Finally, I get the chance to show off my forecasting skills. As predicted 2 weeks before Battleship sinks at no.2 with a gross the half of The Avengers.
Both Battleship and The Avengers had a world premiere on April 11, 2012. The difference is that of May 22 Bship has grossed just above $240m worldwide compared to our Marvel superheroes' over $1,800,000.000!
So is it must be rightly said that Taylor Kitsch who has a main role in both Bship and John Carter will garner a name for himself in being 'the actor whose films always badly underperform'. I also think that Battleship should've been released at the start of the year where the New Year gross could've saved it. Maybe it could've made a very quick $800m in January. So bad marketing people.
Due to The Avengers buzz I forgot that The Dictator starring famed comedian Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G Indiahouse, Borat, Bruno). The best comedy film of this year so far, in my opinion, is 21 Jump Street. But it has a big chance of being overwhelmed by the mastery of Cohen's acting skills
The plot follows Cohen play a Dictator of a fictional North African county visiting America. And we all know what happens to foreign leaders (with giant hairy beards) when they visit the US. The trailer proves it could be a must-watch:
It lands at no.3 surprisingly outgrossing Johnny Depp's Dark Shadows which was at no.2 last week. The Dictator is directed by Larry Charles who also directed the hit mockumentaries Borat and Bruno starring the same actor in the lead role. Written by Cohen along with 3 other screenwriters.
The Hunger Games is still at the US chart in its 9th week. It'll probably leave on the 11th. I also predict that Men in Black 3 would land at no.1 or most probably 2 next week due to The Avenger's uproar. Also Think Like a Man has made just above $85m off a $12m budget domestically which is a big breakthrough for Indie films compared to the pressure faced by mega budget action features recently released.
That's all for now. Catch the US box office next Tuesday to see Men in Black 3's exciting opening.
(Chart from Box Office Mojo)
May 15, 2012
Bruce Willis (Die Hard 1-4, Surrogates, Hostage, Red) Sylvester Stallone (Rambo 4, Cobra, The Expendables, D-Tox) Jean-Claude Van Damme ...
Bruce Willis (Die Hard 1-4, Surrogates, Hostage, Red)
Sylvester Stallone (Rambo 4, Cobra, The Expendables, D-Tox)
Jean-Claude Van Damme (Timecop, Sudden Death, Wake of Death, Replicant, Until Death, Assassination Games, In Hell)
Liam Neeson (Taken, The Grey, Unknown, Star Wars - The Phantom Menace)
Dwayne Johnson AKA The Rock (Walking Tall, The Rundown, Faster, Fast Five)
Jackie Chan (Rumble in the Bronx, Rush Hour 1-2, The Tuxedo, The Medallion, The Myth, The Forbidden Kingdom)
Nicolas Cage, also my all-genre fav actor (Con Air, Face Off, National Treasure 1-2, 8mm, The Rock, Gone in 60 seconds)
Hugh Jackman (Swordfish, X-men 1-3, Real Steel, The Prestige)
Jason Statham (The Transporter 1-3, Death Race, The Expendables)
Jet Li (The One, The Expendables, Romeo Must Die, Kiss of the Dragon, The Forbidden Kingdom, Cradle 2 The Grave)
Keanu Reeves (The Matrix Trilogy, Point Break)
Wesley Snipes (Blade 1-3, The Art of War, Undisputed)
Scott Adkins (Undisputed 2-3)
Luke Goss (Death Race 2)
Danny Trejo (Machete, Con Air)
Note: These only concern H-town actors as if it was a global film industry list the first would be Thai martial artist Tony Jaa (The Protector, Ong Bak 1-2) and 2nd Donnie Yen of Chinese films (Ip Man 1-2, 14 Blades, Flash point). And worst would be Rajinikanth.
Catch The Rock and Bruce Willis along with Channing Tatum in GI Joe 2 releasing this year in late June globally.
An ensemble cast of Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jet Li, Sylvester Stallone, Van Damme, Norris, Chris Hemsworth, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Lundgren, Scott Adkins, and Jason Statham star in The Expendables 2 releasing in August 2012 worldwide.
May 15, 2012
TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week # 1 1 Marvel's The...
Well. duh it reached that milestone in 19 days. If you have a opening in the US of over $200m what else can be forecast.
Now The Avengers starring an ensemble cast of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johannson, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury was built to break records. The film had its worldwide premiere on April 11, 2012 and released in the UAE on May 3 to full houses. It broke midnight screening records in the US. In North America, the presales tickets exceeded those of all of last year Marvel live-action film releases.
Hell, they exceeded in NOT making Thor look gay in his feature film of 2011. So The Avengers' success does not come as a surprise as all of last year's Marvel releases opened to positive to mixed reviewed and covered their budget by $200-$300m.
The Avengers has become the highest-grossing film based on comics (created by the late Jack Kirby and legend Stan Lee respectively). It has become the biggest grossing superhero film and the fifth highest grosser distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. It shares its speed of earning the $1b milestone with Avatar, and Harry Potter - The Deathly Hallows Part 2. That speed being 19 days.
Rotten Tomatoes gives it 93% certified fresh and why wouldn't it be? I watched it in the theatre 2 times and I'm still craving another viewing. This film will excite both comic book fans and those who have never read a page. I'll give a full review later on. The current rating on IMDB is 8.7/10 and the running time is 2 hours, 23 minutes and you'll never feel that you wasted that time.
Think Like a Man falls to no. 3 spot in its 4th week. No surprise Johnny Depp's Dark Shadows reached no.2 but fails to beat The Avengers (as predicted). The horror comedy film is based on the mid 60s soap opera series of the same name. And its based on vampires and unsurprisingly directed by Tim Burton. This mark Depp's eighth collaboration with Burton that started with Edward Scissorhands (a teen fantasy romantic film), which I found one of Depp's best acting flicks and Burton's only movie that I would recommend. The trailer is quite impressive though and I'm looking forward to watch this one:
Battleship might reach no.2 or no.3 next weekend. The only film that can and most probably beat the superhero squad is Men in Black 3 releasing on May 25 with a strong budget of $215m.
So I'm excited for the weekend after next...
May 08, 2012
TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week # 1 N Marvel's The...
I wrongly predicted that The Avengers won't beat the opening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. The last film of the HP series made a massive $169m on its opening weekend. I also thought Avengers' would equal the opening of The Dark Knight ($158.4m) but it did a lot more than that. Though I did correctly predict it would beat The Hunger Games ($152.2m).
Marvel's The Avengers, based on the superhero team comic-book series written by legends Stan Lee and the late Jack Kirby, has earned just over $205m in just 3 days at the US theatres. I saw this one recently and I have to say it's a summer blockbuster must-watch! (review coming soon).
It has broken multiple records which weren't predicted by me and other box office pundits: Fastest to $100m. Fastest to $150m. Fastest to $200m.
Now many people had this feature on top of their summer watchlist. Even the female fanbase. But I'm shocked it beat Harry Potter's said to be unbeatable record. This has also sparked the interest of viewing superhero movies again which was lost by last year's Green Lantern and the uninteresting grosses of Captain America: The First Avenger and X-Men: First Class. Last year only Thor is to be considered a masterpiece not only commercially (approximately $450m worldwide) and critically (Rotten Tomatoes: 77%, BoxOffice101: 3/4). So I wasn't surprised to see Thor not being underrated in this hot seasoned entertainer.
Joss Whedon has written and directed The Avengers off a story by him and Zak Penn. Whedon enjoys cult status and is a well renowned TV writer having created Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly along with popular others. This being his 2nd mainstream film he does a pretty good job at it and although his first film (Serenity 2005) barely managed to reach its budget, this year luck favours him. His co-written horror film that has gotten critics jumping is off the top 10 week this list after its 3rd week. It has made just above $45m off $12m and I'm super eager to see it. It will release on May 10, 012 in the UAE.
This week also marks Think Like a Man's fall off the top (as predicted last week) along with The Hunger Games at no.3. Both no.2 and no.3 haven't managed to make up to $10m this week and I'm sure Battleship won't take The Avengers off the highest rank with its North America debut on May 18. Men in Black 3 will do that though.
That's enough for one weekend folks. BoxOffice101 predicted that Marvel's The Avengers would made $990m - $1b. Now let's see how much it ends up with in the end...
