Mike breaks down super hero movies that have made 1 billion dollars at the box office and the key to their success, why they were or weren’t critically acclaimed and why Hollywood continues to bank on the genre. In the Movie Review, Mike gives his spoiler-free thoughts on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. And in the Trailer Park, Mike talks about Brendan Fraser's return to the big screen in the new A24 Film “The Whale '' that's coming out in December.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and welcome back to Movie Mix Movie Podcast. I
am your host movie Mike. Today we are breaking down
how a movie makes one billion dollars at the box
office and the fifteen superhero movies that have done it.
In the movie review, I'll give you my spoiler free
thoughts on Black Panther, Wakonda Forever, and in the trailer
Park we'll talk about Brendan Frasier's return in a new
(00:21):
four film called The Whale. Thank you for being here,
Thank you for subscribing and listening every single Monday. Shout
out to the Monday Morning Movie crew. All right, now,
let's talk movies. In a world where everyone and their
mother has a podcast, one man stands to infiltrate the
ears of listeners like never before in a movie podcast.
(00:43):
A man with so much movie knowledge, he's basically like
a walking Audi MTV with classes from the Nashville Podcast
Network Cases Movie Mi Movie Podcast. One billion dollars. That
is the number of we are talking about today. How
in the world does a movie make one billion dollars?
(01:04):
And what does that even mean? Let's look into the fascination.
First of all, with one billion dollars, I think that
is the new gold standard when it comes to making
something that audiences are resonating with making something that is impactful.
Can the movie make one billion dollars? And what does
that mean for your movie? So, out of all the
movies that have been made in the world, only fifty
(01:25):
one titles have ever made a billion dollars, and of
those fifty one movies, fifteen are superhero movies. The first
movie to ever make one billion dollars at the box
office was Titanic back in n The second was The
Lord of the Rings Return of the King in two
thousand and three, and since then, another movie before the
year of two thousand has since crossed the one billion
(01:48):
dollar mark, and that is the original Jurassic Park. So
that is only two movies ever before the year of
two thousand. A majority of the movies that have done
it have been in the last ten years. US two
movies alone in two have done it, with Jurassic World,
Dominion and Top Gun two, which have both made the
list this year. So how exactly does a movie make
(02:10):
one billion dollars and what exactly does that mean. Let's
talk about first how a movie makes money, and we
are going to use Avengers and Game as the example
in the situation when looking at the top fifteen superhero
movies that have done this, this is number one. But
let's break down how exactly that happened. So in this situation,
(02:30):
you have the studio, which is Marvel. You have the distributor,
which is their parent company, Disney. Disney is the one
getting all of the Marvel movies out into theaters so
that we can go see them. And then you have
what is known as the exhibitor that is your A
m C. Your regal, any movie theater that you go to.
They are the ones making the deals with Disney the distributor,
(02:54):
and they make the deal to split the profits of
ticket prices, so it costs student yos and distributors money
to get these movies into the theaters. And the relationship
has changed over the years because now more than ever,
the theaters need the big movies more so than the
actual movies need the theaters, because the a m c
(03:17):
s and the regals are trying to just get people
back into the seats, get people back buying concessions and
buying drinks more so than actually paying for tickets, So
they really need big billion dollar movies from the studios
to keep their businesses afloat. So typically in these deals
with the studios, so Marvel would get of the box
(03:41):
office profit in the theaters like AMC and Regal would
get of that. So end Game made two point eight
billion dollars globally, that means Disney to come one point
five six billion, and movie theaters made about one point
to four billion dollars. But not all of that is
profit because the movie costs three and sixty five million
dollars to make and another two hundred million dollars spent
(04:03):
marketing Endgame, so you're looking at five hundred and sixty
five million dollars taken away from that one point five
six billion. So in reality, Avengers Endgame only made nine
hundred and sixty nine million dollars at the box office.
So even when a movie makes one billion dollars, the
studio isn't seeing all of that money, so it does
feel like an arbitrary number to hit of like, oh,
(04:26):
we made a billion dollars, Well you really didn't, because
there are so many things you have to pay for,
and we'll get into exactly what all of that is.
But for a movie like Avengers Endgame, Disney demanded sixty
five percent of the profits instead of that fifty, which
is a pretty steep thing and it's very rare for
movie theaters to make that deal. But Endgame was a
(04:48):
movie like no other. They could demand that. And it's Disney.
They can make those kinds of deals that say a
smaller independent studio like fo couldn't because they know this
movie and this franchise is going to get people into
those seats regardless, and they're going to sell tickets and
they're gonna fill out the theater, so they can make
that deal again in this situation, the theaters really need
(05:11):
a movie like this more so than Marvel needs them
in this situation, especially now with services like Disney plus
Netflix and Hulu. And that's where the relationship is also changing,
because there are some additional costs when it comes to
just what the movie costs to make. So, going back
to our movie Endgame, that movie cost three hundred and
sixty five million dollars just to make. So to pay
(05:33):
all of the actors, to pay the crew, to pay
the visual effects, just to make that product, it costs
three hundred and sixty five million dollars. So whenever you
search out what a movie cost to make. That is
all you're going to see. You're not going to see
the hidden fees, which for a movie like Endgame, it
costs two hundred million dollars just in the marketing budget,
(05:58):
so not even what they paid the cat, the crew
or general production fees. This was on top of all
that two hundred million dollars. And in order to get
a movie to get to that billion dollar mark, that
is how much you have to spend on just advertising,
to get commercials running on everything, to get deals with restaurants.
If you want your movie on a cup at the
(06:19):
seven eleven, that's how much you're going to have to
pay to reach everybody and know that you have a
movie coming out in theaters on this day. Marvel did
it pretty aggressively with Wakonda Forever. I mean I couldn't
watch anything on TV or get on TikTok or Instagram
without knowing that what Conda Forever was coming out this
(06:40):
past weekend. And with a movie like Endgame, which that
is a lot, two hundred million dollars in marketing is
on the super high side, probably more typical in the
fifty or maybe even hundred million dollar range, depending on
the different movie. But it's all about that return and
investment and knowing that if you spend two hundred million
(07:01):
dollars on marketing, that it will show itself in the
sales and where they make their money back. Even more
so is video on demand, Reynolds later when you pay
to watch it at home, Blu ray sales, and merchandise.
Oh how sweet the merchandise is, especially with Marvel movies.
You think of all those toys, all those t shirts,
(07:23):
all the pop toys, cups, key chain stickers, Disney World itself,
like it's all just a big commercial to get you
to buy something outside of the movie. And that also
creates the fan base. And if you look at these
big billion dollar movies, they are all films with passionate
fan bases. Look at Marvel, look at Star Wars, look
at Jurassic Park, and that is also what you're building
(07:46):
on here, so you can justify the spending here. So
looking at that number, it kind of puts into perspective
the reason we're seeing more and more movies go straight
to on demand, whether it be Netflix, Disney Plus, or Hulu,
it's because studios don't have to take that risk, especially
when it comes to smaller movies. And I'll continue to
(08:08):
use Disney as an example here because they have done
it a lot with whether it be their Pixar movies
or their live action remakes. They could spend fifty million
dollars to make this movie, and you think, oh, why
don't they just put it in theaters. Well, they'll have
to spend that other fifty sixties seventy million dollars to
market it at the chance of it returning on their investment,
(08:31):
at just the chance of risking it. What if a
movie bombs and they spend all that extra money to
market it and to get it in the theaters, and
then it takes just so much longer to dig themselves
out of that hole. Why not just put it on
Disney Plus, where their job there is to keep subscribers.
Their job is to give you new content to make
(08:52):
it feel like it is worth the money you spend
every single month on that. So you go in there
and you see something new, all right, I'll keep it
for another month month, or they are trying to get
you back. Maybe you had Disney Plus for a few
months and realize it's not really worth the money. But
they put out Hocus Pocus too, and you're like, oh wait,
I do want to have a family movie night and
watch hocus Pocus to let me renew that subscription for
(09:15):
another month. And there you go. They got you for
another month because of that movie. So it's like the
risk reward. It's that all about that return on investment.
How will they be able to make their money back?
How can they just keep their subscribers on Disney Plus
to keep everybody happy? So that is why we are
seeing that more and more. But what is bankable at
(09:36):
the box office right now? What continues to work time
and time again, It just happens to be superhero movies.
And we'll move forward now to looking at Wakonda Forever,
which justin pre sales alone made fifty million dollars. That
is a built in fan base. No one else can
do that in pre sale tickets. I'm not even talking
(09:57):
day of I'm talking just people anticipate eating, wanting to
see this movie so much so that they would spend
money early to get their tickets. Movies have a hard
time crossing that fifty million dollar mark opening weekend. Unheard
of to hear that amount in pre sale tickets. So
that is what's working right now, and that's why we
(10:18):
continue to see so many superhero movies two three, sometimes
for a year, because that is what's getting people to
reach these numbers. That is what has the best return
on investment right now, all things considered, ticket sales, merchandizing,
blue rays, the list goes on and on. And I
know they get criticized now, and I'm a big superhero
(10:39):
movie fan. I will defend them to the death. And
we feel like it's so recent because we see them
so much now with the m C, U and d C.
But superhero movies have been apart for cinema for decades.
Looking back at movies like Superman, Tim Burton's The Batman.
Just back in the day, they would pop up every
now and again. It wasn't as frequent as we see
(11:00):
them now, and it really wasn't until the two thousands
where movies like X Men and The Original Spider Man
changed all that and led to us having Marvel and
DC movies who began to make billion dollar hit after
billion dollar hit, and Marvel now has become one of
the biggest brands on the planet out of any kind
of product, and Warner Brothers is trying really hard to
(11:23):
put d C on that list as well. So let's
look now at out of the fifty one movies that
have made a billion dollars, the fifteen superhero movies that
have done it, and there's some interesting things to look
at here, because some of them have both things going
for them. They have been critically acclaimed and they have
also been loved by fans. Some have been loved by fans,
(11:44):
which is a little bit more expected when it comes
to superhero movies. They have a passionate fan base, so
we're gonna love them because we love seeing our favorite characters.
But sometimes critics ripped those two shreads for being pretty
surface level or just being another super hero movie. Critics
are not fun. So at number fifteen, the first superhero
(12:05):
movie to ever make one billion dollars at the box
office with two thousand and eights The Dark Night, which
is significant for a couple of reasons because it became
the marquee movie for the superhero genre, the one that
tore down the walls of something being critically acclaimed and
loved by fan basis, so it became the first and
(12:26):
the best to do it combining those two worlds, So
it is very rare for a movie to be that
significant when it comes to critics and audiences alike. So
I love that that movie was the first to do it.
And right above that one at number fourteen is Joker,
another DC movie, And I don't even fully consider Joker
to be a superhero movie. It's in the comic book
(12:47):
world because Joker is a villain. But that's almost a
movie that just exists under the DC banner. But again,
another movie that has the critical acclaim and the passionate
fan base behind it, and I'm curious to see how
they make that Joker to musical. So that's Joker making
just over one billion dollars, the same as number fifteen,
(13:08):
The Dark Knight. Then you have at thirteen, The Dark
Knight Rises. Also in the one billion dollar club. At
number twelve, you have Captain Marvel making one point one
billion dollars back in twenty nineteen. At number eleven is
Spider Man Far from Home, also making one point one
billion dollars. Above that you have Aquaman making one point
one billion. Then you have Captain America Civil War at
(13:31):
number nine, also making one point one billion. At number
eight is Iron Man three making one point two billion.
At number seven, is one unlike all the others. At
one point two billion, The Incredibles to which is the
only movie from Pixar to make the list. At number six,
you have Black Panther making one point three billion dollars
(13:52):
back in twenty eighteen. At number five you have Avengers
Age of Oltron making one point four billion back in
twenty nineteen. Number four The Avengers making one point five billion.
At number three from last year making one point nine
billion dollars at the box office is Spider Man No
Way Home. And then in the top two slots you
have at number two Avengers Infinity War making two billion
(14:15):
dollars in eighteen, and at number one, the movie we've
been talking about, the highest grossing superhero movie of all
time and the second highest grossing movie of all time
out of any genre, is Avengers Endgame, making two point
seven billion dollars in twenty nineteen, just under two point
eight It's like two seven nine seven. So as I
(14:36):
summarize how a movie makes one billion dollars and hearing
that entire list and seeing what all of these have
in common, Yeah, to have your main characters here, there
are a few that can stand alone. I feel like
when it comes to d C. Anything Batman is going
to generate a lot of interest and make a lot
of money. Even this year with the Batman making seven
(14:59):
hundred and seventy million dollars and it would put it
on the list at number twenty nine. Anytime you make
a Batman movie, you're going to get people to go
want to watch that. I think out of all these,
the most surprising is probably Aquaman making one point one
billion dollars for a movie that didn't get a lot
of word of mouth, a movie that's not even seen.
Is that great of a superhero movie? Surprising that that
(15:21):
movie is in the top ten. I wonder how far
it's going to fall coming out with a sequel on
that one. But that's probably the most surprising to me.
Other things that work, obviously, is when you put all
the superheroes together in the Greatest Hits movies, The Avengers,
all of those movies sitting in the top five. The
only other movie in that top five to do that
(15:42):
it was Spider Man No Way Home last year. I
think there were a couple of reasons why that movie
did what it did. It really was the first big
movie coming out of the pandemic to shatter those type
of numbers and really get people back into the theater
for the first time with those shared kind of experiences.
There is also the cameos in that movie and the
rumors surrounding that going into that movie that made that
(16:05):
movie a big deal. And I also think they really
crushed it with the marketing of that movie and not
giving fans a whole lot going into that of what
to expect and that explosive factor of when it actually
happened and how much word of mouth really influenced people
to go continue to watch that movie and then coming
out with different versions of it, and then going out
(16:27):
on Blu ray, Like I actually bought a copy of
Spider Man Knowing Home because I physically wanted to own
such a piece of movie history. It felt like something
I needed to buy. Rarely buy blue rays, but that
is one of the only ones I've purchased, probably in
ten years. And looking at this list, you really just
see how much of an influence that Marvel has and
(16:48):
why people continue to bank on superhero movies, and I
think they are here to stay. Maybe in the next
five years we start getting fewer and fewer per year,
but I still believe that super hero movies are the
best at creating an event, creating a spectacle, creating a
shared experience unlike any other. And that is the reason
(17:09):
we go and watch these movies in theaters. And it
goes back to my initial love for movies. It's because
you go into a theater with all these people, you
don't know, you're strangers, but after you watch that movie,
you laugh, you cheer, sometimes you cry. We all leave
with the shared experience, and it's almost like you leave
(17:30):
and you're not even strangers anymore because you all witnessed
and experience that together. And out of all the movies
I've seen in theaters in the last ten years, there
are very few movies that create a core memory in
my mind. And movies that have done that are the
ones that make a billion dollars because it's something we
want to experience again. We want that feeling again. I
(17:50):
chase it every single time I go and watch a
superhero movie. Last year, Spider Man No a Home did
that with the guest appearances. Avengers Endgame that with all
of the Avengers returning for that final battle scene. The
only other movie this year to do that was probably
Everything Everywhere, all at once, which was another sleeper hit.
(18:11):
So I think that is why Hollywood will continue to
bank on superhero movies. But I do think they'll have
to get a little bit more inventive when it comes
to origin stories, especially now as we move into other
phases of Marvel. But we'll see how they ride the
success of Black Panther Wakonda Forever, and we'll have to
wait and see what the next movie will be to
(18:32):
join the billion dollar club. Let's get right into it.
Black Panther Wakonda Forever. My spoiler free review. This movie
makes you forget everything you know about the genre. On
the surface, it is a superhero movie, but at its core,
(18:53):
it is a story about grief. It is a story
about vengeance, and it is the most emotional, well rounded,
character driven Marvel movie to date. In the perfect way
to close out Phase four and right at the beginning
of this movie, it packs a punch and obviously, just
by the plot of this movie, it has to address
(19:15):
the passing of King Tachalla because Chadwick Boseman passed away
in and that is how the movie starts. And I
love the way they handled that scene and that opening.
It was pretty quiet, And I was in a movie
theater that was completely full. Every seat was taken up
in this theater, and as soon as the movie started
(19:37):
and began with that, everybody got silent. That doesn't happen,
and I thought that was a pretty powerful thing right
at the beginning. So it starts with that, and Wakanda
is now mourning the death of their leader. But at
the same time, there are all these world powers starting
to mess with them. Everybody still after their vibranium, and
(19:58):
they have to prove to everybod buddy, hey, we're still Wakonda.
We are still the most powerful nation in the entire world.
Even though our king is passed, We're still here and
we still mean business. But the entire movie follows the
story of Sherry, her story of grief at the same
time trying to protect the country. And then you have
(20:19):
this new threat with the villain of nay More, who
I believe is the best villain since Stanos, And maybe
that isn't saying a whole lot at this point, Marvel
tends to have a problem when it comes to their
villains being so forgettable, but nay More, it felt like
that threat I wanted in a Marvel movie. You want
(20:42):
a villain that every time they are on screen, you
pay attention and what they are trying to do and
their plan in the movie has to make it feel like,
oh man, You're superheroes aren't going to be able to
defeat this person. That is what I love in a villain.
I got that feeling with Thanos, he did it the best.
I got that feeling with Loki in The Avengers, and
(21:04):
I think probably kill Monger in the original one, but
now with nay More, I love that character. I love
to note Schwertha the way he played him. Also some
representation there with a Mexican villain, so personally I enjoyed
that too. All around the board in this movie, there's
so much representation and this cast altogether combined, Like individually
(21:29):
they're also great, but when you put all these characters together,
with all these actors, I think everybody has their moment
to shine in this movie. From Angela Bassa Latisha right,
Winston Duke as Umbaku, like he really stepped it up
in this movie. I know he had more of a
supporting role in Black Panthers the original one, but I
say he was probably one of my favorite characters. In
(21:51):
this entire movie. They're just so many strong performances that
I really wasn't expecting for him to be one of
my favorites. But he brought the comic relief in this movie,
not that typical cheesy superhero comic relief that you and
we've all kind of come to know and expect from
Marvel movies. It was just funny and I love their
camaraderie in this movie. Whether or not they're all actual
(22:12):
friends in real life, it really plays off on screens.
So when they are joking around and there's some levity
in this movie, which the movie all around is pretty heavy,
but there are some moments for comedy. There some moments
for some laughter, which I think was needed. But it
never feels cheesy, It never feels forced. It just feels
like they all have such great on screen chemistry that
(22:34):
it comes natural. So it really takes it to the
next level and doesn't feel like a superhero movie at all,
doesn't feel like a Marvel movie. And I think that
was really set whenever the first Black Panther came out
and it was so critically acclaimed and loved by fans,
this one had a lot of expectation going into it,
(22:56):
and it was almost like, how would you even live
up to that first one? But I really think they
nailed it here. So I think anybody who is a
fan of the original, you'll be a fan of this one.
I don't think you would love Black Panther and see
this one be like not for me. So if you
love the first one, I think you'll love this one
even more. The weird criticism I have is a really
(23:17):
unfair one, and it's obviously nothing that they could do,
but you do feel the missing presence of Chadwick Boseman
as Black Panther, and it's just unfortunate he is no
longer here. And there was something inside of me that
I was like, oh, I'm gonna bring him back, but
you realize that no, like that's real life. He is
(23:38):
actually not here anymore. And I think sometimes when you
think about celebrities and actors, it feels like they live
on this entirely different planet. But that really grounded it
for me, knowing that he's really not here anymore, Like
I know he passed away, I know he is no
longer here, but it made this weird connection in my
brain of oh, this is a knowledge superhero escapism, like
(24:01):
there's some real life here. So that was a weird
thing that I wasn't expecting to feel. And you want
him to be in this movie so bad, so I
can only imagine how it felt for them coming back
and working on this movie without him, And it felt
like in some of these scenes, and I know they've
said this in interviews too, they were dealing with their grief.
(24:24):
I know they're playing their characters here, but they are
dealing also with their real life grief. So I think
as fans as we watch these movies, that will probably
set in with you a little bit during this movie
when you just want Chadwick Boseman to be there. But
I think going back to everybody else's performance, I think
they stepped it up even more so to elevate all
(24:47):
these other characters. And what this entire movie does is
so much character development. And I will admit that two
hour and forty minute run time plus you feel it.
It's abo actually about halfway through the movie, and it's
easier to say like, oh, the movie is too long.
They could cut this and cut that, And you know,
I generally do sometimes say that when it comes to
(25:10):
a movie this long, but I think it's all of
that character development and all those things building and building
and fleshing out these characters. It's the journey they go through.
And I think that runtime is warranted. You could be
nitpicky and say you gotta cut this, cut this, cut that, yeah, yeah, yeah,
But I think I'm never going to look back on
(25:31):
this movie and think if that movie was just a
little bit shorter, I would have enjoyed it more. No,
because this is a movie I'm gonna rewatch again again
and time again, and we'll still enjoy And when I
think about any major criticisms I've had while watching this movie,
there really wasn't anything. And what I loved about it
(25:52):
so much is that it gave me that feeling again
of being excited while watching a superhero movie. I wanted
them to get to the action, and they did. I
wanted certain things to happen, and they did, and it
just had me so invested from the very opening scene
to the very ending. Even the mid credit scene didn't
(26:13):
feel cheesy and forced like sometimes those mid credit scenes are,
which I get a little bit tired and annoyed of
those from time to time, But this one, even even
that was handled perfectly, So how would it rank among
all the other films in Phase four? Now that this
one closes out Phase four? Easily the best, there's just
(26:33):
no comparison to this when it feels like it's on
an entirely different level. When it comes to how it
ranks to every other Marvel movie made, it's easy top ten.
I don't think it's top five, but it's an easy
top ten. There are just so many now at this
point it almost feels arbitrary to try to rank them
(26:54):
all at this point, so I'll just focus on phases.
Easily the best film in phase four. So if I
had to give this movie a rating, I think it's
a perfect Marvel movie, even outside of being Marvel. I
think it's just a perfect movie because of the themes
in this because of the representation, because of the villain,
(27:14):
because of the lesson learned after watching this movie. There's
nothing that I could say that would take away from that.
So I think it is a perfect movie, and it
is my only five out of five out of the
entire year. I give Black Panther Waconda Forever five out
of five. Vibranium suits. I can't wait to do the
(27:35):
spoiler version of this review so I can get into
the mid credit scene and some of the other surprises
in this movie. But I think it's one you have
to see in theaters. Watching this on the big screen,
and the crowd of people really elevated the feeling while
watching this movie. And there weren't any VFX problems like
Marvel has kind of been letting slip into the cracks lately.
(27:57):
Everything was perfect down to the very new detail. There
you go, it's time to head down to movie Mike
La Paul. I want to talk about a movie called
The Whale. It stars Brendan Fraser. It is from a
and it's his big, highly acclaimed returned to the big screen.
(28:22):
And this trailer has moved me in a way I
wasn't expecting a trailer to move me. I think it's
a combination of things. I think it's because it is
Brendan Fraser's return, and we'll get into more about what
that means. But seeing the love and support that Brendan
Fraser has had in his return to acting has been
pretty inspiring. Of all the things he's gone through after
(28:46):
basically being blacklisted from Hollywood, to now see him in
a role where there's already oscar bus surrounding this. I
think it's a very cool thing to witness him getting
standing ovations after screenings of this movie. So I'm excited
on an emotional level. But the movie itself, now getting
this trailer, actually looks really good. It's about Brendan Frasier's character.
(29:08):
His name is Charlie. He is an English teacher living
with obesity and he has decided to eat himself to death,
and the movie follows his pain and misery that comes
after the death of his lover leading to his chronic
binge eating. So here's just a little bit of the
whale trailer. Do you hear people are incapable of not going?
(29:43):
People are amazing? So this movie will follow his story
of somebody dealing with these issues and reaching a six
pound own weight, and how he is struggling to reconnect
(30:03):
with this seventeen year old daughter played by Sadie Sink
in this movie, who you would know from Stranger Things.
And I think, aside from the fact that this is
Brendan Fraser's major return to movies, the movie also resonates
with me of also having somebody who was dealt with
weight issues over my life and seeing how Brendan Fraser
(30:24):
is going to depict this character, I think, well kind
of bring a lot of things to light of what
it is to live like that, to have people judge you,
to feel like an alien, and just to bring light
on what that struggle is of somebody who suffers with
chronic binge eating. That's definitely something I have faced in
(30:46):
my life. I think when I reached my heaviest weight,
that was something that I had to have a real
realization with, like that was something I had to come
to grips with that I did have an unhealthy relationship
with food, and I was always wanting to eat healthier
or just eat better, or just not eat the same
things that I was eating that was causing me to
(31:06):
feel this way. But it's a vicious cycle. I would
try to break it time and time again of trying
to eat healthier, and over my lifetime I failed more
times than I succeeded. I only succeeded once, but I
failed probably a hundred times of trying to make it stick.
But I think even now after losing a hundred pounds,
it's still something that kind of hangs in the back
(31:28):
of my mind of what would happen if I fell
back on those habits and what my life would look
like and how I would change. So it is an
ongoing thing that you have to deal with day after day.
So I hope they took that story on knowing of
how sensitive it can be to some people, especially for
those who have dealt with issues like this, So I
(31:48):
hope it. Just by the looks of this trailer, it
doesn't look like they are poking fun at his situation
in any regard, And I think Brendan Fraser is the
perfect person to play this part. And it's crazy of
how big of a career he had and how he
was the go to guy in Hollywood in the nineties
and the early two thousands, I mean with movies like
(32:10):
The Mummy or my favorite George of the Jungle. He
was just one of the biggest movie stars. And he
stepped out of the spotlight to deal with some personal issues.
He had some surgeries with some medical things, his mother
passed away, he got divorced. He also was blacklisted from
(32:31):
Hollywood because of an assault allegation he put on someone else,
causing him to lose a lot of his roles and
people not want to put him in movies anymore. And
now we have this renaissance of people on TikTok and
Instagram of people rooting him on to get back to
becoming a leading man. So I hope this movie does
(32:52):
that for him. I think that video of him standing
there receiving a six minutes standing ovation after this movie
was screened back at the Venice Film Festival, I think
that is inspiring. I think that is what is leading
to all of the Oscar bus for him to win
for Best Actor, How amazing would that be. I mean,
(33:13):
we gave it to Will Smith last year. Why can't
we give it to Brendan Frasier this year? He ain't
slapping nobody. I just feel like that would be a
very inspirational moment, especially while reading early reviews for this
movie saying that his performance will floor you. So I
can't wait to see this movie. It comes out in
theaters on December nine. That is the whale this week's
(33:36):
edition of Movie Bar and that is going to do
it for another episode here on the podcast. Hopefully you
learn something on this episode. I tried a little bit
of a different format. I like the ones where I
get to research a topic that I'm already passionate about
and connect all those dots. So my goal with this
one was to inform and entertain. So if you enjoyed
(33:59):
today's episode, let me know, let me know what you
thought about that format, and I will hit you right
now with my listeners shout out of the week, which
I mentioned last week that it would be going to
anybody who used the secret emoji from the David Silverman interview,
and that secret emoji was the yellow pencil. So thanks
everybody who commented on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok with
(34:20):
that secret emoji, and my shout out goes to a
comment from TikTok. It is from black Quill Signs. You
are the winner of the listeners shout out, and black
Quil Designs wrote, awesome episode. I had to watch some
Simpsons after this episode today, so did I black Quil Designs.
I think that interview also added fuel to my fire
(34:41):
that is my Simpsons lifelong obsessions. So if you missed
that interview last week with the director of the Simpsons movie,
go Back one episode in the feed. He talked all
about what it was like making that movie, how long
one episode of the Simpsons takes to make, and reveal
the actual reason why the Simpsons are yellow. So not
only can you go back on the podcast feed and
(35:03):
listen to that episode, I have also revamped my YouTube channel,
so YouTube dot com slash Mike Distro and you can
watch interviews from the podcast that I'll be posting now,
and you can also watch individual movie reviews all up
there on my YouTube channel again that is YouTube dot
com slash Mike Destro or it will be linked in
(35:24):
the episode notes of this podcast, So if you're on YouTube,
be sure to subscribe to that channel. Thank you for listening,
and until next week, go out and watch good movies
and I will talk to you later.
Hello, and welcome back to Movie Mix Movie Podcast. I
am your host movie Mike. Today we are breaking down
how a movie makes one billion dollars at the box
office and the fifteen superhero movies that have done it.
In the movie review, I'll give you my spoiler free
thoughts on Black Panther, Wakonda Forever, and in the trailer
Park we'll talk about Brendan Frasier's return in a new
(00:21):
four film called The Whale. Thank you for being here,
Thank you for subscribing and listening every single Monday. Shout
out to the Monday Morning Movie crew. All right, now,
let's talk movies. In a world where everyone and their
mother has a podcast, one man stands to infiltrate the
ears of listeners like never before in a movie podcast.
(00:43):
A man with so much movie knowledge, he's basically like
a walking Audi MTV with classes from the Nashville Podcast
Network Cases Movie Mi Movie Podcast. One billion dollars. That
is the number of we are talking about today. How
in the world does a movie make one billion dollars?
(01:04):
And what does that even mean? Let's look into the fascination.
First of all, with one billion dollars, I think that
is the new gold standard when it comes to making
something that audiences are resonating with making something that is impactful.
Can the movie make one billion dollars? And what does
that mean for your movie? So, out of all the
movies that have been made in the world, only fifty
(01:25):
one titles have ever made a billion dollars, and of
those fifty one movies, fifteen are superhero movies. The first
movie to ever make one billion dollars at the box
office was Titanic back in n The second was The
Lord of the Rings Return of the King in two
thousand and three, and since then, another movie before the
year of two thousand has since crossed the one billion
(01:48):
dollar mark, and that is the original Jurassic Park. So
that is only two movies ever before the year of
two thousand. A majority of the movies that have done
it have been in the last ten years. US two
movies alone in two have done it, with Jurassic World,
Dominion and Top Gun two, which have both made the
list this year. So how exactly does a movie make
(02:10):
one billion dollars and what exactly does that mean. Let's
talk about first how a movie makes money, and we
are going to use Avengers and Game as the example
in the situation when looking at the top fifteen superhero
movies that have done this, this is number one. But
let's break down how exactly that happened. So in this situation,
(02:30):
you have the studio, which is Marvel. You have the distributor,
which is their parent company, Disney. Disney is the one
getting all of the Marvel movies out into theaters so
that we can go see them. And then you have
what is known as the exhibitor that is your A
m C. Your regal, any movie theater that you go to.
They are the ones making the deals with Disney the distributor,
(02:54):
and they make the deal to split the profits of
ticket prices, so it costs student yos and distributors money
to get these movies into the theaters. And the relationship
has changed over the years because now more than ever,
the theaters need the big movies more so than the
actual movies need the theaters, because the a m c
(03:17):
s and the regals are trying to just get people
back into the seats, get people back buying concessions and
buying drinks more so than actually paying for tickets, So
they really need big billion dollar movies from the studios
to keep their businesses afloat. So typically in these deals
with the studios, so Marvel would get of the box
(03:41):
office profit in the theaters like AMC and Regal would
get of that. So end Game made two point eight
billion dollars globally, that means Disney to come one point
five six billion, and movie theaters made about one point
to four billion dollars. But not all of that is
profit because the movie costs three and sixty five million
dollars to make and another two hundred million dollars spent
(04:03):
marketing Endgame, so you're looking at five hundred and sixty
five million dollars taken away from that one point five
six billion. So in reality, Avengers Endgame only made nine
hundred and sixty nine million dollars at the box office.
So even when a movie makes one billion dollars, the
studio isn't seeing all of that money, so it does
feel like an arbitrary number to hit of like, oh,
(04:26):
we made a billion dollars, Well you really didn't, because
there are so many things you have to pay for,
and we'll get into exactly what all of that is.
But for a movie like Avengers Endgame, Disney demanded sixty
five percent of the profits instead of that fifty, which
is a pretty steep thing and it's very rare for
movie theaters to make that deal. But Endgame was a
(04:48):
movie like no other. They could demand that. And it's Disney.
They can make those kinds of deals that say a
smaller independent studio like fo couldn't because they know this
movie and this franchise is going to get people into
those seats regardless, and they're going to sell tickets and
they're gonna fill out the theater, so they can make
that deal again in this situation, the theaters really need
(05:11):
a movie like this more so than Marvel needs them
in this situation, especially now with services like Disney plus
Netflix and Hulu. And that's where the relationship is also changing,
because there are some additional costs when it comes to
just what the movie costs to make. So, going back
to our movie Endgame, that movie cost three hundred and
sixty five million dollars just to make. So to pay
(05:33):
all of the actors, to pay the crew, to pay
the visual effects, just to make that product, it costs
three hundred and sixty five million dollars. So whenever you
search out what a movie cost to make. That is
all you're going to see. You're not going to see
the hidden fees, which for a movie like Endgame, it
costs two hundred million dollars just in the marketing budget,
(05:58):
so not even what they paid the cat, the crew
or general production fees. This was on top of all
that two hundred million dollars. And in order to get
a movie to get to that billion dollar mark, that
is how much you have to spend on just advertising,
to get commercials running on everything, to get deals with restaurants.
If you want your movie on a cup at the
(06:19):
seven eleven, that's how much you're going to have to
pay to reach everybody and know that you have a
movie coming out in theaters on this day. Marvel did
it pretty aggressively with Wakonda Forever. I mean I couldn't
watch anything on TV or get on TikTok or Instagram
without knowing that what Conda Forever was coming out this
(06:40):
past weekend. And with a movie like Endgame, which that
is a lot, two hundred million dollars in marketing is
on the super high side, probably more typical in the
fifty or maybe even hundred million dollar range, depending on
the different movie. But it's all about that return and
investment and knowing that if you spend two hundred million
(07:01):
dollars on marketing, that it will show itself in the
sales and where they make their money back. Even more
so is video on demand, Reynolds later when you pay
to watch it at home, Blu ray sales, and merchandise.
Oh how sweet the merchandise is, especially with Marvel movies.
You think of all those toys, all those t shirts,
(07:23):
all the pop toys, cups, key chain stickers, Disney World itself,
like it's all just a big commercial to get you
to buy something outside of the movie. And that also
creates the fan base. And if you look at these
big billion dollar movies, they are all films with passionate
fan bases. Look at Marvel, look at Star Wars, look
at Jurassic Park, and that is also what you're building
(07:46):
on here, so you can justify the spending here. So
looking at that number, it kind of puts into perspective
the reason we're seeing more and more movies go straight
to on demand, whether it be Netflix, Disney Plus, or Hulu,
it's because studios don't have to take that risk, especially
when it comes to smaller movies. And I'll continue to
(08:08):
use Disney as an example here because they have done
it a lot with whether it be their Pixar movies
or their live action remakes. They could spend fifty million
dollars to make this movie, and you think, oh, why
don't they just put it in theaters. Well, they'll have
to spend that other fifty sixties seventy million dollars to
market it at the chance of it returning on their investment,
(08:31):
at just the chance of risking it. What if a
movie bombs and they spend all that extra money to
market it and to get it in the theaters, and
then it takes just so much longer to dig themselves
out of that hole. Why not just put it on
Disney Plus, where their job there is to keep subscribers.
Their job is to give you new content to make
(08:52):
it feel like it is worth the money you spend
every single month on that. So you go in there
and you see something new, all right, I'll keep it
for another month month, or they are trying to get
you back. Maybe you had Disney Plus for a few
months and realize it's not really worth the money. But
they put out Hocus Pocus too, and you're like, oh wait,
I do want to have a family movie night and
watch hocus Pocus to let me renew that subscription for
(09:15):
another month. And there you go. They got you for
another month because of that movie. So it's like the
risk reward. It's that all about that return on investment.
How will they be able to make their money back?
How can they just keep their subscribers on Disney Plus
to keep everybody happy? So that is why we are
seeing that more and more. But what is bankable at
(09:36):
the box office right now? What continues to work time
and time again, It just happens to be superhero movies.
And we'll move forward now to looking at Wakonda Forever,
which justin pre sales alone made fifty million dollars. That
is a built in fan base. No one else can
do that in pre sale tickets. I'm not even talking
(09:57):
day of I'm talking just people anticipate eating, wanting to
see this movie so much so that they would spend
money early to get their tickets. Movies have a hard
time crossing that fifty million dollar mark opening weekend. Unheard
of to hear that amount in pre sale tickets. So
that is what's working right now, and that's why we
(10:18):
continue to see so many superhero movies two three, sometimes
for a year, because that is what's getting people to
reach these numbers. That is what has the best return
on investment right now, all things considered, ticket sales, merchandizing,
blue rays, the list goes on and on. And I
know they get criticized now, and I'm a big superhero
(10:39):
movie fan. I will defend them to the death. And
we feel like it's so recent because we see them
so much now with the m C, U and d C.
But superhero movies have been apart for cinema for decades.
Looking back at movies like Superman, Tim Burton's The Batman.
Just back in the day, they would pop up every
now and again. It wasn't as frequent as we see
(11:00):
them now, and it really wasn't until the two thousands
where movies like X Men and The Original Spider Man
changed all that and led to us having Marvel and
DC movies who began to make billion dollar hit after
billion dollar hit, and Marvel now has become one of
the biggest brands on the planet out of any kind
of product, and Warner Brothers is trying really hard to
(11:23):
put d C on that list as well. So let's
look now at out of the fifty one movies that
have made a billion dollars, the fifteen superhero movies that
have done it, and there's some interesting things to look
at here, because some of them have both things going
for them. They have been critically acclaimed and they have
also been loved by fans. Some have been loved by fans,
(11:44):
which is a little bit more expected when it comes
to superhero movies. They have a passionate fan base, so
we're gonna love them because we love seeing our favorite characters.
But sometimes critics ripped those two shreads for being pretty
surface level or just being another super hero movie. Critics
are not fun. So at number fifteen, the first superhero
(12:05):
movie to ever make one billion dollars at the box
office with two thousand and eights The Dark Night, which
is significant for a couple of reasons because it became
the marquee movie for the superhero genre, the one that
tore down the walls of something being critically acclaimed and
loved by fan basis, so it became the first and
(12:26):
the best to do it combining those two worlds, So
it is very rare for a movie to be that
significant when it comes to critics and audiences alike. So
I love that that movie was the first to do it.
And right above that one at number fourteen is Joker,
another DC movie, And I don't even fully consider Joker
to be a superhero movie. It's in the comic book
(12:47):
world because Joker is a villain. But that's almost a
movie that just exists under the DC banner. But again,
another movie that has the critical acclaim and the passionate
fan base behind it, and I'm curious to see how
they make that Joker to musical. So that's Joker making
just over one billion dollars, the same as number fifteen,
(13:08):
The Dark Knight. Then you have at thirteen, The Dark
Knight Rises. Also in the one billion dollar club. At
number twelve, you have Captain Marvel making one point one
billion dollars back in twenty nineteen. At number eleven is
Spider Man Far from Home, also making one point one
billion dollars. Above that you have Aquaman making one point
one billion. Then you have Captain America Civil War at
(13:31):
number nine, also making one point one billion. At number
eight is Iron Man three making one point two billion.
At number seven, is one unlike all the others. At
one point two billion, The Incredibles to which is the
only movie from Pixar to make the list. At number six,
you have Black Panther making one point three billion dollars
(13:52):
back in twenty eighteen. At number five you have Avengers
Age of Oltron making one point four billion back in
twenty nineteen. Number four The Avengers making one point five billion.
At number three from last year making one point nine
billion dollars at the box office is Spider Man No
Way Home. And then in the top two slots you
have at number two Avengers Infinity War making two billion
(14:15):
dollars in eighteen, and at number one, the movie we've
been talking about, the highest grossing superhero movie of all
time and the second highest grossing movie of all time
out of any genre, is Avengers Endgame, making two point
seven billion dollars in twenty nineteen, just under two point
eight It's like two seven nine seven. So as I
(14:36):
summarize how a movie makes one billion dollars and hearing
that entire list and seeing what all of these have
in common, Yeah, to have your main characters here, there
are a few that can stand alone. I feel like
when it comes to d C. Anything Batman is going
to generate a lot of interest and make a lot
of money. Even this year with the Batman making seven
(14:59):
hundred and seventy million dollars and it would put it
on the list at number twenty nine. Anytime you make
a Batman movie, you're going to get people to go
want to watch that. I think out of all these,
the most surprising is probably Aquaman making one point one
billion dollars for a movie that didn't get a lot
of word of mouth, a movie that's not even seen.
Is that great of a superhero movie? Surprising that that
(15:21):
movie is in the top ten. I wonder how far
it's going to fall coming out with a sequel on
that one. But that's probably the most surprising to me.
Other things that work, obviously, is when you put all
the superheroes together in the Greatest Hits movies, The Avengers,
all of those movies sitting in the top five. The
only other movie in that top five to do that
(15:42):
it was Spider Man No Way Home last year. I
think there were a couple of reasons why that movie
did what it did. It really was the first big
movie coming out of the pandemic to shatter those type
of numbers and really get people back into the theater
for the first time with those shared kind of experiences.
There is also the cameos in that movie and the
rumors surrounding that going into that movie that made that
(16:05):
movie a big deal. And I also think they really
crushed it with the marketing of that movie and not
giving fans a whole lot going into that of what
to expect and that explosive factor of when it actually
happened and how much word of mouth really influenced people
to go continue to watch that movie and then coming
out with different versions of it, and then going out
(16:27):
on Blu ray, Like I actually bought a copy of
Spider Man Knowing Home because I physically wanted to own
such a piece of movie history. It felt like something
I needed to buy. Rarely buy blue rays, but that
is one of the only ones I've purchased, probably in
ten years. And looking at this list, you really just
see how much of an influence that Marvel has and
(16:48):
why people continue to bank on superhero movies, and I
think they are here to stay. Maybe in the next
five years we start getting fewer and fewer per year,
but I still believe that super hero movies are the
best at creating an event, creating a spectacle, creating a
shared experience unlike any other. And that is the reason
(17:09):
we go and watch these movies in theaters. And it
goes back to my initial love for movies. It's because
you go into a theater with all these people, you
don't know, you're strangers, but after you watch that movie,
you laugh, you cheer, sometimes you cry. We all leave
with the shared experience, and it's almost like you leave
(17:30):
and you're not even strangers anymore because you all witnessed
and experience that together. And out of all the movies
I've seen in theaters in the last ten years, there
are very few movies that create a core memory in
my mind. And movies that have done that are the
ones that make a billion dollars because it's something we
want to experience again. We want that feeling again. I
(17:50):
chase it every single time I go and watch a
superhero movie. Last year, Spider Man No a Home did
that with the guest appearances. Avengers Endgame that with all
of the Avengers returning for that final battle scene. The
only other movie this year to do that was probably
Everything Everywhere, all at once, which was another sleeper hit.
(18:11):
So I think that is why Hollywood will continue to
bank on superhero movies. But I do think they'll have
to get a little bit more inventive when it comes
to origin stories, especially now as we move into other
phases of Marvel. But we'll see how they ride the
success of Black Panther Wakonda Forever, and we'll have to
wait and see what the next movie will be to
(18:32):
join the billion dollar club. Let's get right into it.
Black Panther Wakonda Forever. My spoiler free review. This movie
makes you forget everything you know about the genre. On
the surface, it is a superhero movie, but at its core,
(18:53):
it is a story about grief. It is a story
about vengeance, and it is the most emotional, well rounded,
character driven Marvel movie to date. In the perfect way
to close out Phase four and right at the beginning
of this movie, it packs a punch and obviously, just
by the plot of this movie, it has to address
(19:15):
the passing of King Tachalla because Chadwick Boseman passed away
in and that is how the movie starts. And I
love the way they handled that scene and that opening.
It was pretty quiet, And I was in a movie
theater that was completely full. Every seat was taken up
in this theater, and as soon as the movie started
(19:37):
and began with that, everybody got silent. That doesn't happen,
and I thought that was a pretty powerful thing right
at the beginning. So it starts with that, and Wakanda
is now mourning the death of their leader. But at
the same time, there are all these world powers starting
to mess with them. Everybody still after their vibranium, and
(19:58):
they have to prove to everybod buddy, hey, we're still Wakonda.
We are still the most powerful nation in the entire world.
Even though our king is passed, We're still here and
we still mean business. But the entire movie follows the
story of Sherry, her story of grief at the same
time trying to protect the country. And then you have
(20:19):
this new threat with the villain of nay More, who
I believe is the best villain since Stanos, And maybe
that isn't saying a whole lot at this point, Marvel
tends to have a problem when it comes to their
villains being so forgettable, but nay More, it felt like
that threat I wanted in a Marvel movie. You want
(20:42):
a villain that every time they are on screen, you
pay attention and what they are trying to do and
their plan in the movie has to make it feel like,
oh man, You're superheroes aren't going to be able to
defeat this person. That is what I love in a villain.
I got that feeling with Thanos, he did it the best.
I got that feeling with Loki in The Avengers, and
(21:04):
I think probably kill Monger in the original one, but
now with nay More, I love that character. I love
to note Schwertha the way he played him. Also some
representation there with a Mexican villain, so personally I enjoyed
that too. All around the board in this movie, there's
so much representation and this cast altogether combined, Like individually
(21:29):
they're also great, but when you put all these characters together,
with all these actors, I think everybody has their moment
to shine in this movie. From Angela Bassa Latisha right,
Winston Duke as Umbaku, like he really stepped it up
in this movie. I know he had more of a
supporting role in Black Panthers the original one, but I
say he was probably one of my favorite characters. In
(21:51):
this entire movie. They're just so many strong performances that
I really wasn't expecting for him to be one of
my favorites. But he brought the comic relief in this movie,
not that typical cheesy superhero comic relief that you and
we've all kind of come to know and expect from
Marvel movies. It was just funny and I love their
camaraderie in this movie. Whether or not they're all actual
(22:12):
friends in real life, it really plays off on screens.
So when they are joking around and there's some levity
in this movie, which the movie all around is pretty heavy,
but there are some moments for comedy. There some moments
for some laughter, which I think was needed. But it
never feels cheesy, It never feels forced. It just feels
like they all have such great on screen chemistry that
(22:34):
it comes natural. So it really takes it to the
next level and doesn't feel like a superhero movie at all,
doesn't feel like a Marvel movie. And I think that
was really set whenever the first Black Panther came out
and it was so critically acclaimed and loved by fans,
this one had a lot of expectation going into it,
(22:56):
and it was almost like, how would you even live
up to that first one? But I really think they
nailed it here. So I think anybody who is a
fan of the original, you'll be a fan of this one.
I don't think you would love Black Panther and see
this one be like not for me. So if you
love the first one, I think you'll love this one
even more. The weird criticism I have is a really
(23:17):
unfair one, and it's obviously nothing that they could do,
but you do feel the missing presence of Chadwick Boseman
as Black Panther, and it's just unfortunate he is no
longer here. And there was something inside of me that
I was like, oh, I'm gonna bring him back, but
you realize that no, like that's real life. He is
(23:38):
actually not here anymore. And I think sometimes when you
think about celebrities and actors, it feels like they live
on this entirely different planet. But that really grounded it
for me, knowing that he's really not here anymore, Like
I know he passed away, I know he is no
longer here, but it made this weird connection in my
brain of oh, this is a knowledge superhero escapism, like
(24:01):
there's some real life here. So that was a weird
thing that I wasn't expecting to feel. And you want
him to be in this movie so bad, so I
can only imagine how it felt for them coming back
and working on this movie without him, And it felt
like in some of these scenes, and I know they've
said this in interviews too, they were dealing with their grief.
(24:24):
I know they're playing their characters here, but they are
dealing also with their real life grief. So I think
as fans as we watch these movies, that will probably
set in with you a little bit during this movie
when you just want Chadwick Boseman to be there. But
I think going back to everybody else's performance, I think
they stepped it up even more so to elevate all
(24:47):
these other characters. And what this entire movie does is
so much character development. And I will admit that two
hour and forty minute run time plus you feel it.
It's abo actually about halfway through the movie, and it's
easier to say like, oh, the movie is too long.
They could cut this and cut that, And you know,
I generally do sometimes say that when it comes to
(25:10):
a movie this long, but I think it's all of
that character development and all those things building and building
and fleshing out these characters. It's the journey they go through.
And I think that runtime is warranted. You could be
nitpicky and say you gotta cut this, cut this, cut that, yeah, yeah, yeah,
But I think I'm never going to look back on
(25:31):
this movie and think if that movie was just a
little bit shorter, I would have enjoyed it more. No,
because this is a movie I'm gonna rewatch again again
and time again, and we'll still enjoy And when I
think about any major criticisms I've had while watching this movie,
there really wasn't anything. And what I loved about it
(25:52):
so much is that it gave me that feeling again
of being excited while watching a superhero movie. I wanted
them to get to the action, and they did. I
wanted certain things to happen, and they did, and it
just had me so invested from the very opening scene
to the very ending. Even the mid credit scene didn't
(26:13):
feel cheesy and forced like sometimes those mid credit scenes are,
which I get a little bit tired and annoyed of
those from time to time, But this one, even even
that was handled perfectly, So how would it rank among
all the other films in Phase four? Now that this
one closes out Phase four? Easily the best, there's just
(26:33):
no comparison to this when it feels like it's on
an entirely different level. When it comes to how it
ranks to every other Marvel movie made, it's easy top ten.
I don't think it's top five, but it's an easy
top ten. There are just so many now at this
point it almost feels arbitrary to try to rank them
(26:54):
all at this point, so I'll just focus on phases.
Easily the best film in phase four. So if I
had to give this movie a rating, I think it's
a perfect Marvel movie, even outside of being Marvel. I
think it's just a perfect movie because of the themes
in this because of the representation, because of the villain,
(27:14):
because of the lesson learned after watching this movie. There's
nothing that I could say that would take away from that.
So I think it is a perfect movie, and it
is my only five out of five out of the
entire year. I give Black Panther Waconda Forever five out
of five. Vibranium suits. I can't wait to do the
(27:35):
spoiler version of this review so I can get into
the mid credit scene and some of the other surprises
in this movie. But I think it's one you have
to see in theaters. Watching this on the big screen,
and the crowd of people really elevated the feeling while
watching this movie. And there weren't any VFX problems like
Marvel has kind of been letting slip into the cracks lately.
(27:57):
Everything was perfect down to the very new detail. There
you go, it's time to head down to movie Mike
La Paul. I want to talk about a movie called
The Whale. It stars Brendan Fraser. It is from a
and it's his big, highly acclaimed returned to the big screen.
(28:22):
And this trailer has moved me in a way I
wasn't expecting a trailer to move me. I think it's
a combination of things. I think it's because it is
Brendan Fraser's return, and we'll get into more about what
that means. But seeing the love and support that Brendan
Fraser has had in his return to acting has been
pretty inspiring. Of all the things he's gone through after
(28:46):
basically being blacklisted from Hollywood, to now see him in
a role where there's already oscar bus surrounding this. I
think it's a very cool thing to witness him getting
standing ovations after screenings of this movie. So I'm excited
on an emotional level. But the movie itself, now getting
this trailer, actually looks really good. It's about Brendan Frasier's character.
(29:08):
His name is Charlie. He is an English teacher living
with obesity and he has decided to eat himself to death,
and the movie follows his pain and misery that comes
after the death of his lover leading to his chronic
binge eating. So here's just a little bit of the
whale trailer. Do you hear people are incapable of not going?
(29:43):
People are amazing? So this movie will follow his story
of somebody dealing with these issues and reaching a six
pound own weight, and how he is struggling to reconnect
(30:03):
with this seventeen year old daughter played by Sadie Sink
in this movie, who you would know from Stranger Things.
And I think, aside from the fact that this is
Brendan Fraser's major return to movies, the movie also resonates
with me of also having somebody who was dealt with
weight issues over my life and seeing how Brendan Fraser
(30:24):
is going to depict this character, I think, well kind
of bring a lot of things to light of what
it is to live like that, to have people judge you,
to feel like an alien, and just to bring light
on what that struggle is of somebody who suffers with
chronic binge eating. That's definitely something I have faced in
(30:46):
my life. I think when I reached my heaviest weight,
that was something that I had to have a real
realization with, like that was something I had to come
to grips with that I did have an unhealthy relationship
with food, and I was always wanting to eat healthier
or just eat better, or just not eat the same
things that I was eating that was causing me to
(31:06):
feel this way. But it's a vicious cycle. I would
try to break it time and time again of trying
to eat healthier, and over my lifetime I failed more
times than I succeeded. I only succeeded once, but I
failed probably a hundred times of trying to make it stick.
But I think even now after losing a hundred pounds,
it's still something that kind of hangs in the back
(31:28):
of my mind of what would happen if I fell
back on those habits and what my life would look
like and how I would change. So it is an
ongoing thing that you have to deal with day after day.
So I hope they took that story on knowing of
how sensitive it can be to some people, especially for
those who have dealt with issues like this, So I
(31:48):
hope it. Just by the looks of this trailer, it
doesn't look like they are poking fun at his situation
in any regard, And I think Brendan Fraser is the
perfect person to play this part. And it's crazy of
how big of a career he had and how he
was the go to guy in Hollywood in the nineties
and the early two thousands, I mean with movies like
(32:10):
The Mummy or my favorite George of the Jungle. He
was just one of the biggest movie stars. And he
stepped out of the spotlight to deal with some personal issues.
He had some surgeries with some medical things, his mother
passed away, he got divorced. He also was blacklisted from
(32:31):
Hollywood because of an assault allegation he put on someone else,
causing him to lose a lot of his roles and
people not want to put him in movies anymore. And
now we have this renaissance of people on TikTok and
Instagram of people rooting him on to get back to
becoming a leading man. So I hope this movie does
(32:52):
that for him. I think that video of him standing
there receiving a six minutes standing ovation after this movie
was screened back at the Venice Film Festival, I think
that is inspiring. I think that is what is leading
to all of the Oscar bus for him to win
for Best Actor, How amazing would that be. I mean,
(33:13):
we gave it to Will Smith last year. Why can't
we give it to Brendan Frasier this year? He ain't
slapping nobody. I just feel like that would be a
very inspirational moment, especially while reading early reviews for this
movie saying that his performance will floor you. So I
can't wait to see this movie. It comes out in
theaters on December nine. That is the whale this week's
(33:36):
edition of Movie Bar and that is going to do
it for another episode here on the podcast. Hopefully you
learn something on this episode. I tried a little bit
of a different format. I like the ones where I
get to research a topic that I'm already passionate about
and connect all those dots. So my goal with this
one was to inform and entertain. So if you enjoyed
(33:59):
today's episode, let me know, let me know what you
thought about that format, and I will hit you right
now with my listeners shout out of the week, which
I mentioned last week that it would be going to
anybody who used the secret emoji from the David Silverman interview,
and that secret emoji was the yellow pencil. So thanks
everybody who commented on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok with
(34:20):
that secret emoji, and my shout out goes to a
comment from TikTok. It is from black Quill Signs. You
are the winner of the listeners shout out, and black
Quil Designs wrote, awesome episode. I had to watch some
Simpsons after this episode today, so did I black Quil Designs.
I think that interview also added fuel to my fire
(34:41):
that is my Simpsons lifelong obsessions. So if you missed
that interview last week with the director of the Simpsons movie,
go Back one episode in the feed. He talked all
about what it was like making that movie, how long
one episode of the Simpsons takes to make, and reveal
the actual reason why the Simpsons are yellow. So not
only can you go back on the podcast feed and
(35:03):
listen to that episode, I have also revamped my YouTube channel,
so YouTube dot com slash Mike Distro and you can
watch interviews from the podcast that I'll be posting now,
and you can also watch individual movie reviews all up
there on my YouTube channel again that is YouTube dot
com slash Mike Destro or it will be linked in
(35:24):
the episode notes of this podcast, So if you're on YouTube,
be sure to subscribe to that channel. Thank you for listening,
and until next week, go out and watch good movies
and I will talk to you later.
Host
Mike D
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