Lancelot Link Monday: Hits & Misses!

Lancelot Link Monday! Last week a group of angry fans signed a petition to destroy Rotten Tomatoes because it said bad things about SUICIDE SQUAD and BATMAN V SUPERMAN... even though RT doesn't write any of the reviews on the site, it just links them and averages out the "grade". They are only the messenger. This week we get an angry letter from an ex-WB employee about *why* those films got such bad reviews. We also got week #2 for SUICIDE SQUAD which nosedived by over 67% (which isn't really that bad... but also not good). Meanwhile, SAUSAGE PARTY - an R rated cartoon that everyone expected to open with about $10m in 5th or 6th place... was #2 with $33.6m. WTF? SAUSAGE was made for under $20m with a great voice cast, and everyone would have been happy if it had made the $10m and then was later released to disk and streaming. But the big question seems to be - has WB mishandled their DC theatricals? Was Zack Snyder the completely wrong choice to be in charge of those films? (my answer is *yes*). Should Zack Snyder be shown to the Hollywood city limits and told not to return? (my answer is...) While you're thinking about that, here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...




Here are a dozen links plus this week's car chase...


1) Weekend Box Office Estimates:
1 Suicide Squad................... $43,770,000
2 Sausage......................... $33,600,000
3 Pete's Dragon................... $21,501,000
4 Jason Bourne.................... $13,620,000
5 Bad Moms........................ $11,450,000
6 Secret Pets...................... $8,840,000
7 ST BATH & BEYOND................. $6,800,000
8 FF Jenkins....................... $6,580,000
9 9 Lives.......................... $3,500,000
10 Lights Out....................... $3,220,000


It's been a while since I posted a year-to-date comparison, so box office this year is only ahead of last year by 5.1%, only ahead of 2014 by 11.9%, only ahead of 2013 by 5.7%, only ahead of 2012 by 5.7%, and only ahead of 2011 by 10.4%. Though one of the issues is that this year has been packed with expensive duds (GHOSTBUSTERS was not in the top 10 this week!) so people may be going to the movies but they might not be going home happy; movies like BAD MOMS and SAUSAGE and LIGHTS OUT (and other horror flicks) are doing a great job of earning money on a budget. I still think the real solution is to *really* have a studio low budget genre division that does what BlumHouse does so well - great genre films for $5m or less. The problem is - studios have no idea how to make films at that budget, and when they hire some director who is used to making a film for $130 million to make one for $5 million the movie usually crashes and burns. The key here is to hire the next generation of John Carpenters (guys like James Wan) who know how to make a film on a budget. You know, there are plenty of guys and gals working in the low budget world right now that they could hire... and it would be nice to hire John Carpenter while they're at it. The thing about "budget friendly" movies is that they are a whole different animal than a $100m studio film, and require completely different skills. There was a time when every studio had a low budget division - which not only kept the average picture cost down, it was also a great training ground for writers and directors and everyone else... maybe they should return to that?

2) Indie Box Office.



3) Open Letter To WB & DC About BvS and SS "Underperforming". Seriously - just get the person who is in charge of DC TV to take over DC features and problem is solved!

4) SUICIDE SQUAD - Can A Film Be A Hit & A Flop At The Same Time?

5) Feature Doc On John Carpenter?

6) The Best Movie Of The Summer... but is there an audience?

7) RIP: R2D2.

8) Jame Schamus On Adapting Philip Roth's INDIGNATION.

9) PETE'S DRAGON - How A Micro Budget Director Got A Hollywood Gig.

10) What Are You Seeing On Memorial Day 2017?

11) A Look AT THE THIRD MAN...

12) Things Writers Should Avoid In Contracts.

13) 13 Things You Need To Do If Making Your Own Film.

And the Car Chase Of The Week:



Okay, dragon chase...

Bill



IMPORTANT UPDATE:
-
Dinner:
Pages:
Bicycle:

Movie: