2019-20 Full Year Slates (Division A)

[Buscemi2]

The Artist made $45 million. Of course, it also won Best Picture the year it came out.

[Screen203]

The Artist made $45 million. Of course, it also won Best Picture the year it came out.

Wasn't The Artist seen as a disappointment at the time of its wide release?

[Chienfantome]

I'd be surprised if a French silent black&white film making $45 million was seden as a disappointment at the time.

But The Artist had everything to break out, I remember I had it on my draft slate. But The Lighthouse doesn't look like the kind of film that has a true chance of breaking out.

[numbersix]

Having seen The Lighthouse, I suspect $15m is its limit. Its 2 men on an island going crazy for 2 hours. It doesn't have the atmospherics of The Witch, and its 1:1 aspect ratio, dark subject matter, and being shot in B&W will limit its potential.

[Buscemi2]

Ugh, 1:1. I thought that was going away after that pretentious egoist Xavier Dolan used it for another one of his overhyped, "look at how important I am" movies.

[numbersix]

To be fair, given the film's era the 1:1 ratio makes some sense, unlike Dolan's film, but Eggers' film does everything it can to not appeal to the mainstream.

[Shrykespeare]

STANDINGS (WEEK 5/52)

1. Six - $403,583,025 (4 films - Avengers: Endgame, The Intruder, Poms, Booksmart)
2. UDM - $316,427,811 (2 films - Detective Pikachu, Aladdin)
3. JAS - $143,838,526 (2 films - John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum, Ma)
4. Spectre - $66,615,148 (2 films - A Dog's Journey, Godzilla: King of the Monsters)
5. Surfer - $47,569,679 (2 films - The Hustle, Brightburn)
6. Buscemi - $29,904,463 (1 film - Long Shot)
7. Nicodemus - $25,905,250 (3 films - Uglydolls, Tolkien, Biggest Little Farm)
8. aquamann - $25,725,722 (1 film - Rocketman)
9. Chien - $4,929,117 (1 film - The Sun is Also a Star)

Walleye - first film debuting 6/7





6/7
The Secret Life of Pets 2 (Walleye, 2nd round)
Dark Phoenix (UDM, 4th round)
Late Night (UDM, 7th round)



6/14
Men in Black International (Surfer, 2nd round)
Shaft (Walleye, 5th round)
The Dead Don't Die (Nicodemus, 14th round)



6/21
Toy Story 4 (Buscemi, 1st round)
Child's Play (Spectre, 8th round)
Anna (Spectre, 12th round)



6/28
Annabelle Comes Home (Six, 4th round)
Yesterday (Buscemi, 4th round)

[Chienfantome]

So my technique this year was to start with the worst film possible so you guys don't pay attention to me and my slate until BAAAM !!! I hit when you least expect it.

[Shrykespeare]

STANDINGS (WEEK 6/52)

1. Six - $416,814,768 (4 films - Avengers: Endgame, The Intruder, Poms, Booksmart)
2. UDM - $403,251,418 (4 films - Detective Pikachu, Aladdin, Dark Phoenix, Late Night)
3. JAS - $171,455,461 (2 films - John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum, Ma)
4. Spectre - $99,483,604 (2 films - A Dog's Journey, Godzilla: King of the Monsters)
5. Surfer - $50,896,399 (2 films - The Hustle, Brightburn)
6. aquamann - $50,314,772 (1 film - Rocketman)
7. Walleye - $47,577,680 (1 film - The Secret Life of Pets 2)
8. Buscemi - $30,170,007 (1 film - Long Shot)
9. Nicodemus - $26,831,077 (3 films - Uglydolls, Tolkien, Biggest Little Farm)
10. Chien - $4,950,029 (0 films - 1 finished)


The following film would appear to be done:

The Sun is Also a Star (Chien, 12th round) = $4,950,029




6/14
Men in Black International (Surfer, 2nd round)
Shaft (Walleye, 5th round)
The Dead Don't Die (Nicodemus, 14th round)



6/21
Toy Story 4 (Buscemi, 1st round)
Child's Play (Spectre, 8th round)
Anna (Spectre, 12th round)



6/28
Annabelle Comes Home (Six, 4th round)
Yesterday (Buscemi, 4th round)



7/5:
Spider-Man: Far From Home (Surfer, 1st round) (7/2)
Midsommar (Nicodemus, 9th round) (7/3)

[Buscemi2]

Damn Chien, you really overestimated The Sun is Also a Star.

[Chienfantome]

No no no no no no, this was just an early summer preview, I heard Warner is gonna release the film for real in the fall, as it's their obvious awards candidate...... Right ? RIGHT ???!!!!!! RIIIIIGHT !!!!!!!!!!!!?????????

[Walleye413]

So - so far the only movies to really surprise in a good way are John Wick and Aladdin. Epic!

I thought these first 6 weeks would have way more money and momentum - but nearly across the board it's a struggle. Thoughts? Analysis? It's too many movies underperforming to just say - "well, Pikachu is a video game movie after all."

[Buscemi2]

There have been claims that sequelitis is in full swing but that doesn't explain some of the other movies disappointing or flopping.

My postmortem analysis on some of the flops or disappointments:

- UglyDolls: it was too generic of a film. It might have worked had Robert Rodriguez stayed on a director rather than it becoming a rushed clone of Blue Sky works.

- Long Shot: the ingredients of a successful film seemed to be here. Good reviews, stellar test screenings and advance word, and two marketable actors. I think the problem was that it was a political comedy in an era where it's hard to laugh at politics.

- Detective Pikachu: too obscure of a game and it deviated too far from the Pokemon formula. Also, the film needed to have glowing reaction and it just didn't.

- Poms: the film just didn't work according to reviews. The project could have used a Brett Haley, who would have put a little dignity into it.

- Tolkien: bad trailers, weak reviews, and no backing from Tolkien's family. This should have been dumped into a dead week instead of a big summer weekend.

- A Dog's Journey: the trailers gave away everything and we already had one mediocre W. Bruce Cameron adaptation this year. This has even disappointed in China (the only reason why this film was made).

- The Sun is Also a Star: too preachy-looking of a film that seemed to pander to its target audience. In addition, the immigration themes were going to make it a no-sell in middle America.

- Brightburn: the film wasn't good and the premise polarized its audience. Sony should have dumped this one onto a rent-a-label (speaking of Stage 6 titles, Family deserved a bigger release than it got and probably should have gotten the push Brightburn did).

- Booksmart: the middle America problem strikes again. The film might have been too upper-class to take off. In addition, the men's rights people had a fit over it and it seems as if it must be all about them.

- Godzilla: King of the Monsters: American studios just can't make a Godzilla film work, it seems like. It's not about unlikable humans and the military. It's about kaiju destroying things. This was just an Independence Day clone with King Ghidorah instead of UFO's.

- The Secret Life of Pets 2: Universal didn't seem to have much of an idea how to promote this one. I didn't see a trailer that explained the premise until after I saw the film.

- Dark Phoenix: they already did this premise in The Last Stand and this one managed to be worse in every way. Also, Game of Thrones actors as film stars hasn't worked yet and Chastain's overexposed.

I'll let off The Intruder (overperformed), The Hustle (did decently for something long on the shelf), Rocketman (still too early), and Ma (already returned its budget).

[Spectre]

So - so far the only movies to really surprise in a good way are John Wick and Aladdin. Epic!

I thought these first 6 weeks would have way more money and momentum - but nearly across the board it's a struggle. Thoughts? Analysis? It's too many movies underperforming to just say - "well, Pikachu is a video game movie after all."

It feels like people are being super selective with their money right now (and especially picky when it comes to sequels). Disney has so many damn tentpoles down that competition is extremely tight. It's not just enough to release a popcorn flick during the summer right now, it has to be really good and something the public wants.

[undeadmonkey]

So - so far the only movies to really surprise in a good way are John Wick and Aladdin. Epic!

I thought these first 6 weeks would have way more money and momentum - but nearly across the board it's a struggle. Thoughts? Analysis? It's too many movies underperforming to just say - "well, Pikachu is a video game movie after all."

It feels like people are being super selective with their money right now (and especially picky when it comes to sequels). Disney has so many damn tentpoles down that competition is extremely tight. It's not just enough to release a popcorn flick during the summer right now, it has to be really good and something the public wants.

Also these top tier blockbusters, you know $600M-$800M ones, i really think they effect other films more than people give credit for. Once you get outside of the 'regular' movie going crowd, those people have a limit to how many films they go see in a time period.

It happened with Black Panther, everything for the next month and a half under performed; Wrinkle In Time, Tomb Raider, Ready Player One, even Pacific Rim and Red Sparrow, they all fell short of what they were tracking at.