My Big Fat Superhero Wedding Sequel
Sunday, March 27, 2016 at 7:01PM Batman v Superman + a little Wonder Woman dominated the weekend with a critic proof opening record for March. The test will be how well it can hold with terrible reviews and lackluster word of mouth. It's unlikely to have the staying power of something like Deadpool for example, which is still in the top ten 7 weeks after its debut. On the other hand it has free reign for a while with no direct competition coming for one entire month. Captain America Civil War arrives on April 8th. The question is this: Will Marvel's superheroes vs superheroes blockbuster be hurt by people feeling all "bleh" about Batman v Superman? Casual moviegoers rarely know the difference between studios and filmmakers and general history of quality, you know.
Meanwhile something girlier: Sally Field's little film is doing great with older moviegoers and enters the top ten in its 3rd week despite being on less than 500 screens. And finally, despite her phenomenally successful My Big Fat Greek Wedding being an ancient memory in pop culture years, Nia Vardalos's sequel did pretty well with a solid third place debut. She tweeted out this celebratory opening weekend photo
What did you see this weekend?
TFE is very pleased to notice that Embrace of the Serpent, Colombia's Oscar nominated Amazon journey (which we've been raving about for months) is about to hit a million in the arthouses if it can hold its theaters for one more week. That's pretty good for such a weird black and white movie that didn't really get going until it had already lost the Oscar!
TOP TEN
01 Batman v Superman $170.1 NEW Review
02 Zootopia $23.1 (cum. $240.5)
03 My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 $18.1 NEW
04 Miracles from Heaven $9.5 (cum. $34.1)
05 The Divergent Series: Allegiant $9.5 (cum. $46.6)
06 10 Cloverfield Lane $6 (cum. $56)
07 Deadpool $5 (cum. $349.4) Reviewish
08 London Has Fallen $2.9 (cum. $55.6)
09 Hello My Name is Doris $1.7 (cum. $3.2) Review
10 Eye in the Sky $1.0 (cum. $1.7)
RANDOM LIMITED RELEASES - JUST CHECKING IN
Embrace of the Serpent $.1 (cum. $.9) 73 screens Review, Interview
Knight of Cups $.06 ($.4) 68 screens Reviewish
I Saw the Light $.05 five screens NEW Review
Krisha $.03 (cum. $.05) 22 screens Review
April and the Extraordinary World $.01 one screen NEW
Reader Comments (26)
No movie should be THAT critic proof, especially not in the internet age.
"No movie should be THAT critic proof, especially not in the internet age."
Saw a (female) friend of mine today who had been visiting other friends of hers yesterday. Two bros aged 30-32: one had seen it once, the other had already seen it TWICE.
The End.
BvS's first weekend basically doesn't count; pre-sales had it sown up. The question is, who's going to see it next week?
"BvsS" is critic proof- but let's see if this dynamic duo have sturdy legs. No I did not see it yet- but I did see "Allegiant" which was not as ridiculous as the last one but seem to have the same climatic action scene. But who cares as long as we get loving close ups of Theo James- the movie has it retro sci-fi pleasure- ( and Theo James face)- but the story really makes less sense the more they try to explain it - ( the director did not include the gratuitous Theo James shirtless scene) I really don't see the point of another installment- unless Theo comes to his sense abandons Tris and goes looking for Mad Max in the forbidden zone.
So even a poorly reviewed superhero movie now makes big money? Another nail in the coffin for adult movies. Sad. I watched Game Change, which is very well done. It seemed timely to look back to 2008 to understand how we ended up with Trump in 2016. The movie humanized Sarah Palin and dealt with her honestly, so belated kudos to Julianne Moore and filmmakers.
JJ: I knew it was definitely going to get over $100 million, but I'd hoped the critical bile would be enough to knock that $170 million projection to, say, $110-120 million. Not too much to be ludicrous, but enough to imply reviews and word of mouth DO mean something, even early on.
If Batman vs Superman is so bad but so bankable (at least this week), it's gotta be worse for the Fantastic Four producers/etc with how crappy that one was. I saw a lot of friends on Facebook complain that the movie was good and the critics were wrong, yada yada. I still have no desire to see it until its at Redbox (if then).
I watched The Ten Commandments (it's Eater weekend after all) and basked in Anne Baxter's magnificence.
I also watched The General (1927) That film has some of the most impressive stunt work i have ever seen.
I saw EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT early this morning and it really is a fascinating gem!
Batman v Superman
My brother wanted to. Shut-up. It's bad in a way that deserves analysis, though.
Kapoor & Sons.
A gentle and beautifully made film and a great performance from Fawad Khan. The lack of press & coverage that Bollywood films gets in the United States continue to astound me.
Arkaan: I don't see how Suicide Squad succeeds based on this, though. It's already a little too soft for what it is, (doesn't that concept demand an R-rating?) and this reaction won't leave people ready to experiment with something risky. Also: Get the word out that, based on the writer, director and cast, Wonder Woman is probably risky.
I saw Batman v Superman and I liked it just fine. The internet hate boner for this movie is ridiculous.
Batman V Superman had $200mil of P&A behind it, no doubt. If you can't spin a huge opening weekend out of that + Batman and Superman brand recognition then you're in the wrong business.
The only new movie I watched this weekend (I'd already see BvS) was PEE-WEE'S BIG HOLIDAY, which was enjoyable and fun and silly and a great reminder of how Joe Manganiello is with comedy (and a tuxedo and a tight white tee and... and...). He's like the better version of Zac Efron. He knows his place, but isn't so obnoxious about it.
Easter bank holiday weekend + shitty weather + flu = I watched lots this weekend!
Dangerous Minds - I was 15 when this came out, and I loved it, saw it 3 times at the cinema. So I re watched out of curiosity. The bf hated it. For me, it's still a guilty pleasure, and a perfect example of movie star charisma elevating some very poor material.
Bright Star - swoon, swoon, swoon and more swoon. Where is Abbie Cornish? Did her relationship with Ryan Phillippe really kill her career? Come back, please!
The Dressmaker - wtf!? It was all over the place. But I kind of loved every second. Kate was obviously great. Hemsworth was dreamy. And I need a Judy Davis education, stat... Where do I start please??
I binged watched The Night Manager, the bbc drama with Tom Hiddleston, Olivia Coleman and Elizabeth Debicki. Wow!! So good! Intelligent, gripping, classy, and kind of old fashioned. Definitely worth your time.
Then I'm out to see High Rise tonight. Lots of Hiddleston in one weekend. Fine :)
I saw BvS in theatres. And then Catwoman Begins(uhm, Batman Returns) to help me forget.
A good critical reception may not necessarily justify the quality of a film. I just watched BvS and I don't consider it beyond redemption. Although it lacked a few key elements that make a compelling narrative and the CGI was way over the top, it wasn't all that terrible/awful as dished out by the critics. Give me BvS anytime over that dreadful Knight of Cups which meandered over nothingness for almost two hours.
Saw BvS in a very packed Sunday night showing. Mixed bag, but I didn't hate it. Even if I had though, still think WB/DC is still pretty well positioned going forward. Suicide Squad has had such an assured marketing campaign and feels divorced enough in both plot/characters from BvS that the negative response shouldn't effect it's opening much. The Wonder Woman movie is after that and if BvS did one thing right, it was effectively set up and promote her solo feature. There was a massive actual cheer that erupted from the audience when WW first appeared in her costume.
The first time the quality of BvS will likely effect another movie will be Justice League, but if they can foreground the popular WW in their marketing and promise something new (first big screen appearances of Flash and Aquaman seem like an obvious route) WB can lure many moviegoers back. An actual creative turnaround will be needed to sustain the DC cinematic "universe" after that, but there isn't any reason to think the whole thing is doomed quite yet.
Saw Nicholas Roeg's "Performance" with Mick Jagger and James Fox from 1970 (tho it was filmed in '68).
Fascinating, beautifully shot, and the role play/reversal/merge puts in Performance in good company with "Three Women" and "Secret Ceremony."
Was only familiar with latter day Fox, not like the sexy young beast he plays here--Chas, the gangsta!
And Mick is, well, Mick, with his musical number, Memo from Turner, a forerunner to the music video.
Who cares about BvS? (Other than a few million zonked teenagers and their entourages) Even if it's good, what do you have? Another superhero movie, which is crap by definition. And for all you folks hoping the reviews and bad word-of-mouth will kill off this thing, all I have to say is "Transformers" and put my head in my hands.
I say Hello, My Name Is Doris, which is a pretty inoffensive entry into the vanity projects for older actresses who deserve better. Not as good as Philomena, for sure, the best of the genre. But there have to be more vehicles like 45 Years out there which give older actresses real roles. Anyway, if you've seen the trailer, you've seen the movie and spared yourself an hour and a half of your time. Max Greenfield is quite a doll, and that's the main thing wrong with the movie. He's way too cute, too young and too nice, and too unaware of his own hotness and niceness to be believable.In real life he'd be too busy fighting 'em off for Doris to have a chance. Oh well, it's Sally Field's movie, so if she wants a lot of kissing scenes with Max Greenfield, I understand. Bet she had lots of re-takes.
I also saw the magnificent Embrace of the Serpent. My Ten Best of 2016 only has 9 more to go. I don't know whether I'd have chosen it or Mustang for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, but I liked both much much more than Son of Saul.
I don't know why, but when I see "BvS" I keep thinking it's an abbreviation for Buffy the Vampire Slyer, and then I wonder why everyone has been watching that all of a sudden.
I watched Les Mis for the first time. Perfectly adequate, no more, no less.
I saw Crimson Peak and I thought it was really exceptional. While I completely understand the desire to release this film at Halloween, I wish it had been released at a less congested time of year... I likely would have seen it in the theatre, and now I feel deprived of that film-going experience. The sets and costumes were glorious, and it was great to see a film that focused on the two female characters as well... plus, it made me realize how much a departure its gothic ghost story was from the films of today.
I also finished House of Cards Season 4 ... what a dumb show. I spent the last several episodes questioning why I was still watching it.
A double feature of Paris, je t'aime and New York, I Love You, both streaming on Hulu. I've seen these before but I was in a nostalgic mood and wanted something I could turn on and off while doing stuff around the house. So charming.
I know a bunch of people who saw BvS and liked it. I wonder if they were pleasantly surprised after all the reviews had them preparing for something awful.
I also saw Pee-Wee's Big Holiday and it was a lot of fun. And Manganiello is a lot of fun. (And oof, is that man built for sex. Geez.)
Also saw Ball of Fire and really enjoyed it. So cute and fun and funny. I'm not sure Gary Cooper's understated style works very well in a romantic comedy like this but it worked well enough, I guess. And Stanwyck of course was as charming as always.
I stayed home and watched Baby Doll for the first time ever. I am such a huge fan of Tennessee Williams and I have never been able to find this film on tv when it airs on TCM. it was on TCM On Demand so I watched it and loved it! Carroll Baker was excellent and while tame by today's standards I can see why it raised a bit of a ruckus when it was released. I also rewatched A Fish Called Wanda which is one of my all time favorite comedies and films and I also rewatched Gods And Monsters and it still holds up all these years later. I stand by my decision to name that film as the best of 1998 the only thing close to it was The Thin Red Line.
ken s -- glad to hear it. Me too about the foreign indecision. I wish one of them had surprised for the win.