Why didn't Beyond do better at the Box Office?

[Noname Given]

INTO DARKNESS was constantly being blasted as a box office disappointment, when it really wasn't.

Well, STID really did well in foreign markets compared to ST2009 - and that made Paramount VERY happy. <--- That and the fact that 2016 was Star Trek's 50th anniversary pretty much cemented there WOLD be a Nu-Trek 3 and it would release in 2016.

And given there HAVE been a number of other established franchise box office disasters (major disasters - and no I'm NOT talking BvS as that film was just a minor disappointment to Warners as I'm sure they hoped to cross the 1 Billion mark. $837 million is a solid number.)

I'm certain while Paramount hoped the film would have done better; I'm sure their marketing group is aware that overall the Star Trek fanbase likes this film, meaning they (and some will wait until it's on Blu-Ray, PPV, etc.); and they'll get a decent ROI and acceptable profit overall in the end.

The film is hardly the bomb the last two TNG feature films were.

 

[Dales]

suicide squad is getting torn apart by critics, its currently 38% RT ROTTEN.the film will not have legs. Trek beyond might still hit 200m.

 

[wayoung]

suicide squad is getting torn apart by critics, its currently 38% RT ROTTEN.the film will not have legs. Trek beyond might still hit 200m.

Suicide Squad might be on a different box office path than most comic book movies though. The complete lack of female starring comic book hero movies in the past and the marketing focus on Harley to the point that she seems like the main character (even though she isn't) could be quite the game changer for the box office. Female oriented movies also tend to have longer legs at the box office as most sleeper hits tend to market to women. The lack of competition helps in that regard.

Anecdotally at least, I know of many women who didn't really give a crap about any of the past DCEU or MCU movies who are excited to see Harley and made the decision to go see this long ago.

 

[Noname Given]

Sequels being greenlit before the movie actually comes out has become something of standard marketing tool used by studios to try and drum up business. A Sequel to the new Ghostbusters movie was greenlit before it came out, and it's not going to happen now. It's possible Trek 4 could be cancelled.

Regardless there will be another Star Trek movie sooner or later.

Well to be fair, Ghostbusters is doing a fair bit worse than STD.

Ghostbusters 17 day worldwide BO cume: $158,202,605
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=ghostbusters2016.htm

Star Trek Beyond 10 day worldwide BO cume: $162,841,544
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=startrek2016.htm

And overall STB probably has a much better aftermarket merchandising potential, etc.

And hell, even the new Jason Bourne sequel (predicted by most outlets to come in at a $60 million opening - like STB the week before - actually came in at: $59,215,365 domestically for the weekend - STBs actuals for its domestic opening were very similar at $59,253,211.

My point? yes, the STB film is under performing a bit compared to what the studio's forecast expected, but it's not bombing; and the studios keep an eye on market trends and a majority of sequel films have been under performing (including films like Batman v Superman with 872 million, while Warners was hoping for 1 Billion+; and Captain America: Civil War which has grossed 1.1 Billion - which IS a success; but, being essentially another Avengers film - they forecast/were expecting 1.5 Billion.)

In the end, I don't think Paramount will suspend or pull production on the greenlit Nu Trek 4 - but we'll know in a few weeks.

 

[Visitor1982]

Star Trek XIV will happen (why anyone would call it Star Trek IV is beyond me), maybe even sooner than we think, 2018 or something. Perhaps on a somewhat smaller budget and a bigger focus on humor (my husband, who doesn't really like sci-fi and/or Star Trek, saw the humor as the best part of Beyond so a movie which has a focus on fun could entice the general audience).

By the way Beyond is not bombing or anything, just performing a little worse than hoped for by the studio I guess. It's not that bad.

 

[Kruezerman]

suicide squad is getting torn apart by critics, its currently 38% RT ROTTEN.the film will not have legs. Trek beyond might still hit 200m.

Damn, and I really wanted to see that.

 

[stardream]

We aren't going to see Suicide Squad.

 

[BillJ]

(why anyone would call it Star Trek IV is beyond me)

No one is calling it "Star Trek IV", people are using Star Trek 4 as shorthand until it gets a title. Seeing as it is the fourth reboot film.

We aren't going to see Suicide Squad.

We are. My nine-year old is stoked.

 

[Visitor1982]

It's the 14th Star Trek movie, so it will always be Star Trek 14 or XIV to me.

 

[BillJ]

It's the 14th Star Trek movie, so it will always be Star Trek 14 or XIV to me.

Probably why Paramount didn't trumpet the 50th anniversary, and dropped the numbering scheme long ago. It makes the franchise seem old.

 

[Visitor1982]

Not doing anything with the 50th anniversary was a big mistake... Star Trek is old, everyone knows that. So is James Bond and that didn't hurt Skyfall in 2012, quite the opposite.

Does anyone have the Monday figures for Beyond?

 

[Noname Given]

Probably why Paramount didn't trumpet the 50th anniversary, and dropped the numbering scheme long ago. It makes the franchise seem old.

^^^^
That's a good point. The James Bond film series franchise NEVER used numbers for any of it's films; and it may be one reason its had such longevity.

 

[ISS Enterprise]

I just don't see it as a


I agree with most of your points, the one thing I can't agree with is your statement that "Orci's script sucked"? How do you know Orci's script sucked? From the general outline he mentioned, it sounded far more interesting than the mediocre film that we got.

I don't think the issue was that Orci's script wasn't good enough. I think the issue was that it was "too Trekkie" and "not enough Guardians of the Galaxy" for the bean counters at the studio...I'd bet some real money that Orci's script would have made for a more interesting film that the film the action packed/confusing film that Lin delivered.

P.S. I don't hate Beyond, but I was a little disappointed in it. Too much action for my taste. I would have preferred a little more "Trekkie" and a little less Public Enemy + Beastie Boys...I thought Simon Pegg and his co-writer did a good job of creating some really effective character moments.

From what googled outlined Orchis script sounded bad to me and apparently Paramount but that puts me in questionable company lol......

Orchis script was feds vulcans n alien race chasing a time machine or like w vulcans hoping to stop destruction of vulcan. Just sounded insurection quality to me w Shat Nimoy gimmick just bad

Lin Pegg Jung got the tos vibe feel dowm but had only 6 months to create script plot story before filming w an additional 6 months feel they could've rounded plot out more smoothly n make better movie BUT I did like Beyond very much. Heading for 2nd showing this weekend

 

[ralph]

I think reviews are not too good as they should be about Suicide Squad. Not only Rotten Tomatoes.

 

[Griffeytrek]

I just don't see it as a


I agree with most of your points, the one thing I can't agree with is your statement that "Orci's script sucked"? How do you know Orci's script sucked?

I think the common answer to that question is "It has Orci's name on it."

I know he has had some good work. But he's also had some bad. While he is no Damon Lindlehof, (a man who ranks with Tom Rothman and Uwe Bol in his ability to damage and destroy nerd properties.) Orci has developed a bit of a rep in the genre fandoms. Generally it's "assume awful until proven otherwise".

 

[timtonruben359]

I just wanted to clarify a definition because I think some people are confusing that when posters are referring to Beyond as being a disappointment it actually means its a bomb or failure. A box office disappointment is a movie that under performs but not tanks at the box office. Beyond is considered a disappointment because its box office is below and it's domestic take is around $40 million below where ST09 and ID after the same release time.

The only real box office bomb in Star Trek franchise history was Nemesis.

 

[Khan 2.0]

suicide squad is getting torn apart by critics, its currently 38% RT ROTTEN.the film will not have legs. Trek beyond might still hit 200m.

Damn that's no a good sign at all. When is DC going to get a break

 

[KGator]

suicide squad is getting torn apart by critics, its currently 38% RT ROTTEN.the film will not have legs. Trek beyond might still hit 200m.

That's not how it works. No matter how much Suicide Squad makes, STB is losing screens including all its IMAX showings. STB is not going to just suddenly pick up viewers and theaters. The legs might be a bit better but $200 million left the building a LONG time ago.

Well to be fair, Ghostbusters is doing a fair bit worse than STD.

Ghostbusters 17 day worldwide BO cume: $158,202,605
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=ghostbusters2016.htm

Star Trek Beyond 10 day worldwide BO cume: $162,841,544
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=startrek2016.htm

And overall STB probably has a much better aftermarket merchandising potential, etc.

And hell, even the new Jason Bourne sequel (predicted by most outlets to come in at a $60 million opening - like STB the week before - actually came in at: $59,215,365 domestically for the weekend - STBs actuals for its domestic opening were very similar at $59,253,211.

My point? yes, the STB film is under performing a bit compared to what the studio's forecast expected, but it's not bombing; and the studios keep an eye on market trends and a majority of sequel films have been under performing (including films like Batman v Superman with 872 million, while Warners was hoping for 1 Billion+; and Captain America: Civil War which has grossed 1.1 Billion - which IS a success; but, being essentially another Avengers film - they forecast/were expecting 1.5 Billion.)

In the end, I don't think Paramount will suspend or pull production on the greenlit Nu Trek 4 - but we'll know in a few weeks.

STB definitely did better than Ghostbusters. GB couldn't even get a China release (they don't like ghosts in China). STB is not a bomb or a flop. So far it has underperformed. We won't know the end result until September (China, Latin America, etc). Who knows, with a decent bump in those territories it could still salvage some of what has been lost in other territories.

We are disappointed because the franchise looks to be on a decline, and that might be true . . . . but its not dead yet. It's not a money pit. And there still might be a add new life into the next movie if some people at Paramount get creative.

Not doing anything with the 50th anniversary was a big mistake... Star Trek is old, everyone knows that. So is James Bond and that didn't hurt Skyfall in 2012, quite the opposite.

Does anyone have the Monday figures for Beyond?

STB Monday = 3.1 (-62% from Sunday)

Skyfall was a huge achievement. The bad news is that Spectre only made 65% of Skyfall domestically and 80% Worldwide. That's still a damn good number but the drop had to give Sony some pause. Especially when you consider the budget for Spectre was $50 million more yet it made $220 million less.

 

[timtonruben359]

That's not how it works. No matter how much Suicide Squad makes, STB is losing screens including all its IMAX showings. STB is not going to just suddenly pick up viewers and theaters. The legs might be a bit better but $200 million left the building a LONG time ago.

STB definitely did better than Ghostbusters. GB couldn't even get a China release (they don't like ghosts in China). STB is not a bomb or a flop. So far it has underperformed. We won't know the end result until September (China, Latin America, etc). Who knows, with a decent bump in those territories it could still salvage some of what has been lost in other territories.

We are disappointed because the franchise looks to be on a decline, and that might be true . . . . but its not dead yet. It's not a money pit. And there still might be a add new life into the next movie if some people at Paramount get creative.

Clearly Paramount is going to have to take a step back and try and figure out what happened and how to go foward. I think a critical question is has the general audience lost interest in the Trek reboot in terms of it being a tentpole blockbuster franchise or were there other factors at play.

This is not a franchise killer though, I mean I don't know if anything could totally kill Star Trek. Even after Nemesis it was known there would be another movie eventually. The real question is will the greenlit 4th Kelvin movie go ahead as planned (albeit at a lower budget) or do we go back and try and do something different.

There are a couple of advantages for Kelvin Trek 4. Paramount is facing financial difficult and needs every franchise that it can get and Star Trek still has a built in audience (may be not one large enough for big blockbuster movies though). It sounds as though ST4 might be based on the rejected script for ST3 which could mean a quicker less costly pre-production (some of Beyond's budget was from original pre-production begun on the previous script) and maybe a shorter period between films. Beyond is still the best performing movie Paramout has put out so far this year so my hunch is leading towards a lower budget Kelvin ST4.

We should no more in the next few weeks.

 

[Admiral Bear]

According to Boxofficemojo, Paramount has three Transformers movies coming out for the next 3 consecutive summers 2017-2019. Assuming they each cost around $220m, and gross a minimum of $1bn each, as per Age of Extinction, Paramount's financial situation shouldn't become any wose in the next few years.

However, the Star Trek franchise is most definitely in murky waters.