(no subject)

[cleolinda]

The Golden Compass Bombs - Is This The Death of New Line Cinema? What?

And no, the rest of my day wasn't so hot, either.


ETA: A less alarmist take: ‘Compass’ points to modest box-office win.

Comments

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

I'm seeing it in four hours.

I'm surprised it's doing so badly. Is your What? in reaction to the fact or the conclusion?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

To the fact. I knew that New Line's future was potentially hanging on this.

[tragical-mirth.livejournal.com]

I haven't been able to see it or several of the movies on that New Line list that I've wanted to see this year because my life has been just that screwy. I wonder if the rest of the world feels the same way?

[cellardoor28.livejournal.com]

Aw, I'm really sad about that. I saw it this afternoon and it was much better than I expected (although I still prefer the play).

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

There's a Golden Compass play?

[thyroyalmajesty.livejournal.com]

I was disappointed when I read this too, but not surprised. I have to wonder if it's because of the post-LOTR glut of fantasy movies, plus of course the "religious outrage" over the film. I don't think the religion thing had a large impact on its success, but it had some. And Nicole Kidman's box office record of late hasn't been so hot... I'll still see it, but tbh I was never so excited about this film that I felt the need to run out and see it immediately.

[etherealshores.livejournal.com]

Oh, no. I really hope that isn't New Line's fate.

[sucrelefey.livejournal.com]

It has gotten crappy nearly cowardly marketing. I get the feeling the studio started running scared as soon as the religious stupid opened their mouths. It will do better overseas but of course everyone knows that America is the center of the universe.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I was sitting here thinking that the marketing had been pretty good, and then I started thinking what else they could have done--I mean, "One of the great epics of our time. Decide for yourself!" maybe? Maybe they should have actually said it was controversial--the fantasy film they don't want you to see! Because nothing brings people in like telling them they shouldn't go. But you're right, they were so scared of pissing people off that they put their heads in the sand.

[ciara-belle.livejournal.com]

I'll be interested to see the foreign box office, too. I went to a Thursday night showing here in Cambridge and the theatre was pretty packed.

[cygnus.livejournal.com]

According to the official blog (http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/blog/us/2007/12/06/1-in-7-territories/):

In addition to the UK debut of $1.9 million, out-grossing The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’s opening day in 2005, The Golden Compass ranked #1 in seven territories: U.K., Spain, France, Finland, Norway, Thailand and the Philippines.

The Golden Compass will be featured on 11,000 screens in 30 territories worldwide.

The film opens tomorrow Dec. 7.

[auraesque.livejournal.com]

Well, I am waiting to see it with my entire family when I get home, so New Line ain't getting my money for another two weeks. But that's five more people who would otherwise wait until dvd. Many of my friends are just waiting until finals are over.

I hope you are feeling better! :(

[nohara-megami.livejournal.com]

Technically, I should be also waiting 'till Finals are over to see it, but I have no self control so I am going to see it today. XD

And a bit random...Glitch icon love!!

[life-on-queen.livejournal.com]

Nikke Finke from Deadline Hollywood Daily said much the same thing on Friday morning (http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/bob-shayes-big-gamble-wont-pay-off-golden-compass-looks-leaden-this-wkd/). New Line needs LOTR-sized numbers (or Narnia numbers at the very least). I don't think that was ever going to happen.

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

A franchise killer I would've expected, but a studio killer? Dayyum. Score one for the fundies, I guess.

[lilitou.livejournal.com]

Is it my imagination, or is the estimated total for the weekend actually exactly the average of the weekend numbers for the last several years?

Wait, hang on. I just did the math. The average--not counting Golden Compass--of the numbers provided is 26.5 million. So I really don't think this is as much of a crisis as they're claiming. Especially given the controversy, the lack of superultramegastars (No, Nicole Kidman really doesn't count.), etc.

[myriad69.livejournal.com]

That's insane! I saw it last night and just LOVED it!

[dlpn01.livejournal.com]

I really hated it..

[jaded-lady.livejournal.com]

I feel like this movie is going to do better closer to the holidays, yes? It's gotten mostly excellent reviews, and it's a very popular book. I just feel right now people are too busy shopping or (if you're me), studying for finals and packing to come home for break. It'll be interesting to see what happens as the holidays go on.

[quenbolyn.livejournal.com]

That's my thought. I'm not even going to get the chance to see it until next week some time, so maybe once a few people see it, spread the word, it will at least hold steady through Christmas.

[superri.livejournal.com]

Deciding to release the film during finals for college students in the US was a bad move. I know a lot of people who wanted to see Golden Compass when it came out but none of us could because we're too busy preparing for exams.

[auraesque.livejournal.com]

I absolutely agree with that. I have friends who are fans of the book and friends who have just heard of the series all interested in seeing the film, but we can't or won't until exams are over.

[incogra.livejournal.com]

Most people I know (including me) are just way, way too busy to go to the movies right now, but I think New Line's marketing is the main problem. If I hadn't already read the books, I wouldn't have the faintest idea what the movie was about based on the previews and trailers. And I think they alienated people on both sides of the religion issue (religious right hates the books, atheists and hardcore fans of the books are pissed that the movie wimped out and didn't really deal with the subject, etc).

And, as someone said above, there have been so many fantasy movies lately. It's sort of like how when computer-animated movies first came out, every one was a huge hit because the genre was so new, but now it's no surefire guarantee of success.

[quenbolyn.livejournal.com]

I had heard about this yesterday, and though I wasn't expecting it to be LotR-type success, I was expecting it to do better.

The only thing I will say is that the books really aren't that well known (around here, at least), and haven't been around long enough to garner a following like Narnia, etc. Out of the dozens and dozens of kids that I teach every day, only a few of them (and I really mean only two or three) had even heard of the books before the movie was made.

[eisoj5]

Oooh, your icon is very, very pretty! Do you have a good gallery link for caps, perchance?

[clodia-risa.livejournal.com]

It may be bombing, but I thought you might be happy to know that I work at Borders and that whenever I'm at the register I sell at least one copy of the book an hour, and typically more than that. It makes me happy every time, and makes me think that people are just waiting to see it until they get home for the holidays or something.

[viorica8957.livejournal.com]

I saw it on Friday, and thought it was . . . not great. The dialogue was kind of clunky, and some stuff was obviously just there because they were trying to put everything from the book into the movie- like Serafina Pekkala, who only showed up to provide exposition, and some of it didn't need to be there. I'm sure there are book fans who love Fader Coram, but it was just really random in the movie. It;s the same mistake the early HP movies made, staying too close to the book. Maybe it's just that I'm not a huge fan of the books but it didn't seem like anything special to me.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I think part of the reason I liked it is because I loved the book, and it seemed to do a good job of bringing the book to life for me. I can't speak for what it would be like for someone who hadn't read or didn't like the book, although my mother liked it. It did remind me of the first Harry Potter, though, in that sense of being kind of clunky because it had a lot of worldbuilding to get out of the way, a lot of first-installment anxiety--HP didn't really gain a narrative confidence until POA, in my opinion. Which may be why Fellowship of the Ring was so good (IMO)--I always felt like Peter Jackson knew what he was doing and was willing to cut what had to be cut in FOTR, whereas the HP series didn't get that confidence until Cuaron arrived. Again, IMO, because I know there's a lot of disagreement re: POA.

[apey1013.livejournal.com]

What?! I haven't gotten a chance too see it yet, the semester's got another week!

[agentsculder.livejournal.com]

I'm also surprised the movie isn't doing better. My friend and I saw this last week at a sneak preview, and she went again with her mom yesterday. I plan to see it again as well.

I think a lot of people are right that perhaps this got released about a week too early. Since it's a family film, I think a lot of people were planning on seeing this closer to Christmas. And as was brought up, college students who remember the books are busy with finals at the moment.

I would also agree the marketing hasn't been great either. I don't think I've seen many ads on TV. I caught trailers all online, and I was looking for them. I think what may happen is that kids will get the book for Christmas, want to see the film, and then it won't be playing anywhere.

[gabsy.livejournal.com]

That's really sad. I can't wait to see it.

(I wonder if this will affect the PJ/New Line Hobbit fight)

[fengi.livejournal.com]

Well, it's rather tame and the amount of plot may be put people off. It's not The Seeker bad, but it's still merely adequate.

I've thought Dark Materials would work better as a TV miniseries of the entire triology all at once. Then decisions of what to include / exclude could be done with the whole narrative in mind, rather than a mess which tries to be a standalone movie and the first of a series.

Mark Kermode compared it to the play and pointed out that while the evocative puppets and costumes had real weight which the imagination could fill in, the same cannot be said for the CGI.* He also said, and I agree, the film seems like what it is, a product of repeated and contentious edits, and while you can still follow the fragmented plot and characters its hard to be invested if you haven't read it before.

Too bad because the casting is appropriate.

*This is the worst side effect of the recent wave of fantasy movies - legitimization of computer animation is no better and often worse than earlier methods. Studios had decades of practice at making puppets and models seem real and CGI isn't quite there and (for me) their shortcomings are augmented by a lack of physical weight. As Robert Rodriguez's films show, CGI works best when used subtlely to augment physically present items (too bad his work isn't better written or more people might emulate him).

Also I wish someone would break from the idea a fantasy film much be shellacked with an overblown orchestral soundrack. It's just not necessary. Consider Time Bandits - which is a model of restrain in the occasional use of employ silence and non-symphonic music.

[chaosdancer.livejournal.com]

I have to say I think you're right about the lack of weight. I noticed that especially during the polar bear fight. The book had pages of detail about the fight and it almost all had to do with the sheer mass, the weightiness and physical presence of the bears and their fight making the earth shake. There was none of that in the film. They could have jiggled the camera a little, geez! But they could have been paper cutouts for all that we "felt" the movement. I didn't like that aspect.

And the ending...well, I'm not even gonna go there. Despite all that I enjoyed it. But you'd think someone would think of these things.

[mercat.livejournal.com]

I think the finals-issue is a big one; I've talked to lots of people on campus who are waiting to go home to see the movie.

Also, I want to try to pick up and read the book before I see the movie; I tried reading it in fifth grade and failed, but my friend in high school told me I'd really enjoy them. And seeing Harry Potter kind of ruined the books for me (as far as what I see in my head) so I really would like to try to read it before I have the whole story visually laid out for me.

[ninepointfivemm.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I tried to read the books in 6th/7th grade, which is when they came out, and I just couldn't get into them.

I freaking read Les Miserables and half of Great Expectations in 7th grade. Why did I have a hard time with Golden Compass?

[fierywaif.livejournal.com]

I'm sure this will be one of those instances where the international gross will surpass the domestic gross. And hopefully that will be enough to get it a sequel- I mean, Superman Returns barely made back its budget, but it's getting a sequel, we still have hope.

[skyblade.livejournal.com]

The international gross will indeed surpass the domestic--maybe even double it. But that's doubling a figure that barely crosses 200 million.

And Superman Returns is not getting a follow-up. Nobody wants to publicly make anyone feel bad or they want to keep up a hopeful veneer, but the project is going to be put off until it's time for a new reboot.