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Box Office Hindsight: More Hulk, less Happening
This weekend’s box office figures tell me that although The Incredible Hulk opened with less money than the 2003 film, Marvel has reason to he happy with the results.
On the other end of the scale, M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening opened better than expected, but there’s another stat that indicates it’s going to drop dead next week.
The Incredible Hulk opened with $54.9 million. The earlier Hulk opened at $62 million. However, polling indicates audiences are quite happy with it, giving it an A- Cinemascore grade.
That probably means a sequel will be in the offing, but I’m wondering how they’ll go about it. I’m sure Edward Norton wouldn’t play Banner again, given all the difficulties he had with Marvel on this movie. So do we get yet another remake/reboot/reimagining/whatever you want to call it? I’m not necessarily averse to a third movie, but I do hope it gets a more imaginative director than Louis Leterrier.
This was one of my favorite takes on the new movie: “‘Hulk. Smash!’ Yes. Hulk. Smash. Yes. Smash. Big Hulk smash. Smash cars. Buildings. Army tanks. Hulk not just smash. Hulk also go rarrr! Then smash again. Smash important, obviously. What Hulk smash most? Hulk smash all hope of interesting time in cinema.”
Meanwhile, over at Fox, I’m sure execs are happy with the $30.5 million The Happening earned, considering various predictors figured it would make $5-$10 million less than that. On the other hand, the Cinemascore audience poll gave The Happening a D - a D! And that’s striking, because Cinemascore polls opening night audiences that wanted to see the movie, and they tend to be kind. Something tells me that Shyamalan’s next movie won’t be sold so heavily on his name.
So questions for you? What did you think of The Incredible Hulk? (Here’s what I thought.) Would you like to see a third Hulk movie?
And for those who have seen The Happening - I didn’t get to see it yet, and now I’m not sure I want to. Is it really THAT bad?
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment | Categories: In Area Theaters
Comments
By Steve
June 17, 2008 3:10 PM | Link to this
I think the real reason everyone was killing themselves in the movie is because they just got finished watching an M. Night Shyamalan marathon on Stars, which is far more plausible then the actual reason.By Tara
June 17, 2008 8:26 AM | Link to this
I think that when a new Shyamalan film is released, people still expect the “wow” moment that came with Sixth Sense but unfortunately it simply does not happen. That being said .. I like The Happening more after discussing it than I initially did as I left the theater. I was unaware that he intentionally filmed it to be a “B” movie (which explained my curiousity as to the low quality and weird acting) and I was also not aware that the honey bees have been indeed vanishing. I am a fan of Night Shyamalan and will continue to watch his films and will probably watch The Happening again but this time hopefully not stuck in the front row with a sore neck trying to see the whole screen from a bad angle. And the second time around I will be prepared not to expect the unexpected and simply enjoy his message about Mother Nature. Wind blowing through the leaves of trees will never be quite the same.By SRCputt
June 16, 2008 6:48 PM | Link to this
I managed a video store, so I know it is more than just 18-19 year olds who don’t get Hitchcock. And it is those same people who think all black and white films are boring. And I tend to think most of those people are boring.By Allie D
June 16, 2008 5:15 PM | Link to this
Eric — From my experiences with Hitchcock in the two film classes I’ve taken, the younger people were less-than enthused. They thought his movies were either boring or silly. It’s like the concept of his artistry just flew right over their heads. There were few 18 or 19 year olds who were jumping out of their seats or awed by the same movies that a lot of people my age and older were completely awed by. They would laugh at inappropriate moments or would miss a lot of the symbolism. It was really annoying. I wanted to add too that I think Night’s aim with most of his movies is to tell a parable of some sort, but stylistically so. He’s not a very straight-forward filmmaker and you usually have to read the meaning in the subtext. That being said, he has struck out with me one and a half times, thus far. Lady in the Water was a flop and The Village was a near-miss. I have not seen The Happening yet, so I can’t comment on it directly, only what I’ve garnered from critics’ consensus.By Tony
June 16, 2008 2:53 PM | Link to this
So what made “The Happening” so bad? The writing made the actors look like this was the first movie they had ever been in. Their reactions to certain situations just didn’t make sense. The explanation for what is forcing people to kill themselves is ridiculous. When you learn what it is, you will laugh. The gore affects were really cheesy and lame and were just there to try and make the movie more serious even though it is just one big joke.By Sir Critic
June 16, 2008 2:28 PM | Link to this
Allie - What makes you say today’s generation doesn’t get Hitch? If that’s true, that’s as scary as anything Hitch dreamed up. Tony: What made “The Happening” the worst movie you’ve ever seen?By Tony
June 16, 2008 1:04 PM | Link to this
The Happening was the the worst movie I have ever seen. I can’t get over how bad it was. I am mentally scarred by its awfulness.By Allie D.
June 16, 2008 12:29 PM | Link to this
Hulk just doesn’t even look interesting to me at all. I’m not even really a Hulk fan, period. I just do not find him particularly compelling. Anyway, as far as The Happening is concerned, I’m disappointed in the reception but was heartened somewhat by Ebert’s review. It seems almost Hitchcockian, and if there is any direction that today’s generation simply does not “get,” it’s Hitchcock.