X-Files Bombs
- Thread starter mswood
- Start date
Nothing in the film said that to me, either. It's a very quiet, somber film. That's not a negative, by any means (I loved it, if I haven't said that enough), but it does make releasing it in July seem odd.
Then again, nobody could have conceived of the phenomenon that The Dark Knight has become. It ate up the second week grosses of Hellboy II and now it's eating into The X-Files' audience, too.
It seems ironic to me, now, that Serenity was an action movie that was dumped in September, and the X-Files was a quieter movie that was dumped in the summer. Oh...
I have to wonder, they released that "X-Files: Revelations" DVD set to drum up interest and provide background for the film, but in retrospect, I have to wonder about some of the episodes there.
Some spoilers for the new movie...
"Pilot" makes sense, for obvious reasons.
"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" makes sense, since it's a great episode, and mentioned by name in the new movie as an example of Mulder's experience with psychics.
"Post-Modern Prometheus" kind of makes sense. It is another Frankenstein outing, although it's not necessary as backstory.
But, what of the other five episodes?
"Beyond the Sea." As an episode about a psychic, I guess it kind of sets up Mulder in the new movie, but doesn't one episode do that already?
"Memento Mori." This is a great episode, but it seems a little incomprehensible outside the rest of the mytharc and the other two "cancer trilogy" episodes.
"The Host." Look, it's a classic. But how does it set up the new movie?
"Bad Blood." See above.
"Milagro." It's an okay episode. Does nothing for the movie.
Wouldn't "William" or "Closure" have made more sense, given the movie's content. And what about "The Truth?" Mulder and Scully being kicked out of the FBI seems rather important to the new movie, and it summarizes key events of the series pretty well.
I don't have this DVD--I own the series complete already--but I'm curious as to what reasoning Chris Carter provides for these episodes' selection.
But maybe I'm just second guessing everything at this point.
Some spoilers for the new movie...
"Pilot" makes sense, for obvious reasons.
"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" makes sense, since it's a great episode, and mentioned by name in the new movie as an example of Mulder's experience with psychics.
"Post-Modern Prometheus" kind of makes sense. It is another Frankenstein outing, although it's not necessary as backstory.
But, what of the other five episodes?
"Beyond the Sea." As an episode about a psychic, I guess it kind of sets up Mulder in the new movie, but doesn't one episode do that already?
"Memento Mori." This is a great episode, but it seems a little incomprehensible outside the rest of the mytharc and the other two "cancer trilogy" episodes.
"The Host." Look, it's a classic. But how does it set up the new movie?
"Bad Blood." See above.
"Milagro." It's an okay episode. Does nothing for the movie.
Wouldn't "William" or "Closure" have made more sense, given the movie's content. And what about "The Truth?" Mulder and Scully being kicked out of the FBI seems rather important to the new movie, and it summarizes key events of the series pretty well.
I don't have this DVD--I own the series complete already--but I'm curious as to what reasoning Chris Carter provides for these episodes' selection.
But maybe I'm just second guessing everything at this point.
Nobody that is except for people with brains.
We all knew that it would make money, but the business it's been doing has been phenomenal, far beyond expectations.
It sucked and that is why it bombed. The story was weak. I'm sorry to say $6 bucks of my money contributed to the total it made this weekend.
The ironic thing is that it may well have done better if the connection to the TV series hadn't been so heavily featured in the promotion. The movie was designed to be accessible, and clearly the reason it was made was because someone (read: Mary Parent) thought the previous failure was due more to Fox than to the basic concept....a premise I can certainly understand.
I suppose it goes to show that in this business, there really are no second chances. There's only the first chance, and occasionally, the first chance Take Two.
It is indeed sounding like it will be made. Arrested Development is one of the funniest shows ever made but you know what? It struggled in the ratings for all three years. If it had problems bringing in an audience on a free national television network, it sadly doesn't stand a chance in the theaters. It's a bomb waiting to happen.
That's the problem in a nutshell. I'll definitely and eagerly see it but I'll be part of a very small minority that do. Making it an HBO or Showtime movie would make more sense from a financial standpoint. But then again, I'd only expect there to be one AD movie.
Yeah, after seeing it, releasing it in July in the middle of blockbuster action season seems rather confusing. I mean, we didn't know what the movie was going to be like, really, but you'd think the studio people knew. Why release it now? It would work better in September or February... kind of an off time away from big even pictures because it isn't what type of movie this is.
Maybe it was an attempt at counter-programming? While part of the audience is off seeing the big, loud movies, the portion of the audience that doesn't care for such fare is going to see slow, somber X-Files? If so, it was pretty faulty reasoning. The genre affiliation cuts its mainstream appeal, and most of the fans of the show will also be fans of the genre films it's competing against, while saying it's somber and/or cerebral doesn't make it that much of a contrast with Dark Knight, which is also a dark and reflective film.
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
I didn't say it was smart counter-programming. I'm just trying to figure out why somebody looked at a release schedule and said "Hey, Batman vs. X-Files: there's a good match-up!"
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
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Whoever Fox hired to do the comericals for the X-Files film needs to be fired. I'm an X-Files fan and the comericals don't get me excited for the film in the least.
I'll hopefully get around to seeing it in the theather later this week or next weekend.
I'll hopefully get around to seeing it in the theather later this week or next weekend.
Michael Cera and Will Arnett (to a lesser extent) are also becoming more and more well known for their comedies. I agree that an Arrested movie wont be a blockbuster, but I do think that if properly marketed and accessible enough to people who've never seen the show while still enjoyable for hardcore fans (like Serenity) it could do pretty well.
Preliminary numbers are out for Saturday.
With an estimate of 3.7 million. That puts the estimate for the weekend down to 10.5 million. There was some hope that X-Files (with its very low performance) wasn't going to be front loaded (most films with a built in audience are front loaded). Meaning they will typically make between 2 to 2.5 times their opening day total for the weekend. Family friendly films and non front loaded films can manage 2.5 to 3.5 times their opening day.
And most likely (thanks to DVD and what once was a decent sized international appeal, that hopefully hasn't shrunk to US levels) the film will clear its budget, marketing and print cost (which based on its 30 million budget is probably 50-60 million total).
But unless it really takes off in those tow areas, there will be no reason for FOX to pursue the resources on such an underperforming franchise.
And since Step Brothers did perform quite nicely (Almost exactly what Fight for the Future did) in the same market and with a similar demo group as the Dark Knight it shows that a film could be modestly successful.
And lets look at two other TV film vehicles that disappointed.
Serenity. Cost 39 million. Opened with 10.09 million. Final US gross 25.5 million. Total WW gross 38.9 million.
Star Trek Nemesis Cost 60 million Opened with 18.5 million. Total US 43.3 million. Total WW gross 67.3.
In two weeks thanks to its poor performance, the X-Files theatre count will plummet as theater chains are free at that time to put other films on those screens. I would guess a final US total of 25 to 30 million (but it could be lower). But unlike Star Trek (which historically performs weaker overseas) and Serenity (which was an unknown overseas), the X-Files played well overseas both on tv and in film. So I could see it managing (if we are lucky) up to another 50 million (though again it could be much, much lower a lot depends on its release schedule. The longer its spread out the more time for complete loss of interest by fans, the studio and theatres not to mention the increase of bootlegs).
With an estimate of 3.7 million. That puts the estimate for the weekend down to 10.5 million. There was some hope that X-Files (with its very low performance) wasn't going to be front loaded (most films with a built in audience are front loaded). Meaning they will typically make between 2 to 2.5 times their opening day total for the weekend. Family friendly films and non front loaded films can manage 2.5 to 3.5 times their opening day.
And most likely (thanks to DVD and what once was a decent sized international appeal, that hopefully hasn't shrunk to US levels) the film will clear its budget, marketing and print cost (which based on its 30 million budget is probably 50-60 million total).
But unless it really takes off in those tow areas, there will be no reason for FOX to pursue the resources on such an underperforming franchise.
And since Step Brothers did perform quite nicely (Almost exactly what Fight for the Future did) in the same market and with a similar demo group as the Dark Knight it shows that a film could be modestly successful.
And lets look at two other TV film vehicles that disappointed.
Serenity. Cost 39 million. Opened with 10.09 million. Final US gross 25.5 million. Total WW gross 38.9 million.
Star Trek Nemesis Cost 60 million Opened with 18.5 million. Total US 43.3 million. Total WW gross 67.3.
In two weeks thanks to its poor performance, the X-Files theatre count will plummet as theater chains are free at that time to put other films on those screens. I would guess a final US total of 25 to 30 million (but it could be lower). But unlike Star Trek (which historically performs weaker overseas) and Serenity (which was an unknown overseas), the X-Files played well overseas both on tv and in film. So I could see it managing (if we are lucky) up to another 50 million (though again it could be much, much lower a lot depends on its release schedule. The longer its spread out the more time for complete loss of interest by fans, the studio and theatres not to mention the increase of bootlegs).
Well if that's true, then Trek should have been dead a half-dozen times over.
Nielsen EDI estimates 10.2 million for the weekend. This should be the final estimate before the actuals are released after 3pm pacific time on Monday. Experts (even with Dark Knight) were expected 18 million for the opening weekend.
At this point, I just hope those hold (as each bit of more accurate info as had the number getting smaller and smaller). And I really don't want to see it under 10 million (not that it will make a bit of difference in the media's or studios eyes).
At this point, I just hope those hold (as each bit of more accurate info as had the number getting smaller and smaller). And I really don't want to see it under 10 million (not that it will make a bit of difference in the media's or studios eyes).
MeanJoePhaser
Admiral
Honestly, it might have worked as counter-programming, but the advertisements and promotion were so obtuse as to what the movie was about or like that they missed the mark big time. Oh well.