Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim

[ukdazs]

Booked my tickets this morning to see it at the VLSC in Birmingham. Massive screen and 3D on a Sunday afternoon watching robots smash the shit out of monsters? I'm getting a semi just thinking about it.

[MrPogo]

I'd assume tracking is based on some sort of survey about whether people are planning to go and see it, but that's just a guess! Personally it doesn't look that amazing from the trailers (something missing from the "big dumb action movie" angle, and with little shown of the "Del Toro is bound to have something special in it" that's tempting me anyway), so I can see why people aren't all that excited.

[Silent Runner]

I'd assume tracking is based on some sort of survey about whether people are planning to go and see it, but that's just a guess! Personally it doesn't look that amazing from the trailers (something missing from the "big dumb action movie" angle, and with little shown of the "Del Toro is bound to have something special in it" that's tempting me anyway), so I can see why people aren't all that excited.

Me too. If Del Toro wasn’t involved I’d be giving this a massive swerve, I’ve no interest in Transformers or Gundam or anything to do with giant robots. I reckon I'll be cheering the monsters in this one.

[Wiper]

I'd assume tracking is based on some sort of survey about whether people are planning to go and see it, but that's just a guess! Personally it doesn't look that amazing from the trailers (something missing from the "big dumb action movie" angle, and with little shown of the "Del Toro is bound to have something special in it" that's tempting me anyway), so I can see why people aren't all that excited.

Yeah, because Del Toro's special sauce (as seen in such films as Pan's Labyrinth) leads to massive blockbuster success, while dumb action movies are relegated to a small niche, like Transformers... I think I can see why they'd go for that angle.

(also, given the previous titles that Del Toro has worked on which could be considered 'dumb action movies' I wouldn't necessarily assume there will be much special in it - I'm just expecting a particularly good dumb action movie)

[Festoon]

My wife has no idea who del Toro is, saw the trailer in the cinema and grumbled "more Transformers-style shite".

This is a serious problem for the film if more think like this - not sure anyone with two XX chromosomes sees much in those trailers to entice.

[Goose]

Yes, Tracking is based on public awareness of the movie, whether they plan on seeing it, when, that kind of thing. they can also factor in what similar films/same genre films have made and played with the public.

I guess it's as reliable or unreliable as the next thing and the story can be twisted however you want to twist it (track poor, did great, tracking great, did poor).

I think WWZ was tracking at around $35-40M and that made $66M. So...

I don't think this'll clear $140M in North America, but I also think those that do see, will really enjoy it.

[Goose]

Something else is consider - it actually makes sense that Grown Ups 2 is tracking higher -

- It's an Adam Sandler movie and love or hate, he has his fans.

- It's a sequel to an established and very successful movie

- It's got an all-star cast along with Sandler

- Pacific Rim is a sci-fi movie

- It only has Idris Elba as a somewhat recognisable face

- No matter how complex and imaginative the finished product is, the general public simply see a robot versus dinosaur movie

- To us, Pacific Rim is an easy sell, to the general public, not so easy.

So really, it is tracking probably only slightly below where it would be anyway.

[Cheeko]

There's just way too much on at the cinema at the moment that I haven't seen though, I think I'd have to go at least 5 times before I'd consider watching this.

[sandman]

Variety: Is ‘Pacific Rim’ Doomed to Be This Year’s ‘Battleship’?

Tracking at mid-$30m in the US, with 70% of the marketing budget spent. Yikes.

Personally, I think it will be this years Battleship. Nobody I know wants to see it. I might have to see it by myself!

[mayor_mike_haggar]

I wouldn't be surprised if it failed at all. It's clearly something which was designed to get people who attend comic-con excited, and not really giving the rest of the populace anything to give a shit about whatsoever. I'm sure they thought it was great when they got loads of great coverage in niche websites or whatever, but it's a bit too beardyman really, isn't it?

[scissorkicks]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2740710/

Haha - starring Treach of Naughty By Nature. Hilarious.

[Goose]

This was an issue with Kick Ass. It blew the doors off Comic-con, and didn't open to much more than $10M. After that, I think studios tended not to hype up movies based on their showing at conventions. From what I have read, Pacific Rim is a total geek movie, described by Knowles, Faraci etc, as one for 'us'. They may be right, but that alsi means the public may give it a wide bearth. You may figure that's fine, 'we' still get a movie for us. But the bigger picture is that if this flops, the studio will be less likely to try again on an original project.

And that may be how we get a Grown Ups 3 and not At The Mountains of Madness.

[Harsin]

I think Scott Pilgrim is the ultimate example of oops perhaps this nerd demographic isn't as influential as we thought.

[Goose]

Yes, that's a better example than Kick Ass.

[sandman]

I think Scott Pilgrim is the ultimate example of oops perhaps this nerd demographic isn't as influential as we thought.

Still one of my fave movies of the last few years. And the last 3rd is better than the comic.

[Pete]

I still can't get over that Scott Pilgrim tanked, and most of friends still haven't seen it.

Such an awesome film.

[sandman]

I still can't get over that Scott Pilgrim tanked, and most of friends still haven't seen it.

Such an awesome film.

I thought it was marketed terribly. I avoided it for some time as a result of a poor trailer and awful posters.

[JohnC]

Content Vault. Pics, videos and stuff. I think it's pretty much all been posted in this thread before, apart form the rotatable models of the Jaegers.

[Mr Cochese]

Has anyone made the "Charlie Hunnam in Pacific Rimjob" joke yet?

[Vemsie]

New vid:

[Captain Novaforce]

Actually the more I think about this movie I'm surprised Hollywood didn't stick any bigger named actors in it. Like if this had will smith or someone it would sail through.

[Padster]

Actually the more I think about this movie I'm surprised Hollywood didn't stick any bigger named actors in it. Like if this had will smith or someone it would sail through.

"Now that's what I call a close encounter big robot"

[Eighthours]

My girlfriend (rightly) thinks that the trailers make this look bobbins. I have reduced to pleading, "But... but... Del Toro!" in an attempt to make her see it. The marketing for this has totally failed, as it's made it look like there's nothing to the film apart from FX porn.

I hope there is something else. The presence of Del Toro would suggest so, but I haven't seen anything that even hints at a passable script! I want this to be brilliant, too. But I'm more relying on blind faith in Del Toro at this point than anything tangible.

[Alex W.]

I suppose the trouble is that it's his first action movie. "From the Director of Pan's Labyrinth" doesn't really work.

The fuck am I talking about, Hellboy and Blade were his. Those are his bonafides, why aren't they in the marketing?

[Goose]

Rocket punch clip

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=105980

[gizmo1990]

I suppose the problem I have with the movie is that I just don't 'buy' its central tennant. That to stave off massive monsters we have to resort to duking it out with them in massive robots?? I mean WTF? I'm pretty sure in 20 years time we're going to have some quite frankly batshit scary weaponary. Which a couple of planes would be able to unleash on anything that 'physical'.

Don't get me wrong I dig big monsters verses robots. It's just that here it's being presented in a semi serious manner and therefore it kind of needs to engage me in the believability stakes.

[Stig]

I've heard projections on this are not good at all which is a massive shame. But they've also said that their gonna market it like crazy in the 2 weeks run in so hopefully that will turn some heads. It comes out the same time as Grown Ups 2 and of that does better, people can just fuck off.

But like Novaface said, they really should have got a big time actor in and it would have drawn more people in. Problem is, the guys like Smith, Cruise and Pitt were already in big blockbusters. I know there's more people to chose from but 1 of those 3 would have been enough to draw in a big crowd.

[Goose]

All this is from a purely business/box office view and not a reflection on how good or bad the film will be.

I think the projections are being used as an anti-marketing tool to flop the film before it's even gotten out the gate. It's been a while since I've seen mention of tracking numbers outside of box office sites/reports/blogs.

On one level, you've got to applaud Legendary Pictures and WB for backing what is essentially a niche film subject.

No matter how you wrap the project up, the entire hook is giant creatures versus giant robots. If that doesn't sell the picture to the mainstream, there is little left. Going purely from that mainstream point of view (and this film needs that market), Del Toro's involvement counts for nought. Even my wife, who knows a bit about what is coming out, thought it looked like a Michael Bay film. The trailers have done little to convince people otherwise, save for mentioning Del Toro's name, which again, isn't a hook no matter how good a director he is (and he is good). Nerds on the internet going wild for the film isn't going to cut any ice with the general public either - it hasn't before and it won't this time. Worse still - those very nerds are bigging the film up on the fact that it isn't mainstream, that it is for that geek niche.

Even with an exceptional marketing team, this is a tough sell to the public. You have no major star to hang the picture off, you can't really convince them of an emotional core from a trailer made primarily to show set pieces.The film doesn't contain a romantic sub-plot with which you could cut an alternate trailer - the battle of robots & creatures on a global scale, along side the smaller personal core - of two people trying to make life work in the face of global catastrophe.

It's tracking poorly because I think it was always going to track poorly. We've essentially got a $150M B-movie. Like I said on the previous page, you can look at this two ways -

- who gives a crap about the mainstream if we get a fantastic robot Vs monsters picture?

- If no one outside the core audience see it, what does that mean for original content?

We, the internet collective will win if the film is as good as Knowles, Faraci etc have said it is. We get a great film, the type of movie that Bay should have made with all his Transformer flicks. But if no one much outside that audience sees the picture, it'll be a short-lived victory. It makes riskier project even harder to get funded, the remakes will keep on coming as will the sequels. Just for Del Toro, it would mean no chance with At The Mountains of Madness. And whenever someone tries to pitch an edgier films, they'll cite Pacific Rim as the reason why they won't fund it.

I want the picture to be amazing, to really take the box office and run with it. But I can't see it opening bigger than Grown Up 2, and I think that was always going to be the case, for some of the reasons mentioned on the previous page -

- It's an Adam Sandler movie and love or hate, he has his fans.

- It's a sequel to an established and very successful movie

- It's got an all-star cast along with Sandler

- They'll market the hell out of it, across all manner of mainstream media

It'll also skew both the male and female demographic. That's an important thing - if you can get both make and female crowds into your picture, you've added a lot more revenue potential - (sweeping generalisation coming up)

Comedy with emotional lesson/journey or similar - Date movie potential

Robots Vs monsters - Not a date movie.

BUT - Love or hate the Transformers movies, someone went to see them. Someone made them incredibly successful and I don't remember Transformers being that mainstream a toy. If Pacific Rim can convince even half of that market to attend, things can be turned around. I just don't think they can, not even with a the huge marketing push WB are planning in the next fortnight.

[You watch Pacific Rim open to $80M now]

[Goose]

Here you go - This is why Mendelson works at Forbes and I don't -

http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2013/06/28/pacific-rim-and-how-pre-release-tracking-becomes-a-weapon/

From that article -

But putting aside the reasons for what feels like a preemptive strike, Pacific Rim doesn’t have much awareness because Warner Bros. hasn’t had the time to focus on it. With Man Of Steel taken care of following a successful domestic and overseas launch, and The Hangover 3 and The Great Gatsby wrapping up their successful theatrical runs (both films cost around $105 million and made well over $300 million worldwide), WB now has two weeks to sell the heck out of giant robots doing battle with giant monsters.

I wrote back in April that Pacific Rim‘s fortunes were somewhat tied to the relative quality and/or audience satisfaction of the summer slate up to that point. And, at this point in time, it still looks like Pacific Rim, if it’s as good as I’m hearing from those who have seen it, may well be ‘the one we’ve been waiting for’ in the vein of Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Transformers, and Inception.

But either way, trashing the future box office performance of a major release where most of its advertising budget hasn’t been spent yet is both silly and counter-productive. It’s also the kind of preemptive strike that dissuades original would-be blockbusters, since audience awareness is always going to be higher in the early going for known entities and/or sequels. Pacific Rim may well tank domestically and may even tank overseas (although I’d argue the latter is highly unlikely), but no good comes from screaming *flop!* before the campaign has really begun, especially as Warner Bros. marketing actually waiting until it matters should be encouraged.

[GazEFC]

It probably doesn't help that it's coming out at the end of what's been quite an action/sci-fi heavy few months. I would guess a lot of regular cinema goers have already seen at least of a few of Iron Man 3, Star Trek, World War Z, Fast 6, Man of Steel, etc. So it wouldn't be that surprising if they opt to see something else over another action blockbuster.

Saying that, I still really hope it does well and I'll definitely be seeing it. It's been my most anticipated film for over a year.