Box Office Weekend 6/10: Sequelitis is Getting Old

[AndyDursin]

Just back from our first anniversary vacation getaway

Saw these numbers and it's pretty glaring...is it possible people are just tired out of 3rd-installment sequels...or at least mediocre ones??

After all the "buzz" the $37 million opening for OCEAN'S 13 is unquestionably the biggest underwhelming number of the summer to date. It's hugely below expectations, both previous installments and what Warner apparently thought it would do ($45-$50 million).

It could also be due to how bad the previous installment was as well...

Mediocre numbers on SURF'S UP and HOSTEL PART II, not that I'd ever have any interest in the latter.

1 N Ocean's Thirteen WB $37,080,000 - 3,565 - $10,401 $37,080,000 - 1
2 1 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End BV $21,316,000 -51.8% 4,002 -360 $5,326 $253,614,000 $300 3
3 2 Knocked Up Uni. $20,017,000 -34.8% 2,876 +5 $6,960 $66,241,000 $30 2
4 N Surf's Up Sony $18,000,000 - 3,528 - $5,102 $18,000,000 - 1
5 3 Shrek the Third P/DW $15,750,000 -43.8% 3,925 -184 $4,012 $281,892,000 $160 4
6 N Hostel Part II LGF $8,750,000 - 2,350 - $3,723 $8,750,000 $10.20 1
7 4 Mr. Brooks MGM $5,000,000 -50.1% 2,453 - $2,038 $18,682,000 $20 2
8 5 Spider-Man 3 Sony $4,400,000 -41.9% 2,570 -832 $1,712 $325,680,000 $258 6
9 6 Waitress FoxS $1,650,000 -18.0% 708 +103 $2,330 $12,016,000 - 6
10 10 Disturbia P/DW $550,000 -50.6% 568 -467 $968 $77,795,000 $20 9

[romanD]

thank god hostel II is doing so bad. That proves that the original had only a big opening due the fact that everybody thought it is a new Tarantino movie. It went down very quickly after the realization they all have been fooled.

Also GRINDHOUSE bombed, so I guess you shouldnt really advertise a movie with his name right now anymore.

The first HOSTEL was one of the worst movies I have ever seen and Im more than happy about this opening. How could they ever open a sequel to such a bad movie as a big summer movie???

[Eric W.]

This is as good of a thread as any for this:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/vine/show ... p?t=555674

^^ Not sure how much there is to this, but maybe some of this supposed missing footage might have helped make Spiderman 3 a bit more cohesive.

Again, the biggest problem with S3 and Pirates 3 were they tried to cram 2 films' worth of material into one.

In Spidey 3's cases, the emo soap opera and piss poor logic behind the actions of Mary Jane especially are probably beyond salvage, but maybe a "Director's Cut" of Spiderman 3 should show up on DVD and Blu-Ray by Christmas time.

Interesting read, anyways.

[AndyDursin]

There was too much going on in Spidey, but IMO it was a much better film than Pirates, even considering the flaws of each movie.

Pirates had a larger problem, I felt, in that they were finishing the production of 2 back to back movies and had to meet a release date. No matter what you do to clarify story, it doesn't change the fact that the better set pieces were in the second film. The amount of green-screen was nearly overwhelming in PIRATES 3, as if they didnt have enough time to do outdoor set pieces with the schedule they had to adhere to.

It also had "too much" going on, but I was entertained and reasonably satisfied with Spider-Man 3 in spite of its issues. PIRATES had more flaws, probably a lot more, and felt like a misfire, by comparison, though neither were up to the level of their predecessors.

[mkaroly]

thank god hostel II is doing so bad. That proves that the original had only a big opening due the fact that everybody thought it is a new Tarantino movie. It went down very quickly after the realization they all have been fooled.

Also GRINDHOUSE bombed, so I guess you shouldnt really advertise a movie with his name right now anymore.

The first HOSTEL was one of the worst movies I have ever seen and Im more than happy about this opening. How could they ever open a sequel to such a bad movie as a big summer movie???

The director was on a Fox news program and he was trying to justify how violent it is. He was trying to parallel the castration stuff on screen to people in real life feeling castrated, etc. I honestly don't remember everything he said as he sounded like a complete moron. It was like he made this picture with tons of violence and then tried to back it up with academic subtext theory that sounded really weak at best.

Heck- maybe he was trying to put all that in there but just can't explain it clearly on the spot. Look- I realize (in general) that people are politically disenchanted and seeking some kind of identity for themselves and what they believe in. But I tell you, I would rather someone make a thoughtful movie that makes you think (redundant) than a torture gore fest that makes you want to puke. Thank you, but I'll be keeping my money and saving it for something worth paying to see. And I had no desire to see that, or the first film, or TURISTAS (whatever it's called).... it's all junk to me (recognizing that some do like this stuff).

And as far as OCEANS 13 is concerned, maybe people are getting tired of Clooney and Soderbergh. What was SS's highest grossing film- OCEANS ELEVEN? Have those two consistently put out good stuff, or do the box office numbers point to a different story?

[AndyDursin]

And as far as OCEANS 13 is concerned, maybe people are getting tired of Clooney and Soderbergh. What was SS's highest grossing film- OCEANS ELEVEN? Have those two consistently put out good stuff, or do the box office numbers point to a different story?

One word most try to forget: SOLARIS!

[Monterey Jack]

Out Of Sight is one of my favorite movies of the last decade, so I'll see any Clooney/Soderbergh joint on general principle. Plus, Ocean's 13 has been getting many good reviews, most of which have claimed it's superior to 12.

And as pretentious as Solaris was, at least it was ambitious, which isn't exactly common with sci-fi these days...

[AndyDursin]

Out Of Sight is one of my favorite movies of the last decade, so I'll see any Clooney/Soderbergh joint on general principle. Plus, Ocean's 13 has been getting many good reviews, most of which have claimed it's superior to 12.

And as pretentious as Solaris was, at least it was ambitious, which isn't exactly common with sci-fi these days...

It's been getting good reviews, but saying it is better than 12 is really faint praise, that film was pretty close to a disaster. It is quite possible this movie is underperforming because 12 was so poor.

OUT OF SIGHT was terrific but I'm not a huge Soderbergh fan in general, I find a lot of his work overrated (these OCEAN films, THE LIMEY, KAFKA, UNDERNEATH, FULL FRONTAL and THE GOOD GERMAN especially), though they're all, at least, interesting. KING OF THE HILL was one of the more unsung films he directed, back earlier in his career.

Sadly SOLARIS was pretty much horrific. Again I think "pretentious" is being kind. I counted the number of viewers walking out at the preview screening I was at, and believe me, I wanted to go right along with them. I also can't give it points for attempting a high degree of difficulty since it was, after all, a remake as well.