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'Blade Runner 2049' Is A Box Office Disaster With Poor $13M Friday
- Thread starter ronaldthump
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Hazelhurst
Member
This movie is amazing. What a shame.
I recently went to a bunch of movies at the Vancouver international film festival, so I saw a lot of shit that went on for too long.
The Square (the 2017 Palme d'or winner) was flabby and shapeless.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer (by the guy who did The Lobster, one of my favourite movies) could have used a lot of trimming.
Blade Runner 2049 is not bloated. It's smooth and sure and confident in every scene and sets out to do what it wants to do. I understand everyone's motivations, am engaged in the plot, and the themes emerge organically from the world. I'm not a fan of the original because the story was blah (which made the movie seem longer than it was), the chemistry between the leads was bad, and they focused on the wrong character. Blade Runner 2049 fixed everything and made me a fan.
I don't like Gosling. I don't think he is very popular with movie goers in general tbh. He has a hardcore fan base that can make him appear popular and he is a heartthrob but overall I don't think he is who you want in a movie if you want it to make a lot of money.
I will see it at one point for sure.
I will see it at one point for sure.
Sub_Level
wants to fuck an Asian grill.
Me neither. So it was surprising how much I liked him in this. He played his role perfectly.
Curious Puppy
Banned
Stick to your video games if you can't appreciate properly paced films.
I kinda expected it to fail, even if I thought it was an excellent movie. I think a big problem is that the trailer made it look like an action movie when there isn't really much. Mass audience dosen't like these types of movies usually.
Plus, $150 million on a Blade Runner sequel. Not complaining since it's a gorgeous movie, but Warner Brothers must have expected this to be way better.
Plus, $150 million on a Blade Runner sequel. Not complaining since it's a gorgeous movie, but Warner Brothers must have expected this to be way better.
Lol don't care. Like Blade Runner, Highlander, Dune, The Keep, Big Trouble in Little China, Gremlins and dozens of other movies, I get to enjoy them regardless of their legs. I suspect Blade Runner ended up being reasonably profitable with a thirty year drip feed if intense interest.
According to this site, budget was 150 mill., it made 31 mill. in the US, but also 50 mill. internationally.
There's enough of those movies already, it's amazing that this got made.
Escape Goat
Member
He was great in this. Exactly what the role needed.
I mean Blade Runner is the quintessential "cult classic" for a lot folks right? It was never hugely popular on a mainstream level, which is why it's a miracle at all that they decided to make another one & with a huge budget at that. While it's disappointing to see these results, it's not surprising at all.
Tony Redgrave
Member
International Market.
The original was better received in Europe too, maybe history will keep repeating itself.
The original was better received in Europe too, maybe history will keep repeating itself.
Spiritual_Chaos
Banned
ah, the hot takes have already begun
Heckler456
Banned
Well, I'm glad we're getting this sequel. I just hope this doesn't reflect badly on Villeneuve. Need to see more of his stuff.
So wait I don't really get how Arrival topped the charts, a very subdued, woolgathering sci-fi film with linguistics porn, but not this thing with the force of a thousand cyberpunk nerds pushing it, Harrison Ford and a known pedigree.
Is cyberpunk dead? Is it lack of tweests? Not enough sentimentality? Marketing?
Is cyberpunk dead? Is it lack of tweests? Not enough sentimentality? Marketing?
I don't think this is really accurate. Blade Runner is a known quantity for people who watch a lot of films and are familiar with scifi classics. Villeneuve is a known quantity for people who watch a lot of film and follow directors. That is not representative of the majority of people who watch movies, and it absolutely does not indicate that people are horrifically stupid or whatever. The fact is, movies are just another form of entertainment and something many people do when they want an activity. It's not that important to them, it's not their primary hobby, and all this "omg it's so tragic" talk is literally a tiny bubble film fans are in.
Arrival made 24 million or something on the opening weekend. This is going to make about 31 million on the opening weekend. The difference is, this cost about 130 million dollars more than Arrival.
PeskyToaster
Member
I bought the first one to watch yesterday and I wanted to watch it before seeing this one but we lost power yesterday so there went that plan.
Kung Fu Jedi
Member
And? You know that the original wasn't set up to have a sequel, and never really needed one. Which is of course, part of the problem. No one asked for a sequel, and those of us who cared enough about the original to want one are few and far between.
I'm seeing the movie tomorrow night and looking forward to it. The buzz is insane. But, I'm not surprised it isn't setting the box office on fire.
It is only a known quantity with a small subset of the film market. There were a ton of people I talked to personally who didn't have any idea what Blade Runner is, or why they should care. Definitely a small market for this movie.
Oh don't get me wrong he is very capable in his roles and sometimes very good I just don't think he puts butts in the seats.
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
Arrival had Oscar hype.
Curious Puppy
Banned
Doing anything at all without knowing what you're doing before you do it is stupid, doesn't matter who it is. If you're about to watch a 3 hour movie and spend $10 or more on it, at least spend 5 minutes googling on your phone about what it is.
CassidyIzABeast
Member
A 3 hour sci fi drama is a rental for the majority of people.
Ah, I see.
What is Oscar hype, cast and crew who have Oscars under their belts or "Oscar bait"?
Nappuccino
Member
That, and Arrival had legs. Blade Runner might also have legs with all the positive word of mouth. We'll see.
Elwood Blues
Member
I'm glad the movie got made, but they were crazy to make it with that budget.
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
But again, the word of mouth seems to be divisive. Blade Runner fans are gonna tell you it's amazing but everyone else is probably gonna range from "good" to "there's barely any action."
Word of mouth seems to be really good among my friend group, but they're all hardcore movie fans.
Blade Runner never had much appeal to general audiences. Strange, cerebral, playing with coldness and the dynamics of what makes one truly human.
Not exactly Fast and the Furious level accessible.
Sad.
Blade Runner never had much appeal to general audiences. Strange, cerebral, playing with coldness and the dynamics of what makes one truly human.
Not exactly Fast and the Furious level accessible.
Sad.
I guess Blade Runner because Scott Pilgrim is kinda dumb at the end of the day. Blade Runner has a more interesting story set in a world that's really intriguing. I felt like that could be our future if we let capitalism run rampant and let our world go to shit.
I guess the main negative we get from this and the failure of GiTS is that we won't get cyberpunk sci Fi with any kind of budget for a long while. I reckon a decent movie could have been made for less. And for Villeneuve, he probably still is able have his pick or his next project, but if he does Dune and that flops as well, then he is probably treading water when it comes to making blockbusters. Then he won't get to the place when Nolan is and have the clout to be able to produce whatever big project he wants.
Im not saying it was unexpected. But I think being unfamiliar with Blade Runner after so many releases and after over three decades of pop culture presence is on them.
And Im not saying people are stupid for not liking the movie. Im saying going into this thing expecting a fast paced action movie is an easily avoidable error. Do three minutes of reflection before plonking down $12 and three hours of your life.
Maybe stupid is the wrong word. Lazy or perfunctory maybe.
This movie never should've cost what it did. When it was first announced I thought it was going to be a small-time project in the 50~60 million neighborhood. I was really surprised when Alcon first said that BR2049 was one of the most expensive indie productions ever made. I thought that meant maybe $100 million, which would be insane. I found their claim hard to believe. Turns out they spent over $150 million. Alcon pls. They got exactly what they asked for.
Cyberpunk was never alive.
Cyberpunk was never alive.
MrCunningham
Member
So basically, this is faithful to the original movie in every way.
The Matrix was alive!
ForkNetwork
Banned
This of course. Although thats mostly because Blade Runner 2049 has style and substance, while Scott Pilgrim only had style.
Case in point: I genuinely thought it was being released next year for some reason.
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
Or we go back to simple clean Cyberpunk where the story revolves around "Are machines evil?" for the hundredth time.
Nappuccino
Member
There was (nearly) zero action in Arrival though. Some gunshots off screen and an explosion.
and Abbott is Death Process 
The Witcher team must be sweating now.
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