More casual fan divide.

Brings out kool aid.
*Hands it to Zazeron*
Here you go. More where that comes from.
Opens up another conainer box of 6 pack disney kool aid.
On sale! Get them here. 5 wapiupi each carton.

 

Who cares about the box office? There were people who liked the film and there were people who disliked it. This is nothing new in regard to most films. Why make a big deal about it?

 

i was typing out.. "it depends who you're talking to i guess", when i noticed the post below yours lol...

exactly.. if it's not important to you, then simply smile.. and move on.


i swing both ways here in terms of BO importance... in 1994 a film called the Shawshank redemption was watched by, well... almost nobody. ($28m domestic.. yeah i know right?)
it's clearly not the quality of film that get's the numbers.

in a couple of years time, the Avatar sequel will break TFA's record (opinion of course, but i reckon most will agree)... we know that now. that tells us all something about Box office numbers that we should keep in mind.

 

Back up on that logic friend. First you're going to compare the dollar values in these two films but leave out the fact that one is the first film in the trilogy and the other is a sequel? Try the 650 million from AotC and then you can have a decent point.

When you do the math on the inflation for each film scaling to today's numbers it comes out as 1.5 billion for TPM vs 2.1 billion for TFA. Then it's 904 million for AotC and 1.3 billion for TLJ.

Slightly different picture then the one you were painting.

 

It is always funny how people always compare the numbers they want to compare. In the end we will never see the final result until the next SW movies come out. This will be the make or break point.

 

BUT I xxxED IT!!! There's my data...

 

Don't they still have the Minnesota Wild? I'm in GA so, it's sad that we lost the Thrashers but its a good thing that I'm a Ducks fan. I just can't see and or watch their games except rare occasions and or until they make an appearance in the playoffs.

 

And they'd be right.

And they'd be right.

Bottom line is this: Han, Luke and Leia are among the most popular characters in the history of cinema. That is not an exaggeration. "Luke Skywalker" "Han Solo" and "Princess Leia" are names which have permeated our culture for decades. They are a box office draw. Finn, Poe and Rey just haven't caught on with the public at large. Sure, we all know who those characters are but I think all too often we lose sight of what the regular public goes with.

Disney drew a short straw in a couple ways through no fault of their own. There was no way Harrison Ford was going to do a trilogy and Carrie Fisher's passing could not have been foreseen. I have no doubt whatsoever Luke will be in E9. My hope is he becomes a major player, not a 2 minute Force Ghost.

 

so true, but it is JJ's movie and you may remember cameo Luke in TFA. I see no chance that he gives Luke more than 1-2 minutes FG appearance with a few wise words.

 

I'm not exactly sure how. I think the most general criticism coming from the TLJ haters is that they just simply didn't like the story and/or the direction the characters were taken to. How would that impact the future direction? Would they turn it more predictable/fan-friendly, like Marvel? That would be the worst decision in the current derivative and unoriginal era of filmmaking imo. I mean, at least RJ tried... Sure, it didn't work for some, but this is still how good art is usually made. The worst thing they could do is turning Star Wars into Marvel imo...

 

Yes, so the haters didn't like the story and the writing. I'm still not sure how would that affect the future direction. Assured, there are some extremists that outright want ep IX to reject the events of TLJ, but I doubt that has any bit of chance. Rose's character dosen't seem to be resonating with the haters, so they might tone her down (if they planned otherwise). But that's pretty much all they can do. Maybe add some of the bad humour as well. Although, imo TLJ in most cases seemed to be only following TFA's path and style. Only some jokes didn't work, or were too much, but were still mostly tonally consistent with TFA.

RJ tried his very best and some people didn't like the outcome. The future filmmakers will also do their best and there will be some or many that won't like that certain outcome.
I don't really see any elements outside of the above that ep IX's direction can just "fix".

Those are very certainly not instances future direction can change. You just don't like the writing of TLJ. Or do you think RJ just wasn't trying enough and in the future they will actually try harder?

 

By the nature of a closing chapter, ep IX definitely won't going to be similar in that matter.

As for my opinion, I don't have high hopes. For a starter, the writer, Chris Terrio is the responsible for arguably one of the worst big budget movies ever made, BvS (noted, aside of the writing, I found most of the movie pretty well made, but the script was horrednous beyond comprehension imo) which was also filled with the exact same problems as the haters have with TLJ (bad pacing and structure, useless characters and sideplots, very questionable or non-existent motivations etc.), in many aspects on a far worse magnitude.

As for JJ, I'm still not sure why are some people suddenly putting him on such a high pedestal again. Around a month after the release of TFA he was probably the most hated director I've seen in a while. Now that person is RJ. After ep IX it will be JJ again. Speculations aside, I never really thought of him as a great filmmaker. He makes mass produced and very mediocre (often pretty derivative as well) action movies. I wouldn't call any of his movies above average. I'm not saying he's not talented, but so far imo he hasn't produced anything particulary noteworthy. Unlike RJ, whose -pre-TLJ- pedigree was incomaparbly more promising. Plus, as you've said, JJ isn't actually known by his statisfactory conclusions (see: Lost).

They should've chosen Denis Villeneuve imo, especially since he's been showing interest. BR 2049 proved that he's very competent with sequels, with that movie being one the best sequels since ESB (by which I mostly mean how well it flows with original and how organically it expanded its story).

I think after people stopped hating on ep IX, ep VIII will most likely be seen as the best of the trilogy.

Disney has been giving their directors full creative freedom so far, which is pretty much unheard of in blockbuster history. I'm a huge supporter of that, as I think that is the only way for real art to be born. As soon as the studio starts meddling, troubles usually immediately occur. I'm not interested in a committee-driven McDonalds menu served for fanboys to chew on.

But if you want more fanboy driven and less safe (not in a negative way) flicks I can understand that either, as most fans seem to keen on Rogue One the most from the Disney-verse. I personally prefer risks and original ideas over a less risky, but more satisfying for the fans flick (i.e: R1).

The Canto Bight sequence is actually only 11 minutes, which is a mere 7% of the film's screentime. What should've been edited better is the leadup to the subplot imo. Or just cut the the entire thing, as no one seems to be appreciating what RJ was trying to do with it.
I personally like to just hang around and discover things about the the GFFA and its society, which isn't necessarily connected to the main plot.
But, that again is completley subjective.

Sorry to repeat myelf, but I'm still not entirely sure what are the universal issues that ep IX can "fix". It can't change the story or the way TLJ turned its characters, which seems to be the biggest issue of the haters. It definitely won't repeat the storylines if you mean that. It won't going to "subvert your expectations" again either, beacuse of the nature of a closure over the middle chapter.

 

While I love Denis, he's too busy with creating a new adaptation of Dune and IMO no one should bother him with anything until Dune is released in cinemas (after that he's also attached to some kind of Cleopatra biopic apparently, but I'm not sure if it's true or just a rumour.)

 

I'm aware of that and I agree. Yet I think Dune could've waited. Disney should've approached him with a blank check and the promise of full creative freedom back then in 2014-2015. Since the premiere of BR 2049 was in October, 2017 it's not even that impossible idea. Or Disney could've and should've attempted the same in around summer 2017, when the departure of Treworrow was more or less already certain.

 

"Maybe."

 

For what it's worth, there were reports that J.J wants to make IX "in the same vein" as TLJ.