Talky Tina on The Twilight Zone has Magic beat by a decade and a half. "Living Doll" is the 126th episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. In this episode, a dysfunctional family's problems are made worse when the child's doll proves to be sentient. This episode starred Telly Savalas. Wikipedia Episode no: Season 5; Episode 6 Original air date: November 1, 1963 It was so inspiring, that you could buy the actual toy doll.
And Variety has an essay on their predictions for the year. Here's their picks for "Sure Things" (Hits)" “M3gan” (Universal) this week “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” (Disney) May 5th “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” (Sony) June 2 “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” (Paramount) July 14 To me, M3gan looks like a gimmicky "robot toy doll goes nuts" movie, which goes back to Twilight Zone and Chucky and lots of movies that've gone before. But I'd agree the others will do boffo bidness. I'd be shocked if Guardians 3 and the new Mission: Impossible don't open at $120M+ their first weekends and don't wind up with over a billion dollars. The "Safe Bets" (will make money, but not blockbusters) “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” (Universal) April 7 “Fast X” (Universal) May 19 “The Little Mermaid” (Disney) May 26 “Barbie” (Warner Bros.) July 21 I saw the trailer for Super Mario Bros. and thought it was a huge, steaming piece of animated crap. I like Chris Pine as an actor, but he seems completely out of place as the voice of the title character (to me). The idea has been done several times before, most notably with the huge 1993 bomb starring Bob Hoskins, so I don't get it. I don't dispute that there's a huge video game market out there and kids love it. The whole Fast & Furious series took a nose dive as far as I can see with the death of Paul Walker in 2013, at least in terms of appeal. Dwaine Johnson is out, too, as is longtime director Justin Lin, who walked out a week into shooting. From Wikipedia and various industry sources... A week after filming commenced, Lin exited the film as director due to "creative differences", leaving primary production stalled. However, Lin will remain on board as a producer. Later reports alleged that Lin clashed on set with Diesel, who purportedly arrived out of shape, was often late, and did not remember his lines. Lin was also upset with rewrites to his screenplay, as well as changing filming locations and one of the film's villains having yet to be cast; a disagreement with Diesel reportedly escalated to the point it caused Lin to shout, "This movie is not worth my mental health." I've never met him, but by all accounts Vin Diesel is not a nice man and is zero fun to work with. I also hate the movies, but on the other hand I can't deny they've made huge money. The shocker here is that once new director Dan Mazeau jumped onboard, the budget swelled from $200M to $250M, and has now reportedly hit an incredible $340 million (!!!). WTF? The Fast X Budget Rises To $340 Million, Making It Potentially The Fourth Most Expensive Movie Of All Time - /Film While Fast X is not for me, I think it will do well at the box office, but not "Avatar-level" well. My guess is it won't break even: the last one did $726M, and that's not enough for a movie this expensive. The live action musical Little Mermaid will probably do fine, but bear in mind the 1989 original animated film cost $40 million and made $235M, which was a massive hit for that era. I don't give a crap about Barbie, but ya know, a) I'm not the intended audience, and b) I have to admit the trailer actually made me laugh. Then the Question Marks: “Cocaine Bear” (Universal) Feb. 24 “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves“ (Paramount) March 31 “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” (Lionsgate) Nov. 17 “Wonka” (Warner Bros.) Dec. 15 The trailer for Cocaine Bear is a riot, and it doesn't look like an expensive film. I could see it doing well. The other ones leave me cold, and I know people are raising their eyebrows as to whether Timothee Chalamet could (as we say in Hollywoo) open a film as a leading man. Dune 2 will do well, and I was surprised I liked the first one as much as I did -- and it made $406M on a budget of $165M, but simultaneously streamed on HBOMax. If it only opened in theaters, could it have made more money? I'm sure the former CEO of Warner Bros. wonders about that. And the Biggest Risks: “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” (Paramount) June 9 “The Flash” (Warner Bros.) June 16 “Wish” (Disney) winter “Killers of the Flower Moon” (Apple, Paramount) December The last few Transformers movies have been haaaaaarible, but the first few had some entertainment value and made money. But I dunno. The Flash has director Andy Muschietti, who did an incredible job remaking the Stephen King It movies, but it's bogged down by a star (Ezra Miller) who keeps getting arrested and sued. I thought Miller was terrific in the Justice League films, but he seems to be a nutcase who's out of control. But... a lot of crazy stars still made great films and had big careers. I hope the movie does well. Wish is a big gamble for Disney, a whole new animated story basically about the star (celestial that is) on which people have been wishing for so many years. Critics point to Lightyear as an example of a Disney film gone horrible wrong -- it lost about $100 million and got terrible reviews -- but maybe they can regain their mojo. Killers of the Flower Moon is the new Scorsese film starring Leonardo DiCaprio & Robert DeNiro, but it's a 1920s murder story about the FBI investigating killings in Oklahoma on native American land. Normally, I'd say, "hey, it's Scorsese, it'll be fine," but its $200 million dollar budget gives me pause. Box Office Predictions 2023: Mission Impossible 7, Fast 10, Barbie - Variety
I see Guardians, Spider & Mission as sure things. Yes and that translates to very iffy to me. Probably is... Who knows? Mario is the oldest human video game (that I am aware of). As I recall, it was out around the same time that Donkey Kong was out. They were both insanely popular. (I was in the retail computer business at the time). Who knows why, but Mario has enjoyed unprecedented staying power, for whatever reason? The video game market is far bigger than the movie market. But movies based on video games have been a very "hit or miss" proposition. Seeing Detective Pikachu a few years back, I came away disappointed. I would have expected it to be better, clever and more intertaining than it proved to be. More of a letdown, considering the popularity of the product and the huge company behind the brand. Can't comment as I have never seen one. Stupid big money! As you have pointed out, who can figure out this business? He is an actor whose time has come and gone... Stupid budgets again! I really question that? Any time you have a number ten of anything, it is usually a big deal. People expect a number "X" movie to be bigger and better, the best yet. This conditiond expectation from the public must be met. There is no option here. If a number ten is not a huge success, than future efforts may prove to be futile. Still, based on #9's box office, it would have to generate mega "buzz" to do much more than that. If they did spend $340M, they may have done so, simply to keep the franchise going. It has proved to be a humongous cash cow. Which brings us to Mermaid and Barbie. The animated Little Mermaid was a tremendously huge Disney Success. It was one of the most sought-after videos on VHS tape. So it does stand to reason that, like The Lion King, Disney would expect nothing short than a box office home run. However... Mermaid and Barbie could not be more polar opposites. I will leave it at that...
Mario was in Donkey Kong, so yes, that has to be one of the first video game characters along with Pac-man. I think Super Mario Brothers is going to make a killing. Zero chance it bombs. The IP is way too strong with younger audiences. Pratt is ill-suited in the role, but I don’t think that will hurt the film too much. Mario’s staying power has always been great games, whereas the Sonic franchise had a lot of duds (and still did great at the box office as IP).
How are you interpreting that? I see it as Universal making sure there’s broad awareness of the film’s release as many recent animated films have had underwhelming promotions that have missed their target demographics.
Bernardo Bertolucci's The Conformist has been newly restored in 4K from the original camera negative, and it will have a limited theatrical run starting January 6. The Conformist - Movie Trailers - iTunes In the trailer above, note Dave Kerr's comment: "Carries a rejuvenating jolt of youthful creativity, the memory of the time when movies were the most important art and their possibilities seemed endless." This is a fine anti-fascist movie, being re-released at a time, ironically and unfortunately, when fascism is once again in vogue, both here and abroad. It shows that when art is allowed to be art, and not a golden egg intended only for maximal corporate profits, it could indeed serve to inform and educate the public.
That's one angle for sure + "we have a winner here" let's make sure everyone knows it's coming. I'd question the logic of spending $$$$ three months out for TV ads, memories are really short these days.
Killers was shot for AppleTV+. The Irishman reportedly cost somewhere in the range of $150-250 million for Netflix, and did roughly $8 million during its very limited theatrical run - so who can say? With these films shot principally for streaming, one assumes there must be a different economic logic at play...?
No one wants to see "80 For Brady" ? LOL I'm looking forward to: Creed III --------- I liked the first 2. Despite no Stallone in this one, I think it will continue to do well and be entertaining. Shazam! Fury of The Gods --------------- I liked the first one. John Wick 4 ----------- Need more ass-kicking by Keanu and see if he breaks the record for the most kills on screen (Wick 3 had a lot so it will be hard to top.) Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 ------------ Liked the first one a lot and the 2nd one was good too, but not nearly as good as the first one. Fast X ---------- I missed 9 because that was during pandemic and I didn't go to movies during that time (over 2 years worth of movies.) Indiana Jones and The Dial Of Destiny ------ It can't be worse than Crystal Skull, could it? Mission Impossible 7: Tom Cruise Defies Death And Survives More Unbelievable Stunts Part 1 ----------Seriously, can't wait for more action. Oppenheimer -------- It's a Christopher Nolan movie. Won't disappoint. Also Cillian Murphy is always good in everything he does. Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom ------------Liked the first one and I like Jason Momoa. Wait and see: The Flash ------------Ezra is a nutcase, but I liked his portrayal of The Flash in the Justice League. Have to wait and see if he makes embarrassing headlines again before it gets released to decide. Untitled Exorcist movie ------------ Curious. Will see if it doesn't get crappy reviews (Exorcist 2 was crap, but I liked all the other ones, including the most recent ones.) Dune: Part Two -------- Didn't see Part One because of the pandemic. Though, I will try to catch it before Part Two comes out and then make up my mind about seeing this one. The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds and Snakes ------------I saw the other 4 and liked them mostly. Will have to see reviews of this prequel and learn more about the actors in it. Wonka ----------- Again, wait and see about this "prequel" of a young Wonka. Also, being a musical, if it has too much song and dance in it, that'll be a turnoff. Timothee Chalamet (Dune) and Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele) co-star. I like Key, so that is a plus. Probably some other movies too I want to see but don't know about yet.
After going and looking up the budget and finding it to be $12M, I think it is very safe to say that it should do well. This is a very modest budget for any modern movie.
It looks like the perfect vehicle for Netflix to pick up after it has left the theaters. They can stream the original and continue it as an original Netflix series, like Stranger Things or Wednesday. Given its modest production budget, it seems an ideal candidate for the part.
It has the potential to make a lot of $$ in terms of % return on investment. Production budget is only $12 million, marketing is probably a few multiples higher.
Horror is the best ROI genre out there. The movies rarely cost more than $25m or so and they bring in pretty good returns on average since they have a loyal audience. Horror will never bring in the massive bucks the biggest movies make - you won't see a horror movie pass $1 billion - but they're usually so cheap that they make tidy profits. Just not large returns objectively. I mean, "M3gan" could make 20X its budget but that's still "only" $240 million. If we use "3X budget = break even", it'd return $204m. On the other hand, while "Avengers: Endgame" made about 7x its $400 million (alleged) budget, that's still about $1.6 billion profit. Profitable horror movies are common but the studios don't love them like they love their tentpoles because the actual dollars involved are so much lower. IIRC, the first "It" from 2017 is probably the biggest horror movie of recent years in terms of profit and actual dollars. $40m budget, $700m take. But that's rare.
Yes they are. But... We don't often see budgets of $12M for studio theatrical release movies, regardless of Genre. Though it does happen. I can always tell when the pickings are slim in the multiplex. Most of the listings are described as Horror. I didn't initially realize that M3Gan was a horror movie. I generally avoid the Horror genre. Not because I don't care for Horror movies, but because few are worth watching. I was kind of interested in The Menu, until I read that it was a horror movie. In reading another description, it was listed as a Dark Comedy. I said, I'm in! Once I saw that the production of M3Gan was only $12M, that changed my outlook entirely. I think it will do very well.
Horror is a pretty big genre and many things get placed in that genre just because it sells. Many describe M3GAN as being a horror-dark comedy hybrid. I don’t think The Menu is horror in my estimation. It has horrific moments, but it plays like more of a social / food culture satire with horror elements more than a horror movie.
I saw The Menu yesterday on HBO Max after avoiding it in the theater because of the horror label. I loathe horror films. I figured if The Menu was truly a horror film, I would turn it off. It’s not. There is some violence, but you really see very little that is gruesome or terrifying. Having said that, I didn’t like the film.
That's how I am seeing it. I would have caught a showing earlier today but time ran out. I might catch a matinee tomorrow. If not, then early next week. I would call that a spot on appraisal! Anya Taylor-Joy plays it up to perfection.
Adjusted for inflation, The Exorcist could join the billionaire club https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/22/top-10-films-at-the-box-office-when-adjusted-for-inflation.html
