Is this the summer of frontloaded?Matrix will fall

[BUFFJEDI]

How many movies this summer are going to make the bulk of there money the first week and drop like a rock in the matrix:). Is this a new trend that the studio's are pushing for? no legs grab and go .Will all the hype be built up to make people flood the theater's only to leave them shaking there heads in disbelief that they rushed out to see utter garbage ie. FAF2 , matrix is the world gone mad??Am I just rambling for the sake of doing so?
Will any of the supposed block buster's be number one for more than 2 weeks,heck one week?
I have a strange feeling that TMR record will fall and fall hard.
First the Hulk will smash puny matrix with a whooping 110 first weekend followed bay T3 at 125 mil. Although i do hope hulk and T3 are awesome.whatcha all think?

[Sanis Prent]

While there is room for improvement in Reloaded, I doubt that T3 and the Hulk combined would be as good. Neither look exceptionally promising.

[ReaperFett]

Hulk will be great. I have faith :)

[Sanis Prent]

I'm mixed on it. While the premise is awesome and its made by Ang Lee, some of the stuff I've seen is absolutely horrid. I'll probably like it better than Spiderman, but not by a big margin.

[BUFFJEDI]

I personally doubt Hulk will be any good.I hope it is though. But I have a strange feeling Good,bad or just plain sucks it will raise the Bar of what the top weekend grosses have to beat, then not long after that T3 will come along and surpass that.It seems that studio's are going to produce hype movie's instead of good ole reliable will be at the theater's for 30 weeks like TT.(although Gollum still sux)

[Pierce Tondry]

It pretty much seems to me that most studios are making movies with the mentality that they need to grab what they can of the monetary pot before the next hyped blockbuster rolls in, trying to take advantage of the American short attention span.

The Hulk fails to interest me, but T3 I think has some promise. I kinda think both movies will be CGI-heavy, though. :\

[Charley]

I honestly can't fathom what the big deal is about CG and peoples aversion to it. Would they rather have stop motion animation and heavy black matte lines, and all that crap that was used for special effects back in the day? I swear, there's no pleasing people sometimes.

[ReaperFett]

I dont want an overuse of CGI, but some things need it. Such as Hulk :-D



One possible reason for the big drops is piracy. Apparently Reloaded had a leak, which means the word of mouth is starting earlier.

[Pierce Tondry]

Who said anything about being bothered by CGI? I like it, as long as the usage is proportional to the necessity. When there's too much of it for no artistic reason is when I don't like it. (That's what I mean when I say CGI-heavy, btw)

[Darth007]

Yeah you cant really judge a movie by how much money it makes in the BO these days. A lot of people are downloading movies off the net just because they cant afford a $10 ticket. A movie could be great but at the same time make an average amount of money because people will just download it or burn DVDs.

[Jinn Fizz]

I read last night that VHS-quality rips of The Hulk are already showing up on the internet. So piracy is alive and well, despite the MPAA's attempts to stop it, unfortunately.

This trend of big openings followed by steep drops isn't new, it's been happening the last few summers. And I'm not really surprised with how Reloaded has been faring...I think it's safe to say that the audience is divided on this one, and while some people have loved it, other people have been disappointed and won't be making return trips to see it. Hey, I thought for sure I would love it since I loved the first one, and I ended up being very disappointed with Reloaded, and I know I'm not alone.

Personally, I'm looking forward to The Hulk. As long as I'm entertained, that's all I care about. And I love the fact that the trailer features the "You're making me angry" line...that was always a favorite of mine from the TV show, and I use it a lot in real life, so hearing it in the trailer made me smile. :)

As for T3...not excited about it, but my father is interested in seeing it, so if he wants to go see it, I'll go with him. But I'm not going to make any special trips or go out of my way to see it.

[ReaperFett]

Please burn anyone who DLs the unready Hulk file that is online :)

[Eluna Thals]

These serials (LotR, X-Men, Matrix, etc) I've decided only to download, instead of buying the DVDs immediately. Not that I won't, but I'd rather wait for when they're all done and out, and packaged in a box set. Economy of scale plz.

[ReaperFett]

If you see them at the cinema, care not do I so much :)

[Jedi Master Carr]

LOL Reaper. About Matrix what I have heard is non matrix fans hated it because the story was too confusing and they didn't get it. It doesn't sound like a film for the average movie goer, IMO. As for the Hulk it could go either way, I think it will open huge 85-100 first weekend, not sure what it will do after that though it should make 200 I feel. As for frontloaded well it is big in the summer, I don't think you see it so much in the fall and even around the holidays (except after a big holiday weekend like Thanksgiving or New Years) I think its more of a summer thing, also I am not sure when the next time this summer you will have a movie stay number one the following week, maybe in August?

[Eluna Thals]

Definitely go to see those in the movies. No excuse for not doing so. I just would rather not get fleeced over the DVDs when I buy them, is all.

As for the Matrix, part of me is laughing a bit, because they're getting their just desserts for slamming SW, and then having their new movies meet the same effects of diminishing returns to scale. However, I don't agree with those that have outright slammed Reloaded, same as I don't agree with those who outright slam the prequels. They're good movies. They fall short of their originals, but good fun movies nonetheless.

[Marcus Telcontar]

I very much doubt "piracy" is the issue it's claimed it is. I very much doubt Spiderman or LOTR were affected by pirates - the fact is, what can beat a cinema experience for such movies?

Front loading is just the short attention span mentality - put up the latest, then move on. I think MR's front loadign was more a study of disaapointment in the film in the end - there's no real replay value.

If you get a movie with real replay value, it'll have a good hold.

[Eluna Thals]

Actually, I've seen MR more this summer than any other movie, which is pretty funny. Three views of MR, compared to two views of X2, though I'd like to see that one again.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I think Piracy is only a huge problem in China, and other parts of East Asia. Hardly anybody goes to a movie in China they just buy a cheap copy of the streets. I really wonder how much a difference it would make in WW box office I bet they could make 50 million there for some movies.

[ReaperFett]

I very much doubt Spiderman or LOTR were affected by pirates
But those two were VERY popular, while Reloaded does have a contingent of dislikers.

[Marcus Telcontar]

So? what's that got to do with piracy?

[ReaperFett]

Good films dont get bad word of mouth from a person.



Although, some of the Hulk stuff is classic. They comment on the CGI, forgetting the fact theyre watching....early stages of the CGI. Idiots :)

[Mu Satach]

Am I the only one who finds the early cgi trailers just hilarious? I just keep looking at the Hulk thinking, "awww... he's so cute..." like a rubbery toy doll or something. :)

I'm getting kind of excited to go see it because I'm more curious about the spin that Ang Lee is going to put on it... other than that I just want to see Hulk smash things. So I doubt I'll be disappointed... because I'm not expecting anything.

And back OT found this a while ago and thought Josh has an interesting idea why the front load effect happens.
From an interview with Josh Becker (http://www.klba06722.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/interview_Josh_Becker.html)


Question - Do you feel though that if a movie is very good, and most of the money went towards actually making it, that there is no need to have a lot of advertising? News will get round by word of mouth?

Josh - I know it. Movies were sold like that for years and years, just like "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" this year. It's called platforming, where it's only opened with a few prints in a few cities, then word-of-mouth spreads and it opens wider. But this is entirely based on having made a good movie. Hollywood now deeply believes, as well they ought to, that their product is complete bull[ka ka], and if word-of-mouth spreads it will kill them--as it always does now--so they must make all of their money fast, in two weeks.
:smokin