HDC Debates #4: Will Godzilla be the 2nd horror summer blockbuster of all time?

[ferretchucker]

Originally Posted by The Villain

Its a giant monster movie. Of course its horror

Generic classification isn't as simple as just motifs and subjects - tone is essential. Look at the later Showa era Godzilla movies, they're peppier than a Drugged up Leprechaun. Whilst Godzilla 2014 is notably darker than them, it's by no means chilling or spooky - it's predominantly driven by spectacle and action, with a bit of family melodrama thrown in. I'm not suggesting horrors need be limited to slashers or that genre is rigid and objective, but o feel like suggesting that the inclusion of giant monsters is enough to call it a horror is somewhat an oversimplification.

[MichaelMyers]

Originally Posted by ferretchucker

Whilst Godzilla 2014 is notably darker than them, it's by no means chilling or spooky

Depends on the audience, ferret: in my local theater people were gasping, startled, and even crying out in panic at the sight of the MUTOs and 'Zilla.

[roshiq]

Originally Posted by The Villain

Its a giant monster movie. Of course its horror. Obviously it made a lot of money already and even though I think X Men will hurt it next week...

Agree. X-Men:DOFP release is going to affect on its box office rampage.

[neverending]

Sorry to be the cynic here, but c'mon people- GET REAL!

Jaws wasn't the tremendous blockbuster it was because of the amount of revenue it pulled in- plenty of films before its release and after have earned more- it was a landmark film for the effect it had on people. It crossed the genre audience and was seen by EVERYONE, and it had an effect on them. As V mentioned in his introduction, legions of people became afraid of the water. It sparked an obsession with sharks that lasts to this day.

Hollywood changed its marketing style in an effort to recapture the phenomena to such a degree that every big budget film released in the summer is the next SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER, but they never recapture the effect Jaws had because, well, they're NOT JAWS. It wasn't the big budget that turned Jaws into an iconic film, it was the fact it tapped into a heretofore unrealized primal fear.

The new Godzilla film? No matter how well it's done, it's still, forgive me, just another Godzilla movie. It's nothing new, nothing startling, nothing original, and will therefore have no lasting impact on society. Therefore, it will not be a "blockbuster" of the magnitude of Jaws. I'm sure the studio publicity machine will be trumpeting its gigantic box office and declaring it the new Jaws, but they lie.

[The Villain]

Originally Posted by neverending

Sorry to be the cynic here, but c'mon people- GET REAL!

Jaws wasn't the tremendous blockbuster it was because of the amount of revenue it pulled in- plenty of films before its release and after have earned more- it was a landmark film for the effect it had on people. It crossed the genre audience and was seen by EVERYONE, and it had an effect on them. As V mentioned in his introduction, legions of people became afraid of the water. It sparked an obsession with sharks that lasts to this day.

Hollywood changed its marketing style in an effort to recapture the phenomena to such a degree that every big budget film released in the summer is the next SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER, but they never recapture the effect Jaws had because, well, they're NOT JAWS. It wasn't the big budget that turned Jaws into an iconic film, it was the fact it tapped into a heretofore unrealized primal fear.

The new Godzilla film? No matter how well it's done, it's still, forgive me, just another Godzilla movie. It's nothing new, nothing startling, nothing original, and will therefore have no lasting impact on society. Therefore, it will not be a "blockbuster" of the magnitude of Jaws. I'm sure the studio publicity machine will be trumpeting its gigantic box office and declaring it the new Jaws, but they lie.

I thought being a blockbuster was about how much money a movie makes, not about how iconic it becomes. Isn't that what we've been talking about? When did this become a Jaws vs. Godzilla debate? Obviously it won't match up to Jaws, it's a remake/reboot. If you're going to compare, it should be comparing Gojira vs. Jaws unless you're talking money which is what i thought this was all about.

Maybe i'm confused as to what this debate has been about but given how much money the movie has made, Hollywood of course is going to try and capitalize on that by making more sequels (already confirmed) and a bunch of other giant monster movie ripoffs. The same as when Paranormal Activity made a bunch of money and got popular and we got a bunch of found footage movies, as well as any horror trend that gets popular.

But it's all money, that says nothing to how iconic the film is, it's effect on it's viewing audience or how it will be viewed in the future. It will not hold up as Jaws has done simply because its a remake/reboot.

[metternich1815]

Originally Posted by The Villain

I thought being a blockbuster was about how much money a movie makes, not about how iconic it becomes. Isn't that what we've been talking about? When did this become a Jaws vs. Godzilla debate? Obviously it won't match up to Jaws, it's a remake/reboot. If you're going to compare, it should be comparing Gojira vs. Jaws unless you're talking money which is what i thought this was all about.

To carry what The Villain was saying further, I thought the question was whether Godzilla (2014) would be the second greatest horror blockbuster? I don't think most people believe that the Godzilla reboot will even touch Jaws as it will not. Jaws will always be one of the greatest horror movies, Godzilla (2014) will not be. Is it a good movie? In my opinion, yes. Will it go down as a horror or science fiction great? In my opinion, definitely not. Though as The Villain mentioned amount of money made does not equal quality. Some masterpieces were commercial and critical failures in their own time, while some, quite frankly, terrible movies made huge amounts of money. The debate at hand is whether this will be the second greatest horror blockbuster.

[_____V_____]

Latest from the B.O.:

Godzilla earned an estimated $103 million from 64 overseas markets this weekend. Warner Bros. reports that 51 percent of sales were from 3D showings. Included in there is $14.1 million from IMAX, which is the biggest haul on those large-format screens so far this year.

The audience for Godzilla was 58 percent male, and 60 percent were 25 years of age or older. They awarded the movie a "B+" CinemaScore, which for this genre indicates mixed word-of-mouth.

The movie's biggest markets were the U.K. ($10.4 million) and Russia ($9.1 million), and it had the top opening of the year in Australia ($6.1 million). Other major territories included Mexico ($8.9 million), France ($6.5 million), Korea ($4.5 million), Brazil ($4.2 million), Italy ($3.6 million) and Spain ($1.6 million).

With tough competition from X-Men: Days of Future Past, it's going to take a big hit next weekend: still, it almost certainly has enough juice to end up over $230 million.

Godzilla opens in China in June, and then Japan in July. If it lives up to its potential in those two markets, it should wind up with over $400 million.

On a lighter note: Jimmy Kimmel says,"Godzilla is real!" and people believe him!

[hammerfan]

Originally Posted by _____V_____

Latest from the B.O.:




On a lighter note: Jimmy Kimmel says,"Godzilla is real!" and people believe him!

Too fucking funny! People are so stupid!

[neverending]

Originally Posted by The Villain

I thought being a blockbuster was about how much money a movie makes, not about how iconic it becomes.

Not so much.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockbu...tertainment%29

In film, a number of terms were used to describe a hit. In the 1970s these included: "spectacular" (The Wall Street Journal), "super-grosser" (New York Times), and "super-blockbuster" (Variety). In 1975 the usage of "blockbuster" for films coalesced around Steven Spielberg's Jaws and became perceived as something new: a cultural phenomenon, a fast-paced exciting entertainment, almost a genre. Audiences interacted with such films, talked about them afterwards, and went back to see them again just for the thrill.

Jaws exceeded $100,000,000 in ticket sales and for a time this was the point at which a film could be designated a blockbuster in North America.However earlier films such as Gone With the Wind (1939) and The Sound of Music (1965) easily passed this threshold.

[_____V_____]

Same article mentions this as well:

Jaws is regarded as the first film of New Hollywood's "blockbuster era" with its current meaning, implying a film genre. It also consolidated the "summer blockbuster" trend, through which major film studios and distributors planned their entire annual marketing strategy around a big release by July 4.

Although the term "blockbuster" was originally defined by audience response, after a while the term came to mean a high-budget production aimed at mass markets, with associated merchandising, on which the financial fortunes of film studio or distributor depended. It was defined by its production budget and marketing effort rather than its success and popularity, and was essentially a tag which a film's marketing gave itself.

In this way it became possible to refer to films such as Hollywood's Godzilla (1998) or Last Action Hero as both a blockbuster and a box-office disaster.