The 2024 Box Office thread

[909]

I also think that what people want from a VFX explosion kind of movie is the same thing that got so many people out to see Aquaman. They want a bright explosion of colors and really everything else isn't all that important because it's more of a visual show than anything else. There's nothing muted about anything in the visual effects for Avatar, they advertise something in the trailer and that's what they give. The highest grossing Marvel movies also bring that to the table.

What I'm also saying is that society has turned for the negative in terms of what they want and expect from entertainment so if you want a rational explanation for why these movies draw so much money you aren't going to get one. What resonates with them is the explosion of color on screen, particularly relating to water. I should also point out however that these movies can be taken as anti-imperialist commentary (and look at how much of the box office take isn't from here), but they're also family movies and are very safe content someone can take their kids to the movie theater to watch.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

That's the thing: a movie with that kind of money behind it should look way better than that. That's one of the reasons people love going to "Avatar" and the new "Top Gun": every cent is on the screen, and the people behind it know it should look good and it does. Again, tell me how something like this is a good special effect

I'm not sure what the goal is, here? @909 said that the CG was "indefensibly bad," so I'm not defending it. It's "good" in the sense that it conveyed what it was meant to convey. Could James Cameron have done it better? I mean, when James Cameron directs a Marvel movie, I guess I'll find out. Until then, I don't care.

 

[909]

I'm not sure what the goal is, here? @909 said that the CG was "indefensibly bad," so I'm not defending it. It's "good" in the sense that it conveyed what it was meant to convey. Could James Cameron have done it better? I mean, when James Cameron directs a Marvel movie, I guess I'll find out. Until then, I don't care.

Well I think the first Black Panther is a case of doing it better than Marvel movies lately and doing a great job of it.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

What I'm also saying is that society has turned for the negative in terms of what they want and expect from entertainment so if you want a rational explanation for why these movies draw so much money you aren't going to get one. What resonates with them is the explosion of color on screen, particularly relating to water. I should also point out however that these movies can be taken as anti-imperialist commentary (and look at how much of the box office take isn't from here), but they're also family movies and are very safe content someone can take their kids to the movie theater to watch.

I'm not asking for that, I just don't necessarily equate "makes money" with cultural impact. American football is something that i also don't "get," but I can see its cultural impact regardless of whether I like it or not. I don't see any such impact from Avatar or Top Gun. They are super popular movies, that nobody will be talking about a year from now.

 

[909]

Nah I have to disagree about Top Gun, people talked about the first one forever and I don't see any reason why they wouldn't about the second. People have been quoting lines from that corny ass movie for 35 years.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Nah I have to disagree about Top Gun, people talked about the first one forever and I don't see any reason why they wouldn't about the second. People have been quoting lines from that corny ass movie for 35 years.

I'll have to take your word for it. #twoamericas

 

[Gary]

I didn't realize that "better looking than Avatar" was where the line was.

It doesn't need to look better than Avatar. I just needs to look better than a shitty photoshop.

There's a ton of middle ground between "wish the movies looked better" and "ugly looking, concrete sludge... and increasingly dodgy." And I don't feel the need to compare any Marvel movie to Avatar or Top Gun because, if I'm not engaged by the premise of the movie, I don't care what it looks like.

One of my favorite movies of all time is Dario Argento's 1977 film "Suspiria". If you were to ask me if it has a great premise or plot, the answer is "I dunno"-but it's an intentionally dream like, technicolor marvel where the plot and premise aren't as important as creating the mood and feeling of a dream or nightmare. It's living proof that "style over substance" can exist, and can be quite frankly brilliant. I'll take that over "Captain Marvel" or whatever anyday.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

I'll have to take your word for it. #twoamericas

Top Gun has to be one of the most parodied movies, especially a non-franchise (before Maverick came out) of its era. I'm not American so this isn't a two Americas thing. It's just been everywhere.

Avatar I can't quote you a single line or memorable scene from either movie though.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

One of my favorite movies of all time is Dario Argento's 1977 film "Suspiria". If you were to ask me if it has a great premise or plot, the answer is "I dunno"-but it's an intentionally dream like, technicolor marvel where the plot and premise aren't as important as creating the mood and feeling of a dream or nightmare. It's living proof that "style over substance" can exist, and can be quite frankly brilliant. I'll take that over "Captain Marvel" or whatever anyday.

Fair enough. People whom I know and respect IRL have told me, a) if you liked the first one, you'll like the second one, and b) whatever you didn't like about the first one is still a problem in the second one. And that's all I needed to know.

The only universal praise that I've ever heard about the Avatar franchise is that, if you love breathtaking visuals and expert cinematography, you'll love these movies. And that's cool, but I don't love those things; that's not why I watch movies. It sounds like I may be the opposite of y'all in that I never get "taken out" of a movie by bad CG. The only time I ever even notice bad CG/FX/whatever is when I'm not engaged by the movie.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Top Gun has to be one of the most parodied movies, especially a non-franchise (before Maverick came out) of its era. I'm not American so this isn't a two Americas thing. It's just been everywhere.

Avatar I can't quote you a single line or memorable scene from either movie though.

Thinking back, I can remember there being at least one movie that I'm pretty sure was supposed to a Top Gun parody. I never saw that one, either, but I believe it starred Charlie Sheen. So I'm willing to concede on Top Gun.

I'm still holding out for a better answer on Avatar, though.

 

[Hawk 34]

why was it emotionally disruptive to you that someone articulated they felt Black Panther 2 Wakanda Forever missed the high cinematographic standard the predecessor established?

 

[JHawk]

Thinking back, I can remember there being at least one movie that I'm pretty sure was supposed to a Top Gun parody. I never saw that one, either, but I believe it starred Charlie Sheen. So I'm willing to concede on Top Gun.

I'm still holding out for a better answer on Avatar, though.

The movie you're thinking of is Hot Shots, which was fine because it was before the Not Another __ Movie things killed the parody gimmick.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

It doesn't need to look better than Avatar. I just needs to look better than a shitty photoshop.


One of my favorite movies of all time is Dario Argento's 1977 film "Suspiria". If you were to ask me if it has a great premise or plot, the answer is "I dunno"-but it's an intentionally dream like, technicolor marvel where the plot and premise aren't as important as creating the mood and feeling of a dream or nightmare. It's living proof that "style over substance" can exist, and can be quite frankly brilliant. I'll take that over "Captain Marvel" or whatever anyday.

Ok but how much money did it make? Seems like thats the determing factor on quality here.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

why was it emotionally disruptive to you that someone articulated they felt Black Panther 2 Wakanda Forever missed the high cinematographic standard the predecessor established?

Because the movie was really cathartic to me, in a processing grief kind of way, and it felt like a cheap shot?

 

[Gary]

Time to get this thread back on topic

1	1	Avatar: The Way of Water	$15,700,000	-22%	3,600	-190	$4,361	$620,580,771	7	20th Century Studios
2	2	Puss in Boots: The Last Wish	$10,621,000	-10%	3,452	-159	$3,076	$140,835,910	6	Universal Pictures
3	5	A Man Called Otto	$6,751,000	-23.3%	3,957	+155	$1,706	$46,053,864	5	Columbia Pictures
4	3	M3GAN	$6,371,000	-34.4%	3,416	-212	$1,865	$82,274,725	4	Universal Pictures
5	-	Pathaan	$5,947,369	-	695	-	$8,557	$8,548,444	1	Yash Raj Films USA Inc.
6	4	Missing	$5,675,000	-38%	3,025	-	$1,876	$17,569,417	2	Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)
7	6	Plane	$3,825,000	-27.6%	2,850	-210	$1,342	$25,374,765	3	Lionsgate
8	-	Infinity Pool	$2,725,000	-	1,835	-	$1,485	$2,725,000	1	-
9	-	Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist	$2,362,077	-	1,405	-	$1,681	$2,972,651	1	Fathom Events
10	-	The Wandering Earth II	$1,355,000	-	142	-	$9,542	$1,355,000	2	Well Go USA Entertainment

Wish my theater got "Infinity Pool", but either way nice to see a Brandon Cronenberg movie in the top 10.

Other new releases

11	-	Billie Eilish Live at the O2	$1,290,000	-	600	-	$2,150	$1,290,000	1	Trafalgar Releasing
12	-	Fear	$1,280,942	-	974	-	$1,315	$1,280,942	1	Hidden Empire Film Group (HEFG)

19

-

Maybe I Do

$562,000

-

465

-

$1,208

$562,000

1

Vertical Entertainment

24

-

Close

$68,143

-

4

-

$17,035

$68,143

1

A24

30

-

One Fine Morning

$14,282

-

3

-

$4,760

$23,976

1

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)

 

[RedJed]

Kinda amazed at the legs of Puss in Boots 2.

We saw Man Called Otto on Saturday, and while it had the same sentimentality as the original film (Man Called Ove) this was not nearly the whole and deep film as the Swedish version. A little too Americanized and pretentious for my tastes.

Nice to see Wandering Earth 2 crack the top ten as well. That was a spectacle of a prequel to the first one (which is on Netflix still I think)

 

[Gary]

1	-	Knock at the Cabin	$14,200,000	-	3,643	-	$3,897	$14,200,000	1	Universal Pictures
2	-	80 for Brady	$12,500,000	-	3,912	-	$3,195	$12,500,000	1	Paramount Pictures
3	1	Avatar: The Way of Water	$10,800,000	-32.4%	3,310	-290	$3,262	$636,420,442	8	20th Century Studios
4	2	Puss in Boots: The Last Wish	$7,950,000	-24.3%	3,290	-162	$2,416	$151,292,670	7	Universal Pictures
5	-	BTS: Yet to Come in Cinemas	$6,280,000	-	1,114	-	$5,637	$9,124,384	1	Trafalgar Releasing
6	4	A Man Called Otto	$4,175,000	-37.2%	3,407	-550	$1,225	$53,003,403	6	Columbia Pictures
7	5	M3GAN	$3,800,000	-39.3%	2,835	-581	$1,340	$87,597,375	5	Universal Pictures
8	6	Missing	$3,725,000	-34.3%	2,565	-460	$1,452	$23,017,094	3	Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)
9	-	The Chosen Season 3: Episode 1 & 2	$3,641,538	-	1,979	-	$1,840	$18,253,627	12	Fathom Events
10	3	Pathaan	$2,709,905	-60.6%	683	-12	$3,967	$14,278,188	2	Yash Raj Films USA Inc.

Avatar has finally been dethroned. Also, Good for Bautista. "M3GAN" and "Missing" have legs.

Other new releases

13

-

The Amazing Maurice

$701,345

-

1,694

-

$414

$1,043,966

1

Viva Pictures

29	-	Let It Be Morning	$6,023	-	2	-	$3,011	$6,023	1	Cohen Media Group
30	-	Full Time	$2,139	-	1	-	$2,139	$2,139	1	Music Box Films

 

[Hawk 34]

Just give us the Bautista and Sally Field Rom Com. The audience is clearly there.

 

[Brocklock]

I actually thought 80 For Brady would make a little more. Seemed like there was constant advertising for months and I thought the geezers would propel it to a 15 to 18 million dollar opening.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

It’s just weird that they would target a motion picture towards people like my parents…IE people that never go to the movies.

 

[Hawk 34]

I don’t know how often you actually attend a movie Mr Kamala but it’s only kids and old people there. Old people still love to see giant screens.

It’s the middle section that just watch YouTube clips of these movies on their phones during a shit break.

 

[909]

I don’t know how often you actually attend a movie Mr Kamala but it’s only kids and old people there. Old people still love to see giant screens.

Yeah not around here lol

I've probably seen 20 old people at the theater since June 2021.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

i see way more middle aged people than old people at movies

 

[Gary]

Yeah not around here lol

I've probably seen 20 old people at the theater since June 2021.

If I’ve learned anything in my life, it’s that old people will see just about anything. Examples

1.) the Time I was about to see “Crank 2” and an old woman exits the theater telling me “don’t go watch that, it’s so violent”

2.) the time there was an elderly couple in the crowd when I saw “Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters”. Every time I looked up at them, they seemed confused.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Moviegoers being predominantly old must be a Midwestern thing. I see old people at movies occasionally but I wouldn’t say they’re a major demographic of movie theaters around here. Usually see them at mainstream prestige films (“I heard about this on NPR, Kathy!”).

 

[strummer]

I think I told this story here when the movie came out but I remember sitting near an elderly couple for Hangover 2 and how awkward it was. That was 12 years ago

 

[909]

I think I told this story here when the movie came out but I remember sitting near an elderly couple for Hangover 2 and how awkward it was. That was 12 years ago

Borat sticks out in that sense. They left during the nude wrestling scene.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Actually thought Knock at the Cabin would open a little stronger but I think 80 For Brady and BTS took chunks out. Surprised how well the BTS thing did considering its relatively low theater count by comparison and yet it still made over $6 Million.

I know those are usually special events, etc. but it makes me wondering if theaters regret not doing more showings when it averages $5,600 a theater compared to say Knock at the Cabin or 80 For Brady's $3,900 and $3,100 takes.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

If I’ve learned anything in my life, it’s that old people will see just about anything.

Best for me was sitting in front of two old white women who LOVED Hustle & Flow. Don’t judge a Karen by its cover.

 

[Fall of Epic]

AMC will start charging more for better movie theater seats

AMC Theaters is changing the way it charges for seats.

www.cnn.com

They really want to ensure no one goes to a movie theater ever again, huh?