Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Indiana Jones and the Continuation of Franchise
So the new Indiana Jones movie is coming out later this week, and the critical responses are coming in mixed, but more good than bad. The consensus seems to be that it's entertaining, if a bit clunky, but better than than Temple of Doom and not nearly as good as Raiders of the Lost Ark. The other critical consensus is this: it doesn't matter what the critics say.
Now, as a modest film buff, I will typically read multiple reviews of highly anticipated films, and the four or five that I've personally scanned all say the same thing: it doesn't matter what we think, people are going to see it anyway. One review even cited The Da Vinci Code, which was universally panned (and not just by critics--I have yet to meet anyone who genuinely enjoyed it) but still grossed $750 million in the box office. That's not really what you would call a successful film. That's a colossally successful film, even after the tens of millions spent on advertising. It was the second-highest grossing film of 2006 (following behind Star Wars Episode III), which is pretty impressive for a flick that is... well... bad.
So there's little doubt that Indy 4 will win back it's budget. And, it seems, you could film three hours of Harrison Ford in a fedora playing chess with Norman Mailer and fans would fork over $8.75 to see it, because you can sell a movie on hype and ride the wave of the film's predecessors or sources, especially if you have a substantial advertising budget.
On the other hand, a dismal Indy 4 would certainly hamper attempts to make an Indy 5, or any other film with Harrison Ford or Steven Spielberg or George Lucas... or Norman Mailer.
So it all comes out in the wash, I guess.
Now, as a modest film buff, I will typically read multiple reviews of highly anticipated films, and the four or five that I've personally scanned all say the same thing: it doesn't matter what we think, people are going to see it anyway. One review even cited The Da Vinci Code, which was universally panned (and not just by critics--I have yet to meet anyone who genuinely enjoyed it) but still grossed $750 million in the box office. That's not really what you would call a successful film. That's a colossally successful film, even after the tens of millions spent on advertising. It was the second-highest grossing film of 2006 (following behind Star Wars Episode III), which is pretty impressive for a flick that is... well... bad.
So there's little doubt that Indy 4 will win back it's budget. And, it seems, you could film three hours of Harrison Ford in a fedora playing chess with Norman Mailer and fans would fork over $8.75 to see it, because you can sell a movie on hype and ride the wave of the film's predecessors or sources, especially if you have a substantial advertising budget.
On the other hand, a dismal Indy 4 would certainly hamper attempts to make an Indy 5, or any other film with Harrison Ford or Steven Spielberg or George Lucas... or Norman Mailer.
So it all comes out in the wash, I guess.
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