The film has generated $284.5
million as I’m writing this, which in my eyes is a spectacular
number whatever your film is. Although, there could be
exceptions if you’re Waterworld but even so, that’s already
almost a $100 million in leftovers in that case. Chamber of
Secrets is at $255.7 million, down from the original’s $317.6
million domestic haul.
Sorcerer’s Stone had a lot more buzz
from the start, as the sequel mostly got the Attack of the
Clones treatment in the franchise-sequel world. The original
Harry Potter was a huge deal at the time because it hadn’t
been on the screen previously. But since there was a sequel
coming out, the fact that Mr. Potter was in theaters again was
not as special as it once was.
The (original) Lord of the Rings did a good job of getting
fans over a substantial period of time and ranked up at $313.4
million in domestic ticket sales, and that was also playing in
400 fewer theaters at the time. The fact that there’s now a
sequel may not appear as special of an event as the original
once appeared to those not so "into" to the franchise. I saw
the original in theaters twice, with the second time on my
will (but also at an excellent, worth-it theater). But if it
weren’t for a friend of mine who talked me into going a second
time to the sequel (at a pretty average multiplex), I probably
wouldn’t have gone again because it simply was not all that
special. I knew what happened in the story, and it seemed like
a movie that had a first-time amazement factor, which turned
out to be rather true.
I always hear fans hoping the sequel will gross enough to
climb the all-time chart. Beating the original film is going
to be a pretty lenient task, but truly, in my opinion The Two
Towers really isn’t the kind of material that should unseating
Forrest Gump ($329.5 million) or Jurassic Park ($356.8
million). If you ask real filmgoers, Gump is probably one of
their favorite films of all time if not one of the most
memorable films at least. And that is not due to visual
effects or because it is dazzling fun or pure "kickass," but
because it was pure quality.
I really ask everyone truthfully if they can forget their
first experience of witnessing Jurassic Park on the
big-screen. At the time, it was a breakthrough in the visual
effects department in the believability that dinosaurs were
actually walking the earth. We knew they really weren’t, but
it looked so damn real, which made watching the film all that
more dazzling, exciting, and thrilling. Jurassic Park is
really a breakthrough in the believability of special effects
and I’m betting that when most real moviegoers dwell on their
most memorable experiences of sitting in a theater, seeing
that story come to life is probably on the chart.
I bring that up because in my world, The Two Towers is
nothing special come visuals. It doesn’t do anything we
haven’t seen before. Jurassic Park was a landmark movie for
coming up with a tactic where the fake felt real, and that was
the nightmare. The Matrix Reloaded is looking like a solid
possibility as a film that could break new ground with the
visual effects department. And whether or not that will
deserve $400+ million if it ever achieves so will be
determined once it’s released, but as far as Two Towers goes I
don’t think beating Jurassic Park (nor Gump) would be a good
achievement.
'TTT Rules Praise' Continued...