Fast & Furious: Supercharged - General Discussion

[SpatulaShack]

Its estimated budget including marketing is pushing $200 million. It hasn’t even broken $300 million domestically. It’s not a flop by any means, but this type of performance can’t possibly justify bullish reintegration into the theme park. They already removed an attraction based on its much more successful predecessor!

I mean certainly against Universal's expectations it's a smash. It was estimated to open to $45 million opening weekend and it basically doubled that at $80 million opening weekend and then had great drops week over week even against Deadpool. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone in Hollywood that doesn't consider the film a huge success (especially given the pre-release tracking, the theatrical marketplace, and the fact that it isn't a superhero film, an animated franchise or Jurassic.

The international numbers aren't great but these are domestic parks we're talking about and the domestic performance is what Universal was directly concerned with anyway. It's in the top 5 films of the year and it's essentially an "original" screenplay despite the very loose tie to the original Twister.

All of that on top of the fact that it easily surpassed the domestic box office of other tentpole releases like Godzilla x Kong (which opened to the same number), A Quiet Place Day One, Bad Boys, Ghostbusters, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Kung Fu Panda, etc. It was a certified sensation in 4DX to the point where they're re-releasing it in the format next week. It's Universal's biggest live-action movie of the year by far and will gross about $100 million more domestically than the last Fast & Furious film. If we can have a stunt show based on the Bourne Identity I think Twisters is on the table especially given how easily it translates into an attraction.

Will it happen? Probably not but it isn't because the film didn't perform.

 

[Clive]

I mean certainly against Universal's expectations it's a smash. It was estimated to open to $45 million opening weekend and it basically doubled that at 80 million opening weekend. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone in Hollywood that doesn't consider the film a huge success (especially given the pre-release tracking, the theatrical marketplace, and the fact that it isn't a superhero film, an animated franchise or Jurassic.

The international numbers aren't great but these are domestic parks we're talking about and the domestic performance is what Universal was directly concerned with anyway. It's in the top 5 films of the year and it's essentially an "original" screenplay despite the very loose tie to the original Twister.

All of that on top of the relatively small drops, the fact that it easily surpassed the domestic box office of other tentpole releases like Godzilla x Kong (which opened to the same number), A Quiet Place Day One, Bad Boys, Ghostbusters, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Kung Fu Panda, etc. It was a certified sensation in 4DX to the point where they're re-releasing it in the format next week. It's Universal's biggest live-action movie of the year by far and will gross about $100 million more domestically than the last Fast & Furious film. If we can have a stunt show based on the Bourne Identity I think Twisters is on the table especially given how easily it translates into an attraction.

Will it happen? Probably not but it isn't because the film didn't perform.

I'm sorry, but what you're describing here simply isn't true. Many pundits were excited about the film's initial performance only to be deflated by it crashing and burning overseas. It's not a true, bonafide hit - you have to break even theatrically to really earn that distinction. It's only in the top 5 films of the year - for now, probably not for too long - because of its healthy domestic performance.

You're also understating how much the international numbers matter. They matter a great deal! And they're worse than "not great" - they're pretty bad. As Puck's Scott Mendelson just wrote today, "Twisters may gross less overseas than Warners' 2014 found-footage tornado flick Into the Storm, which complicates the story that domestic distributor Universal would like to tell about its $155 million disaster sequel."

Universal Orlando still has to think about international audiences, even as they expand with more parks overseas.

 

[belloq87]

American audiences did our part, at least.

As much as I think the attraction needs to go… I wouldn’t get my hopes up

That's fine... but then leave the attraction open until it's going to be replaced. Don't sacrifice it to a seasonal event (which hasn't affected Uni's ability to have the attraction open during regular park hours in past years, as far as I'm aware) or cost savings.

 

[Mad Dog]

I'm sorry, but what you're describing here simply isn't true. Many pundits were excited about the film's initial performance only to be deflated by it crashing and burning overseas. It's not a true, bonafide hit - you have to break even theatrically to really earn that distinction. It's only in the top 5 films of the year - for now, probably not for too long - because of its healthy domestic performance.

You're also understating how much the international numbers matter. They matter a great deal! And they're worse than "not great" - they're pretty bad. As Puck's Scott Mendelson just wrote today, "Twisters may gross less overseas than Warners' 2014 found-footage tornado flick Into the Storm, which complicates the story that domestic distributor Universal would like to tell about its $155 million disaster sequel."

Universal Orlando still has to think about international audiences, even as they expand with more parks overseas.

Yes, International is important. Basically, that's why there's a Universal park in Beijing and a Disney park in Shanghai.. Access to Chinese film distribution/theaters monopoly.

 

[TheUniC6]

When Supercharged does indeed get shuttered for good, I wonder if there will be any effort to tie whatever IP replaces it to the San Francisco area or if the area will be re-themed entirely.