Forum - View topicNEWS: Speed Racer Ends U.S. Opening Weekend with US$18.6M
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ikillchicken
 Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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But the thing is, it's a bit pointless to just brush it off as "this is what speed racer should be like" in this situation. Reviewers write for the purpose of your average viewer. Not for that small handful of speed racer fans who will enjoy the movie for being this way. For the vast majority of people out there it is of no consequence whether the movie will give them a headache because it sucks or will give them a headache but thats just how speed racer should be and that just isn't for them. Either way they're reaching for the aspirin. If you are one of the relatively few fans then I recommend checking out a review more appropriate to your interests. I think ANN's review falls pretty much into the category you describe. |
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Jozoiscute
 Posts: 252 |
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While I haven't actually SEEN the film yet, I was expecting a turnout like this. NOT because it's a good or bad film, mind you.....but because I actually work at the box office of a movie theatre. The only tickets that were selling were for our IMAX showings (we have the only IMAX theatre in town). The normal viewings of the film were getting totally creamed by Iron Man during the Mother's Day weekend.
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Tenchi
 Posts: 4556 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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I suspect that, in the future, Speed Racer will be one of the all-time legendary fiascoes to which other fiascoes are compared, just like Heaven's Gate, Ishtar, Howard the Duck, and Battlefield Earth.
Not so much for bombing the opening weekend, since other similarly-budgeted films, like Stealth and The Island, actually bombed much harder on their opening weekends. The infamy be because of all of the other companies that had a lot of financial hopes riding on this film, with cross-promotional campaigns from all-sorts of companies from General Mills to eSurance, Happy Meals at McDonald's, and, especially, hundreds of action figures, Hot Wheels vehicles, and other merchandising from Mattel, not to mention all of the excessive amount of Speed Racer-branded inventory that Wal-Mart and Toys R' Us will have a hard time selling. The write-offs related to the box-office failure of this film will be huge. The only recent children's movie bomb I can think of with merchandising that even approached Speed Racer was Flushed Away, but the merchandising related to that film was what? A few stuffed toys, videogames, and colouring books. Speed Racer was on an entirely different level; it's muscled its way big-time into the Hot Wheels aisle, taking over at least a third of the display, all to be headed to the clearance aisle in just a month or two. |
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Tenchi
Posts: 4556 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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Oh, yeah, the "actuals" are out.
According to Box Office Mojo, Speed Racer didn't even make $20 million, and it came in third, opening behind What Happens in Vegas. 1 1 Iron Man Par. $51,190,629 -48.1% 4,111 +6 $12,452 $177,825,024 $140 2 2 N What Happens in Vegas Fox $20,172,474 - 3,215 +2,915 $6,274 $20,172,474 $35 1 3 N Speed Racer WB $18,561,337 - 3,606 - $5,147 $18,561,337 $120 1 |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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Can't agree here. In 2008 dollars, Speed Racer didn't cost nearly as much as those did, relative to their time. Not only that, but the film's negative reception is offset by the endless claims that its visual effects are revolutionary. Plus, the worldwide gross does not yet reflect China, Japan or South Korea - the three biggest territories that will likely give it a big international boost. I'm not arguing that it isn't a flop, but to compare it to legendary mistakes like Battlefield Earth or The Adventures of Pluto Nash is overstating things a bit. Speed Racer is a disappointment, a costly and embarrassing one for Speed Racer but it's nowhere near being an extinction-level event like Battlefield Earth. If you're interested in what really makes something a "fiasco", I highly recommend this book. |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14896 |
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On Yahoo Movies - Speed Racer, the Critics give it a C whereas Users give it a B. Depends on who you trust more....
Here ya go. 
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tygerchickchibi
 Posts: 1488 |
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Well damn. xD It looks good. I dunno. I'm one who is interested in certain hollywood adaptations. o.o wait, but it says "April Fools..." I don't know...I wouldn't say I am Speed Racer fan, but I was one who expressed some interest in the series. and I watched the movie and didn't get headaches. I thought it was pretty cartoony, and it still managed to keep the feel of the movie, IMO. My only question to the movie was... Profanity, really? It just...doesn't fit! xD Especially Speed's line close to the end of the movie. |
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HayateTokidoki
Posts: 37 |
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Speed Racer was amazing. I plan on seeing it again with the free movie ticket I got when I bought the Wii game (which is pretty decent, though not amazing). This is coming from someone who never watched the original Speed Racer series and who hated The Matrix series, so I can't be accused of any bias towards the Wachowskis or the series itself. Also, I'm 27, so I'm not just some 8 year old that likes colorful cartoons or anything like that.
Either way, the attention to detail was amazing, the races were easily the coolest action sequences I've ever seen, and the story wasn't terrible for this kind of movie. The cast put up admirable performances considering the style of the movie, and all in all, I couldn't be happier with it. The only criticism I can fully understand is if you have motion sickness issues or are susceptible to headaches due to the visuals, because that's something that you just can't help. All these reviewers going on about the colorful style as being terrible and inherently bad are ridiculous though. |
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areaseven
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 1486 Location: Makati, Philippines |
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Roger Ebert can sit on his thumb! Though I commend him on his support for many anime titles (especially his view on Grave of the Fireflies), I couldn't forgive him when he gave the "Thumbs Up" on Speed 2 and Anaconda, while giving the original, uncut 1954 Gojira (that's Godzilla to everyone else) a "Thumbs Down." |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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Ugh Guess I get to defend Roger Ebert for the second time in this thread. Ebert hated the now-defunct "thumbs" system and hates the star system he is currently bound to. He writes his reviews and you're supposed to read the text and appreciate the nuance in his opinion rather than just raging about some asinine score. He's written about this a billion times. For the record, the original GOJIRA (that's Godzilla to everyone else!!) movie kinda blows if you see it now. It's slow, plodding, ham-fisted B-movie garbage. Pretending it's some kind of classic that has to be worshiped by every critic is post-ironic anger. |
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GATSU
Posts: 15628 |
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I'll admit Gojira can be kind of hokey at times, but its message and atmosphere overrides its campy moments. But I think what made me not take Ebert seriously was his praise for The Spirits Within.
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Veoryn87
 Posts: 808 |
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Ah. Spirits Within. Good movie. 
Kinda sad when people stop taking others seriously or out right loose respect for them simply for having different opinions on one or two different movies. 
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Henry Jones
 Posts: 97 Location: Nebraska |
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Uh, Roger Ebert isn't on Ebert and Roeper right now. He's had cancer surgery that's preventing him from speaking, not to mention hip surgery from falling. Even on his own website, his editor-Jim Emerson-is handling many of the new reviews (He gave a BIG pan to Speed Racer, though curious that a man who can break down David Lynch's Inland Empire has trouble following something as simple as this). And I'd give Ebert a lot more credit than that. The man's gone out of his way to get anime recognized by more mainstream audiences, from Akira to Spirited Away and many places in-between. I wouldn't shame him just for liking a few cheesy movies and dissing on a movie that-while it certainly has historical and cultural significance-has not aged well and its self-seriousness negates its camp factor. To me, anyway. Ebert's liked a lot of movies that have left me clutching my stomach in pain (I still feel the hurt of Excess Baggage sometimes), but I still respect the man. As for Speed Racer, it was fun. I went with my dad who watched it when it first came out and my brother who, while being an anti-dork, picked up a liking of the series from sibling osmoses (Probably helped that when he was in high school, the cheerleading squad did a dance number to the Alpha Team song "Speed." I'm guessing that was a little more influential). They both had the same reaction. It's not one of the "great entertainments" like The Incredibles that ascends on a higher level by being so darn entertaining, but it left us with a extra jump in our step and the immediate need to whistle the Speed Racer theme (Though not with the "Let's make this COOL FOR THE KIDS!!!!" version they put in the credits). The box office was bad, but I really think shifting around the dates wouldn't have mattered too much. It's a title not too many adults were interested in and they couldn't get kids hooked into it either (Maybe if they played into the themes of living out boyish fantasies that were in the movie instead of "WOW! COOL CARS ON NIFTY TRACKS! NEATO!!!"). Honestly, it could've been better. It could've been worse. They could've opened it on a wasteland date where parents are seriously looking for stuff to take their kids to, and they probably would've made about $5 million more at best. On the other side, they could've gone with the plan they had when the first press release came out. They were going to release it on the same weekend as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I took one look at it, laughed, and said, "No you're not." About a week or so later, they switched it, but if they hadn't, well, the opening gross would've about half its current amount and THEN we'd be talking Ishtar levels (Not Pluto Nash, though. $100 million budget and $4.5 mil TOTAL gross is complete rock bottom. Not even Cutthroat Island bottomed out that much). This is simply your garden-variety flop. |
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Shadowrun20XX
 Posts: 1936 Location: Vegas |
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I think Speed Racer will do well in DVD and BD sales.You can bet they will release many special editions.The Bros haven't released their Matrix compilation on BD yet,so I'm sure they will make back the lost revenue.
(Nice Hahn avatar Henry,I want to play PS4 now.) |
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GATSU
Posts: 15628 |
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Veo: I can deal with different opinions. There was another guy who was a fan of the games I knew who liked the movie, too. The difference is that he thought it meshed with the themes of the previous games, while Ebert got suckered in by the eye candy.
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