It's extremely interesting to me that 3D The Phantom Menace trounced 3D Titanic.
Interesting because, come on; we're talking about the most reviled movie ever made vs. the Best-Picture-winning Oscar™ "King of the World" movie, right? Everyone hates Jar Jar and loves young Leo, right? So what happened?
I think it was the Easter holiday and warm weather combined with ongoing Hunger Games fever. I have only seen Titanic once and I remember enjoying it but I have never had the desire to watch it again.
Right, but, respectfully, let's lot downplay the point here, concerning exactly the kind of revisionism you're alluding to:
10-15 years ago, the absolute consensus worldwide was that 1) Titanic was the greatest thing ever; both the beloved highest-grossing movie of all time and the winner of a dozen Oscars™ including Best Picture; and 2) The Phantom Menace was a hated abomination and a symbol of everything that had gone and could go wrong in movies.
And yet here we are a decade later and it turns out that nobody likes Titanic any more (while Phantom Menace is reeling them in). I'm surprised. It's surprising. Come on...how can you argue?
It didn't sound shrill or combative. The thing is, Star Wars, even bad Star Wars, is timeless and bulletproof against the fickle tastes of human beings. I don't like Phantom Menace very much but I checked it out in 3D the weekend it opened. There's just something about hearing the Williams score and watching the scroll that gets me every time. I have goose bumps just thinking about it.
It's weird, I did like Titanic but something about sitting through its 3:15 minute run-time is a deterrent for me now (also the awful theme song). I would prefer to watch only the last hour in 3D. You are right, though, people were crazy for this film (mostly teenage girls who watched it multiple times). Perhaps teenage girl taste is more Twilight/Hunger Games now?
Also, Star wars has been part of my life for the past 35 years. I don't think a day has gone by in the past 4 decades where I didn't think of Star Wars in some capacity (just go to any toy store and you'll still see tons of Star Wars product). It's like Disney's Mickey Mouse, it has never gone away since its inception. Titanic was briefly popular for a year and then people moved on and never really thought about it again (there are no Leo action figures). Until it's re-release last weekend I hadn't thought of Titanic in at least a decade.
I'm probably rambling here - this is what happens when a patient no-shows on me.
I don't know, Jordan, I think you may be overthinking this. (I'm guessing that's not a new accusation!).
The target audiences alone would explain for the imbalance: 13-35 year old boys/men vs. middle aged women. Middle aged women don't host marathon viewing parties to watch movies they've already seen and own on dvd. Boys do.
Then add in the whole toy/game/cartoon franchise of which Ep.I is a part, and it's not a contest.
April 10, 2012 6:03 AM
[Image] From cinemablend, For a third weekend in a row Hunger Games dominated the box office and at the same time cruised past the $300 million mark in domestic sales. While the movie's continued success isn't shocking, it was something of a surprise to see it do so well against the new competition in theaters.
James Cameron relaunched his 1997 epic box office success romance/disaster flick Titanic in 3D this week, but after five days in theaters it has only earned $25 million, $17 million of it this weekend. That was good enough for 3rd place, but possibly not as good as some expected. Bear in mind though, for many this weekend is the celebration of Easter and Cameron's movies have a tendency towards long, slow box office burns. But this time around it's a fair bet Titanic 3D will sink quietly into icy waters, making its return to theaters nicely timed with the actual sinking of the Titanic's 100th anniversary, but ill timed for box office success.
Slightly outperforming Titanic was another throw back to the 90s, sequel to 1999'sAmerican Pie, American Reunion. Banking $21 million for second place, it only outdid its predecessor's $18 million opening weekend thanks to inflation. In today's ticket prices American Pie would have almost $30 million.
While this wasn't the slowest weekend in box office history, it was certainly a quiet one for all but the highest earners. It's rare to have two or even one top ten movie bank less than a million dollars. This weekend there were three, the lowest being Safe House which, in its ninth week, cleared the number ten spot with little better than $500,000.
"Weekend Box Office: Hunger Games Trifecta Crashes American Reunion And Re-Sinks Titanic"
8 Comments -
It's extremely interesting to me that 3D The Phantom Menace trounced 3D Titanic.
Interesting because, come on; we're talking about the most reviled movie ever made vs. the Best-Picture-winning Oscar™ "King of the World" movie, right? Everyone hates Jar Jar and loves young Leo, right? So what happened?
Very interesting.
April 09, 2012 7:18 AM
I think it was the Easter holiday and warm weather combined with ongoing Hunger Games fever. I have only seen Titanic once and I remember enjoying it but I have never had the desire to watch it again.
April 09, 2012 8:02 AM
Right, but, respectfully, let's lot downplay the point here, concerning exactly the kind of revisionism you're alluding to:
10-15 years ago, the absolute consensus worldwide was that 1) Titanic was the greatest thing ever; both the beloved highest-grossing movie of all time and the winner of a dozen Oscars™ including Best Picture; and 2) The Phantom Menace was a hated abomination and a symbol of everything that had gone and could go wrong in movies.
And yet here we are a decade later and it turns out that nobody likes Titanic any more (while Phantom Menace is reeling them in). I'm surprised. It's surprising. Come on...how can you argue?
April 09, 2012 8:31 AM
That came off a little too shrill and combative; sorry. But I'm on to something here! Times have changed, a lot.
April 09, 2012 8:35 AM
It didn't sound shrill or combative. The thing is, Star Wars, even bad Star Wars, is timeless and bulletproof against the fickle tastes of human beings. I don't like Phantom Menace very much but I checked it out in 3D the weekend it opened. There's just something about hearing the Williams score and watching the scroll that gets me every time. I have goose bumps just thinking about it.
It's weird, I did like Titanic but something about sitting through its 3:15 minute run-time is a deterrent for me now (also the awful theme song). I would prefer to watch only the last hour in 3D. You are right, though, people were crazy for this film (mostly teenage girls who watched it multiple times). Perhaps teenage girl taste is more Twilight/Hunger Games now?
April 09, 2012 9:33 AM
I don't know what happened, but I know something happened.
April 09, 2012 9:37 AM
Also, Star wars has been part of my life for the past 35 years. I don't think a day has gone by in the past 4 decades where I didn't think of Star Wars in some capacity (just go to any toy store and you'll still see tons of Star Wars product). It's like Disney's Mickey Mouse, it has never gone away since its inception. Titanic was briefly popular for a year and then people moved on and never really thought about it again (there are no Leo action figures). Until it's re-release last weekend I hadn't thought of Titanic in at least a decade.
I'm probably rambling here - this is what happens when a patient no-shows on me.
April 09, 2012 9:38 AM
I don't know, Jordan, I think you may be overthinking this. (I'm guessing that's not a new accusation!).
The target audiences alone would explain for the imbalance: 13-35 year old boys/men vs. middle aged women. Middle aged women don't host marathon viewing parties to watch movies they've already seen and own on dvd. Boys do.
Then add in the whole toy/game/cartoon franchise of which Ep.I is a part, and it's not a contest.
April 10, 2012 6:03 AM