Monday Morning Quarterback Part III

By BOP Staff

August 6, 2015

Tom, what have you programmed that robot to do?

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Ryan Kyle: I'd call this a fair result for a forgettable film given that two-thirds of the $30 million budget has already been recouped in five days. I can't quite recall a marketing campaign that started so great with the CinemaCon buzz that kicked everything off that devolved so quickly into a stinker. The film never tried to connect with the nostalgia of the original, which it needed to do to draw in the older audience and it played too similarly to everything else out there to click with the new audience, who sadly haven't seen the original. Also, the film's quality is a factor given the terrible reviews that definitely had the older audience staying home and rewatching the original. Note to marketing: Don't have your key poster image LITERALLY be your characters covered in human waste.

The cast also lacked a bankable lead star to draw in audiences like Jennifer Aniston in Meet the Millers (this film's obvious comparison) or Melissa McCarthy in Tammy, although Ed Helms and Christina Applegate should remained unscathed. Given the dearth of comedies until the end of September with The Intern and absolutely no R-rated comedies until October with Masterminds (if it even gets released thanks to Relativity's financial situation - the original August date is looking quite prime now), Vacation might have better than expected legs. A final result anywhere between $50-70 million is a reality depending on how next week and the following play out.




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Edwin Davies: It's not an unmitigated disaster given that the budget wasn't crazy high, but it has to be a disappointment for the studio, who were probably hoping to revive the Vacation franchise after 18 years.

It's not surprising that the film didn't do all that well. The Vacation franchise peaked with its first two films, then lost a lot of goodwill with one mediocre sequel and a terrible one, so even fans of the original probably weren't that keen for new Griswold adventures, while it's been so long since the last film that the Vacation name means more or less nothing to younger audiences. Without decent name recognition, Vacation just looked like a generic R-rated comedy, and the trailers and the reviews weren't strong enough to establish it as its own entity.

Felix Quinonez: I think given its budget it's fine. Not a disaster, but definitely nothing to brag about. No one will lose their jobs over this but I don't know that it justifies a sequel.

David Mumpower: I understand that this is not a financial disaster by any stretch, but I return to the concept of opportunity cost. The Vacation brand has cachet, and a reboot after this long should reinvigorate and extend the franchise. Instead, it's going to earn about a third of We're the Millers, the most recent Ed Helms comedy. So, a high concept comedy eviscerated one with vast name recognition. That speaks volumes about the quality of Vacation's ads. This endeavor is a total bust.


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