The Superman Returns spoiler thread.

[DonTadow]

The large part with your arguement here is the amount of markets it opened internationaly versus how many theaters it opened in domestically. I can guarantee those numbers are misleading as it did not open in a lot of foriegn markets yet. A big movie like this will last longer than 4 weeks in the top ten. What other big movie is there besides Pirates? Your assuming people will flock to see what other huge blockbusters this summer beyond these two?

Oh this movie will be in the top ten just about as long as the davinci codes been in the top ten maybe longer. I'd say it wont disappear from the top ten till mid august to mid september

 

[Hand of Evil]

The large part with your arguement here is the amount of markets it opened internationaly versus how many theaters it opened in domestically. I can guarantee those numbers are misleading as it did not open in a lot of foriegn markets yet. A big movie like this will last longer than 4 weeks in the top ten. What other big movie is there besides Pirates? Your assuming people will flock to see what other huge blockbusters this summer beyond these two?

Let us look at the next four weeks:
07.07: Pirates and A Scanner Darkly - both genre films, one with mass appeal
07.14: You, Me & Dupee - Date flick comedy but they do well
07.21: Clerks 2, Lady in the Water, Monster House, & My Super Ex-Girl Friend - wide appeal a lot of goers hit, there is something for every one, so money will be spread out
07.28: Ant Bully and Miami Vice


I think Superman has his work cut out for him.

 

[Darthjaye]

Let us look at the next four weeks:
07.07: Pirates and A Scanner Darkly - both genre films, one with mass appeal
07.14: You, Me & Dupee - Date flick comedy but they do well
07.21: Clerks 2, Lady in the Water, Monster House, & My Super Ex-Girl Friend - wide appeal a lot of goers hit, there is something for every one, so money will be spread out
07.28: Ant Bully and Miami Vice


I think Superman has his work cut out for him.

Only real challenging films from that list to me are Pirates, Clerks 2, and maybe Miami Vice (cause of the star power inherent in the film as well as the nostalgia of the older crowd)

Lady in the Water isn't going to have the kinda crowd MNS has had in past films. Mainly due to his progressively worse fan reaction with each. You, Me, and Dupree will have a good first week, but will drop off fast. A Scanner Darkly isn't going to draw a high gross due to it being "genre film" and a rated R movie. Ant Bully or Monster House will be a distraction, but I don't think either will grab enough to last in the top 5. My Super Ex is the only wildcard in the entire list to me. It can do well for both couples and the general crowd based on word of mouth. With this list Superman Returns has a good chance to stay in the top 5 for a while.

 

[WayneLigon]

I doubt 'A Scanner Darkly' is going to make any ripples. I dunno what it's like in larger markets, but we're a city of 150,000 and it's going straight to the art house, here. In August, sometime, I think.

 

[DonTadow]

Just read a very good article breaking down how insiders already believe Superman was a flop. Kinda made me lean more towards the "it will take a long while to make its money back crowd".

The movie cost over 250 million to make. There's also another 100 to 160 million in marketing. The movies opening 5 day weekend is about 33 to 40 percent below expected gross. I believe coming in around 80 million in its first weekend. The studio was hopign for the next superman, not another midrange franchise. There will be a sequal but with a scaled back budget.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Is it just me, or do all these movie threads seem insanely depressing these days?

 

[Darthjaye]

Is it just me, or do all these movie threads seem insanely depressing these days?

Yeah, it's all doom and gloom with some of these guys sometimes. Me, I loved the movie. It's not the greatest ever made, but it's quite entertaining and worth a full price ticket.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Just saw the movie last night.

I liked the nostalgic touches. The opening credits, the Superman theme, even Routh's look and performance. All of that combined to give me the feeling of the old Superman revisited.

The special effects were good. Superman was awe-inspiring to see in action, doing the kinds of things only Superman would be capable of.

Lex Luthor was good. He was soft-spoken and pompous, reminiscent of the Hackman Lex, but had a much more brutal dark side. I thought Spacey really sold the confrontation on the island. It was very shocking, and very much in character. Here was a Lex who didn't always have to be grimacing to be dangerous. He was perfectly pleasant when it suited him to be, and brutally vicious when that suited him.

Where the movie was weakest was in the plot, IMO. There really was no good reason why Superman wouldn't have informed his loved ones of his intent before he left Earth. I'm not saying he'd have called a press conference or anything. But Ma and Pa? Lois? They'd have known. That they didn't was a glaring contrivance. And the plot that stems from that was slow-moving and without resolution. Clark still hasn't found a place to live by the closing credits.

That said, I did enjoy this movie. It wasn't perfect, but it was very good. It's strengths were stronger than its weaknesses were weak, IMO. I place it just below Batman Begins and the Spider-man franchise, just above the X-Men franchise, as far as quality goes. I'll most likely buy the DVD.

I'm curious, btw, how Superman will do when you factor in DVD sales. It seems like one of those movies that will do extremely well in that regard.

 

[Ralts Bloodthorne]

I wonder if they consider it a flop because they were hoping to make back the almost half a billion dollars they spent on the non-existant "Superman Lives!" that changed hands so often?

 

[DonTadow]

I wonder if they consider it a flop because they were hoping to make back the almost half a billion dollars they spent on the non-existant "Superman Lives!" that changed hands so often?

They wanted spiderman dollars not batman. They could understand the moderate numbers for batman because of all the previous failures they'd have to win back the audience. But they expected the audience to already be there with superman. The bar is Spiderman. Everyone's looking for the next one.