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#Post#: 20664--------------------------------------------------
8 Tell-Tale Signs That a Movie Could Be a Flop
By: Mac Date: July 7, 2013, 1:10 pm
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[glow=red,2,300]8 Tell-Tale Signs That a Movie Could Be a
Flop[/glow]
What to avoid if you want to see something good at the theater
"White House Down" landed in theaters this past weekend with a
thud.
Blowing up much of the Beltway cost $150 million, but the film
only eked out a $25.7 million opening despite the triple threat
of Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx and "Independence Day" director
Roland Emmerich.
And this week sees the debut of "The Lone Ranger," which rides
into theaters on a flurry of bad reviews and damaging reports
about a bursting budget and production snafus. Of course, like
"World War Z," another film that was plagued by trouble-on-the
set stories, "The Lone Ranger" could overcome the bad buzz to be
a solid box officer earner.
Not every film is so lucky. Just ask Will and Jaden Smith's
whose father-son adventure "After Earth" crash landed with
audiences and critics or poor Taylor Kitsch, who had the
ignominious distinction of starring in not one, but two
back-to-back bombs with "Battleship" and "John Carter."
Nearly every preview for would-be blockbusters these days
promises moviegoers a non-stop thrill ride guaranteed to leave
them flattened, floored and gasping at the sheer wonder of all
that CGI and star power. Look closer, however, and there are
certain tell-tale signs that a studio knows it may have a turkey
on its hands.
Every studio wants a movie to be a hit. Here are 8 signals that
it won't be:
1. Critics Can't Review the Film Until After it Opens
Sometimes a film is so unsalvageable that studios won't let
critics get their talons into it until after a film debuts. So
if your local paper carries a notice that such and such a film
can't be reviewed because there were no advance screenings,
cancel the babysitter and call off plans to hit the multiplex.
That kind of treatment is reserved for movies that are so
bad,studios know the reviews will only add fuel to the fire.
Think of the much-panned "Movie 43," or the Ashton
Kutcher-Katherine Heigl dud "Killers," or the Daniel Craig
horror film "Dream House," which was frightening for all the
wrong reasons. None of those films got reviewed until after
opening day. Get the drift?
2. The Only Good Critical Blurbs Come From Shawn Edwards or
Jeffrey Lyons
Some "critics" are such quote-whores that they essentially write
press releases for studios. They always find something positive
to say about even the most awful movies. So how do you know
which reviewers fall short of objective status?
eFilmCritics's Erik Childress has a helpful column that keeps
tabs on the reviewers most likely to lavish hyperbole on
otherwise poorly-rated box office bombs. Edwards and Lyons are
often at the top of his list, so if you see one of their names
on a movie's promo poster raving about how a film is "a
cinematic gem" or advising you to "wear a diaper, it's that
good!," it's probably best to add it to the must-miss pile.
3. The Ever-Shifting Release Date
When a studio plans to release a movie during blockbuster or
awards season only to change course and reschedule for, say,
early spring or mid-fall, that usually signals big problems. It
either means a movie isn't good enough to snag an Oscar or lacks
what it takes to compete with the other popcorn movies. Either
way, it's rarely an endorsement.
Exceptions: "The Great Gatsby" which had many Hollywood watchers
smelling a bomb when it was punted out of Oscar season and into
this summer. Yes, critics hated it, but audiences embraced it to
the tune of more than $300 million at the worldwide box office.
A similar strategy reaped dividends for "World War Z," which
brought in the "Lost" team of Damon Lindelof and Drew Goddard
after filming had wrapped to craft a new ending. The costly bet
required a move from winter 2012 to the summer of 2013, but the
filmmakers were rewarded with a box office gross of $260 million
worldwide and counting.
Some things are worth the wait.
4. It's Green
"Green Hornet" and "Green Lantern" both came out in 2011, both
cost a lot of money, and both bombed. Add to the list, 2010's
"Green Zone," a big-budget Iraq War action movie that discovered
that -- shock of shocks -- audiences go to the movies to escape
real world problems. Still don't see a pattern? Try 2003's
"Hulk" and 2008's "The Incredible Hulk." Green is great for the
environment. At the box office, it's toxic.
Exception: "The Avengers," which did feature a big green monster
but widely avoided the color in its title.
5. Eddie Murphy is in it
Yeah, he was a comic genius -- back in the time of Iran Contra
and acid wash jeans. But too many dumb kiddie movies have made
Eddie Murphy box office poison. With a résumé stocked with flops
like "Meet Dave," "A Thousand Words" and, drum roll please, "The
Adventures of Pluto Nash," it's a wonder the former-funnyman
continues to get work.
"Shrek" and "Dreamgirls" sure feel like a long time ago.
6. Katherine Heigl is in it
Poor Izzie. If only you'd never left Seattle Grace Hospital.
That's because losing the medical scrubs has been nothing short
of a disaster for the once-promising Heigl. Don't believe us?
Why don't you rent "Killers" or "One for the Money"...and don't
worry, there won't be a wait on Netflix for either one.
7. It's a Big Budget Passion Project
Throwing a lot of money at a talented auteur or actor usually
results in one of two outcomes: the studio doesn't trust its
creative team enough and over-interferes, creating an
unsalvageable mishmash of the filmmaker's unique vision and the
studio's desperate desire to make it appeal to the widest
possible audience (see: "The Fountain"), or a creative genius
has too much clout and gets all the cash and freedom to do what
they want (see: "Cloud Atlas," "Battlefield Earth" and
everything M. Night Shyamalan has done since 2006).
Exception: Anything James Cameron touches. Just write the check
Hollywood and leave him in peace.
8. Poster or Trailer Proclaims "From the Producer of..."
Ask yourself: do you even know what a producer does? They might
as well say from the craft services team behind "Twilight" or
the grip who helped light "The Phantom Menace."
#Post#: 20667--------------------------------------------------
Re: 8 Tell-Tale Signs That a Movie Could Be a Flop
By: Neumatic Date: July 7, 2013, 1:50 pm
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You could easily add "it comes out in February" to that list.
Totally agree about the producer thing, though. I kept seeing
ads for this tv series called "The Fosters" and they kept saying
"from executive producer Jennifer Lopez" as if that meant diddly
to ANYONE. I feel like they add that to give the slightest
sense of familiarity to a project but it comes off as desperate
and sad.
Here's the thing, though: flop doesn't mean bad. This
information is good if you're running a pool or something but it
really doesn't tell you anything about the quality of the movie.
Lots of great films did bad at the box office.
#Post#: 21039--------------------------------------------------
Re: 8 Tell-Tale Signs That a Movie Could Be a Flop
By: Chiprocks1 Date: July 18, 2013, 4:40 pm
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[quote author=Neumatic link=topic=2083.msg20667#msg20667
date=1373223028]
Lots of great films did bad at the box office.
[/quote]
QFT.
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