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AMC Says More Than 20k Have Booked 'Barbie'-'Oppenheimer' Double Features

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Re: AMC Says More Than 20k Have Booked 'Barbie'-'Oppenheimer' Double Features

#41

Post by q7xvh97o2pDhNrh »

drumhead wrote: post #5

The film industry needs as much help as it can get at the moment, all studios have been hit with massive flops this summer. After the Flash, on track to lose at least $200million, Warner need Barbie to be a hit, so this bizarre double header is a way for Warner and Universal to get some positive buzz going for their films. Both of the are tracking to do well, and they didn't cost too much to make like the Flash or Di…

> they didn't cost too much to make

A quick search suggests each had a $100M budget, so it's worth noting they're not exactly cheap. They'll still need pretty big opening weekends to turn a healthy profit.

Re: AMC Says More Than 20k Have Booked 'Barbie'-'Oppenheimer' Double Features

#42

Post by drumhead »

probably_wrong wrote: post #31
drumhead wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The big studios are a major source of finance and distribution for the Indies, if they do badly there's going to be less money from the rest of the industry and less appetite for risk. If you're on course to lose over a billion like Disney you'll start to pull back for funding anything on the fringe. Mass produced "crap" has always provided the funds for the more artistic or less commercial ventures.

That sounds a lot like trickle-down economics for movies. And considering we've passed day 50 of the writer's strike and what we know about the troubles of the CGI industry, I'm skeptical of studios funding anything for the love of cinema when they are already failing to properly fund the people doing their blockbusters.

I don't think the writers or even actors have as much leverage with studios now as they think they have. They've got so much content now they can just haul out their back catalogue and show that instead with no production costs and very little marketing spend. Longer term they'll just move more production overseas or use new technology like LLMs.

Re: AMC Says More Than 20k Have Booked 'Barbie'-'Oppenheimer' Double Features

#43

Post by defrost »

Agentlien wrote: post #40
defrost wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm reminded of that time The Wiggles opened for Rammstein ..

I can't find any references to this actually happening. Is it just a joke?

It is indeed a stretch .. but they did cover AC/DC .. although not A Whole Lotta Rosie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weIL2yOBi_g

Re: AMC Says More Than 20k Have Booked 'Barbie'-'Oppenheimer' Double Features

#44

Post by nullify88 »

dawnerd wrote: post #29
emilsedgh wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or maybe these studios need to stop making stupid movies that nobody cares about anymore. Flash? Seriously? Promote actual movies a little more rather than spending hundreds of millions on dumb movies and leaving no room for real cinema.

Making trashy movies is fine. Paying problematic actors a ton of money and letting budgets go out of control isn’t. There’s always a need for filler movies - some of the best cult classics have been just that. The other issue is they release movies at the worst time. IMO the new mission impossible is going to flop because it came out so soon before probably the two most anticipated movies of the year.

I'm not convinced the new MI will flop. A lot of hype has been built around the movie which has been continually delayed due to covid and scheduling, during which they trickle previews and exclusive trailers on YouTube. Previous MI films and Top Gun have also been refreshing in the age of CGI movies. Everyone is excited for it.

Re: AMC Says More Than 20k Have Booked 'Barbie'-'Oppenheimer' Double Features

#45

Post by ahahahahah »

glimshe wrote: post #38
NoZebra120vClip wrote: post #30

I was eagerly awaiting "Dial of Destiny" for months before its release, and it was marked on my calendar, which was redundant because it was already a special day in our family. I wrapped things up at home and got to the theater on Thursday (which is technical Opening Day because everything has to creep up in time like Black Friday starting at 9pm on Thanksgiving Night.) Anyway, I immensely enjoyed "Dial of Destiny",…

People are downvoting the parent, but set politics aside and pay attention to what they are saying. Obviously he is a conservative, but conservative themed movies are a trend to watch and invest due to low budgets, strong word of mouth and high attendance. If you don't want to support this type of movie, it's okay, but someone else will make the money. It's clearly an underserved market, and it also highlights that i…

> Obviously he is a conservative

Huh, why would you say that? Dude seems like a little off, but I wouldn't just attribute any such oddities to being conservative.

Re: AMC Says More Than 20k Have Booked 'Barbie'-'Oppenheimer' Double Features

#46

Post by bsder »

glimshe wrote: post #37
drumhead wrote: post #5

The film industry needs as much help as it can get at the moment, all studios have been hit with massive flops this summer. After the Flash, on track to lose at least $200million, Warner need Barbie to be a hit, so this bizarre double header is a way for Warner and Universal to get some positive buzz going for their films. Both of the are tracking to do well, and they didn't cost too much to make like the Flash or Di…

Sound of Freedom is being a profitable success (46M gross so far, 15M budget) and a trend to follow for religion-influenced movies bringing large audiences. It's not a one-off, we saw that with Jesus Revolution too (53M gross, 15M budget). When you are smart about the audience and costs, you can make a ton of money in the business still. I have a theory that the low interest rates in the past several years created ma…

However, this presupposes you can pick the guy who wrote the "Sound of Freedom" out from the rest of the dreck a priori.

Nobody can do that. Go down the list of films in 2023 on IMDB. How many of those didn't make back their money domestically? A LOT. The profit from even one of your movies barely pays for a single other flop.

Matt Damon commented in an interview that the problem was the collapse of DVD sales. With DVD sales, you could occasionally get a long slow burn after the movie was done (see: John Wick). Without DVD sales, it's either get it at the box office or you're done.

Re: AMC Says More Than 20k Have Booked 'Barbie'-'Oppenheimer' Double Features

#47

Post by glimshe »

ahahahahah wrote: post #45
glimshe wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People are downvoting the parent, but set politics aside and pay attention to what they are saying. Obviously he is a conservative, but conservative themed movies are a trend to watch and invest due to low budgets, strong word of mouth and high attendance. If you don't want to support this type of movie, it's okay, but someone else will make the money. It's clearly an underserved market, and it also highlights that i…

> Obviously he is a conservative Huh, why would you say that? Dude seems like a little off, but I wouldn't just attribute any such oddities to being conservative.

Mention of "woke feminism" in the context of something to look out for and appreciation of Sound of Freedom are pretty strong hints. I'm not criticizing him for it, just stating something that looks fairly likely to me.

Here on HN we're too quick to associate the label "conservative" as a negative trait, while for me calling someone "liberal" or "conservative" is akin to calling someone "sports enthusiast". It is what it is...

Re: AMC Says More Than 20k Have Booked 'Barbie'-'Oppenheimer' Double Features

#48

Post by prennert »

ReptileMan wrote: post #36
dawnerd wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your point about Indy definitely doesn’t match my experience or the experience of many others who think it’s one of the top three.

The box office results point to those "many others" being not that many.

Something I never understood: how can movie and music quality be measured by counting one-off paying audiences (cinema goers, pre-streaming album buyers)? People will only know how good it is once they watched it and therefore already paid. There is no money back if you don't like it. Hype / marketing and timing must be a huge part of what makes box office numbers.

Re: AMC Says More Than 20k Have Booked 'Barbie'-'Oppenheimer' Double Features

#49

Post by glimshe »

bsder wrote: post #46
glimshe wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sound of Freedom is being a profitable success (46M gross so far, 15M budget) and a trend to follow for religion-influenced movies bringing large audiences. It's not a one-off, we saw that with Jesus Revolution too (53M gross, 15M budget). When you are smart about the audience and costs, you can make a ton of money in the business still. I have a theory that the low interest rates in the past several years created ma…

However, this presupposes you can pick the guy who wrote the "Sound of Freedom" out from the rest of the dreck a priori . Nobody can do that. Go down the list of films in 2023 on IMDB. How many of those didn't make back their money domestically? A LOT . The profit from even one of your movies barely pays for a single other flop. Matt Damon commented in an interview that the problem was the collapse of DVD sales. With…

Maybe you can't pick that these movies easily a priori, but this one in particular came from a pretty strong crowdfunding campaign. So that's potentially a bankable early signal.

My claim is that there is an underserved market and companies are starting to invest in it and create movies that aren't ultra low budget. More movies to come, and like any market with limited competition, an opportunity to watch for.

About DVD/Blueray sales, a separate and interesting discussion. Digital purchases were supposed to replace those, but with non-portable DRM and cumbersome UIs with subscription services, this isn't happening yet. I wonder if anyone will "solve" the problem of buying a movie in the 21st century, or maybe buying movies is dead for good?

Re: AMC Says More Than 20k Have Booked 'Barbie'-'Oppenheimer' Double Features

#50

Post by yourusername »

draugadrotten wrote: post #12

How is the experience of going to the movies in the US these days? In EU, going to the movies now means watching entire rows of glowing cell phones in front of you and hearing at least a few conversations on speaker phone. Not to mention the price of admission for the whole family is comparable to about 6 months of a streaming service. It just isn't worth it anymore, and I say that as a movie aficionado who has seen…

I'm not sure how you think you can extrapolate your movie going experience to the entire EU when the crowd and experience is already different depending on what theater i go to in the city i live in (i don't recognize your experience at all).
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