The Marvels is expected to end its theatrical run with $210 million to $240 million at the global box office, under its $270 million budget and that would be, you guessed it, the lowest total for an MCU movie ever.
It’s also the highest grossing theatrical release of all time by a Black woman director, Nia DaCosta. Though that says more about who Hollywood lets direct big blockbusters, unfortunately.
Well, yes, obviously.
In a recent fit of boredom I managed to get halfway through one of the latest Batman fliks. It even managed to underperform the TV shows from the 60s. At least they had a plotline that was vaguely comprehensible. Who the hell watches these things?
Nobody, which is why they made a loss.
Who other than some blue-haired demi-gendered freak is going to sit through a 2-hour lecture on “White People bad” and literal “Magic Negroes”?
It’s nonsense. The end result of DEI infection of the industry and it’ll probably take Disney down if they don’t find some means of inoculating themselves from it.
Although the loss of Disney in it’s current woke state would be no real loss.
I sat through 2 1/2 hours of Wonder Woman 84 just so I could see Lynda Carter at the end. I watched Caotain Marvel once, I really couldn’t tell you what it was about, but Bree Larson is quite a babe. I also bought the DVD of Black Widow because of Scarlett Johannson and Rachel Weisz.
I think I’m beginning to answer BiS’s question for him. Sad old pervs.
There is literally a scene in this film where one of the characters says: “Use Black girl magic!’
I haven’t seen the film, so I don’t know if that meant shoplifting.
The Marvels got a rare B Cinemascore, tying it with Eternals and Quantumia, the lowest in MCU history.
One day his spirit will rise from the grave and the world will know that he* was right.
*(John Simon)
I picked up a DVD of Black Widow from the supermarket bargain shelf with no knowledge of the “controversy” around it and thought it was fun like the other good Marvel movies. The girls-shat-on-by-men thing was there for sure, but that was kind of Black Widow’s back story anyway before it became universal. The same movie could easily have been made and seen when it was set and I don’t think the 2016 audience would have had any problem with it at all. In fact, it was a nice reminder of before the Marvelverse fell up its own arse.
Years ago we went to a film festival. It persuaded me that the only genius that Hollywood has ever produced was Buster Keaton.
I’ve seen the odd good film since, but not many. I watched The Searchers recently, having read that it was the best western ever. Poor stuff (apart from the unexpected discovery that John Wayne could act.)
I can heartily recommend Master and Commander.
If Hollywood closed down tomorrow there would be no tears from me.
Shame there is no 4K version of Master and Commander.
The 1080p version looks both dark and grainy on the projector.
🙁
Dearieme – it’s not the best Western (that’s a hotel chain), but it’s pretty damn close:
TRUE GRIT.
The Coen Brothers remake, not the cheesy John Wayne version.
Trust me, you’ll love it. Them Coen boys may be the last Hollywood players who understand the power and majesty of cinema. The poetry of the cinematography, the wonderfully chewy dialogue, served up as thick and hot as a spitwad of chaw by Jeff Bridges in the acting form of his life.
Disney is for kids. There are more kids in the Middle East, since the West went on birth strike.
So I expect a Disney film about heroic Hamas fighters resisting oppression by Jewish grandmothers to be a huge hit.
Pick a director with no real experience, no knowledge of the genre nothing to do with sex or race.
The 2003 Hulk movie directed by Ang Lee showed clearly what happens when you let an art movie director loose on an action blockbuster
“Who other than some blue-haired demi-gendered freak is going to sit through a 2-hour lecture on “White People bad” and literal “Magic Negroes”?”
Even they won’t watch it.
Bill Burr has a great bit about women bitching about how the men won’t watch the WNBA – his takeaway is that its not our problem. Its *women’s* basketball – where are the women out there cheering them on?
Nonsense. The best western ever made is Blazing Saddles.
“The best western ever made is Blazing Saddles.”
Is the correct answer!
Unforgiven was pretty good.
And if you liked that, try Old Henry. Same sort of gritty “life in the old west was probably pretty shit” realism.
BiW: +1k! That is a film we can watch time & time again.
About 10 years ago we visited friends in the US. Their son was a teenager at the time and we all went to see one of the Marvel films (The Avengers?). What a pile of old shite. I remembered the green guy from earlier TV but the rest was fairly incomprehensible.
My most recent outing to the cinema was to see Oppenheimer but I couldn’t decipher half the dialogue -the sound quality was so bad and the music over the top masked everything. Florence Pugh was good to look at though.
As for female directors, I watched The Hurt Locker recently and that is far better than any of the rubbish action films that have been shat out of Hollywood over the years. However I’m definitely in the minority given the $billions that have been made off them.
“…The poetry of the cinematography, the wonderfully chewy dialogue, served up as thick and hot as a spitwad of chaw by Jeff Bridges in the acting form of his life…”
And, of course, Hailee Seinfeld.
The problem with Oppenheimer is that at 3 hours it was sheer self-indulgence on the part of director Christopher Nolan.
They could have cut an hour off if they dumped all the maudlin crap about “Wah! I built the bomb and the irrelevant nonsense over Lewis Strauss”.
As for the cinematic problem of mumbling, that’s why I prefer to watch these things in my home cinema with the subtitles turned on.
Stops me having to do the “What was that?” thing every few minutes.
$270m budgeted cost
$100m marketing (conservative figure)
$370m total costs
$240m global box office
$(120m) less 50% retained by theatres
$120m actual net revenue
$(250m) actual loss to studio.
So not only is she responsible for the highest gross by a black female director she has also smashed the open category (and therefore the patriarchy) by generating the largest ever loss for a single film irrespective of race, colour, gender or sexual proclivities of the director.
A historic achievement – maybe that’s what the exposure-whore (well he does appear in an awful lot of films nowadays when he’s not endorsing sliced bread) Samuel L Jackson means by “black girl power”.
Actually his Warburtons ads are rather good. Maybe he should give up films?
Maybe the Warburton’s ads have better writing.
We’ve just had to throw out some crumpets because they’d gone mouldy. Let that be warning to whomever it is you’re talking about.
@John Galt & Tractor Gent
Mumbling actors and struggling to hear dialog is a problem across TV and cinema, and Christopher Nolan is particularly bad for it.
Decent video explaining the issue here, but no solutions.
https://youtu.be/VYJtb2YXae8?feature=shared
In my opinion a good set of headphones will sort you out (or just stick on the subtitles).
John – $270m budgeted cost
$100m marketing (conservative figure)
$370m total costs
It’s the 443rd film in an assembly line of films about C-list actors punching CGI, so I’m gonna assume the real superhero here is Schlomo the accountant.
Peter – And, of course, Hailee Seinfeld.
Amazing little actress. She could convince you she just walked out of 1882.
BiW – Steve only pawn in game of film criticism.
The Outlaw Josey Wales
FTW
First film since Gone With the Wind to show the Confederacy as the good guys.
Now remember, when things look bad and it looks like you’re not gonna make it, then you gotta get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean. ‘Cause if you lose your head and you give up, then you neither live nor win. That’s just the way it is.
When all the Oppenheimer hype started up, BBC4 repeated the 1980 Horizon drama doc, which is much better. When every set is a 20ft stage, you have to ensure the writing and acting works.
jgh
I remember the BBC Oppenheimer series. Excellent, especially Sam Waterston as Oppy and Edward Hardwicke as Enrico Fermi.
Also the film Shadowmaker was a good stab at the Manattan story.
Thanks Josey!
My favourite couple of lines:
Josey Wales: Whenever I get to likin’ someone, they ain’t around long.
Lone Watie: I notice when you get to DISlikin’ someone they ain’t around for long neither.