X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX directed by Simon Kinberg (11/2/18) 4 4

[Anfield Fox]

What I didn't understand

Spoiler

What was the point of having Quicksilver get hurt in the first act? And then missing from the rest of the film apart from one tiny scene at the end? Evan Peters has been one of the highlights of the "young X-Men".

 

[Anfield Fox]

Do you guys think that Marvel will use the comic costumes when they go into the MCU? It's been one of the most frustrating things that Fox never had them in costume.

[Bosco685]

5 minutes ago, Anfield Fox said:

What I didn't understand

  Hide contents

What was the point of having Quicksilver get hurt in the first act? And then missing from the rest of the film apart from one tiny scene at the end? Evan Peters has been one of the highlights of the "young X-Men".

 

I didn't understand that either, other than...

Spoiler

Between X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse, Quicksilver was given a lot of screen time compared to the other characters.

This go-around, it was Cyclops, Storm and Nightcrawler front-and-center. Which was nice versus feeling like they are window dressing and nothing more.

 

[Bosco685]

6 minutes ago, Anfield Fox said:

Do you guys think that Marvel will use the comic costumes when they go into the MCU? It's been one of the most frustrating things that Fox never had them in costume.

Although I was okay with the Dark Phoenix costumes, I really wish they had stuck with the X-Men: Apocalypse Danger Room uniforms.

[Anfield Fox]

8 minutes ago, Bosco685 said:

Although I was okay with the Dark Phoenix costumes, I really wish they had stuck with the X-Men: Apocalypse Danger Room uniforms.

Wow forgot about those. Yes i really hope Marvel will use something similar to that but still room for improvement.

[Bosco685]

12 minutes ago, Anfield Fox said:

Wow forgot about those. Yes i really hope Marvel will use something similar to that but still room for improvement.

Loved that ending.

 

[Gatsby77]

Damn.

I just checked Rotten Tomatoes to see it's at 22%.

That's worse than both Ghost Rider (27%) and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (35%), too of the most horrifically bad / awesome films I've ever paid to see in the theater. And I was gleefully drunk for both.

There may not be enough alcohol in the world for me to see this in the theater, even the $2 one.

[Bosco685]

Have some digital comic reading to do today, as Regal and Fandango were providing this per ticket.

[Bosco685]

DEADLINE: ‘Dark Phoenix’ Flaps To $28M In China Through Friday; Full Overseas Weekend Still Flying Low

Quote

SATURDAY AM UPDATE: While it’s flailing domestically and certainly struggling abroad, Disney/Fox’s Dark Phoenix had a $15.2M Friday in China, rising about 26% over Thursday and on the first full day of the Dragon Boat Festival. The cume there through yesterday is estimated at roughly $28M with a solid No. 1 showing. However, a drop is expected in today’s play (as well as on Sunday) and the full weekend is looking at a possible $45M-$50M, depending on the holds.

 

That figure would be better than the unadjusted debut of Days Of Future Past, but down on Apocalypse, and roughly on par with Logan. Still, each of those had 3-day openings whereas Dark Phoenix is in a 4-day bow that includes a holiday. Social scores on the film are low at 7.7 on Maoyan and 6 on Douban. Maoyan is currently predicting a $72.4M (RMB 500.1M) final in China, not a good look for this bird.

 

Dark Phoenix’s full international box office cume through Thursday, and not including China’s Friday, was roughly $28M. Also not included in that running total is Korea‘s Friday where the movie made 1B won ($846K) for a local cume of just $3.64M through yesterday. It’s in 3rd place behind the powerful continued performances of Parasite and Aladdin, per Kobiz.

 

The full launch session on the poorly reviewed Dark Phoenix will come in at the low end of pre-weekend projections, possibly around $115M for all offshore markets save Japan and Indonesia where it is still to bow in the coming weeks. That’s down on both Days Of Future Past ($148M in like-for-like markets at today’s rates) and Apocalypse ($134M).

 

Mexico was the key major to begin play on Friday with numbers to come.

 

[paperheart]

36 minutes ago, Gatsby77 said:

Damn.

I just checked Rotten Tomatoes to see it's at 22%.

That's worse than both Ghost Rider (27%) and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (35%), too of the most horrifically bad / awesome films I've ever paid to see in the theater. And I was gleefully drunk for both.

There may not be enough alcohol in the world for me to see this in the theater, even the $2 one.

may have to make your decision quickly, this has remainder bin ASAP written all over it

[Bosco685]

 

[musicmeta]

I guess I better go see this in the theatre pretty quick.  Looks like a short life in the theaters based on the box office and most of the reviews.  I want to see how well Sophie Turner performs.  That's my main draw for me.

Edited June 8, 2019 by musicmeta

[Gatsby77]

That's not good.

For reference, Ghost Rider had an opening weekend of $45.4 million domestic back in 2007.

It also means a major X-men film will have opened to $20 million less than umm...Ant-Man.

Edited June 8, 2019 by Gatsby77

[drotto]

I guess the question is now, why did Disney allow this movie to be released, and does it hurt the prospects of a MCU reboot? Disney has already stated there would be at least 5 years till we see the X-Men again. Will the performance of this film affect those plans, or will it end up in an odd way help because audiences will now see the characters as being in "competent" hands?

[@therealsilvermane]

22 hours ago, @therealsilvermane said:

23 hours ago, drotto said:

I agree that the Dark Pheonix saga is done as far as movies go, but calling it dated I highly disagree.

What I mean by dated is that heroes who die don't stay dead anymore, as evidenced by Jean Grey alive and well in the Marvel Comics now. While the Dark Phoenix Saga is still a great story, its importance, I think, was lost when they brought Jean Grey back and continue to bring back characters from the dead.

 

22 hours ago, TwoPiece said:

Which is why it's important for characters to stay dead in the film universes.

But maybe in addition to dead characters not staying dead, perhaps the Dark Phoenix Saga is just too depressing a tale for modern times? I mean, the big finale for the original comic story was that Jean Grey couldn't exorcise the demon within her, so she kills herself. That's a very 70's-80's way of solving things. In the old days, if doctors couldn't fix your mental ills, you got locked away in an asylum. Nowadays, there's a cure or a pill for everything. And maybe super-hero blockbusters should be a little more upbeat, have a little hope. T:here's nothing hopeful about the original Dark Phoenix Saga. Jean Grey must die. That was the only solution. It's a dated story.

Edited June 8, 2019 by @therealsilvermane

[drotto]

1 minute ago, @therealsilvermane said:

 

But maybe in addition to dead characters not staying dead, perhaps the Dark Phoenix Saga is just too depressing a tale for modern times?  mean, the big finale for the original comic story was that Jean Grey couldn't exorcise the demon within her, so she kills herself. That's a very 70's-80's way of solving things. In the old days, if doctors couldn't fix your mental ills, you got locked away in an asylum. Nowadays, there's a cure or a pill for everything. And maybe super-hero blockbusters should be a little more upbeat, have a little hope. T:here's nothing hopeful about the original Dark Phoenix Saga. Jean Grey must die. That was the only solution. It's a dated story.

Again, the basic underpinnings of the story are timeless. It is a classic story combining the threads of absolute power corrupts absolutely (which the subverted expectations way before it became trendy), and the arc of the tragic hero.  Yes, bringing Jean back cheapened the story,  but I do not see it as a tale of mental illness. 

 

As for being too dark, many current TV series are very dark, even more so then Dark Pheonix because that story establishes that her humanity in the end wins over the Pheonix Force.  That is a glimmer of hope for humanity despite her death. I see no such hope in stories like GOT, Walking Dead, etc. 

 

I think ultimately it is a story that does not work in a short movie format.  It is a story that is perfect for long format serial TV, but do not think it will ever get the chance.

[@therealsilvermane]

On 6/7/2019 at 12:17 PM, Broke as a Joke said:

As people go and see this, we should have a poll for which is the better movie.  The Last Stand or Dark Phoenix?

I think Dark Phoenix is the better movie. Even though the ----script and plot for DP is a mess, I do appreciate that the movie followed the comic book story a little more faithfully. 

Spoiler

There was the Phoenix Force that possesses Jean when they're in outer space, like the comics. There is an outsider influencing Jean Grey for their own dark purpose, kind of like the comics. Jean Grey visits her home with bad results, like the comic. This time, Scott Summers is a factor in the story, like the comics. There is a psi-showdown between Jean Grey and Professor X with Charles able to win, like the comics. And there's a dark ending, like the comics.

It's obvious to me that Simon Kinberg has no business directing a movie. The actors seemed to be on their own at times, though some of them really brought it where it counted in key scenes. I appreciated that at least. 

Also, there wasn't a poorly conceived Juggernaut character with that cringe line in DP. And no Brett Ratner, either.

Edited June 8, 2019 by @therealsilvermane

[234wallst]

59 minutes ago, drotto said:

I guess the question is now, why did Disney allow this movie to be released, and does it hurt the prospects of a MCU reboot? Disney has already stated there would be at least 5 years till we see the X-Men again. Will the performance of this film affect those plans, or will it end up in an odd way help because audiences will now see the characters as being in "competent" hands?

Production costs were probably north of $200m.  Better to get as much of that back as possible - there's no way they don't release it and just swallow that cost.  Not like Disney (or any studio for that matter) doesn't have its own share of flops.  As bad as 2015 F4 was (another Simon Kinberg disaster), it still pulled in $167m globally.  DP should make at least that much if not more.  

[Bosco685]

10 minutes ago, 234wallst said:

Production costs were probably north of $200m.  Better to get as much of that back as possible - there's no way they don't release it and just swallow that cost.  Not like Disney (or any studio for that matter) doesn't have its own share of flops.  As bad as 2015 F4 was (another Simon Kinberg disaster), it still pulled in $167m globally.  DP should make at least that much if not more.  

The figure being quoted from multiple sources is $200M due to the reshoots. Not sure what you mean by 'probably north of' other than assuming it is above that.

SCREEN RANT: $200M production budget

Comic Book Resources: $200M production budget

THE-NUMBERS: $200M production budget

VARIETY: 'Hefty' $200M production budget

So I'm thinking $300M, easily. 

[@therealsilvermane]

1 hour ago, drotto said:

I guess the question is now, why did Disney allow this movie to be released, and does it hurt the prospects of a MCU reboot? Disney has already stated there would be at least 5 years till we see the X-Men again. Will the performance of this film affect those plans, or will it end up in an odd way help because audiences will now see the characters as being in "competent" hands?

The MCU is mainstream enough now that I think the general public understands that these X-Men movies don't tie in to the Avengers movies, which contributes to the lack of interest, I think.

The MCU is what has captured the moviegoing public's imagination. They could throw Squirrel Girl into the mix and people would go see it. The X-Men and "X-Women" should be fine with Disney. They just need to give it a rest for a few years. It'd be cool I think if they introduced Logan and Charles Xavier first, let us get to know them as players in the MCU before introducing Xavier's School for Muties. That way, after we finally meet the Professor's younglings, when Logan joins them, he can be the one who brings x-perience to the X-Humans team.