X-Files I Want to Believe - Bombs?

[ethsnafu]

Dear friends,

Here's hoping that someone like Mark can shed some knowledge with regards to a few articles I have read that assert that XF2 has garnered a poor reception with regards to its box office presence in the US. Figures and statistics mean very little to me so I am unaware as to how good or bad the financial reception has been to this film to date. I read the following article which raved about the prowess of the Batman offering and concluded that XF2 had 'bombed' upon its opening. Can anyone provide a salient review of it and indeed shed some light on the assertion that this film is struggling to make its presence felt. I must state that this article is not alone in mentioning the $4 Million the X-Files made and all of them consider this a failure but to my uneducated eyes it means little to me so I am hoping for some clarification.

I am all too aware of how the performance of XF2 will be paramount to the continuation of our franchise and I am increasingly nervous given some of the things I have read though I do not possess the knowledge to appraise them.

Best wishes,

Eth

X-Files Bombs

[HighPlainsDrifter]

For a Friday opening IWTB didnt fair too well. The way i look at it we still have Sat and Sunday. To me there are a few things that are in the way of IWTB's success. First of all Batman, i think IWTB should of been released in the Fall instead. I think the big mistake Chris Carter made was waiting too long. I know there are some legal problems but just to bank on the fans to come see the movie was poor planning. I agree witth the article there wasnt much promotion for this movie. i hoping the numbers do get better for franchise sake

[hippyroo]

The reviews are not good. The box office is low. And 1013 fans aren't exactly glowing about it; other than being happy to see Mulder and Scully together again - that's not enough. Anyone just love it?

[HighPlainsDrifter]

I liked It but i didnt love it, but there are just a few movies I Absolutely Love! which are The Natural.....Lethal Weapon.....Seven....Mothman Prophecies.

I am happy to see a X-Files Movie finally but I believe Carter/Spotznitz waited too long. The movie seem out of sync to me.

[4th Horseman]

Well Eth...you have to wait a bit longer for my review. I had a GOLDEN opportunity today as my wife and i had a lull of about 4 hours between our boys all-star games. However, and even with my wife being a "good trooper" in regards to seeing the X-Files movie even though she isnt a big fan of the series, the times it was showing unfortunately did not work out, so we saw something else.

I will say that before we sat down to our movie, i ventured into the theatre showing X-Files curious to see how many people there were inside that particular theatre. The movie was almost over, yet i counted only about 10 people in the seats. When our movie ended, i again wandered in curious to see how many people were watching the next showing of X-Files. I counted only about 25 people this time. Not good numbers at all...

4th Horseman

[Guest ZeusFaber]

I am happy to see a X-Files Movie finally but I believe Carter/Spotznitz waited too long. The movie seem out of sync to me.

You're blaming the wrong people. Carter and Spotnitz didn't sit around waiting too long, 20th Century Fox wouldn't let them make it until now. It was also the studio which mandated the July 25th release date, a week after The Dark Knight. So look to them with accusations of bad timing.

As for Eth's original question, it pains me to say that the figures are indeed not good. It took $4m on Friday and $3.7m on Saturday, beaten by both the opening of Stepbrothers and the second weekend of Mamma Mia!. No need to even mention The Dark Knight since that's in a complete league of its own money-wise. Reasonable forecasts prior to the premiere estimated a weekend gross of between $16m and $22m, but it looks as though it'll be lucky to break double figures. Comparing it to Fight the Future, albeit back in 1998, that opened to around $30m dollars domestically in its first weekend, which is about $45m in today's economy. Time has clearly done the franchise no favours.

The good news is that there is still the international markets to come, which are usually quite good for The X-Files, and it's still likely to make it into the black (i.e. past its $30m budget) when all is said and done, but that's still not really a ringing endorsement of the franchise. Things look rather bleak for future Ten Thirteen movies. Our US friends need to go out tonight and not only buy a ticket, but buy the twenty seats next to them as well.

Personally, I of course haven't seen the movie yet, since it doesn't open here until Friday. I'll be there, and I'm determined to enjoy it on my own terms and savour every last moment, regardless of what the rest of the world is spending their money on. I've also been desperately avoiding spoilers all over the internet, including staying away from most threads in this new sub-forum, so nobody ruin it for me now!

[Guest Laurent.]

You're English Zeus?!

I really hope you like the movie! Don't forget to come back here to share your thoughts.

I really hope IWTB does better in your country than in the states.

By the way, does the current figures include Canada's Box Office? We're usually like 10% of the american one, but whatever; we do what we can.

[ethsnafu]

Thank you so much, all of you, for putting the figures into some sort of context for me. My legendarily appalling movie knowledge had me reading page after page of gobbledygook with little hope of understanding it. I must confess I logged on here countless times yesterday gagging at the bit for Mark's review as it really is the litmus test with which I will judge the US response as his other reviews are absolutely consummate as far as I am concerned. I will certainly keep my eyes peeled for this.

I truly hope that what Zeus says proves to be true. Reviews in the UK do seem to indicate a more favourable response than that garnered in the US and he is so right when he notes that we, regardless of opinion of the baying masses, will enjoy and celebrate this movie despite a less that stellar performance but I worry that poor old Frank will remain in retirement indefinitely.

As the figures continue to emerge I would be extremely grateful if you chaps could continue this thread and provide an analysis for those of us not as versed in such things as yourselves.

Best wishes,

Eth

[Guest ZeusFaber]

You're English Zeus?!

You didn't know?!

I certain will return with my review once I've seen it, at which point I'll be able to catch up on reading all the other threads too. I'm not sure if the current figures include Canada or not, to be honest. It's disheartening to see how low the numbers are, and even more so to see how some elements of the media and blogosphere seem to revel in so with such glee, but I'm trying to look at it from the perspective of being thankful for what we have - that the movie is here at all, never mind paving the way for more.

[4th Horseman]

Well...now that my 14 hour days are done watching 4-5 baseball games a day (for a week or so until i go to New York), i plan on going to see XF2...if the $$$ numbers are right, WOW...what a disappointment....It may take a while just to break even here in the U.S...

pinning our hopes on international success is important if we want this to translate into a MillenniuM project...

4th Horseman..