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ST-XI - Release Date Debate

photon70

photon70

Commander
Red Shirt
Hi all,

Disney have admitted they made a mistake with the release date for the 2nd Chronicles of Narnia film - Prince Caspian.

At first, they thought they would cash in on the summer.

Now they said the film was released 2 weeks after Iron Man; and 9 days before Indy 4.

They have not admitted but have hinted that a Christmas release date would be been much much better.

I wonder in 1 year's time, would Paramount have similar concerns?

Cheers

photon 70
 
Probably not.

You know, "Caspian" has been received as rather a disappointing follow-up to the first movie. That may have something to do with its poor showing.
 
Bad buzz would probably have hurt "Caspian" regardless of the release date. It sounds like Disney is trying to engage in some spin control. Trek's success or failure will depend on the quality of the film, not on the release date.
 
H F Mudd said:
Bad buzz would probably have hurt "Caspian" regardless of the release date. It sounds like Disney is trying to engage in some spin control. Trek's success or failure will depend on the quality of the film, not on the release date.
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Exactly. Studios often offer this kind of explanation rather than "oh, the product wasn't very good." After all, we know that "Nemesis" failed because it was released too close to "Lord Of The Rings" and, uh, - oh yeah, "Maid In Manhattan." :lol:
 
From Yahoo:

Since its May 16 release, the "Narnia" sequel has earned $99.6 million in North America, according to Box Office Mojo. Its 2005 predecessor, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," had earned $122.7 million in the same period. It went on to make date $291.7 million.
Disney originally had "Caspian" set for last Christmas, but delayed it in deference to "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep," a fantasy vying for the same audience.

The studio might also have been taking into account the feelings of Walden Media, its production partner on "Narnia" and the production company behind "Water Horse." That film, distributed by Sony, earned just $40 million domestically. Iger, speaking at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference in New York, said "Prince Caspian" is a better movie than the first installment but because it was released between a couple of the year's biggest hits, audiences are overlooking it.

.....

Yeah, it's always that damn competition. They weren't expecting that curve, honest!
 
Hee Hee Hee.

I'll never forget the shame of having to live down coming behind Maid in Manhattan on opening weekend.

I believe if ST-XI is a great product, it will get all the success it deserves.

I still can't believe Paramount is actually spending (for the first time) more than $100,000,000.00 on a Star Trek movie.

I think Trek deserves it.:techman:

Cheers

photon70
 
As much as I would love to see a Christmas 08 Trek movie, I believe Paramount's going all out for Trek as a make or break, and so they're giving it all due consideration. I am confident Star Trek XI will make the wait worth it.

J.
 
There doesn't seem to be any solid competition for a blockbuster Star Trek film next summer...the only real one would be Wolverine but I think that is coming out later in June or July right? Still would have loved to seen in this Christmas as there isn't anything really serious out either.
 
I have never forgiven Maid in Manhatten. Indeed, I think we Trekkies are the only people left in North America who remember that movie... and only for the horrible, horrible shame. I plan to continue blaming Two Towers, truth be darned.

Anyhow... I was thinking about this tonight. I think May is a great month. The second and third weeks of May are always fantastic for movies (I had a Star Wars movie on my birthday three times this century. :)) But I don't feel so great about that first weekend (or, as Sen. Sam Brownback tried to declare it, Ten Commandments Weekend. I kid you not). Yes, that weekend brought us Iron Man this year. But it gave us Spider-Man 3 in 2007, Mission: Impossible III in 2006, Kingdom of Heaven and Hitchhiker in 2005, Mean Girls, X2, and The Mummy Returns.

In short, except for Iron Man and Spider-Man (2002), the first weekend in May sucks. It's where you put your movies that you thought would be good but then weren't. And so I'm not sure I'm as pleased about the move from Christmas as I used to be.
 
Wowbagger said:
I have never forgiven Maid in Manhatten. Indeed, I think we Trekkies are the only people left in North America who remember that movie.
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Well, the only reason USA Star Trek fans remember "Maid in Manhattan" at all is because they went to see it. They should have been next door at "Nemesis".

At least here in Oz we did make "Nemesis" #1 on its opening weekend, by actually going to see it for ourselves instead of waiting for the local reviews.
 
Wowbagger said:
I have never forgiven Maid in Manhatten. Indeed, I think we Trekkies are the only people left in North America who remember that movie... and only for the horrible, horrible shame. I plan to continue blaming Two Towers, truth be darned.
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I was going to post something similar actually, because it's true. :lol:
Maid in Manhattan will forever live in infamy as the chick flick that took down Trek.
 
Starship Polaris said:
Therin of Andor said:
Well, the only reason USA Star Trek fans remember "Maid in Manhattan" at all is because they went to see it. They should have been next door at "Nemesis".
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I don't know anyone who went to see "Maid." Is there any evidence that Trek fans went in any significant numbers to see it?
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Well, for all the joking about it, Maid grossed almost $94 million in the US. Even after controlling for inflation, those were better domestic box office numbers than GEN or INS (and not much worse than FC). Internationally, Maid grossed $60 million, which was also better than GEN and INS and just a little less than FC.
 
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Starship Polaris said:
Sure, but how many of those tickets were sold to trek fans who would otherwise have gone to "Nemesis?"
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Only the Trek fans who could find dates. :)
Or, like me, are old, married to a non-fan, and whipped. ;)
[Or, we'll never really know.]

If NEM had been as good a movie as FC, it would've put up Maid numbers, no more, no less. But, NEM was not a good movie, at least not good enough to get reviews that might draw in casual fans or non-fans who want to see a good action flic. And, it didn't have the star-power of J-Lo to overcome bad reviews.

And frankly, it was easier to take my non-fan wife (or get a friend) to go to a Trek movie with me when they heard the movie got some good reviews. Of course, Maid was more or less panned, too. So, what the hell do I know? ;)
 
I had intended to see Nemesis but it was yanked from the theaters so fast here, that I didn't get a chance. When I saw it on DVD I was glad it worked out that way.
 
Starship Polaris said:
Sure, but how many of those tickets were sold to trek fans who would otherwise have gone to "Nemesis?"
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What else did they do on a ST movie opening weekend? Organising their shoe cupboards, I guess.

I was expecting the US numbers to drop sharply after opening weekend, rather as they did for "ST V: The Final Frontier" and "Insurrection", as the reviews of the diehards got out and they were warning their more casual ST friends not to waste their $$$$, but I can't understand why ST fans weren't even curious to see new ST immediately. Even if they knew it was going to be disappointing.
 
Therin of Andor said:
I was expecting the US numbers to drop sharply after opening weekend, rather as they did for "ST V: The Final Frontier" and "Insurrection", as the reviews of the diehards got out and they were warning their more casual ST friends not to waste their $$$$, but I can't understand why ST fans weren't even curious to see new ST immediately. Even if they knew it was going to be disappointing.
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Maybe because the script already got out and we all knew it was going to suck?
 
Yeah, there didn't seem to be a lot of excitement in general for Nemesis and I bet the script being wildly available played a role in that, so I'm REALLY hoping Star Trek XI can keep it under wraps.
 
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