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I think to fully understand why we keep getting remakes and reboots you have to look at it from a business stand point. Have you ever heard the expression "I'd rather deal with the Devil I know, then the Devil I don't know." Hollywood rather put out another movie in a series then as a track record of success then put a fresh new movie that may or may not be a hit, it's a calculated gamble but the studios. Take this weekend's The Mummy reboot which has widely been called a "Flop" . This movie was supposed to start the new Universal Monster movie series but has under performed at the box office putting the entire "Dark Universe" in limbo. Lets take a look at the franchise and why they made this movie.
NOTE : For the purposes of this blog I will be discussing the movies is the order of their release NOT box office success. Also I will be adding a note to the end of each section of how I would have proceeded to take advantage of each films success or how I would have changed things according to the box office gains for the studio.
I personally thought this was a great movie and an amazing way to kick off a franchise with a star that was very hot at the time.
The story was very good, the script well written and overall just a stunning movie to see. This would have been a great way to reintroduce this generation to the original cinematic universe the Universal Monsters but they decided to build this franchise further with a sequel after a gross of $155.3 million dollars at the domestic box office and a Worldwide gross of 415.9 million dollars for the first film.
Note : I would have followed this film with a Dracula film in 2000 and start to build the "Dark Universe."
The story was very well thought out and the script was awesome much like the first film. the sequel is a safe movie to make in that I don't think they tried to stretch it too far like some of the newer films out there where you see the first film and it's really good but then the sequel is something that doesn't match up well with the first film. .
Note : I would have introduced Dr. Frankenstein in some way into this movie thus adding him to the "Dark Universe." Maybe not even having an actor in place but maybe a news story or a file of some type to show him in this world.
This movie opened with a 36 million dollar weekend, grossed $91 million dollars domestically and $165.3 million dollars worldwide. This film was largely successful and a great career launch for Dwayne Johnson.
This movie had several sequels that went direct to DVD and will not be discussed in this blog mainly because I haven't seen them.
Note : I would not have had the already established "Dark Universe" present in this movie.
This movie opened with a $40.4 million dollar weekend, grossed $102.4 million dollars domestically and 401.1 million worldwide. so this movie was successful as well. I think the fact that it was 7 years between Mummy movies was what killed this franchise overall. The script was good, the story was done well and the casting was amazing as well. I think timing is what killed this franchise.
Note : I'm unsure what they could do to make a fourth Mummy movie at this point other then a reboot to hopefully bring some of the other monsters into the fold.
The reason Universal made The Mummy is because they want to create the "Dark Universe" with all the classic monsters and The Mummy was the first step. Personally I would start with Dracula or Frankenstein but they started with The Mummy.
This is what was written on rotten tomatoes about The Mummy :
With Tom Cruise in the lead, the best special effects money can buy, and one of cinema’s most durable characters driving the action, The Mummy is one of the most highly anticipated releases of the year — at least in the Universal boardroom, where execs are counting on it to help launch their Dark Universe tying together reboots of the studio’s classic monster movie franchises. Critics, as ever, are harder to convince — and they certainly haven’t been swayed by The Mummy, which reviews describe as a commerce-driven assemblage of set pieces that’s more concerned with rolling out spinoffs and sequels than telling a compelling story. The gears are already in motion for more of these movies, so there’s still a chance it’ll get better from here, but if you want to watch a fun Mummy movie this weekend, the newest option isn’t your safest bet.
This blurb is followed by reviews from well known movie reviewers who pan the movie and then audience reviewers who have almost nothing good to say about the movie which I get it we live in a world now where ever person with a smart phone, laptop, or computer thinks their opinion is important and to a point they are because after all we are the consumers who pay our hard earned money to see these movies but if you have never taken a big chance like putting your script out there for the world to read or a movie that you worked so hard on to be viewed by millions of people you really have no idea how hard it is to do those things but you feel like a knowledgeable person you have watched a million movies and "know what's good" or because you have a youtube channel or a website etc.
NOTE : 44% of the audience liked it . (While this isn't a majority number it does tell you that fans of the genre did enjoy the movie.)
I think it's smart for them to try to tie together some of the other films that have proceeded this one but also I think the way to go would be to have The Mummy be the start of it all and not reference any of the previous films if this movie is to LAUNCH the "Dark Universe" .
Aren't all movies "commerce driven" ?? Don't we put out movies to make money or do we do it for fun? I'm confused here? Universal spent an estimated $125 million dollars to make The Mummy so your telling me they spent all that money for the fun of it and don't actually want the movie to make money with the release of the film this weekend?? This is news to me!!
This review was posted on imdb.com
Great movie, not sure what the critics watched
9 June 2017 | by thebricks (Louisiana) – See all my reviewsThis was a fairly critic-proof movie for me. I was going to watch it anyways. I just can't trust critics anymore, and it's disgusting to see how their opinions poison the judgment of those too naive to understand what sort of outside influences affect the review process.
Compared to Wonder Woman last week, this was a far superior movie. I'm not sure how that film got rave reviews while this one got trashed. It's really sad to see that you really can't trust reviews anymore.
This post hits the nail on the head and I agree completely you simply can't trust reviews anymore they are jaded people who think their opinion is more important then anything else in terms of if a movie is any good or not and that's simply not the case.
Reviewers don't know what the shooting script looked like, the BTS issues of a movie or any of the grunt work that goes into making a movie they simply sit at a computer after seeing the finished product and either praise the film or (usually) bury it. Critics are out of touch and need to watch movies as a fan and NOT as a critic you would see the beauty in more movies and hopefully become less jaded over time, just a suggestion.
Stay Humble, Stay Hungry My Friends :)