Every Monday morning, InsidePulse Movies Czar Scott “Kubryk” Sawitz brings an irreverent and oftentimes hilarious look at pop culture, politics, sports and whatever else comes to mind. And sometimes he writes about movies.
I was expecting Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 to do big business but I was genuinely surprised when it hit $300 million worldwide in its first week of release. I knew it was going to be huge, perhaps the biggest film of the year, but that’s a remarkable number for a first week. Considering it had a $125 million budget, as it shared a $250 million budget with the first, this film was already paid for by the proceeds from the first. Once you subtract the publicity and advertising budget for the second, which was probably $50-$100 million, this film has covered all of its costs and everything from this point forward is profit for Warner Bros. I imagine the profits from the first were enough to pay for that so the interesting thing for Warner Bros. is that this could all be profit. This might be the most profitable film in decades for the studio and could generate more profit than Avatar did for Fox. Why?
Because Avatar had a cost of somewhere between $2-400 million, all in, whereas the bulk (if not all) of this film’s cost have already been covered. There isn’t a big nugget to cover like Avatar had.
I was really proud of our coverage this weekend, too. You can read two outstanding takes on the film, mine right here and Travis’s right here, and one of the things that stuck with me during the Potter-gasm that came this week was a quote attributed to Stephen King:
“Harry Potter is all about confronting fears, finding inner strength, and doing what is right in the face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend.”
I realize I’ve made fun of Harry Potter fairly regularly in this column but I always held a bit of respect for it. The films may have been more for those familiar with the books than those who haven’t read anything Potter related like I have, which has always been my sticking point in avoiding the series for as long as I did. It’s not as accessible if you haven’t read the series, I’ve thought, based on my own viewings.
But I could at least respect it because of the overall theme of the series.
I could be happy that my nieces and nephews read and were all hyped for the films because Harry Potter is a great story and a great character. The whole Potter series has been an epic hero’s journey and I could respect J.K Rowling for that, even if I avoided the series because I’ve never been one for fantasy (which is why I enjoyed the trilogy Lord of the Rings but could never really get into it like others). I enjoyed the Potter films as much as I could, despite my inclinations against the genre, so I poked fun at it but I did it out of respect.
Harry Potter did appeal to me in one regard: the story of Harry in the hero’s journey. I’m a sucker for a film or a story that can appeal to the classically educated aspect that sometimes comes out and it’s why I caved and ended up watching them. I’ll probably end up waiting until the big massive box set to come out to finally pick the franchise up on DVD, as well, and I think that’s the ultimate success of the franchise right now. It can appeal to people outside of its massive readership but doesn’t do so explicitly.
The series was aimed for fans of the book and I respect that. The book series was immensely popular and I can see that not making grandiose changes to it to make it more accessible to the mainstream was the right decision. The film series will end up averaging a billion dollars in international grosses per diem, I would think, and it’s not that difficult to get into without having read the books. It would’ve helped as I crammed in the entire series but the series is accessible enough that you don’t really have to. And one thing kept popping up in my mind: respect.
I could always respect it because behind all the magic and wizardry, et al, there was a story about a young boy becoming the man of destiny he’s supposed to become. He has to find it inside, he’s not given it, and it’s why I can respect the franchise making tons of cash and becoming part of American cinematic lexicon. If any franchise deserves to stand the test of time, to be immortalized in a Criterion box set, I think this could be it of the modern film franchises. The entire series is a great primer for children and I think will be used so for a long time, until something else pops in that’s better.
You can’t say the same with the Twilight series because in the end it’ll end up being more of a pop culture joke than something of relevance. In the end, I’d rather children read about a kid in a wizard school more than sparkly vampires.
A Movie A Week – The Challenge
This Week’s DVD – Time Bandits
I’ve never really been a fan of fantasy films and I’ve never really been able to figure out just exactly why that is. There are some genres I think that for some reason don’t connect with certain people. I’ve known folks who sit through comedies stone faced, can’t get excited by an action film or get bored with costume drama. It just happens, I guess, but sometimes curiosity gets the better of me. What happens when you let Terry Gilliam wild in the ‘80s with $40 million and a first rate cast including Sean Connery and John Cleese?
Time Bandits
Kevin (Craig Warnock) is a young child who winds up joining the company of midget thieves. They’ve stolen a map of the universe, with the few places where one can time travel, and hop through time on a quest to steal as much wealth as possible. But an evil wizard wants the map for his own purposes as does the owner of the map himself, the Supreme Being, and as such both sides come after the midget thieves and Kevin at various points in history to steal the map for their own purposes.
Shenanigans ensue as they travel all through time, being thieves. But it didn’t wow me. It’s an enjoyable little film, and John Cleese steals the film as Robin Hood, though, but he’s not in it long enough for my tastes.
Mild recommendation
What Looks Good This Weekend, and I Don’t Mean the $2 Pints of Bass Ale and community college co-eds with low standards at the Alumni Club
Captain America: The First Avenger – The origin of Captain America (Chris Evans) as he does one thing and one thing only: kill Nazi’s.
See It – I would’ve rather QT made Inglourious Basterds 2 with Captain America, and have him kick the crap out of Nazi’s some more, but I’ll take a big action film too.
Friends with Benefits – Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis are friends who also like to have sex with one another. Shenanigans ensue.
See It – This summer’s R-rated comedies have really delivered on a consistent basis and I don’t doubt his one will as well.
Scott “Kubryk” Sawitz brings his trademarked irreverence and offensive hilarity to Twitter in 140 characters or less. Follow him @MMCritic_Kubryk.
