Wait, I Thought Piracy Had Killed Any Chance Of Zombieland 2?
from the perhaps-not.. dept
Last month, we wrote about Zombieland director Rhett Reese, complaining on Twitter that the fact that his movie was a top unauthorized download would make it that much more unlikely that there would ever be a sequel. Others picked up that claim and ran with it, as if this was proof that piracy was harming the movie business. The whole thing seemed curious to us, since the movie has been quite successful at the box office, and has made a ton of money. Given that, who cares how much it's pirated. If it can make a bunch of money, of course it's ripe for a sequel.And, guess what? Despite all the doom and gloom about how Sony would never make a sequel, Variety is reporting (you guessed it!) that Sony is about to ink a sequel for Zombieland, which will be done in 3D. Shocking. Even though the movie was pirated so much, the studio still wants to make a sequel? Could it be that there really are some people who recognize that how much a movie is pirated doesn't really matter if the movie can still make a ton of cash?
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Filed Under: bittorrent, downloading, movies, popularity, rhett reese, sequels, zombieland
Companies: sony pictures
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Well...
Well, they thought that it had. Truly, they thought that after all the metaphorical bullets blasted into the Zombieland franchise by piracy, they thought it was dead. But apparently it takes something else to kill this sequel, because despite it's deathrows it got back up off the ground and continued to stumble and moan its way to us. Does that make the sequel undead? Is Umbrella Corp. involved in the reanimation of this movie? Have I beaten this one little analogy-pun to death yet?
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Re: Well...
I guess the pirates need better weapons. Or maybe the people on Spike Tv's Deadlist Warrior need to do a Pirate vs. Zombie episode.
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Yeah, but then Sephiroth comes and rapes link, while Squall whimpers in the corner about his Sis....
Okay, I've outnerded myself here....
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Throw in a few ninjas and laser-bearing sharks, and I do believe they'll have a winner on their hands...
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4.????????
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Apparently they didn't do that to this movie.
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Re: Well...
Not yet, it just got back up and hobbled off saying something about pirate brains and depth perception.
(OK, now it's dead)
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Re: Re: Well...
Did my anaology pun get infected by the Zombieland Sequel Virus, or ZSV, because I put them in such close proximity? Does that also open me to risk of becoming exposed to ZSV, creating undead sequels of myself?
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(Oh god, Virus? Douse that mean that this is another "infected" movie?)
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Re: Well...
Death row: where prisoners sentenced to execution are kept
Death throes: jerking and spasming in the process of death
Death throws: killing with a thrown object such as a knife
Death roes: The ovaries of dead fish
Death hos: zombie prostitutes?
Heathrow: London's international airport
OK I'm really stretching now.
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Double tap?
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How much money did they gain because the movie was pirated and people saw that and decided to go to the movie. Gee, you don't know that either.
I understand your points, but those are founded on a guess, but I guess its easy to guess with someone else's money.
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However, the studio involved saw enough income to make it worth doing a sequel, and by moving it to 3D, they are perhaps hoping to both make it better to see it in a theater, and also to potentially have the type of content for "3DHD" TV which is coming down the pipe. A catalog of 3D material would be very good to dominate the early stages of that market if it happens.
That Zombieland made money in spite of all the piracy is an indicate that the public are still willing to pay for this type of movie, which is good.
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I like how "reality" is what you think it is.
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That's the whole point. There was piracy, and profit, and a sequel. All at the same time. Some insist the profit would have been greater without the piracy (probably with no evidence). Others insist that piracy is the only reason many people bought tickets to the movie or bought the DVD (probably with only anecdotal evidence). But it doesn't really matter. The known facts are that there was piracy (I think everyone agrees a great deal) and the movie made money. So those things can happen together, and the movie studios claiming they can't make money because of piracy is BS.
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What money? I thought that was the point.
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Better that than the studios using their skewed guesses to enforce laws that put people in jail for filming a birthday party as per another article today...
Anyway, the point is that despite "piracy", the movie has been very successful. Despite having the option to download a copy at home, enough people still went out to see it to make $75 million domestically on a $23.6 million budget (so far, according to boxofficemojo.com). Not bad. Same for other recent successes like Paranormal Activity, Twilight: New Moon, The Blind Side and Precious - all significantly in profit.
In fact, on that site, the only movies making significantly less than their total production budgets domestically are the 3 most expensive - Planet 51, 2012 and A Christmas Carol - both making lots of money, just not near their massive budgets. To my mind, that proves that excess, waste and quality are the things holding back profits for Hollywood, not "piracy". That's an educated guess for sure, but more productive than "waaaah! piracy!" in an industry that still tries to control aspects of its product that cannot be controlled...
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2012 cost at least $200 million and has made back $138 so far. I might break even domestically on the gross, but will depend on TV and DVD sales to break even. It's not considered a good movie generally, and seems to be a bloated, indulgent mess by all accounts.
Zombieland - considered a good movie, definitely in net profit by all normal standards. Ditto Precious, $32 million on a $10 million budget. Ditto The Blind Side (72% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) - $100 million on a $29 million budget.
There's a trend here...
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I think YOU make too much money and should be happy with what you have, now give me your wallet!
To my mind, that proves that excess, waste and quality are the things holding back profits for Hollywood, not "piracy". That's an educated guess for sure...
An actual "educated guess" might be that you don't know the first thing about what you're talking about.
2012 cost at least $200 million and has made back $138 so far.
Incorrect.
I might break even domestically on the gross, but will depend on TV and DVD sales to break even.
Incorrect.
2012 has almost tripled it's production budget so far, and has made more money than Zombieland, The Blind Side, and Precious combined.
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And both of those works were pirated.
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There seems to be a whole lot of guessing going on here.
"Mike, sure, the movie made tons of money. But how much money did they lose due to piracy? Gee, you don't know that do you?"
They didn't lose any money because of piracy. You are basing this on the assumption that these people would have paid to see the movie in the first place. Ah, more guessing.
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The director whined about piracy wrecking the possibilty of a sequel and then about a week later a sequel is announced.
Piracy did not stop the makers from opting to do a sequel.
The makers of the Die Hard movie decided it was good enough for a sequel back in the late 80s before piracy.
The maker of Zombieland decided it was good enough for a sequel in this day and age when "OMFG teh piraceee wil k|ll us!!!!"
The moral of story is that while piracy does happen it is NOT doing as much damage to the movie industry as they want us to think.
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Fine
Fine, you want to play Big Media Shill? Ok then. Shove this down your shorts:
Wolverine movie - a leaked, incomplete copy released weeks before the movie. Movie made over $200 mil domestically.
Dark Knight. HEAVILY pirated, multiple versions/copies available. 2nd biggest earning movie
OF
ALL
TIME
You can bleat all you want like a sheep about "but it could have made more" or whatever, but really, are these movies FAILURES because of "piracy"? Did "piracy" KILL them? KILL the industry? Please...enlighten us. I would love to hear a reasoned argument on this point that doesnt sound like a complete GreedTard(tm) rant about how they could have made EVEN MORE MONEY than the obscene amounts they already did.
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Re: Fine
1: Wolverine was unfinished at the time of the leak and
2: There was considerable hype over the Dark Knight because of Ledgers death
It was inevitable that both movies would still perform well against piracy given these factors.
Many others are less fortunate
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Another B.S., P.O.S. 3D movie!?
It was bad enough I had to sit through a crappy, pseudo-thriller with cheesy 3D and glasses that hurt my head (RE: My Bloody Valentine 3D). Now I have to watch more funny rules fly out of the screen? Come on...3D is a fad that needs to just die. Until I can see in 3D without the headache of those glasses (ie, a holographic movie), leave 3D alone. I beg of you.
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Re: Another B.S., P.O.S. 3D movie!?
Nope, you sure don't. It's really, really, easy to not see a movie you don't want to see. Actually easier than seeing it.
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night of the living sequel
So who has the best pun?
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Lost Sales?
There may not be good evidence to support either side, but I truly believe that movie piracy helps much more than it harms.
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bahh
A) You pay off all costs related to the production/R&D and made a 10% profit
and
B) The person infringing isn't making money, is not using the copy right for work, and can't reasonably afford afford purchasing the content
It should be the infringer's responsibility to show proof of income/bills to prove he can't reasonably afford. If the infringer makes less than $300 profit per month after bills/taxes/etc, they would be considered unable to purchase
Since any decent movie/song/etc worth pirating would pay off R&D easily, this idea would make it so poor college students wouldn't get sued and that guy making $100k a year with money burning a hole in his pocket would get what's coming to him for not actually spending his money. And you don't get these #$%holes with millions in the bank running around suing poor people because they want MORE millions.
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is pirating equatable to taxation?
That sounds similar to taxing rich people more as they've already made money (and will continue to make money regardless of how much they're taxed). Does that make it right?
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Re: is pirating equatable to taxation?
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um...nope, missed again
Wow, talk about missing the point ENTIRELY. I would try again, but I recognize futility when I see it. FAIL.
"2012 cost at least $200 million and has made back $138 so far.
Incorrect."
No, its correct. Learn how to google. $142 gross domestic so far. 'The film was eventually made with a production budget of $200m – $260m'
"It might break even domestically on the gross, but will depend on TV and DVD sales to break even.
Incorrect.
2012 has almost tripled it's production budget so far, and has made more money than Zombieland, The Blind Side, and Precious combined."
Bwahahaha what the hell are YOU smoking? If it made triple its prod budget, it would be the #1 movie of all time. Wow you really are a COMPLETE and UTTER corporate shill, arent you? Your comments are not only idiotic, but are completely outside the bounds of reality.
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Re: um...nope, missed again
Which is blamed on the pirates and not the accountants.
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You and the other idiot are leaving out what is often the biggest market for big, dumb, blockbusters which is foreign.
Which means if YOU somehow miraculously learned to google you would see that 2012 has indeed made more than Zombieland, The Blind Side, and Precious combined. Which means it has long since "broke even" and has, in fact, almost tripled it's production budget, which means it will be one the few films that doesn't have to rely on home video and licensing...all of these facts contrary to what the first idiot said and you backed up.
Therefore, You and the other idiot STILL do not know what you're talking about so please excuse me for making use of your own quote --
"FAIL".
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Your stealing MY f@$%&king money!?
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