COMPASS & LOTR comparison

[Sauron the White]

Lalwende... if I caused you to believe that the BAFTA's were scrap metal, that was not my intent. They are wonderful awards. I was simply agreeing with the statement made by another poster - Sir Kohran - that it would not add to the films box office receipts. Did it have that effect or not?

Regarding its Oscar win last night. I would add that a single win in a technical category will also have the same effect as the Bafta win. At this point, the only way it could have a box office impact would be for New Line to re-release it for more theatrical showings. Such a movie is not unheard of after the Oscars but is usually limited to a film which has won the Best Film honor and not one technical award.

But congrats to COMPASS for its Oscar. Thats one more than I have.

[Mister Underhill]

An interesting development in the Compass saga was reported in the trades yesterday -- it seems that New Line sold not only foreign distribution for Compass, but also options on any sequels. In other words, Warners may not be able to reap significant foreign profits from sequels because of deals already in place, considerably complicating their decision on whether or not to continue the franchise.

Full article here. Stay tuned...

[davem]

I'm still left wondering why TGC flopped in the US - was it because US audiences decided it was a bad film (ie badly made, dull, confusing, etc), or because it was a 'good' film (ie well-made, interesting, exciting, etc) but with a 'bad' message - in other words, did the 'athiestic' element kill it in America? Or was it the marketing - one line of reasoning I've heard recently is that it was marketed by New Line as another LotR - big battles & cool beheadings 'n' stuff - & when audiences actually got a 12 year old girl her talking polar bear they went home disappointed & told their friends not to bother..

Whatever - one assumes that if Warner decides to go ahead with sequels the sensibilities of US audiences will play a smaller part in their calculations than they did for New line - it will probably be the same story for the sequels as for the original - poor performance in the US & big box office everywhere else.

[Sauron the White]

As a resident of the USA, it seemed to me that the film was sold around the idea of a little girl and a polar bear. Those two elements were very up front and center in every trailer and ad that I saw. If there had been more advertising pushing big epic battles the film may have done better. The negative publicity surrounding the anti-religious message (not saying there was one but that perception existed) did not help. However, I do not think it was conclusive. It really was not advertised as the second coming of LOTR in the trailers and ads that I saw.

Hollywood studios made several fortunes offthe formula of "a boy and his dog" stories up to and including E.T.. But maybe times have changed and the publics - or at least the American public - taste has changed. . Perhaps the American public simply did not want to see "a girl and her polar bear" no matter how it was dressed up or what lipstick was placed upon its face.

[Bêthberry]

Interesting point about the nature of the heroine.

There's lots of evidence garnered by elementary school teachers in North America--and I don't know how it would break down vis-a-vis Canada versus US--that elementary school girls will read books with heroes of both genders but that elementary school boys will not read books with girl heroes. This is not an absolute, hardfast characteristic, but it is quite substantial, extensively documented, especially among educators who are concerned about the reading gap between girls and boys. Is this trait limited to North America or can it also be found in European education?

So, if little North American boys don't like or want to read books about little girls, perhaps that trait carries over to male choices about movies as well, and also into adulthood? It didn't seem to apply to The Wizard of Oz, but we are no longer in Kansas now.

[davem]

Originally Posted by Sauron the White

. Perhaps the American public simply did not want to see "a girl and her polar bear" no matter how it was dressed up or what lipstick was placed upon its face.

But isn't it interesting that the public in just about every other country did? Shall we have to resort to Oscar Wilde for an explanation of this? Why did the rest of the world go mad for something the American public didn't?

[Sauron the White]

from davem

Why did the rest of the world go mad for something the American public didn't?

First, how to you define the term "go mad for"? Boxofficemojo reports that the worldwide take on GC is $345 mil of which $70 million is from the USA and the rest ($275) being other markets. Thats about 20/80 split.

The LOTR films had the following non USA reciepts
ROTK $742 MIL
TTT $584 mil
FOTR $556 mil

GC is at $245 mil foreign receipts. That is still not half of what the lowest earning LOTR film took in outside the USA. And then consider that USA receipts ranged from 33 to 36 % of the gross.

So your description of the rest of the world going mad for GC is a bit of over selling the idea.

Shall we have to resort to Oscar Wilde for an explanation of this?

I would never reject anyone using the great man as a source of inspiration. However, I also think that someone from the opposite viewpoint could use the standard and well worn "a fool and his money are soon parted".

[davem]

Originally Posted by Sauron the White

FOTR $556 mil

GC is at $245 mil foreign receipts. That is still not half of what the lowest earning LOTR film took in outside the USA. And then consider that USA receipts ranged from 33 to 36 % of the gross.

So your description of the rest of the world going mad for GC is a bit of over selling the idea.

No it isn't - you can't compare any movie to the LotR films (apart maybe from Titanic). I'm speaking generally - TGC was not a flop anywhere else in the world as far as I'm aware. In fact, it was a huge success (I think it was the third most popular film in the UK last year, after HP 5 & Bourne 3).

I would never reject anyone using the great man as a source of inspiration. However, I also think that someone from the opposite viewpoint could use the standard and well worn "a fool and his money are soon parted".

Yes - but you're the one who keeps bringing up 'little Jonny' being out of step with the rest of the band.... Maybe the rest of the world got it wrong & the US is the little boy shouting out that 'the Emperor's got nowt on ' but... these are matters of personal taste so I don't think that applies. Outside the US TGC was a popular movie - people wanted to see it. In the US they didn't. Clearly the RotW got something out of the movie that US audiences either didn't get or didn't want.