Commander_Jim wrote:A movie with a name as big as GB should have been able to find success with a budget that size, a lot of movies have similar budgets without the benefit of one of the most popular franchises in the world attached. I think the main problems were two-fold: firstly it had a terrible marketing campaign. For some reason they avoided all the big events where big franchise movies usually get the hype train rolling (ie, ComicCon) and instead went on Ellen, which obviously didnt do much to dispel peoples pre-conceived notions about a female GB. And when they finally started marketing the movie, the trailers were just awful and showed the film in the worst possible light (and again re-affirmed peoples worst fears about the film). And secondly, most people seem to have viewed the film more as a Melissa McCarthy or Paul Feig comedy as opposed to a major summer blockbuster. And its box office take reflected that, making about the same amount of money as a typical McCarthy or Feig movie makes. What it really comes down to is that it seems nobody seemed to know who the audience for the film was supposed to be, and they failed to sell it. They needed the ComicCon/Superhero crowd and they got the Bridesmaids crowd.
Bingo. You hit the nail on the head. The fanboys/girls stayed away. Just look at the reception it's recieved in that community. Look at all the fanboy websites, ain't it cool, collider, hitfix(now Uproxx), Reddit, birthmoviesdeath, dark horizons, coming soon.net, Twitter etc. Mention the reboot at anyone of those places and you get the sense pretty quickly how loathed this movie is. Rarely have I seen that community agree on anything, but GB2016 seems to be a lightning rod of abuse. Oh sure one or two people speak up saying they liked it, but man o man, it's worse than bringing up the Star Wars prequels!
Some projects have built in good-will that is present from when the cameras roll. When the marketing gets released bit by bit, depending on quality, that good-will grows or shrinks to nothing. In GB2016's case? It had no good-will at any point in it's production. The movie was hated the minute it was announced. In order to reverse that hate you need to release a kick ass trailer. Remember how everyone made fun of Heath Ledger being cast as the Joker? Then that first Dark Knight trailer was released? It blew everyone away. So GB2016 was hated and then that infamous trailer was released(or set free, depending on your POV) and from that point on this movies fate was sealed. I still can't believe someone approved that trailer knowing the uphill battle this movie had. It's one of the worst trailers for a big budget movie I've ever witnessed. Phew.