Blockbusters and International Taste

[Taylirious]

Origin films...

Spider-Man(May 3, 2002) WW Gross $821,708,551 D Gross $403,706,375
Ironman(May 2, 2008) WW Gross $585,174,222 D Gross $318,412,101
Man Of Steel(June 14, 2013) WW Gross $668,045,518 D Gross $291,045,518
Guardians Of The Galaxy(August 1, 2014) WW Gross $557,507,854 D Gross $284,407,854

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/showdowns/chart/?id=originshow.htm

Interesting.

 

[EmoBorg]

While on the topic of international movies in U.S markets I could think of two non english movies that i liked.


The Flowers of War

It is about the Japanese capture of Nanjing during the 2nd sino-japanese war. It stars Christian Bale.


Jodhaa Akbar


It is a historical romance between a Muslim emperor and a Hindu princess. It stars Hrithik Roshan.




How do Japanese horror flicks fare in the U.S market ? I know that the American versions of Japanese horror movies do well.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I don't how much money it has made in Europe, but The Grand Budapest Hotel, which was released in Brussels in early March, is still playing at one major theater in town. It was still playing regularly in a few theaters several months after its release. By contrast, Winter Soldier came and went pretty quickly, but I don't find that terribly surprising.

 

[Harvey]

I don't how much money it has made in Europe, but The Grand Budapest Hotel, which was released in Brussels in early March, is still playing at one major theater in town. It was still playing regularly in a few theaters several months after its release. By contrast, Winter Soldier came and went pretty quickly, but I don't find that terribly surprising.

According to Box Office Mojo, The Grand Budapest Hotel has made $1,404,427 in Belgium, while Captain America: The Winter Soldier has made $1,675,926, although neither number is up-to-date.

It helps, of course, that Captain America 2 was released in more than twice as many theaters as The Grand Budapest Hotel (at least domestically, though I'd be shocked if this strategy wasn't repeated internationally).

 

[MacLeod]

Origin films...

Spider-Man(May 3, 2002) WW Gross $821,708,551 D Gross $403,706,375
Ironman(May 2, 2008) WW Gross $585,174,222 D Gross $318,412,101
Man Of Steel(June 14, 2013) WW Gross $668,045,518 D Gross $291,045,518
Guardians Of The Galaxy(August 1, 2014) WW Gross $557,507,854 D Gross $284,407,854

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/showdowns/chart/?id=originshow.htm

Interesting.

You can see the non US domestic market becomming more important look at another series X-Men (first figure is US domestic share of takings the later Rest of the World)

X-Men (2000) 53.1 vs 46.9%
X2 (2003) 52.7 vs 47.3%
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) 51 vs 49%
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) 48.2 vs 51.8%
X-Men: First Class (2011) 41.4 vs 58.6%
The Wolverine (2013) 32 vs 68%
X-Men: DOFP (2014) 31.3 vs 68.7

Now of course that is only an example and it doesn't mean that it is true of all franchises

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I don't know of many foreign movies that made blockbuster type numbers in the US. So 'really well' is a highly-relative term.

Well, that's kind of the point of this thread, though. American-made films do really well over seas. It isn't a relative term, they're just popular and sell lots of tickets. In fact, foreign sales for American-made movies are essential to their business strategy these days. The same can not be said about foreign language films. I think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a good mention, but it's one of the rare ones.

 

[Lance]

It should be clear to everyone by now that Hollywood is increasingly international in its movie goals. Movies that are disappointing or outright bombs in the domestic ticket sales are actually successes when you consider the entire global movie-viewing public. The less than great side-effect is the need to rely on spectacle films. The kind of film Michael Bay makes is readily understandable anywhere without depending on the quirks of language and culture. That's not a knock on other cultures, which probably enjoy more sophisticated movies as well. It's just that, when needing to find a movie that appeals to all regardless of language or culture, cool explosions works pretty well.

But one thing I noticed that is odd is that foreign language films haven't done the same in reverse. For foreign films to find success (used in relative terms as well) the film is almost always a highly artistic film. I wonder why that is. Is it just a product of the kinds of movies made elsewhere (Hollywood just has more resources for the mega-blockbuster). Is it a reflection on American tastes (we can accept our own mega-blockbuster, but add a foreign language and it'll be all weird)? Or is it a reflection of foreign tastes (they're fine with American mega-blockbusters but, if they're making their own movie, it better not be such mindless drivel)?

Speaking as an 'international market', I think it comes down to American movies having boiled down successful formulas to a level where cultural boundaries do not matter. It's the "McDonald's Effect". Anyone, anywhere, can buy a ticket to a Hollywood movie, and not feel they need a crash course in American culture to 'get' it. But the reverse is, unfortunately, simply not true a lot of the time. That's a fact.

Movies (and to an extent TV shows) from international markets that are trying to break into the US are much more localized to their regions, much more specialized. Very often they rely on cultural memes that American audiences, traditionally, may not understand. Whereas *we* all "get" American culture, American culture may not be able to "get" something uniquely Australian (say). Sometimes, you'll get a breakthrough success where the uniquely cultural aspects don't overpower the narrative to the extent that anyone can pick it up, but traditionally nobody in the world can quite do that so effortlessly as the Hollywood production machine. They've just got it down to a fine art.

Of course, the barriers are being broken down. Especially in the last three or four years, with the increased prevalence of the internet and a much more global society, I've seen a shift in this. I think now more than ever before, audiences worldwide are much better able to take on board each other's cultural baggage, to take it for granted as it were. Even a decade ago there was a much greater chasm in understanding between the markets..... now, it's less a chasm, more a ditch.