Dr. DVD

What's interesting is that Miranda actually had to put on a lot fake hair and such to make himself look older for his small role in the movie. Take away his facial hair and he still looks pretty young, so he could have probably pulled it off again. The only issue is that big stars don't always have the vocal chops to pull what is required, and even they cannot guarantee success with a musical that is high profile. Just take a look at Cats...

DJariya

Scott Mendelson of Forbes agrees with you. He speculates a few reasons why this movie’s opening was soft and that was number 1.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottme...he-box-office/

E Unit

I think every week the crowds in general will be getting bigger, and with summer here as well. This is a movie that can have some decently long box office legs.

DJariya

The Greatest Showman didn't start out great either, but on the other hand that movie has a movie star with Hugh Jackman as the lead.

Anything can happen and this movie is only going to be on HBO Max for about 28 more days and that will disappear in no time. I think people are slowly feeling more comfortable going out, especially when it gets hotter. Some will want to crave sitting in an air conditioned theatre instead of being stuck in their hot houses and running up their electricity bill watching TV all day. I know I was dying to get out of the house and see in a movie last summer when it was scorching out, but theatres were closed. But now they're open.

Why So Blu?

This bombed because no one wants to go see a musical in theaters just yet. People want bombast and spectacle. Quiet Place II, Conjuring 3, then this? It's a buzzkill. Then next week you have Hitman's Wife Bodyguard, then F9, and then Black Widow. That's what folks want to see and experience. I'm sure lots of folks probably watched this on HBO MAX instead.

dex14

That’s my take on it too. Different demographics.

Decker

It made less in theaters than Tom & Jerry did in March. It's a bomb.

LorenzoL

It’s a feels good film but it seems too sweet. No conflict whatsoever and whatever tension or issue comes up, it’s quickly resolved or pushed aside.

I did liked the Piragua song and you need to stay after the credits if you like the song.

GoldenJCJ

I liked the movie but a lot of it felt like a live-action, non-puppet version of Sesame Street. Basically a run-down block where everyone is always happy and everyone’s a friend.

That tone fit the movie just fine. It was a lovely, fun, colorful musical. The “Heights” were about what you’d expect them to be.

DJariya

Dan Murrell reviewed this and loved it, but he also pointed out that there's no villains.

Ginwen

I watched on Max. I liked the singing and dancing (I like musicals) but thought it dragged a bit overall. I also thought the love interest of the main character was really underdeveloped and not very interesting, she’s pretty and has dreams, that was about the extent of her. It was still good, but I doubt I’ll watch again.

Dr. DVD

Agree. I'm a bit baffled as to why they kept this as a summer release. Maybe to stay in tune with the summer theme of the movie? Some may argue it would have done better last summer if there had been no pandemic, but IIRC, it was going to open on the same day as Top Gun 2, so it was always going for counter programming apparently. May have opened north of $20 million, but not much better.

DJariya

I don’t think marketing was an issue. WB did a significant amount of promotion for this, especially on social media.

OldBoy

In The Heights…is a celebration of life. the ups, the downs, the in-betweens. the hopes and dreams of people. doesn't matter what race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, it's all the same and celebrated with such love and affection with this movie.

this is a love letter to not only modern day musicals, but musicals of old. of course, the dialogue and rapping is today, but the songs and the dance were multi-generational.

it couldn't have been more well made. Chu, the director, the phenomenal cast who were all so gorgeous, boys and girls, young and old. this will and should be up for many Oscars. Lin-Manuel is a genius. an absolute genius with the written word. i've seen Hamilton, both on Broadway and on D+. that was more polished. brilliant, but you can tell ITH was the stepping stone to creating that masterpiece. but, this too stands on it's own as a masterpiece in the life and times of people growing up and living in one particular area of NY.

it could've been anywhere really, but since this is semi-auto biographical, in had to be here bc of Miranda and that probably worked in it's favor. the colors, the artistry of movement with its amazing choreography and the ballet of words rapped and rhymed in song will make this an unforgettable movie and experience.

every song was better or just as good as the next. every song had the hairs on my arm stand. they were magnificent. Abuela’s farewell was of course the emotional centerpiece and it was phenomenal. Sad, but a phenomenally well done farewell.

it certainly transcends cultures, barriers, differences. it shows that no matter who you are or where you came from, your stories are similar , if not, the same. this was an incredible explosion of culture and i wish it would happen more often and in grand fashion like In The Heights. this IS a movie EVERYONE needs to see.

I didn’t want it to end. I didn’t…

GoldenJCJ

The closest thing to a villain was the dry cleaner who charged $9 a shirt!

OldBoy

The villain was life.

Decker

And white folks.

GoldenJCJ

….and global warming. And electricity….

OldBoy

I bought the movie soundtrack. Can’t wait to relive driving to work tomorrow. It’s funny, I compared it to the Broadway cast and the movie is much more powerful. I know it was raw back then, but the soundtrack for the movie really punches it up.

Inhumans99

Watched this over the weekend (loved that I was able to finish the back-half on Sunday) and it was fun to watch. I actually enjoy seeing lesser known actors in films like this one. I have been fully vaxxed since 05/21, so yes I have started to think about when I might venture back into theaters. Although If I am being honest with myself, the best chance I have of getting back into a crowded theater is when something like Black Widow opens as that is a $30 film on D+ that I do not want to drop that much moolah to watch and with the exception of Dr. Strange (which I could not see for a variety of reasons on its opening weekend, not because I did not want to see it in theaters as it was a fun film to watch) I do not like to wait months to see the Marvel films.

Anyway, getting off subject, and yes...if folks enjoy film versions of musicals I think that In The Heights will be something you enjoy. I have not seen the Broadway show of ITH (or Hamilton, still have not watched on D+) but generally speaking I do enjoy musicals that get the film treatment (at one point I wanted to see Cats, but seeing as it was a Catastrophe I have no itch to see even "free" on cable/streaming). I recently watched Oklahoma! on Disney+ (again, never saw the actual live performance musical) and found that to be a surprisingly fun watch, while I also found myself saying wow Shirley Jones was quite something back in the day, lol!

Finally, as noted above, even The Greatest Showman with Hugh Jackman was a bit of a slow burn at theaters so In The Heights might have some decent legs at the box office as things heat up and people want to watch in a room that is nice and cool.

Decker

Apparently In The Heights streamed 693K times over the weekend on HBO Max. For contrast, Godzilla vs Kong streamed 3.6M times in its first five days.

DJariya

Streaming wasn’t really an issue. Apparently a lot of people just weren’t interested in a 2 1/2 hour musical that had no big name stars.

GoldenJCJ

Right. I’m not sure why everyone seems to be so surprised that a 2 1/2 hour musical that doesn’t feature any big names or famous songs from a mostly unknown stage play isn’t performing to the same level as big blockbusters.

Noonan

For people who enjoy musicals, wouldn't a bunch of the original Hamilton cast be considered big names?

Decker

No. Broadway actors are Broadway actors. Even Broadway legends like Kristen Chenowith, Idina Menzel and Patti LuPone aren't big stars. And those who would consider the secondary actors in Hamilton to be "stars" would have gone to see this movie anyway.
I would say that I consider Lin-Manuel a movie star, maybe Leslie Odom Jr. as well. But not the rest, at least not yet.