X-Files Movie Tanks
I get my wish, and more. The Dark Knight makes $75 million, a record for the second week of a movie's run. Idiots spend $30 million to see Will Ferrell's tired act in Step Brothers. The chicks all go to see Mamma Mia!, which makes a very respectable $17.8 million.
That leaves The X-Files: I Want To Believe opening in the fourth spot, and taking in only $10.2 million. No matter how may excuses are being made for that figure, it's awful.
But they have no one but themselves to blame. By keeping everything such a big fucking mystery until the last minute, they gave no one other than their hardcore fans a reason to see the film. Teens who make up most of the movie market wouldn't have been watching The X-Files, went it went off the air 6 years ago, and the show flat out sucked the last three years of its run. So what connection does an 18-year-old today have to The X-Files?
The I Want To Believe portion of the title might as well stand for Chris Carter and company's delusional idea that characters that they left dormant for years were somehow in the forefront of everyone's pop culture mindset. And that all they had to do was put a movie in a theater and everyone would fall all over themselves to see it.
There is a reason why an iconic character like Batman, who has been around since the 1930's, is a household name and can capture the imagination of a country. (It also doesn't hurt that The Dark Knight may be one of the best movies of the year.) Mulder and Scully were a powerhouse in the 1990's, but their show ended badly, and nothing in the marketing campaign ever seemed designed to want to make people see the film. The whole promotional mindset seem to be "We're back! I bet you missed us!" And now they know nobody did.
That leaves The X-Files: I Want To Believe opening in the fourth spot, and taking in only $10.2 million. No matter how may excuses are being made for that figure, it's awful.
But they have no one but themselves to blame. By keeping everything such a big fucking mystery until the last minute, they gave no one other than their hardcore fans a reason to see the film. Teens who make up most of the movie market wouldn't have been watching The X-Files, went it went off the air 6 years ago, and the show flat out sucked the last three years of its run. So what connection does an 18-year-old today have to The X-Files?
The I Want To Believe portion of the title might as well stand for Chris Carter and company's delusional idea that characters that they left dormant for years were somehow in the forefront of everyone's pop culture mindset. And that all they had to do was put a movie in a theater and everyone would fall all over themselves to see it.
There is a reason why an iconic character like Batman, who has been around since the 1930's, is a household name and can capture the imagination of a country. (It also doesn't hurt that The Dark Knight may be one of the best movies of the year.) Mulder and Scully were a powerhouse in the 1990's, but their show ended badly, and nothing in the marketing campaign ever seemed designed to want to make people see the film. The whole promotional mindset seem to be "We're back! I bet you missed us!" And now they know nobody did.
posted by Beukey @ 2:22 PM
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