Scott Pilgrim
Take one part love story, two parts SNES references, six parts awesomeness, let it stew in the fridge for a few days, remember it, freak out and race back, and you'll find Scott Pilgrim waiting there. So why did the movie lose millions of dollars?
Just The Facts
- A comic boo-sorry, GRAPHIC NOVEL, about the eponymous Scott Pilgrim.
- Created by Bryan Lee O'Malley, an Asian-Canadian cartoonist.
- Seriously, Asian-Canadian. With an Irish surname. Stranger mixes have happened.
The Story
The comic encompass the life of this guy:
Twenty-three year old Scott Pilgrim, Canadian citizen, self proclaimed slacker and someone "between jobs." In the more than generous amounts of downtime he has on hand, Pilgrim regularly partakes of simulated reality interactive modules ("games" to the layman), lounging around his borrowed apartment and pretty much avoiding any responsibility whatsoever.
He also plays bass guitar for a little local band called Sex Bomb-Omb (those of you who get the reference can just come out and admit that virginity problem you have), as well has hang out with his cute Asian high-school-age girlfriend. Things are going great for Scott, if you ignore the fact that he mooches off his gay roommate, his band sucks donkey dongs and he in no way has strong feelings for his obsessed girlfriend.
And then, she arrives:
Well, not so much as arrives as she does literally roll into his dreams and steal his heart away. Her name is Ramona Flowers and she works as an American Ninja Delivery Girl, which we admit is a bitchin' job title. Smitten beyond all hope, Scott sets out to win her heart with blissful serenades, epic love poems, and chocolate so expensive it would-
Oh wait, no. Scott has to fight and defeat Ramona's Seven Evil Ex-Boyfriends, all of whom have superpowers that can kill him 10 times before he hit the ground.
Also, Super Fighting Death Robots (dibs on the band name)
The Movie
Fans were excited by the announcement of the movie--and then every subsequent piece of news that leaked about it--in a way that only geeks or meth addicts can manage. The film's Comic-Con panel almost caused a riot, and the studio was so impressed by the buzz they sank tens of millions into a massive ad campaign (on top of a budget rumored to be between $60 and $80 million). Critics gave the movie excellent reviews (on part with Inception on RottenTomatoes.com). Finally it was time for fans to turn their enthusiasm into purchased tickets...
The result? A miserable $10.5 million its first weekend, and a total box office run of less than $30 million. The film won't even make enough money to pay for its marketing campaign.
What the hell happened to all those enthusiastic fans? Many, many, many articles have been written in the last few weeks trying to explain it, but it probably comes down to the simple fact that in the world of the geek and in the age of the internet, loving something does not necessarily translate to a willingness to spend money on it.
watched it. loved it. screw the masses.
ReplyI hated the trailers for Scott Pilgrim and after some time actually watched it and hated it even more, I knew that it would try too had to shove it's geek-chic down my throat and boy did it ever.
ReplyThis is, hands down, one of the single worst adaptations of all time. I love Scott Pilgrim - Infinite Sadness is my favourite work of literary fiction, and I'm a massive Edgar Wright fan. I've seen Shaun of the Dead 73 times, for Christ's sake.
ReplyThe movie itself is well directed, and the use of CGI is really well done, but Michael Cera is inappropriately cast, and it's hard to work out why Scott would even ever want to fight for Ramona, let alone why she'd want to be with Scott. The books make them seem like more than 2D caricatures of hipster stereotypes. The movie makes no such effort.
I guess the movie was OK. It elps that I read a few of the books first. But my problem with this movie was that it was live action. And I didn't like how they tried to cram the entire story into a 2 hour movie. I think it would have been better as a 6-part animated mini-series, 1 part for each book.
ReplyCouldn't stand Scott Pilgrim and his Hipster bullshit.
ReplyI'm in my late 50s, never heard of Scott Pilgrim, don't read comic boo-sorry GRAPHIC NOVELS, (no, not even WATCMEN), don't play video/computer games at all (although I do have a watch with Tetris built into it - only 6 squares wide, but it beats the crap out of reading shampoo bottles while you're beating a crap out), but I went to see the movie because I heard it was freakin' AWESOME. And, you know what, it was FREAKIN' AWESOME! I can only wonder how much more I might have enjoyed it if I got the gaming references, but even without them I was thoroughly entertained. ('Course, I kinda enjoyed Gamer, too, so I guess that totally invalidates my opinion.)
ReplyWith all the hate for Michael Cera here, I'm surprised no one has been suggesting who should have played Scott.
The Good:
ReplyVegan police scene, classic.
Almost all of the characters were well-casted and played.
Music scene (twins vs. Scott) was changed from the book, but well done.
The Bad:
Ramona in the movie wasn't very attractive. In the comic she is described as being hot as hell.
Michael Cera played Michael Cera instead of Scott Pilgrim.
The last three books were f*****g scrambled together in random order.
Otherwise, what's the main trend here? Obscure comics/characters will not sell well.
Also, Michael f*****g Cera probably killed it for the most hardcore geeks. He killed it for me, and I liked Youth In Revolt.
Wow. I thought it would have done better, I'm a huge fan of the comic. I saw the movie the day it came out high as hell, it is forever, in my mind, the greatest movie ever.
Reply"high as hell" as you put it, would be the only way to enjoy the movie at all.
This is literally my favourite movie. Its right at the top of the list. how could It LOSE money?! If I was a billionairre, I would donate money to level that off.
ReplyUpgradedWorld.. are you sure you aren't me? or maybe at least a long-lost close relative...
Mine too. I never read the graphic novel, and so hope I'm not enraging the true fans. I know how enraged I get when people pay allegiance to the f*****g AWFUL Harry Potter Movies.
Scott Pilgrim was INCREDIBLE! My favourite shirt is my SP one. I saw in theatres three times with various groups of people. I'm so disappointed in this. God, shell out the 10 goddamn dollars and see it in theatres!
ReplyI wish you would've gone into more detail about SP itself
ReplyWell my friends and I all went and saw it and it was f*****g amazing. One of the rare good uses of 3D and totally hilarious. My fellow geeks, I am dissapointed in all of you.
ReplyFuckin' great movie though, they did it so well that I forgot Michael Cera was starring.
ReplyIt was not even released here.
ReplyI saw it in theaters three times. Each time better than the last. I think the real reason why it tanked is because most people who didn't know about or only had vaguely heard about weren't willing to spend the money. I know a lot of my friends who had never heard of it, saw it once it came out on dvd and were amazed at how awesome it was.
Replyits sex bob-omb.
ReplyThanks for saying that for me.
I saw it in theatres, which is saying something because I usually don't pay to see movies. I was pleasantly surprised (I knew nothing about the comics and figured the preview was doing was all previews do, which is make a s****y or mediocre movie seem fantastic). With how many people who I heard loved it, I'm surprised it didn't do better.
ReplyAccording to wikipedia
ReplyScott Pilgrim vs the World: $44,233,635
Vampires Suck: $66,017,150
Sad... in sort of a funny way
No, just sad.
I went and saw it 4 times. It was amazing everytime.
Reply Hide All See All 4 RepliesI'd blame the fact it was released alongside The Expendables and Eat, Pray, Love.
You have most guys seeing Stallone and company blow s**t up.
and you have most bitches dragging guys to see Julia Roberts do whatever s**t she does in that movie
Second. I wil admit that I saw The Expendables over Scott Pilgrim, it just catered to my manlier needs.
I saw The Expendables and Scott Pilgrim.
Does that make me better than Halfredneck?
downloaded expendables and scott pilgrim onto my computer. loved the s**t out of them both.
You must not know any real women, then, do you.
I went and saw this TWICE sir. It was just a good movie. It doesn't matter that I'd never heard of Scott Pilgrim. It just seemed like it'd be a good movie. Honestly, I haven't laughed this hard at a movie in a long time.
Reply