2019 Box Office Busts

[Colossus1980]

I find it interesting that Dark Phoenix bombed so hard. I think the previous movie hurt it. People just weren't very interested or invested in this universe. All the bts drama too. Poor marketing as well?

It seems Deadpool was the only breakout star from the XCU. No other X-Men movie came close to crossing 300M domestic.

[Divine Spark]

I find it interesting that Dark Phoenix bombed so hard. I think the previous movie hurt it. People just weren't very interested or invested in this universe. All the bts drama too. Poor marketing as well?

Compare it to the DCEU movies like BvS, SS and JL (these movies were also controversial and divisive), but only JL lost money, but it still did $600 + millions worldwide.

Logan's success showed that there was still interest in the series after X-Men: Apocalypse. The general public was never really too interested in the prequel series. But yeah, there are loads of factors to why it bombed as hard as it did. Lack of promotion and heavy summer competition were among the biggest ones.

Selling it as a Dark Phoenix movie was also a mistake, both because that’s misleading and contributed to the “been there, done that” feeling which certainly hurt the box office. One obvious misleading moment in the trailers for instance is Charles’ line “she’ll kill us all” clearly suggested to be Jean, but in the movie it’s about Chastain’s character. Apparently, they didn't know how to market the movie.

At the time, preparations for the Disney-Fox acquisition were in full swing. Marketing and publicity and distribution execs were either being forced out or had one eye on the door. "The campaign was muddled," says a former Fox executive. "Was this the final X-Men movie? Was it about a character going back? This movie just got lost."

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/he...-plans-1216859

It seems Deadpool was the only breakout star from the XCU. No other X-Men movie came close to crossing 300M domestic.

X2 and X3 did if you count inflation.

[Theleviathan]

I find it interesting that Dark Phoenix bombed so hard. I think the previous movie hurt it. People just weren't very interested or invested in this universe. All the bts drama too. Poor marketing as well?

Compare it to the DCEU movies like BvS, SS and JL (these movies were also controversial and divisive), but only JL lost money, but it still did $600 + millions worldwide.

Right, bad movies still make a crap ton of money. The fact that Phoenix opened as a dud is more of an indication that the appetite for it was non-existent. People hungry for something, even if they know going in it's being trashed (see: much of the DCEU) will still show up for the car wreck. Fox killed the X-appetite so badly people weren't even up for rubber-necking.

[jetengine]

X2 and X3 did if you count inflation.

We dont, because then Gone With the Wind is somehow the most successful movie of all time.

[Midvillian1322]

For me the trailers were just boring as hell and did nothing to make me want to see the movie. And the first trailer was done by Fox prior to buy out right?

Then having seen the movie while the story wasnt exactly what I expected the tone and lack of any real fun was exactly what i expected. It's the same problem as BvS. If your movies is melancholy and lacking any real fun, the Drama is gonna be held to a much higher standard. And both those movies just arent good in that regard. Straight silly ass movie like GOTG elicited more of a emotional reaction for me. Or Shazam which also was a straight up comedy still had better Drama then DP. And it wasnt the actors they were acting they're asses off. I just felt a disconnect from the story and chatacters. But the actors individually are great (Fassbender,McAvoy, and Turner all turned it great performances I thought. I just didnt care about the story so it didnt connect.)

Logans trailer was one of my favorite trailers ever. Everything about it was perfect.

[Divine Spark]

Oh, the movie had some fun in it, there was just far too few of them or was just not good.

Back in 2017 the filmmakers that the infamous “X-Women” line was meant be a joke, but a lot of people read too much into it. A couple of people in my theater did laugh.

The main reason why the drama wasn’t good is because it was spoiled in the second trailer.

[useridgoeshere]

Right, bad movies still make a crap ton of money. The fact that Phoenix opened as a dud is more of an indication that the appetite for it was non-existent. People hungry for something, even if they know going in it's being trashed (see: much of the DCEU) will still show up for the car wreck. Fox killed the X-appetite so badly people weren't even up for rubber-necking.

Yes, the opening shows people made their decision not to see it before anyone saw it, so, regardless of quality, that's a franchise and marketing issue.

Maybe it's a good thing for Disney that so few people saw it. Hopefully, it didn't do any more damage to the brand.

[Divine Spark]

Maybe it's a good thing for Disney that so few people saw it. Hopefully, it didn't do any more damage to the brand.

People will eventually see it on home media, which Disney seems to paying a pretty penny on.

According to RT 64% of the audience gave it 3.5/5 stars, so I don’t think it will damage the brand.

[Scott Taylor]

Logans trailer was one of my favorite trailers ever. Everything about it was perfect.

Mine, too. And it perfectly captured the movie, as it turned out. Showed just enough violence to intrigue while also showing a glimpse of the oddball relationship between Xavier, Laura and Logan.

[Scott Taylor]

Selling it as a Dark Phoenix movie was also a mistake, both because that’s misleading and contributed to the “been there, done that” feeling which certainly hurt the box office. One obvious misleading moment in the trailers for instance is Charles’ line “she’ll kill us all” clearly suggested to be Jean, but in the movie it’s about Chastain’s character. Apparently, they didn't know how to market the movie.

Yup. The name of the movie as well was just a real shame. She never went into Dark Phoenix mode, not really. The movie was a fairly generic "aliens try and take over the world" story with Jean playing a role of unwilling pawn. It just wasn't at all about her becoming a major threat to the universe, though there was a possibility of that happening I suppose. You could have named it Mutant Independence Day, would have been more descriptive.

Hopefully people give it a chance on home streaming, but I think a common reaction will be disappointment largely due to the expectations built up mistakenly or on purpose by a bunch of terrible marketing decisions.

What is interesting to me is that Days of Future Past did much the same thing. The trailer wasn't really like the movie too much and the story wasn't anything like the comic books, either. But it was a great trailer.

[Divine Spark]

Yup. The name of the movie as well was just a real shame. She never went into Dark Phoenix mode, not really. The movie was a fairly generic "aliens try and take over the world" story with Jean playing a role of unwilling pawn. It just wasn't at all about her becoming a major threat to the universe, though there was a possibility of that happening I suppose. You could have named it Mutant Independence Day, would have been more descriptive.

Hopefully people give it a chance on home streaming, but I think a common reaction will be disappointment largely due to the expectations built up mistakenly or on purpose by a bunch of terrible marketing decisions.

What is interesting to me is that Days of Future Past did much the same thing. The trailer wasn't really like the movie too much and the story wasn't anything like the comic books, either. But it was a great trailer.

The aliens are not really focused on that much. Its more a classic hero's journey for Jean.

[useridgoeshere]

According to RT 64% of the audience gave it 3.5/5 stars, so I don’t think it will damage the brand.

Disagree. 64% is terrible. Justice League got a better audience rating and it's on par with Apocalypse and Last Stand.

[Divine Spark]

Disagree. 64% is terrible. Justice League got a better audience rating and it's on par with Apocalypse and Last Stand.

The Wolverine isn’t far from that number either(69%).

But considering how audiences react extremely negatively to movies with false advertisement such as It Comes At Night(44%) and mother!(50%), it’s impressive that it’s that high.

[Midvillian1322]

The Wolverine isn’t far from that number either(69%).

But considering how audiences react extremely negatively to movies with false advertisement such as It Comes At Night(44%) and mother!(50%), it’s impressive that it’s that high.

Not even the same thing. People knew they were seeing an Xmen movie. Doesnt matter if the plot wasnt what they expected. The other two movies were advertised as being a different genre of movie(I never saw it comes at night but I've heard people mock the misleading title).

Also the Wolverine has one of the worst endings of any Comicbook movie. So not surprised by that one. It was a good Wolverine flick till it turned into Wolverine getting his claws chopped off by a giant Gundam.

The fact is it's an Xmen movie. People knew they were seeing an Xmen movie. Captain Marvel marketed the Skrulls as the bad guys and that wasnt the case at all. And people loved it. Now if DP was a straight up drama with no action or a straight up comedy. Then i can see people being upset by the misleading trailers. But just because the story wasnt predictable based on the trailer isnt gonna make people hate it. Now being marketed as a finale when its clearly not might have been a nice fu** you cherry on top for the people who hated it. But what do u want Marvel to do they were gonna reboot and wanted people to know that chapter of the Xmen are closed. For the record I don't think the movie is the worst thing ever. It was fine just like Apocalypse. Just didnt move me the way it should.

[Divine Spark]

Not even the same thing. People knew they were seeing an Xmen movie. Doesnt matter if the plot wasnt what they expected. The other two movies were advertised as being a different genre of movie(I never saw it comes at night but I've heard people mock the misleading title).

Also the Wolverine has one of the worst endings of any Comicbook movie. So not surprised by that one. It was a good Wolverine flick till it turned into Wolverine getting his claws chopped off by a giant Gundam.

The fact is it's an Xmen movie. People knew they were seeing an Xmen movie. Captain Marvel marketed the Skrulls as the bad guys and that wasnt the case at all. And people loved it. Now if DP was a straight up drama with no action or a straight up comedy. Then i can see people being upset by the misleading trailers. But just because the story wasnt predictable based on the trailer isnt gonna make people hate it. Now being marketed as a finale when its clearly not might have been a nice fu** you cherry on top for the people who hated it. But what do u want Marvel to do they were gonna reboot and wanted people to know that chapter of the Xmen are closed. For the record I don't think the movie is the worst thing ever. It was fine just like Apocalypse. Just didnt move me the way it should.

There is a huge difference between the Skrulls and Jean, though. Captain Marvel's marketing depicted the Skrulls as simply antagonist for Carol to fight and nothing more. Jean on the other hand was front and center of Dark Phoenix's marketing with the tagline being "every hero has a dark side" depicted as both the protagonist and antagonist. The selling point of Dark Phoenix is that the X-Men will face their greatest threat: their own. When that didn't happen and instead got generic aliens their were plenty of people that complained. Example: 3:54



Yeah, in the video they also complained about the movie for failing as a finale AND that the action is small scale for an event movie(it was intentionally made to be small scale).