Despicable Me 2 VS The Lone Ranger
Battle for Movie Dollars July 5th weekend.
Despicable Me 2 VS The Lone Ranger - will be a battle between Universal and Disney movie studios.
Of course Despicable Me will do much better than The Lone Ranger. I am not sure about the timing for the Lone Ranger. July 4th weekend will usually be huge but why not debut the Lone Ranger a week earlier or a week later.
I believe going up against a real poplar movie and now a Ride\Attraction will be difficult. I am sure there a many Disney fans also Johnny Deep fans that will see the Lone Ranger, but I can’t see that movie coming in close to Despicable Me totals for that weekend.
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I have no clue, but since there's a local cheap theatre where I live, I can see both in 2D for a combined total of $3.50 as opposed to $20. Of course, I do have to wait a few months, but I'm a patient guy. It won't be long until I soon see Iron Man 3.
Most likely Despicable Me. I don't care for the first Despicable Me, so I'm rooting for Lone Ranger (DL AP screenings said it's POTC in the west but on Black Pearl standards).
Despicable Me proved its self to audiences kids and adults alike. My dad who always bills a movie as just ok even said the first was good. Also, I'm almost 100% positive most people would go just for the minions. And they are in fact making a movie just based off the minions for release in December 2014 (not to sure on release date)
Despicable Me for sure. The marketing just seems a lot bigger, and the first one was surprisingly good. The Lone Ranger looks fine to me, but I'm hearing several complaints about it from some people.
Animated movies do really well these days, but I wouldn't rule out Lone Ranger. Both movies will earn a lot of money in the 4th of July weekend.
Despicable Me will make the most money, for the same reasons people have already mentioned.
Personally I'm excited for the Lone Ranger especially after attending the world premier at California Adventure. It was a good time, and Disney did a fantastic job with the event.
I really could care less which wins at the box office, I plan to see them both anyway so I guess I win.
From James Rao
Posted July 4, 2013 at 2:00 PM
After Tuesday night and Wednesday, DM2 is at about $40M domestic, and LR at $12M, so I guess that's that. However, I actually went and saw LR yesterday and despite all the venom from critics I thought it was a darn good flick. It had action, adventure, laughs, wonderful, sweeping photography and music, and some tremendous stunts. I enjoyed it immensely and recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys westerns and/or action flicks. Furthermore, it is one of those films that truly benefits from the "big screen" and will be somewhat diminished on your home set. Sadly, it is probably destined to be this year's John Carter, which was also a very underrated film.
As for DM2, I'll catch it on Netflix. I am sure it is a fine movie, but not something that requires the big screen for added enjoyment.
I'm also looking forward to the Lone Ranger because it seems like good blockbuster fun. Unfortunately though I was hoping that with high enough box office numbers, than Disney might have decided to add an attraction based on the film in Frontierland at Disneland, which has some space to grow in the area behind Big Thunder. Early box office predictions and results are not supportive of this blue sky idea.
I dragged myself along with my sister to see Despicable Me 2, and it was a pleasant experience. The charm of the first one has diminished a lot, and there's plenty of cliches and predictability, but it's a cute summer movie that most people can enjoy.
I saw Lone Ranger today, and I enjoyed it. It has everything I look for in a summer movie. Much more entertaining than the CGI overkill of Man of Steel. On the other hand, Despicable Me is not appealing to me. I don't plan to see it.
Next movie that I want to see = Pacific Rim
I didn't personally like Man of Steel and don't anticipate seeing The Lone Ranger in theaters but will most likely get it off netflix.
I enjoyed Man of Steel, but that ending, holy crap it wouldn't end! And yes, Pacific Rim looks amazing.
Man of Steel was the best movie I've seen this year. I don't know of any summer blockbusters that might rival it, except maybe Elysium.
I'm sticking with my opinion on how horrible Man of Steel was. Back onto topic, from what I can gather Lone Ranger's Budget was approx $215–250 million. So far (Through Friday) it has only made $30,161,000. I would say that this so far reflects the opening of After Earth. It made most of it's money internationally and didn't do very well in the U.S. I believe Lone Ranger will probably do the same thing. Make a decent but not enough money in the U.S. but make a good amount overseas. Than there is Despicable Me 2. The budget for the movie was $76 million and has already made all the budget back plus more and currently has grossed $134,600,000 almost twice it's budget. However I don't predict Despicable Me 2 will be a huge success overseas compared to the Lone Ranger. But I don't think it will make a difference. And I too think Pacific Rim looks pretty good.
Also, Kevin Heart: Let Me Explain, has made a decent suprising amount of money at $7,360,704.
Well, looks like this question has been answered. Something I read today said Lone Ranger actually made LESS for the Fr/Sat/Sun portion of its opening weekend than John Carter did. And I'm not trying to re-open a debate about the merits of the latter film. I didn't see it and have zero desire to, but bottom line, it was not a successful film. Argue about foreign markets and this and that, but you don't take a $200M write-down on a movie that made any kind of a profit.
Let's not forget how much money is down the cra**er Disney spent trying to market the film.
Actually in Russia John Carter set box office records (or something like that) and made a ton of cash in foreign markets. But how much of an interest do foreign markets have on a western movie placed in the U.S. "Old West"?
Also two other things. The budget was originally supposed to be higher for the Lone Ranger which could have made it worse for this kind of opening. Also, Jack the Giant Slayer has already bombed in the Box Office this year so keep in mind we could have two big flops this year. On a side note I just got out of Despicable Me 2 and thought it was great. The minions really make the movie better than it would be with just Steve Carell.
From N B
Posted July 7, 2013 at 11:28 PM
According to MSN, the original budget for The Lone Ranger was 215 million but the movie actually ended up costing $250M by the time it was finished.
Poor Iger......
I just checked and counting the international sales - Lone Ranger did $73 Million...
Maybe Disney can break even after DVD sales come out.... So it is not a total flop...
Remember that the rule of thumb in the movie industry is that actual cost is two times the budget. If a movie does $250 million box office, only a portion of that goes to the movie studio, the rest, on a weekly sliding scale goes to the theaters.Then add in marketing, film copies, cost for screens usage & sales returns to theaters, sales force & costs,licensing fees, office & accounting & every other conceivable cost to a studio. So the actual break even cost for a $250 million movie is actually in the area of $500 million. Even with future dvd and associated cable & download sales, which also have large costs figured in, it's difficult for a high budget film to make it's money back if it has a lack luster performance.
Yeah Rob, you're on target. I took a course in college where the figure was actually *TWO AND A HALF* times the production budget to break even, according to the professor, who was a former development executive at Warner Bros.
Yes, Mike, you're right on. I used the twice figure as a conservative number. It is usually closer to 2 1/2, give or take some millions. Studios actually also use a percentage number that reflects "all" studio related costs. That's one reason it's difficult for talent to make money on net profit percentage deals, since there often is not any bottom line. The Lone Ranger will end up being a tax write off deal. No way it ends in the black. The loss numbers will probably end up similar to John Carter, huge... It's a shame too. I've been reading the forums and most of the writers liked the movie. It probably just had a bad demographic appeal, which is death for a high budget film.
From N B
Posted July 8, 2013 at 1:09 PM
Disney should have sunk the money from John Carter and the Lone Ranger into it's parks instead of making over the top movies that nobody wants to see. Disco Yeti....
I love how an all dialog move with no special effects can make a tidy profit.
From N B
Posted July 8, 2013 at 1:09 PM
The first weekend usually says it all. Despicable Me 2 ranks in $142 million in 5 days, beating out (for lack of a better word) Lone Ranger's $49 million. This just further proves that Universal made a wise decision replacing Jimmy Neutron and a movie with characters that all ages can enjoy trumps the rest.
I saw the Lone Ranger over the weekend as well, I must say I was pleasantly surprised. I thought it was just as good as the first POTC movie. I think part of the problem is too many people rely on Rotten Tomatoes and other such sites to see what the critics have to say before they go and see a movie which is a poor guide to follow.
I think Lone Ranger has a much more narrow viewing base than Despicable Me 2.
I saw neither, but I must be the only person that didn't like the first Despicable Me and HATED the ride at Universal.
Actually not only rotten tomatoes gave Lone Ranger horrendous reviews. Many MANY people gave it bad reviews and the user reviews haven't been overwhelmingly good either.
You're not alone Anthony. The ride is good, but the movie is blech IMO.
From James Rao
Posted July 9, 2013 at 9:29 AM
While the critics have largely panned the Lone Ranger, average Joe's like you and me have not. The User Reviews on Metacritic are overwhelmingly positive, and the CinemaScore for the film was a solid B+. Now, obviously, America was not clamoring for a Lone Ranger movie, that fact is obvious, but non-critics who actually see the film seem to like it. I know I did. Again, I urge you to form your own opinion.
As for the comment about "poor Iger" - well, good, old Bob is running a $40B+ revenue company, so a $150M write down, while painful, is not a huge deal. Also consider that the whole mess can be blamed on the former Disney Studio chairman, Rich Ross, who Iger replaced with Alan Horn when Lone Ranger was already far into principle shooting. Furthermore, the real reason Lone Ranger was even produced was to guarantee a fifth Pirates movie. And since the last Pirates film grossed over a billion dollars, I think Iger will take the trade. He definitely does not need our sympathy!
Actually Rich Ross was the one who made them lower the budget for Lone Ranger in the first place. And last time I checked metacritic users only had the movie rated around a 6.8ish. And rotten tomatoes only had it at around a 65%.
From James Rao
Posted July 9, 2013 at 11:47 AM
Rich Ross is still going to be the scapegoat - he should have stopped the budget at about $100M based on the current box office trend of the film.
And there are 55 positive user reviews on Metacritic vs 15 negative. That result is "overwhelmingly positive", imho.
Yes but their overall rating is 6.7 which IMHO is just OK to not so great. Would you consider getting a 67% on a really important test or report good for anyone to get?
So basically 7 out of 10 people who have seen the movie like it, While this is not great it is certainly better that the 25% of the critics who liked it.
From James Rao
Posted July 9, 2013 at 3:28 PM
For most movies these days, 67 ain't bad. On Metacritic it's like a B-.
Now, in college I was a straight A student, but in high school that B- would have been more than swell!
From N B
Posted July 9, 2013 at 4:20 PM
I mentioned Iger because he supposedly pulled the plug on this movie. When you see hundreds of millions wasted on overblown budget films, it makes you think how that money could have been better spent.
By the way, I will more than likely watch The Lone Ranger when it comes out on DVD / Blu Ray. It doesn't look like a bad movie at all, just a bit long for kids.
From James Rao
Posted July 9, 2013 at 4:51 PM
I think the hope was that Lone Ranger would hit big and lead to future park expansion. But now we'll never know.
Disney just needs to focus on Star Wars, Marvel, Pirates, Princesses, and Pixar. Those five properties are a license to print money for both the film and theme park divisions.
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