Movie Reviews 2.0

Matrix 4 flopped horribly, The movie is said to have had a budget of 190 million USD which is the same amount as Dune Part 2 had. Source: https://variety.com/2021/film/box-office/spiderman-billion-dollars-box-office-pandemic-1235143308/

In addition, advertising costs are at least 100 million USD. Matrix 4 needed a gross above 450 million USD to break even. It only made 160 million USD. Source: https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt10838180/?ref_=bo_se_r_2
This makes it a loss-making business of hundreds of millions USD.


In the USA, 50 % of cinema ticket revenues go to the film companies. Worldwide, the average is around 40 % and in China it is 25 %. If a film earns a disproportionately high amount in China the film must gross much more than if the largest share of sales is in the USA.

Distribution of breakeven multipliers, calculated using ROI breakeven point: Updated total revenues (as calculated by deadline) vs box office gross, now with linear model fitting!: Two variable model for estimating the breakeven multiplier of a film.: How to estimate the breakeven multiplier for a film based on what fraction of its gross is domestic:
Even Martal Kombat opened bigger than Matrix 4 with it's 12 million USD opening.
 
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Matrix Resurrections was a terrible movie anyone I looked at it. Every Matrix movie went downhill from the first one and this will continue the trend imho.

The reason the original was so good is because they stole the plot from someone else and the reason all the sequels suck is because they actually had to make up the stories for them since the source they ripped off for the original had no more material after the stuff covered in the first movie.

I cringe just thinking about a Matrix 4 movie, I'm hoping I'm wrong though.
 
What plot did the original steal from?
None. Apparently I had fallen for some rumors and well spread half truths. I apologize for my mistake, here's the quick bit from the long article. The courts found the Matrix to be an original work after two different authors accused the Wachowskis of ripping off their work, the courts disagreed with that and found for the Wachowskis in both cases.

Was a woman who wrote an original story more than 30 years ago plagiarized then deposed by the powerful Hollywood machine? Was she awarded billions after a heated lawsuit? A claim that has circulated around the Internet for years says so, but in actuality it’s little more than a longstanding legend.

Since 2005, multiple stories have popped up on the Internet about Sophia Stewart, a writer who now lives in Las Vegas, winning a judgment against Andy and Larry (now Lana) Wachowski, 20th Century Fox and director James Cameron among others, and being awarded millions in damages. One from thaindian.com, dated 2009, makes the phony claim, which has found its way to various Facebook accounts and a since-corrected CNN iReport. Before being corrected, that iReport went viral again early this week.

According to court documents obtained by TIME, those stories are false. In the case of a lawsuit filed in 2003 claiming damages, Stewart alleged that the idea of the 1984 film The Terminator and the 1999 film The Matrix were stolen from her own screen treatment entitled “The Third Eye,” which was copyrighted in 1983. The documents show that Stewart claimed she was defrauded of $200 million, plus royalties, a hefty sum if she could prove that the Wachowskis and Cameron had ripped her off. On her website, where she dubs herself “The Mother of the Matrix,” Stewart says she answered a magazine ad in 1986 that said the Wachowskis were soliciting science fiction stories to be made into a comic book, but after she sent it she never heard from the defendants.
 
The first Matrix film was the best. The others didn't bring anything new but had nice scenes like the action chase scene on the motorway.

Matrix Resurrections sucked, but it was also released in cinemas at the height of the pandemic. Also, I have no idea how that movie could cost 190 MUSD, it doesn't really show on screen.
I wonder about some films.

Fast X had a budget of 340 million USD and it looks cheap. Indiana Jones 5 cost USD 300 million. The Expendables 3 cost USD 80 million and Renfield USD 65 million. In all of them the money is not seen on the screen.

Dune costs 190 million USD and looks much more elaborate and epic. The same applies to The Creator with it's 85 million USD budget.

Looks so, still not available in Germany, preorder only, maybe next week?
Hopefully it takes a bit more time before the film is available to stream. I want Dune part 2 to reach 700 million USD and to be the most successful movie of the year. This would be a good statement if such a movie were to be number 1. I will probably watch it a third time in the cinema. I've also bought the book and for the UHD BD I want the steelbook which is always sold out.

It's biggest rivals in cinema revenues are Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (also WB movie) and the Deadpool & Wolverine. I don't think The Fall Guy will be in the same order of magnitude but the advertising has been very successful so far.
 
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the first matrix is the best, no doubt, but going back to it reveals bad sound design that was very distracting for me
the desert eagle sound in the very beginning is incredibly like a bad game audio
 
Fast X had a budget of 340 million USD and it looks cheap

How much of that went on paying the so-called talent though? Diesel, Statham, Johnson, Rodriguez, Emmanuel, Momoa and others they aren't coming for cheap. Especially as they might know (or hope) that that franchise is a money-printing machine and they are good until at least Fast LXXVII. If the cost for the top half-dozen stars was less than $100M I'd be a bit surprised.

Dune and Dune 2 honestly though just knock it out of the park. Stunning movies and a cinematographical par de force. The LOTR trilogy of the 2020s IMO.
 
For me it was clear from the USD 82 million opening in the USA that there would be the next Dune film. However, Villeneuve's recent statements have been somewhat unsettling. Now it's confirmed. Waiting any longer would probably have a negative impact on audience figures.

But he is right in saying that it is very exhausting to have to deal with the same scenario for so many years. Unlike actors who only shoot for 2-3 months, as a director you are involved with the project for 2-3 years. With 3 films, he will soon have dedicated a decade to Dune. Work on Dune began shortly after BladeRunner 2049 which was released in cinemas in 2017.

His next film after Dune which is bout a nuclear counter-attack also sounds interesting.

How much of that went on paying the so-called talent though? Diesel, Statham, Johnson, Rodriguez, Emmanuel, Momoa and others they aren't coming for cheap. Especially as they might know (or hope) that that franchise is a money-printing machine and they are good until at least Fast LXXVII. If the cost for the top half-dozen stars was less than $100M I'd be a bit surprised.

Dune and Dune 2 honestly though just knock it out of the park. Stunning movies and a cinematographical par de force. The LOTR trilogy of the 2020s IMO.
You could save a bit on that. In my opinion many famous actors are overpaid. They don't attract as many viewers to the film which would justify fees of USD 15 million. Otherwise we wouldn't have films with very well-known actors which are sometimes huge financial flops. If anything, it's the media buzz that makes a difference. One of the few actors who always attracts a lot of viewers to films is Tom Cruise.

On the other side I even find some of the salaries in Dune 2 surprisingly low/reasonable.

Fast X numbers:
 
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The third Dune movie is now official.
Still haven't seen the first two. I didn't get why the book was such a big deal, but a whole lot of people seem to disagree.

Also still sort of feeling burnt by the Sting version from back in the day. Talk about a movie flaming out!
 
Still haven't seen the first two. I didn't get why the book was such a big deal, but a whole lot of people seem to disagree.

Also still sort of feeling burnt by the Sting version from back in the day. Talk about a movie flaming out!
watch the new dunes oooooooooooooooooooomg
 
Both miniseries are also quite excellent.

Can't say that I though the first was very good. It's far too literal an adaption of the source text. The production design also sucks and that's not just them stretching a TV budget.

I didn't mind Children as much. McAvoy's always good value, as much as anything.
 
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