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Indiana Jones V

The Lost Cowboy

One Too Many
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1,690
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Southeast Asia
I seem to remember reading about that too, in the past. Many movies are profitable down the road, but I suspect the rich people who run Hollywood want the quick return, like investors everywhere really. I also heard that when a movie is done they shut down the production company which was formed for that single film, file it away, and aren't interested in anything long-term with it. I wonder if the "summer blockbuster" isn't a a thing anymore and although people love watching movies they are doing other things in summer now than going to cinemas?
I hope you’re right and people are actually getting out and doing things. I’m personally struggling with a long-term illness so I’m homebound right now, but my teenage family members(nephew and niece) have both been incredibly active all summer.

It would be interesting if DoD becomes known as the end of the summer blockbuster since it was Spielberg’s JAWS that is often credited as the very first of them.
 

MisterCairo

I'll Lock Up
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7,005
Location
Gads Hill, Ontario
Dial of Destiny breaks even at the box office. Neither in terms of quality or profitability is it as bad as some feared/hoped.

https://collider.com/indiana-jones-and-the-dial-of-destiny-global-box-office-302-million/
Break even in this context means massive loss.

The producers get on average 55% of box office gross, the rest going to the cinemas and the distributors. To financially break even then, a film needs to DOUBLE its costs.

And those do not include advertising and other promotions.

This film is a bomb.
 

The Lost Cowboy

One Too Many
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Southeast Asia
A quick and interesting take on the failure of Disney to do anything with Indiana Jones for over a decade, instead expecting that the public would come to see the movie en masse simply because of the name:

https://thedisinsider.com/2023/07/1...of-destiny-isnt-doing-well-at-the-box-office/

An animated Indy series on Disney+ at the very least would have helped make the franchise relevant for some younger viewers.

With a little effort, they could have easily set up a scenario where youthful diversity intersects with aging white masculinity in a film that would provide a subtle, thoughtful critique and/or redeployment of the serial tradition. They could have even come away with a few spin-off TV series and maybe a viable heir to the fedora.

This was obviously what they tried (and failed) to accomplish, but the lesson seems to be that it has failed precisely because they did not even attempt to set it up that way.

This is Disney’s failure in the MCU as well (where they have now passed the torch for almost every legacy hero); but it is even more painful here in IJ precisely because there was almost nothing to help effect such a challenging transition except nostalgia.

Who is Helen and her sidekick and why should we care? We didn’t even care for Mutt, and he was supposed to be Indy’s kid.

Not that DoD is heavy on nostalgia, it is not (unless one thinks of the entire first act as nostalgia); but the fact that they did nothing to make the franchise accessible to new audiences means precisely that they were relying on older audiences to bear the cost of this film - the very audiences that Disney has largely polarized over the last decade.

An animated tv show with Helen and her sidekick roaming the world and stealing treasure only in the end to “do the right thing and turn it over to local authorities” would have been well-placed three years ago.

Instead, they mostly missed the young audiences altogether along with the Asian audiences, and they lost I don’t know maybe a 1/3 to 1/4 of the traditional Indy audience due to identity politics (which would have happened anyway).

I don’t see how Indiana Jones will survive Dial of Destiny in any format - at least not at Disney.
 

Herb Roflcopter

One of the Regulars
Messages
103
I went and bought a Disney Sankara Stone. I had to buy one off Ebay (for a slightly higher price) but I've wanted one for a few decades, so it was time to take the chance.

20230721_182755cropped.jpg


The lighting effect is what sold me on this particular brand.
CKbppf2.gif
 

MisterCairo

I'll Lock Up
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7,005
Location
Gads Hill, Ontario
Soutd
This is certainly topical what with other films explosive box office garner. Mission Impossible raked the table
at outset with a lesser known Sound of Freedom scoring handsomely and stoking the fire by way of exceedingly
favourable press. And fan word of mouth. Theatre to pub, pub to theatre.

Sound of Freedom now has a higher North American gross than MI! And it is catching up to Geriatric Jones domestically, consistently outgrossing it daily.
 
Messages
19,408
Location
Funkytown, USA
Don't know why you want to feign incredulousness , it is not exactly secret. The studio is openly advertising this ticket donation program.

Well, I think astroturfing is a bit harsh given it's crowd funded and using a pay it forward model. Still, in the end, the dollars are in the bucket, so while unconventional, it seems to be working.
 

Doctor Damage

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,318
Location
Ontario
I wouldn't read too much into that. Support for that movie has been significantly astroturfed through donated tickets.

Well, I think astroturfing is a bit harsh given it's crowd funded and using a pay it forward model. Still, in the end, the dollars are in the bucket, so while unconventional, it seems to be working.
This reminds me of how some books become "best sellers" in those newspaper lists. Basically, whoever wants to promote the book (or its contents) buys a bunch in bulk and it's reported as sales technically speaking. But the average person would not consider those to be legitimate sales, and certainly not legitimate enough to be breathlessly reported in the media as if they reflect genuine interest in the book. With regard to movies, bums on seats or stfu.
 

Herb Roflcopter

One of the Regulars
Messages
103
I've noticed that there doesn't seem to be a novelization of the movie. Every Indy film had one (Even Crystal Skull) but I don't see one for Dial available.

Then again, I can't remember the last time I saw a novelization of any film in the last decade or so. Maybe it's no longer a thing.
 

FOXTROT LAMONT

One Too Many
Messages
1,722
Location
St John's Wood, London UK
But the average person would not consider those to be legitimate sales, and certainly not legitimate enough to be breathlessly reported in the media as if they reflect genuine interest in the book. With regard to movies, bums on seats or stfu.
Comp tickets aren't the $$$millions reaped profits garnered. And a $15million production cost is paid pub ale.
The adult film is tragic with a puzzling though perhaps predictable left river bank buzz.
 

Doctor Damage

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,318
Location
Ontario
I've noticed that there doesn't seem to be a novelization of the movie. Every Indy film had one (Even Crystal Skull) but I don't see one for Dial available.

Then again, I can't remember the last time I saw a novelization of any film in the last decade or so. Maybe it's no longer a thing.
That's a really interesting observation. You're probably right that it's no longer "a thing" given how media formats other than books dominate pop culture today. On a side note, and to reverse the direction of travel, I was always annoyed when books that were adapted into movies were re-published with the movie poster on the cover. I'm pleased to report that I own a copy of Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas which does NOT have the movie poster cover, haha
 

Doctor Damage

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,318
Location
Ontario
Regarding whether or not Indy will be a money-maker, I saw this comment today re a different movie. I have no way of confirming its accuracy, maybe someone else can.

39845748.jpg
 

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