Really America - Transformers 2?

Really, America? Really? Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen had to gross over 200 million dollars in its first five days? Really? Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen had to gross over 60 million dollars on its opening day, making it the biggest Wednesday opening ever? Really? Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen had to have the second highest opening day ever, just behind The Dark Knight? Really? I don't get it. Who are all these people going to see it on its opening day... its opening weekend? Fine, I get the fact people want to see dumb action movies during the summer, but I don't get why everyone had to see it opening weekend. Like I could understand if a bunch of teenagers went to see it this past weekend, and then gradually older people went and saw over the next couple of weeks because they had nothing better to do. But no, everyone went and saw it this opening weekend, and that high of an opening meant people saw it multiple times. Really, America? Really?

The Proposal's Box Office Success

Over the weekend, the Sandra Bullock/Ryan Reynolds rom-com The Proposal opened at number one, with a surprising haul of over 34 million. Now, while I thought the trailer had a few laughs and Betty White is usually hilarious, I have no huge desire to see the picture. I'll probably just catch the film when it comes on DVD or premium cable. That being said, I'm still very happy for its success, mainly because the film was a female-centric studio picture with a lead actress in her forties. Whether or not the film was of great quality, I still feel it needs support, as a sort of message to Hollywood that films with leading women over the age of forty can still ignite the box office. The studios are rather clueless, believing any time it does occur it's a fluke. Sex and the City: The Movie - fluke, Mamma Mia! - accident, The Devil Wears Prada - surprise, Something's Gotta Give - how'd that happen. Yes, there will be pictures like Duplicity or The Brave One, which don't exactly explode at the box office, but their "failures" cannot be blamed on Julia Robert's or Jodie Foster's age. Imagine That bombed at the box office last week, but no one in the industry attributed its failure to Eddie Murphy's age, so I don't get the double standard for actresses. There are a number of issues that result in a film's weak showing - poor marketing, lack of interest in subject matter, no positive word of mouth - so it's unfair to focus entirely on the age of the leading lady. So, I feel its important for movie goers to support these films, because it will result in further production of female-centric studio pictures, and while they may not all be of the highest quality (Mamma Mia! was just bad), for every four or five poor-to-mediocre films, there will at least one good-to-great picture. That's my two cents.

OOH, also I like the fact that in The Proposal, Sandra Bullock is a number of years older than co-lead Ryan Reynolds. How's that for a reversal of Hollywood trends!

Entertainment Weekly - Say Whaaa?

This afternoon I read the new Entertainment Weekly, in which the writer discussed the successes and failures at the box office over the summer. WALL-E, Iron Man, The Dark Knight, Mamma Mia!, and Sex & the City: The Movie, were, of course, among those considered to be successes, but the writer also included The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, claiming that the success of that film, along with Journey to the Center of the Earth, proved Brendan Fraser was still viable as a box office draw. Huh? How is the new Mummy movie a success? It cost 145 million dollars to produce, not including advertising, which was probably an additional 50 million, and it only grossed 99 million at the domestic box office. Figuring that the studio only receives fifty percent of the box office, with the other fifty going to the theatres, the movie's gross probably only covered the cost of advertising. Yes, the movie will make a profit once the overseas box office and the future dvd sales and rentals are included, but it is not a success - it's a bomb! Hello! The X Files: I Want to Believe was considered to be a giant bomb because it's only grossed 21 million so far, but in contrast, the movie only cost 30 million to make. As for Brendan Fraser still being a box office draw (and one could question whether he ever actually was one in the first place) , that's a lotta BS. The first movie in the Mummy franchise grossed 155 million domestically, and the second grossed 202 million. That's a big drop between the second and third, meaning people really weren't that interested in seeing him return to the series. In addition, the minimal success Journey to the Center of the Earth has had cannot be attributed to Brendan's presence in the film. Most kids probably went to the film with their families to see dinosaurs and other weird creatures on giant IMAX screens in 3-D. But, you know the media spins things in weird ways that rarely ever make any sense. I guess the writer just really loves Brendan Fraser!