Weekend Box Office Thread

[TheShadow]

It will lose #1 next week because of Clone Wars, that much is almost a guarantee but it will still finish highly with the Mummy dropping and the remainder of the Top 10 not making much noise

Clone Wars is an guarantee? Really? Because it looks like crud I understand it is Star Wars... but it's animated. I haven't even seen an ad for it running on Nickelodeon (or any other station I watch). I would have assumed that Tropic Thunder is going to beat out Clone Wars. Not that I am going to see either of them anyway though.

[Divia]

I agree with Shadow. I havent seen a lot of buzz around this movie. Don't get me wrong I'm sure it will do fine..but man I dunno how well.

[Brad2dbone]

You guys haven't been watching Cartoon Network or hanging out in any toy aisles lately then. CN runs plenty of commercials for Clone Wars, (keep in mind that the movie is basically the premiere episode of the series that will be on CN) and the previews have been in theaters and in the crappy TV preview things that are on before the movie previews. Also Wal-mart has a huge glut of Star Wars stuff right now, and Toys R us has dedicated their big movie tie-in section to Clone Wars, so I'd say it's pretty hyped.

Also don't forget that this is freakin' Star Wars! You think the millions of SW fans are gonna go see Tropic Thunder when there's SW in theaters? Besides your opinion of how it looks (like crud) is subjective, and plenty of people (me) dig the look.

[ehenyo]

I can't go a day without at least seeing 3 of those freakin' Clone Wars ads.

[TheShadow]

You guys haven't been watching Cartoon Network or hanging out in any toy aisles lately then.

Cartoon Network as a whole doesn't get very high ratings. Now, Adult Swim does still seem to get good viewership, I assume they are showing the ads there (I don't watch Adult Swim).

And, correct, I do not hang out in any aisles in any store. I retrieve the item I am looking for and continue on my way

Also don't forget that this is freakin' Star Wars! You think the millions of SW fans are gonna go see Tropic Thunder when there's SW in theaters? Besides your opinion of how it looks (like crud) is subjective, and plenty of people (me) dig the look.

Yes... but this is animated Star Wars, not an epic live action film. I don't think just because it is Star Wars makes it a guarantee. But I see your point. But not everything Star Wars is always massive on the other hand. I dunno... I guess because it is an animated movie it has thrown me off a bit.

I'm not saying it can't beat Tropic Thunder. I'm just surprised that people seem to think Tropic Thunder can't beat it. And I'm not endorsing Tropic Thunder, I don't want to see that either

I agree, my opinion on how it looks is subjective. However, to me, the animation does not look as good as the stuff Pixar has been putting out lately. From the trailer, the whole presentation felt cold to me, uninviting. I would have rather them do an animated movie that focuses on post-episode-VI. They could have brought in (most of) the original actors to do the voices as well; then you don't have the problem of them looking old.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Well, I've been seeing commercials left and right for the new Star Wars movie, and on many different channels including the major networks.

Granted, Clone Wars probably won't bring in the same kind of money as a full-fledged live action SW movie, let's face facts... it is Star Wars, which tends to be popular and usually brings in a lot of money... and it's a CGI animated movie, which those kinds of movies in general tend to bring in good money, so I'm sure we'll be seeing this thing bring in some good money.

I'm not exactly thrilled with the look and style of this movie either, though I'm still looking forward to it overall.

I would be very, very surprised if Tropic Thunder brought in more money than Clone Wars. Tropic Thunder is more or less just a typical end of the summer throw-away comedy. While I'm sure it will make it's money back (since it probably wasn't very high budget to begin with), I doubt it will beat out Clone Wars in ticket sales.

[Divia]

I must be the only one who doesnt know what Tropic Thunder is.I must google it.

The animation is OK, but I agree with Shadow not up to Pixar. He could have done a lot better with that. And I saw a commerical when the characters were talking and it sounded and looked stiff.

I'll give a full report after I see it. I was all hyped up for it, but now I think I could have easily waited for this on DVD.

[Brad2dbone]

Well, you guys are right about it not looking as good as Pixar, but then again what does look as good as Pixar?

I'm pretty sure the words "Star Wars" in the title makes it a given that people are going to see it. I mean, two sub-par prequels didn't stop people going to see RotS. I'm guessing that it will beat Tropic Thunder, and I do want to see both movies.

As far as the idea that they should have done something post ep. VI, you couldn't be more right.

@ Dynamo of Eternia, Tropic Thunder has one of the highest budgets for an R rated comedy ever. Reportedly over 90 million.

[TheShadow]

As far as the idea that they should have done something post ep. VI, you couldn't be more right.

Yeah... think of the positive talk that would be going on about that. It would have made serious bank from curiosity alone from using the original trilogy cast.

[Firefly]

Boxofficemojo.com Weekend estimates Aug. 15-17:
1. Tropic Thunder $26 million
2. Dark Knight $16.8 million (471.5)
3. Star Wars: Clone Wars $15.5 million
4. Mirrors $11.1 million
5. Pineapple Express $10.0 million (62.9)

An overall weak box office this weekend. I wonder if the Olympics hurt it some? Clone Wars in particular might have been hurt with more families likely staying home to watch.

[markatisu]

An overall weak box office this weekend. I wonder if the Olympics hurt it some? Clone Wars in particular might have been hurt with more families likely staying home to watch.

I am pretty sure it did, Gymnastics is always one of the biggest things with kids and it took over the broadcast Thurs-Sat with the finals and single medals). Negative or mixed reviews for CW also do not help, adults are discouraged from seeing it after hearing the bad worth of mouth imho. I saw it and loved it but it seems even according to boxofficemojo's user ratings its a direct split between A/B and F in viewer ratings.

I know the Olympics killed business here because since Shawn Johnson is from Iowa everyone here was either home or at the Olympic booth at the State Fair watching her.

Tropic Thunder did good based on controversy and word of mouth, Dark Knight still really strong and will get to $500m maybe by next Monday

[IceWolf]

That would be cool if Dark Knight beats Clone Wars!

[Zodach]

That would be cool if Dark Knight beats Clone Wars!

You can bank on it. Even though these are estimates, they won't fluctuate by $1.3 million.

[Brad2dbone]

Looks like I have to eat crow for defending CW's shot at #1. I think what hurt it most is that it just wasn't very good.

The animation was pretty bad, but in CW's defense it was made to be a TV series. As far as TV CG goes it's not too shabby (see tripe like Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Kids for proof).The story was mostly action scenes followed by action scenes. My kids loved it, but me- not so much.

[IceWolf]

Looks like I have to eat crow for defending CW's shot at #1. I think what hurt it most is that it just wasn't very good.

The animation was pretty bad, but in CW's defense it was made to be a TV series. As far as TV CG goes it's not too shabby (see tripe like Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Kids for proof).The story was mostly action scenes followed by action scenes. My kids loved it, but me- not so much.

Thanks for the review. So I will wait for DvD release.

[markatisu]

Thanks for the review. So I will wait for DvD release.

Or just wait for it to come on TV since CN will show the movie before the show premieres

It will be interesting to see if business picks up or if the overwhelming (and in my opinion too exaggerated) negative reviews hurt it. Not sure what the budget was or what they anticipated it to earn since its not really a big budget production (the TV show will use the same quality of CGI)

[Brad2dbone]

the overwhelming (and in my opinion too exaggerated) negative reviews

The reviews are a little harsh. It's not all that bad, it's just not all that good either. It's definitely TV quality stuff, and probably would have been better left off the big screen.

[IceWolf]

George Lucas will do ANYTHING for a buck.......

[Dynamo of Eternia]

George Lucas will do ANYTHING for a buck.......

except for making a good Star Wars movie using today's special effects.



I saw both Clone Wars and Tropic Thunder over the weekend.

Clone Wars was okay. The fact that it was made for TV and wasn't really meant to be a theatrical movie was rather obvious. It just wasn't paced like a movie. Jabba's uncle and baby, while annoying, weren't as bad as I was expecting based on what I had heard ahead of time. It wasn't great by any means, but it was okay.


Tropic Thunder was really funny. I enjoyed that quite a bit. I highly recommend it, but only if you aren't easily offended (though honestly, compared to many other movies out there, this one was actually pretty tame on the offensive material, IMO. I think the contraversy surrounding this movie is WAY over blown). There was one part that I particularly enjoyed where this one kid is going on and explainin the format war between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, which was pretty funny. My wife and I laughed at that since it was basically the sort of thing that I would go on about before it ended.

The only annoying part of seeing Tropic Thunder had nothing to do with the movie, itself, but rather people in the theater. Sitting down the isle from us was three women. Two of them had to be in their late 30s/early 40s, and the other looked even older (possibly the mother of one of the other women), but they were acting like a bunch of stupid, gitty teenagers who couldn't shut up. I really wanted to just go over and smack them upside the head (I didn't, but wanted to).

It's almost more worth it to wait for the movies to come out on DVD and Blu-Ray than to deal with that garbage. Arrg!

[Divia]

George Lucas will do ANYTHING for a buck.......

Ya know I always used to say hey man milk it for all its worth. But yeah I gots to agree here. I mean its a TV movie and he slapped it in the theaters. I guess it just goes to show you how strong he is.

I still think they should have done a cartoon movie from the original movies.

[IceWolf]

Ya know I always used to say hey man milk it for all its worth. But yeah I gots to agree here. I mean its a TV movie and he slapped it in the theaters. I guess it just goes to show you how strong he is.

I still think they should have done a cartoon movie from the original movies.

Ya, how awesome would it be to of had Mark Hamil, Carrie Fisher, etc. do voices? I bet it would of done better in theaters than the new trilogy movies.

[markatisu]

Aug 22-24

1. Tropic Thunder $16.1m
2. House Bunny $15.1m
3. Death Race $12.3m
4. The Dark Knight $10.3m ($489m LTD)
5. Star Wars: Clone Wars $5.66m
6. Pineapple Express $5.6m
7. Mirrors $4.8m
8. The Longshots $4.304m
9. Mamma Mia $4.303m ($124.5m LTD)
10. The Mummy III $4.0m ($124.5m LTD)

Nothing shocking, The Dark Knight still hanging around, Clone Wars falling 61%, Pineapple Express and Mamma Mia on their way to making 3x their budget, and the Mummy long surpassing $100m for the third straight time almost ensuring another sequel

[TheShadow]

12 N The Rocker Fox $2,750,000

Perhaps this means that we won't be subjected to movies starring Rainn Wilson anymore.

[Hoosfn]

except for making a good Star Wars movie using today's special effects.



I saw both Clone Wars and Tropic Thunder over the weekend.

Clone Wars was okay. The fact that it was made for TV and wasn't really meant to be a theatrical movie was rather obvious. It just wasn't paced like a movie. Jabba's uncle and baby, while annoying, weren't as bad as I was expecting based on what I had heard ahead of time. It wasn't great by any means, but it was okay.


Is there still to be Star Wars TV show heard something about that awhile back


Tropic Thunder was really funny. I enjoyed that quite a bit. I highly recommend it, but only if you aren't easily offended (though honestly, compared to many other movies out there, this one was actually pretty tame on the offensive material, IMO. I think the contraversy surrounding this movie is WAY over blown). There was one part that I particularly enjoyed where this one kid is going on and explainin the format war between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, which was pretty funny. My wife and I laughed at that since it was basically the sort of thing that I would go on about before it ended.

The only annoying part of seeing Tropic Thunder had nothing to do with the movie, itself, but rather people in the theater. Sitting down the isle from us was three women. Two of them had to be in their late 30s/early 40s, and the other looked even older (possibly the mother of one of the other women), but they were acting like a bunch of stupid, gitty teenagers who couldn't shut up. I really wanted to just go over and smack them upside the head (I didn't, but wanted to).

It's almost more worth it to wait for the movies to come out on DVD and Blu-Ray than to deal with that garbage. Arrg!

My wife hadn't seen Batman so I took her last Saturday and we had the same problem but bunch of little thugs (man I am getting old). They just kept talking but it worked out my wife new the manger and told her about them and she took care of them. And my wife loved the movie like I told her she would

[Dynamo of Eternia]

12 N The Rocker Fox $2,750,000

Perhaps this means that we won't be subjected to movies starring Rainn Wilson anymore.

I like Rainn Wilson and I still want to see this movie. It has actually gotten some decent reviews (at least the ones that I've seen/heard).

It sucks that it didn't make more money, but just because a movie doesn't do well theatrically doesn't mean that it isn't a good movie. Sometimes the advertising just fails to catch people's attention. I've seen plenty of movies that flopped in theaters and that I've gone on to love quite a bit. Some have even gained fairly big cult followings after the fact. Perhaps this will end up being one of them (I'm not saying for sure that it will be, but it's within the realm of possibilites).