Friday Box-Office: Expendables Can't Beat Week-Old Turtles, Raccoon

[MovieBob]

Friday Box-Office: Expendables Can't Beat Week-Old Turtles, Raccoon

Cartoon heroes pummel action guys at the box-office

Michael Bay's Expendables 3, [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/escape-to-the-movies/9634-Teenage-Mutant-Ninja-Turtles-Kids-Deserved-Better-Than-This] which opens with the lowest box-office of its franchise.

The failure of Expendables will likely be blamed on the high-profile leak of the completed film to piracy torrent sites several weeks before its release, but the fact that both TMNT and Guardians are occupying the majority of higher-priced 3D and large-format theaters is almost certainly a factor along with apathy among its older-skewing audience for a PG-13 rating. In fact, the grosses of the two CGI-heavy family-friendly scifi films are so close that some analysts are speculating that Guardians could actually equal or overtake the Turtles to reclaim the #1 spot.

Meanwhile, two other new releases, buddy-comedy Let's Be Cops and young-adult dystopian adaptation The Giver were both met by disinterest, with many blaming the heavy media presence of the Ferguson police-department scandal [http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/08/14/_let_s_be_cops_review_and_the_ferguson_police_actions.html] for audience rejection of a comedy about two men who impersonate police officers to pull pranks and meet girls.

Box-office prognosticators will now turn their eyes to next week, with focus likely to surround Robert Rodriguez's Sin City: A Dame To Kill For. The long in coming sequel was not expected to do big returns, but the math may have changed with news that the first teaser for Quentin Tarantino's hotly-anticipated western The Hateful Eight will be attached exclusively [http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/08/15/hateful-eight-teaser-sin-city-2/] to some screenings of the film.


Source: Deadline [http://deadline.com/2014/08/box-office-expendables-late-nights-unimpressive-819983/]

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[Dying_Jester]

I don't know about anyone else but I'm definitely going to see Sin City 2. It hits theaters the day after my birthday, I loved the first movie. To add that a look at another Tarantino movie is attached is just the buttermilk icing on the red velvet cake. It's like everything in the world I love is begging me to come to the movie theater for the first time in...some time.

Also, Expendables 3 bombing isn't much of a surprise. After the forced Chuck Norris jokes in the second one, anyone I talked to who liked the first said they weren't gonna bother with the 3rd.

 

[rees263]

Wow, I hadn't considered that the problems in Ferguson could have an affect on the box office. That is really unfortunate for those guys. I had a decent laugh at the trailer, but like many comedies I was left wondering if I had just seen all the best bits of the movie. That's much closer to the reason why I won't be going to the cinema to see it.

 

[Story]

I think the leak hurt the Expendables quite a lot, certainly and TMNT's audience was partly composed of the same nostalgic adults that would probably gone to see that movie too. You know if they hadn't already watched it online a few times before then.
Let's Be Cops viewership being affected by the Ferguson's riots, well that's just really bad luck.

As for The Giver meh, it doesn't seem like many Young Adult films are doing very well these days, unless you're the Hunger Games.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Wow, I hadn't considered that the problems in Ferguson could have an affect on the box office.

In complete seriousness, I doubt that 99.9% of the movie going public considers it either. That kind of justification is what I would call a studio flail, find a justification, any justification for why the low budget, long shelved but suddenly released buddy comedy and the Hunger Games band wagoner are box office duds.

Much like Expendables 3, 1 and 2 weren't very good and this one's been deliberately tamed down, but consumer apathy is entirely down to piracy bro, totally them pirates with their rum and and their ADSL lines.

This is no different to EA dreaming up reasons when one of their big releases doesn't sell as well as hoped (#cough# Dungeon Keeper innovated too much).

If Expendable 3 comes out on DVD/BluRay with a 15 cut I'd probably get it then and watch it with the aid of beer and pizza, but I can't be bothered with going to the cinema for it.

 

[mirage202]

I enjoyed both the first and second films. Perhaps more than others as I didn't even try to take them seriously. That and being able to see many of the action movie stars of my youth all together was worth the price of admission.

Ex3 though. Ex3. Why did I not go to the cinema to see Ex3? The article already said it. PG-13.

I do not pay to watch PG-13 movies. I don't pay at the Cinema, I don't pay to rent them, I don't pay to buy them on Blu-Ray. I wait until they show up on HBO, Cinemax or Starz or the rare case on Netflix, and only then will I watch them.

As a kid and teenager I couldn't wait to grow up so I could finally go see all these 18/R rated movies on my own, I still got to watch a few as my parents would 'vet' them first and decide if they thought they were suitable for my young self and/or my younger sister to see. Then Hollywood ran out of ideas and decided to start copying everyone else, or rebooting older movies in a PG-13 format for mass appeal. That was when they stopped seeing my cash.

 

[MrBaskerville]

It's probably for the best, the movie really isn't any good. It's by far the worst of the series and i'm starting to dread what would happen if they made a 4th movie. If only they had hired a decent director, then it might have been good, but i guess they couldn't afford it and we ended up with a guy who is terrible at action and some of the worst CG effects i've seen in a while. I really wanted to like this, but damn did they drop the ball this time around.

 

[Makabriel]

Also, Expendables 3 bombing isn't much of a surprise. After the forced Chuck Norris jokes in the second one, anyone I talked to who liked the first said they weren't gonna bother with the 3rd.

They actually toned down the 4th wall jokes quite a bit. They're still there, but they worked better. Not as forced.

I enjoyed both the first and second films. Perhaps more than others as I didn't even try to take them seriously. That and being able to see many of the action movie stars of my youth all together was worth the price of admission.

Ex3 though. Ex3. Why did I not go to the cinema to see Ex3? The article already said it. PG-13.

I do not pay to watch PG-13 movies. I don't pay at the Cinema, I don't pay to rent them, I don't pay to buy them on Blu-Ray. I wait until they show up on HBO, Cinemax or Starz or the rare case on Netflix, and only then will I watch them.

Honestly, all it was missing to make it R was the exaggerated CGI blood spatter and fake gore. If that's your thing, then so be it. But there's pretty much the same amount of violence as the other 2 movies.

Overall, I liked it. It felt a lot more structured than the last 2. Bob's review does it justice. I doubt I'll change any minds, but if you are on the fence about it, it's worth seeing.

 

[direkiller]

As for The Giver meh, it doesn't seem like many Young Adult films are doing very well these days, unless you're the Hunger Games.

The Fault in our Stars did very well considering it had a budget about twice as big as The Room's budget.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

it might just be over for the Expendables after this; the series is running on fumes at this point and when your trailer is just rattling off names you've entered self-parody territory. Stallone's attempt to bring back the cheesy 80s flicks has failed. Time to move on.

 

[Random Argument Man]

Blah Blah Blah, TMNT took a plunge in views. Blah Blah Blah, Guardians is still awesome. Blah Blah Blah, Expendables 3 didn't do well. Blah Blah Blah, Let's be Cops and The Giver...

Wait, Wait, Wait?. THERE WAS A GIVER MOVIE?!?!?!

 

[mirage202]

Snip.

I'm sure I'll love the film when I see it, has nothing to do with the film itself that I refuse to pay for it at the cinema. I just refuse outright to support the trend of making everything PG-13 for mass appeal. Same reason I won't buy certain games from certain publishers that follow the same model.

I didn't enjoy The Purge all that much, yet I went to see it simply because it was an adult theme aimed at adults, not an adult theme watered down for the little nutsack goblins to watch. Did the same with the sequel.

I like what I like and if a company wants to broaden the appeal at the expense of my custom then so be it, I wont see/play the product and they wont see my money.

 

[kasperbbs]

No surprise there, long before it's release imdb was filled with reviews due to the leak, most of them negative. Personally i lost interest after the first one, a bunch of old school action stars gathering in one movie seemed exciting at first, but in reality it wasn't all that good and apparently it only went downhill with the sequels.

 

[CelestDaer]

As for The Giver meh, it doesn't seem like many Young Adult films are doing very well these days, unless you're the Hunger Games.

The Fault in our Stars did very well considering it had a budget about twice as big as The Room's budget.

That's because John Green has such a huge following on tumblr, because the feels. I have the book in my 'to read' pile, and I do enjoy vlogbrothers. I'm just stating the most likely cause for FiOS to have done well.

 

[Tanis]

So...I take it The Giver isn't very good?

It's a shame, because I enjoyed the book.

It probably ended up like 'The Road'.
The lack of ambiguity as to who the people are killed part of the core point.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

So is TMNT still beating Guardians?

 

[tdylan]

I think this means that they need to cast Dwayne Johnson in the 4th one. As the villain. Contrived a way for everyone to come at him one by one, and have him hit each of em with his signature, WWE era moves. In all seriousness, can you imagine The Rock hitting Terry Crews with a DDT, kipping up, and then catching Lungren with the spinebuster. Pop up again as Jet Li comes flying through the air, catch Li across his shoulder, and slam him down with a samoan drop. Stare down Statem, and drop him with a back elbow as Statum comes running in, and then bury Couture through a nearby table with a Rock Bottom before staring down Stallone, then giving him the "just bring it" taunt.

Surely to goodness if you put even half of that in the trailer, it'd put asses in the seats.

 

[DeimosMasque]

So is TMNT still beating Guardians?

It seems a "too close to call" race for that at the moment. We'll find out Sunday.

 

[LobsterFeng]

As for The Giver meh, it doesn't seem like many Young Adult films are doing very well these days, unless you're the Hunger Games.

The Maze Runner looks like a good candidate for doing well. I mean I haven't read it but I have a friend that read it which means it's got a chance...I guess. But then again Mockingjay is just around the corner...