This won’t exactly be the most hard-hitting critical discussion about Disclosure Day. I probably liked it least among the four of us, and yet my thumb is still firmly pointing upward. Nonetheless, Aaron Neuwith, fresh from a trip to Japan with 2 Black Guys Talk Godzilla co-host Terrance Johnson, returns to the fourth chair to discuss The Furious (since he ended up quoting in the trailer and on the film’s German poster) and — of course — the $44 million domestic/$94 million worldwide opening weekend for Steven Spielberg’s latest sci-fi thriller.
The curtain-raiser question is everyone’s pick for their favorite performance in a Steven Spielberg movie, after which the subjects of discourse are…
The $2.75 million domestic and $17 million worldwide debut for The Furious and how that compares to recent overseas action movies and (offhand) the late-90s run of English-dubbed, domestically-targeted Jackie Chan releases.
The big drops for Scary Movie 6 and Masters of the Universe, although obviously one is more problematic than the other. One question is whether we get a Scary Movie 7 before we get a Scream 8.
Whether the social media divisiveness over Disclosure Day will prove indicative of general audiences’ sentiment or merely an online-specific back-and-forth.
How the film was marketed, whether it was or wasn’t indicative of the film itself, while noting that it clearly worked in terms of opening weekend interest.
That a new Spielberg film succeeded on its own terms, right alongside massive overperformances from the likes of Obsession and Backrooms, is actually the best-case scenario.
The usual “Spielberg makes movies good, actually” conversation, which is still always worth reiterating.
Spielberg’s willingness and seeming desire to work with newer and younger onscreen talent.
And more, including opening weekend predictions for Toy Story 5.
Recommended Reading/Listening…
Scott Mendelson went long and annoying over Amazon, trying to spin Masters of the Universe’s poor box office as an irrelevant trivia point.
Jeremy Fuster noted that AMC’s previously scheduled series of concert films, set for this summer, has been canceled because the box office is so damn healthy that the theaters don’t need them right now.
Lisa Laman offers her picks for the five most underrated Pixar flicks.
Ryan Scott offers a retrospective on one of the biggest box-office bombs of all time, the mostly-forgotten Warren Beatty/Diane Keaton comedy Town & Country.
Max Deering couldn’t make this episode’s recording, but this week’s Action For Everyone features an extensive interview with The Furious director Kenji Tanigaki.
Aaron Neuwirth and Terence Johnson took a detour with an episode centered on director Shusuke Kaneko’s late-1990s trilogy of Gamera movies. I actually saw (the genuinely awesome) Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris in a movie theater with my parents while visiting Japan in early 1999. Sure, the episode is a delight, but you’re only delaying the inevitable. Dread it, run from it… Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla still arrives all the same.
If you like what you hear, please like, share, comment, and subscribe (using a cartoon mallet) with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at Asktheboxofficepod@gmail.com (which I finally fixed so that it’ll forward to my personal business email, natch).
Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News
Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap
Lisa Laman - Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Comic Book and Autostraddle
Max Deering - Fangoria and Action For Everyone
Aaron Neuwirth - The Code is Zeek and We Live Entertainment
