According to deadline the new movie Battleship which has been getting massive amounts of negative buzz here in the states opened in a bunch of territories around the world almost a month ahead of the U.S. release. And it is kicking ass apparently -- Read more at: http://www.deadline.com/2012/04/battleship-goes-to-war-overseas-1-almost-every-country-where-it-opened/#more-255810
Now it's not surprising that American blockbusters do well overseas. Our movies are flashy, fun, and our special effects look better because we spend more on them. For much of the last ten years the majority of a films proceeds has come from foreign box offices. But by releasing a movie a month ahead of the american release they make the film susceptible to piracy that will poach "meh, yeah, I'll check it out" crowd. That combined with the "John Carter in gunmetal grey" buzz about the film will likely mean a flop for the Bismarck, I mean Battleship.
Now the buzz is bad because, come on - it looks like a transformers clone based on a board game with a generic 'must save the planet' plot and action figures for characters. The lack of depth will make people who complain about the dumbing down of movies, point to this one and say, "See!!! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!!!" until they are blue in the face.
Now films are expensive and Producers need to make their money back. They like things that are safe - especially when they are spending more than the Gross State Product (GSP) of Louisiana ON ONE FILM.
Contrary to the popular believe that, "movies are stupider now because we americans are stupid," much of the simplification of plot has come from Producer pressure to make the film simpler so that they are easier to translate and / or don't require an audience to do a lot of reading to follow what's going on in a foreign market.
Now that the studios are releasing Battleship in the US last, this strikes me as the first time a hollywood studio has basically said, we don't give a shit about the american box office. Battleship's primary audience is not the US. This strikes me as ironic and backwards. Will this trend continue with hollywood making movies exclusively for foreign release? Will Hollywood start making movies in Mandarin or some other language? As consumers of media do we americans no longer matter as much? I might be wrong, I drive a car from a japanese auto maker that was manufactured in the US so maybe it does work.
I just think that some savvy Producer who knows deep down an audience just wants to be wowed by a story will see this as an opportunity to make something US market specific. Some of the best movies ever made were because of some tricky budgeting. In the Heat of the Night was one such movie. It was green lit when the producers got the budget down low enough that they could afford to not play the film in the south. Why they couldn't play the movie in the south is for another topic all together, but it is important to remember that there is more to making films than just stringing together a few explosions and collecting money. Is it too much to ask for a little emotion and a more engaging / thought worthy level of conflict that is tailored to just the U.S.? Something I can connect to that demands my attention and forces me to stop checking twitter in the movie theater.
Now it's not surprising that American blockbusters do well overseas. Our movies are flashy, fun, and our special effects look better because we spend more on them. For much of the last ten years the majority of a films proceeds has come from foreign box offices. But by releasing a movie a month ahead of the american release they make the film susceptible to piracy that will poach "meh, yeah, I'll check it out" crowd. That combined with the "John Carter in gunmetal grey" buzz about the film will likely mean a flop for the Bismarck, I mean Battleship.
Now the buzz is bad because, come on - it looks like a transformers clone based on a board game with a generic 'must save the planet' plot and action figures for characters. The lack of depth will make people who complain about the dumbing down of movies, point to this one and say, "See!!! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!!!" until they are blue in the face.
Now films are expensive and Producers need to make their money back. They like things that are safe - especially when they are spending more than the Gross State Product (GSP) of Louisiana ON ONE FILM.
Contrary to the popular believe that, "movies are stupider now because we americans are stupid," much of the simplification of plot has come from Producer pressure to make the film simpler so that they are easier to translate and / or don't require an audience to do a lot of reading to follow what's going on in a foreign market.
Now that the studios are releasing Battleship in the US last, this strikes me as the first time a hollywood studio has basically said, we don't give a shit about the american box office. Battleship's primary audience is not the US. This strikes me as ironic and backwards. Will this trend continue with hollywood making movies exclusively for foreign release? Will Hollywood start making movies in Mandarin or some other language? As consumers of media do we americans no longer matter as much? I might be wrong, I drive a car from a japanese auto maker that was manufactured in the US so maybe it does work.
I just think that some savvy Producer who knows deep down an audience just wants to be wowed by a story will see this as an opportunity to make something US market specific. Some of the best movies ever made were because of some tricky budgeting. In the Heat of the Night was one such movie. It was green lit when the producers got the budget down low enough that they could afford to not play the film in the south. Why they couldn't play the movie in the south is for another topic all together, but it is important to remember that there is more to making films than just stringing together a few explosions and collecting money. Is it too much to ask for a little emotion and a more engaging / thought worthy level of conflict that is tailored to just the U.S.? Something I can connect to that demands my attention and forces me to stop checking twitter in the movie theater.
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