Most of those epic type movies trying to build on the success of Gladiator/Lord of the Rings were massive bombs (Kingdom of HeVen, King Arthur, Alexander). Even today they still bomb regularly (King Arthur Legend of the Sword, Robin Hood) But Troy bucked the trend and grossed 133m domestically which is good for that type of film and nearly 500m worldwide. Was it Brad Pitt’s starpower that allowed this to be a success?
Wed Mar 27, 2019 3:18 pm
Thegun
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Re: how come Troy (2004) was such a big hit?
Troy was not a big hit, I don't think even video sales brought it in the green.. It saved face with international numbers much like the Last Samurai. I remember Warner Brothers was very disappointed at the time. If I remember correctly it only turned a profit of 225 million (so 50 million, but it had a ridiculous marketing campaign and nothing to really off set that off)
Though if Troy came out today, it's budget wouldn't be that much different and international is so much stronger, and the percentages that studios get back are better too, so that 68/193 and probably 700WW would have looked a better. Very underrated film. Especially when shit like King Arthur and Kingdom of Heaven were so awful during that period (Though most period action films have been pretty awful since Gladiator)
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Wed Mar 27, 2019 4:07 pm
Shack
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Re: how come Troy (2004) was such a big hit?
- The battle of Troy is probably one of the most ingrained sword and sandals thing in pop culture. Trojan horse is iconic - Brad Pitt shirtless in peak physical condition - It just felt like a tent pole film in a way these others like Exodus, etc were never going to be that promoted - It still didn't do that awesome for the hype
Yeah, Troy wasn't a big hit. Warner Bros. were definitely expecting more than Gladiator, especially with that amazing cast. If it was the first in the resurgence of sword and sandal epics, it would have cleared $200 million. But Ridley Scott got in first.
Wed Mar 27, 2019 8:43 pm
MadGez
Dont Mess with the Gez
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Re: how come Troy (2004) was such a big hit?
Interesting topic.
I actually thought it was a disappointment at the time. Hot off Gladiator and LOTR I recall (stupidly perhaps) predicting $300m+ for it (domestic). Sounds silly now but it wasn't that far fetched at the time.
Though in hindsight it did well enough I guess. It's legs would have been stronger if it was a better film I feel.
Trojan horse was a big thing back then in Y2K days. I guess it did well but I wouldn't call it a big hit.
Wed Mar 27, 2019 8:54 pm
Jonathan
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Re: how come Troy (2004) was such a big hit?
The teaser was really good too - the shot of the ships is old hat now, but that was one of the first times that a movie had a shot of that scale, and I remember getting hyped off of that, along with all the fun action and implied lady nudity:
Wed Mar 27, 2019 8:57 pm
publicenemy#1
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Re: how come Troy (2004) was such a big hit?
Wed Mar 27, 2019 9:32 pm
Excel
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Re: how come Troy (2004) was such a big hit?
It doesn't seem huge though note - note with inflation and 3D, it's domestic numbers are about $75/215, which is right about size it felt like. A lot of people saw it. Mind it you this is an R rated film as well.
1) Troy is is a fucking awesome movie with epic action, music, and acting. 2) The cast was insane for the time. Brad Pitt at his absolute peak of star power + Bana and Bloom were hot shit at the time. 3) Wolfgang Peterson was also a big deal. Air Force One, The Perfect Storm each adjust to over $300 million. 4) Marketing for it was huge. WB shelved Abrams Superman movie for this, this was a tentpole 100%. It had several epic trailers and a super bowl spot back when they were still a huge deal.
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Wed Mar 27, 2019 10:25 pm
Algren
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Re: how come Troy (2004) was such a big hit?
It has grown on me since 2004, but when I first saw it I didn't love it. The action scenes felt short-lived (like, a battle is over within minutes) and Achilles dying was a bummer.
It's a favorite of mine, and has grown on me a bit more as well, I've seen it several time. I was a bit disappointed at first viewing with how much I was anticipating the film at the time.
Thu Mar 28, 2019 12:20 am
Jiffy
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Re: how come Troy (2004) was such a big hit?
It was definitely something of a disappointment at the time, although it was one of the first examples of the burgeoning foreign markets generating a rather lopsided domestic/international ratio to save some face.
Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:08 pm
Thegun
On autopilot for the summer
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Re: how come Troy (2004) was such a big hit?
True but I'll even go back further than that to the 90s with films starring Willis, Stallone, Arnold, etc. These guys had huge international appeal, and their films had huge TV and Video sales, which is why they were able to command such high salaries at the time. It's crazy a film like Daylight made 160 WW. Fifth Element another classic example. Godzilla, Waterworld, Hunchback and Pocahontas, The Mummy, etc.
I think back to Die Hard with A Vengeance being #2 WW of 95 despite only making 100 million on a 90 million budget. Comparatively it's in the same realm as what Fallout did WW last year. But I think all of them did turn healthy profits where Troy is more in the grey area despite its WW total.
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Fri Mar 29, 2019 1:40 pm
Skyblade
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Re: how come Troy (2004) was such a big hit?
Yeah, as mentioned, it wasn't *huge*, but I guess if you want to ask why it managed to not take a complete bath like the other sword and sandals movies, I think it's yeah, the starpower, that it was the first real sword and sandals movie since Gladiator, and with Lord of the Rings recently concluding, there was probably an appetite for the next big mythic epic. As I remember, it probably also took advantage that the similarly performing Van Helsing wasn't proving too hard with the competition.
But once these movies started piling up, sometimes with very unrecognizable names, they started flopping. Interestingly 300 kinda reversed the trend, I think by making it leaner and having no pretensions of being Oscar worthy or palatable to modern morality or anything.
Sat Mar 30, 2019 2:14 am
WonderingWoman
Waitress in LA
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Re: how come Troy (2004) was such a big hit?
It wasn't a big hit, it was a big disappointment at the box office.
Sun Mar 31, 2019 11:57 pm
1924
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Re: how come Troy (2004) was such a big hit?
WonderingWoman wrote:
It wasn't a big hit, it was a big disappointment at the box office.
maybe back then for some reason but in retrospect I think it did pretty well
Tue Apr 02, 2019 10:22 pm
Thegun
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Re: how come Troy (2004) was such a big hit?
1924 wrote:
WonderingWoman wrote:
It wasn't a big hit, it was a big disappointment at the box office.
maybe back then for some reason but in retrospect I think it did pretty well
Disappointing financially and critically for the highest approved budget of all time are pretty good reasons. In retrospect compared to say Alexander of the same year, it did do quite well. It's like saying day 3 day old milk is better than 7 day old milk. I'm still not drinking it
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Tue Apr 02, 2019 10:54 pm
Barrabás
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Re: how come Troy (2004) was such a big hit?
I remember watching this in theatres.
It wasn't *huge* domestically, its performance was actually considered something of a disappointment. Underrated film, the director's cut is a solid A- and there are some pretty spectacular moments. Overseas it was HUGE though. Like someone else said, one of the first films with a hugely lopsided DOM/OS ratio that would be foreshadowing of things to come.
A few reasons why it was a lot bigger than other comparable films in the same period:
- Greek times just seem cooler to audiences than the medieval ages. Fantasy films set in quasi medieval-looking times can do well, but not straight up historical films it seems. - Insane star power with Brad Pitt in peak physical and celebrity form - It *felt* like a tentpole, I remember there being lots of hype. It was like a classic Hollywood story, an epic tale, beautiful and famous cast, huge production value. The reason why you go to the movies kinda thing.
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