Blockbuster Matchups

[Oren1]

113 Finding Nemo -20 million -115
114 2 Fast 2 Furious +20 million -115

115 The Hulk -25 million +105
116 Charlies Angels Full Throttle +25 million -135

I'm currently inclined to take Finding Nemo and Charlie's Angels here, but both of those are potential losers. 2 Fast 2 Furious is a potential stinker, but it's currently at #3 on the Yahoo Buzz movie chart, behind Matrix and Reloaded. X2 used to be #3. It doesn't look too bad in the preview either, lol, and it's recieved at least some crowd reaction, more than even the Hulk. Some of it has been laughter, however. Hmmmmmmm. No Vin Diesel? Charlies Angels has some slick marketing, but I'm not seeing any intriguing action in those previews, it does look like it will be funny though with the addition of Berny Mack. And The Hulk might not do as well as expected, I think it looks a little on the cheesy side. Definitely not another Spiderman here, at the least. Someone also mentioned that it was going to open in 3200 theaters?! Not good. That number could and most probably will rise, is my guess, but still...

 

[Oren1]

from the mojo boards:
Got a friend who works in design @ Universal here in Florida. Word inside of Universal in respect to the Hulk is not great and the Studios aren't going to be putting very much of their limited budget behind advertising for the film. They're confident it will make its money back, but don't feel the money spent on advertising will have too much of an impact on improving the film's take. Problem is the execs feel the film is too cerebral and doesn't have the big names in it. Also, most movie goers have no clue who Ang Lee is - even with the success of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The projections inside of the company are for the film to make 160-200 million domestic with the current support. It's not felt that most moviegoers will love the film. The buzz is it is a good film, just that it is not in the vein of previous superhero successes and is, instead, very much a study of the character of Bruce Banner and the inner workings of the human psyche. An opening weekend of 65million is Uni's projection with the film fading very quickly after T3's opening on July 2.

There are several reasons behind Universal's lack of interest. Firstly, they feel the Marvel name will carry it enough to make a profit when domestic & internation BO is added to DVD and VHS sales and rentals. Second, this film already ate up a large budget and was greenlighted before Vivendi began having financial problems that forced them to put Universal on the market. Universal is having to watch their $$$ because they don't know where they'll end up or if the Theme Parks, Studios, TV, and music will get split up in a sale. They've chosen to promote 2Fast2Furious and Cat in the Hat as their two marqee films for the year, believing that the $$$ they put into marketing for these will have the greatest impact.

This can also been seen in the plans of Universal here in Florida. Big tie-ins are planned for Cat in the Hat (concurrent with Grinchmas) and 2Fast, but nothing is being done for Hulk except for a few banners and maybe some props at Stage 54. The best they're doing is keeping a Hulk banner hanging from the Hulk coaster, but they have no events planned at IoA or USF.

Of course, Universal could be wrong in its estimation, but I thought I'd inform you about the company's attitude. They'd certainly love for it to pull a Spiderman, but they doubt that will happen. They feel it will certainly pull a nice profit, but don't feel they can do much to expand upon it because of the nature of the film. My friend has not seen the film, which is an indicator of Universal's lack of interest. HE would have been forced to see it by now if the Studio decided to create some attractions for tie-in. They always do that to be sure the artists know what they're doing. He saw Grinch a couple of months in advance of its release to prepare designs. He's already seen 2Fast because he's been working on stuff for it and will be seeing Cat in the Hat in early September for prep.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/forums/viewtopic.htm?t=14877

 

[Oren1]

lol, here's a response to this guy's post:
"Funny how I see Hulk stuff everywhere I go here in Ohio. Sorry buddy, and no offense, but I've seen too may bullshit stories on the net that start with "I got a friend who works for so and so". Seriously, no offense."

maybe it's Rod.