Has Guardians of the Galaxy already won August

[Shark_Blade]

Originally Posted by Leo656

Platinum Dunes and Co. have never made a good movie.

That's up to individual perception. I immensely enjoyed these movies from them, they're absolute gems.

• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
• The Amityville Horror
• The Hitcher

And the director Jonathan Liebesman made Wrath of the Titans. Another masterpiece.

I have nothing to worry about, I have faith in them.

[Candy Kappa]

The PD Texas Chainsaw movie is the only movie I've ever fallen asleep to.

[Leo656]

I did like Amityville, but I never cared for the original much, or the entire franchise, so all I wanted going into it was for it to clear what was, in my mind, a pretty low bar. I also dug the Friday the 13th remake, but I gotta admit, take out the sex scene with the stacked blond chick and I'm about 20% less into the whole thing. It was a clever update, but not terrific, or even creative. It was just "all the old movies squeezed into one movie", more or less, and they did it well, but it wasn't a great movie in and of itself. I'm a huge Freddy fan, and thought Jackie Earl Haley was a great choice for the Nightmare On Elm St. remake, but that movie underwhelmed me. If I wasn't a huge fan of the property, I probably would have hated it as much as most people did. It was pretty boring and unoriginal, not a very imaginative "re-imagining" at all. Unlike "New Nightmare, which I didn't "get" when I first saw it but is actually friggin' brilliant and gets better every time I watch it

There's good and bad ways to update existing properties. Platinum Dunes isn't great at it. I can admit that, even if I like some of their stuff. But I also admit, I liked those movies partly because I already wanted to like them. If I knew nothing of the characters or the properties beforehand, I probably would not have enjoyed them as much at all.

As far as TMNT 1 and 2 and the box office revenue, my point was, based on how big a franchise TMNT was at the time, independent film or no, they could have done a lot better. Not every single TMNT fan saw, or liked, the movies, which is what some people are claiming will happen with the new movie, that a billion TMNT fans will equal massive worldwide box office success. It might, but it would be a first. I'm simply trying to explain that just because TMNT is and has been crazy popular, that doesn't, and hasn't, always translated to ticket sales. "Batman" ended up making $400 million around the same time. TMNT at the time WAS popular enough for the movie to have drawn that much, but they didn't. Independent film or no, over $100 million notwithstanding, my point still stands: Not EVERY fan bought a ticket out of loyalty to TMNT, or else they could have done Batman business, or at least 2/3s of it. That's what I'm going by when I say it did "just OK". Compared to a franchise of equal popularity that released a movie in the same time frame - and honestly, prior to Burton's movie, I think TMNT may have been a tiny bit more popular in the mainstream than Batman was - it could have been bigger, money-wise.

Some folks are honestly expecting this TMNT movie to do Avengers or X-Men numbers and frankly, that would take a miracle. I'm not counting on that happening at all. Any of us old enough to have been there will tell you, no matter how good the ratings for the Nick show are, TMNT is like, 1/10 as popular compared to how it was in 1989/1990. I'm sure they'll do alright, but ain't no way it's going to even be in the Top 5 grossing movies of the summer. Not this year. Just keeping my expectations realistic.

[Puddinpop]

But yet it's first trailer crushed every other trailer for any movie out this year.. not saying it will explode at the box office but I think a few folks around here are under estimating this franchise just a tad.

[DarkLightDragon]

The same can be argued to those who overestimate this franchise.

[Puddinpop]

Originally Posted by Leolead

Until Marvel Studios announced that they were adapting the comic into a movie, I had never heard of Guardians of the Galaxy, and I say that as a cinema/geek enthusiast, so for casual film fans, it’s going to be even more Worse

it’s fair to say that a large portion of viewers had heard of The Hulk, Thor, Captain America and Iron Man, even if only in passing, but the same cannot be said for these characters.

If The Avengers were all home-run comic book properties, Guardians is more of a cult project, having nowhere near the same level of commercial success as the above, and as a result, featuring characters that the majority of Comic fans couldn’t even begin to name. There is little brand recognition to the casual audience, and given that they account for most of Marvel Studios’ revenue, it is an important demographic without which the film will surely flop.

A movie about an unknown group of superheroes that includes a talking raccoon and a tree that's sort of a person won't be a box office hit no matter how many Marvel fanboys watch its trailer online. As films like "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," "Kick-Ass," and "Watchmen" have proven, being big as a comic book or graphic novel does not guarantee a box office hit.

It's not 'Iron Man' In any argument about whether a lesser-known comic book character will break through and become a successful movie franchise you must address Iron Man. That character was not as well-known as Spiderman or Wolverine outside the comic book world and the movie became a sequel-spawning hit.Iron Man was less known to non-comic book fans, but he's not the complete unknown the various Guardians are. Plus a rich guy in a robot suit is a lot more accessible than a talking tree voiced by Vin Diesel (whose talking skills are not great in the first place)

Under the Disney banner, Marvel has not had a movie not become a major hit. All of the films in the Iron Man/Avengers universe -- which "Guardians" is based in -- have been massive successes. Much like sister-studio Pixar, the Marvel brand name carries some clout and a certain part of the audience will see anything that carries the Marvel imprint. "Guardians" however does not have the built-in audience of kids that Pixar has. Yes Pixar has a reputation for producing quality films, but that's not the only reasons its movies are a hit. Put the Pixar brand on a film and you are basically telling parents it's OK for them to take their kids and kill two hours watching a movie that they probably won't hate. "Guardians," with its PG-13 rating, won't be the same no-brainer for parents. It also won't be a film that kids demand to be taken to because unlike "Spiderman" or "Iron Man," the Guardians don't have a cartoon and kids don't know who they are unlike TMNT Whose Cartoon is very popular on nick

Turtles are winning here.

TMNT is just as much of a high selling and iconic franchise as Transformers was in 2007. I AM NOT SAYING THIS SERIES WILL BE THE NEXT TRANSFORMERS. But the Turtles are absolute icons of pop culture for several generations, including mine. Everyone had TMNT sheets, toys, and other merchandise. More so than even Power Rangers or Transformers, when I was young (and especially among my older brother's generation.) Nostalgia for that era is also super, duper high, as most of those folks start to hit the late 20s. Plus, this isn't an animated film like 2007. That's like saying Star Wars Episode VII will fail because the Clone Wars animated movie wasn't a hit. It just doesn't work like that. This is a big-budget live action movie with a solid trailer. If it's fun, I say it does 150. One of my bold predicts of the summer. Now, that alone will be enough to top GOTG,I say TMNT is a will be a much bigger hit than most expect.*

I Could see guardians making Some good bucks but beating TMNT. No. especially since guardians is unknown all it has going for it is. 1 the marvel logo, 2 rocket and groot which will attract kids, 3 marvel logo,

Go green machines!!

Well put my friend. Well put

[Sewer Sirens Podcast]

Originally Posted by The Boston Ninja Turtle

Many comic book fans know who the guardians are...so it is just like Iron Man...

Eh ... many comic book fans know who they are now. But I'm pretty sure Iron Man has never been on the same level as GOTG. A lot of people may not have known about him before his movie, but Iron Man was nowhere near GOTG (I may be wrong).

With that said, I have no idea whose going to win August. And we won't know until August, so I'm not sure how much this speculation (from both sides) helps anything.

[SwiftNinjaFox]

Welcome to the forums, Leolead. Man, I'm noticing a lot of Leo fans on here. It makes me happy to see I'm not the only one!

Originally Posted by Leolead

Until Marvel Studios announced that they were adapting the comic into a movie, I had never heard of Guardians of the Galaxy, and I say that as a cinema/geek enthusiast, so for casual film fans, it’s going to be even more Worse

it’s fair to say that a large portion of viewers had heard of The Hulk, Thor, Captain America and Iron Man, even if only in passing, but the same cannot be said for these characters.

To be fair, Guardians of the Galaxy is one of the lesser known properties among comic book fans as well. Many have heard of them, but not read them. However, I think you're a little off the mark on the Avengers line up. I'd wager the general audience knew of Hulk from the TV show back in the day or more recent cartoon appearances and people had likely heard of Captain America, but I'd say Thor and Iron Man were way off the average movie goers radar of awareness.

If The Avengers were all home-run comic book properties, Guardians is more of a cult project, having nowhere near the same level of commercial success as the above, and as a result, featuring characters that the majority of Comic fans couldn’t even begin to name. There is little brand recognition to the casual audience, and given that they account for most of Marvel Studios’ revenue, it is an important demographic without which the film will surely flop.

Oh, everyone is saying Guardians is Marvel's first post-Iron Man gamble. I've seen one article say that Guardians is just Marvel testing to see if they can legally print money themselves via the box office. If this thing breaks August records and makes a lot of money, Marvel has a blank check to make any of their properties into films if they wish.

However, while Guardians of the Galaxy doesn't have brand recognition, Marvel Studios does. People see "Marvel Studios" and they know Iron Man 1-3, Thor 1-2, Cap 1-2, Agents of SHIELD, Incredible Hulk were all tied together. There's little bits that build into the next film. The average movie goer may well see Guardians = Marvel = Tied to the other movies I liked, I should check this out.

But yes, releasing Guardians itself is a gamble. Releasing it in August is a bigger gamble.

Plus a rich guy in a robot suit is a lot more accessible than a talking tree voiced by Vin Diesel (whose talking skills are not great in the first place)

Does it help knowing that no matter how many times he speaks in the movie, Vin Diesel only has 3 words? The character Groot only speaks "I am Groot." That's all he can say. Yet they've said Vin Diesel nailed the character and brought personality through the different ways of saying it. Think of Groot as a wooden tree version of Chewbacca. He may say "I am Groot" and nothing else, but Rocket still interacts as if he's speaking normally.

Also, my friend's 7 year old daughter knows the Guardians from the Avengers cartoon, which she started watching because of the Iron Man, etc films. She can also tell you all about the Infinity Gems, which is what we're building up to in Avengers 3. Yet she has no interest in TMNT (I've informed my friend he is only doing a 50% quality job on parenting for this reason).

TMNT is just as much of a high selling and iconic franchise as Transformers was in 2007. I AM NOT SAYING THIS SERIES WILL BE THE NEXT TRANSFORMERS. But the Turtles are absolute icons of pop culture for several generations, including mine. Everyone had TMNT sheets, toys, and other merchandise. More so than even Power Rangers or Transformers, when I was young (and especially among my older brother's generation.) Nostalgia for that era is also super, duper high, as most of those folks start to hit the late 20s.

I completely agree, but unfortunately this makes me believe TMNT will have a strong domestic box office and a potentially weaker foreign one. Remember, Transformers have a huge benefit because cars and robots are very popular overseas.

Likewise, I'm not sure that space sci-fi adventures are huge overseas, but Marvel has been wildly successful internationally, so that Marvel logo could carry it well in other countries.


We shall disagree on which film takes the box office for August, but I won't fault you because you obviously know which turtle is the best turtle.

Just about 2.5 months until we see the results!

[Pondslider]

TMNT is missing what Transformers had in 2007 and even what the 1990 TMNT had and that's the novelty of it being the first live action version. It was a big deal for Transformers, especially, because so many people had grown up with the Transformers cartoon and had wanted to see what it would look like. I don't like the Transformers movies, but I was there in the theater opening weekend to see that first helicopter turn into a giant robot.

This movie would probably have a lot more positive hype if they'd done a straight up adaptation of the Fred Wolf cartoon. It's not my favorite version of the Turtles by a long shot, but it's the most well known and something that hasn't been done. They are doing that in some ways with Vernon, April being a reporter, etc., but I think if they'd gone with more traditional designs, maybe thrown in Rocksteady and Bebop right from the start and had a different Shredder/Foot Clan the movie would be in a much better position.

[The Boston Ninja Turtle]

Originally Posted by Puddinpop

But yet it's first trailer crushed every other trailer for any movie out this year..

perhaps, but youtube views do not equal box office tickets


honestly at this point we all just need to wait and see

[Leolead]

Well all i know is i hope TMNT Beats guardians, it has way more franchise potentiel, casey jones, bebop and rocksteady, leo and raph feud (which in the 3rd movie could lead to them fighting like TMNT) Utroms, triceratons, techodrome (which i would save for the 3rd movie) Rat king, baxter stockman, krang, TMNT Has way more WAY more stories to be told than guardians (and yes i know about micheal korvac and that the guardians came out in 1969, but not this team and i know about nova)

[The Boston Ninja Turtle]

i like your optimism and enthusiasm and yes along GOTG is a risk but you have to rememebr they arnt along

Originally Posted by Leolead

TMNT Has way more WAY more stories to be told than guardians

stories wise alone maybe, i cant tell you any gotg stories..but you are looking at it in the small scale to the marvel universe


we already know GOTG will have ties to Avengers phase 3, thats preping for a movie that probably hasnt even left the brain of its writer. so its not so much a small story but just one chapter in the realm of a giant story being told

can TMNT stand their ground? maybe only time will tell

[Leolead]

i know a few guardians stories

[Galactus]

Originally Posted by Leolead

Well all i know is i hope TMNT Beats guardians, it has way more franchise potentiel, casey jones, bebop and rocksteady, leo and raph feud (which in the 3rd movie could lead to them fighting like TMNT) Utroms, triceratons, techodrome (which i would save for the 3rd movie) Rat king, baxter stockman, krang, TMNT Has way more WAY more stories to be told than guardians (and yes i know about micheal korvac and that the guardians came out in 1969, but not this team and i know about nova)

As a TMNT fan I feel that I should hope that too but as I said given how well GOTG has been promoted in comparison they probably deserve it.

Of course it goes a bit deeper than that and why Guardians has more franchise potential; because it has a lot of people behind it that are committed to bringing the comic to the screen in a faithful way that shows the public why the comics are popular.

Sadly TMNT has a bunch of people behind it that have little interest in the comics or indeed any version and seem committed to changing the very things that have made the franchise popular. I really have no interest in seeing a Platinum Dunes movie with the above characters you named other than out of morbid curiosity of how they'll be twisted.

[ranger_scout]

I imagine that Guardians of the Galaxy will take a steep drop in its second weekend. Many superhero type films have been known take huge drops in their second weekend if they have competition or bad word of mouth. Perfect examples are Hulk, Green Lantern, Man of Steel, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

[GrapeSoda]

Originally Posted by Galactus

As a TMNT fan I feel that I should hope that too but as I said given how well GOTG has been promoted in comparison they probably deserve it.

Of course it goes a bit deeper than that and why Guardians has more franchise potential; because it has a lot of people behind it that are committed to bringing the comic to the screen in a faithful way that shows the public why the comics are popular.

Sadly TMNT has a bunch of people behind it that have little interest in the comics or indeed any version and seem committed to changing the very things that have made the franchise popular. I really have no interest in seeing a Platinum Dunes movie with the above characters you named other than out of morbid curiosity of how they'll be twisted.

i agree.

marvel studios has a bigger picture for "guardians" and tying them into their existing franchises.....which, from the looks of things can be big.

platinum dunes' bigger picture is just milking a name brand for as much money as they can. as a fan of the franchises that studio has gotten their hands on ("chainsaw", "friday the 13th", "nightmare") and knowing what the producer has done to the "transformers" franchise......i'm crossing my fingers that TMNT doesn't do well. In fact, i'm hoping it pulls "nightmare" numbers, and any future films get canned by the studio. Then i hope Viacom has the sense to hand it off to people that care about story telling......and not flash and bang and shaky-cam.

I've said this before, and i'll say it again.....Bay's "Transformers" designs have influenced every official version of that franchise since 2007. That's a freaking sin.......i weep for comic and animators that have to make jumbled junk designs look presentable (and i actually like the story of TF Prime). I'd hate for the Platinum Dunes version of TMNT to supercede what Nick and IDW have been doing.


And on another point......after the "Rise of Cobra" and the subsequent "Retaliation" pegwarmers......i shudder to what the TMNT Movie line will do to the current action figure line. It's bad enough that Playmates churns out paperweight quality figures for the Nick line, and we've all seen the movie figs......i'm envisioning wave 1 Zartans and Roadblocks all over again!

[Rooish]

Having finally seen a Guardians trailer, I can say that the movie looks truly awful.

[Leolead]

Agreed only reason i'm not interested in guardians is because it looks boring IMO , And because it's competing with TMNT,

Like i said as a franchise itself (i'm not talking about guardian's connection to the MCU) TMNT Has more to offer with characters and story

[Stugehen]

I would've preferred that TMNT released before Guardians, but it's hard to say what will come out on top.

[Leolead]

[QUOTE=GrapeSoda;1272040]i agree.

marvel studios has a bigger picture for "guardians" and tying them into their existing franchises.....which, from the looks of things can be big.

platinum dunes' bigger picture is just milking a name brand for as much money as they can. as a fan of the franchises that studio has gotten their hands on ("chainsaw", "friday the 13th", "nightmare") and knowing what the producer has done to the "transformers" franchise......i'm crossing my fingers that TMNT doesn't do well. In fact, i'm hoping it pulls "nightmare" numbers, and any future films get canned by the studio. Then i hope Viacom has the sense to hand it off to people that care about story telling......and not flash and bang and shaky-cam.

I've said this before, and i'll say it again.....Bay's "Transformers" designs
i like the nightmare reboot