To add, 34.8m might not sound so huge today, but at the time it was the 27th largest opening ever. To do that today a movie would need 58m.

Let us not forget that Gladiator had an excellent marketing campaign behind it. The General that became a slave...etc.

Kingdom of Heaven's marketing hasn't been quite as appealing, but it will still do very well.

Cream of the Crop has dropped to 67%, while the average grade is steady at 6.0/10.

I just don't feel the opening weekend buzz about it. I know it's repetitive, but it still feels more like The Last Samurai, Collateral, and Master and Commander. Just don't get the sense that people are ready to get the summer started.

Kingdom of Heaven has a lot going for it. It's the *real* first movie of the summer season, and this spot has always given great success to even the worst of movies (in quality). Gladiator was in this same spot back in 2000. Ridley Scott is an excellent director, so I think we can expect a great movie here. The reviews have been good so far in the Cream of the Crop, though not overall. The best critics are liking Kingdom of Heaven. Kingdom of Heaven's only direct competition is Crash, which isn't too much of a threat. The commercials have been great, while the trailers were a little boring and unappealing. Whether you like it or not, Orlando Bloom does bring people in, but this is his first big movie all to himself, so this will make or break him. The theater count is great, and the hype is there (it's on the Yahoo Buzz Chart, and very high on there, too). The only real disadvantage I see is that the last few epics haven't been doing so well. King Arthur did a moderate $50 million total in July, while Alexander flopped with around $30 million total. Troy was a big success domestically and internationally, but part of that was due to the great cast (including Brad Pitt AND Bloom). The box office has been fairly slow, so it's Kingdom of Heaven's chance to capitalize. Will it capitalize? I'm unsure. There are fans of epic movies, but with the slight controversy surrounding it, it could help or hurt it. Controversy killed movies like Alexander, but made Passion of the Christ one of the highest grossing movies in history. I'm going to slightly lowball this movie, but there's no doubt in my mind that it'll do better than Alexander and King Arthur, and hopefully, it'll be able to cross $30 million this weekend.

Opening: $27.1 million
Total: $89.4 million

Just got back from seeing KoH. My thoughts? Bloom is definitely no Crowe (as expected) but still did an ok job, some slow parts which though is nothing unusual for an epic, not as involving and emotionally charged as say Braveheart, a few story problems (blacksmith with no battle experiences fighting like a pro and coming up with all sorts of strategies to defend the city, the transition from nobody to respected knight goes too quick for my taste and lacks explanation), beautifully shot, adequate soundtrack, gritty, dirty, bloody battles... All in all, no masterpiece but a decent movie, better than Troy. I give it a 7.5 out of 10.

TOMATOMETER

OVERALL:
RATING: ROTTEN READING: 42%
Reviews counted: 33
Fresh: 14 Rotten: 19
Average Rating: 5.4/10

CREAM OF THE CROP:
RATING: ROTTEN READING: 56%
Reviews counted: 16
Fresh: 9 Rotten: 7
Average Rating: 5.9/10

Meh, goes down again...

Ok. Zingaling is the last prediction I take. With all those reviews and reports its now gonna pretty predictable(at least opening).

This movie will do fine. It will open North of $35m.

First Weekend in May-AVG-$71.02m ($60.08m without Spiderman)

2004-Van Helsing-$51.75m-Crap even for the genre
2003-$85.6m-Good
2002-Spiderman $114.8m-Good
2001-Mummy Returns-$68.1m-Pretty Good for the genre
2000-Gladiator-$34.8m-Good

First Weekend in December-AVG-$22.0m

2004-National Treasure-17.0m(holdover 3rd WK)-Good
2003-The Last Samuri-$24.3m-Good
2002-Die Another Day-$12.8m- I assume ok haven't seen it
2001-Ocean's Eleven-$38.1m-Good
2000-How The Grinch Stole Christmas(4th WK)-$18.6m-Dreck

First Weekend in August-AVG-$42.4m

2004-Collateral-$24.7m-Good
2003-American Wedding-$33.4m-Don't get me started
2002-Signs-$60.1m-I didn't like but most people and critics did
2001-Rush Hour 2-$67.4m-OK
2000-Hollow Man-$26.4m-Didn't see it

Even Troy which had about the same RT score opened to $46.9m

Having seen it now, I can't say much about the opening weekend (as that depends on the advertising much moreso than the movie's quality), but I cann tell you right now that the WoM is not going to be strong on this one.

My revised predictions (final ones):

Opening weekend - $33.9 million

Total gross - $96 million

KINGDOM of HEAVEN

You will protect the pilgrim road.
All are welcome in Jerusalem not only because it is expedient, but because it is right!!



Historical Epics are normally the type of movies which i find hard not to enjoy....from Troy to King Arthur and Alexander - i seem to like them all more than the average movie going audience. I love the notion of grand empires forged on the battlefield, great conquests and outrageous architectural design surrounded by sweeping landscapes. Kingdom of Heaven delivers in all regards.

The first 30 mins underwhelmed however; it was slow and the story lacked plausability - you really don't know what's going through Balian's mind at the beginning and so, there was this sort of detachment. Orlando was at his weakest here IMO. Though once the story entered Jerusalem it was a totally different experience, the pace moved very quickly and you could feel the forward momentum and truly grasp what's at stake. Edward Norton gave a memorable performance as King Baldwin IV, vulnerable yet powerful - a mysterious aura heightened by the expression or lack of it on the masks he wears. Jeremy Irons and Eva Green also gave powerful supporting performances. I found Orlando's performance to be surprisingly good - his meatiest yet, although he lacks the presence in some regards, it was a solid performance and thank god there was no cringe momments (ok one or two but i forgive).



The visual effects in this movie is truly something else, Jerusalem with all its stone walls looked so grand. Some of the shots are reminiscent of Minas Tirith but the delivery here is more seamless - probably because the color blends better with surrounding landscapes and lighting. The battle scenes are magnificent, leaving Troy and Alexander for dead. Those catapults/trebuchets are the best i've seen onscreen, fast and ferocious. Although it lacks the scope of Pellanor Fields - it is more bloody and realistic (in terms of general combat and also VFX). Those horse shots were fantastic, especially the charge outside Kerek. If it wasn't for upcoming pics like Star Wars, War of the Worlds, Narnia, KOH would be locked for an Academy Award in VFX.

Also, nice to know that John Mathieson was the Cinematographer of KOH, and if you can remember, he's also the Cinematographer for a little movie with organ music and a masked man :wink: . Ah, love me that's all i ask of you :razz: :razz:

In terms of story, the way the battle wrapped up was kinda "dodgy" (but of course, it could go on and on) in that it lacked plausibility - you would think that if Ibelin had a chat with Salidin first then the people inside Jerusalem wouldn't have died for something which would eventuate to nothing more than a surrendering of the city to the Muslims. Though i guess if that was to happen - we wouldn't get to see the fantastic battle scenes...LOL - ah movies, there's always that conundrum.

Overall, A+ (as usual :razz: ), the best epic since Troy and if it wasn't for the start and some minor problems i would rate it as the best epic since LOTR.



What is Jersualem worth?
Nothing.
Everything.

Yay, Arch is back in the house! :razz:

Will you do some tracking for this? Some overseas charts with comparisons to other movies of its genre from time to time would be nice...

TOMATOMETER

OVERALL:
RATING: ROTTEN READING: 41%
Reviews counted: 61
Fresh: 25 Rotten: 36
Average Rating: 5.5/10

CREAM OF THE CROP:
RATING: ROTTEN READING: 58%
Reviews counted: 19
Fresh: 11 Rotten: 8
Average Rating: 6.1/10

I'm starting to have doubts whether this can hit $100m domestically. I fear KoH is not appealing enough for the average Joe, that it's too much of a hardcore serious epic, tedious and humorless...

TOMATOMETER

OVERALL:
RATING: ROTTEN READING: 42%
Reviews counted: 100
Fresh: 42 Rotten: 58
Average Rating: 5.7/10

CREAM OF THE CROP:
RATING: ROTTEN READING: 56%
Reviews counted: 32
Fresh: 18 Rotten: 14
Average Rating: 6.2/10

Most likely will end up rotten...

Better to say, for sure will end up rotten. From now on, if it doesn't get a single rotten review, needs 50 fresh ones to be fresh.

There's always hope...

I love that quote... :razz: :wink:

It wont be fresh. Its always hard for a movie to satisfy critics when theres a political belief and agenda attached to it. Look at how divided the critics were with Passion of the Christ and the bad ratings Life of David Gale had because it took a certain stance on the death penalty

The best in the entire movie.

Sadly.... yes

I also enjoyed the scenes with Edward Norton as the king.

One of the best scenes is the king dying. One of the rare moments i really felt something... Kudos to Edward Norton for his portrayal of the king.

A couple of more thoughts on KOH:

1. Many critics have a bias and it is showing up in the reviews of these films
A. Some are left-wing and they are upset the Christians are not shown in a more disparaging light and are taking their bias out on this film.
B. Some are right-wing and think the films should show the Muslims in a more negative fashion, and are also taking out their bias on this film.
C. Others can't handle a movie that is complex and nuanced or doesn't have an obvious hero to root for. They don't care either way, but can't handle a movie telling a story in a non-straight forward typical Hollywood fashion. So they label it as boring and uninvolving.

2. This movie doesn't have an homosexual apsect. That more than anything else killed Alexander (too long and disjointed were secondary components).

3. This movie appeals to older people than most of you have contact. I was at an afterwork party on Wednesday and everyone wanted to see the movie. The youngest person was 29 a few 30-35 and the majority 35-40. The men wanted to see it for Ridley Scott the women for Orlando Bloom. Orlando Bloom is the fantasy young boy toy for many women moviegoers over 30. Brad Pitt is a contemporary to them. Think Brad Pitt in Thelma and Louise and you get more of the idea, not the Brad Pitt of today. So you are missing how he pulls in women over 30, that Brad Pitt does not.

4. There is an Orlando Bloom bias on this website and on the net. I personally don't think he is anything special as an actor. Just like I didn't think there was much to Tom Cruise or Harrison Ford. However, they became B.O. stars not for what they brought to the project, but the directors and good scripts they alligned themselves. Orlando is following the same path. Pick good work and your talent hopefully, will catch up to your projects. At the same time you will build a reputation as a B.O. power, when you it may have much less to do with yourself as an actor and more to do with your talent to pick good films.

1995-
Rob Roy-$31.6m-RT Score 79% Users 100%
Braveheart-$75.6m-RT Score 81% Users 90%

The way I remember it ever critic that gave a good review to Braveheart stated it was good but no Rob Roy.

Great post. A lot of points worth noting in there.

I agree with just about everything you said. I'm pretty certain people here are underestimating the older audience this is attracting.

Also, it's sadly true about Bloom appealing to women over 30. In fact I know of women over 40 who would go to this film because of him.