The Hobbit Film Analysis
Flashback to the summer of 1977, the United States had just celebrated its bi-centennial, Jimmy Carter was in the White house, and the king of rock and roll was in his last days. A bright eyed and bushy tailed young filmmaker named George Lucas was about to launch his newly created project on the world, “Star Wars”. Lucas, not a pedigreed filmmaker by no means, is given the greenlight by 20th century Fox and the budget of 11 million dollars to film his creation. The film was released on Memorial Day weekend of that year, and we all know the rest is history.
Now, flash forward to modern day. The United States is overseas battling foreign powers, the nation’s first African American is in the Whitehouse, and Justin Bieber is dominating our air …show more content…
waves. Is America really different that then we were 40 years ago? In a logistical sense, not really. But as far as Hollywood is concerned, we are different than ever.
In today’s Hollywood, George Lucas would have never been able to convince a major studio to fiancée his original script about a soap opera in outer space. Studios do not want original ideas anymore. Studios want more and more sequels than ever before. But why is that? Is it because they are more profitable? Is it because film critics are more prone to give a project better reviews, if they are familiar with it? Or is it just that the fact that there is no more original, creative ideas life in Hollywood? Using film critic’s reactions to these films, as well as audience reactions and how they translate to box office success and failure, and the upcoming film slate of Disney and their neighboring film studios, we will determine if this recent case of sequelitis is an epidemic that can be cured, or something that is here to stay.
The First reason why the recent trend of sequels being pumped out by Hollywood is a mistake are simple critic reviews. For Example, when Iron Man (2008) was facing its release date, it was a gamble. Iron man was a relative unknown superhero compared to Spiderman or The Hulk, and it was starring Robert Downey JR, who had not had a box office hit in years. But, when the film was released on Memorial Day weekend, Paramount’s gamble paid off big time. The film opened to 100 million dollars on its opening weekend and getting stellar reviews by critics. Roger Ebert called it a superhero film that went against the norm, instead of just showing the audience the shiny exterior of the super suit, the film went deeper and explained to us who the man was inside of the suit. With the success of Iron Man, it was natural for Paramount to greenlight Iron Man 2 as soon as possible. Paramount, knowing the gamble that paid off with Iron Man, hired another rag tag actor in the form of Mickey Rourke to play Ivan Vanko, who pleads revenge on Tony Stark because Stark’s father made Vanko’s go bankrupt. Paramount threw Scarlett Johansson in the mix just for additional eye candy and rushed the sequel for a May 7th 2010 release date. Iron Man 2 was released on May 7th to a luke warm welcome by critics. Christy Limiere of the AP credited the sequel for sticking to Iron Man’s guns, but ultimately just being another generic action film. The audience reacted as such as well and although the film brought in 130 million on its opening weekend, which was 30 million more than its predecessor, when the numbers were finally crunched those only turned into 4 more people seeing the film per showing over the original. Not really the homerun Marvel expected or deserved. What is interesting about this trend is that not only the superhero genre showed this trend at the box office. A very similar thing happened to the Lord of The Rings saga. When The Fellowship of the Ring premiered in 2001, the hype was through the roof and the critical reaction was the same. The Fellowship brought 152 audience members in per showing in the process of bringing in 66 million on its opening weekend. (King,2014) The Two Towers, which was released a year after Fellowship, precussored the trend of Iron Man 2 with its drop at the box office. The film, which critics still loved but agreed that its purpose was to be the middle part of the trilogy, showed a decline in box office returns. The film brought in only 62 million on its opening weekend, which translated to only 118 audience members per showing ( King, 2014), a decrease of 22 percent. The trend was bucked however, the following year when The Return of the King was released. The critics adored the film once again calling it an emotional and satisfying conclusion to the saga. The audience responded as well, making it the highest grossing opening weekend for the saga at 72 million dollars, however the seat count was only 131 compared to 152 ( King, 2014). Even though it brought in more, the seat count was a measly 14% less than the first. The second reason why the recent studios trend of sequels is unjustified is also because of Audience Reactions.
For example, the Hobbit films that were released in the last few years. In 2012, when the first Hobbit was released, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the hype was real. It might have been 9 years later, but with Peter Jackson returning to Middle Earth Fans were hoping for the best. Unfortunately, fan’s dreams were smashed to bits when on December 13, 2012 the film hit theaters, and it was nowhere near what audiences expected. The critics jumped on the film for being long and over draught (which fans threw a blind eye to) and fans rose their expectations. The film went on to only put 82 people ( King,2015) in each showing on opening weekend, and out of those only 68 people on average liked the film ( The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, 2015). Far from the approval rating that The Return of The King of 86% (The Return of the King, 2015) had 10 years prior. Another example of this trend is the Hangover Trilogy. The Hangover was released on Memorial Day weekend of 2009 to stellar reviews and a 44 million dollar opening weekend haul. In fact, the film beat out Warner Brother’s expectations for the weekend and beat out Disney/Pixar’s Up and Universal’s adaption of Land of the Lost for #1. (Fritz, 2015) The Audience reaction was through the roof, at 79% fueling an average of 88 people per opening weekend screening (King,2014). Not bad for a film of relative unknown comedians and the guy who directed Old
School. This audience approval rating led Warner Brother to greenlight a sequel to the film, and on Memorial Day weekend 2011, The Hangover Part II was unleashed onto the world. The film went on to bring in 103 million dollars on opening weekend smashing records of becoming the highest grossing Live Action Comedy of all time (BoxOfficeMojo,2015). But, what was curious about the sequel is that even though the original was instantly a classic, the opposite could be said about the sequel. Critics tore the sequel a new butthole deeming it the same film as the first, only with unfunny jokes. Despite the critics warnings however, Audiences still showed up in drones, marking 93 people per showing. (King,2014) An improvement of 6% for the sequel. However, those audience members who showed up were heavily disappointed. The sequel only got a 52% approval rating from the record breaking audience, a sharp decline of 27% from the original comedy. Despite the lower audience approval rating, Warner Brothers quickly greenlighted a final film in The Hangover Trilogy, targeting a Memorial Day 2013 release date. This time however, the studio responded to the critic and audience’s criticisms of the sequel just being a rehash of the original, and completely changed the story of Part III a full 360. They turned the last film in the franchise into a heist film. Despite the studio responding to the criticism and fixing the story, the damage had been done. The audience had have enough of the Hangover when Part III came out on Memorial Day of 2013. The film only opened to 50 Million Dollars over the 4 day weekend. While it was 6 million more than the 44 million brought in by the original only 4 years earlier, it was a sharp 53 Million drop lower than The Hangover part II. The numbers proved in the audience showing up as well to the box office. Over the 4 day period, each screening only house 49 people. (King,2015) A decline of 53% from only two year’s prior. Despite what Critics and Audiences’ word of mouth are about sequels however is it clear that people will go to see them. This year at the box office, 7 out of the top 10 grossing films of the year are sequels. You could call it 8, since the Disney’s Live action adaption of Cinderella is ranked #7 on the list at 201 million dollars. What is even scarier about this trend is that if you elimate on the list all sequels and adaptions (films based on books, articles, ideas… etc.) there is only one sole original concept film, that being Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out, in the top 10. (Boxofficemojo,2015)
Compare this data to 2014, and there is a decrease of 3 sequels being in the top ten. In fact, the top grossing film in 2014 was American Sniper, the biography about military sniper Chris Kyle. Take one more step back to 2013 and 2012, and the number of sequels in the top ten matches those in 2015 at 8. In fact, looking back, it isn’t until 2010 when the numbers show even a balance of sequels to original ideas at 5 and 5. (Boxofficemojo,2015) The results of this data have not gone unnoticed. In fact, this data has encouraged the studios to greenlight more sequels than ever before. Walt Disney Pictures has on docket 11 films for the 2016 fiscal year. Only 2 of which are original concepts. In fact, basing off of their success with the Marvel franchises, Disney held a press conference where they announced that over the course of the next 4 years, they will release 14 films starring the franchises of the Marvel Universe. (Marvel.com, 2015) Included in this package are sequels to Thor, Avengers, and Ant-Man. But Disney aren’t the only ones jumping on the superhero band wagon. Warner Brothers, who hold the rights to the DC Comics franchise, have announced that they are launching their own DC Cinematic Universe starting with 2012’s Man of Steel. Their next release will be Batman vs. Superman In March of next year, followed by Wonder Woman, Aqua man, Suicide Squad, and even Justice League. (Chitwood, 2015) This trend hasn’t stopped with superheroes however. Universal has announced that they are piggy backing on the Disney trend with the shared cinematic universe, and remaking all of their classic monster films to fit into one universe. Their ultimate goal? To pair up all the Universal Monsters (Frankenstein, Dracula, Mummy, Wolf Man, Invisible Man, and Bride of Frankenstein) and have them team up to take down Satan. Paramount has announced a similar concept to which they are applying their Transformers and GI Joe franchises. Are we as an audience destined to consume only films that share a universe from now on, that all converge in a monster cross-over team up film every 5 or so years? With the recent trends, all signs point to yes. The Studios think they are delivering a product that the audience needs and wants, and by all means we are telling them that we would like said product. Is originality set to die in a few years? Or will the wheel evolve to the point where originality is creative again, only in a different sense? Who knows? But the one thing is clear, with Lucas Films president Kathleen Kennedy coming out last week and saying that if it were up to her, there would be a Star Wars film released every year for the next 100 years, it seems like sequels despite what critics or the audiences want, are here to stay.
Now, flash forward to modern day. The United States is overseas battling foreign powers, the nation’s first African American is in the Whitehouse, and Justin Bieber is dominating our air …show more content…
waves. Is America really different that then we were 40 years ago? In a logistical sense, not really. But as far as Hollywood is concerned, we are different than ever.
In today’s Hollywood, George Lucas would have never been able to convince a major studio to fiancée his original script about a soap opera in outer space. Studios do not want original ideas anymore. Studios want more and more sequels than ever before. But why is that? Is it because they are more profitable? Is it because film critics are more prone to give a project better reviews, if they are familiar with it? Or is it just that the fact that there is no more original, creative ideas life in Hollywood? Using film critic’s reactions to these films, as well as audience reactions and how they translate to box office success and failure, and the upcoming film slate of Disney and their neighboring film studios, we will determine if this recent case of sequelitis is an epidemic that can be cured, or something that is here to stay.
The First reason why the recent trend of sequels being pumped out by Hollywood is a mistake are simple critic reviews. For Example, when Iron Man (2008) was facing its release date, it was a gamble. Iron man was a relative unknown superhero compared to Spiderman or The Hulk, and it was starring Robert Downey JR, who had not had a box office hit in years. But, when the film was released on Memorial Day weekend, Paramount’s gamble paid off big time. The film opened to 100 million dollars on its opening weekend and getting stellar reviews by critics. Roger Ebert called it a superhero film that went against the norm, instead of just showing the audience the shiny exterior of the super suit, the film went deeper and explained to us who the man was inside of the suit. With the success of Iron Man, it was natural for Paramount to greenlight Iron Man 2 as soon as possible. Paramount, knowing the gamble that paid off with Iron Man, hired another rag tag actor in the form of Mickey Rourke to play Ivan Vanko, who pleads revenge on Tony Stark because Stark’s father made Vanko’s go bankrupt. Paramount threw Scarlett Johansson in the mix just for additional eye candy and rushed the sequel for a May 7th 2010 release date. Iron Man 2 was released on May 7th to a luke warm welcome by critics. Christy Limiere of the AP credited the sequel for sticking to Iron Man’s guns, but ultimately just being another generic action film. The audience reacted as such as well and although the film brought in 130 million on its opening weekend, which was 30 million more than its predecessor, when the numbers were finally crunched those only turned into 4 more people seeing the film per showing over the original. Not really the homerun Marvel expected or deserved. What is interesting about this trend is that not only the superhero genre showed this trend at the box office. A very similar thing happened to the Lord of The Rings saga. When The Fellowship of the Ring premiered in 2001, the hype was through the roof and the critical reaction was the same. The Fellowship brought 152 audience members in per showing in the process of bringing in 66 million on its opening weekend. (King,2014) The Two Towers, which was released a year after Fellowship, precussored the trend of Iron Man 2 with its drop at the box office. The film, which critics still loved but agreed that its purpose was to be the middle part of the trilogy, showed a decline in box office returns. The film brought in only 62 million on its opening weekend, which translated to only 118 audience members per showing ( King, 2014), a decrease of 22 percent. The trend was bucked however, the following year when The Return of the King was released. The critics adored the film once again calling it an emotional and satisfying conclusion to the saga. The audience responded as well, making it the highest grossing opening weekend for the saga at 72 million dollars, however the seat count was only 131 compared to 152 ( King, 2014). Even though it brought in more, the seat count was a measly 14% less than the first. The second reason why the recent studios trend of sequels is unjustified is also because of Audience Reactions.
For example, the Hobbit films that were released in the last few years. In 2012, when the first Hobbit was released, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the hype was real. It might have been 9 years later, but with Peter Jackson returning to Middle Earth Fans were hoping for the best. Unfortunately, fan’s dreams were smashed to bits when on December 13, 2012 the film hit theaters, and it was nowhere near what audiences expected. The critics jumped on the film for being long and over draught (which fans threw a blind eye to) and fans rose their expectations. The film went on to only put 82 people ( King,2015) in each showing on opening weekend, and out of those only 68 people on average liked the film ( The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, 2015). Far from the approval rating that The Return of The King of 86% (The Return of the King, 2015) had 10 years prior. Another example of this trend is the Hangover Trilogy. The Hangover was released on Memorial Day weekend of 2009 to stellar reviews and a 44 million dollar opening weekend haul. In fact, the film beat out Warner Brother’s expectations for the weekend and beat out Disney/Pixar’s Up and Universal’s adaption of Land of the Lost for #1. (Fritz, 2015) The Audience reaction was through the roof, at 79% fueling an average of 88 people per opening weekend screening (King,2014). Not bad for a film of relative unknown comedians and the guy who directed Old
School. This audience approval rating led Warner Brother to greenlight a sequel to the film, and on Memorial Day weekend 2011, The Hangover Part II was unleashed onto the world. The film went on to bring in 103 million dollars on opening weekend smashing records of becoming the highest grossing Live Action Comedy of all time (BoxOfficeMojo,2015). But, what was curious about the sequel is that even though the original was instantly a classic, the opposite could be said about the sequel. Critics tore the sequel a new butthole deeming it the same film as the first, only with unfunny jokes. Despite the critics warnings however, Audiences still showed up in drones, marking 93 people per showing. (King,2014) An improvement of 6% for the sequel. However, those audience members who showed up were heavily disappointed. The sequel only got a 52% approval rating from the record breaking audience, a sharp decline of 27% from the original comedy. Despite the lower audience approval rating, Warner Brothers quickly greenlighted a final film in The Hangover Trilogy, targeting a Memorial Day 2013 release date. This time however, the studio responded to the critic and audience’s criticisms of the sequel just being a rehash of the original, and completely changed the story of Part III a full 360. They turned the last film in the franchise into a heist film. Despite the studio responding to the criticism and fixing the story, the damage had been done. The audience had have enough of the Hangover when Part III came out on Memorial Day of 2013. The film only opened to 50 Million Dollars over the 4 day weekend. While it was 6 million more than the 44 million brought in by the original only 4 years earlier, it was a sharp 53 Million drop lower than The Hangover part II. The numbers proved in the audience showing up as well to the box office. Over the 4 day period, each screening only house 49 people. (King,2015) A decline of 53% from only two year’s prior. Despite what Critics and Audiences’ word of mouth are about sequels however is it clear that people will go to see them. This year at the box office, 7 out of the top 10 grossing films of the year are sequels. You could call it 8, since the Disney’s Live action adaption of Cinderella is ranked #7 on the list at 201 million dollars. What is even scarier about this trend is that if you elimate on the list all sequels and adaptions (films based on books, articles, ideas… etc.) there is only one sole original concept film, that being Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out, in the top 10. (Boxofficemojo,2015)
Compare this data to 2014, and there is a decrease of 3 sequels being in the top ten. In fact, the top grossing film in 2014 was American Sniper, the biography about military sniper Chris Kyle. Take one more step back to 2013 and 2012, and the number of sequels in the top ten matches those in 2015 at 8. In fact, looking back, it isn’t until 2010 when the numbers show even a balance of sequels to original ideas at 5 and 5. (Boxofficemojo,2015) The results of this data have not gone unnoticed. In fact, this data has encouraged the studios to greenlight more sequels than ever before. Walt Disney Pictures has on docket 11 films for the 2016 fiscal year. Only 2 of which are original concepts. In fact, basing off of their success with the Marvel franchises, Disney held a press conference where they announced that over the course of the next 4 years, they will release 14 films starring the franchises of the Marvel Universe. (Marvel.com, 2015) Included in this package are sequels to Thor, Avengers, and Ant-Man. But Disney aren’t the only ones jumping on the superhero band wagon. Warner Brothers, who hold the rights to the DC Comics franchise, have announced that they are launching their own DC Cinematic Universe starting with 2012’s Man of Steel. Their next release will be Batman vs. Superman In March of next year, followed by Wonder Woman, Aqua man, Suicide Squad, and even Justice League. (Chitwood, 2015) This trend hasn’t stopped with superheroes however. Universal has announced that they are piggy backing on the Disney trend with the shared cinematic universe, and remaking all of their classic monster films to fit into one universe. Their ultimate goal? To pair up all the Universal Monsters (Frankenstein, Dracula, Mummy, Wolf Man, Invisible Man, and Bride of Frankenstein) and have them team up to take down Satan. Paramount has announced a similar concept to which they are applying their Transformers and GI Joe franchises. Are we as an audience destined to consume only films that share a universe from now on, that all converge in a monster cross-over team up film every 5 or so years? With the recent trends, all signs point to yes. The Studios think they are delivering a product that the audience needs and wants, and by all means we are telling them that we would like said product. Is originality set to die in a few years? Or will the wheel evolve to the point where originality is creative again, only in a different sense? Who knows? But the one thing is clear, with Lucas Films president Kathleen Kennedy coming out last week and saying that if it were up to her, there would be a Star Wars film released every year for the next 100 years, it seems like sequels despite what critics or the audiences want, are here to stay.