Quote from: SiL on Apr 30, 2020, 01:28:09 AM
If you factor in inflation it took until Prometheus for a movie to earn more than Alien even with increasing budgets (again, adjusted for inflation). It's been diminishing returns almost all the way down.
But all of this is truly besides the point of what the post was about in the first place. I get it. AvP maybe didn't earn as much if you factor in a bunch of shit. Whatever. The point was that it was still a financial successful and didn't have Marines. Can we move the f**k on already?
When you factor in a bunch of the
important details it wasn't that successful, that's my point. I certainly wasn't trying to atagonise, you Sil. I'm just saying, If we're going to measure a films financial success as the ultimate success, you have to factor in inflation, the time of release, the state of the economy, and what the competition was. AvP's lack of success is why AvP:R was a borderline direct-to-dvd release and skirted by teetering on that edge of absolute schlock.
I am both disagreeing and agreeing. Absolutely true, the marines are not a marker for success. AvP wasn't the marine-absent success to hold up as proof of that, though. The real truth is, we haven't had that success yet.
One last thing on financial success in this series. The only reason Prometheus strikes so high is "Director Ridley Scott returns to Alien franchise" being all over the place. HUGE, TOWERING, UNBELIEVABLE hype. Everybody was going to see that movie.
I don't think success is objectively measured in financial gain, though. If we're talking engaging, enduring, fun, exciting, intelligent stories... Then, yeah, the last time we had a truly great, well-crafted film in this series with a coherent plot, relatable characters, and a solid beginning, middle and, end. It
was the one with the marines.
Alien 3 is a beautifully shot mess. Resurrection is a joke. AVP and AVP:R are boring and trashy. Prometheus, meanders beautifully. Alien Covenant is what Alien could have been if directed by someone other than Ridley Scott, ironically enough.
The only way for us to know if Neill Blomkamp would have been a genuine success is to actually see what he wrote. Who knows, if he was inspired and passionate enough about the project he might have had a brilliant pitch that would have revitalized the whole franchise and been the next great movie in the franchise after Aliens...
...I wouldn't bet on that one, though.