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[TheXbox]

After the appalling success of Jurassic World and the world-beating Episode VII, I guess it is a little weird that the genuine article can't make any goddamn money. He hasn't since Indy 4. It certainly doesn't help that he keeps alternating between ugly, inaccessible baby movies and dry-as-bones period pieces.

Chasing the 80's and 90's seems to be in vogue right now, so Indy 5 and RP1 should do fine. Doesn't matter whether or not the master and progenitor of that brand of filmmaking is directing.

 

[User 479360]

It was squished in between Finding Dory and The Secret Life of Pets. It was like it was sent out to die.

That too

 

[Slacker]

Would it have been sacrilege to change the title? I don't think it's a great title, especially with BF(x) standing for something else entirely most of the time (BFD, BFGun). And add me to the list that has somehow never heard of the book until recently.

And I'll say from personal experience that the marketing failed to reach me. I didn't realize it was out until reading this thread, and didn't know Spielberg directed. Just watched the trailer, and yeah, I can see a poor response. I'm pretty sure there's a much bigger market out there for cute kids movies as opposed to scary kids movies.

 

[thepotatoman]

Saw the Secret Life of Pets on the Weekend

The Trailer for the BFG came on, two girls of the target Audience range about 7-8 said to their mum how they would have nightmares if they saw that. Over and over until the trailer ended.

You do have realistic looking CG giants using graphic terms to describe eating children.

I don't know if that was ever super popular with kids, and even less so now that CG is so realistic. Not like the tech of the 90s where everything was much more obviously fake and cartoonish.

 

[Timbuktu]

You do have realistic looking CG giants using graphic terms to describe eating children.

I don't know if that was ever super popular with kids, and even less so now that CG is so realistic. Not like the tech of the 90s where everything was much more obviously fake and cartoonish.

Sort of makes me appreciate the charm of Quentin Blake's illustrations. Dahl's writing and his drawings go hand in hand in my head, I can't disassociate the two.

 

[wildfire]

I've seen quite a few movie trailers this year. Whoever was in charge of marketing a Spielberg film forgot to mention Spielberg was directing it. Calling Spielberg a possible anachronism is among the worst type of hyperbole I've seen on messageboards and entertainment news articles.

 

[thenexus6]

Spielberg has still got it, BFG just looks boring. The art direction and motion capture just look off too.

 

[Lord Virgin]

We don't need you anymore, Steve!

 

[N4Us]

Instead of BFG, Spielberg should have chosen Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. Would have had the Wonka name-brand and the ability to do a bunch of crazy bullshit that was in the book.

Dahl was disappointed with the original Wonka movie and refused to license out Glass Elevator to film. We're probably not seeing a movie of that anytime soon. Which is a shame because that book is wild

 

[Future]

Saw nothing but the commercials. It looked damn ugly. Looked more "powerful" than fun. And didn't even realize it was a Spielberg film. And when I hear bfg I think big motherfucking gun. I knew I heard that title somewhere but didn't connect that memory to the commercials I obviously had seen with th ugly giant. Cuz it's so easy to forget the damn title and connect it with anything you see

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

The movie just felt very harry pottery from trailers

 

[digdug2k]

I loved this book as a kid (I read everything Dahl I could get my hands on as a kid). I can't remember much about it though beyond the title though, which initially made me pretty excited for this.

The trailer didn't bring back many memories either though. And what little I do remember didn't seem to fit what it showed (i.e. it seemed like they cared more about action and less about building an interesting relationship between the girl and the giant). I'll rent it someday.

 

[Surface of Me]

BFG is a terrible name for a movie, even moreso with how little marketing it had. Id be scratching my head as a parent wondering the fuck is a BFG.

I will say though that War Horse is the only time Ive fallen asleep as an adult in a movie theater.

 

[aBarreras]

i didnt even know this movie existed until now!

man they dont bother promoting movies in mexico anymore, yesterday i learned about triple 9 existence as well

 

[commedieu]

Ww2 comedy huh..

 

[The Giant]

I watched to movie today and found it pretty good. It was a nice relief to watch a fun light hearted Spielburg movie.

Been missing that from Spielburg for a long time.

 

[Phinor]

In China. Which is why the sequel is a Chinese film.

It would have just about made its money back even without China so calling it a costly dud is just plain wrong. In fact same goes for the other film they mention, The Fifth Estate. It failed to make any money but calling $28 million budget film a costly dud is again just wrong. Costly duds are movies that cost 5-10 times that. That budget is less than nothing in the big picture.

 

[nelsonroyale]

I was quite excited for this because the original animated movie, and the book itself, are quite creepy and a bit dark, something I think is missing from a lot of the children's features these days. Finding Dorry for instance, on a snap view, looks rather corny. But I rather dislike the modern Pixar/Dreamworks form of anthropomorphism...particularly since it seems to have resulted in little tangible change in the way people actually treat and value the larger web of life...

 

[DocSeuss]

We don't need you anymore, Steve!

It would be pretty cool if whoever is supposed to be Jesus in your picture could direct worth a damn.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

Maybe they just met in the middle?

 

[Harmen]

At first I didn't even know it was the big friendly giant, from that name. And this thread just told me it's directed by Spielberg, which I also didn't know. And then there are other family films (Dory) completely stealing the show. I think the marketing and media presence is pretry bad for this one to be honest.

 

[smurfx]

i don't think people like super realistic cg characters in movies. the successful cg movies tend to still have a cartoony look to them.

 

[Melchettsmoustache]

Clearly the age gap has created a nostalgic perspective to me, Roald Dahl was the author who really got me into reading. It's disheartening to see so many say the story looked poor, they'd never heard of it or it's a decade out of time.

Dahl created wonderfully dark versions of fairy tales, they had just enough edge to make a young boy feel like he was still doing something mischievous whilst reading, yet still left wonder in the books like catching dreams etc.

I've bought my daughter his entire catalogue and I'm reading them to her. It would be a travesty if his books are forgotten to time.

I'm looking forward to seeing the film, I did think that the promo ad for it seemed very dark. My six year old daughter cuddled into my arm when the promo was running because of the tone of it. She cheered up when I told her what it was and that we had already read it.

 

[MarkMclovin]

I bet the shitfest looking Independence Day has done better.

I'll be checking out BFG. I think it looks ok from the trailers.

 

[Bounceounce]

No one really gives a crap about Dahl outside of Wonka and Matilda. None of his other works reached that sort of cultural relevance that would've made something like this still work in this day and age.

Hey, The BFG is an amazing book, children's classic, probably even moreso in England than America (where I am), and I love his books.
I just didn't like the art and feel direction the movie was taking so I didn't see it.

Also are you implying people don't care about James and The Giant Peach?
Edit:I'm in America not England, clarifying

 

[cj_iwakura]

People make flops, it happens. Spielberg's a legend. I think he'll be okay.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

Hey, The BFG is an amazing book, children's classic, probably even moreso in England than America (where I am), and I love his books.
I just didn't like the art and feel direction the movie was taking so I didn't see it.

Yup.

The cosgrove animation felt magical. This...does not

 

[Peru]

No one really gives a crap about Dahl outside of Wonka and Matilda. None of his other works reached that sort of cultural relevance that would've made something like this still work in this day and age.

That's just not true. Every kid I knew had collections of Dahl books. Wonka and Matilda were not necessarily the hottest properties. It was the tone of this writing, across the various titles, that was famous. People talked/talks about 'Roald Dahl books' more than individual standouts.

 

[DiscoJer]

Maybe I'm missing something, but maybe naming a kid's movie "BFG" isn't the best idea in the world.

Yeah, from reading this thread, apparently it's based on a book, but I imagine to most people it means "Big Fucking Gun" or from the trailer, "Big Fucking Giants".

 

[Claude Augario]

The giant is fucking hideous. Especially his gangly neck. Why does a giant have a gangly neck? No one is going to see a movie if the main attraction is ugly as fuck.

 

[Rydeen]

The trailer didn't bring back many memories either though. And what little I do remember didn't seem to fit what it showed (i.e. it seemed like they cared more about action and less about building an interesting relationship between the girl and the giant). I'll rent it someday.

The marketing is poor, I agree. But as it seems like I'm one of the only people in this thread to have actually seen the movie, Sophie and BFG's relationship are still the core of the story in this version.

Also some of you need to read a damn book, Roald Dahl is one of the most acclaimed children's writers of the 20th Century. Your ignorance of his writing is your own fault, not the movie or Spielberg.

 

[Staf]

Should have had a cameo from Spiderman.

 

[JB1981]

It would be pretty cool if whoever is supposed to be Jesus in your picture could direct worth a damn.

Wow it's a joke

 

[Bounceounce]

Yup.

The cosgrove animation felt magical. This...does not

I still haven't seen the animated film, this is just going off of the drawings from the books and writing style.

 

[old manatee]

BFG is a terrible name for a movie, even moreso with how little marketing it had. Id be scratching my head as a parent wondering the fuck is a BFG.

I will say though that War Horse is the only time Ive fallen asleep as an adult in a movie theater.

If you are a parent that doesn't read your kid Roald Dahl books then you are doing it wrong.

 

[John Kowalski]

Spielberg being out of touch is unthinkable?

For real?

 

[Alienous]

Spielberg's Green Lantern Corps incoming?

 

[BassForever]

The BFG is still a good movie by all accounts even if it's a movie very few people wanted to see correct? I'd much rather have Spielberg making great films that flop over him making garbage that makes a shit load of money.

 

[Violet_0]

he probably should have made a movie about the other BFG

 

[The Lamonster]

I'm kind of glad. The movie looks dumb and the title is terrible, especially considering DOOM just came out.

 

[old manatee]

I'm kind of glad. The movie looks dumb and the title is terrible, especially considering DOOM just came out.

The BFG was written in 1982.

 

[SomedayTheFire]

The movie just looked terrible and felt way too dark for the source

this post is hilarious.

 

[GabeTheGrouch76]

Can't help but feel that the article is jumping the gun way too early. Bridge of Spies was well-received and made a decent gross, while Lincoln was a critical and commercial smash. That and while the film is a commercial flop, it's gotten decent reviews; so even if it's not as good as his past works, it's not like the film is outright terrible.

Knowing Spielberg, he's probably bounce back from this misstep with Ready Player One.

Tintin bombed, too.

Only in the US, and that can be blamed on Paramount mishandling the film's release (same day as MI: Ghost Protocol) and marketing (light advertising push in comparison); as well as Tintin not being very popular in that territory. Sony handled the international release, where the film performed much better (Tintin is most popular in Europe in particular, where he originated).

Instead of BFG, Spielberg should have chosen Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. Would have had the Wonka name-brand and the ability to do a bunch of crazy bullshit that was in the book.

Dahl despised the 1970s film adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to the point of stating in his will that a film adaptation based on the Great Glass Elevator could never be made. Like someone said, it's a shame that happened, because that book gets amazingly off the wall.

The movie just looked terrible and felt way too dark for the source

What? If anything, one of the main problems from the film is the opposite. The tone that was taken is way too saccharine even by the original book's standards.

 

[Dirtyshubb]

I'm really thinking that there are a lot of people on gaf who overestimate how many people assume bfg means big fucking gun.

I'm willing to bet there are more people who know of the dhal book compared to those who don't and also know of the weapon. Of course being a gaming forum this might be screwed but the thought that the general public would assume the same silly to me.

 

[Volcane]

I loved the original Cosgrove animated movie.

Disappointing the way they have gone with the bad giants, in the animated movie they were very menacing looking and creepy.

I assume they went the way they went due to trying to be more family friendly, and not wanting to scare children. But I think it is lesser for that.

It might do better in the UK due to nostalgia of the Cosgrove movie, as that was a cult classic here.

 

[King Tubby]

Having never heard of the book, every time I see the title "The BFG" I can't help but think the BF stands for "Big Fucking."

They really should've just called it The Big Friendly Giant. Titles matter.

 

[Melchettsmoustache]

Maybe I'm missing something, but maybe naming a kid's movie "BFG" isn't the best idea in the world.

Yeah, from reading this thread, apparently it's based on a book, but I imagine to most people it means "Big Fucking Gun" or from the trailer, "Big Fucking Giants".

The book was written abut a decade before we had computers that could play Doom.

I guess Dahl simply isn't as well read elsewhere in the world than he is in the UK. If you have kids (not specifically aimed at this poster) I really suggest reading his works to your child. They're whimsically brilliant with enough edge to keep an adult entertained.

 

[ItIsOkBro]

If you are a parent that doesn't read your kid Roald Dahl books then you are doing it wrong.

I know what the Big Friendly Giant is and I still didn't know what the BFG was

 

[DrunkShogun]

It's not well known to the children of this generation and the visuals aren't going to attack in a world where kids have avengers and frozen.

 

[stan423321]

I'm really thinking that there are a lot of people on gaf who overestimate how many people assume bfg means big fucking gun.

I'm willing to bet there are more people who know of the dhal book compared to those who don't and also know of the weapon. Of course being a gaming forum this might be screwed but the thought that the general public would assume the same silly to me.

It heavily depends where you are. Around there, for example, maybe some people know of the book, but it got a different title translation (twice!) so sticking to BFG acronym on the posters (subtitled natively, but still) results in a bunch of people giggling because of Doom BFG and everyone else expecting something generic unless they spot the Spielberg credit.