wesleyshark
Banned
Akira will also bomb.
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Ghost in the Shell bombs at the box office
- Thread starter Korey
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Nailed it. Whitewashing or not, this movie would've bombed either way.
I thought the movie was entertaining enough, but nothing that would do gangbusters at the BO.
Ehhhhh
It would probably have the same issues the anime had in that it would lose the satirical tones and just become a stereotypical action movie. I also don't think the comedy is good enough to carry an entire film like that.
any particular reason?
Manmademan
Member
I had heard of guardians of the Galaxy.
Even the kind with no raccoon in it.
Seriously though that one is a bad example, since it has the marvel branding and Thanos was supposedly "in that" after being teased forever in post credit scenes
Septimus Prime
Member
Multiple chances? How about one chance?
I wouldn't be surprised if the latest Robert Rodriguez regurgitation was sold to Netflix or some shit. I bet he did on the cheap, like he always does.
CadetMahoney
Member
I want a live action Berserk movie starring Chris Evans as Guts
What about L being played by Keith Stanfield on the netflix Death Note adaptation?
I doubt it would have fared much better but with an Asian lead there might have been a more positive buildup to the release rather than the relentless whitewashing talk. At the very least this flop shows that the studio line of "but without a white star the movie would fail" is complete nonsense. There have been so many flops with whitewashed leads you'd think they'd try something different at this point.
Same terrible excuses even after the movie did poorly.
Bobby Roberts
Banned
It could be, though. It's an adaptation. They have the luxury of seeing where the series proper went wrong and avoiding those pitfalls. And also writing better jokes. But the premise itself would be easily adaptable.
If GITS failure can be used as leverage to convince studio heads that this whitewashing/fence-sitting bullshit they're doing is harmful to their bottom line, then I'm all for it, even if the whitewashing wasn't the primary reason for the film's failure.
But trying to steer the narrative away from that and more towards "just don't attempt adapting Anime at all" seems like the wrong direction. Many stories/series could be adaptable. You just have to get out of your own way first, and recognize why the story resonates, and play into that as opposed to diluting it because you just assume your audience is incapable or unwilling to go there.
RE: Battle Angel - isn't that film being transplanted to Southern US/Mexico region?
FairFriend
Member
Imperial Bishop
Banned
"Anime was a mistake" - Hollywood
Is it? It's a Cyberpunk film about cyborgs with heavy philosophical undertones set predominantly in a very Japanese Japan.
I still hold on to my opinion that a Cowboy Bebop film would work the best; it's got its convoluted side, sure, but if you just scratch out/tone down Ed and ignore the whole Vicious/Space Yakuza storyline the slice-of-life structure means you can do anything with it. Bobby Roberts above also says One Punch Man; again, just remove the more 'unfriendly' elements and you've got an interesting take on the ever-popular superhero genre. On top of that an Attack on Titan film would probably work well as it's incredibly Western in its setting.
Wuthering_Heights
Banned
Yep. 99% of people don't care, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the lack of success for the movie.
Good victory for those who will try and claim it as one, tho, I guess.
I think the manga did have the original title. But it was clearly commissioned/licensed to take advantage of the $180M film being released. It ran from Jan to May 2014 in Japan, and I believe Viz had the English version out in May 2014. Edge of Tomorrow came out at the end of May 2014. The original novel came out at the end of 2004.
They give a shit about good movies. There have been plenty of examples brought up in this thread, you're just choosing to ignore them.
The Artisan
Member
if anime characters are meant to look white then what would an asian anime character look like?
I can't really so I'm just going to lol
Razgriz-Specter
Member
I mean if its absolutely the worst thing ever in every aspect it won't help but Iron Fist for example she legitimately was the best part for many people and now you see stuff like her at the top of many people's picks for the live action Mulan.
Which would be a huge thing for any actor.
Exactly. And the worst one chance you could give a fledgling young AA actor is an oddball mediocre project that's poorly marketed.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
What's unfriendly about One Punch Man?
formasymphonic
Member
The question is what lessons others in Hollywood will they take away from this?
will they blame it on being an anime property and continue to view them as unfavourable for adaptation?
will they blame it on the negative reaction to the controversies and word of mouth? or will they see value in acknowledging the controversy itself?
will they scapegoat Sanders and the writers he worked with and write them off? or will they be given more chances to make high budget films in future?
will they accept that "star power" isn't the be and end all influencer of a films reception and do more to improve future films in other ways?
...or wille they not learn anything because they'll make enough money WW and in home release/streaming that they can just continue to do as they have but this time with a better handle on their PR & social media messaging?
will they blame it on being an anime property and continue to view them as unfavourable for adaptation?
will they blame it on the negative reaction to the controversies and word of mouth? or will they see value in acknowledging the controversy itself?
will they scapegoat Sanders and the writers he worked with and write them off? or will they be given more chances to make high budget films in future?
will they accept that "star power" isn't the be and end all influencer of a films reception and do more to improve future films in other ways?
...or wille they not learn anything because they'll make enough money WW and in home release/streaming that they can just continue to do as they have but this time with a better handle on their PR & social media messaging?
lol I guess that would also be an angle.
Overall a bit hard to tell yet why exactly it bombed and what lessons should be learned
Dark Ninja
Member
Not surprising a Female in the lead and Japanese Anime/Manga as the source material. DEATH.
Good movie though I liked it. Props to the execs that had the gull to actually greenlight this project after pretty much15 years of trying to get it done. This should kill off any other Anime related movie that isn't into heavy production. Luckily for Scarlett she took a risk while having a backup the next Marvel movie will even her out.
Good movie though I liked it. Props to the execs that had the gull to actually greenlight this project after pretty much15 years of trying to get it done. This should kill off any other Anime related movie that isn't into heavy production. Luckily for Scarlett she took a risk while having a backup the next Marvel movie will even her out.
wesleyshark
Banned
I quite enjoyed it, also. This BO bomb pretty much assures there won't be a sequel, sadly.
jack_package_200
Banned
MotionBlue
Member
Huge differences. Ending completely re-written, they skim over most of the politics and battlefield storyline. The movie ending is nonsensical.
The Artisan
Member
ra's al ghul in the batman trilogy was portrayed as white, and no one seemed to complain about that
I honestly feel like a Gundam universe based on the Universal Century story would be really easy to pull off, plus it already has a super diverse cast built into it to avoid controversies like this movie had.
Who fault is this? they continue to make poor decisions with this movie.
Frozenprince
Banned
Fucked up thing is you're right.
Blackwashing? I don't know. Honestly, L should be white and Light should be Asian.
I haven't delved into Iron Fist yet but hey if things pan out well for Jessica Henwick I'd be glad, but Mulan was already set on finding an Asian lead actress to begin with.
bonesmccoy
Banned
Lol that's probably my favourite Conan interview of all time.
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
Or how about we extend the failing upwards system to minorities instead of white people. I don't care about the movies, I care about the system.
Some of the best books and comics are also antithesis and yet they get good movies. Arrival is based on a short story that involves understanding aliens and Hollywood managed to make a movie out of that without turning it into Independence Day.
A Link to the Past
Banned
Clearly, it was because it was set in Japan. Gotta set it in Los Angeles next time, with a whiter cast
UnemployedVillain
Member
Why make it then? Just make some generic Western space western. This is the problem. They need to STOP adapting anime if they're going to scrap the elements that make it what it is and just banking on name recognition to trick fans into watching it
Septimus Prime
Member
No, I meant the opposite. Asianespecially Asian-Americanactors are not even given a single chance to headline a major motion picture like this.
What you're saying is that if they gave this to an Asian lead, and it bombed, then that actor's career would be over. That's not wrong, per se, but that actor's career never began because she was never given a chance at a role like this anyway.
So, yes, even a one-time starring role that fails would be miles better than just never being given the opportunity.
Puri-Puri Prisoner is the most blatant example, but there are definitely some other characters that aren't exactly too fit for Western audiences.
wesleyshark
Banned
At least this means the bluray will be a cheap as hell addition to my movie collection 🙃
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