Monday Morning Quarterback Part I
By BOP Staff
June 2, 2015
Kim Hollis: Tomorrowland, which opened over Memorial Day weekend with a four-day total of $42.7 million, has a running total of $63.7 million. What do you think of its performance to date?
Edwin Davies: I've compared it to the performance of John Carter, a previous big budget adaptation of questionable material from Disney, and while it probably won't be as big of a bomb as that one was - it cost less and is on track to earn a bit more - it's still in the same ballpark.
In terms of why the film hasn't performed particularly well, I think that's largely due to the marketing failing to get across why it's interesting. I didn't particularly care for the film, but there's a lot of spectacle and heart to it that should have been front and center in the trailers, but the ads never managed to sell what the story was (a problem caused by the film itself, since it withholds explanations of what is going on until the last 20 minutes or so) and the ads never managed to recapture the excitement of the first Super Bowl spot.
Felix Quinonez: I really want to but can't find a way to put a positive spin on this performance. When you consider the amount of Hype Tomorrowland had and its huge budget, this just isn't enough. I would (generously) label this a definite disappointment. But wouldn't argue with someone who called it an outright flop.
Michael Lynderey: Well, it's bad, very bad, and all kinds of negativity following that, as well. I guess I have to look at it from the point of view of my expectations: this is a film that I thought had a decent chance to be as big as summer's second biggest, or at the very least make it over $200 million. Instead, it's not going to pass $100 million (just like the aforementioned The Lone Ranger, a film I enjoyed). It's precisely that element of mystery and the unknown that inflated my (and others) expectations that probably ended up dooming Tomorrowland. Once the reviews came in and the mystery subsided, audiences weren't left with much to go for except a decent if unexceptional action-adventure starring George Clooney, a man not quite known as a draw for family audiences.
By the way, I think the May 15th releases (Mad Max and Pitch Perfect) and the May 22nd releases (Tomorrowland and Poltergeist) should have probably switched spots. Can you imagine Pitch Perfect over Memorial Day weekend? $100 million four-day?
Ryan Kyle: This is a terrible result, however it doesn't have the air of being a mega-bomb surrounding it like the aforementioned Lone Ranger or John Carter (which it really is on the same level on) due to there not being any reports of behind-the-scenes turmoil long plaguing the release before it came out. Disney gambles big with their original properties and this one was a bust. With no real family films out there in the market and an appealing ad campaign (albeit one that didn't tell much of a plot, since the film really doesn't have one), there is no real reason this shouldn't have found an audience besides the film itself just not being a great product. With a second week dip of 57%, Tomorrowland isn't even certain to crack $100 million and it doesn't look as if overseas can bail this one out. Yet, with Avengers still printing out cash, Disney really has no need to worry about this film's under-performance with that and Inside Out around the corner.
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