Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

[Geoff D]

Same here. I've been dreaming about a Fifth Elephant sequel for years, this is gonna be the nearest thing we're gonna get.

[poke smot]

Hopefully Chris Tucker doesn't show up and ruin the movie.

[stvn1974]

Originally Posted by poke smot

Hopefully Chris Tucker doesn't show up and ruin the movie.

I thought his character was funny and as obnoxious as he was supposed to be. Never drifted into the below territory for me.

[Rodney-2187]

So everyone wants to see it but everyone thinks it will bomb?

[Chaotic]

Even Stevie Wonder would see this bombing a mile away.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by rodneyfaile

So everyone wants to see it but everyone thinks it will bomb?

Everyone in here ain't everyone out there. And everyone out there - at least in English-speaking territories - won't give a crap about this film. I can see it making a few bob in foreign markets though.

[Rodney-2187]

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[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by stvn1974

I thought his character was funny and as obnoxious as he was supposed to be. Never drifted into the below territory for me.

[Show spoiler]

Personally I loved Tucker as Ruby Rhod, even his name is a dick joke. What separates him from the likes of Mr Binks is not so much his antics (though Jar Jar certainly didn't try to **** everyone, not that we know of anyway) but by having a foil, a straight man to his goofball, to cut through his comedy madness and Bruce Willis' poker-faced performance is the perfect antidote. They're a fantastic double act.

[jacobsever]

Originally Posted by rodneyfaile

[Show spoiler]Attachment 174250

[Bolo Seagull]

I guess like most of you, I want to see this and hope it will be a good movie but also don't expect it to sell many tickets in the western world.

And as for Chris Tucker in 'The 5th Element', I actually find his character really funny but feel he overstays his welcome. They should've left him behind for the final portion. I think he undercuts the gravity a little too much when the film needs to be getting a little more serious towards the end. But it's just a minor quibble.

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

What a surprise. People thinking something will "bomb"

I guess if you're film isn't Marvel or Star Wars it's a automatic bomb.

[Omegaice]

Originally Posted by Bolo Seagull

I guess like most of you, I want to see this and hope it will be a good movie but also don't expect it to sell many tickets in the western world.

[Show spoiler]And as for Chris Tucker in 'The 5th Element', I actually find his character really funny but feel he overstays his welcome. They should've left him behind for the final portion. I think he undercuts the gravity a little too much when the film needs to be getting a little more serious towards the end. But it's just a minor quibble.

Well, I already bought tickets to see this opening weekend so I'll support it regardless. I'm expecting to be entertained not an oscar performance.

[Monterey Jack]

Originally Posted by Jennifer Lawrence Fan

What a surprise. People thinking something will "bomb"

I guess if you're film isn't Marvel or Star Wars it's a automatic bomb.

There hasn't exactly been a sterling record for expensive, non-franchise sci-fi movies lately...John Carter, Cloud Atlas and Jupiter Ascending were all huge bombs. And Valerian has ZERO "brand-name" recognition and stars two leading actors who have NEVER sold tickets based on their presence in a movie alone.

This has "Flop" written all over it. It may make a few bucks in France, but if it tops $50 million in the U.S., I will be very surprised.

[Omegaice]

Originally Posted by Monterey Jack

There hasn't exactly been a sterling record for expensive, non-franchise sci-fi movies lately...John Carter, Cloud Atlas and Jupiter Ascending were all huge bombs. And Valerian has ZERO "brand-name" recognition and stars two leading actors who have NEVER sold tickets based on their presence in a movie alone.

This has "Flop" written all over it. It may make a few bucks in France, but if it tops $50 million in the U.S., I will be very surprised.

Valid point Monty but my question would be does it matter to you if this film is a "Flop"?

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

It just seems people call every single movie a flop now a says. A movie could make $100 million opening weekend and still be called one.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Omegaice

Valid point Monty but my question would be does it matter to you if this film is a "Flop"?

It should matter to all of us who care about these types of films. I want this to do well because I love these types of films, but I'd be very surprised if it does well. As others have said, big sci-fi extravaganzas haven't been doing well lately. Life, Jupiter Ascending, Passengers - just a few examples of sci-fi films that have done very poorly recently at the box office. Gravity did well but star power helped immensely. Passengers even had the star power and still didn't manage to do well sadly. Guardians of the Galaxy 1+2 did astonishingly well but that's partly due to the Marvel name and the films hit all the right notes.

The more of these big-budget sci-fi films fail, the less of them we'll see. You never know what's going to be a hit. People are fickle.

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

Passengers made $300 million worldwide. So I don't think it did that poorly. it just underperformed. But yeah. People complain about nothing original and the only thing are franchises, sequels and reboots/remakes/prequels.

Here you go. Which a lot of what you mentioned were and ignore cause people choose to listen to critic more than anything else.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by poke smot

Hopefully Chris Tucker doesn't show up and ruin the movie.

The first time I saw The Fifth Element I hated him. Now I find him hilarious. He's exactly what he's supposed to be - an obnoxious host. He plays it perfectly. I didn't get a lot of the humor the first time I saw the film but I finally got it in later viewings.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Jennifer Lawrence Fan

Passengers made $300 million worldwide. So I don't think it did that poorly. it just underperformed. But yeah. People complain about nothing original and the only thing are franchises, sequels and reboots/remakes/prequels.

Here you go. Which a lot of what you mentioned were and ignore cause people choose to listen to critic more than anything else.

Yup, I firmly believe that many great films do poorly at the theatre due to the critics. People continue to base their decisions on critics and it baffles me. They'll see trailers for months and get worked up about it, only to not see it because they read bad reviews a few days before they go. As if everyone has the same opinion of films.

[tenia]

Originally Posted by mar3o

Yup, I firmly believe that many great films do poorly at the theatre due to the critics. People continue to base their decisions on critics and it baffles me. They'll see trailers for months and get worked up about it, only to not see it because they read bad reviews a few days before they go. As if everyone has the same opinion of films.

Or maybe, you know, they just aren't that great, and just not that interesting to motivate people to try them.
Note however that plenty of quite objectively poor movies succeeds sometimes quite well. Some of them even are franchised because some poor movies sell that much. See the 50 Shades of Grey movies for instance.

Originally Posted by Jennifer Lawrence Fan

people choose to listen to critic more than anything else.

And yet, people keep on saying how critics don't like anything and how they're not following them anymore.
I do follow them, and I'm more often disappointed by a movie with good critics than the opposite. Latest movie in case : Logan.
On the other hand, I'm trying to think when was the last time I went to see a movie against bad critics and was positively surprised. I don't think it happened in years. But I had quite a blast making fun of Suicide Squad, though.

Originally Posted by mar3o

As if everyone has the same opinion of films.

It's always the same stupid argument (this one).

1. Aggregators allow precisely to get a consensus, meaning going past different opinions from different persons. If a movie manages to get 35 (French aggregator Allocine) to 250 (RT or Metacritic) critics to yield a given average, it means the movie is probably around this. Sure, you can be closer to that one guy who massively enjoyed a dud or this one which totally hated a masterpiece but that's statistically unlikely. So when The Mummy has a 15% / 4.2 on RT, you may like it but it's unlikely.

2. "Following the critics" often means "following some critics". In France, I know some critics are close to my tastes, when others are like the total opposite. So when I write "I do follow critics", I actually only monitor the one close to my tastes and to be honest, they only rarely fail me.


But it's only human to find a pattern to explain something like this, and to have a scapegoat to blame.

But for all the bad movies that do succeed, there are also mediocre ones that don't.
Tough.