The star wars spoiler thread

[lockedoutlogic]

Just went to see it last night for the 2nd time and I have to say…I appreciated it even more. And again, what I keep harping on is the acting. The level and quality of acting in this movie is so well done. Kudos for Abrams getting that much out of his cast.

One thing that I have a question about is this Starkiller Base. Does anyone know if it is a mobile station like the Death Star was or was it a planet/moon that actually orbited a star?

You know...I saw it at 7:10 on 12/17 and we have it lined up for a birthday party later this week...but I haven't had time since to sneak back.
I do have a 6 hour rare block to myself later tonight...
...so I just might sneak over.

All the conversations I've had with those I trust make me believe I'll like it more on repeat.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

It's interesting that there's been no update for the box office yesterday's yet...I'm thinking they're waiting to hatch it overnight/tomorrow morning to try and suck some money off the Street...

But ESPN still sucks - so it prolly won't work

 

[twebber55]

It's interesting that there's been no update for the box office yesterday's yet...I'm thinking they're waiting to hatch it overnight/tomorrow morning to try and suck some money off the Street...

But ESPN still sucks - so it prolly won't work

i believe it made 155 this weekend

 

[Josh Hendy]

It would have to be mobile as it actually destroys the star when it sucks up the energy to fire.

I think they were playing pretty fast and loose with astronomical facts since they seemed to be blowing up Coruscent without flying to it, taking energy from some other random star, and with the entire episode clearly visible to Our Heroes who were on still another random planet which I didn't think was part of the same system as Coruscent.

Even GL paid a little bit more attention to astronomical facts than that. Parsecs notwithstanding.

I guess that the authors of the novelizations are going to have a tough time making the astronomy/physics believable to any SW geek over age 8.

But c'est la Guerre des etoiles ...

 

[Budshark]

totally agree with this
domestically the record will be TFA no question about it the question now is world wide gross which will be tougher
Star Wars history suggest it wont because its earnings typically are domestic driven usually 45% domestic and 55% international where as other top grossing movies are 30% to 70%
in the end im guessing 850 million domestic and 1.4 Billion internationally
personally i like both Avatar and TFA and could care less which one earns the most

I'll take that bet since it's already over 450 Billion internationally. With China and continued sales overseas I'm pretty sure it had more than another 100 Billion.

Earnings matter for 2 reasons:
It's validation or redemption for the fans or haters of a film. So it is personal for some people.
It affects the property and in this case Disney theme park spend.

To the 2nd point, Disney built a whole land for Avatar - purely off the single movie and it's gross. If TFA comes close or exceeds Avatars gross - you are likely to see a doubling down in theme park in either more or faster construction.

 

[Budshark]

It's interesting that there's been no update for the box office yesterday's yet...I'm thinking they're waiting to hatch it overnight/tomorrow morning to try and suck some money off the Street...

But ESPN still sucks - so it prolly won't work

You're about 2-3 hrs early. It's usually after noon-1pm eastern they announce. Although midweekend numbers aren't common. They usually just revise the weekend estimates (which are around 150)

 

[Budshark]

I think they were playing pretty fast and loose with astronomical facts since they seemed to be blowing up Coruscent without flying to it, taking energy from some other random star, and with the entire episode clearly visible to Our Heroes who were on still another random planet which I didn't think was part of the same system as Coruscent.

Even GL paid a little bit more attention to astronomical facts than that. Parsecs notwithstanding.

I guess that the authors of the novelizations are going to have a tough time making the astronomy/physics believable to any SW geek over age 8.

But c'est la Guerre des etoiles ...

Yeah. Because the rest was totally believable. Small ships with pilots suited up and strapped in that can fly at multiples of light speed.

Bases that can be constructed on frozen planets on a whim by a rag tag fleet of rebels.

I'm thinking 'realistic' isn't a requirement of the fan base. Kinda like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings....

 

[twebber55]

I'll take that bet since it's already over 450 Billion internationally. With China and continued sales overseas I'm pretty sure it had more than another 100 Billion.

Earnings matter for 2 reasons:
It's validation or redemption for the fans or haters of a film. So it is personal for some people.
It affects the property and in this case Disney theme park spend.

To the 2nd point, Disney built a whole land for Avatar - purely off the single movie and it's gross. If TFA comes close or exceeds Avatars gross - you are likely to see a doubling down in theme park in either more or faster construction.

im assuming you mean 450 Million not billion....
star wars doesnt need validation, if it makes 2.4 billion world wide does that diminish its success? if it makes 3 billion does that diminish avatars success?
the answer is of course not
and again im just going by history of the franchise...could it break 3 billion? i dont know and personally hope it makes as much as it can for reasons you list

 

[lockedoutlogic]

If it were only to make 1.5 ish overall...that's a tremendous disappointment for Disney.

The financial papers set the "success" mark at 2 billion - not too subtlely - as always...prior to release

 

[Eoghann]

I think they were playing pretty fast and loose with astronomical facts since they seemed to be blowing up Coruscent without flying to it, taking energy from some other random star, and with the entire episode clearly visible to Our Heroes who were on still another random planet which I didn't think was part of the same system as Coruscent.

Even GL paid a little bit more attention to astronomical facts than that. Parsecs notwithstanding.

I guess that the authors of the novelizations are going to have a tough time making the astronomy/physics believable to any SW geek over age 8.

But c'est la Guerre des etoiles ...

Apparently it wasn't Coruscant that got blown up, the Republic moved the capital at some point. A detail that wasn't made at all clear in the movie, but then it doesn't really matter when it comes down to it because it doesn't change anything significant. Your theory would still work though, it could be drawing from any random star and destroying it rather than moving to that star first.

Star Wars is rooted firmly in the space fantasy part of the sci-fi genre. Wizards, laser swords etc. While there are people who are already obsessing over scientific inaccuracies they are missing the point.

 

[Eoghann]

If it were only to make 1.5 ish overall...that's a tremendous disappointment for Disney.

The financial papers set the "success" mark at 2 billion - not too subtlely - as always...prior to release

It's all a bit meaningless anyway. The majority of the money won't be made through box office. There's DVD and Blu-Ray sales, network showings, streaming deals, toy deals, t-shirts, posters, games, books.... The movie will rake in billions unquestionably.

Yeah something under the announced goal might hit the stock price for a week or too, but the stock market jumps off a cliff if someone sneezes. They're not a good measure of success in any fashion.

 

[Josh Hendy]

Yeah. Because the rest was totally believable. Small ships with pilots suited up and strapped in that can fly at multiples of light speed.

Bases that can be constructed on frozen planets on a whim by a rag tag fleet of rebels.

I'm thinking 'realistic' isn't a requirement of the fan base. Kinda like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings....

Even series like HP and LOTR although completely fantastic at least try to establish magical rules and guidelines, and plot-enabling tricks like flue powder are used consistently once they are explained.

If hyperspace is SW's flue powder but suddenly they don't need it ... they've got some 'splaining to do ...

 

[twebber55]

If it were only to make 1.5 ish overall...that's a tremendous disappointment for Disney.

The financial papers set the "success" mark at 2 billion - not too subtlely - as always...prior to release

zero chance it only makes 1.5 billion at this point
2 billion is basically assured

 

[Budshark]

Revised weekend number is 153 Million, for a 545 Million domestic and 1.09 Billion internationally.

There's a long way to go for 2-3 Billion. Although updated numbers for a large list of international countries aren't available and China hasn't launched yet. For the numbers game, this week is huge. How quickly does the take taper off is the question.

 

[Eoghann]

0
There's a long way to go for 2-3 Billion. Although updated numbers for a large list of international countries aren't available and China hasn't launched yet. For the numbers game, this week is huge. How quickly does the take taper off is the question.

It's also only been 10 days. Don't be too quick to dismiss the long tail. 2 billion is a very safe bet.

 

[Eoghann]

Even series like HP and LOTR although completely fantastic at least try to establish magical rules and guidelines, and plot-enabling tricks like flue powder are used consistently once they are explained.

If hyperspace is SW's flue powder but suddenly they don't need it ... they've got some 'splaining to do ...

Star Wars' roots are in pulp fiction. Flash Gordon, space fantasy, cliffhanger serials. In that stuff they don't establish the rules or waste time on anything other than throwing action at you as fast as they can. HP and LOTR come from a different place culturally.

In the original movie the way the Death Star weapon operates breaks all known laws of physics and is never explained. It does it that way because it looks cool. Same for Starkiller Base.

 

[Budshark]

It's also only been 10 days. Don't be too quick to dismiss the long tail. 2 billion is a very safe bet.

??? Not dismissing it at all. Just pointing out its only half way to 2 billion. It's going to take weeks to get there as things slow down.

 

[rteetz]

It's all a bit meaningless anyway. The majority of the money won't be made through box office. There's DVD and Blu-Ray sales, network showings, streaming deals, toy deals, t-shirts, posters, games, books.... The movie will rake in billions unquestionably.

Yeah something under the announced goal might hit the stock price for a week or too, but the stock market jumps off a cliff if someone sneezes. They're not a good measure of success in any fashion.

Interestingly enough it's been announced it will be on blu-Ray in April.

 

[twebber55]

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/26/star-wars-the-force-awakens-jj-abrams-average-fan

interesting article on demographics

 

[Eoghann]

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/26/star-wars-the-force-awakens-jj-abrams-average-fan

interesting article on demographics

It would be interesting to see an update since that was based on advance ticket sales. I don't doubt that males 28-49 are the core Star Wars fanbase and thus the ones grabbing advance tickets, but I got the impression that there were a good number of families watching the movie. Certainly that's what I'm seeing in my social streams.