Top 50 Disapointing movie sequels, adaptations or simply overhyped
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Posted on: 2012-08-28 09:47 in Comic and Hero-Villain Culture
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But it did continue making money after it's debut. It also has generably favorable reviews.|
Originally Posted by Ironik
Nope.
One really good gauge of popularity is whether a movie has "legs", meaning: does it keep earning money after its debut? For Indy 4, the answer to that is a resounding "Not." |
It made 100million it's opening weekend and then another 200+million in the US. If it didn't have legs, wouldn't it have bombed after the weekend debut?
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It pretty much did burn out. It earned 60% of its money opening weekend. Attendance went from more than 34,000 per theatre its first weekend to 13,000 its second one. In week two it was beaten by Sex and the City. That's bad word of mouth in action.|
Originally Posted by BrandX
But it did continue making money after it's debut. It also has generably favorable reviews.
It made 100million it's opening weekend and then another 200+million in the US. If it didn't have legs, wouldn't it have bombed after the weekend debut? |
$317 million domestic sounds like a lot of money, but it's not for an Indiana Jones movie. There are few characters or franchises as beloved as that one, and the hype for it was huge. Maybe you've forgotten the raucous cheers that broke out when that first trailer was released. Anticipation was huge. And then once people saw it, word of mouth caused it to fizzle. If they had delivered another Raiders or Last Crusade instead of another Temple of Doom, Crystal Skull would've earned more money than Dark Knight. Adjusted for inflation, Raiders earned $700 million domestic, Temple made $430 million and Last Crusade made $400 million. Anticipation for Indy 4 was huge, but it sold less than half the number of tickets Last Crusade did.
The story was the same for DVD: it made $117 million, but all of that was front-loaded. It quickly fell off. Contrast it with Iron Man, which earned $200 million less globally that same year but slightly more domestically, selling $173 million on DVD its first month, and continues to sell at four times the rate of Indy 4. Those are legs.
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I guess it's just a matter of defining the scale/scope of the case at hand. Yes $300+ million domestic gross for a movie is a lot of money regardless of context. But for an Indiana Jones movie it was still arguably the weakest and most overly hyped installment of the franchise.
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Originally Posted by Ironik
It pretty much did burn out. It earned 60% of its money opening weekend. Attendance went from more than 34,000 per theatre its first weekend to 13,000 its second one. In week two it was beaten by Sex and the City. That's bad word of mouth in action.
$317 million domestic sounds like a lot of money, but it's not for an Indiana Jones movie. There are few characters or franchises as beloved as that one, and the hype for it was huge. Maybe you've forgotten the raucous cheers that broke out when that first trailer was released. Anticipation was huge. And then once people saw it, word of mouth caused it to fizzle. If they had delivered another Raiders or Last Crusade instead of another Temple of Doom, Crystal Skull would've earned more money than Dark Knight. Adjusted for inflation, Raiders earned $700 million domestic, Temple made $430 million and Last Crusade made $400 million. Anticipation for Indy 4 was huge, but it sold less than half the number of tickets Last Crusade did. The story was the same for DVD: it made $117 million, but all of that was front-loaded. It quickly fell off. Contrast it with Iron Man, which earned $200 million less globally that same year but slightly more domestically, selling $173 million on DVD its first month, and continues to sell at four times the rate of Indy 4. Those are legs. |
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Eh, I enjoy it more than ToD.
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Originally Posted by Lothic
I guess it's just a matter of defining the scale/scope of the case at hand. Yes $300+ million domestic gross for a movie is a lot of money regardless of context. But for an Indiana Jones movie it was still arguably the weakest and most overly hyped installment of the franchise.
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Well I'd agree those two might have to fight for "which was the 3rd or 4th best Indiana Jones movie so far". |
Originally Posted by BrandX
Eh, I enjoy it more than ToD.
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That doesn't sound right. According to boxofficemojo, Indy4 made $100M opening weekend ($125M to Sunday because it opened on thursday) and ended with $317M domestically. That means it earned about 3.2x opening weekend. That's actually pretty good, its opening weekend was only 31% of its total domestic take. Even if you focus on the first four full weeks of release from May 22 to June 18, Indy4 took in about $281M. That means opening weekend took in about 36% of the total four week take domestically.|
Originally Posted by Ironik
It pretty much did burn out. It earned 60% of its money opening weekend. Attendance went from more than 34,000 per theatre its first weekend to 13,000 its second one. In week two it was beaten by Sex and the City. That's bad word of mouth in action.
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They certainly wanted more, but the movie did not "burn out." It certainly did not earn 60% of its revenue on opening weekend. It earned about 60% of its first weeks revenue on opening weekend. By the end of week two, it had more than doubled opening weekend's grosses ($225M).
Even if you count the entire period from May 22 (thursday) to May 26 (monday) "opening weekend" due to the holiday, Indy4 went on to more than double the total take from that stretch of five days. It was fairly financially successful domestically and very financially successful overall including worldwide grosses.
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Which is the case with any movie series...in the end, they can't all be 1st place |
Originally Posted by Lothic
Well I'd agree those two might have to fight for "which was the 3rd or 4th best Indiana Jones movie so far".
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As for the Nuke the Fridge scene. Is it possible? Yes. The odds in your favor? Well, even if the fridge can survive the blast (which it could), the only real part one has to think on is, what are the odds Indy could survive being tossed that far and high into the air, come crashing down, and still be alive?
If you watched the other Indy movies, you know Indy survives terrible odds like that, ALL THE TIME!
It's his gimmick! In fact, I believe the Indiana Jones RPG was all about that.
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I'm surprised Star Trek: The Motion Picture isn't on there. We called it "the Motionless Picture" at the time, since it was two hours of crewmembers sitting on the bridge staring in awe at things.
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So true. It's the only Star Trek movie I refuse to watch myself.
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Originally Posted by JKCarrier
I'm surprised Star Trek: The Motion Picture isn't on there. We called it "the Motionless Picture" at the time, since it was two hours of crewmembers sitting on the bridge staring in awe at things.
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Spider-Man 3 is definitely within the 10 worst theatrical releases I've ever seen. (It's #2, actually, after Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.)|
Originally Posted by Lothic
Yep I'd have to agree that all of these movies had a certain degree of "Meh" about them. Not sure all of them would make my top 10 "bummer" list but they would definitely all be on my top 50 list.
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There's a lot on that top 50 list (after the first 10) I really disagree with, though. I don't think Alien 3 belongs in the top 50 (especially since Alien: Resurrection isn't), nor does Speed Racer or Kill Bill Part 2. And Ghostbusters 2 shouldn't be on the list at all.
And Iron Man 2? WTF, that movie was actually good. It wasn't better than the original, but it was on par, and I have a REALLY hard time believing that there's any consensus it's the #22 biggest let down in recent movie history.
(Also, where the hell is Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen on that list? That movie is also in my personal top 10 list of worst theatrical releases I've seen. It wasn't just disappointing--it was offensive.)
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It was.
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Originally Posted by Nethergoat
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I actually didn't cringe too much over the "Nuke the Fridge" scene. Sure it stretched everyone's suspension of disbelief to the infinite limits of the Universe, but like you say Indy has always been portrayed as basically a kind of larger than life, Willpower-based, Scrapper-type character anyway. He's survived things in every movie that are probably a step beyond "realistic" already.|
Originally Posted by BrandX
As for the Nuke the Fridge scene. Is it possible? Yes. The odds in your favor? Well, even if the fridge can survive the blast (which it could), the only real part one has to think on is, what are the odds Indy could survive being tossed that far and high into the air, come crashing down, and still be alive?
If you watched the other Indy movies, you know Indy survives terrible odds like that, ALL THE TIME! It's his gimmick! In fact, I believe the Indiana Jones RPG was all about that. |
For what it's worth I thought that movie had other general weaknesses that made it disappointing and lackluster - the Nuke the Fridge scene alone didn't "ruin" the movie for me.
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Originally Posted by JKCarrier
I'm surprised Star Trek: The Motion Picture isn't on there. We called it "the Motionless Picture" at the time, since it was two hours of crewmembers sitting on the bridge staring in awe at things.
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I ultimately didn't hate Star Trek: The Motion Picture that much, but I'd clearly acknowledge it had some pacing problems and there's basically no way a studio could even dream of getting away with a movie like it in today's ADHD-leaning post-MTV mindset.
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You're right, I typoed 60% instead of 40% (23rd-26th). It was 60% by the end of the third weekend. Lifts in the shoes and a longer stride, but still not much in the way of legs.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
That doesn't sound right. According to boxofficemojo, Indy4 made $100M opening weekend ($125M to Sunday because it opened on thursday) and ended with $317M domestically. That means it earned about 3.2x opening weekend. That's actually pretty good, its opening weekend was only 31% of its total domestic take. Even if you focus on the first four full weeks of release from May 22 to June 18, Indy4 took in about $281M. That means opening weekend took in about 36% of the total four week take domestically.
They certainly wanted more, but the movie did not "burn out." It certainly did not earn 60% of its revenue on opening weekend. It earned about 60% of its first weeks revenue on opening weekend. By the end of week two, it had more than doubled opening weekend's grosses ($225M). Even if you count the entire period from May 22 (thursday) to May 26 (monday) "opening weekend" due to the holiday, Indy4 went on to more than double the total take from that stretch of five days. It was fairly financially successful domestically and very financially successful overall including worldwide grosses. |
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The list seems like it was written/voted on by under-30 year olds. Most of the movies are relatively recent.|
Originally Posted by JKCarrier
I'm surprised Star Trek: The Motion Picture isn't on there. We called it "the Motionless Picture" at the time, since it was two hours of crewmembers sitting on the bridge staring in awe at things.
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Sequels/adaptions/director's follow-ups are almost inherently disappointing. They were made because we loved a story and wanted more, but the best thing you can actually do is leave the audience wanting more.
What made Star Wars so great was the rich, lived-in universe of characters and their history. I thought I wanted to know everything about everyone, but as more movies and books, comics, etc. came out, it quickly became less interesting. A great movie/story sparks your imagination, and no sequel can live up to that.
Speaking of which- I loved Raiders of the Lost Ark as a kid, and used to write my own stories about a very Indiana Jones-like character. I tried to think up the most ridiculous, over-the-top narrow escapes for him, so the "nuke the fridge" scene made me smile.
Yes Star Trek the Motion Picture was, well, ponderous, but in 1979, to see the Enterprise on the big screen instead of a "large" 19" one was a sight to behold. Trekies at the time didn't mind the slow tour around the ship when it was in dry dock or the gathering and the introduction of the old crew or even the long slow pan over of the V'ger super ship. You wanted to feel the scale, how small the Enterprise was relative to it.
Sure it was a variant of the Nomad story. Sure Robert Wise tried to out 2001, 2001 with it's pace. But at the time, we didn't know it would become a series of movies, or that in less than a decade the first of a many new Star Trek TV series would start up. This movie was it and for the fans who had seen every TV episode enough times that we could "name that episode" usually in 5 seconds or less, it was our celebration for a series that was long over. It was our Serenity.
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Originally Posted by BrandX
Eh, I enjoy it more than ToD.
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Originally Posted by Lothic
Well I'd agree those two might have to fight for "which was the 3rd or 4th best Indiana Jones movie so far".
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Followed by The Last Crusade, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and finally Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in order of preference. Had Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ended differently, it might be close for me between it and Raiders.
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I currently own (on DVD) 10 of the movies on that list.
To each their own I suppose.
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I assert that if you were expecting Indiana Jones....you weren't paying attention to who the Scorpion King was in the second Mummy movie. |
Originally Posted by Frogfather
Wait? What? No Scorpion King. Seriously, my son loved the Mummy movies and I paid money to see what I thought was going to be Indian Jones-ish....and got Conan....in all its glory.
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And didn't pay attention to the trailers that made it pretty clear it was set in a vaguely ancient Egypt setting.
The movie not being what you expected it to be wasn't any fault of the people who made it.
If you want to say it was bad, I'll accept your opinion of it. But being misled as to the movie's premise was no one's fault but your own.
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Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
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It wasn't that it was BAD. |
Originally Posted by Chad Gulzow-Man
And Iron Man 2? WTF, that movie was actually good. It wasn't better than the original, but it was on par, and I have a REALLY hard time believing that there's any consensus it's the #22 biggest let down in recent movie history.
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I have to say it was one of the most overhyped movies in recent memory.
It was a good movie, but not as good as the hype surrounding it made it out to be. That's why it was on the list.
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Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
I found Iron Man 2 disappointing because it gave us a Supervillain and then failed to give us a decent climactic battle with said Supervillain.
Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart's the memory
And there you'll always be
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With the trailers I saw for District 9 I would include that one. All the trailers me and my friends saw painted it as more of an off-the-wall comedy like Army of Darkness was. We were ALL surprised and disappointed. The movie was a good movie, just NOT what we came to see by any stretch of the mind.
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Originally Posted by Starflier
I liked it well enough, but the movie was quite a bit different from what the trailers were selling.
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Matrix: Reloaded granted the hype from the first one meant it couldn't measure up, but what we got was such a letdown for me that I lost the desire to see the 3rd one and still haven't.
We'll see how this next one does. I suspect it will be better since it won't be filmed during a writer's strike.
Casino Royale is so dull that they actually have to KILL Bond in the middle of it to try and raise any sort of interest. But he's Bond, so you know he's going to be fine, thus robbing the scene of any tension whatsoever. It's a perfect example of wasting the audience's time. And the real problem there is that they managed to get my hopes up, because I was flashing back to the original Casino Royale. That one was played for laughs (I mean, it has Woody Allen as Jimmy Bond double-Oh-three-and-a-half) but the core idea is tremendously cool: "James Bond" isn't a real person, it's a title, like "Master Sergeant" or "Prince of Wales."
Imagine if they had done all this hype about Craig as James Bond and then actually killed him, only to have another James Bond take his place. It would truly have been the most audacious Bond movie ever made, rather than the single most boring one.
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