CINEMA

Is Taylor Kitsch cursed?

POSTED BY: CREVANREAVER
UPDATED: Wednesday, May 23, 2012 04:39
SHORT URL: http://bit.ly/LbwqQO
VIEWED: 6325
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Sunday, May 20, 2012 2:13 PM

CREVANREAVER


First it was John Carter and now it's Battleship.

Quote:

"Battleship," Universal Picture's big budget science fiction film, is likely to dent the studio's profits after it opened with lower than forecast ticket sales, according to analysts.

The film, which Comcast unit Universal has said cost $209 million to produce, generated $23.4 million in ticket sales at theaters in the U.S. and Canada during its opening weekend, according to figures compiled by Hollywood.com.

It had been projected by tracking services used by Hollywood studios to have ticket sales of between $35 million and $40 million.

The movie, which stars Liam Neeson and the singer Rihanna, finished the weekend second to Walt Disney's superhero blockbuster "The Avengers," which led the box office for the third weekend with $55.1 million in ticket sales.

"It is not quite the epic disaster of 'John Carter,' but this will put a dent in Comcast's quarter," said Matthew Harrigan of Wunderlich Securities, who follows Comcast. He did not quantify how much he expected the film to lose.

"John Carter," which sold $30.2 million during its opening weekend in March, saddled Disney with a $200 million loss, the company said. That film cost more than $250 million to produce.

Based on the "John Carter" performance, Universal will lose $100 million to $200 million, estimates Michael Morris of Davenport & Co., who does not follow Comcast, but follows Disney, News Corp. and Time Warner, which also have studio units.

A Universal spokeswoman would not comment. Comcast officials were not immediately available for comment.

The studio is estimated to have spent more than $100 million to market the film, standard for large budget films.

"Battleship" has sold more than $220 million in overseas tickets, Universal has said. It is forecast to reach $250 million in foreign sales.

Movie studios generally receive about half of the revenues from ticket sales in North America and less in foreign markets.

The film needed to generate more than $50 million in weekend ticket sales to break even, said analyst Tony Wible, a managing director at Janney Montgomery Scott who compiles a data base on film performances. He does not follow Comcast.



In July, the Oliver Stone directed Savages will be released. Kitsch co-stars in the film. If that movie bombs then maybe Taylor Kitsch needs to hire a witch doctor or something to rid him of the curse. :)

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Sunday, May 20, 2012 2:53 PM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.


A few years ago people were probably saying that about Joss, and we know how that turned out. All it will take is for Kitsch to be attached to a good, popular property, and you'll wonder why you ever asked that question.



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Sunday, May 20, 2012 11:01 PM

HAKEN

Likes to mess with stuffs.


That was what I was thinking the minute I read the news about The Avengers sinking Battleship. Kitsch's highest rated movie was 'John Carter' (57%) according to the T-Meter over at Rotten Tomatoes and not a fresh in the bunch. You can look at his stats here:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/taylor_kitsch/

'John Carter' and 'Battleship' were both very expensive movies in the 200 million plus range that Kitsch couldn't open. I'm guessing he might have a difficult time landing any more big budget movies. Kitsch's next movie is 'Savages,' directed by Oliver Stone. I'm betting it's not going to be a big earner either. Not because of Kitsch, but more because of Oliver Stone, who I think is out of his element for something like 'Savages,' which from the look of the trailer seems like an action movie.





http://about.me/haken

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Monday, May 21, 2012 1:02 AM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.


Let's not forget the lousy job Disney did on marketing John Carter. Kitsch is not yet a well-known actor so I don't think his being in these films is what kept more people from seeing them.



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Monday, May 21, 2012 3:44 AM

JAKE7


I'm not sure where the advertising was for Battleship - I saw the movie Saturday and, if I hadn't watched my recorded episodes of Craig Ferguson earlier in the day, would NEVER have seen ads for the movie. My sister wanted to see it - I had heard of it (and maybe just because of the game), but nothing about it, etc.

The movie was all right. Weird plot, if there was one, great soundtrack and great effects, but that's not enough to make big money at the box office...

The constant motion of the cameras made me a bit motion sick, so I'd probably watch it again on the small screen to see if things made more sense when I'm not distracted by feeling sick.

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Monday, May 21, 2012 4:06 AM

ZEEK


I'm not going to see Battleship but it has nothing to do with the actors or actresses involved. They used the name battleship and the movie seems to have nothing to do with the game other than the fact that their are naval vessels.

How difficult would it be to come up with some plot about some new sensor jamming tech or cloaking device that left the ships blind except when they hit a target. Then you have a bunch of ships firing blindly at each other trying to avert some catastrophe. Done and done.

Nope we get aliens. Not spending my money on that.

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Monday, May 21, 2012 5:20 AM

STORYMARK


Neither films problems were his fault, but yeah, having two flops (okay, an underperformer and a mega-flop, we'll just average them) back to back probably won't help his career. Aside from the lead in Peter Berg's next film, he's very likely done getting offers to lead big-budget films. If his third starring role this year, Oliver Stone's Savages, does well, it'll help. But if it flops too - he's going back to TV most likely.

Personally, Im still mixed on my views toward him. I liked John Carter - but thought he was only so-so in the role (I really would have preferred Jon Hamm), hated him in Wolverine, and have zero interest in Battleship (for many reasons).

"Goram it kid, let's frak this thing and go home! Engage!"

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Tuesday, May 22, 2012 8:12 AM

THESOMNAMBULIST


$209 million on a film about a board game? Seriously what moron gave this film it's budget. That's the kind of thing that should simply have you fired. What a ridiculous thing to do.

Universal would be better off giving Joss $60 million to make a SERENITY sequel.

Bizarre.


°...Well here I am.°

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Wednesday, May 23, 2012 3:45 AM

SHINYGOODGUY


I agree EC. Kitsch was actually good in John Carter, his work served the story and Willem Dafoe was quite good in it as well voicing one of the main characters. To me John Carter could have been a hit with just a few minor tweaks here and there, but the marketing campaign was seriously flawed and the beginning of the script was somewhat confusing - it detracted from the main thrust of the story.

He's the male movie equivalent of our beloved Summer (poor girl can't catch a break with cancelled TV shows). Disney dropped the ball on this one, because it was entertaining enough, so much so that the people in the theatre applauded at the end of the movie. The story of John Carter is not a well known title and, without a major star attached to the film, well it will just lay there - unless it is so good that word of mouth brings millions of moviegoers. I liked it so much that I'm buying the blu-ray version.

Imagine if Joss would have been given the kind of budget he got for the Avengers when he made Serenity.....be still my heart......or these other tentpole movies like Battleship. Think of the possibilities. The studios believe that they could just throw money at these so-called blockbusters and people will come-a-running. Think again you guys. You need, first and foremost, a good script, and a solid visionary director (ahem Joss or maybe even Bryan Singer). Without a decent script you might as well burn your money, of course it doesn't hurt to have major stars thrown into the mix.

Here's a suggestion for you:

John Carter - start with a medium budget movie, such as the early Barsoom books written by Burroughs leading up to the final product. This way the audience gets a glimpse as to the adventure he has when JC lands on Barsoom. It's somewhat how Marvel set up the Avengers movie, by laying the groundwork in Ironman, Thor, Capt. America etc. Laying the foundation may be tedious, but it has worked wonders for Marvel and Disney. Having said that, Disney did invest in John Carter but packaged it wrong.


SGG

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Wednesday, May 23, 2012 3:54 AM

SHINYGOODGUY


Good point Zeek. When I saw the trailers I said "WTF" does this have to do with the board game. It didn't surprise me that the movie lacked any sense, but I was surpised to see that Peter Berg directed (who directed Friday Night Lights, Hancock and The Rundown to mention a few).


SGG

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Wednesday, May 23, 2012 3:58 AM

SHINYGOODGUY


Sleepy, listen don't be afraid to speck your mind.........lol.

Yep, somebody's head at Universal is probably rolling as we speak.

Again with feeling guys - GIVE THE MONEY TO JOSS ALREADY.


SGG

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Wednesday, May 23, 2012 4:00 AM

SHINYGOODGUY


I get the feeling that the Universal execs have a soft spot in their hearts for Michael Bay and his "bag o' tricks"


SGG

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Wednesday, May 23, 2012 4:32 AM

THESOMNAMBULIST


Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
Quote:

Sleepy, listen don't be afraid to speck your mind.........lol.

Yep, somebody's head at Universal is probably rolling as we speak.

Again with feeling guys - GIVE THE MONEY TO JOSS ALREADY.


SGG



It just amazes me the kind of things that are made. I mean, it takes a lot of hard work to make a film, even a really bad one, lots and lots of hard gruelling work. The organisation, the production management, the casting, the pre/post production the effects etc. Lots of really hard work..... You have to wonder if at some point someone on that crew didn't just go and say....
"Hang on guys, wait a minute... What the hell are we doing? All this effort for a frikkin' board game adaptation!!!"
"Balls to this!!! Everybody - go home !!!!"

°...Well here I am.°

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Wednesday, May 23, 2012 4:37 AM

STORYMARK


Quote:

Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
I get the feeling that the Universal execs have a soft spot in their hearts for Michael Bay and his "bag o' tricks"


SGG



Bay doesn't work with Universal. Though they clearly wanted to ape his success.

"Goram it kid, let's frak this thing and go home! Engage!"

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Wednesday, May 23, 2012 4:39 AM

STORYMARK


Quote:

Originally posted by THESOMNAMBULIST:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
Quote:

Sleepy, listen don't be afraid to speck your mind.........lol.

Yep, somebody's head at Universal is probably rolling as we speak.

Again with feeling guys - GIVE THE MONEY TO JOSS ALREADY.


SGG



It just amazes me the kind of things that are made. I mean, it takes a lot of hard work to make a film, even a really bad one, lots and lots of hard gruelling work. The organisation, the production management, the casting, the pre/post production the effects etc. Lots of really hard work..... You have to wonder if at some point someone on that crew didn't just go and say....
"Hang on guys, wait a minute... What the hell are we doing? All this effort for a frikkin' board game adaptation!!!"
"Balls to this!!! Everybody - go home !!!!"

°...Well here I am.°



Well, in this case, the project was partially backed and initially pushed by Hasbro, riding high on their Transformers money.

"Goram it kid, let's frak this thing and go home! Engage!"

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