# Welcome To Marwen - new movie based on documentary, Marwencol **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 28, 2018, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-marwen-new-movie-based-on-documentary-marwencol/825212 "2018-11-28T16:11:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-marwen-new-movie-based-on-documentary-marwencol/825212/41 "2018-12-26T18:07:07Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I haven’t seen this and don’t plan to (I have seen parts of the documentary). But I came just to wonder: how did they think this could possibly make any money at its budget level? I could see making it for five or ten million and doing an indie marketing campaign, but they went full Hollywood here and of COURSE they are going to take a bath. Anyone with common sense could have told them there was no commercial potential here. On paper, how does this film have any less potential than\* Forrest Gump\*? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-marwen-new-movie-based-on-documentary-marwencol/825212/42 "2018-12-26T18:21:40Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > On paper, how does this film have any less potential than\* Forrest Gump\*? The budget, for one. Even with inflation, FG cost about 2/3rd of WtM. Aside from that, “hapless lovelorn hero strolls through history” is quirky but I believe still not as quirky as “beaten transvestite builds models and fantasies about them”. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-marwen-new-movie-based-on-documentary-marwencol/825212/43 "2018-12-26T18:53:03Z")
I don’t see how you get a smaller production budget for Forrest Gump. Gump cost $55 million in 1994, or about $93 million, using the CPI to adjust for inflation. This film had a production budget of about $39 million. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-marwen-new-movie-based-on-documentary-marwencol/825212/44 "2018-12-26T19:08:31Z")
My mistake, I added in promotion costs for WtM but not FG. However, my inflation calculator put $55M(1994) at about $88M in 2018 dollars and the deadline article listed the WtM production budget at around $40-50M, not 39. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2018, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-marwen-new-movie-based-on-documentary-marwencol/825212/45 "2018-12-27T03:36:30Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > On paper, how does this film have any less potential than\* Forrest Gump\*? I loathe FG with the fire of a thousand suns, but I can acknowledge that with the iconic Sixties music and all the action set in historical touchstones, plus the sappy love story at the heart of it all, it had box office potential. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2018, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-marwen-new-movie-based-on-documentary-marwencol/825212/46 "2018-12-27T04:05:20Z")
I looked at the entire RT list of upcoming releases, and I don’t see any dramas with that kind of budget other than a Tom Hanks WWII vehicle, which seems a much safer bet. “Marwen” is a rare and odd bird. > **[Movies Coming Soon (March 2023)](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/browse/movies_coming_soon)** > > Rotten Tomatoes, home of the Tomatometer, is the most trusted measurement of quality for Movies & TV. The definitive site for Reviews, Trailers, Showtimes, and Tickets BTW, I don’t hate all Zemeckis films. I actually quite liked “Flight”, thought it was underrated. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2018, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-marwen-new-movie-based-on-documentary-marwencol/825212/47 "2018-12-27T10:35:09Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [Welcome to Marwen - Official Trailer 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBiyoc4E3mM&t=28s) is the one I watched. Oh goodness. That’s way too sad. No way I could watch that. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2018, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-marwen-new-movie-based-on-documentary-marwencol/825212/48 "2018-12-28T04:29:54Z")
My gf took me to see it. My prior knowledge going in was seeing a commercial or two, with no familiarity with the true story or other documentary. It made my gf cry and cry by the end. I thought it was touching. I guess I excused all the awkwardness in the movie as things being affected by the guy’s perspective- characters were either somewhat humoring him because he was the town damaged guy, or else they were sort of flat because the guy didn’t perceive things normally. To me, it made his struggle to connect with people more sad- the characters seemed to want to meet him halfway out of kindness I suppose, but even then he couldn’t really manage it, which I found to be genuinely sad and human. And he sticks with his childish/damaged approach to things all the way through to a victory of sorts, which at least seemed like a new kind of story. I was surprised at how scathing the reviews were. OTOH, I am someone who was subjected to a hate crime beating myself, without even engaging in cross dressing, and I could gauge my relative not-permanently-fucked-upedness against the character, laugh at what really struck me as the big fantasy in the movie, which is the notion of extant justice (justice is actually merely a word), and basically get ambushed by having my baggage dragged out by a random film. Others’ milage will surely vary. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2018, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-marwen-new-movie-based-on-documentary-marwencol/825212/49 "2018-12-30T19:01:56Z")
Looks like it bombed: ['Welcome to Marwen' is One of the Biggest Box Office Bombs of 2018 - Variety](https://variety.com/2018/film/news/welcome-to-marwen-steve-carell-box-office-1203095464/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-marwen-new-movie-based-on-documentary-marwencol/825212.md?page=2)