Monday Morning Quarterback Part II

By BOP Staff

March 6, 2013

We prefer the Minnesota Timberwolves' version.

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Brett Ballard-Beach: It's a crappy opening compared to the first, it's decent relative to its small budget, but I really just came here to hash out semantics. Without defending the plot of the film (which I don't know), the title The Last Exorcism Part II is acceptable. It's suggesting that there was more to The Last Exorcism than the audience thought. The Last Exorcism 2 would be a groaner. (And of course the all-time champ in this regards is The Neverending Story II. Now it did have the phrase The Next Chapter as an out, but defending The Last Exorcism is all I have in me on a Monday night.)

Edwin Davies: The best way to gauge the success of The Last Exorcism Part II is to frame it not as an attempt to build a franchise on the foundation of the first film, but as the cinematic equivalent of a smash and grab. CBS made it cheap, found a weekend without any direct competition and said, "Eh, that'll do." They knew that the enthusiasm for the film probably wasn't that high - the first film crashed and burned after a strong opening weekend and was widely derided - so their expectations weren't high; they wanted to squeeze a bit of money out of a familiarish name, and they achieved their aims. The question now, is how many direct-to-DVD sequels they'll crank out.

Kim Hollis: Snitch, an action flick featuring the Rock, has earned $24.5 million since debuting last weekend. What do you think of this result?

Jay Barney: It is okay. Unfortunately, the production budget numbers are not available. This is a standalone movie for The Rock, and it probably isn't going to make much money in the long run. However, the speculation is that it won't cost Summit any money either, so in that sense, it is another small note for his expanding career. I don't mean to go out on a limb here, but the guy is building an impressive resume, and remember....his background is wrestling, not movie making. He has been in the business long enough to judge his career...and he keeps making movies that sell.

He got in the game over a decade ago with that small role in The Mummy Returns and that blossomed into The Scorpion King, which easily beat the production budget. The Rundown was a bit of a miss, but Walking Tall made its money back. Doom basically broke even. Gridiron Gang made money. The Game Plan brought in nearly $150 million worldwide. His role in Get Smart was a good career move, and that film exceeded the amount it took to make it. Race to Witch Mountain, Tooth Fairy, The Other Guys, Faster....each and every one of those films made money. The biggest career move was signing on to the Fast and the Furious franchise, and we all were surprised at how well Fast Five did. Even Mysterious Island made money. I'm not saying he is Harrison Ford or Tom Hanks, but I am giving credit where it is due.

The Rock's films make money. We can wait and see how GI Joe II does, but something tells me it won't be a loss for the studio.




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Felix Quinonez: It's hard for me to really make up my mind about the movie's box office performance when I don't know its production budget. By no means is this a hit but its budget will decide whether it turns a profit or loses money. As far as The Rock goes, it's just another disappointment in his career. It's too bad because I think he's actually really good but the movies where he's the main draw never seem to break out. At least he's got GI Joe and 6 Fast 6 Furious coming up.

Bruce Hall: Jay brought it home - the Rock makes money. The box office for Snitch hasn't been stellar but I doubt this was designed to be a career defining film, or any kind of a tentpole for the studio. It was a meat and potatoes film meant to produce a solid return on a modest investment, using an actor who can be depended on to deliver just that. Plus, it's a positive role that keeps the Rock's name on people's lips without overexposing him - which is what keeps them coming to the theater. Just one man's opinion.

Edwin Davies: This isn't too bad compared to, say Faster or Doom, which are probably the best points of comparison since they are both straight action films in which The Rock is the main draw (I know Karl Urban was the star of Doom, but most people remember that film, if they do at all, for The Rock). With the exception of The Scorpion King, which obviously benefited from being a Mummy spin-off, he's not headlined a massive action hit, instead having his greatest success in family films, comedies and Fast Five. I think this is reflective of his strengths as an actor and the weaknesses of the films he appears in; he's a funny, charismatic guy who too often gets cast in action films as bland, straight-faced heroes, something which describes his role in Snitch down to a tee. I think this approach is probably what has limited his ability to be a draw in the sort of films which would seem natural vehicles for him, even though he's one of those people that pretty much everyone, in my experience, likes. If someone comes up with a film that allows him to be funny and kick some serious ass, he could be a huge draw.

David Mumpower: I look forward to having this same discussion about The Rock four more times between now and July.


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