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BOOM! That's the sound of Luc Besson's "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets." US Weekend total is $17 million, not even a multiple of Friday's $6 million. Costing at least $225 million, "Valerian" is a domestic dud.
The only hope for STX Films on the most expensive indie film ever made is people in non English speaking countries not caring about the story or dialogue. This often the case, and dud films– see "The Mummy" — can find audiences who just want the visual flash.
"Valerian" will have to count on China, Russia, South Korea, and other out of the way locales to bail them out.
The previews looked visually amazing. Was the movie really that bad?
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$225 Million “Valerian” Crashes With $17Mil Weekend, Biggest Loss for Most Expensive Indie Film
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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Nadia Comaneci, simple perfection.
-- '76 Olympics
(Score: 4, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Monday July 24 2017, @04:53PM (31 children)
Has anyone seen it?
Luc Besson also directed the 5th Element. That did poorly in theaters and got pretty bad reviews at the time. It ended up being one of my favorite movies...
(Score: 2) by digitalaudiorock on Monday July 24 2017, @04:55PM (4 children)
I haven't seen it, but now I sort of want to. I loved 5th Element.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday July 24 2017, @05:08PM (3 children)
The 5th element had a pretty impressive cast. This one doesn't quite match.
In the US market, the lack of big names does matter.
I expect they'll make a decent but not fantastic profit on the international markets.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by frojack on Monday July 24 2017, @06:13PM (2 children)
Yup! Witness the utter failure of Star Wars with one big name, and a bunch of nobodies.
Jurassic Park, made more careers than it relied on.
Harry Potter, even reading the credits today brings out a chorus of owls. (Who?).
There were a couple of popular stars in LOTR, but not really that many.
Even Sigourney Weaver was unsung and lost in Avatar.
I actually thing the most successful movie franchises are the ones without a boat load of big name stars with baggage.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday July 24 2017, @06:28PM
All of those (except the first SW, 40 years ago) had giant marketing appeal and established names.
Very few people in the US have ever heard of Valerian, and it releases in the middle of summer, when even Americans seem to be taking vacations. It looks like a generic blockbuster without anything I can tell, besides visuals, to make you think "I think I want to see it".
I will see it eventually. I can see why it's the wrong time given the onslaught of "must see" (may need extra quotes) sequels.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Wednesday July 26 2017, @02:48AM
Yeah, Hedwig, Errol, Hermes, Pigwidgeon, ...
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @05:02PM
And he directed Lucy
That wasn't too bad
fritsd (not logged in)
(Score: 2, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday July 24 2017, @05:05PM (9 children)
See, now I'm torn. The only indie movie I ever thought wasn't pretentious bullshit was The Boondock Saints but I also dug The Fifth Element...
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @05:33PM (3 children)
Shocker! TMB operates on stereotypes instead of rational thinking. Whodathunk?
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday July 24 2017, @05:49PM (2 children)
Your inference was incorrect; I was speaking of my experiences rather than suppositions.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @06:02PM
And the loverly AC was referring to "operating", not cogitating. Look to what people do, not at what they say. (Confucius)
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @07:00PM
Ok then, what were the pretentious indie films you did not like?
As an aside, if you want your comments to be considered within the confines of your personal experience then you should add such a qualifier instead of
Your wording makes it sound like you've seen many indie films and they were all "pretentious bullshit" and you expect the majority of indie films to be such. Stop getting upset when your shitty stereotyping wordplay is turned back on you.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @06:04PM (2 children)
that's funny. i like a lot of indie films but thought boondock saints was highly pretentious and sucky in general.
(Score: 3, Funny) by bob_super on Monday July 24 2017, @06:36PM (1 child)
In the pretentious vein, "Birdman" was the worst I've seen in a while: Every single second of that movie screamed "Please, I deserve an oscar" to a disturbing point.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @08:40PM
Yeah that doesn't sound like a psychopath's rape defense or anything.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Wednesday July 26 2017, @02:53AM (1 child)
Why was this modded flamebait? I loved Boondock Saints, I mean, Billy Connolly as the insane killer father and Willen Dafoe as the classic-music-listening gay FBI agent, it's brilliant. Thank God they never ruined it with some crappy sequel, having to endure something called "Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day" would be dire.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday July 26 2017, @03:31AM
Some folks just gotta get their hate on regularly to keep it from building up and sending them on a shooting spree. It don't bug me, we got plenty of people who don't see the mod system as their own personal spite button, so it balances out on average.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @05:36PM (3 children)
I saw it at the drive in this weekend. It was a gorgeous movie but the plot sucked. And I'm not one that usually complained about a weak plot, but this one barely tied the scenes together.
Dislike and distrust between the different alien races but they all peacefully coexist on the same space station. I mean one of the races tried to eat one of the protagonists... and I'm not sure why.
Or somehow one of the alien races scavenged together a ship, that was then taken aboard another ship, which they then took over the core of the space station without anyone noticing that they had the last remnants of a race on board?
The plot was a real mess, glossed over important information that could have made the movie more coherent.
I wouldn't go see it again, and probably wouldn't even watch it on netflix unless I had nothing better to watch.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Jeremiah Cornelius on Monday July 24 2017, @06:04PM (2 children)
I wonder if this isn't a film destroyed by the editing.
This is often the case, when good writer/director combos eject a plotless dud.
Still, I don't think this film is bombing because of plot. Look at the last few "Furious".
You're betting on the pantomime horse...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by edIII on Monday July 24 2017, @08:21PM (1 child)
Yep. Editing and music selections can make a movie dramatically different.
Legend with Tom Cruise is a good example. The release in the U.S had different editing and music than the European release. I have a LaserDisc copy, and two different releases from torrents. The European release you can get through, but it's too serious and somber with the music. The editing made for an entirely different feel from the U.S release which felt more action packed.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 25 2017, @03:58AM
So, they found 2 different ways to make it suck?
(Score: 2, Informative) by DaTrueDave on Monday July 24 2017, @05:45PM
Didn't he also do The Professional. Now that was a damn fine film.
(Score: 2) by r1348 on Monday July 24 2017, @06:32PM (2 children)
Luc Besson also recently directed Lucy, and that movie was crap.
Also, the 5th element is Love. Who could have seen that coming now?
(Score: 2) by epitaxial on Monday July 24 2017, @07:49PM (1 child)
Neck beards get their panties in a bunch of the tag line of Lucy. It's an absurd action film done by a director with a unique style. Are you upset that Jurassic World isn't scientifically accurate?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @08:44PM
Are you sure it isn't because the name of the movie and its premise is just a condescending little joke about LSD?
(Score: 3, Informative) by microtodd on Monday July 24 2017, @06:35PM (1 child)
Poorly in theaters?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fifth_Element#Box_office [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @08:02PM
Awesome link, or I loved this part:
(Score: 3, Interesting) by CoolHand on Monday July 24 2017, @07:00PM
I saw it Saturday night... It was kind of what I expected from a summer sci-fi space opera movie.. Not too heavy of plot, a lot of action, special effects, and fun.. My son I saw it with and I both gave it about a 4/5 rating after we left the theater. It probably would have been great 20 years ago, but there just wasn't much we hadn't seen before. That is unfortunate, since I guess that the French comic that this was based upon actually influenced a lot of those early Sci-Fi films that make this seem old hat. Still, I went in expecting all that, and I came out entertained, which was all I was hoping.
Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job-Douglas Adams
(Score: 2) by epitaxial on Monday July 24 2017, @07:47PM (2 children)
Story was alright but the visuals were amazing. Bright colorful and not cartoon like at all. The movie wasn't shot in 3d and there were no "gimmick" shots but the effect really brought all the background details into focus. The chase scene early on with the hidden marketplace was pretty unique. This movie is exactly what it looks like.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by krishnoid on Monday July 24 2017, @10:28PM (1 child)
Sounds a lot like Jupiter Ascending [uproxx.com]:
I have to wonder if it wouldn't be fun to take these one-shot visually amazing movies, cut them up, rewrite the entire script, and subtitle them over the edited (and possibly reordered) silent visual clips to make it into something watchable.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 25 2017, @03:18PM
Way better than Jupiter Ascending. JS was just a typical so-so Hollywood popcorn flick. Valerian is just different frim what NA critics and audiences are used to. The weakest part is actually the scene in Mega Market, the second sequence in the movie, something added by the director. Valerian is cocky to a point where it endangers the mission. It claahes with the character's more stolid persona ftom the comic. You don't get 7 Medals of Honor by being an overconfident jackass who gets most of your support team killed.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 25 2017, @03:05PM
The plot is a little weak, and the movie style and European pacing is very different from what North American audiences and critics are used to. It's based on a young adult graphic novel and is mostly true to the feel of the source material. It has a bit of a feel of The Fifth Element, but the acting and plot are better in Valerian. Visually, it's amazing, and most aliens are more alien than in SW, though there are still a lot of bipedals. Since I wear glasses, I find 3D extra distracting and so was happy to see it in regular.
Honestly, it's no worse than most superhero flicks and very different. If you're open to something a little different, you should see it.