And you are the one predicting $1billion+ for The Hobbit overseas. LOL.

If it doesn't hit $100m in China at least, there's no hope.

FOTR opened against Monsters Inc in Feb 2002 in Japan, let's hope that sort of matchup doesn't happen again.

ROTK had a pretty big opening in Japan though barely scrapped past $100m

News is that Cleopatra may be released in Holiday 2012. This is easily going to get media attention with Angelina in the lead role and is bound to be epic. We haven't seen a big sword and sandal epic with huge production value since something like Troy/Alexander/Kingdom of Heaven. No 300 doesn't count.

Should be interesting if it opens in 2012 but i think they'll have more success playing it in 2013, even in Summer could work.

Somebody needs to open against Despicable Me II or knock it out of that slot, what is an animation release doing in that slot. Also, i think they were lucky with the first one.

As if !

There's gonna be a mind-blowing full-cgi adaptation of the entire ring cycle within 25 years - - this time done by a director who respects the source material - - it will be the definitive film version for all time.

Mark my words.


(And what is that idiot going on about The Silmarillion for? You can be sure he hasn't read it.)

I think you're half right. The next LOTR release i think will probably be full CGI-mo-cap rather than live-action.

Though i think it will be much longer before they re-do LOTRs. It's such a classic.

Even Cleopatra is waiting for 50 years (1963 to 2013) to get redone.

I was rewatching King Kong (2005) and Jurassic Park 1 the other day and some things immediately strike out at me:

* King Kong easily has the best monster vs. human, monster vs. monster fight of any movie i've seen. Jurassick Park doesn't even come close
* King King overall visual effects including the lush landscapes are mind blowing. It still looks fantastic today and miles better than anything we've seen this year including the big blockbusters

It's a pity that King Kong didn't do as well in 2005 and was overshadowed by Narnia. It's miles better than WOTW, and if cut 30 minute shorter (especially the beginning in New York) would've been pretty good. I didn't mind the length the first time I saw it but repeat viewings leads to constant fast forward at the start. The Deluxe Edition with the additional creature fights were awesome; though i could see why they didn't include all of them there....it was clearly too much and built up so much to a point that it starts to wear you down.

Not sure about you but when i see the New York scenes (especially the beginning and the scenes on the boat) it reminds me of the Tin Tin trailer. LOL hope it's not an oamen for bad things to come....

There's something about King Kong which i fear may translate to The Hobbit....

* Firstly King Kong is releasing on roughly the same week as The Hobbit (December Wise), December 14th on a Wednesday. It obviously was hyped and anticipated but the opening Wednesday (I think Hobbit will also move to Wednesday ultimately) was frankly dissapointing and it didn't really recover through the weekend (unlike something like Shrek 2 which many thought it'll get a similar bump). I personally think releasing this far ahead of Christmas (unlike 1 week before) will depress the opening weekend by a great deal and if another big release comes out after its opening, it'll loose its luster as the holiday kingpin.
* PJ over indulged on showing fans too much prior to the movie, do you remember those almost daily blogs. He's obviously toned them down but i honestly do not want him to show anywhere near all the goodies prior to the movies release, including the trailer
* The movie was too damn long, 30 mins editing from the start and getting into the meat of the story would've helped. PJ tends to over-indulge and his recent efforts is by no means sharp
* King Kong only had 1 female lead, THe Hobbit has a made up female lead which is probably going to be supporting lead at best, not sure if this character is going to be relatable as Arwen, Eowyn...etc

It's surprising to me that PJ has also only directed 2 movies after LOTR, ouch....it's 8 years...albeit, he did executive produce District which was quite good and Tin Tin (to be seen).

I love it how there's a certain comraderie and one-upmanship ( ) amongst our best directors. It's clear that PJ, Steven S, James Cameron and George Lucas are a pack .

===

James Cameron to pay a visit to The Hobbit

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment ... d=10749303

Master fimmaker James Cameron will return to New Zealand to snoop around the set of The Hobbit as director Peter Jackson follows in his footsteps to create a blockbuster 3D film.

Jackson let slip to Australian film magazine Empire that Cameron would visit the set in September.

It's been seven months since Cameron was last in New Zealand to celebrate his award-winning film Avatar. He announced in 2010 he would return here to film two Avatar sequels but since decided to take the action to California.

http://www.getthebigpicture.net/blog/20 ... sical.html

--

As expected, things are starting to firm out for December 2012. It was ridiculous not having any movie stake claim to the two weeks before The Hobbit.

Les Miserables targets the weekend before TH: AUJ being December 7th and the article also hints to Great Hope Springs counter-programming The Hobbit (that movie apparently stars Meryl Strepp, Steve Carell and Tommy Lee Jones).

Also interesting is that the Great Gatsby is also primed for December 2012, meaning two of what one could call "old-Hollywood" epics will directly compete against each other. The Great Gatsby doesn't have a release yet but one could see both potentially having a semi-wide opening before going wide either around CHristmas time or just after the NY.

December 2012 is starting to look very compelling indeed and comes after what could be a huge November as well with James Bond vs. Twilight BD-2.

2012 is going to be huge in every way. I wonder who will dissapoint........i have my bets on John Carter (looks like another Prince of Persia to me) and Battleship (will cross $100m due to Summer but the budget is horrendous for what looks to be a shit movie).....strangely both starring Taylor Kitsch.

It's a great image but I don't get it. Are you disagreeing? Because as much as Jurassic Park is the better movie, what fight scene compares to Kong vs. Three T-Rexes? That was impossibly epic. T-Rex vs. Spinosaurus on the other hand was an epic let-down.

KK vs 2 Rex looked fake and glossy like CGI.

LOL, what fuck are you talking about. It's the most realistic monster creature on screen fight to date.

Fuck, just saw in the Release Dates thread that a Judd Apatow comedy is aiming for December 21st slot. December 21st is turning out to be the most packed weekend yet. Talk about attack on all angles....something needs to bloody move

November 30th:
* No wide releases announced yet

December 7th:
* Les Miserables ($100-200m)

December 14th:
* The Hobbit: AUJ ($300-400m)
* Great Hope Springs ($50-100m)

December 21st:
* World War Z ($100-200m)
* Life of Pi ($50-$150m)
* Hunter Killer ($50-150m)
* Judd Apatow Comedy ($50-150m)

December 28th:
* Django Unchained ($50-150m)

TBA:
* Lone Ranger (was target December 21st, but Production woes will probably delay it)
* The Great Gatsby
* Cleopatra (though perhaps 2013)
* Other Oscar potential releases

LOTR: FOTR
Nov 30 - Behind Enemy Lines ($18.8m OW)
Dec 07 - Ocean's Eleven ($38.1m OW)
Dec 14 - Vanilla Sky ($25m OW), Not Another Teen Movie ($12.5m OW)
Dec 21 - LOTR: FOTR ($47.2m OW), Jimmy Neutron ($13.8m), The Majestic ($4.9m OW)
Dec 28 - Ali ($14.7m OW), Kate & Leopold ($9.7m)

LOTR: TTT
Nov 29 - Treasure Planet ($12.1m OW)
Dec 06 - Analyze That ($11m OW)
Dec 13 - Maid In Manhattan ($18.7m OW), Star Trek: Nemesis ($18.5m OW), Drumline ($12.6m OW)
Dec 20 - LOTR: TTT ($62m OW), Two Weeks Notice ($14.3m), Gangs Of New York ($9.5m OW)
Dec 27 - Catch Me If You Can ($30m OW)

LOTR: ROTK
Nov 28 - The Haunted Mansion ($24.3m OW)
Dec 05 - The Last Samurai ($24.3m OW), Honey ($12.9m OW)
Dec 12 - Something's Gotta Give ($16m OW)
Dec 19 - LOTR: ROTK ($72.7m), Mona Lisa Smile ($11.5m OW)
Dec 26 - Cheaper By The Dozen ($27.6m OW), Cold Mountain ($14.6m OW), Paycheck ($13.5m OW)

===

LOTRs had it pretty easy, it stood miles ahead of the rest and benefitted from several bombs (The Majestic, Ali, Treasure Planet, Star Trek, Gangs of New York, Mona Lisa Smile, Cold Mountain)). The only big openers it faced in its three years were Ocean's Eleven (2 weeks before FOTR's release) and Catch Me If You Can (the week after).

As you can see, it's not going to be as easy this time around. December 21st, 2012 is insane and will surely drag down AUJ's 2nd weekend, also Walking With Dinosaurs is looking to be quite worthy adversary as well for TAB in 2013.

Which country is this list for? Australia?



I think Battleship could benefit somewhat with nostalgia and being first up.

Uh this is for the Domestic market where it'll make its biggest gross in a single country

Well it's been a few weeks now and LOTRs grosses are under threat.

LOTR: ROTK is now #15 on the Domestic charts, having been surpassed by both HP7-2 and The Lion King.

On the WW front, ROTK is probably 1-week away from loosing the #4 spot on the WW charts to Transformers 3.

The Liong King is also sitting just behind FOTR on the WW charts and may even give TTT a run for its money on the WW charts.

I'm feeling slightly depressed

I'm over it. Inflation and 3D will do that, sooner or later.

Semi news: in a new radio interview (here) PJ revealed they're shooting until the middle of next year. Well, one could have pretty much guessed that. Slow news months...

I don't mind that they're keeping low these few months after all the goodies we saw a few months back. I don't want to see anything from now until the end of the year.

I personally don't mind The Lion King doing so well, it's afterall my favourite animated feature of all-time, though the thought of Transformers 3 beating ROTK WW is a travesty. TF3 was enjoyable but does not deserve the #4 position WW.

Isn't Dec 14 a week before the Christmas Holiday?

Not just Bond vs BDII for November. You also got 47 Ronin and don't forge Lincoln and Gravity are without dates and could nab a November spot.

Also the competition might be heavier for The Hobbit, but it has 3D, which other then Life of Pi and Les Miserables (?) the rest don't have 3D.

Why is Gatsby for December, why not earlier in the year like August or October?


Can Cleo make 2012 it hasn't even started yet. Fincher might do 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea first and Jolie has Maleficent and a few more projects that could jump it.

Didn't Ice Age open there and there is a movie there now.

Uh, December 14 is just under 2 weeks away from Christmas, i wonder how it's weekdays will be like, LOTR had isane weekadays for two weeks.

Les Mis, Gatsby and Lincoln pose some big threats to the Oscar title. I'm hoping Hobbit will at least get the nomination but a win this time looks rare. This is not going to be Godfather Part 2 i don't think. More like Godfather Part 3.

The above was for 2013, and since then, Robopocalypse is opening against Despicable Me II on the Independence Day slot. Now that's going to be a good matchup.

July 2013 is looking very strong.

Transformers 3 DOES NOT DESERVE IT!

If you look at IAL opened 12/14 also its holiday weekend was 12/21-25.