Venom (Ruben Fleischer)

[Ezee E]

$213 million USD.
6 weeks in the top ten.

I had no idea.

[Irish]

I think it benefited enormously from its release date. There was literally nothing going on when this movie came out.

Considering the costs, the domestic return wasn't good.The best market for studio films is still North America, because that's where the studios take the biggest cut.

It was also soft in bigger western markets that are usually good bets for American movies (Germany, France, the UK, Mexico).

Foreign box office is vastly overrated by Box Office Mojo and the trades, where they pretend every foreign ticket has the same value as an American one. They love to talk about big Chinese numbers, but never mention the studios might only see half of that projected box office, if that.

Massive distribution definitely saved this movie's ass, but bear in mind 5 years ago "Amazing Spider-man 2" posted similar numbers. Nobody talks about that movie as a success today.

This is the game now. It's pretty silly.

[Skitch]

Can anyone find a solid answer to how many screens are in Asia? I know Aquaman killed over there, but I can't find the article now and I remember reading that it opened on like 40,000 screens or some insane number. Thats bonkers. I remember when opening on 2,000 here was a huge deal.

[Dukefrukem]

I know China has a billion people, but no way they have 40K screens.

[Irish]

By January 6, 2014, there were 18,195 screens in the country. Greater China has around 251 IMAX theaters. There were 299 cinema chains (252 rural, 47 urban), 5,813 movie theaters and 24,317 screens in the country in 2014.

I read some months ago that they've been building new theaters like crazy. So I'd expect those numbers to have grown significantly over the last 5 years.

ETA: Annnnnd ...

China had fewer than 20,000 cinema screens in 2013, but it has now surpassed the U.S., which had 40,759 indoor and drive-in screens as of July [2016], according to the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Theatre Owners. As of Dec. 20 [2017], China had 40,917 screens, according to the national film bureau.

https://apnews.com/3557293fa36d455bac2eba603523fd2c

According to data released by China’s film bureau, the number of movie theaters in mainland China was 9,965 as of March, 2018. These 9,965 movie theaters offer 54,165 screens, pipping the United States, which had about 45,000 screens as of 2017. 88% of the screens can show films in 3D, and 502 of them are IMAX screens.

http://chinafilminsider.com/headline...ovie-theaters/

China had 41,056 cinema screens compared to 40,928 in the US, according to PwC's Global entertainment and media outlook 2017-2021. By 2021, the country will have more than 80,000 screens, nearly twice as many as the US. “Cinemas will continue to be built in China at a phenomenal rate.

https://www.pwccn.com/en/press-room/...pr-160617.html

[Skitch]

I mean holy shit. If anyone wonders why Hollywood targets Asia, boom. My prediction continues to move forward. (In 100 years, the only US export will be entertainment. All of our resources will be used to make and sell entertainment for the world, and everyone will work for that purpose in some fashion.)

[Dukefrukem]

Oof. I stand corrected.

[Skitch]

Heh, I liked this. Sure its all over the place and weird, but I was amused by it.

[Grouchy]

Heh, I liked this. Sure its all over the place and weird, but I was amused by it.

This is pretty much where I stand as well. This movie has no right being as entertaining as it is. Sure, a lot of it is Tom Hardy's uniquely hilarious performance (and I don't feel it was embarrassing of him to make a scene inside a fishbowl munching on a live lobster - I thought he was rocking it) but for all its flaws, Venom is also reminiscent of a time when writing and character development were a bigger part of Hollywood movies and it shows.

[transmogrifier]

But, the writing and characterization is abysmal. Like, embarrassingly so.

[Grouchy]

Heh, on one hand, I agree the characters are inconsistent. But not more so than in other more prestigious movies. The dialogue is actually pretty fun and it cracked me up often - not only with the "turd in the wind" line. I meant more that this movie takes forty minutes to establish motivation and character that other recent blockbusters are too lazy (or too afraid to lose the younger audiences) to take. I mean, I understand something like Spider-Verse is aimed at people accustomed to YouTube videos and it must move briskly, but that movie, as fun as it is, could have used some time for feelings and situations to sink in.

[megladon8]

This is on tv and my god...it is AWFUL.