Some Reasons Scott Pilgrim is a Box Office Failure

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mayney93

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AugustFall said:
I thought Michael Cera did a really good job in the movie, I thought it was funny and enjoyed the characters.

The main problem I would say is that the target audience doesn't go to theatres.
kickass had a similar audience and isn't it raking money in on the DVD sales
 

ShadowDude112

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I thought it was because of this.

Guess I was wrong. I hope it's still in theaters tomorrow cause that's when I'm going to see it with my friends.
 
Mar 9, 2010
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Kefkacultist said:
Reason 5: It opened the same time expendables did so every one went to go see that craptastic movie instead of a good movie which I hope to buy as soon as its on dvd
I would expect this was the main reason. A big budget action film with lots of explosions to watch being released at the same time was a much bigger reason than a supposed 'universal' hate for Michael Cera.

Question to all the Michael Cera haters; why do you hate him for playing the same role over and over again when there are the lunkheads in The Expendables that play the same hard ass tough guy over and over again that receive no hate for doing the same thing?
 

Chunko

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I think the problem was that it was targeting an audience which would just pirate it.
 

Virgilthepagan

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Girl With One Eye said:
I agree with your point on the advertising, to be honest I had no desire to see this film until I saw all the fuss about it on the escapist (however I'm still unsure if I'll watch it or not). Not really sure if Michael Cera has much to do with it though, is he really that hated already?
Well...honestly he was the biggest reason I didn't want to see it. I really detest that actor...
 

Clarkarius

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rollerfox88 said:
Can't be bothered to check where you're all from, but this isn't a USA/England thing is it? (I'm England...)
I'm never one to make sweeping generalisations but I do think you might be on to somthing there, from what I've seen aswell as heard Scott Pilgrim has done pretty well in the UK possibly even better then the Expendables but I have no statistics or evidence to reflect this.
This said though I was uninterested by the trailer when I first saw it and it was the reviews that finally pushed me to look into it. However this aside a large number of my friends liked the movie and it has attracted a large student audience in the UK, so maybe it could be down to differing audeince tastes, with the UK having a more suited audience base (Same director as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz etc).

Still it appears to be a way too broad of generalisation to make but I do wonder if it may hold some truth...

Oh and for the record I am from the UK aswell
 

Jaranja

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Adamc-mh said:
I really enjoyed it saw it twice and with cera if some things not broken don't fix it.
If the actor's bearable, don't try and get a good one?

Sound reasoning.
 

HigherTomorrow

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Personally, I thought it was a well put together and faithful adaptation of my favorite graphic novel series. The visuals were great, the music fun, and the acting all felt like I could know these people in real life, which was the entire point of Scott Pilgrim: Real life with video game eccentrics. I went with only a few friends as the movie was only being shown in the far-away theater and no one could go, and 3 (me included) of our 4 absolutely loved it. We all thought it was great and my friend who was apathetic about it at first was hooked by the end. However, one among us didn't like it. He thought it was stupid and cheesy.

It's obviously a film made for a certain audience, the plugged in audience of the 90's. I personally like Michael Cera because I am similar to him and girls think he's cute, therefore meaning that girls think I'm cute. To all the people who say, "OMG MIKEL SARAH ONLY PLAY ONE TIPE OF ROLL!!!!," I'd like to point out that his partner, Jonah Hill, has never been funny in the "nervous fat friend" role he plays in every movie. I'm sick of him popping up in every movie playing his exact same role. At least Cera's awkward actions are funny to watch.

Also, the plot itself sounds silly, even when it's very interesting. I tried explaining the plot of the graphic novels to friends before it was released and I was almost embarrassed by the silly plot details coming from my mouth. It's a fun film that I'm sure to buy as soon as it hits blu-ray.
 

Legion IV

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GameGoddess101 said:
NOTE: I haven't seen Scott Pilgrim yet (I'm probably going to on Tuesday) but you don't need to be a genius to see why it failed. These are just a couple of theories of mine. If you have any, feel free to pipe in an say so!!

Reason 1: It was advertised wrong. Seriously, the guy who put these trailers together needs to be fired, from what I can understand, because it gave no incentive for anyone to see the movie. The trailers made it look like a dull, stupid cash-grab at the gamer market when, if you look at the graphic novels, it's SOO much more. But no, all we saw was stupid, arbitrary gamer references and pee-bars.

Reason 2: Michael Cera was in it. After this, expect to never see Cera in a lead role ever again. The world has spoken and we are tired of Michael Cera. He had some limited success because of Juno, but when he was cast in the same damn role playing the same damn range over and over again, we got tired of him. He can no longer draw audiences, if he isn't just driving them away/

Reason 3: It's about 20 years too late. Seriously, I have a feeling it would have been successful in the 90s. It has a lot of anachronistic references, like the Zelda music and all that fun stuff. It feels more like a movie that really should have been made in the 90s, but people just didn't want to put up with it.

Reason 4: It's target audience. First off, the target audience of Scott Pilgrim was never really found through the advertisements and trailers. But even if it had, I still have a feeling it wouldn't have done well in first-run theaters. First off, it's target audience is the "geek" market from 18-24...ish. People going to movies in first run theaters aren't this audience. They're either parents taking their squealing children to Toy Story and Despicable Me, or they're late 20-30 somethings going to see The Expendables.

So what's the future look like for Scott Pilgrim? Well, it's in second-run theaters where I am, so it might have some mild success there. I have a feeling it will find its audience and do well on DVD, like many have predicted.

What's your take? What do you believe will happen to Scott Pilgrim? Why do you think it failed in the box offices??
Nice reasons but i cant help but think your reveiw is heavily inspired by the Distressed Watcher
 

bicepfetishist1

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JourneyThroughHell said:
There weren't really that many people this movie appealed to. This is the main reason while it failed.

Yes, it's great that projects even with such limited capabilities can even be released these days, but with it's budget and the amount of work clearly put into it, it was a horrendous bomb waiting to happen. And it did.
This whole Scott Pilgrim vs Expendables thing is utter nonsense. Only a really bad wildly inconsitent so called 'movie reviewer' with nerdrage and a hard-on for 3D boobs would make that arguement...;)

Let's break it down...(using reductive labels and stereotypes in order to make a wider point).

Scott Pilgrim - Appeals to Nerds, gamers, some fans of the Comic, some indie movie fans, Cera fans.

Mostly male 16-25 (with maybe a small female gamer sub dimension).

Expendables -Appeals to Nerds, gamers, 'dads' and 'uncles', 'jocks'(that Bob likes to do gay impressions of) girls that fancy Jason Statham (check the audience figures on this one).

Mostly male 16-55 (with a significat and suprising female sub group)

There is 'some' overlap sure. But that's not the be all and end all. Half the people that put Expendables top weren't in audiences that Scott Pilgrim was even TRYING to win (dad's and uncles? UFC fans? Jocks? Hell no.)

Add to this the problem that a LOAD of people in Scott Pilgrim's audience can see Cera being cynically forced on them and resent him for it. Then you got some hipster indie movie fans that might like Cera's other movies but some of them might resent videogames/references So you lose them too... Also lots of nerds and gamers DOWNLOAD their movies. Scott Pilgrim's hardcore audience is already divided on Cera and on the movie itself in relation to the source material! It's got sooo many strikes against it.

On top of all that... it cost a fortune and was targeted at an audience that clearly isn't there in great enough numbers to justify it's $80mil production budget.

MovieBob's with 'us or against us' Pilgrim vs Expendables arguement suggests that you can't like both movies. And that if you didn't like/see Scott Pilgrim it's because you must be knuckle head that prefers the Expendables...? What about people who appreciate both movies for what they are? What about dad's and uncles that understands guns and explosions but not Zelda refrences? What about Pilgrim comic fans that hate Cera? What about gamers that perfer playing games to watching movies filled with references about them?

If you like Scott Pilgrim the movie good for you. Buy it on Dvd/blu ray at full price to demonstrate you are part of an audience that wants to see more movies like that! Tell all your friends that loved it too to do the same and by THEIR OWN copy. If the numbers add up studios will respond with the content they produce. And shoot you guys a shiney special edition of it. Simple.

Don't begrudge people that didn't see a movie you loved (for any of many reasons/Cera) as somehow to blame for the failure of said movie commerically...Makes no sense. :)
 

the trooper

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freakin loved this movie but yeah i dont think it would appeal to a mainstream audience thats probably why it failed, a great shame
 

JourneyThroughHell

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bicepfetishist1 said:
JourneyThroughHell said:
Gigantic SNIP
Just clarifying since your comment was a reply to mine - I didn't see Scott Pilgrim and I don't know many people who did, even less - who liked it, hence - limited audience.

I did see The Expendables, I found it to be more entertaining than Inception, which is a good movie in its own right.
 

Sylocat

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GameGoddess101 said:
NOTE: I haven't seen Scott Pilgrim yet (I'm probably going to on Tuesday) but you don't need to be a genius to see why it failed. These are just a couple of theories of mine. If you have any, feel free to pipe in an say so!!
All right, let me answer your criticisms as someone who has seen it (and if you have a problem with spoilers, hit the "back" button on your browser:

Reason 1: It was advertised wrong. Seriously, the guy who put these trailers together needs to be fired, from what I can understand, because it gave no incentive for anyone to see the movie. The trailers made it look like a dull, stupid cash-grab at the gamer market when, if you look at the graphic novels, it's SOO much more. But no, all we saw was stupid, arbitrary gamer references and pee-bars.
Agreed.

Reason 2: Michael Cera was in it. After this, expect to never see Cera in a lead role ever again. The world has spoken and we are tired of Michael Cera. He had some limited success because of Juno, but when he was cast in the same damn role playing the same damn range over and over again, we got tired of him. He can no longer draw audiences, if he isn't just driving them away/
He wasn't playing the same role here as he played in Juno, or as Arrested Development, where he actually made his mark. I think what most audiences don't understand is that he's not playing likable characters badly, he's playing unlikable characters well. He's not supposed to be this woobie-ish Marty Stu who only needs women to see how sensitive he is, he's playing someone who needs to grow up, badly. And in this movie, he does.

Reason 3: It's about 20 years too late. Seriously, I have a feeling it would have been successful in the 90s. It has a lot of anachronistic references, like the Zelda music and all that fun stuff. It feels more like a movie that really should have been made in the 90s, but people just didn't want to put up with it.
It's not just a movie about video games. Like just about everything Edgar Wright has ever done (Shaun of the Dead), it's a look at relationships in the 21st century, set against the backdrop of a zany action comedy. The way people interact with each other has changed since the 1990s, and the audience who grew up knowing the references are about the age now for the real plot elements to matter.

Reason 4: It's target audience. First off, the target audience of Scott Pilgrim was never really found through the advertisements and trailers. But even if it had, I still have a feeling it wouldn't have done well in first-run theaters. First off, it's target audience is the "geek" market from 18-24...ish. People going to movies in first run theaters aren't this audience. They're either parents taking their squealing children to Toy Story and Despicable Me, or they're late 20-30 somethings going to see The Expendables.
Well, a lot of movies do better on DVD than in first-run theaters.

So what's the future look like for Scott Pilgrim? Well, it's in second-run theaters where I am, so it might have some mild success there. I have a feeling it will find its audience and do well on DVD, like many have predicted.
Yep.

What's your take? What do you believe will happen to Scott Pilgrim? Why do you think it failed in the box offices??
It failed for reason 1 that you mentioned: Because its marketing sucked. It also failed because it couldn't be pigeonholed into one genre, and so the brainless sheep of the moviegoing public didn't know how to process it.
 

natster43

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I saw it 3 times, payed for it each time. It is probably my favorite movie that I have seen. And while Micheal Cera did a great job as Scott, I still feel he was the only person that I had a problem with in the movie.
FightThePower said:
Reason 1: Expendables out the same week.

Reason 2: Geeky is not mainstream.

Those feel like more important reasons to me.
Also this.
 

JSkunk22

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I thought Michael Cera did great in that role, and he wasn't playing the same "Oh I'm so shy and I can't get this girl to like me, but by the end of the film my charm and boyish behavior will net me her heart."

Seriously, Scott likes a girl yes, but he is a well needed 'twist' to show that Cera can play a jerk character.

This movie is failing because most people just TALK about how they're going to go see it, or how they want to see it, but don't follow through.
 

StriderShinryu

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I would say it was 4 things:

1.) Michael Cera hate - I really don't understand this myself as I don't mind the guy and don't see him as being any more pigeonholed than 95% of actors out there (even some of the supposed bests), but there is no question he inspires a lot of hate.

2.) Advertising - The ads they had were good, but were far too focused on one aspect of the movie (the geeky gamer side). I still look at The Matrix as the best advertising campaign ever in this regard. Based on what trailer you saw The Matrix was a horror movie, a thriller, a sci fi movie, an action movie and probably more (and the movie was not misrepresented by any of them). Pilgrim didn't have quite as many facets, but it could have (and should have) at least been sold as not only a geeky gamer movie but also as a romantic comedy and a comedy.

3.) Terrible choice of opening weekend - Pilgrim debuted against 2 movies (Expendables and Eat Pray Love) that had huge built in fan bases. The best Pilgrim was ever going to do on that weekend was 3rd place with the lion's share of tickets sold going to the big 2. Had it launched in September against a weaker line-up it would not only have done much better but would have been able to benefit from the built in word of mouth advertising system that comes from school being in session.

4.) Small target market - Pilgrim is for the game geeks and the fans of the manga, which already overlap quite a bit. That's pretty much it. Even in the best case scenario of pulling what appeal it could from other sources, I don't think it was ever going to find a large audience as it's just too niche of a film. I do think it will be a cult classic and I do think it will do well on DVD, but I just don't think even a perfect storm of promotion and interest would have made it a big box office movie.

All that said, I love the movie and hope to see it again (if I can still find a theater it's playing in hehe).
 

SirDerick

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I didn't see it cause I just simply don't go to cinemas anymore.
The last movie I saw at the big screen was Avatar.

Although I forgive myself for not seeing Scott Pilgrim, I bought all the books on amazon.
 

GideonB

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Uhm, A lot of people my age (14 - 15) in the UK have been to see it. And that is probably the only people that will. Besides uhm... i dunno xD