I don't understand why you are repeating the question. It makes no sense in distributing a film in a region that isn't going to see it. They still want to make money.
X-Men FC: Only $56 Million estimated for opening weekend.
- Thread starter Argus Skyhawk
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The reason that I have always heard cited for this is that the studio gets a much bigger cut of domestic box office receipts. Some of the numbers I have seen suggest that the difference is, at least traditionally, pretty huge.
However, this situation is apparently evolving somewhat, so that studios are starting to see the international take as more significant for reasons such as: the renegociation of distribution contracts that will allow studios to see a bigger cut of the overseas profits, the general expansion of the overseas market, and the tendency for sequels to ballon in popularity overseas even as they get progressively less popular in the domestic market.
So, what that boils down to for the moment, from what I can gather, is that success in the domestic market is still extremely important because studios still do get a much bigger cut of these profits, but a strong showing overseas also boosts the chances for a sequel, as that part of the market is seen as increasingly important.
An example would be Thor, which had a respectable but not spectacular showing at the domestic box office. However, the film put up very good numbers overseas (especially for a debut), thus basically assuring that a sequel will be made.
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Well in the case of X-Men: First Class the production of it was fairly euro-friendly.
Makes sense. That's why James Bond and Harry Potter movies always feature an American as the lead.
Actually, in most American movies and television Americans play both the bad guys and the good guys - it's 'cause, you know, most of them are made here.
Yeah, America is also pretty much the only place making movies and tv shows that are actually good.
And let's not forget about Batman, Superman, Wolverine and Thor.
You mean like James McAvoy?
Yeah, America is also pretty much the only place making movies and tv shows that are actually good.
We throw more money at it than anyone else, so it shouldn't come as a surprise.
Weren't most of them washed-up British actors anyway?
This doesn't speak at all to the question of why the studio worries about the *domestic* take before greenlighting a sequel. My question was, why is 200 million domestic better than 200 million foreign.
I see - thanks! But there must be some point at which the foreign markets make a sequel worthwhile - how different are the %s?
Indeed, I wasn't interested in this movie myself at all but the trailers started to pique my interest and my buddy and I being nerds figured what the hell we'll go see it, it's a comic-book movie so what can you expect? Many people these days are probably not so care-free with their time and money. I suspect the movie will see a small drop going into this weekend but not as much as one that would be normally expected.
Word-of-mouth will help this film considerably. Batman Begins opened up in 2005 to a mere $45 million but ended up earning over $200 million by the time the film left theaters. It shared a similar tainted history with the X-Men films; Begins had to deal with two abysmal Batman movies, and X-Men: First Class has to deal with two abhorrent X-Men movies.
Batman Begns and X-Men: First Class is not a good comparison. BB opened on a Wednesday and essentially had a 5 day weekend, which it why it made 73 million. FC only made 55 million in its first weekend which is much worse.
We'll see how it performs this weekend and see what the final take is domestically and internationally. It will most likely get a sequel (hopefully not fast tracked like this movie was). They've given sequels to much much worse.