Monday Morning Quarterback Part I

By BOP Staff

August 8, 2011

If you were only gonna go all in on one thing, it should have been Cameron Diaz.

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Edwin Davies: Count me among the ranks of the astonished on this one. For a long time I assumed that it would open to below $30 million because it seemed so unnecessary. When I saw that it was opening against The Change-Up, I upped my expectations to the mid-30s because I didn't want to believe in a world in which a film that looked as lazy as The Change-Up was the number one film on its opening weekend. Even as the reviews started coming in, I still didn't imagine it would make more than $40 million, so this result is really quite amazing.

As to why it happened, I personally think it was down to the subtle change in the marketing over the last few months away from showcasing the action set pieces towards that of the character of Caesar. This had the dual effect of showcasing the really quite spectacular motion capture effects, which offered something that most moviegoers hadn't seen before, and suggesting that it was going to be more than just a film in which apes smash shit up. Not that there's anything wrong with apes smashing shit up, but this film needed a hook to draw an audience that should have been suffering some blockbuster fatigue at this point. That shift gave it that hook.

Slight tangent; anyone who has seen ROTPOTA (what a fun acronymn!) should check out director Rupert Wyatt's first film The Escapist, which is a really taut and muscular prison escape movie. Not only is it very good, but the skill and craft it shows for a debut pretty handily explains how someone whose first film made less than $400,000 worldwide got to direct a $93 million-budgeted blockbuster as his follow-up.

Shalimar Sahota: I expected this to open to around $40 million-ish, so am also astonished with the higher opening weekend take. When it was announced, I just thought, "Why?" Also, the ads and trailers just looked a bit silly to me. Am also surprised to see Brett mention the "ape-jumping-towards-helicopter" shot, because I can't help but laugh everytime I see that. The strong reviews were a surprise for me, and I imagine that's part of the reason for such a great opening weekend. The other being that despite "that" Tim Burton film, it's still part of a well known franchise. The Alzheimer's slant in a modern day setting also gives it a bit of relevancy too.




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Reagen Sulewski: While it's not the entire story, the solid reviews carried this a long ways. I look at this a little in the same was as Terminator: Salvation, in that it was expanding on a familiar story and exploring an avenue that hadn't really been covered, as well as hinting at the possibility of an actual story. The difference here is that Apes actually delivered on that second front. The lesson is that there's value in these old franchises if you treat them intelligently.

Max Braden: I kept hearing strong word-of-mouth from everyone I knew who saw it, which shocked me but convinced me I should go to (though I haven't yet). I get the feeling that the buzz and the reviews Reagen mentioned are good reason for the success. I also think that Andy Serkis's name was put out there rather well, and given his history with motion capture, the Apes had an instant pedigree that moviegoers could put their faith in.

Kim Hollis: I've always thought that this movie looked pretty awful, so I count myself amongst those surprised by its breakout success. I was blown away to see that reviews were solid-to-excellent, and I agree with Reagen that this was a case where they had some impact. We talk a lot about how a bad film in a franchise can damage any successors, but Rise of the Planet of the Apes weathered the complete travesty of filmmaking that was Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes rather well. I'm stunned.


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