Shop Talk
By BOP Staff
August 12, 2007
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Shane Jenkins: Rush Hour 3 has been banned in China. I'm glad they're finally taking those accusations of human rights violations seriously. But really, how do you guys think this is going to do? I've heard it's tracking big, but I don't know anyone who actually wants to see it. Does anyone but Ratner's BFF Robert Evans still care?
Michael Bentley: I think it'll do well, but not as well as the second one. It's been too long. I still can't believe Chris Tucker hasn't worked in all that time. He must either be really confident in it, or is good at saving his money.
Les Winan: It looks terrible. The preview I saw didn't elicit a laugh in the theater.
Jim Van Nest: I don't know that there's been a more overrated "funny" man in movies that Chris Tucker. Rush Hour had its charm and was pretty funny. Rush Hour 2 was not as good and had worn out this duo, in my opinion. To go to the well a third time, this movie ought to be called: Rush Hour 3: Chris Really Needs the Cash. I have no desire to see it, nor do I know anyone who has a desire to see it.
Dan Krovich: I saw the trailer in the theater and the audience seemed to enjoy it. I haven't seen either of the first two, and I doubt I'll see this one.
David Mumpower: Y'all are nuts. That trailer kills, brings the dead back to life, then kills them again. Both previous Rush Hour films have been hysterical, and the outtake from Rush Hour 2's closing credits where Chris Tucker's friend calls during a take is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Rush Hour 3 promises more of the same, and that's exactly what I would ask of it as a consumer. I'm very excited about this one. Jackie Chan and Tucker blend together better than any pair since Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte.
Tim Briody: Chris Tucker's IMDb profile is hilarious. It's simply astounding that the only three movies he's done in the last nine years are the three Rush Hour movies. Someone get me the number of his financial advisor.
David Mumpower: I just realized there are only four ways I would know him otherwise. He's in Friday, of course. He does that "P.H.A.T., Pretty Hot and Tempting" bit in Money Talks, he's Ruby Rhod in The Fifth Element and he gets shot by Samuel L. Jackson in Jackie Brown. Upon reflection, I'm not sure which of those is his best known work after the Rush Hour franchise. Is it The Fifth Element or Friday?
Reagen Sulewski: I think The Fifth Element would be where most people know him from. It's certainly where I became aware of him.
Kim Hollis: I'm pretty sure Chris Tucker's financial advisor is perfectly awesome. He resisted doing Rush Hour 3 and pretty much seems to just act when he feels like it. Ratner has all but said he had to strongarm him into doing the film.
Dan Krovich: I'm just curious as to how much overlap there is between Bourne and Rush Hour. They are both action movies, but completely different in tone and style. Does the action element trump the differences?
David Mumpower: I've always felt the genius of the Rush Hour series is that it simultaneously taps two woefully underrated movie audiences, African-Americans and the Hong Kong cinema crew. It's a serendipitous union of movie quality and demographics targeting done right.
Kevin Chen: Rush Hour 3 isn't really being marketed as an action movie. Then again, the trailer doesn't really market it as a comedy.
Jim Van Nest: I will give Chris Tucker this...perhaps he realizes how annoying his on-screen persona can be. The voice and all that. Maybe that's why he takes such long breaks between films, so that people will forget. Chris Rock could learn from this example...but no, he keeps releasing annoying pieces of crap like clockwork. Also, I have say Fifth Element would be his next claim to fame. I don't know anyone who hasn't at least seen it on HBO. And it always seems to be at the top of everyone's "how the hell didn't this movie do better" list.
David Mumpower: For what it's worth - and I am only mentioning this since we seem to be oddly hard on the guy in this thread - Tucker is one of the few guys in the industry who seems to have it figured out. He doesn't do garbage projects for the money, and he has done a lot of philanthropist work in Africa. He just doesn't get the same headlines as Angelina Jolie for some reason. I'm sure he's an eccentric dude, but I prefer his way of approaching the industry night and day more than a whore like, say, Eddie Murphy.
Kevin Chen: Smaller, darker tits.
If you see Neil Gaiman at the grocery store, please don't talk to him.
Dan Krovich: It feels like this got the greenlight in some post Lord of the Rings mini fantasy frenzy. I don't think it looks bad, but I don't see it catching on.
David Mumpower: My excitement for this project peaked about 12 months ago when the casting was finalized. Ever since then, it seems as if the news has grown worse and worse. The teaser was bland, the trailer was deadly dull, and the early reviews are lackluster at best. I simply cannot imagine how a production crew could be given a tapestry as rich as the world of Stardust and proceed to lay an egg. It makes me wonder what they would have done to About a Boy or L.A. Confidential.
Shane Jenkins: Are they even advertising this? I go to the movies constantly, and I've only ever seen the trailer once. I don't watch much TV, but I haven't seen ads anywhere for it. The release date makes me think the studio doesn't have too much confidence in it. It feels a little like Brothers Grimm to me, though I still do want to see it.
Dan Krovich: I'm getting the feeling that they don't know what to do with it, either because it's not good or that they just don't know how to sell it.
David Mumpower: I strongly suspect it's quite a bit of both. Early reviews for it are so anti-Claire Danes one would suspect they are all written by Mary Louise Parker.
Kevin Chen: Reviews seem to be squarely in the mediocre category, although a lot of them are saying it's in the vein of (but not approaching) The Princess Bride. Which I might be able to live with. I do like that the production material I've seen so far does a good job of capturing Charles Vess' art style.
Jim Van Nest: The only advertising I've seen for it has been as I'm fast forwarding the commercials through Eureka on Sci-Fi. I haven't seen it on any other channel. I don't know what that means other than I just might not watch the right channels. *shrugs*
David Mumpower: We're going to go see this tonight, but I am actively annoyed that the sky captain part got dialed up, because they talked De Niro into crossing-dressing for the role. I have to wonder about the series of events that led to such a sequence in the movie.
Kevin Chen: I don't understand this at all, as if the two-hour running time couldn't be sustained by the rest of the source material. Although I can guess that the unicorn sequence was cut and they needed something to fill it up.
Also, gay people are funny.
It has to be better than those obnoxious Hanes commercials.
Dan Krovich: Daddy Day Camp stars Oscar®-winner Cuba Gooding, Jr. and is directed by Kevin Arnold.
David Mumpower: As much as I love Wonder Years, I cannot bring myself to root for little Kevin's directorial debut to do well. Here's my question. How is the Daddy Day Care crew too expensive for a sequel? I can understand if they have to ditch Eddie Murphy, but what about Jeff Garlin and Steve Zahn? Frankly, this title needs an "Ernest Goes to..." before the rest of the title to complete the effect.
Marty Doskins: I think they probably could've made around $100 million like last time if they had Murphy. He probably would've been worth the investment.
Les Winan: Plus, all the kids in the day camp are his. HEYO!
Dan Krovich: I just realized that they went from a Best Supporting Actor nominee to a Best Supporting Actor winner, so this is an upgrade, right?
Shane Jenkins: I read he couldn't do this because he was busy with Norbit, and not because of some new-found desire to appear in a "quality motion picture" or anything.
David Mumpower: Since Cuba Gooding Jr. was in Norbit, also, I question that reporter's accuracy.
Jim Van Nest: This has nothing to do with Cuba or Daddy Day Camp for that matter...but I'm amazed at how one of the dirtiest comedians to ever hit the stage is now a fixture in several of my kids favorite movies. Say what you want about Eddie and the quality of his movies...I still think it's amazing that he's made himself a pretty bankable family film star.
The what in the who now?
Dan Krovich: Is Skinwalkers still coming out August 10th? There's still time to change the release date again. It looks like a generic horror movie to me. We're starting to hit the late summer doldrums.
David Mumpower: We always discuss the business practice of dumping lousy movies during the August release period. Skinwalkers is Exhibit A of this. It's hard enough to sell a horror film right now, but this situation is even worse. It's like Blood and Chocolate II: Revenge of the Lycanthropes! Given that Blood and Chocolate made $3.5 million domestically, well....
Shane Jenkins: The preview reminded me of (and therefore made me re-conscious of) that Lou Diamond Phillips movie Bats, which is about as unforgivable as the Cruciatus Curse. There should be a filmmaker Azkaban for such things.
Reagen Sulewski: This isn't a movie about the sex trade?
David Mumpower: Skinwalking is an odd fetish, to be sure.
Tony Kollath: I could have sworn at three different points this year, this movie had already been released.
Tim Briody: I was going to completely dismiss this, then I found out that one of the three writers (which is an upset, I figured there would be at least 12) credited is James Roday, star of Psych, my favorite show on television right now. He's also contributed to a couple brilliant episodes of that show, so for me it goes from "wouldn't touch with a 100-foot pole" to "if it's on cable at 2 a.m. and I've seen all the infomercials already."
David Mumpower: The last film I recall being moved this often was Mindhunters. It earned $4.4 million. Before that, the most recent example was Prozac Nation, the Elizabeth Wurtzel adaptation. That one never ever received theatrical release. And the one before that was James Spader's Supernova, which earned $14.2 million against a $60 million budget. Stating the obvious, the odds are pretty far stacked against Skinwalkers.