I didn't RTFA, but it's well known among hollywood producers what it takes these days to make money.

1) By far, the majority of movie ticket buyers are teenagers and young 20-somethings.
2) This core group of movie fans love to see awesome CGI and shiat blown up on screen.
3) If you have a consistent film of shiat flying around, and grabbing, and smashing, and fighting, and you have an explosion every few minutes, that's sure to keep the fan's attention. No plot is needed.

This is how Transformers spawned a sequel. The sad part is Hollywood is moving away from making smart movies for adults, in favor of money-making movies that draw in the kids.

As the holder of a degree in mathematics, I suspect these "Mathemeticians" are doing it wrong.

Maybe they should try banging their heads against a brick wall to clear their thoughts.

Like the movie producers obviously do.

Mentat: Boobies*((Sucky movie)+(Bad writing)+(Bad Director)X(Special Effects)X(Baysplosions)-(curse words)-(blood))=Profit

WHY ARE THEY SUBTRACTING BLOOD AND CURSE WORDS
I DO NOT APPROVE

They'll keep selling it if you keep buying it.

M-blah-SPLOSIONS!

Mentat: Boobies*((Sucky movie)+(Bad writing)+(Bad Director)X(Special Effects)X(Explosions)-(curse words)-(blood))=Profit

This.

log_jammin: Oh. And all fight scenes must be filmed from no more than 5 inches from the actors faces.

I hate that! It's the reason I've never re-watched Batman Begins, that and the batmobile that turns invisible when you cut of the headlights.

The only thing that could have redeemed the movie for me would have been a soundtrack by Huey Lewis and the News.

FTA: "I want this industry to recognise that it is not as different to other sectors as it thinks it is.

You'd be hard pressed to find an industry that isn't convinced it is totally different. As someone who sends in accountants to work in just about every industry, they are almost all incredibly delusional.

FROGSTOMPER: log_jammin: Oh. And all fight scenes must be filmed from no more than 5 inches from the actors faces.

I hate that! It's the reason I've never re-watched Batman Begins, that and the batmobile that turns invisible when you cut of the headlights.

The only thing that could have redeemed the movie for me would have been a soundtrack by Huey Lewis and the News.

Ummm, the Batmobile is painted black and it was nighttime?

That pretty much sums up the bizarre success of the Pirates sequels.

I'm worried about District 9. The thing has massive sequel potential. The studio is already talking about it, and the director has said he welcomes the idea. I don't see it not happening. While not exactly an indie, it made great money on relatively little investment, and the story was left open enough as to allow for District 9.2: The Tables Turn or whatever the hell they'll call it. It's got sci-fi appeal with aliens and spaceships and lasers, just waiting for an enormous budget and lots of FX.

I'd like to see this formula. They mention Star Trek, which made a ton of money despite having little goodwill - none of the same actors, the last film had sucked (and always been a patchy run). Batman Begins had none of the same actors and had come after a certifiable turkey.

The simple formula is this:-

(how good was the last film * x) + (how good is this film * y)

and I have no idea what x and y are. But the fact is that you can make a deliberately cheap sequel, market the shiat out of it and get people in to watch it and turn a profit if you get enough people in before word-of-mouth kicks in. You'll damage the franchise, of course, but that is the right formula.

It's why Austin Powers 2 did so well - the first film was great, and the sequel delivered. But my guess is that Goldmember probably did some good business, despite being not great, in part because of the goodwill of the previous films. Which means that the numbers will tell you nothing, because they won't tell you about the goodwill lost by the 3rd movie.

Steve Zodiac: To be fair, the 'smart movies for adults' that Hollywood did put out this season tanked. While it may not have been a good group of movies, not all of them were bad either. Evidently there just aren't that many movie-going adults anymore.

Probably because there are too many annoying kids going to the movies.

The last time I was at the movies was for the opening night of Star Trek. There were a bunch of teenagers who snuck in and proceeded to make fun of Chekov's accent through most of the movie until some fat nerd yelled at them. (Not me.)

Now, if there were a movie theater that didn't allow anyone under 21, served beer, and let me eat dinner while I watched the movie (or a double feature) then I bet I'd go there more often. But there's no reason for me to watch a movie in a theater unless it's a big blockbuster that would benefit from being seen on the big screen.

farkeruk: I'd like to see this formula. They mention Star Trek, which made a ton of money despite having little goodwill - none of the same actors, the last film had sucked (and always been a patchy run).

Nemesis was actually one of the better TNG movies.

\Not as good as First Contact
\\But Insurrection was the real stinker

The Icelander: Nemesis was actually one of the better TNG movies.

The bread was one of the better parts of the turd sandwich.

The Icelander: Nemesis was actually one of the better TNG movies.

Technically correct, but seriously? "Syphilis is one of the better STDs to suffer from."

Pre-release surveys had indicated the movie would open to at least $40 million domestically over its first three days.

Pre-release surveys are about as useful as a politician.

I'm just so sick of the extreme crowd that says if it's not a R, it's not worth seeing.
STFU. Half of the crap coming out of Hollywood is your fault.
/not including stupid extreme movies like 2012.

Heroic Poser: I'm just so sick of the extreme crowd that says if it's not a R, it's not worth seeing.

To be fair, to get an R rating you just have to show some boobs and curse a lot. The amount of violence in PG-13 movies scares me.

The MPAA really needs to do something about their rating group. It's totally out of whack with what normal people consider acceptable.

\Yes, I've seen "This Film Is Not Yet Rated."
\\Everyone else should, too. ^{(^)}

oldebayer: As the holder of a degree in mathematics, I suspect these "Mathemeticians" are doing it wrong.

Maybe they should try banging their heads against a brick wall to clear their thoughts.

Like the movie producers obviously do.

I'm pretty sure anyone whose job title says "Mathemetician" is almost certainly doing a number of things wrong.

That said, I have a theory for these sort of things. Any static system, be it movie theaters, political elections, standardized tests, or whatever will have this happen to it if human beings have the potential to learn how to game the system. Call it the law of inevitable human cheating if you will. The only thing left to do is come up with a new system once movies that succeed by anticipating movie success criteria, or politicians whose only skill is getting elected reach a critical mass.

Hopefully skill in marketing bad movies has peaked and we can just wait for it to self destruct and move on.

The Icelander: farkeruk: I'd like to see this formula. They mention Star Trek, which made a ton of money despite having little goodwill - none of the same actors, the last film had sucked (and always been a patchy run).

Nemesis was actually one of the better TNG movies.

\Not as good as First Contact
\\But Insurrection was the real stinker

Epsilon: I didn't RTFA, but it's well known among hollywood producers what it takes these days to make money.

1) By far, the majority of movie ticket buyers are teenagers and young 20-somethings.
2) This core group of movie fans love to see awesome CGI and shiat blown up on screen.
3) If you have a consistent film of shiat flying around, and grabbing, and smashing, and fighting, and you have an explosion every few minutes, that's sure to keep the fan's attention. No plot is needed.

This is how Transformers spawned a sequel. The sad part is Hollywood is moving away from making smart movies for adults, in favor of money-making movies that draw in the kids.

How far did you guys have to walk to school back in your day? Should I get off your lawn? Or were you guys just as annoying when you were young, while you watched crappy movies?

Ya know shiatty movies would be much better if they would just leave in the curse words and blood. Seriously, at then there is some semblance of reality.

zunkus: Ya know shiatty movies would be much better if they would just leave in the curse words and blood. Seriously, at least then there is some semblance of reality.

FTFM

farkeruk: I'd like to see this formula. They mention Star Trek, which made a ton of money despite having little goodwill - none of the same actors, the last film had sucked (and always been a patchy run). Batman Begins had none of the same actors and had come after a certifiable turkey.

Batman Begins and Star Trek should not count as sequels. They had the same characters and the same settings, but the tones and visuals of the movies were drastically different from their predecessors - to the point that if they weren't branded "Batman" and "Star Trek," they could have been stand alone movies. Sequel math, if it exists, shouldn't apply to reboots.

quizzical: Batman Begins and Star Trek should not count as sequels. They had the same characters and the same settings, but the tones and visuals of the movies were drastically different from their predecessors - to the point that if they weren't branded "Batman" and "Star Trek," they could have been stand alone movies. Sequel math, if it exists, shouldn't apply to reboots

Reboots are part of a franchise whether they are sequel or not.

-----

And how about my law of sequels. If you want a nth sequel it might help if the n-1 sequel is not crappy.

social benthos: FROGSTOMPER: log_jammin: Oh. And all fight scenes must be filmed from no more than 5 inches from the actors faces.

I hate that! It's the reason I've never re-watched Batman Begins, that and the batmobile that turns invisible when you cut of the headlights.

The only thing that could have redeemed the movie for me would have been a soundtrack by Huey Lewis and the News.

Ummm, the Batmobile is painted black and it was nighttime?

so is my truck. I'm pretty sure if I were on the highway flanked by cops with a police helicopter spotlight shining down on me, saying "stealthmode" and cutting off my lights isn't going to help much.

gopher321: All I have to say in this thread is that I can't wait for George Lucas to die so that someone competent can take over producing Star Wars movies.

All George Lucas would need is for one person he could not fire to be assigned to smack him with a newspaper every time he had a bad idea. Its really hard to come up with a piece of art when everyone around you tells you every idea you have is brilliant. Thtas why his earlier works were so much better. People were still willing to tell him -"that needs work"

The Icelander: farkeruk: I'd like to see this formula. They mention Star Trek, which made a ton of money despite having little goodwill - none of the same actors, the last film had sucked (and always been a patchy run).

Nemesis was actually one of the better TNG movies.

\Not as good as First Contact
\\But Insurrection was the real stinker

Agreed. Nemesis wasn't so bad, and had some great ship-to-ship combat. Insurrection can suck deez nutz.

log_jammin: Someone needs to be wacky and/or zany.

Bonus (anti-creativity) points if it's the only Black or Asian male in the cast.

Ah.The "Caddyshack 2" theory......