# Maleficent (film) will be a box office bomb. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 12, 2014, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296 "2014-05-12T19:13:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296/61 "2014-05-31T03:27:04Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Maleficent is one of Disney’s least impressive villains in one of their weakest fairy tale movies. But then, there are people who thing Darth Maul is a great villain. :rolleyes: You know, at some point surely you have to acknowledge that your tastes in fantasy and science fiction are…idiosyncratic. Right? Right? Objectively speaking, you’re wrong on this one. Maleficent is, and again I speak objectively with scientific data to back me up, the scariest bitch on celluloid. And yes, I include Snow White’s queen in her transformation scene, the only other time a Disney villain has been worth the watching. Objectively speaking. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296/62 "2014-05-31T03:36:28Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > Anybody call “huge opening”? > > [Box Office: 'Maleficent' Doubles 'Oz The Great and Powerful's' Opening Day in U.K.](http://variety.com/2014/film/news/box-office-maleficent-doubles-oz-great-and-powerful-opening-day-uk-1201195738/) It looks like it will do about $70M this weekend, which is great, but not “huge”… > [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I’m rethinking this and am closer to 500M worldwide now, with a little less than 200M domestic. …which means that my $200M may be a bit high, but not out of reach; $180M domestic seems pretty reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296/63 "2014-05-31T03:57:03Z")
Interesting. I’ll have to check back. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296/64 "2014-05-31T04:15:35Z")
I said in the Summer Movies thread that _Maleficent_ is getting a 48% score on [Rotten Tomatoes](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/maleficent_2014/), and that basically they’re saying that AJ is good but the movie overall is not [Chris Stuckmann](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lon5g3mVJSE) gives the movie a B-minus. He says that you will enjoy the movie if you don’t have too much invested in it. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296/65 "2014-05-31T04:39:53Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > I said in the Summer Movies thread that _Maleficent_ is getting a 48% score on [Rotten Tomatoes](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/maleficent_2014/), and that basically they’re saying that AJ is good but the movie overall is not. You’re looking at the critics score of 48% and what they’re saying to predict box office, instead of the 75% of users who liked it? Who does that? This a fantastic movie, critics be damned. People see movies they want to see and most don’t give a toss what critics say. Sure, they do that with bad movies, but in this case it’s a good movie and the critics are wrong. I hope word of mouth is strong, it goes over $200 million and the box office blows up the stupid and biased prediction in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296/66 "2014-05-31T04:44:30Z")
I’m not the OP and I’m not predicting it will bomb – I’m just reporting what RT is saying. I’ve been planning to go see this movie anyway and I’ll see it tomorrow. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I enjoyed _Snow White and the Huntsman_ even though I didn’t think it was a very good movie – I went for Charlize Theron and for the fantasy setting. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296/67 "2014-05-31T04:52:22Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > I like Angelina Jolie and some of the other actors in the movie. I can’t really tell how good the movie is going to be though. I’ll probably wait until reviews are in before deciding to go see it. Don’t do that. If you like Angelina Jolie, you owe it to yourself to see it on the big screen. She’s absolutely wonderful and absolutely stunning. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296/68 "2014-05-31T04:55:11Z")
> [@PeskiPiksi](#): > > I agree with you. Not really sure why. I wish there was some way to make money off of predicting box office hits and failures…I seem to have a sixth sense about these things. Don’t quit your day job just yet. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296/69 "2014-05-31T05:35:01Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > You’re looking at the critics score of 48% and what they’re saying to predict box office, instead of the 75% of users who liked it? Who does that? This a fantastic movie, critics be damned. People see movies they want to see and most don’t give a toss what critics say. Sure, they do that with bad movies, but in this case it’s a good movie and the critics are wrong. I hope word of mouth is strong, it goes over $200 million and the box office blows up the stupid and biased prediction in the OP. I apologize for this whole post, especially for the last few words. The box office will prove the OP right or wrong, and it’s looking more wrong than right, which makes me happy, and there’s nothing wrong with a prediction thread. I’m just tired of people condemning movies before they open, sometimes before they’re even made, and I got snippy. Plus, there’s no indication that the OP is biased against Angelina Jolie or this type of movie in particular, so that was a stupid thing for me to say. A35362, I hope you like it. ---
**Author:** ![Hermione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cdc98d/32.png) [@Hermione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermione)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296/70 "2014-05-31T13:50:48Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m just tired of people condemning movies before they open, sometimes before they’re even made, and I got snippy. This x infinity. Case in point: I’ve been looking forward to the Paddington Bear movie (due at the end of this year) since it was announced, having loved the Paddington stories since I was a kid (and being a children’s librarian who likes to see good adaptations of kidlit). But in some of the news articles about it, there are always comments like “Oh no, Hollywood is going to ruin another bit of my childhood!” Or, “They’re using CGI! It’s going to suck!” (Because NOTHING must change or progress, EVER.) I kid you not, I read something that was written before a single frame of film was shot that moaned about how it was going to be bad and a “sell out”! Anyway, Maleficent. I saw, I liked. I didn’t mind the changes from the original movie since I took it as kind of an “Elseworlds” take on the story. I liked many of the new wrinkles that were added. Visually, it was a lot more unified than Oz The Great and Powerful, and very beautiful to boot. The only thing I’d have changed is: I’d have given Aurora a confrontation with her father during the final battle. She seemed to get over that “my godmother killed my father” business awfully quickly at the end. Something where she explains to her father that Maleficent was the one who saved her and that she has been spending time in the fairy world. And Stefan snarls that if she’s gone over to the enemy, then she’s no daughter of his. Then after Stefan’s been killed, Aurora asks Maleficent if she thought her father ever loved her at all. And Maleficent sighs, “He loved power. More than me, more than your mother, more than you. It didn’t matter if I’d saved you or not…all that mattered was that he triumphed over me and conquered my people.” My only other disappointment was that Peter Capaldi’s scenes were cut. He was supposed to have played Maleficent’s uncle, but ended up being completely cut for reasons of length. At least he won’t be cut out of the aforementioned Paddington since he plays an important role! ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296/71 "2014-05-31T14:24:02Z")
Saw it yesterday. I’ve said to folks I’d watch a film consisting of only a 90 minute closeup of Jolie and that’s pretty well what you get here. The plot is okay – not great but head and shoulders above _Snow White and the Huntsman_ or _Oz the Great and Powerful_. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296/72 "2014-05-31T14:32:17Z")
My 14 and 12 year old daughters are excited to see it today. So regardless of what you may think I believe they did a good job marketing to their target audience. My 38 year old girlfriend is excited to see it too btw. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296/73 "2014-05-31T16:59:09Z")
[Box Office Mojo](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/) is reporting $24M for Friday. It’s possible it might reach the projected $70M for the weekend. It will likely drop quite a bit in ensuing weekends, this isn’t a standard kiddie animation which tend to hold well. Finish with low $200M domestic maybe. Do we have a production budget estimate for this? Plus marketing is going to be very hefty. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296/74 "2014-05-31T17:26:52Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > I apologize for this whole post, especially for the last few words…[snip]… This one of the things I like about the Dope. Dopers can admit being wrong, sometimes even unprompted and over tone rather than substance. I hope this can be an example for myself when needed. Anyway, about the movie… I’ll probably see it at some point. I love Elenor Audrey’s version of Maleficent and _Sleeping Beauty_ in general. I’m worried that my existing emotional investment would cause me to be irritated while watching an otherwise fine film which looks beautiful. My one question is: how long is it? A personal question, I know, but blockbusters have been creeping longer and longer to the point where it can be exhausting to watch. To me, movies longer than 100 minutes better have damn good reason to be, and sure as hell don’t bore me while padding things out. I was so bored by _Oz the Great and Powerful_ I turned it off and never finished it. How long and how’s the pacing in_Maleficent_? ---
**Author:** ![D.E.S.K.Top668](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@D.E.S.K.Top668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.E.S.K.Top668)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296/75 "2014-05-31T18:19:11Z")
My wife and daughters (14 and 12) just got back from seeing it. The girls usually have completely different tastes, but they both loved it. From an adult perspective, my wife said it was pretty good and the theater was crowded compared to the usual 10:00AM Saturday movie showings. I would have gone myself, but an injured back currently makes theater seats torture. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296/76 "2014-05-31T22:14:31Z")
IMDb sez the estimated budget is $200 million but I don’t know if that is counting marketing costs. The run time is 97 minutes. Hey! Whaddaya know – I liked it. I especially liked the resolution of “True Love’s Kiss” **Hermione** , I like your spoilered comments about the confrontation speech. Good ideas! ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296/77 "2014-05-31T23:35:43Z")
> [@Hermione](#): > > …I’d have given Aurora a confrontation with her father during the final battle. She seemed to get over that “my godmother killed my father” business awfully quickly at the end. Something where she explains to her father that Maleficent was the one who saved her and that she has been spending time in the fairy world. And Stefan snarls that if she’s gone over to the enemy, then she’s no daughter of his. Then after Stefan’s been killed, Aurora asks Maleficent if she thought her father ever loved her at all. And Maleficent sighs, “He loved power. More than me, more than your mother, more than you. It didn’t matter if I’d saved you or not…all that mattered was that he triumphed over me and conquered my people.”… But… …Maleficent didn’t actually kill Stefan. She was about to, then told him it was over & turned to walk way. Stefan’s response to her sparing his life was to come at her from behind as she was leaving and knocked both of them off the tower. :smack: It’s his own damn fault he fell to his death. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296/78 "2014-05-31T23:55:43Z")
I just came from a matinee showing with my friends. We all agreed it was a wonderful spritely story and that Jolie did a great job with her role. I’m much like garygnu in that I hate long films and I thought we could have used more. Most of the characters other than Jolie were completely undeveloped and I think it detracted. I’m definitely interested in getting a copy once it’s out and seeing deleted scenes. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2014, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296/79 "2014-06-01T01:47:03Z")
True Love’s kiss was exactly the same _twice_ in “Once Upon a Time”, another Disney project. ---
**Author:** ![Hermione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cdc98d/32.png) [@Hermione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermione)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2014, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296/80 "2014-06-01T01:48:49Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > But… > > …Maleficent didn’t actually kill Stefan. She was about to, then told him it was over & turned to walk way. Stefan’s response to her sparing his life was to come at her from behind as she was leaving and knocked both of them off the tower. :smack: It’s his own damn fault he fell to his death. True dat. It’s just that the ending of the film seemed to me to have a bit of a hole in it, I guess, with no interaction between Aurora and her father (he seemed to have some feelings for her, even though it was overshadowed by his desire to destroy Maleficent). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maleficent-film-will-be-a-box-office-bomb/688296.md?page=5)