Blade Runner 2049

[Charles Xavier]

'Blade Runner 2049' Is A Box Office Disaster With Poor $13M Friday

The film still opened at #1, and made a good bit so far (~$81million overall), but given that the film is almost 3 hours long – which limits the number of showtimes and availability compared to other films, and that the original film didn't make money either, it's not TOO surprising. Unfortunate that it's not a massive box office success right out of the door, but I don't know if I really expected it to be.

This is one where I'd expect to see the positive reviews and word of mouth do much more for it than an opening Friday – especially with the original being very similar in its performance.





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Okay, something I REALLY don't get here is why the movie's (apparently) doing poorly in the box office despite the huge fan base and the acclaim it's received from critics and fans?

A movie like this is supposed to make millions, think 'Star Wars', but no, it hasn't (again, apparently). I know it's only been nearly a week since its release, and I'm willing to give the movie more time and see how it'll continue to perform box-office-wise, but where's the reason behind its supposed failure so far?

Again, putting into account the massive following of the first film and the critics' widespread appraisal, logically (or as far as I'm aware), this makes absolutely zero sense.

 

[Ghost X]

I caved .

- Nice intense soundtrack, quite ear-piercing in places, and suitably so.
- Nice twisty-twists in the story. More than I was anticipating, which is good. Hate predictable stories.
- Lots of tense scenes, which I also like.
- Good pacing for a looong film. Without looking at my clock, I was thinking to myself "...and this is the final act... and this is the final act... and this is the final act?" It was the energizer bunny of movies . Wasn't ever bored.
- I went to watch this film mainly for the visuals. It had a decent look and feel, but not as good as I was wanting (ie: ground breaking ). However, the digital effects weren't chaotic or too distracting, which is good.
- I see what the critics are saying about the bechdel test .

Spoiler

Objectification everywhere. I think there was only that one scene at the beginning where two women talked about something other than a man. Think some of the violence was quite sexual in nature too. Perhaps too much so, re: the slicing and stabbing of the gut/"womb", etc. Not sure what I think of it. Quite cringe-worthy. Perhaps not needed. Could have been more implied, certainly.

-

Spoiler

Good ending also. Would have been happier if it ended a scene earlier, even.

.

Can't bring myself to give it a 4/5, but I'll give it a 3.9/5 stars.

 

[Lulcielid]

Okay, something I REALLY don't get here is why the movie's (apparently) doing poorly in the box office despite the huge fan base and the acclaim it's received from critics and fans?

A movie like this is supposed to make millions, think 'Star Wars', but no, it hasn't (again, apparently). I know it's only been nearly a week since its release, and I'm willing to give the movie more time and see how it'll continue to perform box-office-wise, but where's the reason behind its supposed failure so far?

Again, putting into account the massive following of the first film and the critics' widespread appraisal, logically (or as far as I'm aware), this makes absolutely zero sense.

Perhaps the cult following and fanbase is not as big you believe it is.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

Okay, something I REALLY don't get here is why the movie's (apparently) doing poorly in the box office despite the huge fan base and the acclaim it's received from critics and fans?

A movie like this is supposed to make millions, think 'Star Wars', but no, it hasn't (again, apparently). I know it's only been nearly a week since its release, and I'm willing to give the movie more time and see how it'll continue to perform box-office-wise, but where's the reason behind its supposed failure so far?

Again, putting into account the massive following of the first film and the critics' widespread appraisal, logically (or as far as I'm aware), this makes absolutely zero sense.

The Star Wars films are some of the highest grossing films of all time. They're DEFINITELY an exception to movies making huge cash. Movies like this are expensive, and one of the biggest reasons that Blade Runner took such a long time to get a sequel is the possibility that it might never be profitable.

Profitability in almost all films is HEAVILY driven by new audience, and the marketing on this isn't necessarily drawing that in. Especially for a nearly 3 hour film, it's VERY tough to get someone interested in that sort of premise to a sequel.

Lastly – Cult films ≠ massive following. It's a very strong and devoted following, but it's not necessarily a LARGE one, which is again, why it's hard to get follow-up films to cult classics, despite them being excellent films.





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[The Twilight Mexican]

So how were the filmmakers able to get this greenlit?

 

[X-SOLDIER]

Lots, and LOTS of work & gathering together the best possible scenario (Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Denis Villeneuve, etc.) for investors to give it a shot. It COULD have done really well. It just isn't. Again – not overly surprising. Just disappointing.

Also, one a different note: If you're interested in seeing Adam Savage's extra role in the Blade Runner 2049 short film, there's a video they just put out on it:

And their full spoiler review about the film:

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[X-SOLDIER]

Also, this article going into the stuff about the lighting and such in the film is really neat: https://io9.gizmodo.com/blade-runner-2049-brilliantly-uses-visibility-and-light-1819313798





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[Cthulhu]

I just watched it,

Spoiler

Well, guess it's similar to the original in that it's long, slow, drawn-out, bleak, depressing, and slow. I can see why it didn't do well in the box office / opening weekend, it takes a lot of patience and whatnot. Have to say though, the whole audience (couple dozen people I guess) was some of the quietest I've seen evar. Mind you it's one of the rare times I went to an afternoon viewing, might do that more often if this is anything to go by.

edit: also them synths are DANK

 

[Interslicery]

Fucking hate 3D. At the very LEAST, make a brightening of the film to be a part of the 3D process? Please? So I can actually SEE the damn movie??

Movie was great though.

 

[Cthulhu]

Yeah I didn't have the option to see it in 2d, alas. I read somewhere that the visuals guy recommended the 2d version.

I did see a youtube clip about the movie, it looked a lot differently, brighter colours and shit. Not sure if I prefer it though

 

[X-SOLDIER]

This is why I'm glad that my theater specifically hits about screen brightness as a factor in 3D films, I never notice that they're too dark. compared to other films, because it seems like something that'd be really easy to mess up. :\





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[X-SOLDIER]

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[Lulcielid]

‘Blade Runner 2049’ Was First Cut Into A Four-Hour, Two-Part Epic (But We’ll Never See This Version)

 

[X-SOLDIER]

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[Interslicery]

This is why I'm glad that my theater specifically hits about screen brightness as a factor in 3D films, I never notice that they're too dark. compared to other films, because it seems like something that'd be really easy to mess up. :\





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Late reply I know, but for example during Bautista's face reveal, if I didnt know that it was him, I wouldn't have known. His face was that dark. During the end, when they're in the car, I had no idea where they were going. All I saw outside the car was pitch black, with a light off in the distance.

Spoiler

"We aren't going to make it!" No clue what they wern't going to make. Only figured out once they crashed and got hammered by the waterfall

 

[X-SOLDIER]

Late reply I know, but for example during Bautista's face reveal, if I didnt know that it was him, I wouldn't have known. His face was that dark. During the end, when they're in the car, I had no idea where they were going. All I saw outside the car was pitch black, with a light off in the distance.

Spoiler

"We aren't going to make it!" No clue what they wern't going to make. Only figured out once they crashed and got hammered by the waterfall

That's nuts. I've never experienced anything REMOTELY like that before. I'm infinitely sorry that's what you deal with on 3D films.





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[looneymoon]

I just watched the original Blade Runner not too long ago. I was surprised to find that there was controversy over whether or not Deckard is a replicant. I thought it was obvious that he was intended to be. In any case, I'm excited to see the new one. It seems as though Ryan Gosling has been typecast as the movie
cool guy over the last few years, and that's A-OK by me