Records? Not a chance. No way it beats Spiderman's opening record, no way it beats Titanic total record.

I do think it will open higher than FOTR but in the long run, won't quite reach the same level.

It probably wont break any records but hopefully it will beat FOTR. I think that The Two Towers book was a lot better than the first so Im hoping the same for the movie.

I do think it can open bigger than FOTR, however if it opens on a Wednesday, you'd have to account for that. But I don't think it even beats FOTR's total, let alone some of the other bigger movies from this year (i.e. Spiderman, Satr Wars 2, Harry Potter 2)So basically it gets off to a faster start, but then dies quicker. Still a success box office wise, and one hasn't even figured out how good quality-wise it is.

I doubt it.

FOTR didn't come close to setting any records that I'm aware of, and it's extremely rare for a sequel to make more than the original.

I imagine it will make about the same as FOTR, give or take a few million.

It will also probably clock in at around 3 hours, which hurts sells as it reduces the number of showings in a day, and probably cuts down on repeat business a little bit.

It won't break any box office records (both on opening weekend and total) but I think it will be a better movie than FOTR, eventhough people's expectations are higher...

According to theonering.net, the film clocks in at exactly 2hrs, 59mins, 09secs.

http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/1/1037079886

Personally, I believe TTT will rake in about 60-70mil in its opening weekend. Whether it will top 300mil like its predecessor though remains to be seen. My guess: 285mil.

Btw, for those who are counting, Return Of The Jedi actually outgrossed The Empire Strikes Back. And although these two sequels didn't outgross the original, there are plenty of cases where sequels have destroyed their predecessors (the Die Hard and Austin Powers sequels come to mind).

-matt

well imdb says 179 or 2 hours and 59 min. so amc is off by around 20 min unless amc didnt count the credits.

I don't get this. I am a HUGE Star Wars Fan and I could not wait for LOTR and I loved it. It's one of my all time favorite movies and I'm on pins and needles for The Two Towers. Can some other Star Wars fans chime in on why so many of you did not like LOTR?

Ditto here, I love Star Wars and LOTR. I never understood the divide between the two groups of fanboys. It's just like the petty video game console wars.

It won't break any records. The film is too long and won't be on enough screens to break any opening records.

I think it will do better than FOTR's opening though.

I expect it will do about the same business as FOTR overall.

Well, I'm a huge fan of Star Wars, and I liked FOTR okay. But I don't find it to be the greatest film of all time like many do. Nor do I think it deserved to be nominated for Best Picture. But I enjoyed it for what it was. A simple action-fantasy film. But I had my problems with it. Since you asked, here goes.

1. No character development. We really didn't learn much about these characters worth knowing, nor nothing about who they really were, and what their background was.

2. The characters were shallow and forgettable, seemingly existing to movie the plot along.

3. The film was too monotonous. I mean for a long time it was just walking and fighting a battle. Another problem was that many of the battles looked the same.

4. Very linear plotline.

Now, all I've heard was about how deep the story was. Well, judging strictly from the film, this was not a deep film. But then I never considered Star Wars to be all that deep either. So, in essence, a film with beautiful visuals, some great action, and some fantastic settings. The acting was solid though nowhere near the best I've ever seen. Viggo and Ian McKellen gave the best performance.

So, an enjoyable film. Now, having said all this, Star Wars isn't flawless either. But then I've never seen a truly flawless film. TPM was a film I merely liked. I love AOTC and the originals. So, people have their favorites. I imagine some here despise Star Wars and love LOTR. Some are just the opposite. Some love both. Some hate both. To each their own.

However, I plan on giving TTT and ROTK their fair chance. Quite frankly, I hope they both wow me. I hope I love them as much as Star Wars. Because in my opinion there is enough room for 50 franchises for me to love.

So, you asked and there are my feelings. There's room for both franchises, as well as Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, and dozens more. I say enjoy them as much as you can.

I predict this movie will have the smallest December opening day ever. You heard it here first.

FOTR already set the record for biggest December opening:

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/data/lordoftherings/

(bottom of the page)

But I do think TTT has a shot at surpassing it.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime.../month/dec.htm

Looking through this thread, a thought instantly crossed my mind:

"I wonder how many of you are playing HSX?"

It should do well but it will be a trade off between the new converts and the ones who didn't care for the movie or the ones who didn't 'get it'.. Hopefully the latter WON'T go see it, initally at least so I don't have to hear "That really sucked cause it didn't end either !" comments.

Greg

Business Data for
Titanic (1997)

Budget
$200m (USA)

Opening Weekend
AUD 3,170,890 (Australia) (21 December 1997)
DEM 13,995,065 (Germany) (11 January 1998) (673 screens)
£4.805m (UK) (25 January 1998) (416 screens)
$28.638m (USA) (21 December 1997) (2,674 screens)


Titanic broke only records because it had legs. It made $23 million (roughly 80%) of its opening gross a weekend FIVE months later.

You can argue that it's a 'specialty market'...but in Los Angeles, one of the top state-of-the-art theatres with reserved seating has already sold out every show from 12/18 through that following weekend.

It won't break any records, and it will NOT have a higher final boxoffice total than FOTR.

While there were many who were LOTR converts (via video rentals/sales), I think there are even more people who saw FOTR at the theatres and have no desire to see the rest of the series.

Ditto

I dont think it'll break any records, but I do think it has a shot at making more than FotR. I think there are more new converts than there were people who went and didn't like Fellowship.

Just passed Jurassic Park on the all-time unadjusted list, rising to #4, The Phantom Menace is soon to be next.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/

It certainly has surpassed the first film, I wonder if ROTK will do even better.

Is anyone else shocked at how much these movies have been making?

Don't get me wrong, I'm a Tolkien fan, read LOTR once a year etc. I loved the movies, but I'm seeing them through the lens of a life-long Tolkien reader. Even I realize that these are three hour movies with silly made-up languages, pompous heros, a twinge of Aryan-worship and an enormously convoluted plot. It surprizes me that Joe Blow movie-goer wants to see that.

I guess I thought that they'd be popular, but not top-three-of-all-time-popular.

Maybe the movie works on two levels. One level has casual fans seeing a big brash adventure with great special effects and lots of arrows and swords, but not really completely understanding the plot or all of the references. The other way to see it is as a love letter to diehard fans who understand how the story fits together, who everyone is and what their motivations are.

If you stop and think about it, it's kind of amazing what Jackson did with LOTR.

Hate to say "I told you so"...but not really. I knew that if the films realized the potential of the story, which they have done and more, they would be successful; the only question was how successful? What Tolkien wrote is as popular as it is for a reason--it's based on themes that have been with us since the beginning of human life on earth. He had such a command of language and mythology that what he wrote became classics. The Hollywood 'party line' for years was that the code of the books could not be cracked: too expensive, too intricate, etc. But a happy bunch of conditions allowed the movies to be made the right way. So the movies have met with widespread success. It's just that simple, and that complex.

oops!