Hi Ahmed, haven't talked to you in a while, how are you?

Don't worry, Miruvor is already corrupted, not that there is anything wrong with that because i too think that the Phantom is a total hottie :wink:

I wouldn't say that Phantom is better than Raoul, depends on what sorta girl , er, or guy you are and your taste in men......do you like the conservative, sophisticated well mannered and impeccably groomed.......



........or do you like the more mysterious, macho, brute swashbuckler.....



.......either way, i'm sure Phantom of the Opera will set some hearts pumping come December! rink:

Just 12 Days to go.......where's Masonmyers, maybe he can tell us what the buzz is like in the UK......

I'll join your countdown.

I greatly anticipate the movie, it's easily my most anticipated for the rest of the year. As for the buzz? Well, there is not much of it here right now. However, my movie theatre has The Phantom of the Opera banners and posters as well as some decoration everywhere, so they started promoting it. The problem The Phantom of the Opera will face here is that it opens on the same day as Ocean's Twelve which predecessor was huge in Germany. Musicals have never been too big here. Chicago made here even less than The Pianist or even flicks like 20 First Dates or Kill Bill etc. Moulin Rouge was a bit more successful than Chicago here, but still not a hit.

Welcome aboard that makes 3, now if only we could get the rest of the forums excited, :wink:

Yes very tough competition in Germany, it will be lucky to even gross 1/3 of Ocean's 12's opening weekend.......and it faces similar competition in UK with Blade 3, Australia with Incredibles/Meet The Fockers/Blade 3.......but worst of all......take a look at IMDb's slate for Italy on Dec 17th.....

Birth (2004)
Christmas in Love (2004)
Shrek 2 (2004)
Ocean's Twelve (2004)
Phantom of the Opera, The (2004)

Is this for real, Shrek 2 against Ocean's 12

I don't think anyone is expecting big debuts for Phantom (even the UK), however i'm really hoping for good legs, that will be it's main card to play......

I just checked how O12 did in Germany and it had a pretty soft opening for a blockbuster......$4.9m on 583 TC........ending with an OK $25m

So i wouldn't call O12 HUGE HUGE........however once you account for the exchange rate increase.......it would be a strong total somewhere around $35-45m today.....

I'm predicting an opening weeekend of around $9m (TDAT, Shrek 2 and Troy territory) and maybe Phantom of the Opera can open to Shall We Dance type numbers arround $3m.

BTW - checking the results of past musicals confirms what Dr. Lecter has said.....

Opening Week

Beauty & The Beast - $2,588,962 (258 TC)
Moulin Rouge - $1,949,088 (384 TC)
Chicago - $1,222,174 (215 TC)

TOTAL:

Beauty & The Beast - ~$26m
Moulin Rouge - ~$7m
Chicago - ~$5.8m

So it will definately be an uphill battle for sure.......

CANADA/TORONTO Premiere Tickets

Wednesday Dec. 15. at the Winter Garden Theatre



http://www.sickkids.ca/foundation/custo ... eopera.asp

The good: Proceeds Benefiting Sick Kids (Hospital) and the Therapeutic Clown Program at Sick Kids // "With special guest appearances" // See the premiere

The bad: In the middle of the week (Wednesday) // In the evening on a school/work night

The ugly: Dishing out the $125.00 (and if you really want to -- $200.00)

PREMIERE: Invitation

http://www.phantomfans.net/index.php?showtopic=4598

I just got my invitation to the premiere and when I called they said I must get my tickets by 5:00 p.m. so if you are going to stand by the sidelines at the Red Carpet you might want to go before 5:00 p.m. film is to start at 6:00 p.m.

Also, if I did not tell you before it is at the Zigfeld theatre in NYC.



Looks good.....

Well, we count the box-office in admissions here and O11 got over 4 million which is very good actually.

Oh and the releases in Italy are insane! Shrek 2 vs. O12?!

4m is quite strong and didn't it open after New Years so it didn't get the Christmas boost.......O12 does have a good chance of matching or outperforming the original in Germany........especially when you guys haven't seen a blockbuster on this scale since the 4 week old 7 Zwerge.

And yeah i know, Italy is quite insane, im not sure who's going to come out on top........but maybe O12 might get the upperhand with it being a relatively new release vs. Shrek 2 and Shrek 2 still has to face Incredibles which just opened to a record $5.8m this weekend.

Other insane release dates are scheduled for Belgium, up against both O12, Lemony Snickets and Princess Diaries.....

LOTR's absence surely let out the dogs.....

3 scenarios:


1) The film recieves medicore/bad reviews, WOM is so-so. If so, $50m

2) The film receives ok to good reviews, WOM is good. If so, $70-100m

3) The film receives very good to excellent reviews, and WOM is very good/excellent. If so, $100-150m.


WB is handling Phantom the exact same way it did Alexander: depend on reviews and WOM to make it a success, else let it perish.

So...

The quality of the film is all that matters. The film is getting a steady roll-out, so they obviously are counting on WOM to give it legs. If it has Oscar nominations, it will play strong for a good 2-4 months.

Well currently Phantom sits solidly in your position #2 and moving steadily towards #3........i would be quite happy with $70m-$100m for Phantom actually.......it will not come anywhere near Chicago that's for sure.....

BTW - didn't i read somewhere that you think this will BOMB :wink:

Ya, I asked that in my thread, whether Alexander and Phantom would be WB's next bombs.

Alexander obviously is; they will lose $100m+ for it.

Phantom still remains to be seen. Since it is a WB release, it will have to be really, really good to make up for what I suspect will be weak marketing from WB.

My major problem with that I've seen so far is that, while the casti s great, and the cinematography is gorgeous, and the music appeals to a lot of people, and the costums are jaw-dropping, the audience seems still at a distance.

Moulin Rouge pulled you into its world; even if you didn't want to, it still pulled you in. But that's Luhrman, he's always been good at that.

Chicago framed it's musical numbers in dream sequences, so it was more 'believable'. Phantom can't do that. The music IS the film, so the audience has to be part of the spectacle, rather than mere observers.

But hey, Butler seems to have gotten Miruvor and Ahmed excited; if he can do that with all the dates in the audience, this film will be a smash 8)

Is that the general consensus when the trailer plays at your local cinema? I mean, I'm banking of the fact that you've already seen the trailer. Was the audience non-reactive?



I saw trailers of Moulin Rouge and eventually watched the film on DVD, but that too never enticed me and I found it rather overrated! Maybe it was meant to be witnessed on the big screen in all it's grandeur!




Nice one box_, but I still say Butler ~as his character, the Phantom~ is -HOT! He may see his star really rise after this, even if the film is received as mediocre! Boy, Ahmed is going to have a go at me now!

No it's not Butler that is setting hearts pounding......it's the Phantom :wink: ......his coolness has taken over all of us here.......especially Miruvor and myself....... :wink: ........embarassing huh? ......

On the contrary to what you said about WB not pushing this......it will change now that Alexander is out of the picture......here's hoping for a strong push over the next few weeks......

Phantom will be all MUSICAL, the reviews have stated that......and that could be its curse........lacking the emotional depth and the story to keep audiences excited.......we'll see.....but Domestic is not where it's at for this pic.....

Phantom just looks awful. Phantom will be the second biggest bomb of the holiday season trailing only Alexander, coincidently made by Warner also.

No, not general concensus. I dont know what the general concensus would be. I know there is an audience for this film, and that there are those who would never watch it.

I dunno, to be honest, I dont know how important the domestic market for this film is in the end. Looking at the release date, it seems they are concentrating on Europe.





It turned off a LOT of people . It's a very loud film, but it satisfies its core audience. Phantom needs to do that too. THat's what I meant by pulling in the audience; if it engages them, it should do good business, because Phantom of the Opera does have a considerable fanbase.




No love for Butler? I'm a bit miffed ever since he made out with my Angelina in Tomb Raider 2, but meh.

What looks so aweful about it? The cinematography, the music, the characters and the costuming all look brill! All that remains to be seen is how the story is told on the big screen!

I know that this isn't a film for everyone, and not all people are fans of musicals..you can somewhat count me in that lot, but I will make my judgement after I see the film!

And how did you arrive at that conclusion..... ......we are not expecting super grosses here and it certainly doesn't have a huge-huge budget that needs to be made back.....

This will be a lengthy performer with great hopes overseas......surely you can see that :wink:

Well said,

BTW - are you feeling better Miruvor , the WOKJ Awards noms will be out soon and i'm sure your name will be up there, time to party

And have you read my little comment on Strictly Ballroom over at the Down Under Festival thread........sorry i haven't been helping you out there....my sincere apologies....

I hate any movie made for the "cultured" crowd. I shelled out $85 long time ago to see this piece of crap. I would love to see this kind of moviemaking die with this movie.

The biggest thing for me that my simmering anger towards this for spending $85 will somewhat abate if this bites the dust.

So, it's personal! I thought so!

Cheers Arch! I am feeling a little better every new day, but I still get really fatigued by doing less than half of the labour that I am accustomed to! The Awards...LOL..I'm not at all concerned about that, just doing my part to support the forum.

No worries about the Down Under thread! Honestly speaking I haven't devoted much time to it as I should either! Cheers for your input though! I'll get back to it in a few days time.

Yes my opinions are my own, so it is personal Just like Arch was hoping that EP3 would crush Madagascar. The difference is that I want EP3 to crush every movie ever made.

I hated phantom of the opera, the show, with a passion. It should appeal to women and gay men though 8)

Here is a toast, hoping for its massive failure

Well good for you that you are in full support of something! Your opinion is as such, only an opinion! It troubles me not!

"Man is so much more sensitive to the contempt of others than to contempt for himself."

Good luck to you sir!

11 DAYS......



Why, you ask,
was I bound and chained
in this cold and dismal place?
Not for any
mortal sin, but the
wickedness of
my abhorrent face!