Predicting the Movie Hits and Bombs of 2018

Yeah, it's better than that. A raging intestinal disorder is better than the last "Die Hard", though!

"Skyscraper" is more "Die Hard" than "Inferno" - I'd say it's like 85% action movie, 15% disaster.

It's relentlessly stupid and only sporadically entertaining. I liked it more than the largely boring "Rampage" but it's not a good movie...

 

"Rampage" didn't actually do that well - not here in the States, at least. It didn't even crack to $100 million barrier here.

"Skyscraper" will clearly do even worse, but I don't think it's gonna be an enormous drop between the 2.

Johnson has become this huge movie star but the films in which he acts as the sole lead don't do all that well in the States. His biggest hit is "Jumanji 2" - where he was the lead but got great support from other "name actors".

"San Andreas" is his biggest hit as sole lead, and even it didn't do that well in the States, with a $155 million gross.

People like Johnson but he has yet to show he can really sell a movie on his own in the US...

 

I would love to see Dwayne Johnson do a straight up romantic comedy, something along the lines of a modern day Tracy and Hepburn film. I genuinely think he'd be brilliant at it.

 

Do you know how well those films did overseas? I'm wondering if that's the bigger market here.

 

I am surprised Hotel Transylvania 3 is doing well. I thought it was a mistake to remove it from the Halloween season.

 

It's a much bigger market for action movies like this - and Hollywood has done a lot to cater to that market, especially China.

"Iron Man 3" actually had a different version of the film with China-specific content just for that market!

Does "Skyscraper" take place in Hong Kong and feature so many Asian actors just to help sell it there? Maybe, maybe not, but it's clear that the worldwide market is a much bigger consideration now. Movies like "Skyscraper" can disappoint in the US and still turn a profit.

"Rampage" made $99 million here but added $326 million elsewhere, so it made money...

 

I'm surprised it's doing well period! That franchise kinda went under the radar for me - the 1st 2 sold a pretty good number of tickets but they never seemed like "hits" to me...

 

Well, I really like Eva Green but I wouldn't go and see some crap film just because she's in it. I don't get that mentality.

The Rock is painting himself into a corner with these films. They are essentially bad overblown action films where he plays a slightly exaggerated version of himself. It's like those comedian films that Jerry Lewis or Norman Wisdom used to make. You can't see him in any decent film with other actors as all you will see is 'The Rock' and it will just break the illusion.

i guess all he cares about is boosting his bank balance rather than doing any actual quality work, but that seems the way these days.

 

But it’s like Schwarzenegger before him... what else is he going to do looking the way he does? Nobody is going to cast The Rock in Phantom Thread or The Post.

Someone like Bruce Willis could be in Die Hard and also do movies like The Sixth Sense or Moonrise Kingdom because he looks like a normal human being, but The Rock doesn’t have that option. The only other play he has is, like Schwarzenegger, doing comedies that use his appearance for laughs.

 

I don’t think he can sell a film like Arnold did in the 80s and 90s though.

Arnold did do a pretty good job of finding different quality films in the action genre. Conan, Terminator, Predator, Total Recall, Running Man, True Lies and Twins are very different films and characters.

 

Yeah he's sorta inescapable. Had the same problem with Will Smith back in the day.

 

I never got his appeal until I was forced to sit through Escape from Witch Mountain and he actually made it bearable. I forgot about him until I was once again recently forced to sit through Jumanji and felt the same way. There's a certain goofy charm the guy has that can rescue some sketchy movies when it is working. But even charm has its limits.

 

That is no excuse i think.

Arnold 's acting talent was far more limited yet within 11 years of taking it seriously he had made (amongst others) Conan, Predator, Terminator and T2. All iconic films which are still loved today.

In the past 15 off years since he started acting seriously the Rock has made what? Hercules, San Andreas, those dreadful Fast and Furious films. he has far more talent yet keeps agreeing to appear in dumb big budget b movies. The list of upcoming films isn't encouraging either.

you can be big and muscular and still play normal roles and not typecast yourself. And Arnold never just played himself in his films like the Rock does.

 

Yes, Schwarzenegger managed to make better films (although personally if you set the Terminator movies aside I'm not a huge fan of many of them... people think "Conan" is a good movie?). I'm just saying, The Rock doesn't really make much sense in anything other than action movies.

I guess I thought by "You can't see him in any decent film with other actors as all you will see is 'The Rock' and it will just break the illusion," you meant you wanted to see him stretch himself as an actor in other kinds of movies, not just a better class of action movie.

 

Not only do I think Conan is a great movie, I thought the sequel was great, too. Not as deathly serious and often played for laughs, but it came off like a wonky D&D campaign come to life. Ahnold was fine in it, but Grace Jones stole the film as Zula.

 

That is an impressive list and it more than compensates for the stinkers like Commando, Kindergarten Cop and the terrible Jingle All The Way.

 

Not being a wrestling fan my first sustained exposure to him was when he hosted SNL, and I thought he was great - very likeable and putting across all sorts of star quality.

 

I've been told that Johnson is very nice on-set and is extremely focused on his work. A friend of mine who worked a few days on some pickup shots for Rampage said that The Rock had about four things going on at once: people talking to him when he got to set, meetings in his trailer, numerous phone calls, and he was booked on a second job the moment the day's shoot was wrapped. Very, very busy guy.

 

And I want The Return of the Scorpion King.

 

To be fair, how many action films of the last 15 years can be put on the same level as Conan, Predator, Terminator and T2?

 

You were right, I did mean that, I do think he's getting stuck playing himself, but also part of that is that he keeps picking these dodgy action films to star in that only reinforce that. Arnold's films that I listed at the very least had him playing an evil horror robot, a good robot, an army guy and a mythical hero, none of which I feel was really him just playing himself.

If the Rock sticks to action films then he needs to at least pick better ones and roles that are a bit different.

 

They made direct-to-video sequels to "Scorpion King" but Johnson didn't appear in them.

I only saw "4" - it was awful!

The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power [Blu-Ray] (2015)

 

The Dark Knight, Return Of The King, Days of Future Passed, Inception, Logan, The Winter Soldier....

 

I think there are plenty of action films as good or better than "Conan" or "Predator", mainly because I don't think those 2 are very good. I actually like "Predator 2" more than the original!

The 1st "Terminator" is a seminal movie and it's pretty good, but I don't think it's as good as many of Cameron's later films.

"T2" is the best of that lot, IMO. It's the only one that I really hold above the better action flicks of the last 15 years in an absolute manner.

"Terminator" was certainly more innovative/influential than most movies period but I just don't think the movie itself holds up tremendously well...

 

At least "Jumanji" allowed him to poke some fun at himself. On the surface, he played the usual tough action hero, but he actually played a nerdy teen stuck in the body of a tough action hero, so that gave the role a different vibe.

Otherwise... yeah, his roles usually seem pretty similar. The only real change comes from his approach - ie, sometimes he does the action guy in a more comedic way ala "Jumanji" or "Central Intelligence", but he still generally has a similar role...