![Movies Movies](http://a.fsdn.com/sd/topics/movies_64.png)
![Media Media](http://a.fsdn.com/sd/topics/media_64.png)
![Entertainment Entertainment](http://a.fsdn.com/sd/topics/entertainment_64.png)
![Games Games](http://a.fsdn.com/sd/topics/games_64.png)
Tomb Raider Game Blamed for Movie's Poor Ticket Sales 114
ff_cid writes "Reuters reports on the poor box office results of Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life and how Paramount executives are pointing the finger at the mediocre reception of Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness:
"The Cradle of Life," the second film based on games heroine Lara Croft, opened in fourth place at the U.S. box office last weekend with sales of $21.7 million, well below the opening weekend of 2001's "Tomb Raider." "The only thing we can attribute that to is that the gamers were not happy with the latest version of the 'Tomb Raider' video game, which is our core audience," Paramount distribution president Wayne Lewellen said." It couldn't possibly be that because the first movie was such a stellar work of cinematography, no one raced out to see the sequel.
Crap based on crap... (Score:2)
Now; lets see Super Mario Brothers the Movie part 2, and then we'll talk...
Or something, I dunno....
It's cause (Score:3, Insightful)
i paid to see the first, and would never make the mistake of doing so again
Read my same post about LOTR (Score:2, Insightful)
Perhaps this'll teach the media that Over-publicising a show/game will effectively kill it.
Re:Read my same post about LOTR (Score:2, Insightful)
Don't step on holy ground man.
LOTR is in no way over publicized. LOTR movies are the *only* movies me and my freinds care and can't wait too see. LOTR is not based off some lame video game who's major feature is it's main character's breasts.
Re:Read my same post about LOTR (Score:2)
Not that "one proud franchise" really applies to Tomb Raider, you see my point. They just want the next quick rush of income, kill off the current hot subject, and to move onto their next venture.
Re:Read my same post about LOTR (Score:3, Insightful)
The flaw here, similiarly, is that Eidos had already released four terrible sequels to Tomb Raider before the first film came out. I find it really difficult to believe its the fault of
PA rules (Score:2, Insightful)
here's another idea: (Score:3, Insightful)
seriously though, i didn't even know there was another tomb raider coming.
could they have chosen worse summer for release anyways? with hulk, t3, reloaded and all.
-
Re:here's another idea: (Score:1)
Pot meet Kettle - Kettle meet Pot (Score:4, Funny)
Worst Lara ever!
My 13 yo says TR stopped being fun when they dropped the training level and now you can't kill Lara in her own home.
And this is a shock? (Score:5, Insightful)
The first Tomb Raider was the only movie I've ever gotten up and walked out of. I got my money back. It was THAT bad.
The only real surprise here is that the studios actually thought people would pay to see another one.
Re:And this is a shock? (Score:1)
Or as good ol' GWB puts it:
There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee -- that says, fool me once -- shame on -- shame on you. You fool me, you can't get fooled again.
www.dubyaspeak.com [dubyaspeak.com]
Re:And this is a shock? (Score:2)
He said
I saw this and felt so sad for my country.
Re:And this is a shock? (Score:1)
I take it you were not unfortunate enough to be taken to see Ace Ventura Pet Detective: When Nature Calls then?
I think the main surprise is that they are attacking the source of the licence from which they made their money in the first place. If I was Eidos, I sure as hell wouldn't want them to be able to make another film after hearing that.
The sequel was indeed good. (Score:5, Interesting)
Now the whole idea about Tomb Raider brings it down, a busty rich chick with a whole mansion and the MI6 at her disposal. Indiana Jones as an Archaeologist was a bit rediculous, but Lara Croft is pushing it with an ego. That itself discourages the action based audience (all adolescent guys or ones in their 20s). They need to improve the story lines and make it more believable both in the game and the movies in order to sell it. They should keep Angelina Jolie though.
Re:The sequel was indeed good. (Score:5, Funny)
How would a busty, sexy woman swinging around like Indiana Jones be unappealing to the action/adventure crowd? We are not that chauvinistic. We wanna see an empowered, intelligent woman.
With a sexy British accent.
And nice knockers.
And legs that would snap you in two.
Re:The sequel was indeed good. (Score:1)
See: http://www.eonline.com/Celebs/Qa/Jolie2001/
I've been impressed with Jolie's acting in other movies (Girl Interrupted, Bone Collector) but the TR series is certainly no drama. I'll skip the sequel just like I've skipped the original, there's far better movies out there to spend my $/time on.
Be careful out there... (Score:5, Funny)
My girlfriend is a big Lara Croft fan. She talked me into going to see the first movie. And hey, why not? She was happy that I wanted to do something she liked for her sake, and I could (secretly) dribble over Angelina Jolie.
The movie was so awful that, when the credits rolled, I rose from my seat and proclaimed - forgetting who I was with - as loud as I could: "Jesus, that movie SUCKED!".
I didn't get any for three days.
Re:Be careful out there... (Score:5, Funny)
And if you think three days is bad....you must not live together.
Re:Be careful out there... (Score:1)
Re:Be careful out there... (Score:2)
Wasn't me! (Score:5, Funny)
I'm still waiting for the Wachowski Brothers to sue themselves over Enter the Matrix, claiming it tarnished the franchise :)
Re:Wasn't me! (Score:2, Insightful)
In both cases they're claiming the license started sucking after they picked it up.
This could have been remedied (Score:5, Interesting)
Repeat this brilliant move in TR3 Paramount. Suddenly 45 min into the film Laura feels an intense need to take a banana from a monkey (jungle scene) strip and creatively use that banana. It'll add a couple mil to the opening...
Re:This could have been remedied (Score:2)
Re:This could have been remedied (Score:2)
Re:This could have been remedied (Score:2)
Sometime later it was on HBO and I sat down and watched it. Jesus. Christ. What a terrible movie! I doubt that I would have been as overly offended by it if I was not a computer-centric person, but wow. "Gotta show some tits to get the kids in!" never ra
Games: the 21st century's scapegoat (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Games: the 21st century's scapegoat (Score:5, Funny)
What's next is.... well it *won't* be video games blamed for teenage pregnancy... I think.
Re:Games: the 21st century's scapegoat (Score:2, Funny)
What's next is.... well it *won't* be video games blamed for teenage pregnancy... I think.
Well, there probably *is* a statistical relationship between sexual experience and video game use-- though I suspect the correlation coefficient has a big honkin' minus sign in front of it.
Re:Games: the 21st century's scapegoat (Score:3, Funny)
Can I blame The Sims for this one? Pretty please???
Re:Games: the 21st century's scapegoat (Score:2)
doh! that link is too closely related to my sig...
Ebert bravely stands alone... (Score:2, Interesting)
Maybe Paramount should consider that before blaming the video game developers? I suppose it's easier to blame someone else than to admit your movie is crap.
Re:Ebert bravely stands alone... (Score:1)
Re:Ebert bravely stands alone... (Score:3, Funny)
I suppose it's easier to blame someone else than to admit your movie is crap.
Ladies and gentlemen of the press... Thank you for coming. As you may know, LCTR:TCOL (catchy name, don't you know think?) didn't perform as well as expected its first weekend. We producers were confused at first, but then we realized the film is a big steaming pile of monkey shit, and have only ourselves to blame. Questions?
Re:Ebert bravely stands alone... (Score:1)
Same old story. (Score:5, Insightful)
This is hardly surprising--when a big film explodes in H'wood, everyone runs for cover and the blame gets thrown around. One of the advantages of using a game franchise is that when things meltdown you can point at that, rather than the truth that everyone, even the studios, knows: that the first movie blew apes, and the public wasn't buying the dog food a second time.
So don't be shocked--it's just Cover Your Ass time.
Misplaced blame (Score:2)
I'm sure it'll make an acceptable choice a year from now at the video store, when my friends and I can't decide on anything - because none of us will have probably already seen it.
Re:Misplaced braincells (Score:2)
Well, here it is.
blame it on the pirates (Score:3, Insightful)
all in all, they should blame everyone 'cept themselves and their god-awful movies that just suck.
Re:blame it on the pirates (Score:2, Funny)
I thought you were talking about the ones in the Carribean.
ET (Score:1)
Re:ET...? (Score:1)
ET came out for the Atari 2600.
You sound pretty young kid. There were games before the NES you know...
Re:ET...? (Score:1)
My point was that ET for nes sucked horribly and i was using it as a point... thanks for the clarification which didnt change anything.
welcome to the world of clue. (Score:1)
maybe you were talking about the NES ET. and maybe you smoked about a kilo of crack beforehand.
Tomb Raider Game? (Score:3, Interesting)
Maybe it was because of the first TR movie! (Score:1)
Actually, they do from time to time (Score:2)
Re:Maybe it was because of the first TR movie! (Score:2)
Get a few friends to run around a central object at different speeds using different distances from that central object and observe when they line up... Not only will it happen, but your friends might get dizzy and fall down, and you'll get a cheap laugh
what the movie needs (Score:1)
Bad game? Bah... bad movie! (Score:4, Interesting)
About the only redeeming feature of the movie was Angelina Jolie's nipples. And since they're in the first 15 minutes, you can feel free to save yourself and leave after that.
I really wasn't expecting much from the movie, but even then I was disappointed. The action scenes were mostly lackluster, no adrenaline, and no tension. There were a couple that weren't bad, but they didn't make up for the rest. The plot, which I expected to be weak and sad, was abysmal and painful. It doesn't hurt much simply because the entire movie is so forgetable.
Yes, I've seen far, far worse movies. But this is a rental at best. The reason the movie ticket sales are so bad is because the movie is so bad... it had nothing to do with the game. But why are we expecting companies/people to actually admit that they're to blame instead of pointing fingers?
Re:Bad game? Bah... bad movie! (Score:2)
Boob Raider (Score:1)
First movie wasn't that bad... (Score:2)
Re:First movie wasn't that bad... (Score:2)
Re:First movie wasn't that bad... (Score:2)
Re:First movie wasn't that bad... (Score:2)
Terminator 1 - Kick-ass movie, kick-ass ending, and it even has a NON-cheap knock-off awesome sequel (I didn't see T3)
LOTR: 'nuff said
Sixth Sense: I mean, come on... that ending was sick! (oh wait, it's cool to now say that this movie sucked, or that you s
Re:First movie wasn't that bad... (Score:1)
With one of the most annoying characters/actors (You can't just go around killing people) ever placed in a good movie.
T3 was an expensive knock-off crappy sequel that shouldn't have been made.
Sixth Sense: I mean, come on... that ending was sick! (oh wait, it's cool to now say that this movie sucked, or that you saw the ending a mile away, right?)
Actually, I saw it coming from abou
Re:First movie wasn't that bad... (Score:2)
Re:First movie wasn't that bad... (Score:1)
Re:First movie wasn't that bad... (Score:1)
Re:First movie wasn't that bad... (Score:2)
The Matrix, Star Trek 2 & 6
Re:First movie wasn't that bad... (Score:2)
Or how about the whole "why not just destroy ONE piece of the damn thing ?" part that made the second half of the film redundant. And the big bungie gunfight scene was bo-ring and lame.
Re:First movie wasn't that bad... (Score:1)
Mr. Cranky (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Mr. Cranky (Score:2)
Ebert actually liked it (and the first one he says). Roper thought it was junk and said Ebert must be smitten by Angelina Jolie.
Will the Real Lara Croft . . . (Score:2)
Perhaps they should have gone with the woman who is the model for Lara Croft, Nell McAndrew. Here's a shot here [geocities.com] and here [geocities.com].
Re:Will the Real Lara Croft . . . (Score:1)
And she's English too, and does the accent ok without looking like she's thinking too hard to maintain it.
Err, hang on. The game was bad to the film bombed? (Score:1)
So if this suggestion has any basis in fact whatsoever, the first film should have bombed.
Since it didn't, I'd suggest that this failure had an awful lot more to do with how shockingly bad that first film was.
Nice illustration of how bad this movie sucked (Score:1)
http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?dat
With a review like that, how could the sequel fail??!! I just don't get it.
Tomb Raider (Score:1)
The subsequent TR games all sucked big time (to be gentle). Sometimes it is not enough to have a babe as the main character to make a good game. This holds true also for the movie.
Really, Tomb Raider is a pop culture phenomenon, due to the babe effect, but it is really non-influent in the gaming world.
The major problem is.. (Score:5, Insightful)
There is a major directorial and script writing issue with TR, but the character definition is the biggest problem. They have to make us CARE about Lara, and not see her as a priviledged, bratty girl.
Women get burned out because she's portraied in such a perfect light. Men get burned out because they see no vulerabilities. The movies have no climax since there are no low parts.
Someone needs to take Movie Making 101. If any movie needed a little formula infusion, this is it. The director should read what makes a hero(ine). The current Lara is not it. Throw something challenging at Lara... read the formula book.. fish out of water, reluctant heroine, whatever. Make us care.
Right now.. it's an MTV glam video.
Re:The major problem is.. (Score:1)
Re:The major problem is.. (Score:1)
Re:The major problem is.. (Score:2)
Actually, I read somewhere that she dropped the padded bra for the second movie.
Maybe that's the reason for the lack of popularity?
Proof that the movies were horrid (Score:2)
Out of context quote #01: "At least a bit more comprehensible than its predecessor -- say, a second-rate Indiana Jones rip-off instead of a third-rate Indiana Jones rip-off."
Out of context quote #10: "At least now we have a clue about what's in Pandora's Box: It's movies like this."
Out of context q
The Death of Video Game/Movie Collaborations (Score:1)
Mr. Cranky says otherwise (Score:1)
duh.. (Score:4, Insightful)
Penny Arcade again (Score:2)
Recall the spat between Activision and Viacom over the Star Trek francise, and how Gabe and Tycho were there for us, then, too:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2003/20030704l. gif [penny-arcade.com]
These guys deserve a medal.
link (Score:2)
It's Piracy (Score:5, Funny)
poor tickets sales? (Score:2)
*CORE* audience? (Score:2)
I hear a rimshot.
(Don't bother modding up.)
Inconceivable! (Score:1)
Is this for real? (Score:2)
I suggest we all just take a moment from our busy days and let out a big collective laugh at the movie industry. Really, they deserve it.
they're right (Score:1)
Saw it last night (Score:1)
Red Dwarf Suffers For THIS??? (Score:2)
Why do the producers insist that we would rather watch a crappy sequel to an attrocious movie based on a series of inward spiralling games, instead of an original, interesting, well written and hilariously funny screenplay???
Sure, we got scammed by the first movie - but most of us aren't stupid enough to get caught twice... the same way.... well at least not for the same game/movie... well probably not... I guess some will...
I guess
I don't think so (Score:1)