{"id":219069,"date":"2019-06-17T00:21:52","date_gmt":"2019-06-17T04:21:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=219069"},"modified":"2019-06-17T00:21:52","modified_gmt":"2019-06-17T04:21:52","slug":"franchise-fatigue-continues-with-men-in-black-and-shaft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/06\/17\/franchise-fatigue-continues-with-men-in-black-and-shaft\/","title":{"rendered":"Franchise fatigue continues with ‘Men in Black’ and ‘Shaft’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FILE: Still stunned by the out-of-this-world stars at tonight’s #MIB premiere! (Photo<\/a>: Men in Black\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LOS ANGELES — Brand familiarity isn’t everything when it comes to attracting audiences to the multiplex, and Hollywood is learning that lesson the hard way this summer with a slew of underperforming sequels and reboots. That so-called franchise fatigue came to a head this weekend with the releases of \u201cMen in Black: International\u201d and \u201cShaft.\u201d<\/p>\n

The writing may have been on the wall after neither an X-Men movie (\u201cDark Phoenix\u201d) nor a Godzilla movie (\u201cGodzilla: King of the Monsters\u201d) could get moviegoers enthusiastic enough to turn out. But this weekend, down over 50% from last year, is the worst yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a rough weekend,\u201d said Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. \u201cWe’ve had some big franchises that are not resonating with audiences or critics.\u201d<\/p>\n

And there’s a common denominator between all the recent disappointments: Poor reviews. All four have been certified \u201crotten\u201d on Rotten Tomatoes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMen in Black: International\u201d took the No. 1 spot in North America, but it’s a dubious distinction for the Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth-led reboot which isn’t exactly the franchise-revitalizer it hoped to be. Sony Pictures on Sunday estimates the F. Gary Gray-directed film earned only $28.5 million over the weekend against a reported $110 million production budget. The three previous \u201cMen in Black\u201d films all opened to over $50 million not accounting for inflation.<\/p>\n

However, international audiences are helping the bottom line with the film earning $73.7 million from 36 markets, bringing its global total to $102.2 million.<\/p>\n

The weekend’s other big new release, \u201cShaft,\u201d which introduces another generation to the franchise, couldn’t even manage to carve out a place in the top five, which instead was populated mostly by holdovers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Secret Life of Pets 2\u201d got the No. 2 spot in its second weekend with $23.8 million. Disney’s \u201cAladdin,\u201d now in weekend four, took third with $16.7 million. \u201cDark Phoenix\u201d placed fourth with $9 million and \u201cRocketman\u201d coasted to fifth with $8.8 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cShaft,\u201d a Warner Bros. release, placed sixth on the charts, with a disappointing $8.3 million.<\/p>\n

Directed by Tim Story, \u201cShaft\u201d features Samuel L. Jackson reprising his role from almost 20 years ago and Jessie T. Usher as his son. It was made for around $30 million.<\/p>\n

Although critics did not praise the film, audiences who turned out (54% of whom were women) were more enthusiastic, giving the film an A CinemaScore.<\/p>\n

Even some originals had a tough time this weekend. Amazon Studios expanded its Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson comedy \u201cLate Night,\u201d which it acquired the North American rights to for a Sundance record of $13 million , to 2,220 theatres where it earned $5.1 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real bright spots have been the smaller indies,\u201d Dergarabedian said. \u201cWe think of summer as blockbuster season, but it’s turned into indie film season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jim Jarmusch’s star-studded zombie comedy \u201cThe Dead Don’t Die\u201d mostly survived its mixed reviews and opened to $2.35 million from 613 locations.<\/p>\n

Documentaries like \u201cEcho in the Canyon\u201d and \u201cPavarotti\u201d have been making a modest mark in limited release, and the acclaimed drama \u201cThe Last Black Man in San Francisco\u201d expanded to 36 locations and earned $361,120. It expands further next weekend.<\/p>\n

But the marketplace is hurting and it’s not a problem with the weekend, which last year saw \u201cIncredibles 2\u201d open to over $182 million, but with the major movies themselves.<\/p>\n

The disappointments have come, mostly, from \u201cmovies that just don’t deliver,\u201d according to Dergarabedian.<\/p>\n

But it’s too simplistic to fault all franchises and next weekend the marketplace will be singing a different tune when \u201cToy Story 4\u201d opens.<\/p>\n

\u201c’Toy Story 4′ is going to erase the memory of this very tough weekend,\u201d Dergarabedian said.<\/p>\n

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Comscore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cMen in Black: International,\u201d $28.5 million ($73.7 million international).<\/li>\n
  2. \u201cThe Secret Life of Pets 2,\u201d $23.8 million.<\/li>\n
  3. \u201cAladdin,\u201d $16.7 million.<\/li>\n
  4. \u201cDark Phoenix,\u201d $9 million.<\/li>\n
  5. \u201cRocketman,\u201d $8.8 million.<\/li>\n
  6. \u201cShaft,\u201d $8.3 million.<\/li>\n
  7. \u201cGodzilla: King of the Monsters,\u201d $8.1 million.<\/li>\n
  8. \u201cJohn Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum,\u201d $6.1 million.<\/li>\n
  9. \u201cLate Night,\u201d $5.1 million.<\/li>\n
  10. \u201cMa,\u201d $3.6 million.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    LOS ANGELES — Brand familiarity isn’t everything when it comes to attracting audiences to the multiplex, and Hollywood is learning …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":219070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-219069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","category-hollywood","mauthors-lindsey-bahr","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219069"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219072,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219069\/revisions\/219072"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}