This Week's Box Office Results: About Time Edition

After over a year of not making these threads due to sheer laziness, I decided to try to do so again. Why? Damned if I know...I'm just lazy AND fickle.

The following results are from Box Office Mojo.com:

Pitch Perfect 2 took the top spot this weekend with an estimated $70 mil opening. With the movie making back more than double its estimated $29 mil production cost, a third film is pretty much a given.

The other big film opening this weekend, Mad Max: Fury Road, may not have pulled in the numbers the competition did, but its results were nevertheless impressive, pulling in an estimated $44 mil in the US alone, Not bad being that it's an R-rated movie and a follow-up to a franchise whose last installment was 30 years ago. It's chances for a sequel is up in the air at this point--although it's probably THE best reviewed film this year, it's still has ways to go to make up it's estimated $150 million production budget. It still has international openingd to look forward to, so there's a chance it can make up for it there.

Next week's major releases include the sci-fi film Tomorrowland, and the remake of 1982's horror film Poltergeist.

So, sound off OT...What did YOU see this weekend, and was it any good?

I'm pretty amazed at the draw a movie about competitive a capella singing is receiving. It's just not my type of movie, I guess.

I'm pretty excited to see Mad Max, but it's probably going to be a while before I'm able to do so. I'm definitely hoping for a sequel.

I watched The Theory of Everything from 2014. It is a great film.

I hope Poltergeist bombs.

@sammyjenkis898: Why is that? I haven't followed it at all.

Mad Max being only $44m is disheartening, it's probably one of the best action movies ever made.

It's sad that Avengers2 did so much better but isn't even a fraction as good.

Because it looks as lazy as every other remake/reboot Hollywood has shit out over the past decade.

That's unfortunate. I'd be pleased if it could pull it together and actually be decent.

I think that the weekend take is on par with what most analysts predicted. It's still an great opening, though, and I imagine once the international openings kick in, it'll go much higher. I I think what probably caught everyone off guard is the huge amount of critical praise for it--I don't think no one saw that coming. Maybe that'll factor in the studio's decision on whether or not they'll go for a sequel.

Mad Max did well for a R rated film. Mad Max should hold really well, Pitch Perfect 2 should drop pretty heavily and who knows about Poltergeist and Tomorrowland. We have a four way race for first which pretty much never happens.

Edit: Hallenbeck77, How was Mad Max?

Yeah i think MM will have amazing legs and make more money over time rather than instantly due to how it kinda came out of nowhere.

Has very good word of mouth.

The wife and I went to go see it Friday night, and we both enjoyed it immensely. I give George Miller tons of credit for making an truly old-school action film that's really not made anymore. If you can, try to catch it in theaters, even if it's a matinee show. It's too good to simply wait for the blu-ray or VOD release.

Good to see these threads again, or maybe I miss them every week.

I've been very busy--this is the first time in almost a year I've made one, but I'm going to give an honest effort to do so again every Sunday, time permitting.

@hallenbeck77: Cool. I was supposed to go Friday night but I end up working overtime. Going this Wednesdays since I'm off that day.

So who can tell me what Mad Max is about? I remember watching it as a little kid and thinking it was about a bunch of desert biker gangs chasing and beating each other up. I was thinking whether it goes deeper than that and whether or not I should give this one a shot but I watched the trailer and it still looks like a movie about a bunch of desert biker gangs chasing and beating each other up so I still have no idea what it's about....

Oh yeah, and things like this that makes me go "wtf?"

@korvus: Prior to a global war that decimated the world's resources, "Mad" Max Rockatansky was a cop tasked with protecting the highways of the Outback from motorcycle gangs that were terrorizing the citizens. However, he was unable to protect his wife and child from them, which killed his family in cold blood. Pushed to the breaking point, Max hunts them down and takes revenge on them before disappearing into the Outback. By the time second film opens, society has collapsed completely, and war has wiped Australia and its resources of food, fuel and weapons. No longer a cop, Max becomes focused on one thing--his own survival, at any cost.

And things like the gif above makes me go "F*** yeah!"

@hallenbeck77: Ok, nice, so it does have a bit of back story. What about the movies themselves, what do they focus on? Also, thank you for taking the time to explain it to me =D

@korvus:

The movies highlight a lot of intense driving action and stuntwork sequences, way before it was fashionable and cheaper to do such things with CGI today. The stories themselves are simple--people and gangs trying to survive and rebuild--to a certain extent--in a post-apocalyptic society. The first two films (Mad Max, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior) were great. The third movie (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome) was a bit weaker, but still worth viewing.

Even if you never seen the original films, You can still be able to see Fury Road with no problem. There's a brief narration in the beginning by Max that more or less brings you up to speed in the world of the movie.

@hallenbeck77: So should I be expecting a "switch brain off and enjoy the action" kind of movie with very barebone storytelling?

Granted the films aren't exactly Shakespeare, and they're not deep, but it'd be a disservice to chalk them up as just "switch brain off and enjoy". From a technical aspect, they showcase how traditional action movies were shot and presented--pure pratical effects, free of stylized editing, hyper-cuts, shaky cam, CGI, etc. that's so commonplace today. Even with the latest movie, the way it's filmed you're able to see and appreciate all of the action taking place onscreen and the return of old-fashioned stuntwork. The director, George MIller, is in his 70s, and what he shows in the latest movie puts more recent action films made by younger directors to shame.

@hallenbeck77: Oh, I understand, I just meant from a storytelling point of view, not a technical one =) Even the trailer shows the quality in that aspect.

well, at least Mad Max beat Buffy The Vampire: Age of Megatron or whatever it was

Mad Max was pretty awesome

I'll probably end up watching Pitch Perfect 2 and Age of Ultron this coming weekend

Is anyone excited for Tomorrowland. Like at all.

Oh, and

@korvus said:

So who can tell me what Mad Max is about? I remember watching it as a little kid and thinking it was about a bunch of desert biker gangs chasing and beating each other up. I was thinking whether it goes deeper than that and whether or not I should give this one a shot but I watched the trailer and it still looks like a movie about a bunch of desert biker gangs chasing and beating each other up so I still have no idea what it's about....

Oh yeah, and things like this that makes me go "wtf?"

I'm confident that it works well within the context of the movie, but stuff like that gif sort of give me a bad vibe. Viewing it out of context, it just seems TOO excessive and implausible. Like, I'm assuming that's one of the vehicles going after Max and Furiosa. If so, what the hell is the point of that? That's so wildly impractical that it's just ridiculous. That shit is clearly just for show, but who the hell is watching? Why the need to include a mobile concert stage with flame-throwing guitarists when you could just fucking kill Max? Why make a point about showing off your bling when the only person watching is immediately about to get murdered? The Road Warrior was kind of nuts too, but at least it felt a little bit more grounded. When Humongous' men decided to kill Max, they didn't need that extravagant bullshit. They just kept it simple and murdered everyone they could without showing off.

But yeah...I'm sure it works okay in the overall context of the movie. I'll find out tomorrow. But taken out of context, that scene is one of the most goofy looking things to me. No one drives shit like that. ESPECIALLY when they're going into battle and ESPECIALLY when they live in a world where things like gasoline are almost nonexistant.

I would be if Lindelof didn't write the thing.

Hopefully more people go see mad max, because with a budget of $150 million it needs to make quite a bit of money for there to be sequels

Saw Age of Ultron last night.

Was both delighted and slightly disappointed. It was a solid movie, but definitely no where close to Guardians of the Galaxy in terms of writing and quality... and the sheer lack of setup for Infinity War was severely disappointing (i.e. Thanos being finally brought in as a main antagonist).

It was a "good" comic book movie, but not up to the standard we've come to expect. And it's entire existence was like that of Mass Effect 2 to the Mass Effect franchise. All "setup" for what's coming next. If Infinity War Part 1/2 doesn't step it up, I'm going to be incredibly disappointed.

44m opening weekend for an R-rated film is quite excellent. The studio is extremely happy right now with that result. What was a gamble and could have been a $100 million loss will now make money for the studio. The Hangover for example had a $44 million dollar opening weekend and went on to earn $277 million. Mad Max likely won't hold as well as The Hangover but they can expect really decent profit from the film. It should take home at least $150 million from the domestic haul. It'll likely have decent holdovers given the good reviews and no significant action films being released for a few weeks.

True, but I feel a movie this good deserves to do by far much better. It's sucks when crap like Avengers: Age of Tranformers makes 10x more cash.

Not too shabby for rated R. The last rated R movie to do better than $44 million opening weekend was Fifty Shades of Grey in February with a whopping $85m (alot of horny females out there). Before that you have to go all the way back to last June with 22 Jump Street with $57m. Still, I thought Max would have done better than it did. Similar to Star Wars, it has alot of nostalgia from older movies driving it. And the stellar reviews in the consensus definitely should have given it a bigger boost than it did.

I think the reviews and the take make internationally are going to weigh in heavy in the studio's decision to greenlight the sequel, if they do decide to (As of today, it's made $110 worldwide total.)

As others have said, Mad Max is killing it overseas. They'll be well north of the $150 million budget by next week. Hardy has already signed on for three more so no worries. Sequel assured.

That's a standard clause in a lot of contracts. Just because an actor has signed on to make a sequel, it doesn't mean that it will always get made--despite the accolades some movies get, the bottom line for movie studios, is that first and foremost, it's a business. Most studios aren't willing to sink $100-150 million plus into a project if they aren't going to get a significant return--just making back production costs won't be enough. Just for the sake of argument, if it doesn't get the numbers they hope for once it's said and done, you can bet that either:

A. They'll make a follow-up, but make changes to make it more profitable (ex. a PG-13 rating to get more people in theaters to see it), or lower the budget.

B. They'll scrap the sequel altogether (Possible, but I think unlikely at this point.)

@hallenbeck77:

I also said they'll be in the black by next week. Of course studios tend to lock up an actor for multiple sequels regardless, but if you combine that with outstanding ratings, the fact that the movie is a virtual lock to make over $250 million at the box office if it has any legs at all (it will since Jurassic World is almost a month away), the fact that Miller already has the story for the next one, and a sequel is assured. And we're not even talking about bluray/DVD sales, the book, the art of the movie book, the comics, the soundtrack. All of these are selling well. iOTA has seen an increase in his album sales simply because people loved Coma Doof Warrior.