Monday Morning Quarterback Part II
By BOP Staff
September 28, 2011
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Edwin Davies: Given the moderate budget of $35 million, this isn't the worse case scenario that it could have been, especially if the film manages to attract a similar audience overseas. The upside to being third fiddle in a huge franchise is that enough people know Lautner's name that, at least in the short term, they will turn out to see anything he's in because of association. I don't think that will last very long at all, though, and I do wonder how much of this result is just a misguided expression of pent up excitement leading up to the release of Breaking Dawn: Part One. Once that series has run its course, I get the feeling that Lautner will be left far behind whilst his two co-stars - who, despite all evidence to the contrary in the Twilight films, can act - head on to solid careers of their own. If Lautner doesn't learn to emote soon, he'll be struggling to land jobs in the sort of Direct-to-DVD schlock that Steven Seagal would find demeaning.
Bruce Hall: As we all know by now, I'm a big believer in the supposition that making your money back excuses almost any crime in the wonderful world of cinema. That said, Abs-Duction shouldn't end up costing anyone their job in the long run. But a word of advice for Lautner - this Baby Vampire thing is about to peter out, son. And the whole being young and looking like a puppy thing only gets you so far in Hollywood. After that, people are going to start expecting things from you (just ask Denise Richards). So unless someone reboots Starship Troopers or Sarah McLaughlin needs a sidekick for those animal abuse spots, I have a hard time envisioning career longevity for everyone's second favorite Teen-Wolf.
I guess there's always the convention circuit. He and Walter Koenig can sit at the bar together and bitch about what might have been.
Brett Beach: Lautner has bragging rights for a larger opening than Remember Me or The Runaways (or Welcome to the Riley's), as long as no one brings up the Water for Elephants in the room. This is a so-so opening (one million for each member of his 12 pack?) that probably did as well as the powers that be expected. I was at least a little surprised at the near universal outpouring of ridicule for the film (not even any so bad it's entertaining positive comments). As for career, well, he lucked his way into one franchise, anything is possible.
More than anything, I hate seeing a strong supporting cast in this sort of project. And this is where John Singleton is at on the 20th anniversary of Boyz N the Hood, six years on from his last film Four Brothers? Go rent Rosewood instead.
Max Braden: Stripping Lautner naked of all the teen chicks clinging to his body might seem like a good idea on paper, but it's not going to pay off. All those girls know where the beef is, but where's all the angst? I agree that after Twilight this number doesn't look great, and makes us think he'll need more boost to have a big career. But Lautner does get to say that his movie opened bigger than Robert Pattinson's Remember Me at $8 million. This weekend he was also competing against established action guy Jason Statham and beat him. And Statham himself opened The Transporter to $9 million, crank to $10 million, and Death Race and Transporter 3 in the $12 million range. By the numbers, that's not bad for Lautner, and he's only getting started. And on that point, I gave Selena Gomez a thumbs up for leading Monte Carlo as a transition film, so I feel obligated to say Lautner succeeded here as well.
Kim Hollis: Killer Elite, the film that finally pairs Robert De Niro and Jason Statham (?), opened to $9.5 million for fledgling distributor Open Road Films, the AMC Entertainment/Regal Cooperative. What aspect of this film is a bigger story to you - the box office, the casting, the joint theatrical exhibitor venture, or Clive Owen's mustache?
Edwin Davies: The box office is the aspect that leaps out at me, if only because it seems to illustrate how far Robert DeNiro has fallen. If his presence can't induce even the token amount of curiosity required to make the film open outside of Jason Statham's wheelhouse then his reputation really has taken a hit over the last couple of years. It's kind of sad, really. I wasn't aware of the joint theatrical exhibitor aspect of this release until today, and now that I am the result seems less horrendous than it did since, although this opening is pretty much in line with Statham's other films, the budget ($70 million) is about twice what his films usually cost. That two companies are sharing the cost and, most likely, the loss makes this seem like less of an unmitigated disaster than it might otherwise have been. Unlike Clive Owen's moustache, which is still every bit as terrible. Unless there's a scene in Killer Elite where he tears it off to reveal that it's an intentionally terrible disguise then there really is no excuse for that shoddy upper lipwork.
Bruce Hall: This film was the sort of small ball USA Movie of the Week flick that would have passed for a big budget event back in the 1980's. Now, not so much. But for me, the biggest story was how few kills Jason Statham had. I know, this is supposedly based on a true story - but the whole "Killer who's given up killing but has to kill anyway to save a life" thing has been cooked to a crisp. Leave the regrets to MacGyver, Statham. Murder, death, kill. That's what you do. Get with the program, guvna.
Brett Beach: Is the 'stache really that bad? (I know my fellow BOPers will set me straight). The biggest story for me is distributors teaming up to make a movie. That sets off all kinds of bells, sirens, and whistles with me. I don't think I like it. The 2nd biggest story is discovering this past week that this is "based on a true story" and set in the early '80s. As for the box office, well, it throws under by nearly half the opening for the excreable "action" flick Righteous Kill, suggesting that outside Focker-ville, DeNiro's box office trends late in his career are more killer than elite.
Max Braden: This is like pairing Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen for The Rookie; in a way, they're both out of their depth and nobody wins. Couldn't they have just added De Niro and Owen to the Expendables sequel? Couldn't Statham have pulled some acrobatic martial arts move and torn that mustache off Clive Owen's face right at the beginning of the movie? (Actually more embarrassing than Clive Owen's mustache is getting your ass kicked by 68-year-old De Niro. I'm still wary of whether I could take Mike Tyson, but I'm pretty sure I could take De Niro and his elbows of fury.)