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NEWS: Ghost in the Shell Film Estimated to Earn US$20 Million Over 3-Day Debut Weekend


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CornBreadMan264





PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 6:08 am Reply with quote
Let's hope it breaks even. Very Happy
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Blanchimont



Joined: 25 Feb 2012
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Location: Finland
PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 6:20 am Reply with quote
Usually, movies have to make twice their production costs to 'break even', so about ten times what it made this weekend is needed, globally, for it to be in the clear...
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residentgrigo



Joined: 23 Dec 2007
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 6:25 am Reply with quote
So, China now needs to save it as the US proved a washout. It will break "even" though. 100 mil ain´t that hard to crack, unless you are Ben Hur or something. Any franchise potential is now dead in the water though. That´s what happens if you mess with dead genres and keep a film in development for a decade.
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SaiyamanMS



Joined: 05 Oct 2006
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 6:26 am Reply with quote
Uh, the very definition of the phrase "break even" is to neither gain or lose any money. So making double the production cost is well past "breaking even", which only involves making back the money that was actually spent making the thing.

Hopefully it does well, as it was actually a decent adaptation and I'd be glad to see more competent Hollywood adaptations of anime and/or manga.
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Blanchimont



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PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 6:44 am Reply with quote
SaiyamanMS wrote:
Uh, the very definition of the phrase "break even" is to neither gain or lose any money. So making double the production cost is well past "breaking even", which only involves making back the money that was actually spent making the thing

'Earned' here means likely gross, and remember that except for the opening weekend (in US), studios in general get about half of ticket sales...
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Garforian



Joined: 02 Apr 2017
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 6:48 am Reply with quote
SaiyamanMS:

It doesn't quite work that way with movies, studios aren't transparent about what a movie actually costs. Movie production budgets are often quoted just for the cost of making the movie, not the associated costs involved in promoting and distributing the film

Twice the production budget isn't necessarily accurate but it is a useful estimation
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samuelp
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Joined: 25 Nov 2007
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 7:29 am Reply with quote
I don't see very much marketing here in Japan for the upcoming release either.
There's some, but it's not really very much (I see an occasional add on the train, etc).

That's usually a sign that they don't expect it to do particularly well here in Japan either.

Here's an interesting question though, I wonder if, had this exact same movie been made but had the original Ghost in the Shell works not existed, would it have done better or worse?
Like, if no one had any expectations about it and had never seen the original, would the reviews have not thought it "shallow"? It seems to me like a lot of the problems people have with the movie are all from comparing it to its source material and not really to other contemporary movies of the same genre.

Like, for some reason I feel like the success of "All You Need Is Kill" was almost more because no one knew the source material it was based on, so people were able to enjoy it as its own thing.
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Badcrazy



Joined: 26 Oct 2011
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 7:35 am Reply with quote
samuelp wrote:

Here's an interesting question though, I wonder if, had this exact same movie been made but had the original Ghost in the Shell works not existed, would it have done better or worse?
Like, if no one had any expectations about it and had never seen the original, would the reviews have not thought it "shallow"? It seems to me like a lot of the problems people have with the movie are all from comparing it to its source material and not really to other contemporary movies of the same genre.

Like, for some reason I feel like the success of "All You Need Is Kill" was almost more because no one knew the source material it was based on, so people were able to enjoy it as its own thing.


I found it to be very bland with shallow directing. It's easier to watch if you're not a ghost in the shell fan but the film is quite forgettable on its own.
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diefty



Joined: 14 Jun 2015
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 8:11 am Reply with quote
SaiyamanMS wrote:
Uh, the very definition of the phrase "break even" is to neither gain or lose any money. So making double the production cost is well past "breaking even", which only involves making back the money that was actually spent making the thing.

Hopefully it does well, as it was actually a decent adaptation and I'd be glad to see more competent Hollywood adaptations of anime and/or manga.


In movies it is usually said that break even is double the cost of production (in this case 100 million) because the cost of production does not factor marketing and several other mayor spendings or other issues such as the cut that theaters keep. In my experience following movies for most current Hollywood productions over twice of the production budget is the goal, so Ghost in the Shell should aim for over 200 million dollars to not loose money.
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AiddonValentine



Joined: 07 Aug 2006
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 8:35 am Reply with quote
samuelp wrote:
I don't see very much marketing here in Japan for the upcoming release either.
There's some, but it's not really very much (I see an occasional add on the train, etc).

That's usually a sign that they don't expect it to do particularly well here in Japan either.

Here's an interesting question though, I wonder if, had this exact same movie been made but had the original Ghost in the Shell works not existed, would it have done better or worse?
Like, if no one had any expectations about it and had never seen the original, would the reviews have not thought it "shallow"? It seems to me like a lot of the problems people have with the movie are all from comparing it to its source material and not really to other contemporary movies of the same genre.

Like, for some reason I feel like the success of "All You Need Is Kill" was almost more because no one knew the source material it was based on, so people were able to enjoy it as its own thing.


General consensus is that it's just boring so even taken on its own merits it doesn't stand up. The controversy around it is the only thing of note, otherwise it's just a rote, standard cyberpunk thriller riddled with cliches up to a weak conspiracy plot.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 8:45 am Reply with quote
Saiyan: If it breaks even theatrically, then it has a chance of being profitable on home video, digital, etc. If it don't, then it's this decade's Speed Racer.

samuel: Well, the original anime film wasn't even successful in Japan. It made its money here.

Quote:
Here's an interesting question though, I wonder if, had this exact same movie been made but had the original Ghost in the Shell works not existed, would it have done better or worse?


Judging by how Johnny Mnemonic did, worse? [Though Wikipedia claims it made its budget back, so maybe the Keanu factor did come in handy.] As for the reviews, at one point, the RT score for the film was actually higher than that of Beauty and the Beast '017. But I'm going to bet the reviews which came afterwards were from people who didn't want to be on the wrong side of history over casting. As for All You Need is Kill, it did make money, but it still was a disappointment, relative to movie. OTOH, 'Kill was based on a more derivative sci-fi story which didn't really need to depend on people being familiar with the book to explain itself.
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Fhoo



Joined: 24 Oct 2016
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 8:55 am Reply with quote
SaiyamanMS wrote:
Uh, the very definition of the phrase "break even" is to neither gain or lose any money. So making double the production cost is well past "breaking even", which only involves making back the money that was actually spent making the thing.

Hopefully it does well, as it was actually a decent adaptation and I'd be glad to see more competent Hollywood adaptations of anime and/or manga.


I don't see how it was a decent adaptation. It just took the general look of GitS, a few specific moments from the first movie, a few characters from the franchise who have no point being in this movie, and basically killed the themes of the original without adding anything interesting to replace it. I see it as a bad adaptation and a below-average action movie.
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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5525
PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 9:24 am Reply with quote
Brent Newhall said we should support it despite its flaws.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-OSoTpPbXc&t=0s
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Mr. Oshawott



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 9:34 am Reply with quote
$20M seems like a bad start for a movie with a $110M+ budget...
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Utsuro no Hako



Joined: 18 May 2012
Posts: 1052
PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 9:55 am Reply with quote
samuelp wrote:
Here's an interesting question though, I wonder if, had this exact same movie been made but had the original Ghost in the Shell works not existed, would it have done better or worse?
Like, if no one had any expectations about it and had never seen the original, would the reviews have not thought it "shallow"? It seems to me like a lot of the problems people have with the movie are all from comparing it to its source material and not really to other contemporary movies of the same genre.


That may be true in anime fandom, but mainstream critics in the US are focusing on how much of the original anime has been appropriated by Hollywood for movies like The Matrix and Minority Report, which makes the live action version feel derivative of the imitations.
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