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[Furret]

Overseas is a bigger market and is expanding. When Pirates 2 came out, movies that were equally popular worldwide did about 35-40% of their gross in the US and 60-65% overseas. Now I would say the average breakdown is closer to 30-35% in the US and 65-70% overseas.

That explains part of it. Another part of it is the fact that American viewers are losing interest in the series while overseas viewers are not. Yet another part of it is the fact that 3D is quickly losing its appeal in the US, but is still really popular worldwide.

A major part of it is also the fact that there are no Americans in it.

Most big budget special effects movies are usually very U.S.-centric in terms of both the plot, setting and leads.

I haven't seen Pirates 4 but I don't think there's a single U.S. character in any of the first three and that's definitely a positive to foreign audiences.

Not because of anti-Americanism but because it feels refreshing and less like it's been made solely for the U.S. audience. There's also no U.S. pop culture references or assumed knowledge to get in the way.

 

[kswiston]

Stop the world, I want off.

It's not the only case of overseas audiences rewarding sub-par sequels.

In the US there was a $120 million drop in gross between Shrek 2 and 3, and another $85 million drop in gross between Shrek 3 and 4. Makes sense based on how stale that franchise got.

Overseas, Shrek 3 made almost the same as Shrek 2, and Shrek 4 was the highest grossing movie in the series.

EDIT: Overseas, Shrek 4 also out-grossed every Pixar film besides Toy Story 3 and Finding Nemo (and it was close to Finding Nemo).

 

[jakncoke]

Can someone explain why Mr. Poppers Penguins released in the summer? It seems like a movie that should be released in a month thats actually cold lol

 

[JGS]

You are. $450 WW for Thor is excellent.

It is but it may also be an anomaly considering it's a part of a bigger piece that is the Avengers (Although that didn't help the godawful Hulk movie...or maybe it did and that explains the box office it got) and was actually well made to boot (The Hulk lacked that important piece).

One movie does not define a genre. I have no doubt that hero movies will continue to be sellers (Batman is on the way & Superman could be a hit). I also think that studios will make their money back pretty easily on worldwide sales of 3-D superhero movies. Domestic wise, most don't live up to the hype. The only reason why Thor does is because it had no hype to begin with.

The reason Green Lantern didn't perform was not because of it's critical reception. There are way too many blockbuster movies that suck and still make a ton opening weekend to disprove that. The overall genre is dull & predictable.

Most of the films simply haven't lived up to the epicness of the comics which is important even for people that haven't read the comics.

 

[kswiston]

Thor grossed more than usual for a mid-range superhero movie overseas because the main character is based off the Norse god of thunder, and mythology is big worldwide. Clash of the Titans almost hit 500M worldwide off of a domestic take of 160M.

 

[tekumseh]

Can someone explain why Mr. Poppers Penguins released in the summer? It seems like a movie that should be released in a month thats actually cold lol

Likely because it's based on a book which has been an essential staple for grade school kids in the US for years and, by releasing it during the summer, those kids are available 7 days a week to see it, versus weekends only if it released during the school year. Particularly in light of the fact that it's not a big enough release for the holiday season...

 

[Nesotenso]

Thor grossed more than usual for a mid-range superhero movie overseas because the main character is based off the Norse god of thunder, and mythology is big worldwide. Clash of the Titans almost hit 500M worldwide off of a domestic take of 160M.

I would wager that Giant scorpions and the Kraken in the international trailers probably did more for Clash worldwide than any affection for Greek mythology, though it could have played a part.

 

[maruchan]

Lol so Hangover pat 2 is reaching 500 million us+worldwide.. lol.. and so far the summer blockbuster of the year...

 

[Tobor]

It is but it may also be an anomaly considering it's a part of a bigger piece that is the Avengers (Although that didn't help the godawful Hulk movie...or maybe it did and that explains the box office it got) and was actually well made to boot (The Hulk lacked that important piece).

One movie does not define a genre. I have no doubt that hero movies will continue to be sellers (Batman is on the way & Superman could be a hit). I also think that studios will make their money back pretty easily on worldwide sales of 3-D superhero movies. Domestic wise, most don't live up to the hype. The only reason why Thor does is because it had no hype to begin with.

The reason Green Lantern didn't perform was not because of it's critical reception. There are way too many blockbuster movies that suck and still make a ton opening weekend to disprove that. The overall genre is dull & predictable.

Most of the films simply haven't lived up to the epicness of the comics which is important even for people that haven't read the comics.

I don't see it. We've had 3 superhero movies, all B level properties(Xmen was A tier in team name only, the roster for the film was filled with scrubs), and only one has bombed. And the bomb was deservedly so based on quality.

These properties were never going to do Dark Knight numbers, they aren't Batman. Iron Man is the absolute peak of what you can do with a B tier character, and that was based on quality as well.

If Cap does similar numbers to Thor or better, than this was a successful summer for the genre as a whole. If Cap flops, there's an argument to be made.

 

[mjc]

I think Cap will do a bit better than Thor, but not by much. (At least domestically) If that happens then it shows that Marvel is on the right track.

 

[ryutaro's mama]

Well, I dunno about that. I said the same thing about 'Titanic', once upon a time.

Well...

It still took 12 years.

Thank you, kswiston.

Also, bear in mind it took the SAME DIRECTOR (after a 12 year lay off) to break said record.

 

[johnsmith]

DC needs to get their shit together and do something like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Avengers leading up to a Justice League movie.

The Green Lantern should have been the beginning of this, followed by Superman and the inevitable post-Bale/Nolan Batman. The Flash and Wonder Woman both have the potential to be big hits on their own. Throw in some of the lesser known characters like Martian Manhunter and Aquaman as cameos or in scene stealing scenes like Nick Fury and Black Widow. Then bring them all together for a huge Justice League movie.

And why hasn't there been a Teen Titans movie?

 

[SlipperySlope]

Aside from Batman, those are two of the most universally known superheroes in the world. They won't have any issue.

Superman could have issues. His last movie didn't do good at all.

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

This is the first year that I can remember International receipts been a boon for so many domestic movies that didn't quite catch on or underperform (if you want to throw that tag around).

Luckily for The First Avenger it has 3D on it's side which the International market still flocks to those screenings to cancel out heavy pro-American angle.

 

[Blader]

Aside from Batman, those are two of the most universally known superheroes in the world. They won't have any issue.

The Dark Knight Rises comes out only two weeks after Spider-Man. That's a pretty big issue.

 

[gundamkyoukai]

I really wanted X Men to do more but no one i knew wanted to see.
It might name X men but most people i know don't give a fuck about the chars.
Thor did good i did not even expect it to make that much , i am sure marvel happy with the numbers.

EDIT on GL i thought that movie look like trash from the first trailer .

 

[kswiston]

Some international weekend numbers are popping up.

First class is now at 163M overseas after a 21M weekend. Worldwide total is 283M.

Wolverine finished at 193M overseas. First Class will likely surpass it, though it's worldwide total will fall short due to a disappointing domestic run.

First Class will also surpass X2 overseas (that movie ended at 192M), and will pass X1's worldwide total next week. Of course, attendance was still higher for those films.

EDIT: X3 will remain the highest grossing film of the series with 225M overseas and 459M total.

 

[TheSeks]

I disagree that it's comic book fatigue. I think the GL movie just looked like crap to everyone.

This. And honestly did the Green Lantern really need a movie? I really don't know anyone besides one person that is a super-fan that even gives a damn about the comic series.

In before *Green Lantern Hal Jordan Looking Up and D: ing.jpg*

 

[Alrus]

Something about Ice Age still appeals more overseas than domestically. 175-200M is a pretty common domestic gross for a big budget non-pixar, non-shrek animated film. Overseas, Ice Age 3 is the highest grossing animated film of all time by a decent margin, beating out Toy Story 3. If it was simply a matter of growing overseas markets, why did IA3 do so much better than Tangled, or HTTYD, or even Shrek 4 (which has been an overseas hit for 7 years now).

Good point, but I'd say that Tangled and HTTYD were both new franchise and didn't benefit from good will from post movies. Shrek 4 is a matter of franchise fatigue (despite having 3D, it didn't gross that much more than Shrek 2 or 3). Also, it seems people really really like Scrat.

 

[Blader]

Some international weekend numbers are popping up.

First class is now at 163M overseas after a 21M weekend. Worldwide total is 283M.

Wolverine finished at 193M overseas. First Class will likely surpass it, though it's worldwide total will fall short due to a disappointing domestic run.

Huh? If Wolverine finished at 193m worldwide and First Class is already at 283m, then hasn't it already surpassed Wolverine?

 

[bud]

Huh? If Wolverine finished at 193m worldwide and First Class is already at 283m, then hasn't it already surpassed Wolverine?

you misread ''overseas'' as ''worldwide.''

 

[kswiston]

This. And honestly did the Green Lantern really need a movie? I really don't know anyone besides one person that is a super-fan that even gives a damn about the comic series.

In before *Green Lantern Hal Jordan Looking Up and D: ing.jpg*

Green lantern has consistently been DC's best selling regular series for a couple years now. Events and special issues might beat it in sales, but Green Lantern is typically a Top 5 book (across all comics, Marvel and DC) every month, and sells more than any of the batman and Superman books. His main book also sells more than any of the Spider-man, Iron Man and X-men books.

That said, comic fans number in the hundreds of thousands, so what is popular with them is not necessarily going to be popular with mainstream moviegoers.

 

[3N16MA]

Huh? If Wolverine finished at 193m worldwide and First Class is already at 283m, then hasn't it already surpassed Wolverine?

First Class: $282 WW ($162 foreign)
Wolverine: $373 WW ($193 foreign)

Lokks like GL pulled in $17 million overseas from these makrets:

New Zealand 14 June 2011
Belarus 16 June 2011
Hong Kong 16 June 2011
Kazakhstan 16 June 2011
Kuwait 16 June 2011
Malaysia 16 June 2011
Philippines 16 June 2011
Russia 16 June 2011
Singapore 16 June 2011
Slovenia 16 June 2011
Thailand 16 June 2011
India 17 June 2011
Ireland 17 June 2011
Poland 17 June 2011
Qatar 17 June 2011
UK 17 June 2011

 

[Solo]

They way this year is going, GL's domestic bomba won't matter, as the international markets will make it profitable.

 

[Tron 2.0]

They way this year is going, GL's domestic bomba won't matter, as the international markets will make it profitable.

I think they'll break even, but $17 million is pretty weak considering it opened in Russia and the UK.

Maybe it'll explode in China or Japan. Germany usually doesn't care much for superhero films, though Thor did pretty good there.

 

[Kusagari]

Those overseas numbers are really, really, really bad. This might not even make 100 million overseas unless it breaks out somewhere.

 

[Scarecrow]

I was hoping that GL would do better, despite the quality of the movie. I really want to see the sequel that they've set up.

 

[kswiston]

Those overseas numbers are really, really, really bad. This might not even make 100 million overseas unless it breaks out somewhere.

Most of those are minor territories. The UK and Russia are the only two major ones. I'm curious as to why they decided to forgo a worldwide launch. Warner Bros trying to spread it's releases out due to Potter?

 

[Kusagari]

Most of those are minor territories. The UK and Russia are the only two major ones. I'm curious though, why they decided to forgo a worldwide launch. Warner Bros trying to spread it's releases out due to Potter?

For UK and Russia combined with the minor territories that is pretty bad. UK is usually the best European market for comic book movies. France and Germany aren't as receptive. I'm not sure how it will do in Japan or China though.

 

[Dan]

DC needs to get their shit together and do something like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Avengers leading up to a Justice League movie.

The Green Lantern should have been the beginning of this, followed by Superman and the inevitable post-Bale/Nolan Batman. The Flash and Wonder Woman both have the potential to be big hits on their own. Throw in some of the lesser known characters like Martian Manhunter and Aquaman as cameos or in scene stealing scenes like Nick Fury and Black Widow. Then bring them all together for a huge Justice League movie.

Ew. That might work well financially like Marvel's endeavors have, but creatively it fucking blows. I was thrilled when Geoff Johns (I believe it was him) said DC had no interest in going down that path, but would explore solo franchises for their characters.

 

[TheSeks]

That said, comic fans number in the hundreds of thousands, so what is popular with them is not necessarily going to be popular with mainstream moviegoers.

Correct. But see, the thing is, even in the comic book world (at least to my knowledge) the Green Lantern has always been a minority in terms of popularity. He may be selling now a days, but he doesn't have that "WOW THAT'S COOL/BAD-ASS/I WANT TO KNOW MORE!" factor that Spiderman, Superman (okay, maybe not him over the years), Batman, Wolverine, et. al. popular comic characters and universes do.

I didn't see GL being a popular movie universe property, so I'm not really surprised by the lukewarm response to it.

 

[Tron 2.0]

The Green Lantern's debut in the UK (~$4.9 million) is comparable to the performance of Watchmen back in 2009 ($4.5 million).

Watchmen ended up with $78 million internationally, but Green Lantern will undoubtably perform better. It's a much friendlier franchise and it's in 3D.

 

[JGS]

I don't see it. We've had 3 superhero movies, all B level properties(Xmen was A tier in team name only, the roster for the film was filled with scrubs), and only one has bombed. And the bomb was deservedly so based on quality.

These properties were never going to do Dark Knight numbers, they aren't Batman. Iron Man is the absolute peak of what you can do with a B tier character, and that was based on quality as well.

If Cap does similar numbers to Thor or better, than this was a successful summer for the genre as a whole. If Cap flops, there's an argument to be made.

Genre death lasts several seasons. You'll see it more next year when the other hero movies fail to impress especially considering that no one actually asks for reboots to massively successful franchises. Even Dark Knight Returns, which is based on an orginal reboot (lol), won't measure up to Dark Knight. There's no way that it could. However, you also can't say that because of Dark Knight's success, other hero movies will do well (Not you personally).

However, I find it hard to believe that anyone thinks Hollywood is ecstatic over their hero movies grossing less than 200 million domestically in the middle of summer with the cash they are throwing out for them. Even Thor is not a smash hit domestically for a summer flick but it benefitted from early release too.

I disagree about X-Men. It is definitely A tier. Magneto & Xavier make it so and the only one missing is Wolverine. As I stated before, I do believe hero movies will be around a while due to the benefit of international releases (Like action movies in their last days), but perception is usually based on domestic realities and none of them are that impressive.

 

[3N16MA]

The Green Lantern's debut in the UK (~$4.9 million) is comparable to the performance of Watchmen back in 2009 ($4.5 million).

Watchmen ended up with $78 million internationally, but Green Lantern will undoubtably perform better. It's a much friendlier franchise and it's in 3D.

Thor did $9.1 million it's first weekend in the UK and First Class did $8.9 million.

 

[James Woods]

I hope Avengers kills superhero movies forever.

 

[kswiston]

However, I find it hard to believe that anyone thinks Hollywood is ecstatic over their hero movies grossing less than 200 million domestically in the middle of summer with the cash they are throwing out for them. Even Thor is not a smash hit domestically for a summer flick but it benefitted from early release too.

I disagree about X-Men. It is definitely A tier. Magneto & Xavier make it so and the only one missing is Wolverine. As I stated before, I do believe hero movies will be around a while due to the benefit of international releases (Like action movies in their last days), but perception is usually based on domestic realities and none of them are that impressive.

I think Hollywood would rather make $175-180M domestically on a May launch of Thor, than they would $60M off of Poseidon or $105M off of Robin hood. Both May releases. Both with similar budgets. More than half of the movies budgeted at $100-200M fail to make that back domestically. An untested franchise with a domestic gross over its production budget is a good thing. Especially if it has strong overseas grosses like Thor.

With a few exceptions, Superhero movies have proven to be pretty safe bets at the box office. Some disappointments, but few outright bombs. The only glaring one I can think of (not counting low budget B movies) is Catwoman.

I hope Avengers kills superhero movies forever.

Unlikely. I think Avengers is going to pay off big time for Marvel.

Also, what is with the superhero movie hate? It's not as though the film industry is overflowing with good blockbuster action flicks that make big money.

 

[WrikaWrek]

There's no fatigue. Actually, there is, fatigue of shitty movies.

 

[Blader]

Ew. That might work well financially like Marvel's endeavors have, but creatively it fucking blows. I was thrilled when Geoff Johns (I believe it was him) said DC had no interest in going down that path, but would explore solo franchises for their characters.

Johns said that two years ago and that plan has since changed completely. Jeff Robinov announced (rather casually) a few months ago that they're fast tracking a Justice League film and that Flash and Wonder Woman movies would spin-off from that.

 

[NullPointer]

Never was much into DC and only vaguely remember Green Lantern from my childhood. And after seeing posters and stands, there was literally nothing there that made me want to find out more.

Also saw Super 8 and don't quite understand the hype. Your average season 1 X-Files episode was far more entertaining and even better realized. It was a lot of waiting for the reveals which had exactly zero punch to them.

 

[Effect]

DC needs to get their shit together and do something like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Avengers leading up to a Justice League movie.

The Green Lantern should have been the beginning of this, followed by Superman and the inevitable post-Bale/Nolan Batman. The Flash and Wonder Woman both have the potential to be big hits on their own. Throw in some of the lesser known characters like Martian Manhunter and Aquaman as cameos or in scene stealing scenes like Nick Fury and Black Widow. Then bring them all together for a huge Justice League movie.

And why hasn't there been a Teen Titans movie?

By the time they get their act together it might be to late I think. They've wasted so much time and when it was clear what Marvel was doing they should have followed them right away. I've always felt Marvel translated better to live action and DC to animation due to the nature of their characters. It's reflected in both their offers over the years as well. Maybe WB/DC should embrace that with an extremely high quality animated theater film. I'm talking Toy Story level of investment.

Personally I'm sick of the super hero scene. I didn't even make an effort to go see both X-men and Green Lantern. I didn't bother with Thor and I might take a pass at Captain America as well. Transformers is the only film I'm looking forward to outside of the last Harry Potter film. The second GL trailer was good but it wasn't as if caused the first to not exist. Those scenes were still in the film. Had they said they'd gone back and redid some scenes I might have felt better about it. Even then I don't care for Hal but John Stewart as that's the GL I grew up knowing about thanks to the Justice League cartoon. I really wonder how much that could have played a role as well. Maybe not an overt thought in people's minds but perhaps something that was just there.

 

[Barrett2]

In bomba's day, in bomba's night.

 

[vicissitudes]

Thanks for the response...it's interesting that overseas audiences are still hyped for Pirates movies. I'd be curious as to why.

Because the overseas audience has terrible taste and USA=#1. Seriously, just look at 2012. Almost 80% of it's gross came from overseas.

 

[TheOddOne]

Brett Ratner is laughing somewhere. I wanna fucking punch him.

 

[kswiston]

Brett Ratner is laughing somewhere. I wanna fucking punch him.

I wonder if Bryan Singer regrets passing up X3 for Superman. Superman was a disappointment, and the X-Franchise has lost a lot of its box office luster in his absence.

I don't think it is a coincidence that, out of the 5 x-flicks, the three good ones were films that he was directly involved with.

 

[TheOddOne]

I wonder if Bryan Singer regrets passing up X3 for Superman. Superman was a disappointment, and the X-Franchise has lost a lot of its box office luster in his absence.

I don't think it is a coincidence that, out of the 5 x-flicks, the three good ones were films that he was directly involved with.

With him signing to produce First Class you can pretty much say he regretted it a lot.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Also, what is with the superhero movie hate? It's not as though the film industry is overflowing with good blockbuster action flicks that make big money.

Probably because so much money is used to make super hero movies. If they stop making them, maybe we'll get better movies.

 

[Tron 2.0]

Probably because so much money is used to make super hero movies. If they stop making them, maybe we'll get better movies.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

[Blader]

Probably because so much money is used to make super hero movies. If they stop making them, maybe we'll get better movies.

This logic is foolproof.

 

[Clockblockers]

This is the first year that I can remember International receipts been a boon for so many domestic movies that didn't quite catch on or underperform (if you want to throw that tag around).

Luckily for The First Avenger it has 3D on it's side which the International market still flocks to those screenings to cancel out heavy pro-American angle.

I think that trend is shifting, I want to see the GL 3D vs 2D numbers, both in money and tickets sold. It appears that the International market and the American market are starting to sour on the 3D trend. I don't know if that it'll stick or not, but I think this summer will finally show with hard numbers that 3D can not be an easy fix to buff up numbers.

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

Brett Ratner is laughing somewhere. I wanna fucking punch him.

He was crowing about it during the opening weekend.