This weekend at the box office wasn’t a good one unless you were "Straight Outta Compton." Sequels "Sinister 2" and "Hitman: Agent 47" tanked, and so did the stoner action comedy "American Ultra" starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart. On paper it seemed like a no brainer for success; a big (dumb) concept, played by two game, rising young actors that has all the popcorn thrills you could ask for in a summer movie. Nonetheless, audiences shrugged and the movie opened softly in sixth place, leaving screenwriter Max Landis baffled.
READ MORE: Review of ‘American Ultra’ Starring Jesse Eisenberg And Kristen Stewart
Taking to Twitter, the writer openly wondered if the failure of his movie — which he notes is not a sequel, franchise, biopic or reboot — means that "big level original ideas don’t [make money]."
"Am I wrong? Is trying to make original movies in a big way just not a valid career path anymore for anyone but Tarantino and Nolan? That’s the question: Am I wrong? Are original ideas over? I wanted to pose this to the public, because I feel, put lightly, confused. Now, I’m not so sure," he continued. "Got to get back to work on my TV shows. Which are both adaptations."
There is something of a conceited air about the tweets; Landis believes his movie, which received only modestly better reviews that the scathing notices for "Sinister 2" and "Hitman: Agent 47," should do well on the basis that it’s not as bad as the competition, or because it’s "original." Moviegoers simply weren’t interested in "American Ultra," and that’s perfectly valid.
There are lots of good (and bad) "original" movies every year that unfortunately get overlooked, while others do find an audience ("It Follows" and "Ex Machina" for example) and when it comes to the argument of sequels/franchises/reboot vs. original movies, here’s the bottom line: people just want to see good films. One of the most critically acclaimed efforts of the year and one of the best action movies hands down was "Mad Max: Fury Road," a sequel/reboot. Does that make its success any less special?
Check out Landis’ series of tweets below and share your thoughts in the comments section.
So here’s an interesting question: American Ultra finished dead last at the box office, behind even Mission Impossible and Man From Uncle…
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) August 22, 2015
…American Ultra was also beaten by the critically reviled Hitman Agent 47 and Sinister, despite being a better reviewed film than either..
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) August 22, 2015
…which leads me to a bit of a conundrum: Why? American Ultra had good ads, big stars, a fun idea, and honestly, it’s a good movie…
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) August 22, 2015
…Certainly better, in the internet’s opinion, than other things released the same day. If you saw it, you probably didn’t hate it…
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) August 22, 2015
…so I’m left with an odd thing here, which is that American Ultra lost to a sequel, a sequel reboot, a biopic, a sequel and a reboot.
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) August 22, 2015
…it seems the reviews didn’t even matter, the MOVIE didn’t matter. The argument that can/will be made is: big level original ideas don’t $
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) August 22, 2015
For the longest time, my belief was that the 80s/90s were the golden age of movies; you never knew what you were going to get.
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) August 22, 2015
Am I wrong? Is trying to make original movies in a big way just not a valid career path anymore for anyone but Tarantino and Nolan?
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) August 22, 2015
That’s the question: Am I wrong? Are original ideas over? I wanted to pose this to the public, because I feel, put lightly, confused.
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) August 22, 2015
I feel like I learned a lesson, here, but have no idea what it is. I once joked "there’s only so many times people will go see Thor 2."
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) August 22, 2015
I feel like I learned a lesson, here, but have no idea what it is. I once joked "there’s only so many times people will go see Thor 2."
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) August 22, 2015
Sorry to be kind of a downer guys.
It’s just a little frustrating to see John Cena squash Kevin Steen.
Metaphorically.
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) August 22, 2015
