"Green Zone" was a major box office disaster

[OmahaBlueDog]

Do you have any thoughts on whether it just isn't a good movie, or are we just not terribly interested in movies about the war in Iraq (notwithstanding the Oscar for "The Hurt Locker")

[aquart]

1. I have no interest in seeing the US invade a country that never fired on us.

Who am I supposed to think is the bad guy?

[Bolo Boffin]

4. The bad guy (spoilers)

The American official who lied about WMDs in the country to facilitate an invasion.

[DJ13]

2. No one (outside of Hollywood) knew what the Hurt Locker was

Iraq/Afghanistan war movies dont seem to be very popular with audiences.

[sendero]

9. Americans

.. are not ready to face reality regarding Iraq.

[calimary]

33. Americans are not ready to face reality regarding - ANYTHING.

[Bolo Boffin]

3. Number one, IMAX 3-D movies are sucking up all available cash.

Alice made more than all other 9 movies on the weekend box office combined. That and Avatar are huge money vacuums in this market.

Number two, this movie was ready for release in 2008. I don't know why it was delayed, but conservatives have had two years to build bad press for this movie, including outright lying about the character and intentions of the movie. There is no hatred of American soldiers in this movie. There is severe questioning of the motives of some American officials, but the soldiers are doing their job, and the protagonist is trying to find the weapons of mass destruction in order to fulfill the mission and protect America and Americans from harm.

Number three, with worldwide box office, it has made back 25% of its budget on the opening weekend. I'm betting it will eventually cover its budget on gross, and any $100 million budget movie that makes back the budget isn't a flop.

Number four, it's a very good thriller and it's based in the facts about Bagdad (inspired by "Imperial Life in the Emerald City" according to the credits).

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. 1. Matt Damon sucks.

2. Action movies starring Matt Damon suck.

3. Hurt Locker/Bourne rip offs suck hard.

I'm glad this movie bombed.

[Bolo Boffin]

6. This movie was made in 2008. How is it a ripoff of Hurt Locker?

This movie was directed by Bourne director Paul Greengrass and starred Matt Damon. Was "The Birds" a Hitchcock ripoff?

It's being marketed as a Bourne-style movie, but it's not at all. Roy Miller is not Jason Bourne at all. It's a straight up-and-down political action thriller.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

8. Hurt Locker was released in 2008.

"This movie was directed by Bourne director Paul Greengrass and starred Matt Damon."

Well, there you go. They're just recycling shit.

If it were a straight up and down political thriller it wouldn't have car chases and fist fights and helicopters blowing up and shit.

[quinnox]

12. Heresy!

Matt Damon rocked in the Bourne Ultimatum. One of the best action movies in years. I couldn't disagree with you more.

[marmar]

29. The Bourne series is one of the best action series in a long time....

..... and Matt Damon hardly sucks.

But then again, there's no accounting for taste.

[lunatica]

7. This movie may not be popular now but if it's based in fact

It'll withstand the test of time. Like Clooney's Syriana. I also think Body of Lies will age well.

[blogslut]

10. When times are hard the public turns to escapist entertainment

This has always been the case.

The studios marketed Green Zone as an action flick and because of that the film managed to come in at #2 for this weekend's US box office. So far, it's made roughly $24,000,000 worldwide. While it has yet to make enough to cover its budgeted production costs, to call it a major box office disaster is inaccurate.

[DavidDvorkin]

11. I think it was advertised very badly

The trailer makes it look like an action-adventure and a thriller set during a war. So the people who might like it because of its political message probably won't go to see it because of the trailer, while the people who want the kind of movie the trailer depicts will be disappointed and will spread negative reports about it.

[trumad]

13. again...knee jerk opinions amaze me here at DU.

I just saw the movie and it was a huge indictment of the Iraqi war.

Fucking DU astounds me sometime!!!

[Bolo Boffin]

14. Thank you.

I also saw it and thought it was quite worth my time and money.

[paulsby]

15. the public doesn't want to be preached at

in regards to the iraq war.

movies that do so will do poorly, generally speaking

[trumad]

16. hat a stupid post.

Have you even seen the movie?

[paulsby]

17. pot, kettle, black nt

[trumad]

22. have you seen the movie?

Didn't think so.

[DainBramaged]

24. And he has NO intention of going ether.......

[trumad]

25. Of course not...

...

[marmar]

30. Yeah, I guess that's why Fahrenheit 9/11 only made $119 million.

:think:

[Selatius]

36. I didn't know you had a direct pipeline to the American consciousness. nt

[ShamelessHussy]

18. i hear ya

i haven't seen that movie (not usually into war movies) but the hate directed at Avatar on here blew me away :shakes-head:

[bemildred]

19. Random suckage is normal in the movie business.

It might as well be your horoscope or something. You can do everything right and still get screwed and the most awesome drivel can make boatloads of money. At least in Las Vegas you know the odds.

[DainBramaged]

20. Uh no it wasn't

Domestic Total as of Mar. 14, 2010: $14,535,000


You had HUGE storms here on the East Coast this weekend, and MAJOR rainfall in the Northeast where we Liberals have a foothold. I didn't go to the movies because it's been raining nonstop for three days, the rivers are overflowing their banks, and it is generally sucky out.

[OmahaBlueDog]

21. I hate to do this, because I have a lot of respect for you, but uh, yes it was

The bad weather theory doesn't work when AIWL made $60M+ the same weekend.

[DainBramaged]

23. Not the same audience, not even close. $14+ million excellent...

AIWL had 700 more theaters too. I'll go this Tuesday night after work.


On the other hand,,,


3 N She's Out of My League Par. $9,600,000 - 2,956 - $3,248 $9,600,000 $20 1
4 N Remember Me Sum. $8,300,000 - 2,212 - $3,752 $8,300,000
6 N Our Family Wedding FoxS $7,600,000 - 1,605 - $4,735 $7,600,000


THOSE were disasters.

[OmahaBlueDog]

28. $14M is a disaster when your film had a budget of $100M

Opening week, an American studio generally looks to recoup half of a film's budget in domestic box.

"She's Out of My League" made 9.6M, but had a budget of $20M

"Remember Me" made $8.3 M, but had a budget of $16M

In "Green Zone", you have Matt Damon, one of the most recognizable actors on the planet, paired with the team that brought us the wildly successful "Bourne" movies.

[DainBramaged]

32. But but they'll make it up on DVD sales.............

:hi:

[anigbrowl]

35. No, it's really bad (the sales numbers, not the movie)

Making only 25% of your budget (domestic + foreign) back on the opening weekend is very bad for a $100m film that opened super saturated (>3000 theaters). I don't think it was marketed well, and being released right after the Hurt Locker won an Academy award may have hindered its prospects, with people feeling it was too similar to another movie with the same genre and setting.

It has made about the same money as Hurt Locker (actually, a bit more)...but HL's budget was only $15m, and a movie with a big star like Matt Damon would have been expected to get far more. Generally producers hope to see box office at or above 50% of the production costs on the opening weekend, and Green Zone falls far short of that. It will probably never break even, even after it comes out on disc. A pity, but you win some, you lose some.

[stlsaxman]

26. At #2 on its opening weekend? a "disaster"??? I saw it w/ a theatre FULL of folk.

I think it's a very good movie. So does Roger Ebert (if that means anything).

If it can drive home the point that we WERE LIED TO to half again as many people that weren't sure before seeing this movie- it's a tremendous success.

[trumad]

27. I loved the Judith Miller type character...

In the movie she wrote for the Wall Street Journal and she pretty much printed anything the White House asked her to report. Much like Judith Miller with the NYT.

This movie was a huge knock against the Bush regime---and anyone who knows Damon's politics would know he'd never do a movie that propped up Bush/Cheney.

[stlsaxman]

31. THAT'S who that was.... good call- Judith Miller. Kept wondering why i wanted to shout

"You WHORE! You Goddamned motherfucking WHORE!!!!"

:hi:- "thanks!"

[Bjorn Against]

34. I saw it and was extremely disappointed.

While the movie may have pointed out what anyone who was paying attention already knew it completely failed in getting its message out in a meaningful way. It may have pointed out that there were no WMDs, but what does Damon's character do when he discovers he went to war based on a lie? He goes out and shoots up a bunch of Iraqis. The film was so focused on keeping people on the edge of their seat that it completely undermined its own message. While I expected this movie would be violent I had hoped the violence would not be so mind numbing. It had more in common with an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie than a serious war movie, instead of showing the horrors of war it tried to make the war exciting to watch while you munch on your popcorn.

This movie could have been great if they had put some effort into developing Damon's character and showed us the moral dilemmas he faced being stuck in a war that he knew was based on a lie. But there was no development to his character, he may have realized he was fighting for a lie but that did not cause him to show any emotion or even flinch when shot down Iraqis. By making it an action movie focused more on thrills than on character development this film was a mess that one minute seemed to be a condemnation of war and then turning around the next minute to show us how exciting war can be. If you like Schwarzenegger movies you may enjoy this, but if you want to see serious commentary against war then look elsewhere.