Screw Fox, or: "Sunshine" bombed, and it's all your fault!

[Quigles]

Here's a rant I just posted on my blog. I thought you guys might appreciate it.

URL: http://quigs.blogspot.com/2007/07/screw-fox-or-sunshine-bombed-and-its.html

You're probably better off just checking it out at the link, because due to the forum restrictions, I had to remove many of the images from the original post.

I didn't have expectations for "Sunshine", one of my most awaited movies of the summer, to break any box office records this past weekend. But holy Moses on a pogo stick, I never expected it to do this awful!

http://thekratsite.com/blog/sunshine/boxoffice_sunshine.jpg

Obviously "The Simpsons Movie" was guaranteed to take up a chunk of the box office total, and I'm happy it did so well (while being simultaneously happy that "I Know Who Killed Me" bombed so terribly). But what the fuck? "Sunshine" didn't even make the top ten?!

What is wrong with people??

Or better yet, WHAT IS WRONG WITH FOX?????

Note: You can tell I mean business because I used caps and multiple question marks. I'm fucking hardcore like that.

After a pathetic 10 theater limited opening, and the proceeding (equally pathetic) 400 theater wide release, it seemed the incredibly talented Danny Boyle was getting shunned once again in the U.S. "That's ok," I thought. "After the success of '28 Days Later', he's sure to find an audience. Plus, the film had a kickass trailer (http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/sunshine/trailera/), filled with stunning visuals like these..."

http://thekratsite.com/blog/sunshine/sunshine_pic1.jpg

C'mon now. That's fucking beautiful. What else do people need? A good story? Yeah, you do?

Read it and weep!

Fifty years from now, the sun is dying, and mankind is dying with it. Our last hope: a spaceship and a crew of eight men and women. They carry a device which will breathe new life into the star. But deep into their voyage, out of radio contact with Earth, their mission is starting to unravel.

Reigniting the goddamn sun. Doesn't get much cooler than that. What, that doesn't satisfy you?

Here. Have some more screenshots.

http://thekratsite.com/blog/sunshine/sunshine_pic2.jpg

http://thekratsite.com/blog/sunshine/sunshine_pic3.jpg

http://thekratsite.com/blog/sunshine/sunshine_pic4.jpg

http://thekratsite.com/blog/sunshine/sunshine_pic5.jpg

http://thekratsite.com/blog/sunshine/sunshine_pic6.jpg

http://thekratsite.com/blog/sunshine/sunshine_pic7.jpg

http://thekratsite.com/blog/sunshine/sunshine_pic8.jpg

http://thekratsite.com/blog/sunshine/sunshine_pic9.jpg

If you want to be even more impressed, go see the movie. It's one of the best sci-fi flicks since 2001, and has some of the most breathtaking visuals I've ever seen put on film. It's also got about half a dozen thrilling action sequences, so prepare to have your ass kicked all over the theater (in the best way possible).

But whatever you do, DO NOT check out the latest disaster of Fox's marketing campaign. If you've already seen the film, feel free to grimace in disgust at the official "Sunshine" site to see what I'm talking about...
http://www.foxsearchlight.com/sunshine/ (Scroll down a little and look to the left.)

I can't quite explain what I'm so pissed about without spoiling the film, but I guess if you've seen a TV spot or online ad of it recently, you've probably already had the film spoiled for you anyway.

Because apparently, Fox's ingenious scheme behind the movie is to reveal exactly what happens to the characters. That's right, they've actually turned spoiling a film into the marketing for it as well. Harry Potter haters would be proud.

In fact, maybe Warner Bros. will follow suit when releasing The Half-Blood Prince, tagging each trailer with "_____ kills __________!" in huge white text (except replacing the blanks with the actual names, obviously - I think you all know who I'm talking about). That'll teach those fucking moviegoers for paying up their hard-earned cash! The pricks!

So if you were an unfortunate victim of the spoiler-y tactics of Fox's shitty advertising team, I apologize on behalf of them. Don't let it sway you from watching the movie though. Even if you know what happens, the quality of the film is still high enough to overcome whatever those masterminds over at Fox are willing to throw at you.

Well, what are you waiting for? Click HERE (http://www.fandango.com/sunshine_96199/movietimes) to find movie showtimes for "Sunshine" near you!

P.S. Nobody paid me to promote this film. It's just really fucking good.
Thoughts? Comments?

[Backstabba]

I agree.

Thankfully, I haven't seen the MAJOR spoilers, even though two of them were shown in the extended trailer, but Fox REALLY dropped the ball...

It's a AMAZING looking movie, with a GREAT trailer, that played before some major flicks, got great feedback, etc. They decided to release it in July instead of March because they didn't want such major competition, but DUMPING IT IN 400 THEATERS WITH LITTLE TO NO (horrible) MARKETING wasn't a much better idea, now was it?

And I'm not even sure if I'm going to be able to see it in theaters because none of them have it (around me).

Good rant.

[LordSimen]

I agree, Fox screwed the pooch on the marketing for this movie big time and gave away way too many spoilers in their trailers.

Although, another problem that probably added to Sunshine's low amount of reception is... A lot of people I know who saw the trailer for the movie thought it looked, sounded and felt like a remake of "The Core." :(

[Scarfather]

Holy crap, I hadn't seen any of those TV spots, that's fuckin' retarded and yet extremely amusing at the same time.

[Pride]

Oh the irony. I hope you were just using a ficticious example of Half-Blood Price because I was just about to read it. And if its not, maybe put some spoiler warning?

[Quigles]

Originally posted by Pride
Oh the irony. I hope you were just using a ficticious example of Half-Blood Price because I was just about to read it. And if its not, maybe put some spoiler warning?
.... :eek:

I feel like a jackass now. The reason I chose that example was because it's probably the most circulated spoiler of all-time. They even have shirts for it. Hasn't the book been out for like two years now? I can barely go a week without hearing somebody making some sort of joke referencing the thing.

Guys, am I wrong here? Or did I just very hypocritically post a somewhat unknown spoiler in my rant about spoilers?

I thought everybody would know it already. Sorry. :(

[Backstabba]

Originally posted by Quigles
Guys, am I wrong here? Or did I just very hypocritically post a somewhat unknown spoiler in my rant about spoilers?

I thought everybody would know it already. Sorry. :(

Yeah it's pretty damn circulated spoiler but SOME people (I actually do know some) have been able to avoid it somehow and haven't read the book yet.

So I'd say replace it with a "_______ kills _______" or something to that degree.

[bigred760]

I didn't even realize it was playing at a theater near me. I might actually go watch this tomorrow.

Where the hell's the advertising for this thing? I haven't seen any TV spots for the movie.

[Cronos]

WTF indeed and fuck Fox

Sunshine = best damn move of the year

[JJFlamingo]

Snape KILLS Dumbledore?? :confused:

[jbar1026]

everyone seems to speak highly of this movie so im gonna see it tommarow. fox is run by a bunch of assholes who seem to enjoy taking something good or that has potential and fucking it up

[HedwigX]

Originally posted by JJFlamingo
_____ KILLS __________?? :confused:

Yes, well done for reiterating this right AFTER the original poster blanked it out to be sensitive towards people who didn't know the ending. You = so coolz LOL

¬_¬

Wholly unnecessary, man...

[Euclid]

It's a shame really, as Sunshine is indeed a hell of a film. Certainly better than most of the crapfests that have been released this summer.

[crodger]

I don't understand how the marketing team for pretty much the biggest movie company in the world, could make such a ridiculous error in judgment. Someone needs to get their ass busted for this. It's like having an ad for The Empire Strikes Back with the scene featuring Darth Vader's revelation to Luke. What a joke. Such a fantastic movie deserves better than this. This is the sort of treatment something like Ghost Rider deserves...because noone would give a shit in the first place.

[ilovemovies]

Thanks to FOX I'm going to have rely on illegal means to watch Sunshine. :mad:

Same with Talk to Me. I don't know what studio that movie belongs to though.

[jbar1026]

saw it today. it was prettygood but not great. it was like a happy version of event horizen. sunshine 7/10

[SkyNet]

i saw SUNSHINE last night and fuckin LOVED IT

and on the ride home all i was thinking about was that if Fox had marketed this flick correctly, this could have been a HUGE summer blockbuster.

It is a bad ass flick

go see it

[bigred760]

Damn. I was telling everyone at work today that I saw Sunshine and they had NEVER heard of the movie . . . that's a crying shame. I didn't realize it was that obscure. They now know, though I don't think it'll make a difference since they're not going to watch it anyway.

[Tony_Montana]

I was loving Sunshine... till Freddy Krueger appeared.

[jbar1026]

Originally posted by Tony_Montana
I was loving Sunshine... till Freddy Krueger appeared.
SPOILERS




i dont get the hate for the captian of the icurus 1 i found the twist was just fine and actually improved the movies pace. how would you have ended it.? with the obviously crazy shrink being the bad guy

[thedudeman69]

I like how that Fox studios thinks that it can handle independent flicks, but like with big budget flicks, they fuck up the advertising and make people totally not want to see it because they just fuck up the ads. Also, it seems like they cherry pick indy movies that they feel will be a huge sucess and discard the other movies in fear that they will bomb.




I think Danny should never work with Fox, ever again, in my opinion.

[Tony_Montana]

SPOILERS




Originally posted by jbar1026


i dont get the hate for the captian of the icurus 1 i found the twist was just fine and actually improved the movies pace. how would you have ended it.? with the obviously crazy shrink being the bad guy


I dunno about how I would have ended it, but the twist from 2001-ish scifi to Event Horizony scifi really didnt work for me. Then it felt like just another mediocre slasher to me, nothing wrong with that mind, but not in this sort of movie. Plus the blurring of the camera whenever it focused on him was annoying.

[teenkiller]

I didn't even know Sunshine hit theatres here until I was checking box office totals one day and just saw it listed. I don't think Fox had any faith in this movie catching on with American audiences and just decided to dump it without spending money to promote it. Maybe it wouldn't have caught on... but who know? It looked interesting enough. Well thats all for now GOod JOURNEY my fellow schmoes.

[jbar1026]

Originally posted by Tony_Montana
Plus the blurring of the camera whenever it focused on him was annoying.
now that is something i can agree with it

[Double-Oh-Zero]

Whaaaa--?!

FOX fucking up on something? Preposterous! It's about as likely as a PG-13 rated Die Har -- oh. Er...um...moving on...

But seriously, I'm not entirely surprised that Sunshine tanked at the American box office, given the fact that FOX distributed it, and it was therefore dumped into theatres in a half-assed manner amongst huge, crowd-pleasing summer blockbusters. In addition to that, to average American audiences, some weird sci-fi flick directed by a Brit who made a couple of awesome films that they're very likely to have not seen prolly isn't high on their list of must-see movies. Which is a shame, because it was a mind-blowing film; my favourite of the summer so far, and one of my favourites of the year.