Monday Morning Quarterback Part II
By BOP Staff
April 20, 2016
BoxOfficeProphets.com
John Hamann: I don’t think Favreau is quite there yet. However, with every release that isn’t Cowboy vs. Aliens, and with him on board for The Jungle Book sequel, he only continues to climb the most audience-friendly list. If he is still doing the same in five years, he could be the next Spielberg.
Felix Quinonez: I definitely don't think so. Box office success isn't the only way to measure how accomplished a director is. And even by that standard, the movies he opened to $100 million plus were for movies that had a built-in fan base. That's not to take away from their achievement, especially the first Iron Man (which actually fell a bit short of a $100 million opening) and Tje Jungle Book. But it's not entirely proof of how "accomplished" of a director Favreau is. And Iron Man 2 could have been two hours of Robert Downey Jr. reading a phone book and it would have opened to $100 million plus. Let's not forget that he also directed Cowboys and Aliens and Zathura. On the other hand, he's also got Elf which was definitely huge by any standard. So I'd say that overall, he's got a good track record, but as far as accomplished directors go, he hasn't reached the top of the mountain yet.
And as far as an actor, what exactly has he accomplished besides being in a lot of movies? He hasn't headlined any blockbuster or won many (any?) awards for his performances. I'm not saying Ben Affleck is the MOST accomplished actor/director but he's someone who's definitely accomplished more. As an actor, he's headlined big hits, not just appeared in them. He's directed movies that got great reviews. And in the case of Argo and The Town, made a lot of money. They didn't make nearly as much as the Iron Man movies but they also cost A LOT less. He's also won an Oscar for Best Screenplay and Best Picture.
David Mumpower: This is more of a novelty along the lines of what we've seen with Jennifer Lawrence rather than indicative of ultimate greatness. He's not ready to knock Cameron off the throne, and I'm dubious that he ever will. That's not a slight, though. If I'm cutting anybody there, it's Steven Spielberg or George Lucas or John Lasseter, all of whom have a better claim. Still, what Favreau's done is truly spectacular. I could make the argument that Iron Man 2 is cheating a bit since Iron Man built the brand so strong, but if he directs a bad first movie, that doesn't happen. In fact, if Favreau had directed The Avengers, it might have had quite the same quality - that's a tough hurdle for any filmmaker to clear - I think he still would have claimed the opening weekend record by a lot with that film. Consumers have developed trust in him as well as Disney, which is why the Jungle Book pairing was so serendipitous. If he helms future tentpole projects of similar scale, his name in the advertising will boost revenue while provide assurance for those who would go anyway. There are only a handful of directors in the world who can say that. At the age of 49, he's one. That's remarkable in and of itself.
Kim Hollis: Barbershop: The Next Cut, the latest in a franchise that last saw a film released 12 years ago, earned $20.2 million during its opening weekend. What do you think of this result?
Ben Gruchow: I'm writing this in the food court outside the theater while I wait for my Moviepass to refresh so I can go in and see it, so my initial thoughts aren't much based on the movie's quality yet. I will say that the 91% Tomatometer score is surprising to me, higher than the first two films and a considerable bounce back from Malcolm Lee's last film, which was Scary Movie 5. It piqued my interest considerably higher than it already was. This kind of reception is not the norm for long-delayed mid-budget sequels, and I think that affected the opening in a positive direction. It's also been since January that we've had a wide-release film targeted to the African-American demographic, although there's been some smaller ones since.
John Hamann: Barbershop got a little unlucky opening in the shadow of The Jungle Book, as it goes from good counter-programming idea to smothered, Add to that a decade plus without a franchise release, and it wasn’t destined to break out. I wouldn’t be surprised to see decent legs – better than the first two films, which had great legs themselves. Ice Cube has it going on – he is one of the more bankable stars working today, and with producer credits on two Ride Alongs and Straight Outta Compton, and now this, he is becoming an even more powerful player in the industry.
Jason Barney: This is a fabulous opening, and the length of time between films means nothing here. This entry into the Barbershop series was made for just $20 million. To have an opening weekend number that comes in at the production budget is a holy grail for studios. Warner Bros. is going to make plenty of coin here. The glowing reviews will help provide strong holds and profitability is not far away.
Ryan Kyle: A $20 million opening against a budget in that ballpark is an automatic win. However, I feel like there was money left on the table given how Ice Cube's cachet has arguably risen to a new height since Straight Outta Compton, the addition of Common & Nicki Minaj (I can't stand her, but her social media following is enormous), the stellar reviews, and the lack of any urban-skewing film in the marketplace. To me this seemed like a perfect storm scenario to really make this film pop to $30 million, but instead it opened to almost the same amount as the original did in 2002 (about $30.8 million now adjusted for inflation). The first two in the franchise had some pretty good legs, so it'll be interesting to see if the same applies here.
Felix Quinonez: I think this is a great opening. I haven't seen any of these movies but I would have thought audiences had moved on a long time ago. I'm guessing it had a pretty low budget and based on the reviews and Cinemascore, I'd say it has a shot at pretty good legs to become a decent hit.
David Mumpower: I loved Barbershop and Barbershop 2 and was always a bit bummed that everybody ran away from the franchise after Beauty Shop struggled. I'm thrilled to see its triumphant return, and I want to add that one of the keys to this box office triumph is the casting. Adding people like Nicki Minaj, Deon Cole, Lamorne Morris, and Regina Hall to an already wonderful cast leveled up to the point that I considered this one of the few must see releases of 2016 to date. The Barbershop reboot won in the planning phase, and Warner Bros. reaped the benefits this weekend. It should help them get some pride back after the Dawn of Justice fiasco.