As Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer opens today in 3,957 theaters, the thoughts of studio executives and movie-industry analysts focus not to the reviews — we’ll get to those shortly — but to what really matters: box-office receipts.
Variety reports that while Silver Surfer will likely unseat Ocean’s Thirteen from its top spot, tracking suggests it will fall short of the $56 million opening of its predecessor. Of course, few people expected the first Fantastic Four to perform that well back in 2005.
I chuckled a little when I read this line in the Variety piece: “Pic is tracking well with males, but women are lagging behind in interest.” Well, yeah.
In its performance analysis, Rotten Tomatoes notes that 20th Century Fox hopes the Fantastic Four films follow the pattern of the X-Men franchise, with each installment grossing more than the previous one. But, the website reminds us, Silver Surfer is no X-Men United.
“That mutant sequel earned strong reviews, followed a predecessor that was well-received, and opened at the beginning of May when there was no competition,” Rotten Tomatoes writes. “The current sequel fatigue that has been hitting the box office could prevent Four from expanding beyond its core base.”
The website goes on to predict a $53 million opening weekend.
Meanwhile, MTV.com brings together a panel of experts — well, two of their movie staff and the director of Saw IV – to come up with a magic number. Predictions range from $30 million to $60 million.
But I guess we won’t know for sure until sometime Sunday.
Review revue
That’s what the movie-industry analysts say. What about film critics? Well …
Here’s a sampling of some of the reviews appearing online and in newspapers in the U.S. and U.K.:
“A slight but enjoyable bit of sci-fi popcorn that’s mostly Marvelous just for being watchable, considering it’s the sequel to one of the more irritating films of the 21st century.” — E! Online
“It all makes for a film that’s marginally better than the first one, but since that set the bar so low, that’s like saying having a broken arm is better than a broken leg.” — The Scotsman
“If you have children, if you feel the need to switch off, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is terrific. By almost every other criterion, it is a tragically bad film.” — The Telegraph
“The target audience appears to be Cartoon Network fans. Anyone outside that category is likely to find Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer a dull slog that no avalanche of razzle-dazzle digital hooey can camouflage. It’s not even entertaining camp.” — The Dallas Morning News
“SS is obviously bound for his own franchise if this flick hits big, and that could be cool if the series is able to maintain the kid-friendly, but action-stuffed tone Rise achieves.” — The Detroit News
“… it’s something of a relief to confront a comic-book movie that is neither hip nor wised up. Earnest, gee-whiz and foursquare, this simple and intentionally inoffensive sequel gets points for being easy to take and scrupulously avoiding obvious sources of irritation.” — The Los Angeles Times
“Maybe it has something to do with seriously diminished expectations, but Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is an improvement of sorts over the lifeless 2005 edition.” — The Hollywood Reporter
“As summer franchise superhero flicks go, it’s tolerable.” — The Christian Science Monitor
“To its credit, Silver Surfer flows by quickly, if brainlessly. The dialogue from screenwriters Don Payne and Mark Frost is so shallow it provokes unintended laughs (“Your encounter with the Surfer has affected your molecules,” Reed informs Johnny, proving that not all eggheads have a way with big words). — MSNBC.com
“It’s not funny enough to be a spoof, and it’s not deep enough to hold any intrigue. Even the special effects have a ho-hum, TV-style quality.” — San Jose Mercury News
Projectionist loses job after negative review
According to The Hollywood Reporter, a projectionist at a Memphis theater chain was fired after he wrote an early, unauthorized review of Rise of the Silver Surfer for Ain’t It Cool News.
Jesse Morrison, who went by the name “Memflix” at AICN, claims 20th Century Fox was behind his firing from Malco Theatres. The studio denies the charge.
Morrison, who served as a projectionist for local press and exhibitor screenings, wrote a negative review of the Fantastic Four sequel that appeared Saturday under the headline, “Memflix crushes all hope for ‘Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer’.” On Monday, he was called into the Malco office where he was “‘suspended until further notice,’ with the suggestion that he would not be asked to return.”
Malco Senior Vice President Jimmy Tashie says that although Fox played no role in the suspension, the studio did make him aware of the review. “No one asked us to do anything,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “We have been in business 95 years, and this is the first time anything like this happened. And this boy knew what he was doing was the wrong thing. … He was in a position of trust and he violated that trust.”
Quick hits
“The Fantastic Four’s Jewish Family Values”
Who’ll be the villain for the third installment?
Silver Surfer, this is your life
June 16th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Can’t believe some Toolarama suck up throw dirt on, and spoiled Superman Return, an excellent film, but as a total sell out wannabe, applauded any of those Fantastic Four films more like B-Class TV rejects
June 16th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
I have no idea what that means.
June 16th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Me am so smart.