|
Post by DiBiase is Good on Jan 9, 2019 12:21:10 GMT -5
Poor UHF got slaughtered by the ridiculously strong 1989 summer movie season which had the likes of Batman, the Last Crusade, Ghostbusters II, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and Lethal Weapon 2. I'm still convinced someone in Disney arranged for Winnie the Pooh to go against the last Harry Potter film to use its disappointing box office as an excuse not to do 2D animation anymore. Another victim of the Summer of 1989 movie season was License to Kill, It was originally going to be called "License Revoked" before it became clear that many people don't know what "Revoked" is, no wonder there hasn't been a Bond film released in the summer since. Star Trek Nemesis came out just before Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers It was never called “License to Kill”, it was “Licence to Kill”. Even in the US, the film was titled with the English spelling, not the Americanised version. STOP GETTING BOND WRONG!
|
|
BRV
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Wants him some Taco Flavored Kisses.
Posts: 16,974
|
Post by BRV on Jan 9, 2019 13:05:53 GMT -5
Am I the only one who thought UHF simply wasn't very good? I love Weird Al, but UHF is tv movie level at best and wouldn't have had much success whatever it was run against. Did running against blockbusters help? Not really, but there were bigger issues at play. I'll die on this hill with you. "UHF" could have been, at best, a modest hit were it released outside of the suffocating summer blockbuster season. I think its best-case scenario would have been a $20 million box office. Perfectly fine for a comedy made for $5 million, and about $14 million more than it grossed, but nowhere near the hit that Orion Pictures desperately needed it to be. A "Weird Al" Yankovic movie was never going to be a blockbuster. I say this as a former fan, but Weird Al has a niche audience. I know, because I was in it for much of my early teen years. In many ways, he's like professional wrestling. Weird Al and pro wrestling have a collection of absolutely rabid fans, a group of casual supporters who'll poke their head in from time to time, but to the mainstream population, it's nothing more than that thing off to the side. Just like how WWE Raw is never going to be a legitimate ratings challenger to Monday Night Football or whatever comedies CBS is airing, "UHF" was never going to attract the droves of date night crowds or the 25-to-34 crowd who ultimately make or break a movie at the box office. "Welcome to Marwen" is currently bombing at the box office, and while I haven't seen it and thus can't judge its quality, I can't help but feel that releasing it around the same season as Aquaman, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and Ralph Breaks the Internet cant have helped. The release makes sense to me as counter-programming for adults against three films aimed at kids and teenagers. I think the awful reviews and buzz hurt it exponentially more than the release date. I think the goal of "Welcome to Marwen" was to release it during award season in the hopes that it would catch some attention as a possible Oscar or Golden Globe nominee. It's got all the elements: award-winning director and actor, based on a true story, a story about overcoming adversity and disability, the Nazis as the enemy, and some eye-catching special effects. But the movie didn't turn out to be as good as they hoped it would be, the critics excoriated it, and the movie-going public saw right through the pretty blatant attempt at Oscar Bait and turned away.
|
|
|
Post by Clash, Never a Meter Maid on Jan 9, 2019 13:20:44 GMT -5
Another victim of the Summer of 1989 movie season was License to Kill, It was originally going to be called "License Revoked" before it became clear that many people don't know what "Revoked" is, no wonder there hasn't been a Bond film released in the summer since. Star Trek Nemesis came out just before Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers It was never called “License to Kill”, it was “Licence to Kill”. Even in the US, the film was titled with the English spelling, not the Americanised version. STOP GETTING BOND WRONG! I still say If You Asked Me To should have been its primary theme.
|
|
|
Post by DiBiase is Good on Jan 9, 2019 13:41:39 GMT -5
It was never called “License to Kill”, it was “Licence to Kill”. Even in the US, the film was titled with the English spelling, not the Americanised version. STOP GETTING BOND WRONG! I still say If You Asked Me To should have been its primary theme. I’m biased as I think Gladys Knight is the greatest female singer ever but I prefer the actual theme. However the Patti LaBelle song you mentioned was definitely worthy of being a Bond theme. Talking about Licence to Kill, the film, I feel with all the “stupid Americans not understanding what a word means” and “it’s too violent for a Bond film” stuff, it overlooks the fact that it’s a really good film and although not on the top tier of Bond films, it’s definitely on the second tier.
|
|
|
Post by wildojinx on Jan 9, 2019 13:45:43 GMT -5
Am I the only one who thought UHF simply wasn't very good? I love Weird Al, but UHF is tv movie level at best and wouldn't have had much success whatever it was run against. Did running against blockbusters help? Not really, but there were bigger issues at play. I'll die on this hill with you. "UHF" could have been, at best, a modest hit were it released outside of the suffocating summer blockbuster season. I think its best-case scenario would have been a $20 million box office. Perfectly fine for a comedy made for $5 million, and about $14 million more than it grossed, but nowhere near the hit that Orion Pictures desperately needed it to be. A "Weird Al" Yankovic movie was never going to be a blockbuster. I say this as a former fan, but Weird Al has a niche audience. I know, because I was in it for much of my early teen years. In many ways, he's like professional wrestling. Weird Al and pro wrestling have a collection of absolutely rabid fans, a group of casual supporters who'll poke their head in from time to time, but to the mainstream population, it's nothing more than that thing off to the side. Just like how WWE Raw is never going to be a legitimate ratings challenger to Monday Night Football or whatever comedies CBS is airing, "UHF" was never going to attract the droves of date night crowds or the 25-to-34 crowd who ultimately make or break a movie at the box office. However, the previous year gave us The Naked Gun, which was also a spoof film, and was based off of a niche tv show, starring an actor known mostly for b-movies, yet that did very well at the box office, enough to spawn two sequels.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2019 14:05:42 GMT -5
I was thinking for a second about Grindhouse because I thought it was released around valentines day but nope was april.
Still got absoloutley killed at the box office though sadly.
|
|
|
Post by cabbageboy on Jan 9, 2019 14:25:41 GMT -5
Thing is, ZAZ at least had Airplane which was a big box office hit some years earlier in the same vein. Ruthless People was also a top 10 box office hit in 1986. I saw UHF at the theater when it came out and thought it was funny, but it's not on the same level as Naked Gun. UHF is a grimy B movie that seemed to be aimed at a cult audience.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2019 14:33:39 GMT -5
John Cena had an animated movie that came out about a bull or something. I think it was called "Ferdinand." I remember thinking that was going to be his first major hit. It was an animated film starring a man that kids love. What could possibly go wrong? Then, I saw that it was coming out the same day as a Star Wars movie. The movie actually did fairly well. It did have an underwhelming opening weekend and it wasn't a gigantic hit or anything but it easily made its money back.
|
|
|
Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Jan 9, 2019 16:29:09 GMT -5
However, the previous year gave us The Naked Gun, which was also a spoof film, and was based off of a niche tv show, starring an actor known mostly for b-movies, yet that did very well at the box office, enough to spawn two sequels. A spoof film from the highly regarded writers/directors of the massive hit Airplane!, with one of the breakout stars of that film. Actually being funny didn't hurt either, while UHF... eh.
|
|
|
Post by dreidemy on Jan 9, 2019 17:42:32 GMT -5
Alvin And The Chipmunks 4 opened against The Force Awakens
|
|
|
Post by BlackoutCreature on Jan 9, 2019 19:09:40 GMT -5
Alvin And The Chipmunks 4 opened against The Force Awakens I gotta believe Alvin & The Chipmunks 4 was ruined long before they went up against Star Wars.
|
|
|
Post by Mighty Attack Tribble on Jan 9, 2019 19:14:51 GMT -5
A morbid example, and one that isn't at all the fault of the studio...The Dark Knight Rises. If that horrible event didn't occur, TDKR might have done at least as good as TDK at the box office. I can't remember what else was out at the time, though. I'm assuming you mean domestically, because while it fell short of Dark Knight by about $90 million in the U.S., Dark Knight Rises was the highest-grossing of the Dark Knight Trilogy worldwide.
|
|
vinnie245
Bubba Ho-Tep
The Vinster
Posts: 568
|
Post by vinnie245 on Jan 9, 2019 19:27:11 GMT -5
Another one to add to the E.T victim pile, Blade Runner. It most likely wouldnt of been a big hit regardless but it still would of done better than it did had it came out a few months later. Virtually nothing survived E.T's onslaught in 82 though. That and its video game causing the first videogame crash and you could say that E.T is a monster.
|
|
|
Post by arrogantmodel on Jan 9, 2019 19:57:05 GMT -5
Same with Olympus has Fallen and White House Down, Deep Impact isn't remembered as fondly as Armageddon, despite opening two months before it.
I think Olympus did better because it had a better cast, better director, better special effects, and it was rated "R." People wanted old school action movies after a ton of PG-13 ones.
Armageddon also had the big names. Everybody was a big star or up and comer. Bay had Bad Boys and The Rock under his belt. Although Deep Impact is more scientifically accurate and got better reviews.
|
|
|
Post by Mighty Attack Tribble on Jan 9, 2019 20:25:51 GMT -5
Armageddon also had the big names. Everybody was a big star or up and comer. Bay had Bad Boys and The Rock under his belt. Although Deep Impact is more scientifically accurate and got better reviews. Also, while they share a premise, Deep Impact and Armageddon target very different audiences. Deep Impact is a thoughtful character-driven story about how people deal with the end of the world, while Armageddon is a rootin' tootin' "'Merica f*** yeah" story about saving the world. They're as dissimilar as Alien and Aliens.
|
|
|
Post by Sir Woodrow on Jan 9, 2019 20:40:09 GMT -5
Alvin And The Chipmunks 4 opened against The Force Awakens I remember that Christmas period going to see Star Wars for the second or third time & having a dad and his four kids under ten in front of us go to the ticket counter and ask for tickets for the Chipmunks in a very defeated voice
|
|
|
Post by Kevin Hamilton on Jan 9, 2019 20:43:54 GMT -5
2012. That shit came out 3 years early!
|
|
BRV
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Wants him some Taco Flavored Kisses.
Posts: 16,974
|
Post by BRV on Jan 9, 2019 21:06:59 GMT -5
However, the previous year gave us The Naked Gun, which was also a spoof film, and was based off of a niche tv show, starring an actor known mostly for b-movies, yet that did very well at the box office, enough to spawn two sequels. A valid point, but "The Naked Gun" was still a movie starring movie stars. "UHF" was a movie starring a musician. And if you're making a movie starring a musician in the 1980s, you've got to make sure they're one with mainstream, crossover appeal. That's why "Purple Rain" and "Desperately Seeking Susan" were hits and "UHF" wasn't. Weird Al Yankovic was not in Prince or Madonna's league in terms of celebrity appeal during the '80s. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World I thought was a pretty fun, weird comedy, but it came out around the same period as the first Expendables movie and “Eat Pray Love”, causing it to be drowned out box office wise. Were there really audiences conflicted over the choices there? It feels like you couldn't have had three more opposite movies if you tried. "The Expendables" was a big-budget blockbuster starring all of the action heroes of our childhoods. "Eat Pray Love" was a Julia Roberts-led rom-com based on one of the most popular memoirs of the decade. Neither of those audiences are target audiences for an adaptation of a comic about slackers and garage rock starring Michael Cera.
|
|
|
Post by Sir Woodrow on Jan 9, 2019 21:07:11 GMT -5
2012. That shit came out! Fixed
|
|
|
Post by Kevin Hamilton on Jan 9, 2019 21:08:36 GMT -5
2012. That shit came out! Fixed Heh, honestly never saw it. Was just the first awful pun response to spring to mind.
|
|