Well, this is the counterpart to Plot's thread.

What movies' box-office performance this year do you consider very disappointing?

I am not talking about complete bombs without any pre-release hype like Surviving Christmas or The Whole Ten Yards, but about movies that people actually expected to gross much more than they did. I won't make a poll, since there are many possible contenders.


Personally, I consider these movies the biggest box-office disappointments of the year:

1. Ladykillers - Now I know, it is a Coens movie, but still, it stars freaking Tom Hanks, who 7 movies before this one all crossed $100 million. Eeven a movie about him talking to a volleyball on an island made tons of cash. One would expect him to break the Coens curse and get this movie at least past $50 millions. It also got pretty decent reviews and I thought the commercials and trailers looked good. Looks like the R-rating and the unusual type of a movie for Hanks paired with the Coens curse prevented it from happening.

2. King Arthur - With Bruckheimer's name attached and the fact that Pirates of the Caribbean revived the pirate movies genre last year people have expected much more from this historical epic.Many thought it would do the same to the knights genre as POTC did to the pirates movies. Well, these people were proven wrong. The big international grosses somewhat made up for the bad domestic gross, but in the end it will still be considered a disappointment.

3. The Terminal - Steven Spielberg + Tom Hanks + Catherine Zeta-Jones in a lighthearted PG-13 movie...how could it not make $100 million? Well, it couldn't. It got good reviews and a lot was going for this movie. The fact that Tom Hanks could carry the R-rated Road to Perdition to over $100 million in the middle of the summer just added more hope for this one to even make more, especially with Steven Spielberg attached. However, the movie opened very mildly against Dodgeball which grabbed the top position. After that people still hoped for amazing legs which would carry it past $100 million and although this movie's legs were good, it still failed to cross $80 million and became Steven Spielberg's least successful movie since Amistad.

4. Team America: World Police - Now, this movie is not a bomb as its budget is not all that high. Yet, I am sure, many can call it a disappointment. After Fahrenheit 9/11 it became obvious that bashing Bush is the new trend. Furthermore, this movie was getting splendid reviews and good reaction from the audiences. Moreover it was coming from the makers of South Park which has a huge fanbase. This movie was destined to become big...but it didn't. Most people predicted an opening of $15-20+ million, but looks like it won't even top $40 million in its total gross.

5. Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban - Now this one is iffy. Obviously, it was a huge success in the USA as well as worldwide. However, the fact that it was coming off a well-liked predecessor and was getting much better reviews than the previous two installments as well as the fact that it started off with a HUGE opening day suggested that this movie will DEFINITELY outgross Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets domestically as well as worldwide.


Further slight disapointments:

Harold & Kumar go to White Castle (such a small gross despite great reviews)
The Village (horrendous legs in the USA after an amazing opening day, but good grosses worldwide)
Van Helsing ($300 million worldwide, but still)
The Chronicles of Riddick (did what many people have expected it to do, but still a slight disappointment as the international grosses were rather lame)
Try (disappinting performance in the USA, but an incredible one overseas)

Team America was a dissapointment in my book. Not horrible, but dissapointing. I was hoping that the audiences would actually like the whole "puppet" thing, but looks like they didn't. :?

for me too!!
Team America was so disappointing!!

Troy for me...I thought it would be amazing!!!!

I think Hellboy and Kill Bill vol. 2 were expected to make alot more money than they did.

I agree about both of those.

Many predictions had Hellboy as high as $150-$200 million total.

I for one though Kill Bill Volume 2 would far outgross Volume 1.

Sorry to "BASH" ( bash, get it) but your examples are pretty poor examples.

Let's review.

- Ladykillers, Why would you expect it to break the Coen brothers curse of 50 million. Don't you remember the trailers a black comedy with an annoying Tom Hanks in the trailers. NEXT

- King Arthur - it would do for knights what POTC did for pirates. Are you crazy. The trailer was dark and the moviue was postponed. PLus Johnny Depp in that amazing trailer vs. King Arthur.... NEXT

- The Terminal - Why would you expect it to make more. With Tom Hanks in the trailer and him speaking that foreign language. Plus that great shot with the fish. NEXT.

- Team America - South Park barely made 50 +. Plus this movie had the puppets, the hard R, the cursing, I don't even remember much advertising. Did you really expect as much as 911 100+. Can't even come close to comparing them. NEXT.

- Harry Potter - the first 2 went down, bo wise, this one was know to be darker. So again why. NEXT.

Sorry, Dr. Lecter, I would continue but your choices are pretty poor. Just to show you that I am not picking on you, here are some better choices for this category.

- Troy
- Wimbledon
- Vanity Fair
- Raising Helen

Goldie, no offense, but it's easy to say you didn't expect those choices to be big AFTER the final numbers. I'm sure everyone thought atleast one of those would have made more. EVERYONE.

As for your choices, Raising Helen? Wimbledon? I don't think, I HOPE, no one expected $100 million out of those movies.

Wimbledon and Raising Helen!?!?!? WOW great choices

i believe someone doesnt like you Doc.!

Try reading the question and maybe you will understand the answers. Reading isn't a bad thing, you know.

I agree with Vanity Fair. I was expecting more in the range of $30-$40 million for that film. I'm not sure if I would label it as the "biggest" or even one of the biggest dissapointments this year.

He didn't ask for 100 + movies, he stated movies that people actually expected to gross much more than they did.

And to answer your question, Harry Potter was the only one that I expected to do well, I thought 250 as that is where the slide from 1 and 2 were heading.

I do stand by my comments as from alot of trailers who can tell what you are getting and how it will do in the mainstream BO.

Goldie is an idiot.

No, he's actually a moron.

Or shall I settle for an idiot?

I guess he's both. And even more.

As for my picks:

Ladykillers
Troy
Sky Captain


PS: Goldie, you suck.

im glad i didnt said what you said
but i agree!!

Hahaha



You make me laugh with your obnoxious, stalking personality and your choices as well as your poor depiction of my choices.

Do you actually get a kick out of being despised?

Lecter I am sorry that your analysis was so piss poor, I can almost hear that annoying laugh that Tom Hanks was making in Ladykillers. O YAH, I am shocked that the movie didn't make more. Or even close to the #1 of the year. Can't you just hear Tom Hanks laughing in the background.

Oh yes, I can. He is laughing at your miserable life.

Whatever Lecter, too bad you can't answer any of my discussion points. Like I said, yours was just a poor analysis. Sorry. Or try to prove me wrong. Never mind cause you can't.

You are right. I can't. You are a genius, a master of box-office knowledge and the professor of film science. We all sure know that and the supporting posts from Zingaling, matatonio and BigMoviePimp sure have proven that...


BUT...



I have a life and you don't.

Doc, one thing I noticed wrong in your post... Team America wasn't about "bashing Bush". Nobody ever said it was, and it wasn't marketed that way. Just to keep you informed

Whatever Lecter. PLus you know nothing about my life so stop BS but I know that you do close to 100 posts a day here plus how many other boards are you on. Yah sure, you can say I don't have a life.

OVERALL NO SURPRISE JUST ANOTHER PISS POOR LECTER ANALYSIS. CAN'T YOU HEAR TOM HANKS LAUGHING IN THE BACKGROUND.

Sorry for me not living in the USA to see that, hehe. I am only telling what I have seen in the trailer and it came across to me like that.

But thank you for your input.

Mel?