shikamaru317 said:
thismeintiel said:
That was November 29th. They probably didn't realize the movie was going to drop so dramatically in December, with few repeat viewings. It's a bad look that it's not even going to come close to hitting 2016's numbers. Might not even hit $200M. Companies don't make movies to break even after all the deals are included. They want to make profit at the box office, and then profit on top of that with the streaming rights and home video purchases.
Actually, your argument is exactly what Sony tried doing for the 2016 film. They said they would make money when you include the product placement, toy sales, tax breaks, and even, pathetically, new purchases of the OG films. We know how that turned out for 2016's sequel. I'll just say, I'm not going to hold my breath for a sequel to Afterlife.
Also, stop with the Covid excuse. That may have worked last year, but not this year. Spider-Man, and to a lesser extent movies like Quiet Place 2, already proved Covid isn't keeping people away from the theater.
And I never said they can't make movies with established audiences. I said they have to stop relying on member berry films, as well as mediocre hero films, hoping the DC or Marvel name will make it profitable. Actually put some freaking effort into the movies, paying respect to OG source, but also telling your own interesting story. Not try to blind people with nostalgia, while the bad taste of the previous failed attempt at a sequel is still in people's mouths, while just copying off of the OG film. TFA is now remembered for the slightly above average member berry film it was at release, and I think Afterlife will be no different in a couple of years.
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I think it's safe to say that Ghostbusters 2016 being awful damaged the reputation of the brand somewhat, which would have lead to alot of fans being skeptical about Afterlife, deciding to instead wait on streaming/rental to watch it (it's the same thing that happened to Solo: A Star Wars Story, people hated The Last Jedi so much that they purposefully skipped seeing Solo in theater even though Solo was a much better movie than TLJ, not amazing, but good at least).
-Snip-
Plus alot of people will see Afterlife on streaming/rental and will enjoy it and be more willing to see a sequel in theater, basically I think Sony realizes that Afterlife is good enough that it will repair alot of the damage that 2016 did to the franchise. I definitely see them greenlighting a sequel once they look at all profits combined (box office, DVD/Blu-Ray, VoD, streaming service licensing, merchandise, product placement revenue [dat Stay Puft money, lol], etc.).
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I doubt 2016 had anything to do with Afterlife's results. If anything, it probably propped up people's opinion of it. If they had made a film not so reliant on "member" moments and had either the OG Ghostbusters the main focus, or at the very least, had them pass it on to adults, I bet the film would have done 1.5x-2x as much. I know me and my family would have watched it. Instead it was a sappy movie that barely had any good comedy in it, and had freaking kids busting ghosts. Which really just pisses on Harold Ramis' opinion from the first movies, since he even said that the proton packs were not for kids. Inserting kids is also what fucked up the Real Ghostbusters cartoon.
Spider-Man doing "very well" is the understatement of the year. It just did $1.05B in just 10 days. The best result for any Spider-Man EVER. In fact, it's already passed every Spider-Man save Far From Home, which will probably happen in a few days. Quiet Place 2 was only down 11% from the original, which isn't anything out of the ordinary. And that was in the height of Delta fear.
If you honestly think Covid is the reason, and not just the mediocre quality of theses new films, there's just going to be no convincing you. But, there's just no argument to have after Spider-Man, and a few others, proved it all wrong. That argument had some teeth in 2020, when not all theaters were open, there were still many unknowns, and there was no vaccine. In 2021, however? Nope. No teeth.
Soundwave said:
People go to franchise IPs for nostalgia, what is really the point otherwise?
It's kind of like going into a McDonalds and throwing a fit inside the restaurant because they "only" serve Bigs Macs, cheeseburgers, fries, and mostly the same stuff from 30-40-50 years ago. You're know what you're going into when you're going into a McDonalds, there's not going to be pasta dishes and a wine menu there all of the sudden, lol.
Same thing for franchise movie sequels especially reboots of IP that is 20+ years old, it's going to be self referential. If you don't like that, go watch something else, just like no one is forcing you to eat at McDonalds. And yes, this is a business, not sure why or when you thought it was something between a charity and artists conclave.
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Spider-Man is a great example of how to do nostalgia right.
Spiderman No Way Home SPOILER:
Spoiler!
Told its own story while bringing characters back that were very nostalgic to many. Hell, in Andrew Garfield's case, actually redeemed his portrayal. There were no scenes that were over sappy and dwelt way too long on the events and objects from of the past. They actually had a little fun with some things from past movies, while still respecting them. The last third also wasn't just the first Tobey Maguire movie all over, again.
Afterlife is how you do it wrong. And the box office shows. Which is why I don't think we'll get a sequel anytime soon. That's the business aspect of it. You're the one who thinks it's a charity and an underperforming film should be given a sequel cause you liked it.
Like you said, we'll see who's right. This will be my last post in here about Afterlife, though. This is supposed to be about the other poor sequel, Resurrections.
Last edited by Hiku - on 26 December 2021
