truth from a variety of sources.
Apparently, the first draft of the script, by J. Michael Straczynski, who wrote Changeling, Clint Eastwood’s classy drama starring Brad’s wife Angelina Jolie, was faithful to the source material.
Producer Pitt and Paramount junked that investigative structure, which might have turned into a movie along the lines of District 9, All The President’s Men or even Citizen Kane, in favour of a straightforward hero-to-the-rescue scenario.
That was written by Matthew Michael Carnahan, who scripted the undistinguished Kingdom and Lions for Lambs. Despite numerous others being recruited to rework the ending, Carnahan gets the main credit, shared with Drew Goddard (who directed The Cabin in the Woods) and Damon Lindelof, head writer on Lost.
None of the writers is at his best, and the film bears unmistakable signs of having been assembled by a Hollywood studio over-preoccupied with earning a family-friendly certificate. Virtually all the violence takes place fractionally off-screen. Disappointingly, the final product is much more conventional than the book and avoids its most interesting and innovative qualities.
Pitt's character in the film is a father torn between looking after his family and saving the world
'I would think about moving to the UK,' says Brad Pitt
Brooks’ purpose was to satirise the bungling of government, the excesses of survivalism and the dangers of corporate power. In the book, the zombie virus spreads from China via refugees and an illicit trade in human organs. Pakistan and Iran destroy each other in a nuclear dispute over border controls. Cuba becomes the world’s most thriving economy and the centre of international banking.
Paramount evidently think political stuff is too much for a cinema audience. Maybe they’re also nervous about how it might go down in China, Pakistan and Iran, not to mention America. So they’ve played safe and turned the story into a one-man triumph for an American UN operative with guts, intellect and movie-star looks.
World War Z isn’t terrible. Parts are impressive and exciting. But the incredibly long distance it falls short of its source material means it must rank as one of Hollywood’s most wasted opportunities.
There are estimates that the movie will have to gross $550million merely to break even. Its lack of originality, ingenuity and personality means that it has virtually no chance of making back that scale of investment.
Last year’s most underperforming blockbuster, John Carter, is said to have lost Disney over $200million and resulted in regime change within the studio.
If I were a senior Paramount executive, I would be afraid. Very, very afraid.
See You Next Wednesday
Banned
It isn't you we don't want Will, it's your shitty son.
Agreed. I liked it a lot more than Iron Man 3.
twinturbo2
butthurt Heat fan
Just got back from Fast 6, totally deserves the success it's getting. It'll be interesting how Fast 7 does, with a new director and competition from Need for Speed: Thr Movie.
There's a Need for Speed movie coming? Haha what the hell.
ReturnOfTheRAT
Member
Big headed actor from Breaking Bad is the lead.
twinturbo2
butthurt Heat fan
Michael Keaton is the lead character's dad, last I heard.
FullMetalx117
Member
I had absolutely no idea World War Z was about zombies. Seemed like a 2012 type movie but with Brad Pitt. Did they even show the zombies in the trailers? I didn't notice any.
Escape Goat
Member
Yeah, but they were mostly rubberized CGI monstrosities that moved like water instead of zombies.
ReturnOfTheRAT
Member
I thought the trailer was well done. Home invasion with a twist.
Super Early to estimate Friday sales, but PG horror in June has done well before.
Production budget for the film was $3M. No clue what the advertising budget was. Probably 5-10x that.
twinturbo2
butthurt Heat fan
It seriously looks like Glenn Beck wrote the script, judging from the backstory. I can't be the only one thinking this.
FullMetalx117
Member
Just saw Now You See Me
Great fun movie. Nothing memorable thou
Great fun movie. Nothing memorable thou
Friday Studio Estimates
1) The Purge - $16.8M
2) The Internship - $6.5M
3) Fast 6 - $6.1M - $189M total
4) Now You See Me - $6.0M - $48M total
5) Epic - $3.5M - $76M total
- Even with crappy horror movie legs, The Purge will be pretty huge. Probably high 30s-low 40s on a $3M budget.
- Good hold for Now You See Me. The movie has a shot at $100M unless it is completely annihilated by Man of Steel next weekend (which could happen).
- Epic continues its climb to $100M as well. It should be close to that mark before Monster's University takes the family market away.
1) The Purge - $16.8M
2) The Internship - $6.5M
3) Fast 6 - $6.1M - $189M total
4) Now You See Me - $6.0M - $48M total
5) Epic - $3.5M - $76M total
- Even with crappy horror movie legs, The Purge will be pretty huge. Probably high 30s-low 40s on a $3M budget.
- Good hold for Now You See Me. The movie has a shot at $100M unless it is completely annihilated by Man of Steel next weekend (which could happen).
- Epic continues its climb to $100M as well. It should be close to that mark before Monster's University takes the family market away.
Where's AE at?
- Status