Sony's MORBIUS THE LIVING VAMPIRE starring Jared Leto (2022) 4 4

[Sauce Dog]

On 6/4/2022 at 4:44 PM, Bosco685 said:

What happened is hardcore fans of the MCU organized by social media influencer Daniel RPK pulled together a campaign to fool Sony Studios into believing they were excited to see it again. Which is a really crappy move as what it tells studios going forward to largely question any calls for action from that medium. And now some of the folks involved are celebrating what they did.

People on social media made fun of it overall since the beginning which kept it trending (it wasn't some great campaign, as even Moonknight Core takes credit for it after the fact), and the studio thought this indicated some sort of grassroots demand so they brought the movie back and it bombed again - but anyone with half a braincell at the studio should have understood irony and genz humour, and them being out of touch and not getting the joke was on them for thinking they could turn into another quick buck.

This isn't a studio lesson to not trust social chatter. This is a lesson in reading and media literacy.

Edited June 5, 2022 by Sauce Dog

[Bosco685]

On 6/4/2022 at 8:16 PM, Sauce Dog said:

People on social media made fun of it overall since the beginning which kept it trending (it wasn't some great campaign, as even Moonknight Core takes credit for it after the fact), and the studio thought this indicated some sort of grassroots demand so they brought the movie back and it bombed again - but anyone with half a braincell at the studio should have understood irony and genX humour, and them being out of touch and not getting the joke was on them for thinking they could turn into another quick buck.

This isn't a studio lesson to not trust social chatter. This is a lesson in reading and media literacy.

If you say so

[media_junkie]

On 6/4/2022 at 8:31 PM, Bosco685 said:

If you say so

Well honestly what was the studio expecting?  It did like $75 million in initial release after 9 or 10 weeks and Sony thought that all of a sudden if they re-released it they were going to make "bank" because people missed it the first time?  Come on Bosco ,this was a case of Sony having their own heads up their butts.  If Sony mis-read the situation that badly then they deserved to be trolled, and trolled hard.  

[Bosco685]

On 6/5/2022 at 7:45 AM, media_junkie said:

Well honestly what was the studio expecting?  It did like $75 million in initial release after 9 or 10 weeks and Sony thought that all of a sudden if they re-released it they were going to make "bank" because people missed it the first time?  Come on Bosco ,this was a case of Sony having their own heads up their butts.  If Sony mis-read the situation that badly then they deserved to be trolled, and trolled hard.  

Did you miss the part where I noted how it was a detractor having a Spider-Man character where the bulk of the movie conveyed no Spider-Man influences?

But what is missed is people purposely meant to convey to Sony they wanted more of this film. And celebrated afterwards they had achieved their goal.

"We successfully trolled Sony into thinking we actually liked it"

[media_junkie]

On 6/5/2022 at 7:56 AM, Bosco685 said:

Did you miss the part where I noted how it was a detractor having a Spider-Man character where the bulk of the movie conveyed no Spider-Man influences?

No, I didn't miss that part.

On 6/5/2022 at 7:56 AM, Bosco685 said:

But what is missed is people purposely meant to convey to Sony they wanted more of this film. And celebrated afterwards they had achieved their goal.

The movie was not well received, again if the execs or people that get paid by Sony to analyze how their films are doing failed so spectacularly at their jobs and authorized a re-release they deserved to be trolled.  No amount of trolling should have worked had they simply looked at the numbers that were available to them (and everyone else).

[Bosco685]

On 6/5/2022 at 8:07 AM, media_junkie said:

No, I didn't miss that part.

The movie was not well received, again if the execs or people that get paid by Sony to analyze how their films are doing failed so spectacularly at their jobs and authorized a re-release they deserved to be trolled.  No amount of trolling should have worked had they simply looked at the numbers that were available to them (and everyone else).

Other than this film should have had if not Tom Holland appear at least drop in Andrew Garfield for a WOW moment of bigger things to come, it was not complete trash as people want to convey. It was just a 90s style superhero film with some characters popping in and out.

Does that mean Sony should have ignored the supposed excitement from a large response on social media? Someone was tracking that pattern of responses and was assuming they wanted to revisit the film. I can't see a social media analyst just grabbing any mention of #Morbius and thinking "They mentioned the film - that must mean they enjoyed it." That would be silly in itself if anyone thought that.

[media_junkie]

On 6/5/2022 at 8:14 AM, Bosco685 said:

It was just a 90s style superhero film with some characters popping in and out.

If someone wanted a 90s style superhero film that sucked they could have just watched "The Phantom" with Billy Zane.  Seriously who wants a 90s style superhero film in 2022?

On 6/5/2022 at 8:14 AM, Bosco685 said:

Does that mean Sony should have ignored the supposed excitement from a large response on social media?

But yet Sony choose to ignore a much larger movement on social media calling the film c.r.a.p.  Why?

On 6/5/2022 at 8:14 AM, Bosco685 said:

I can't see a social media analyst just grabbing any mention of #Morbius and thinking "They mentioned the film - that must mean they enjoyed it." That would be silly in itself if anyone thought that.

You call it silly, but to me that is the only logical thing they did.  I think it is silly to think that some internet "trolls" managed to dupe an entire studio into thinking they had such a good movie they need to re-release it, when all the hard data of how much money the film had made/not made, along with critic reviews (again Morbius 17% RT vs The Phantom 41% RT), and various social media.

But anyway, agree to disagree.  I think Sony has a bunch of insufficiently_thoughtful_persons working for it, you think Internet "Trolls" can sway a studio.  At the end of the day it doesn't matter because none of the money comes to us.  

 

 

Edited June 5, 2022 by media_junkie
words were "filtered"

[Gatsby77]

On 6/5/2022 at 8:14 AM, Bosco685 said:

Does that mean Sony should have ignored the supposed excitement from a large response on social media? Someone was tracking that pattern of responses and was assuming they wanted to revisit the film. I can't see a social media analyst just grabbing any mention of #Morbius and thinking "They mentioned the film - that must mean they enjoyed it." That would be silly in itself if anyone thought that.

Umm...yes.
 

Are you seriously defending Sony's being gaslit by obvious social media trolling here? 

C'mon, man. You're clearly smarter than that! 

@media_junkie's right on.

Social media meme popularity (*especially* Twitter popularity) doesn't equate to reality...at all.

I thought the studios learned that 15 years ago - when Snakes on a Plane bombed, despite becoming a pre-release pop cultural phenomenon on social.

Meanwhile, I've been beyond amused at the tweets celebrating such a film - and its failed return to theaters. 

 

[Bosco685]

Whoa! The RMA debate template? I had heard rumors of such things. But they only come out when you have offended five generations of someone's family.

I'll give it a try. It's been a long time.

On 6/5/2022 at 8:34 AM, media_junkie said:

If someone wanted a 90s style superhero film that sucked they could have just watched "The Phantom" with Billy Zane.  Seriously who wants a 90s style superhero film in 2022?

 

I don't know. Blade was released in 1998. And though this was no Blade, it still followed that template. And I like The Phantom.

On 6/5/2022 at 8:34 AM, media_junkie said:

But yet Sony choose to ignore a much larger movement on social media calling the film c.r.a.p.  Why?

I don't know. I don't work for Sony. So even a hint to what I think was going through their minds would be my opinion. But calling it 'c r a p' is an approach.

On 6/5/2022 at 8:34 AM, media_junkie said:

You call it silly, but to me that is the only logical thing they did.

I doubt someone tracking social media reporting locked in on 'Morbius' and that is the only thing they focused on. What you may not realize but I work in a role that uses third-party social media tracking solutions such as Sprinklr which tracks consumer and business feedback on brands. It vectors in on statements that must be very specific. Not just 'Brand X' being mentioned. Many industries utilizing these solutions.

On 6/5/2022 at 8:34 AM, media_junkie said:

I think it is silly to think that some internet "trolls" managed to dupe an entire studio into thinking they had such a good movie they need to re-release it, when all the hard data of how much money the film had made/not made, along with critic reviews (again Morbius 17% RT vs The Phantom 41% RT), and various social media.

 

You may think it is silly. I'm telling you from utilizing solutions like Sprinklr how consumers and businesses learn to adjust their messaging so as to force corporate action. Why do you think there are those on social media laughing how they tricked Sony? That would be silly to assume they just posted 'Morbius' and Sony reacted positive to such statements.

On 6/5/2022 at 8:34 AM, media_junkie said:

But anyway, agree to disagree.  I think Sony has a bunch of insufficiently_thoughtful_persons working for it, you think Internet "Trolls" can sway a studio. 

Venom and Spider-Man: No Way Home came from those same insufficiently_thoughtful_persons and with the former what helps that film is clearly Venom is an anti-hero version of Spider-Man. So even the general audience after Spider-Man (2007) were introduced to these characters have a link. When the 2018 film came out, all it needed was a light reminder there is a bigger Spidey world out there. And with the latter movie Amy Pascal actively worked with Kevin Feige to craft out the story and actors to be involved. Including going to Willem Dafoe, Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire together to convince them to be part of the film. Something with Morbius lost track of that, which is a shame.

On 6/5/2022 at 8:34 AM, media_junkie said:

At the end of the day it doesn't matter because none of the money comes to us.  

 

True.

Did I do it right? 

[Bosco685]

On 6/5/2022 at 9:28 AM, Gatsby77 said:

Umm...yes.
 

Are you seriously defending Sony's being gaslit by obvious social media trolling here? 

C'mon, man. You're clearly smarter than that! 

@media_junkie's right on.

Social media meme popularity (*especially* Twitter popularity) doesn't equate to reality...at all.

I thought the studios learned that 15 years ago - when Snakes on a Plane bombed, despite becoming a pre-release pop cultural phenomenon on social.

Meanwhile, I've been beyond amused at the tweets celebrating such a film - and its failed return to theaters. 

 

I'm shocked! You? Associated with celebrating the failure of a film.

[Larryw7]

I also liked The Phantom. And D ick Tracy, The Shadow, Batman Returns, and Blade. Nice to watch a movie once in awhile that isn't a CGI cartoon fest.

Edited June 5, 2022 by Larryw7

[Sauce Dog]

On 6/5/2022 at 5:41 PM, Larryw7 said:

I also liked The Phantom. And D ick Tracy, The Shadow, Batman Returns, and Blade. Nice to watch a movie once in awhile that isn't a CGI cartoon fest.

Same. Also The Rocketeer, which after watching always makes me count my blessings that Iron Man was the first of the MCU and so still had a good deal of practical suits and shot on actual film - I shudder to think how it might had looked if he was a later addition and stuck to the standardized filming they now use (and the entire MCU was started by either Cap or some other random Marvel character)

[Bosco685]

Quote

To kick off the week, Fandango has released the numbers for its weekend VOD charts on VUDU and revealed that Morbius has come out victorious this past weekend. The SSU film beat out the likes of Uncharted, The Bad Guys, The Batman and Everything Everywhere All at Once to become the highest-grossing film on VOD charts from June 13-19. Morbius topping the VOD charts comes two weeks after Sony re-released the film in theaters, where it flopped for a second time at the box office.

 

Given its disastrous reception and lackluster box office returns, Morbius quickly became the target of social media memes within weeks of its release. Memes set their sights on everything from Matt Smith's cringeworthy dance sequence after his transformation to a villainous bloodsucker to the largely empty theaters in its opening weekend, as well as Wikipedia pages falsely updated to show that the film is the highest-grossing of all-time. Jared Leto himself elected to get in on the fun as he posted a video reading a fake -script for a sequel to the movie entitled Morbius 2: It's Morbin' Time based on the "morbin' time" meme that's dominated social media.

 

[rexinnih]

OK, finally saw this last night after blind buying the BB Steelbook to keep my MCU and semi-related collection going. I don't have any real knowledge of the character so didn't have a preconception going in. Overall would give it a C+. 

Very nice in 4K and an amazing soundtrack in Atmos. Story was OK but felt rushed and was surprised at the relative short running time. Probably will need to see again to get further judgement. 

[Boozad]

On 6/5/2022 at 4:17 PM, Bosco685 said:

Whoa! The RMA debate template?

Now there's a blast from the past! I miss RMA.

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

[fastballspecial]

Finally saw it. Very short film it seemed.
I enjoyed the special effects. I thought Leto did a good job with what he had. 

Overall it was mediocre I think. I think it shows the Morbius was a poor choice for a film.
There just isn't enough material to make a better film I thought or enough fans who
actually wanted to see it.

 

[MGsimba77]

Morbius is not a poor choice. It's a compelling character. You can only expect so much from a Sony standalone without spider-man. The same thing would likely happen with Kraven. Chalk it up to Sony living up to its limitations. 

[Rodey]

I watched this on a plane coming back from a 10 day vacation around Peru. I kinda liked it? Maybe I was just in a glorious mood after seeing Machu Picchu or I was dead tired from travelling. It could just be the perfect plane ride movie.

Edited July 6, 2022 by Rodey

[Straw-Man]

i'm convinced:  i will see it when i return from peru, if i ever go to peru.