Mummy to lose $95 million

[Kyrian007]

I don't think it's impossible to make a shared universe out of the universal monsters... but I think such a project is so much more likely to fail that the attempt shouldn't have been worth the risk. And Universal has tentpole franchises, specifically the Fast and the Furious and Jurassic Park, so they aren't as desperate as WB which is still scrambling to find a tentpole franchise.

Then again Disney is pulling in so much between Star Wars and Marvel, maybe everyone is willing to throw away tens of millions in an attempt to score that next big franchise. They probably should have downplayed the whole "hoping to turn it into a franchise" angle and just tried to make a "The Mummy" movie and then if it is successful THEN attach a franchise to it. If it was good people will WANT more. I'm positive Lionsgate did that with Power Rangers. If it went crazy at the box office we'd all be hearing about sequels and a "Power Ranger cinematic universe." Instead it bombed and they just dropped it without much fanfare and are looking elsewhere. That just seems to be the better way to handle it.

 

[Hawki]

So, is it fair to say that The Mummy and Dark Universe are...ahem, buried?

I don't think it's impossible to make a shared universe out of the universal monsters... but I think such a project is so much more likely to fail that the attempt shouldn't have been worth the risk. And Universal has tentpole franchises, specifically the Fast and the Furious and Jurassic Park, so they aren't as desperate as WB which is still scrambling to find a tentpole franchise.

WB has Harry Potter, the DCEU, and the Lego movies. They're not exactly hurting in terms of gross, and barring the DCEU, not really hurting critically either.

Also, I'm not sure if Jurassic Park can really be called a tentpole franchise. I mean, it is a "franchise" in of itself, no doubt, but it only came back recently with Jurassic World. That's one movie. A movie that did well critically and financially, but one movie all the same.

 

[Quellist]

Hopefully he'll go back to doing what right now he does best. MI movies with Simon Pegg!

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

Fast and the Furious and Jurassic Park

I'm now imagining Raptors driving tuned cars to outrun a T-Rex voiced by Vin Diesel.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

Fast and the Furious and Jurassic Park

I'm now imagining Raptors driving tuned cars to outrun a T-Rex voiced by Vin Diesel.

I'd watch that you know.

As for this being a disaster, fucking good. It looked like garbage: lacking either the terror and tension of its old Hammer-style entries OR the pulpy, two-fisted whoosh crickey adventuring spirit of the Brendan Fraser outings.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Well, what did they expect? They had Tom Cruise call Russel Crowe "old man" in the movie, even though Cruise is older.

There's this thing with movies that actors sometimes do called "acting". I don't really understand the specifics, but it seems to involve pretending to be a different character than the actor actually is.

 

[Wintermute_v1legacy]

Well, what did they expect? They had Tom Cruise call Russel Crowe "old man" in the movie, even though Cruise is older.

There's this thing with movies that actors sometimes do called "acting". I don't really understand the specifics, but it seems to involve pretending to be a different character than the actor actually is.

What? God dammit. Thanks for ruining movies for me, genius.

 

[ckriley]

Good. The trailer looked grey (desaturated), overly serious and depressing. I don't know what they were expecting after the pulpy, humorous 1999 Brendan Frasier movie got such a favorable reaction from the public.

Grey and dark is fine. Look at Game of Thrones or The Dark Knight. Those were dark AF. The problem is you have to have a good story first. If the story isn't good then it won't matter if it's light, dark, serious or funny.

You have to tell a good story first. And then have good characters to tell that story.

 

[KaraFang]

Wait! The Tom Cruise movie with The Enchantress from Suicide Squad bombed. I am heartbroken.

Enh? Cara Delvine isn't in this movie.

I think you might mean Sofia Boutella - the female assassin with blade legs in Kingsman, and the white skinned alien girl from ST: Beyond.

She's actually pretty good at acting and is very athletic.

 

[Marik2]

Good, maybe this will teach studios that not everyone should be like Marvel.

 

[Erttheking]

IE, that movie that I keep forgetting is out. I guess a lot of other people did the same.

 

[Zontar]

IE, that movie that I keep forgetting is out. I guess a lot of other people did the same.

I don't think so, I know I was very aware it was coming out and I had no interest in seeing it despite loving Crow's work and often watching movies I otherwise wouldn't just because he's in them.

 

[mariosonicfan5]

http://deadline.com/2017/06/the-mummy-tom-cruise-box-office-bomb-loss-1202114482/

Well that's the end of the DUCU, losing that chunk of change probably kills the whole thing dead. Maybe Tom Cruise should give Mr Feige a call if he wants to be a domestic draw again.

Eh I wouldn't be so sure, yes it underperformed but Universal has made so much bank off the fast and furious movies and jurassic world that they can afford a misstep such as this.

 

[Ender910_v1legacy]

Huh. Any reviews up yet? This was one of the films i was in danger of being taken to see this summer.

Here you go.

I don't think it's impossible to make a shared universe out of the universal monsters... but I think such a project is so much more likely to fail that the attempt shouldn't have been worth the risk. And Universal has tentpole franchises, specifically the Fast and the Furious and Jurassic Park, so they aren't as desperate as WB which is still scrambling to find a tentpole franchise.

I think maybe they could've pulled it off if they'd gone for something a little more like Van Helsing or the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I also just realized that they went with a modern timeframe instead of the classic turn-of-the-century timeframe (like in the first Mummy blockbuster). I'm not certain that approach did them any favors, given the Mummy's background/setting.

 

[Zontar]

http://deadline.com/2017/06/the-mummy-tom-cruise-box-office-bomb-loss-1202114482/

Well that's the end of the DUCU, losing that chunk of change probably kills the whole thing dead. Maybe Tom Cruise should give Mr Feige a call if he wants to be a domestic draw again.

Eh I wouldn't be so sure, yes it underperformed but Universal has made so much bank off the fast and furious movies and jurassic world that they can afford a misstep such as this.

They can afford it, yes, but that doesn't mean it won't kill the franchise. The reason they make movies instead of investing it into the market is because they expect a greater return on investment. Even brake even is considered a loss because not spending the money on the movie in the first place they'd have more money now.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

It's intended/aiming for the foreign market, so box office results ain't no biggy to them. Somebody already posted a video explaining it here though so I don't need to.

 

[Kyrian007]

So, is it fair to say that The Mummy and Dark Universe are...ahem, buried?

I don't think it's impossible to make a shared universe out of the universal monsters... but I think such a project is so much more likely to fail that the attempt shouldn't have been worth the risk. And Universal has tentpole franchises, specifically the Fast and the Furious and Jurassic Park, so they aren't as desperate as WB which is still scrambling to find a tentpole franchise.

WB has Harry Potter, the DCEU, and the Lego movies. They're not exactly hurting in terms of gross, and barring the DCEU, not really hurting critically either.

Also, I'm not sure if Jurassic Park can really be called a tentpole franchise. I mean, it is a "franchise" in of itself, no doubt, but it only came back recently with Jurassic World. That's one movie. A movie that did well critically and financially, but one movie all the same.

The WB has the LEGO movies, sure for as many movies as they can wrangle out of that. But Harry Potter is over, the fantastic beasts stuff is just jumping on the corpse. WW gave the DCEU a little more life, but 1 out of three isn't good odds in terms of quality. WB HAD LotR and Harry Potter, at once. And Disney has Marvel and Star Wars. That's what they are scrambling to get back to, that seems to be what the big studios all want.

 

[Hawki]

The WB has the LEGO movies, sure for as many movies as they can wrangle out of that. But Harry Potter is over, the fantastic beasts stuff is just jumping on the corpse.

Fantastic Beasts was one of the highest grossing films of 2016 and did well critically. It's not Harry Potter levels, but it can't be called a flop.

WW gave the DCEU a little more life, but 1 out of three isn't good odds in terms of quality.

Wouldn't it be 1 out of 4? Or, at least, as far as critical consensus goes (though by RT, it's more two bad films, one average film, one good film), and if franchises like Transformers have shown us anything, a series can keep chugging on if the box office returns are good enough.

 

[Kyrian007]

The WB has the LEGO movies, sure for as many movies as they can wrangle out of that. But Harry Potter is over, the fantastic beasts stuff is just jumping on the corpse.

Fantastic Beasts was one of the highest grossing films of 2016 and did well critically. It's not Harry Potter levels, but it can't be called a flop.

WW gave the DCEU a little more life, but 1 out of three isn't good odds in terms of quality.

Wouldn't it be 1 out of 4? Or, at least, as far as critical consensus goes (though by RT, it's more two bad films, one average film, one good film), and if franchises like Transformers have shown us anything, a series can keep chugging on if the box office returns are good enough.

Right, I even forgot Suicide Squad 1 out of 4. And Fantastic Beasts is the first out of what is supposed to be five? Judging from the response I saw to it (the critics I pay attention to all hated it and people I know who were big Harry Potter fans all said it was really on the bad side of "meh",) I'd guess there will be quickly diminishing returns there. And no one should count on terrible movies making money. Yeah Transformers proves it can happen, but for every flop that still makes some money, there's at least 2 that wind up as huge money losers.

 

[KissingSunlight]

Wait! The Tom Cruise movie with The Enchantress from Suicide Squad bombed. I am heartbroken.

Enh? Cara Delvine isn't in this movie.

I think you might mean Sofia Boutella - the female assassin with blade legs in Kingsman, and the white skinned alien girl from ST: Beyond.

She's actually pretty good at acting and is very athletic.

It's a joke. The mummy in the Tom Cruise movie looks like The Enchantress from Suicide Squad. I know they are different actresses and different characters.

I like Sofia Boutella. I can't wait to see her in Atomic Blonde.