Monday Morning Quarterback

By BOP Staff

November 2, 2009

Too fast for you!

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Sean Collier: Reagan nailed it. We've all moved on from the renewed MJ love of the summer, and I think the feeling that This Is It couldn't possibly live up to the hype was palpable leading up to the release. I expected a bit more, and Sony expected much more - the spin that's been going on to try to make this into a big win is hilarious.

Michael Lynderey: I was anticipating a Friday the 13th-esque first day of something like $25 million, followed by a hilariously absurd drop. But that massive first day never came. Tracking did give me an early Halloween scare on this film, and it looks like the most surprising part about its performance is how utterly ordinary it is. No runaway blockbuster, no colossal disappointment, no ginormous day-to-day drop. Basically, it's very un-Jackson-like

George Rose: This did far worse than my expectations, but was more than I had hoped for. If he had died and released a concert movie 15 years ago, I would have been all about it. As it stands, in 2009, I have no interest in Michael, living or dead. It takes a lot of effort but I can overlook the "false" child molestation charges. What I cannot ignore is how willing he was to destroy his physical appearance and his inability to parent children. I know it sounds harsh, but I take a strong South Park-stance on the Michael Jackson subject matter. I see him as delusional, not praise worthy. If anything, this lackluster bow actually makes me like Miley Cyrus more. Congrats to her for being everything Michael wished he could be. In the words of South Park's Miss Michael Jackson: "I'm just a little girl (hee hee), a dainty little thing, and I know you all want to be, a little white girl like me (sha-mona, hee hee hee)."




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Brett Beach: I have to check the "Very Underwhelming" box in response to this question, based on my impressions from the headlines recently. While this really was an unknown in terms of how well it would perform, all the talk about the thousands of sold-out shows and how well advance tickets were being snatched up had me convinced a five-day opening in the $50-million-$60 million range was to be expected. Then there was the "anonymous" studio executive who early last week was predicting $260 million final domestic and $600 million global. (It may well reach that from its worldwide total but the lion's share will be coming from abroad, not here.) That was my inkling that the hype had gone into Spinal Tap land ("11") and things needed to be dialed back. $30 million-plus in five days is a lot more than I thought possible when I first became aware of the project. For a deceased singer who had become a social recluse in the last decade and still suffered fallout from allegations and trials, it's an impressive pull. We are just getting settled in for the posthumous earning potential of MJ.

It's Miley's world. We're all just living in it (apparently).

Kim Hollis: Given the box office disappointments of The Jonas Brothers concert film and now This Is It, is it fair to say concert movies are getting inflated expectations due to the aftermath of Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus?


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