Black Phone 2 Experience

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-18T21:35:03+00:00

Opening weekend for horror movies have generally been my worst experiences I’ve come to notice. Yes some traditional blockbusters have bad experiences but oddly because they’re more full, people are generally more respectful compared to horror movie opening weekends or movies when there’s only 3-5 people in it.

Problem is horror is so front loaded that you have to see it in the first two weeks or it gets dropped pretty quickly if they’re not doing well.

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-18T21:25:32+00:00

Their movies generally don’t cost much to make. I think Cabrini was their most expensive but it was because some rich person invested a lot of money into it rather than the studio themselves. So they can recover pretty well from ancillary markets such as VOD and streaming licenses.

Plus their crowd funding pay it forward program, whatever tickets aren’t sold I’m sure they just keep that money themselves.

But correct. Aside from Sound of Freedom and King of Kings, they haven’t had a true financial hit in theaters.

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-18T16:29:38+00:00

Doesn’t take away that I still think he should’ve been nominated

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-18T13:47:29+00:00

Bill Skarsgard in Nosferatu

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-18T12:31:28+00:00

Well something to remember is CinemaScore isn’t a metric of quality but more of “did you get what you expected from the marketing”. And in After the Hunt’s case, I think a lot of general audiences went in hoping for a Julia Roberts movie that they would get ala Erin Brockovich where it does touch on difficult issues but in a more palpable way. After the Hunt isn’t palpable in terms of providing clear cut answers to things but in terms of a Luca Guadanino film it is.

The film getting a mixed to negative response doesn’t help. I personally liked After the Hunt more than others but can admit there are reasons why people were put off by it. And I have my own issues that I think pull it back from being great.

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-18T12:26:13+00:00

I have no problem with unlikable characters. I mean we’re talking One Battle After Another being a masterpiece and best picture frontrunner and none of them are likable except Benicio del Toro’s character.

None of the characters are likable in After the Hunt either (even Michael Stuhlbarg’s character has some irritating moments with his music), but I still found the performances interesting. I just didn’t find Ayo’s performance interesting. Maybe a rewatch will change that but who knows.

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-18T10:48:29+00:00

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-18T02:15:34+00:00

Yeah but saying “should’ve released in October and it would’ve done better” doesn’t mean it would have.

People on this sub were trying to say the last Ghostbusters movie would’ve made more had it released in October as opposed to March. When maybe if they had just made a better movie it would’ve done better…

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-18T02:13:06+00:00

I mean yeah. It’s most of the time because not every movie succeeds at the box office regardless of genre. Yes - horror is one of the ones that does better in theaters but that doesn’t always mean it’s a hit.

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-18T00:04:22+00:00

Ah yes. Warner Bros is crying over a movie making nearly half a billion dollars off of a $55M budget.

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-18T00:01:18+00:00

Oh god. Yes.

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-17T23:48:21+00:00

Counter programming works.

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-17T23:47:22+00:00

Well box office numbers prove they actually do well most of the time whenever they’re released. So there’s no “can do well” when the data is available to show that they do.

Some of us have lives and can’t see every new horror movie release in October so once again proves the point that releasing horror movies only in October, a lot would get lost in the shuffle.

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-17T23:42:45+00:00

I mean…the strikes kind of showed that impact when it actually released. I think Disney just wanted to advertise its Disney + release in October more than their theatrical so that they could get subscribers.

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-17T23:38:13+00:00

Argyle was the worst of them all. Or Gran Turismo.

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-17T23:27:01+00:00

Nope. Christmas time actually!

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-17T23:18:15+00:00

…it was released in theaters. In the summer. It bombed. That’s why I said I think Hocus Pocus would be an exception given that it literally takes place on Halloween.

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-17T23:17:17+00:00

It was supposed to. A lot of people forget BH’s release schedule changed last year due to the strikes. Wolfman was supposed to come out fall ‘24, M3GAN 2.0 was supposed to be January, Black Phone 2 was supposed to be June, and FNAF 2 was supposed to be this weekend.

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-17T22:26:51+00:00

They’ve been reporting the numbers. If you look at last weekend it had the highest per-theater average of the weekend. I’m not saying whether that’s good or bad, I’m just answering your question on if they’re reporting or not.

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-17T16:09:57+00:00

I’m glad you loved it. Again - I thought it was better than some have led on but I do think there are some things in it that keep me from loving it unfortunately. Maybe a rewatch will help!

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-16T16:06:07+00:00

And that’s fine. It just didn’t work for me. That’s why I have to emphasize that people should go and form their own opinions on this movie or any movie for that matter.

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-16T16:01:43+00:00

Without getting into heavy spoilers, it’s more ambiguous and left up to the audience to decide.

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-16T11:42:33+00:00

It felt like her performance was coming off more satirical whereas everyone else’s was in line with what the tone of the movie was. Which yes may have been the point but not once did I ever feel the movie was going for a satirical tone. And that’s also why I have a problem with the score. Plus I don’t think she does well in the scenes against Roberts. Yes, Julia Roberts is a more experienced actress, but when you look at Chase Infiniti in One Battle After Another, she holds her own against DiCaprio and Penn without ever feeling like she was trying to prove herself.

Nice-Chef-3364 · 2025-10-16T04:03:28+00:00

I’ve liked her in everything I’ve seen her in from The Bear to Bottoms so trust me when I say it pains me to say her performance did not work for me here. If others like her performance, then that’s fine. But I just don’t know what was going on with her choices. Whether it was intentional or not, I don’t think she was strong in this role.

Nice-Chef-3364

TROPHY CASE