New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

Edwin Davies: I also think this is better than I expected, largely because the studio couldn't push the film too hard without looking insensitive or exploitative. The ads I saw were light on Walker, heavy on action, which seemed the right way to go but still hampered the film in terms of selling itself to a broad audience. I don't think it would have done much better if they were able to push it harder, since there's a definite ceiling on non-Taken Luc Besson-produced action films, but it was overshadowed by Walker's death and this is probably a best case scenario considering the circumstances.

Dan Krovich: Obviously, the focus was on Paul Walker, but I'm more interested that David Belle got the chance to co-star in the English language remake of the French film District 13 that he also starred in. The box office number is certainly huge for him and maybe the exposure can get him some work in the United States. You'd at least think he could get a shot in a future Expendables movie.

Bruce Hall: Agreed - David Belle's presence is the only interesting thing about this one for me. I'm a fan of Luc Besson and his completely insane sci-fi fetish films, and District B13 is one of my favorites.

But on the whole, I'd bet the studio is just happy to have Brick Mansions behind them. This movie wasn't likely to do well OR to make any difference in Paul Walker's career, even before he died. With that hanging over the film, the marketing felt macabre, visually including Paul Walker but not explicitly drawing attention to his presence. It may have actually kept people away from the movie. If you're interested in seeing Paul Walker, better choices than Brick Mansions already exist, and I think most movie goers know this.

Kim Hollis: I think that the studio handled this as best as they possibly can, given the circumstances they were facing. They had to either market the film or just quietly release it straight-to-DVD, and since there’s some appeal to it and it carried a decent price tag, I just don’t think that was going to work for them. It’s not like they could say, “Featuring the late Paul Walker!” after all. Their approach was tasteful and understated, and the box office results mirror the marketing campaign.

Max Braden: You'd think that “one of his final roles” would bump the box office on this movie, but Walker had two DVD releases in the past year (Hours and Vehicle 19) that I doubt many fans even realized he was in. I don't think that's a slight on him, though; I noticed the same phenomenon with James Gandolfini's final performances - decent reviews but a lack of box office support. The money will come though for Fast & Furious 7 because it will be both his final appearance and a culmination for his character in the series.

Continued:       1       2