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Who's feeling wrathful?

Kim Hollis: Wrath of the Titans, the least requested sequel since Journey 2, opened to $33.4 million, far short of the $58.6 million earned by The Hunger Games in its second weekend. Wrath still has some bragging rights for the weekend, though, with a global take of $112.2 million, better than the $95.5 million that The Hunger Games managed. What are your thoughts on the entire situation?

Bruce Hall: A lot of my friends know I write for this site, and they often ask my opinion on various entertainment related issues. And if there's one question I've been asked above all others over the last couple of years, it's "Hey Bruce, any idea when they're gonna do a sequel to Clash of the Titans? That was SO good."

It's almost as irritating as the people who kept asking me about Ghost Rider 2, or the dozen or so people every week who think I have Dan Aykroyd's phone number, and want me to ask him to make Blues Brothers 3-D.

Since the domestic take for Wrath was so unimpressive, I'm hoping this is enough to kill the franchise for good. Then again, this could go on. We've discussed how international grosses are becoming more central to the strategy behind marketing films. Being less a study in ideological sub context (a-la Hunger Games) and more of a Things Blowing Up kind of film, I can see Wrath of the Titans having a bit more international appeal. When you're asking an audience to absorb something across cultural lines, it's best to keep things as accessible as possible. This is why the Transformers movies have no plot; one isn't necessary. Anyone from any country can relate to Giant Robots Flinging Skyscrapers at Each Other. And it works both ways - this is how I can enjoy an Indian action movie like Enthiran, even though the story makes no sense to me. I don't NEED to understand it. If it has robots, assassins, explosions, pretty girls in danger, and lots of dancing, I'm good.

Edwin Davies: I think Bruce is spot on about the broader appeal of Things Blowing Up, since it's far easier to sell Sam Worthington fighting things to a global audience than Jennifer Lawrence struggling against a repressive regime through quiet acts of rebellion.

More importantly in this case, Wrath of the Titans is more of a known property globally than The Hunger Games. Clash of the Titans did staggeringly well overseas, whereas The Hunger Games books have not had quite the impact around the world as they have domestically. That is probably going to change a great deal over the next year or so, as more people seek out the books after seeing the film and creating even greater demand for Catching Fire, but at this point in time the comparison is between a sequel to a successful, if bad, movie and the first in a series based on good, but not ubiquitous, books.

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