Bomb Sequel
Does a movie bomb get a sequel?
That used to be an easy question. If a movie didn’t make money at home, you didn’t produce another one. You didn’t follow one bomb with another.
Matters aren’t so cut and dried anymore. With the globalization of film distribution, a movie that’s a bomb in North America can still turn a profit when foreign grosses are counted up. Would studios make a sequel to a domestic bomb that made cash in other territories?
You might expect a studio to pass on a sequel to a “profitable bomb” to save face. But the allure of money is a powerful motivator.
In 2013, Warner Bros. released Pacific Rim. In North America, it massively underperformed, barely crossing the $100 million mark on a budget of approximately $190 million. With distribution and marketing factored in, Pacific Rim needed a haul closer to $300 million to break even. Strong foreign performance gave the movie a global total in excess of $411 million. A sequel is in the works.
Strong foreign performance isn’t a sequel guarantee, though. One of last summer’s biggest disappointments was Terminator: Genysis. That franchise reboot was a big bomb in North America, bringing in an anemic $89.7 million on an estimated budget of $155 million. Strong foreign receipts helped Genysis turn a profit, with a global take of about $440.6 million. That left the movie with a good return on investment, but far less than Paramount had likely anticipated. While future plans for the franchise haven’t been announced, given its history and the durability of the Terminator brand, another movie is inevitable. At some point.
That brings us to the current bomb conundrum. Warcraft, based on the mega-popular game, is an outright domestic disaster for Universal. After two weekends, its North American take stands at a pathetic $38.4 million on an estimated budget of $160 million. A big budget tentpole that can’t rake in even a quarter of its production costs after two weekends is an embarrassing failure.
But international grosses for Warcraft are eye-popping. So far its global take stands at a rather healthy $378.4 million. Overall, the movie has passed the breakeven point. But can Universal really greenlight a sequel for a movie that failed so miserably at home?
They very well might. An important factor for all three of these movies has been their performance in China. The number of movie screens and movie attendance have grown rapidly in China in recent years. It’s a key territory, but one that can be hard to crack. The country’s rules limit the number of non-Chinese productions that can screen there. Big action spectacles tend to dominate and attract large audiences.
Pacific Rim made about $111.9 million in China, more than a quarter of its global total. For Terminator: Genysis, it was $113.1, also about a quarter of its total haul. So far, Warcraft has amassed a whopping $156.8 million in China, more than 40% of its current total.
If studios think that a sequel can match those numbers, or exceed them, then even something that’s a total bomb at home could come back for another installment.
It’s a phenomenon likely to pick up steam in the years to come. Studios will care less about North American underperformance. With robust international receipts, and the potential for a profitable afterlife in the home video/streaming market, a bomb just might spark a franchise.
Originally published at thunderalleybcpcom.ipage.com on June 21, 2016.
If you like what you’ve read, be sure to hit recommend below, to pass this story along to your followers! As always, consider following Panel & Frame for more emerging voices in Comics, Literature, Art, and Film!
