2019 Box Office Busts

[Immortal Weapon]

Sorry, meant in terms of box office. Domestically it was the third worst of all the X-movies.

First Class came after Last Stand and Wolverine Origins. Audience confidence in th series took a serious hit after those two movies. I initially skipped First Class because I got burned on the last two.

[The Ozman]

I think what set DoFP up for success was bringing back many of the original actors. In terms of story, First Class did so little to set up the movie they killed off virtually everyone.

Probably true for the most part, but I still think the clean slate helped a lot too.

First Class came over Last Stand and Wolverine Origins. Audience confidence in th series took a serious hit after those two movies. I initially skipped First Class because I got burned on the last two.

I actually forgot Origins came out between TLS and First Class. No wonder people were down on X-Men films after that double dose of mediocrity.

[Comic-Reader Lad]

That's kind of an odd way of thinking about it. It only took that long because of monthly comic release schedules. If you had all the issues in your hand at the same time, how long would it take to read the whole lot? A couple of hours or less, depending on how fast you read?

Part of the impact of serialized storylines is the wait between installments. With that gone, the story might still be good, but the whole experience in between chapters -- thinking about it (maybe even obsessing about it), talking about it with friends, letting excitement and anticipation build -- is missing.

Reading Dark Phoenix over a couple of hours just would not have been the same. It would have flown by too fast with no time to ponder what happened.

It's the same way with any serialized artform. If decades ago on TV, they shot JR Ewing and then 45 minutes later, they revealed who did it, it would not have been the cultural and ratings bonanza that it was. It would have been just another episode of Murder, She Wrote. The fact that there was about 8 months in between the shooting and revelation was what made it the highest rated television episode in history at the time.

[Theleviathan]

First Class came after Last Stand and Wolverine Origins. Audience confidence in th series took a serious hit after those two movies. I initially skipped First Class because I got burned on the last two.

If you notice the last post on the previous page I note the same thought, though you're right to include Origins in that blame as well.

I too skipped First Class in the theater due to the taste in my mouth from Origins.

[Jokerz79]

If you notice the last post on the previous page I note the same thought, though you're right to include Origins in that blame as well.

I too skipped First Class in the theater due to the taste in my mouth from Origins.

Same reason ROTS was the 1st Star Wars film I refused to see in theaters.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Well...it's been two bombs. And First Class wasn't well received either. If they did have the public's imagination, it was a long time ago.

86% on RT seems kinda well received.

Sorry, meant in terms of box office. Domestically it was the third worst of all the X-movies.

X-Men : 1st Class was a reboot of the X-Men franchise with really a cast of not well known actors taking roles. Beyond Fessbender and McAvoy , Jennifer Lawrence wasn't the major star yet she would become til a year later. Kevin Bacon hadn't made a big film since 2003 with Mystic River.

In all the film did basically right where the average was really. It wasn't the end of the 1st big stars of X-Men ala Last Stand . But it did fall $20 million less than what X-Men Origins did .

It also became a home video buy as it did $66+ million in home video sales. The film was supposed to start Vaughn's trilogy of films as he detailed. Building to Days of Future Past but Fox jumped the gun as we saw. In the end the film was pretty well received box office , home video and critically.

[Immortal Weapon]

X-Men : 1st Class was a reboot of the X-Men franchise with really a cast of not well known actors taking roles. Beyond Fessbender and McAvoy , Jennifer Lawrence wasn't the major star yet she would become til a year later. Kevin Bacon hadn't made a big film since 2003 with Mystic River.

In all the film did basically right where the average was really. It wasn't the end of the 1st big stars of X-Men ala Last Stand . But it did fall $20 million less than what X-Men Origins did .

It also became a home video buy as it did $66+ million in home video sales. The film was supposed to start Vaughn's trilogy of films as he detailed. Building to Days of Future Past but Fox jumped the gun as we saw. In the end the film was pretty well received box office , home video and critically.

Vaughn dropped out of X-Men so he can do the Kingsman movies. I'm not seeing how Fox is to blame there.

[Theleviathan]

In the end the film was pretty well received box office , home video and critically.

I don't think you can say that about the box office. The rest you can make a case for it, I would agree about it critically, but the box office stunk.

[Jokerz79]

I don't think you can say that about the box office. The rest you can make a case for it, I would agree about it critically, but the box office stunk.

Didn't do that much less than First Avenger which came out that year also.

[Kirby101]

Didn't do that much less than First Avenger which came out that year also.

True, not a big hit, but not a bust either.

[Theleviathan]

Didn't do that much less than First Avenger which came out that year also.

Bit of a different set of circumstances though, wouldn't you agree?

[regnak]

I thought it was one of the better movies in the foxverse.

[Totoro Man]

I just don't know how you could have put "Watchmen" the movie and "Akira" the animation into the same category. *faints in horror

for me it's ultimately about both films failing to measure up. the fact that one failed to measure up by a much larger margin is a secondary issue compared to the primacy of both films failing to match the source material. the "Akira" manga is so utterly superior to the film that I can't ignore that. I'm not going to pretend that "Akira" is some form of cinematic perfection. it's a better adaptation of the source material than Snyder's "Watchmen"... but for me, both films fall short of the books that inspired them.

for me, after reading the book, and watching the film again I felt like "Akira", the movie, should have been 20% cooler.

after seeing "Watchmen" I felt like it took too many liberties in the wrong way and not enough liberties in others. it should have been... I dunno.... 70% cooler. there were a few good scenes. Snyder is a memorable visual stylist - but I don't think of him as a good story-teller. it feels like he's making feature-length music videos sometimes. but, I got to give him props... he was definitely taking some risks and trying to be ambitious. so I can respect him for that. I just didn't enjoy any of his films.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Well...it's been two bombs. And First Class wasn't well received either. If they did have the public's imagination, it was a long time ago.

86% on RT seems kinda well received.

Sorry, meant in terms of box office. Domestically it was the third worst of all the X-movies.

I don't think you can say that about the box office. The rest you can make a case for it, I would agree about it critically, but the box office stunk.

True, not a big hit, but not a bust either.

Its pretty true that 1st Class is not a bust. In fact the film was supposed to start a new trilogy of films (that plan was thrown to the side) and they would build a new cast towards Days of Future Past. (Vaughn planned a young Wolverine appearing and wanted Tom Hardy as the character). Had they did Apocalypse after 1st Class that film with a new cast and all likely does $400-450 million domestically. Which falls in line with a lot of the X-Men and Wolverine films. (before Logan and Deadpool).

When Fox launched the X-Men what is wild is that film beyond Stewart , Halle Berry and McKellen did $296+ million worldwide. Pretty wild. But they built slowly as Jackman became a "name" actor as we saw.

Bit of a different set of circumstances though, wouldn't you agree?

Yes the circumstances were a lot different as we know. Disney built a spread universe of films. By the time Winter Soldier happened ...Captain America as a character had appeared in a huge team film (The Avengers) and was part of a wide universe of films. There was a build to that and the box office demonstrated that with over $700+ million worldwide.

1st Class itself was featuring a brand new cast , brand new characters and didn't have films as a lead in to build to a huge team arc . So yeah things was different for sure.

In the end though the film wasn't a bust and wasn't a huge hit. It did decent and started a new trilogy of films as we saw.

[Jokerz79]

Bit of a different set of circumstances though, wouldn't you agree?

Yes and no there are similarities and differences and again the bench mark for a hit was way different even in 2011 than today I think both films would be viewed differently today with those numbers but if I compared First Class to a film it would Bumblebee it made a profit and brought critics and fans back onboard a dwindling franchise and that's a success IMO.