Reign of Fire

[SPAGo 98]

I was wondering about what the advance talk on Reign of Fire is. Is it expected to be a good successful movie or not?

 

[mattjs]

If you run a web search for "Reign of Fire" you'll get a lot of returns. In general, it's all remarkably positive news.

AV, anything recent to report on this one?

 

[Another Voice]

There is a review of script on-line at http://www.screenwritersutopia.com/script_reviews/reign_of_fire.htm . Be forewarned that the review gives everything in the movie away (the site is set for screenwriters, not movie fans).

The last bit of the review sums things up nicely:

“This isn't a movie about characters. It's about special effects and action, which is fine. It's a fantasy, with plenty of action and some intriguing adventure. The main negative of the script is that it is its own worst enemy. Enough said. It was a fun read that surprised me a little. I did enjoy most of it. I really didn't think much of the project. And even though several other script reviewers loved it, I still wasn't sold. But I think it accomplishes what it sets out to do. It's an exciting story, and a mythical journey that should look interesting enough to produce at the box office. The special effects will be impressive, or the movie will really fail. I just wish we could have more to say about movies lately than how cool the special effects will be. Seeing a Black Hawk helicopter tango with flying dragons should be a cool thing. However, this is a script that should have been left where it was, no offense to the writers, and something else with a little more story, a lot better characters, and a lot less violence developed instead. We need better movies; we need better writing. I'm tired of cool.”

Expectations around town are not all that high on this one. It should okay at the box office, but it’s unlikely to give ‘Men in Black 2’ a run for the money. Even Disney seems to be limiting the efforts on this one. The early rumors were that they were going to give this one a big time summer blockbuster push, now they seem to be letting it slip out.

 

[mattjs]

Saw the preview for this one at Bourne Identity last weekend. Just a couple quick scenes but I thought the "dragons" looked amazing.

They certainly are lettin it slip out though. Aside from a theater preview, has anyone seen any adds/marketing yet? I haven't seen a thing and outside of the Disney internet community, I haven't met anyone who's even heard of the movie. It opens in 16 days (July 12) right?

 

[disneycub]

One ad ran in ABC prime time last night. It took me a minute to figure out this was the film that people had been talking about here. To be honest, it didn't make much of an impression on me, except that the dragons looked pretty realistic. Not enough to get me into the theater, however.

 

[fklhou]

The reviews look good. I am looking forward to this picture. Are there still any plans for a Reign of Fire attraction at AK?

 

[Another Voice]

There have been a lot of commercials run in the L.A. area for the film, but it’s not getting a big national push. Even the marketing budgets are tight at The Mouse these days due to all the extra spending on 'Lilo'. And it was decided that the big summer push will be for 'Signs'.

As Scoop said – they’re going after the male teenage market for this one but it misses the ‘Fast and the Furious’ crowd. First, Mathew McCoungawhatever is not Vin Diesel. The car movie promised chicks without shirts, the dragons only promise Christian Bale without a shirt: not the way to get lots of 15-year olds to line up. Next, hot cars are kewl, D&D is not no matter how many helicopter you throw in.

Worst of all, Disney spent four times to make ‘Reign’ than what Universal did to make ‘Furious’.

Buzz is that this will be another three week run – somewhat big the first weekend, a fifty percent fall the next, a fifty percent fall again, and then getting ready for the DVD release.