34 replies to this topic

[Mike00spy]

After the declining returns of the 80s plus the killing LTK received, Bond films have now been only released in the winter season. I can't help but look at how well some of these blockbuster films are doing opening weekend and wonder. But, it is not just the weekends. The summer weekdays take in far more than a week day in Nov or December. Simply, people just go the movies more during the summer. Myself, I am more likely to see movies that I'd normally wait until DVD b/c it is the summer and it seems more of an event. Not to mention, a film relased in the summer hits DVD just in time for the holiday $$$eason.

Bourne's 70 million take seems unreal to me, considering it is 30 million more than Casino Royale. I still refuse to believe that he's that much more popular than Bond. Would he make 70 million in November? No. The only movies in this season that have are Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and The Incredibles. The highest grossing similar demographic movie to Bourne in the holiday season is- well, Die Another Day with 47 million.

http://www.boxoffice...e...iday&p=.htm

Compare this with the summer

http://www.boxoffice...e...mmer&p=.htm

Just look at some of the movies that have made more than Casino Royale's 40 million weekend. You telling me that Bond can't match some of these?

I wonder if the studio is holding Bond back by keeping him in November.

Well, what do you think?

[00Twelve]

I think a significant part of CR's $40 million take was the lackluster shelf life of DAD coupled with the widespread rumors that CR was sure to be a disaster. Most of the moviegoing public aren't dedicated to Bond and don't read pre-release reviews. CR took a short while to really take off, but it proved to have legs and enjoyed a long run in theaters once the word of mouth began to spread about how good a movie it was.

I don't think Bond 22 will have significant problems outdoing both CR and DAD's opening weekends (especially coming off CR's ending!), and it will hopefully beat out Bourne as well. If future releases are planned for summer, then there may be fierce competition from comic franchises and the like. Still, considering the Bond franchise's upcoming credibility as a serious spy franchise, it's got the best shot at contending with the blockbusters as it's ever had. Me, I kind of like it in the holiday spot, because a good thriller in that spot often has long legs at the theater, for a variety of reasons, and I've personally grown accustomed to that time of year being Bond's time.

[Daddy Bond]

After the declining returns of the 80s plus the killing LTK received, Bond films have now been only released in the winter season. I can't help but look at how well some of these blockbuster films are doing opening weekend and wonder. But, it is not just the weekends. The summer weekdays take in far more than a week day in Nov or December. Simply, people just go the movies more during the summer. Myself, I am more likely to see movies that I'd normally wait until DVD b/c it is the summer and it seems more of an event. Not to mention, a film relased in the summer hits DVD just in time for the holiday $$$eason.

Bourne's 70 million take seems unreal to me, considering it is 30 million more than Casino Royale. I still refuse to believe that he's that much more popular than Bond. Would he make 70 million in November? No. The only movies in this season that have are Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and The Incredibles. The highest grossing similar demographic movie to Bourne in the holiday season is- well, Die Another Day with 47 million.

http://www.boxoffice...e...iday&p=.htm

Compare this with the summer

http://www.boxoffice...e...mmer&p=.htm

Just look at some of the movies that have made more than Casino Royale's 40 million weekend. You telling me that Bond can't match some of these?

I wonder if the studio is holding Bond back by keeping him in November.

Well, what do you think?

I have heard a lot of talk about Bourne by people on the street, but very little about CR when it came out. Bourne is very popular here in the U.S. I am not at all saying that CR was not - just that there seems to be more BUZZ on the street about Bourne than when Bond came out.

[Cruiserweight]

My birthday is in the summer so sure i'd like to see a bond film released during the summer again.

[Spurrier]

I've always felt that Bond should be a summer movie. There's a different feel to a Bond Summer movie and Bond Winter movie. I can't describe it. What was it that a Supreme Court Justice said when talking about p

[dinovelvet]

After the declining returns of the 80s plus the killing LTK received, Bond films have now been only released in the winter season. I can't help but look at how well some of these blockbuster films are doing opening weekend and wonder. But, it is not just the weekends. The summer weekdays take in far more than a week day in Nov or December. Simply, people just go the movies more during the summer. Myself, I am more likely to see movies that I'd normally wait until DVD b/c it is the summer and it seems more of an event. Not to mention, a film relased in the summer hits DVD just in time for the holiday $$$eason.

Bourne's 70 million take seems unreal to me, considering it is 30 million more than Casino Royale. I still refuse to believe that he's that much more popular than Bond. Would he make 70 million in November? No. The only movies in this season that have are Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and The Incredibles. The highest grossing similar demographic movie to Bourne in the holiday season is- well, Die Another Day with 47 million.

http://www.boxoffice...e...iday&p=.htm

Compare this with the summer

http://www.boxoffice...e...mmer&p=.htm

Just look at some of the movies that have made more than Casino Royale's 40 million weekend. You telling me that Bond can't match some of these?

I wonder if the studio is holding Bond back by keeping him in November.

Well, what do you think?

Well, there are advantages to opening at the end of the year. CR opened the week before the 5 day Thanksgiving holiday, its essentially like having two opening weekends. A lot of people probably put off seeing CR on its first weekend until they went home for Thanksgiving, or wanted to go with their family, etc. And then there's the Bond-mania that happens at the end of the year; Spike runs their Bond marathons on Thanksgiving and Christmas, and a lot of Bond products are in the stores for Christmas.
Bourne is not more popular than Bond, period. The ONLY place in the world it out-earns 007 is the USA, which of course happens to be the only place we hear about box office returns, so it artificially feels more popular than it really is. On the worldwide stage, Bourne is strictly second division. The first two Bourne films combined earned about $100 million less than Casino Royale, for example.
But, things are looking up for Bond 22. I think the opening weekend will be MUCH higher than CR's $40 million. The movie was a pleasant surprise for a lot of people, who were either expecting Craig to be crap, or had all but given up on Bond after DAD. CR earned its money relatively slowly over several weekends, but I think with B22, more people will want to see it in theatres as soon as its out. It always happens with 'surprise' movies - Rush Hour, Pirates of the Carribbean, Austin Powers, The Matrix, and yes, Bourne Identity. These were all films that started off OK, but ran for a long while as audience word of mouth got around - but its the second film where they all became huge blockbuster franchises. I think we'll see this effect happen with Bond 22. I'm not saying it'll do Pirates money, but I don't think, say, $200 million in the USA is out of the question, if the film is in the same ballpark, quality-wise, as CR.

[jaguar007]

I also think Bond 22 will do gangbuster box office in the US. I heard several people who are not really Bond Fans really like CR - far above any Brosnan film. I also always wondered if the Brosnan movies would have done as well in the summertime or not. I think it was wise to release the Brosnan films during winter because of less competition in the action/adventure genre. The hightest earning Bond films of the 60s were usually holiday releases (I believe until TSWLM). There is a strong possibility that had the Brosnan movies been released in the summer, Brosnan may not have fared much better than Timothy Dalton.

[Daddy Bond]

I also think Bond 22 will do gangbuster box office in the US. I heard several people who are not really Bond Fans really like CR - far above any Brosnan film. I also always wondered if the Brosnan movies would have done as well in the summertime or not. I think it was wise to release the Brosnan films during winter because of less competition in the action/adventure genre. The hightest earning Bond films of the 60s were usually holiday releases (I believe until TSWLM). There is a strong possibility that had the Brosnan movies been released in the summer, Brosnan may not have fared much better than Timothy Dalton.

Well, I doubt the difference would have been that extreme financially speaking. Bond purists may not love the Brosnan movies, but the average Joe Public really did IMO (typical action fluff) - they might not have done quite as well, but still pretty well, and I personally really liked GE and TND. Not perfect, but if all four of his films that been that good, he would be remembered more fondly as Bond.

[Tiin007]

Yes, when compared to Bourne's 70 million, Casino Royale's 40 million might not seem that impressive. But people are forgetting the amount of bashing Craig received from just about everyone other than reviewers. "How can James Bond be blond?" "He looks too old." Do you guys remember those ridiculous complaints? Hell, most of my friends still think he looks considerably older than Brosnan ever did (although I think he looks young). So, taking all that into acount, it's a miracle Casino Royale even earned the 40 million.

[LadySylvia]

Bourne is not more popular than Bond, period. The ONLY place in the world it out-earns 007 is the USA, which of course happens to be the only place we hear about box office returns, so it artificially feels more popular than it really is.

I agree. Bourne's 70 million in compare to Bond's 40 million only occurred during the opening weekend . . . and in the US. Bond always perform better overseas and Bourne seems to perform better in the US. I see no need to start releasing Bond in the summer. The history of Bond movies being released during the summer seemed to have occurred during Moore and Dalton's tenures. Connery and Dalton's films, along with OHMSS, were released during the late fall and early winter.

[Professor Dent]

Moving Bond to the summer would require a complete change in the pre-production schedule & I don't think that is going to happen anytime soon. Since Bond restarted with GoldenEye, it seems that the Thanksgiving/Christmas timeframe works. I think the summer is more reserved for just over the top effects movies like Transformers, Harry Potter, Fantastic Four, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.

[Taro Todoroki]

I wish they would! From TSWLM to LTK, Bond was a guilty pleasure for me as a teenager/young adult. There is something special about a Bond movie in the summer.

[DaveBond21]

Bond movies are ALWAYS summer movies here in Australia.

Casino Royale was the big summer smash here.

[Qwerty]

Moving Bond to the summer would require a complete change in the pre-production schedule & I don't think that is going to happen anytime soon.

I suppose we could see it happen if there is a switch to a three year wait between Craig's Bond 22 and Bond 23.

[Sorayna]

I hope so...

[DaveBond21]

The big competition for Bond movies here is the summer weather and people going to the beach instead of the cinema.

[OmarB]

I think the fall works great for Bond, heck, James' b-day is in November (and so is mine).

[mister-white]

I've too questioned why we haven't got a summer release for a while now. LTK was the last, and heck, I wasn't even a year old then, so I've always seen Bond in the theatre during the winter. I still am one who's a bit disappointed they didn't open CR in July of this year and not November of last year, just makes more sense from a marketing point of view, they could have billed this entire year as the "Year of 007" if they opened CR in July, released the new DVDs in the spring and done like a new book or something in the fall (along with the CR DVD), but I guess no one else thought of it. As for potential summer dates, I still have a feeling that 23 might open in the summer of 2010, but then we'll be back to fall cause I know that October 5, 2012 will be the date for Bond 24 (seeing as it's 50 years to the day of Dr. No's premiere, but then again, I've already gone over how obvious the idea of opening a Bond film this year was to me).

[RazorBlade]

I've too questioned why we haven't got a summer release for a while now. LTK was the last, and heck, I wasn't even a year old then, so I've always seen Bond in the theatre during the winter. I still am one who's a bit disappointed they didn't open CR in July of this year and not November of last year, just makes more sense from a marketing point of view, they could have billed this entire year as the "Year of 007" if they opened CR in July, released the new DVDs in the spring and done like a new book or something in the fall (along with the CR DVD), but I guess no one else thought of it. As for potential summer dates, I still have a feeling that 23 might open in the summer of 2010, but then we'll be back to fall cause I know that October 5, 2012 will be the date for Bond 24 (seeing as it's 50 years to the day of Dr. No's premiere, but then again, I've already gone over how obvious the idea of opening a Bond film this year was to me).

Year of 007. I've said that myself.

[Rene Mathis]

I think that the producers have finally woken up to the fact that there is a whole world outside of the american market, and judging by the way the produced and released Casino Royale, they are no longer going to bother catering to that market.
If the Americans enjoy Bourne better than Bond, so be it, the rest of the world seems to prefer Bond.
BTW Casino Royale took in four times its opening weekend gross in its entire run (40millionish opening, 160ish total gross. I cant remember a movie having that kinda legs in a long time, though i think Batman Begins was similar.

[Vauxhall]

Given the success of CASINO ROYALE, there is no need for the producers and studio to fear the opposition, but for the sake of tradition I expect them to maintain the November release dates.

[DaveBond21]

Yeah, keep Bond in the summer, as it is here....

[Agent Ostlund]

IMO, I believe that it would be nice for the upcoming Bond films to be released in theaters in November. I just enjoyed going to see CR on a friday night after school with my friends, and hopefully next year I will be able to do the same. Besides, as many have claimed before, the success of CR will most definatly draw a larger audience for the next Bond film no matter when it is scheduled to be released. Or so I think..

[RivenWinner]

We also have to take into consideration that the market is not what it once used to be. One of the many challenges that constantly faces Bond these days is how to live and compete in a market that is more cluttered with action, adventure and spy films. I think the advantage of placing Bond films during the winter is that it's a strong franchise positioned in a season that usually doesn't get too many types of films from this genre, and thus likely encouraging people to see the films. The summer season is usually filled with extravagent, bloated CGI blockbusters, big family movies, comic books films, and tons of random thrillers, actions films, etc.

While I've always thought Bond should return to its summer tentpole release, I think it does just fine during the Holiday season, and it is in fact something I've becomed used to looking forward to.

Edited by RivenWinner, 01 December 2007 - 04:42 PM.

[HH007]

Yeah, I don't know how Bond would fair being put up against Batman, Indy 4, Transformers 2, and God knows what else. I say keep Bond in November, it's the perfect time for him.

[Mr Malcolm]

I'd say keep it in November. It's not he most fun time of year, so there's got to be something to look forward to, no?

[Messervy]

I like my Bond movies in November.
I personally hate summer-vibe theaters, when one just goes to the movies because one happens to be on holidays. If I want to watch a film, I'll go, irrespective of the time of year.
So I'd like to keep the disconnection between summer-blockbusters-for-icecreams-eater-bored-teenagers and end-of-the-year-Bonds.

[DLibrasnow]

One of the reasons that people here stateside go to the movie theaters more in the summer is because it's over 100 degrees outside and movie theaters have a pretty good feeling AC. I can't count the number of times thst someone has suggested a movie theater as an option to escape the oppressive heat.
As far as Bond goes I grew up with Bond being a summer event but have no feelings either way regarding whether it is released in the summer or winter.

[Aris007]

I believe it's not so likely to see Bond releasing in summer again just for box-office reasons.
During summer people go on holiday. Especially in the northern countries UK and so, people tend to leave for other countries in the south, whoever can afford it anyway! So releasing a film during summer is a risk becasue admitt it that it's a little hard to leave the blue sea and the sun and go and stick your head in a black room to sea Bond!

For this and only for this, stick with Winter please!

[Eric Stromberg]

For this and only for this, stick with Winter please!

I'm with Aris on this one. It is much more distinct to have Bond released in the winter, as opposed to mixed in with the summer blockbuster rabble. It's fun to have the big event to look forward to during the Thanksgiving timeframe.