Monday, July 27, 2009

The Monsters Question

The L.A. Times inquires:

"Monsters vs. Aliens" sold a healthy $198 million worth of tickets in the U.S. and Canada, but only $179 million worth of tickets overseas. It's the first time that a DreamWorks Animation picture has earned less money at the box office in foreign countries than domestically, ... [W]hy[?] ...

The Times offers a few theories, but I think the answer is simple. MvA is specifically, quintessentially American: San Francisco. Area 51. American military. American President.

The rest of the world just isn't as enthralled with the U.S. of A. as the U.S.A. is.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Might the release dates matter? I believe this is the first time Dreamworks Animation released a movie in the spring time.

Anonymous said...

Except that the first two Ice Age movies were released in the spring, and have done very well overseas.

Anonymous said...

here's a novel idea, perhaps the movie just wasn't that great. it was shoved down U.S. audiences at a time when nothing was out and lemmings were told they must see this 3D movie.

granted the 3D and technical expertise of the film were at the highest level. but the film itself fell short for most.

Anonymous said...

I saw "UP" because I was "told it was great". Am I a lemming? Just checking how that works.

Anonymous said...

Baloney. I guess the reason Finding Nemo wasn't a success is that it was set in the Ocean. And Shrek wasn't successful because it was set in a swamp!

No. The reason it wasn't successful was that it wasn't a terribly good film. It had shallow characters audiences couldn't identify with beyond the surface.

Sounds like a reason little jeffery katzemburg would spout, though, no matter how ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

The "quintessentially American" notion would work better were it not for all the OTHER quintessentially American entertainment that is popular the world over.

whatever said...

The trailer for Monsters didnt sell it to me...It gave me the impression that it was yet another stupid movie.

Anonymous said...

here's a novel idea, perhaps the movie just wasn't that great.

Since when does quality have to do with anything? Transformers 2 has made $800 million worldwide.

Explosions are universal, but 1950s B movies are too distinctly American to really translate overseas.

Anonymous said...

"1950s B movies are too distinctly American to really translate overseas."

Godzilla?

Anonymous said...

It was a crap movie.

Anonymous said...

"1950s B movies are too distinctly American to really translate overseas."

I didn't know the Godzilla movies were American. Oh...they weren't!

Site Meter