Pacific Rim Box-Office Recap

Del Toro, by Gage Skidmode.

- or: The Power of the chinese movie market -

Hey,

back in May 2012 I wrote a review of the Pacific Rim Script. You might recall, that I wasn't thrilled. Now that I saw the movie I wanted to see how well it dit, box-office-wise.

My prognosis was that the movie might bomb. Well, did it?

Thanks to The-Numbers, we know that the movie earned $100mill domestically, which comes as close to bombing as possible, considering the production budget of nearly $200mill. Add to that another $200mill for Marketing and you have a real desaster. 

But why then, is there talk of "Pacific Rim 2"? Sources like Slashfilm hint at a sequel, being written right now.

We have to look overseas for an answer.

Internationally, Pacific Rim earned $300mill. The foreign box-office, especially in China, which is the strongest growing market for movies, can make or break movies nowadays. In the example of Pacific Rim, approx. a third of the foreign box-office came from China. More precisely, $111mill - according to Box Office Mojo. That is more than the domestic market!

Other movies, for example Iron Man 3 earned $120mill, starting a new trend in Hollywood. Usually, movies had to earn back their budget domestically, with the foreign box-office as a nice bonus. Now, Hollywood has to take the foreign box-office - and especially China - into account, when they green-light movies. 

The dependence might actually stem from another problem. As I analyzed in another blog post, genre movies are getting more expensive. Ten years ago, the cost for an average fantasy movie was around $60mill. Today the median budget is $120mill. This means, to break even, a movie must sell twice the amount of movie tickets. Quite impossible, I think, as the population of the USA hasn't doubled in the last 10 years.

In order to make a profit, Hollywood is dependent on the foreign market. 

And it is this foreign market, Hollywood hopes to cater to with a sequel to Pacific Rim.

See you and have a nice day!

Book to Movie: The Lies of Locke Lamora

Book to Movie:

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

(4,24 Stars of 5 with 31,201 Ratings - Goodreads.com)

Summary:
Elite con artists "Gentlemen Bastards" rob the rich of Camorr city, based on late medieval Venice. Two stories interweave. In the present, the Gentlemen fight a mysterious Grey King taking over the criminal underworld. Alternate chapters describe history and mythology of Camorr, the Gentlemen Bastards, and especially the protagonist Locke Lamora.(Source: Wiki)

Born with a quick wit and a gift for thieving, Locke Lamora dodges both death and slavery, only to fall into the hands of an eyeless priest known as Chains, neither blind nor a priest. A con artist of extraordinary talent, Chains passes his skills on to his carefully selected family of orphans “Gentlemen Bastards.”

Locke grows to lead, delightedly pulling off one outrageous trick after another, infamous as the Thorn of Camorr — no wealthy noble is safe from his sting. But the Gray King is slowly killing Capa Barsavi’s most trusted men and using Locke as a pawn in his plot to take control of Camorr’s underworld. With a bloody coup under way threatening to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the magically protected Gray King at his own brutal game — or die trying (Source: Goodreads)

WILL IT BE A GOOD MOVIE?

by Milena Aijala (a.k.a. qwertyprophecy)

The ingredients are there:

Oceans 13 Jr. meets Pirates of the Carribean

- an engaging plot, full of twists and turns

- interesting characters

- a fantasy world with a mythical history

All the movie needs is a creative, fearless cook, or in other words, a capable director. This is a rather broad statement, I know, every movie needs a good director. The one needed for Locke Lamora, has to be incredibly visual. The world of Camorr - based on Renaissance Venice - is stunningly wonderful and rich.

The challenge would be to reduce the dense plot to movie-length without losing the charm and wit of the book.

FILM ADAPTATION:

Warner Brothers bought the film rights soon after the book's release. The brothers Kevin and Dan Hageman (both having written the upcoming Lego and the sequel Hotel Transylvania 2) were to write the screenplay. Michael De Luca (Moneyball, The Social Network) and Julie Yorn (Red Riding Hood, We bought a Zoo) are set to produce. Both don't have much experience with fantasy works, which could prove difficult. 

Despite additional television rumors, as of 2013, no casting or other announcements have been released. (Source: Wiki)

Film or TV?

Definitely the first! I suggest a movie adaptation, because the single thread of storytelling revolving around Locke Lamora probably couldn't sustain multiple episodes. But with 6 (SIX!) planned sequels (plus two upcoming novellas) "The Lies of Locke Lamora" could prove to be the opening to a stellar franchise. 

Casting Possibilities:

Max Irons - Locke Lamora

He proved to be a big hit with the girls in Stephanie Meyer's Twilight and The Host, which could attract more viewers. Irons has the right mix of cunning and charm to portrait the leader of the "Gentleman Bastards".

Jack Reynor - Jean Tannen

The muscle to Locke's Brain, Jean is intimidating and strong. The upcoming star had a few indie hits and now moved on to star in the 4th Transformer movie.

Jeremy Irons - The Grey King

He is the main adversary; the brains behind the dangerous plots Locke finds himself tangled in. Fuelled my motives he is initially unwilling to reveal, the Grey King is ruthless but aristocratic in his mannerisms. (Source: camorr.com) Incidentally he is the father of actor Max Irons, which adds a great dynamic to the movies. Jeremy has a great, commanding presence with the right gravitas to the play the Grey King. 

Christian Bale - The Falconer

Perhaps the most formidable adversary in LoLL. The Falconer is a bondsmage from Karthain with otherworldly magical power, able to inflict extraordinary pain with just a few words and gestures. He is an arrogant, forbidding individual who takes obvious pleasure in the torture of others and works for the Grey King. He also has a bird companion, Vestral, whose violent nature and venom-filled claws augment the Falconer’s formidable presence. (Source: camorr.com) Bale has strong ties with Warner Bros (The Dark Knight Trilogy, etc) and is a great property to attract viewers. Bale has the right ambiguity and "evil-ness" to play this great role.

Francis Lawrence - Director

Lawrence proved over and over, that he is a great storyteller with a keen eye for heavy visuals with his movies Constantine or I am Legend. This was the reason he was chosen to adapt the second and third book in the Hunger Games Saga, Catching Fire and Mockingjay. 

Pacific Rim - First Images

Here are the first few images of Pacific Rim, which I gave a so-so review.

 

Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi in their Battle Suits

Idris Elba in his Battle Armor

Pacific Rim - Script Review

Short Review: Paying homage to the Japanese 'Giant Monster vs. Giant Robots' Genre (Wiki: Kaiju) Guillermo del Toro not only takes over the insane fights, but also the flat characterization and linear plots. Unfortunately, the script uses every known cliche available and thus fails to connect with the audience.

Plot: When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity’s resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes - a washed up former pilot (IMDb: Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (IMDb: Rinko Kikuchi) - who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind’s last hope against the mounting apocalypse. (Official Plot Synopsis by Warner Bros.)

How does it end?
(BEWARE: SPOILERS!)  The B-Story delivers - without making any effort to feel organically to the story - the solution to the problem, when a young scientist discovers that a nuclear bomb will close the rift between the universes. But someone has to bring the bomb to the other side and set it off. This isn't exactly a new idea (especially now that everybody and their mother has seen 'The Avengers', which used the exact same idea recently). Of course, our unlikely heroes have to go into the 'Pacific Rim' and set off the bomb, fighting of giant monsters on their way. But in the end they succed, close the rift and return home.

Guillermo del Toro

Project: Originally, del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy 1 + 2) was set to direct an adaptation of 'At the Mountains of Madness', however, after Universal closed down the project, he switched his attention to 'Pacific Rim'. Originally, Tom Cruise, who was going the play the lead role in 'At the Mountains of Madness', was going to star in the film, but he was replaced by Idris Elba. Ron Perlman, who has worked with del Toro on several occasions, was confirmed to have joined the cast on November 17, 2011. Industrial Light and Magic was chosen to do the visual effects for 'Pacific Rim'. Guillermo del Toro hired Oscar winners John Knoll and Hal T. Hickel, both known for their work on the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' films. Legacy Effects was hired to do the special and practical effects on the film. Shane Mahan, known for creating the armoured suits for 'Iron Man' was hired on as effects supervisor. John Rosengrant was also brought in for his work on 'Real Steel'. Oscar winner Clay Pinney, known for his work on 'Independence Day' and 'Star Trek', was also brought on board. (Source: Wikipedia)

Screenplay Structure: Travis Beacham's 'Killing on Carnival Row' (Read my review) was a fantastical ride into a bizarre and dangerous world. His words made this unique world come alive. Sadly, not much of this brilliance comes to play in this by-the-numbers script.
But the screenplay follows a clear-cut structure, which I will demonstrate for the first half of the screenplay.
In quick succesion we meet: 1. Raleigh, our male protagonist; 2. Mako, the female protagonist; and 3. Flick, the B-Story. After that, on page 9, comes 'The Catalyst' (Snyder) or 'Call to Adventure' (Vogler): Raleigh has to go to Tokyo and pair up with Mako to defend the city.
In the 'Debate' Section, a question is posed. Not 'Will he do it?', but rather 'Can they do it?' - for  few pages the odd couple goes through a training montage, showing how they come closer and closer and finally can work together. The act break comes with the first Kaiju fight showing the audience the massive scale of the monsters coming out of the Pacific Rim. Exactly following Blake Snyders Beat Sheet the B-Story plays a prominent part now, before going into the 'Fun and Games' part: Raleigh and Mako have to complete a few simulated training missions, before - right in the middle of the script - the stakes are raised and the unlikely heroes have to go on their first real mission.
This quick outline shows how the script follows every step in the screenplay book, although this doesn't guarantee a good movie.

Will 'Pacific Rim' bomb like 'Battleship'?

Outlook: In an age of Mega-Spectacle-Movies like 'Battleship', which bombed at the box-office (with $44 mill domestically in its second week for a €209mill budget) - movies need to offer something more. 'The Avengers' had wits and humour in addition to an stellar cast. Big explosions and splashy effects alone are not enough anymore. So, Guillermo del Toro will have to find a way to set his new effort apart from all the other disaster movies.

Akira (Remake) - Script Review

Another Remake: Akira

The Verdict:

Condensing and remaking the story only leaves us with a highly visual movie, without an engaging plot or interesting characters to care for.

What's it about?

A young biker gang member gains uncontrollable psychic power and has to be stopped by his friends and the army.

Plot Summary:

Teaser: An explosions shatters Manhatten, in the crater stands a boy. Colonol Shackleton orders to put Subject 28 and the others into cryo-stasis. 

A text informs us, that Manhattan was sold to Japan, as the US hits a deep recession, following the total destruction of New York.

Meet Travis, orphaned, 11, on his first day of school: He gets bullied and befriends Kaneda, 14, who protects him.

10 years later, New Tokyo has risen on Manhatten. We meet the two again at a Bar, they established a biker gang (the Red devils); After a reckless Stunt, injuring his girlfriend Kaori, Travis goes to a 'mobile rehab van' by Vanguard, as he fears he will do drugs again. He has to wear an electronic band, but is promised to stay clean.

Soon after, Travis, while attacking a rival gang member, runs into Thomas, a little boy looking like an old man and is badly hurt. This strange child is escorted by Kay, who is arrested together with Kaneda, while Thomas is brought into a care facility by Shackleton. Kay and Kaneda are released, while Travis is in a hospital, completely healed already. He escapes, before Shackleton, who is informed that Travis' blood contains the mysterious Compound-A, arrives to get him. But later he gets him, when Travis is hidden away by Kaneda and Kay. So the group breaks into the facility to rescue Travis, who slowly discovers his unimaginable powers rips apart the whole facility. Only three other test subjects can stop him, but not kill him. Finally Shackleton finds out, that the 'mobile rehab' project injected Travis with the Compound, in order to restore America to it's old glory, but decides not to do anything about and continues hunting down Travis. 

Travis reaches the Crater, trying to free Akira, aka Subject 28, who was responsible for the first explosion. Kaneda, Kay and Shackleton try everything in their power to stop him, attacking him with tanks, lasers, solar beams, but only hurt Travis. But when he sees his girlfriend getting killed by bullet, meant for him, Travis goes totally insane and explodes. Shackleton, Kaneda and Kay can escape on board a helicopter in the last second and see New Tokyo falling to ashes. 

Final Image: Akira awakens, steps out of his Cyro-Chamber and Travis bows down before him...

Observations:

First off, of all the script I ever read, this was the most exhausting one. Walls of text littered over the pages, describing the action in so many details, it was like reading a novel. 

The visual detail and  ideas were astonishing. Whitta develops an interesting American-Japanese Hybrid-Culture, painting the co-existence of extreme poverty and wealth in grand pictures.

I don't like it, when the story is just happening to the characters, without them ever taking charge or making their own decisions. Unfortunately, it was like this in this script: Travis gets injected with Compound-A, gains uncontrollable power and runs amok. He isn't the active protagonist once throughout the whole script. I feel cheated and - to be honest - bored, when this happens.

The emotional angle was heavily underplayed, in my opinion. The friendship between Travis and Kaneda should come to a fulminant finale, but it fell flat. The script spends too much time with military personnel and the mythology, but forgot the characters at the heart of the story.

Differences to the 1988 Movie:

Names: Tetsuo = Travis; Takashi = Thomas; Kei = Kay; Shikishima = Shackleton; and so on...

The script adds a little bit of background to Akira's first explosion, explaining why New Tokyo is build on americal soil, but adds nothing significant new or exciting to the story.

The most radical change concerns the ending: Planned as the first part of a larger series (possibly a trilogy...) the movie ends shortly after Akira awakens and leaves most plot points hanging.

The Project:

The script is based on the Manga by Katsuhiro Otomo from the year 1982. A hugely popular anime version of that movie was released in 1988. Shortly after that Warner Brothers bought the live-action rights, but nothing happened for the next 20 years. In 2008, Leonardo DiCaprio was set to produce a live-action adaptation with this script. In February 2010 the Hughes Brothers (From Hell) took over the Director's chair, but left it again in May 2011.
The following month Jaume Collet-Serra (of 'Unknown') was announced as the new director, with the hopes to realize this movie with the modest budget of 90 million dollars. (Source: FilmJunk)

The biggest concern of the studio is to find a suitable actor: many stars were offered the role, namely Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Franco, Zac Efron, Andrew Garfield, James McAvoy or Michael Fassbender, but nobody has signed up so far. Apparently the strongest contender for the role of Kaneda is Garrett Hedlund, the lead of Tron:Legacy. (Source: Movie|Line)

Gary Oldman is in talks to play Colonel Shackleton, while Helena Bonham-Carter is wanted to play Lady Miyako, another test subject and only a small role. (Source: TwitchFilm)

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All You Need Is Kill - Script Review

The Verdict:

The Non-Stop-Action of this Sci-Fi time-loop-movie leaves no room for character development or relationships in favor of huge action scenes, which are entertaining nonetheless.

What's it about?

An unskilled, new recruit dies in his first battle, but awakens one day prior to the battle, myteriously stuck in a temporal loop. He uses these repeats to master the art of killing and tries to win the battle and escape the loop.

Plot Summary [SPOILERS]:

The script starts with Cage jumping out of a burning Dropship into the 'Battle of Ruby Tuesday': Thousands of human soldiers fighting the insectoid Mimic. In this bloody and messy battle we meet Yonaburu, Cage's best friends, Rita, the best fighter in the world (and the female love interest). Cage's first instinct is to desert, which gets Yonaburu and him killed already on page 13. 

Loop 2: Cage re-awakens in the barracks, a day before the fight and can remember all of that happening before. Again, he drops into the Battle of Ruby Tuesday, this time dying, while trying to save Yonaburu.

Loop 3: Cage awakens again. This time he tries to flee, escaping to a near-by beach, where he is found by some scout Mimics and gets killed

Loop 4: Cage is desperate. Trying to break out of this never-ending nightmare, he kills himself.

Loop 5: Cage realises, that there is no way out of this loop. Now he starts questioning the senior offices, gathers information, in order to save some of his friends, but still - he dies.

In a quick training montage, cutting between Cage and his superior office sparring and one Battle of Ruby Tuesday after the other.

Loop 93: The training shows it's impact, Cage survives longer and longer with each try.

Loop 187 & 203: Cage uses his knowledge of all his repeats to get an Battle Axe and with it he can kill the Mimic mother insect, but still dies exactly at 4:19.Cage loses all hope of ever winning the battle or escaping the loop, until Rita asks him: "How many loops is this for you?", shortly before he dies again.

Loop 329: Now the focus of the script shifts shortly, showing us Rita awaking in her bed. Cage finds her and answers her question from the last loop. She explains, that she was stuck in a loop, too. The Mimic have Antenna & Receiver Mimics, which can send signals back in time to warn their fellow mimics, Rita was and Cage is caught up in this signal, so he has to kill it, to be free and win the battle. Cage & Rita kill the Antenna Mimic and all Receivers, but, still, he loops back to the beginning.

Loop 393: Cage & Rita fall in love anew every day, and on the last pages of the script they have something like a relationship in fast-forward. But in this loop the Mimic attack the base, again Cage and Rita kill the Antenna and Receiver Mimic. Then Rita reveals, that she must be another receiver, and kills herself: Cage is finally free and wins the battle.

Script Observations:

Two formal things that bugged me: The script uses many noises, like Shup! Twamp! do describe the action going on. I am not sure, if I like this, but it reads very weird. Aside from that half of the words are CAPITAL, it feels like they are screaming at me. Not pleasant.

Back to the artistic choices, the script presents: The writing is dense and spot-on, as it is always focused on the action.

Something strange happens on page 39: Suddenly we have a Voice Over by the main protagonist, explaining all the background information in a huge dump for 5 pages. After that the Voice Over is used quite regularly, but it seem to appear out of no-where.

Shallow Relationships: Cage is stuck in a battle zone, always fighting and dying. This leaves not much room for a romance, so it feels kinda forced, when he suddenly has a full-on relationship with Rita (10 pages before the end, of all places, just to make us feel sad when she dies 2 pages later.

Generic Alien of the Week: The idea of aliens sending messages back in time to win battles is really neat, but other than that the Mimic are as bland and uninspiring as they come. Their aggressive behaviour, for example, isn't explained or discussed.

The Solution: I really hoped, that the solution to winning the battle and escaping the loop is surprising and refreshing, but, alas, it is fighting harder and killing more Mimic than before. It feels like a wasted chance. Afterall the script is trapped in the same militaristic view as the Ender's Game script I reviewed. The bland enemy reduces the action to routine killings, as we have in ego-shooters, as the reader has no emotional investment in the fights. As such, it feels a lot like the Halo Script, which also had non-stop action without an emotional core.

The Project:

Warner Brothers bought the spec script for a low-seven figure  from Dante Harper (Deadline: Hollywood), shortly after that, Doug Liman was slated to direct the movie for a 2012 release ( Variety). The spec is based on the 2004 novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka (Wikipedia). 

As the hunt for the lead actor has started, two names have been popping up: First Warner Brothers offered the project to Brad Pitt (Vulture). To be honest I can't see him doing such a mindless popcorn flick, on the other hand is was revealed, that Tom Cruise is in talks to take over the lead (THR). Cage is described as being 20, so both actors would be too old to take over that role, most probably there were changes made to the script to accomodate this.

Warner Brothers wants to get a huge star, as the movie will cost them about 150$ and to get the money back WB wants a big name attached to the posters.

As always, I look forward to hear from you. Post your comments without registrations below!

Have a great day,

- Tristan

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