₦airaland Forum

abduleez1:
Lmao.... I haven't rated much films box office for first half of this year.
Ones I remember talking much about is Wuthering Heights and Michael. I talked about Project Hail Mary briefly doing $550-650mn+.

I missed Wuthering Heights prediction. Michael is still playing..... I'm betting less than a billion.
Not opening my account this year on solid ground, but who says there can't be a turnaround?

Most of the films I'm interested in their box office comes later this year. I'm still to adjust some predictions based on anticipation closer to release and data collection. There's many more films to look at later this year I'm yet to talk about.

phr0nesis:
Lol
Mortal Kombat 2 is also a miss.

phr0nesis:
Lol
Mortal Kombat 2 is also a miss.

oyaskii:
I have just seen Christopher Nolan's 60 minutes interview for "The Odyssey" (2026) promotional tour, and i was just in awe, the way he talks about film and filmmaking. There isn't that many filmamkers around that is as passionate about film, currently as he is and I think "Interstellar (2014)" is probably is "magnum opus".

All the things people like about his filmmaking process, he turns up to the very maxx here. The technicalities...The science...so much so, it spurned into a book, written by famed physicist , Kip Thorne, who was the science consultant on the film, to explain all the science that went on during the film and how very close they were to what physicists have postulated about "Black holes, Time Warp and Interstellar travel".

The story itself was very very simple in hindsight but the technical brilliance lifted it up. A travesty that it wasn't up for major cates at the Oscars the following year. Academic voters found it overly ambitious and too hard a sci fi, but it doesn't take away the fact that, this was just a brilliant brilliant film.

The film score was peak Christopher Nolan/Hans Zimmer collabo before they side stepped.

On the subject of sound in space movies and sound not traveling in space, I think no other film has done it better this side of the century than..."Gravity" (2013), Brooooo it was crazy crazy work!! 😩😩.... duly won best sound design and best sound mixing at the 2014 Oscars.

Baddestguyp:
By the way, here are some Korean movies I absolutely recommend.

1. The Handmaiden - this in my opinion deserves an Oscar. One of the best movies I've ever watched.

2. Assassination - Spy thriller set in the era of Japanese occupation of korea

3. The Last Princess - about independence fighters set in the same Japanese-korean occupation era

4. The Berlin File - Spy thriller about some North Korean operatives in Germany

xynerise:
Raiden looks like a Taiwan farmer

abduleez1:
I know.

Most of these films I suppose don adjust the predictions by now, but cos I'm not too bothered about box office this year unlike previous years, my mind no too dey go there.

phr0nesis:
😆😆
Have you watched it?

abduleez1:
Damn, bruh..... probably the hardest trailer I've seen so far this year.
With the director of The Wailing and The Chaser— Na Hong Jin at the helm....... I'm definitely SAT!!!

Hearing this is South Korea's most expensive film to date.... CGI needs some touch up but this looks superb. 😲😀


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt7860xZFXk?si=6F1Co_aQ9Q8F8dR5

pu7pl3:
I

Jesus Holy Bleep
Im sat

Baddestguyp:
The Shadow Strays (2024).....3/10


Please don't waste your time on this Netflix slop like I did.

oyaskii:
‎"The Odyssey" (2026)...The long calm before the storm...
‎
‎Long read...pardon 🙏🏿
‎
‎Christopher Nolan is arguably one of the best filmmakers in modern cinema, one of the very few auteurs whose films are instantly recognizable through a common set of traits, but I fear his latest foray might prove to be his undoing.
‎
‎From Memento (2000) to The Prestige (2006) to TDK (2010) , you always knew what you were getting from his movies...exceptionally high technical filmmaking prowess, so much so that people were genuinely fearing that he was going to use an actual atomic bomb! 😩 in Oppie (2023). All these make for great blockbusters, and yet he has also come under criticism for focusing solely on the technical aspects of filmmaking at the neglect of other areas, particularly dialogue, handling of female characters and emotional nuance.
‎
‎I personally have noticed that he struggles to deliver emotional subtlety through his characters, often making them feel robotic, mechanical, and devoid of spontaneity. There is a reason why Tenet (2020), which I loved by the way, is many people’s least favourite film of his. People simply could not grasp it. The technicalities of the film overshadowed everything else, coupled with an over-convoluted plot that often felt convoluted for the bare sake of being convoluted, serving no real purpose beyond spectacle. Some people even argued that perhaps he made films this way because he wanted that elusive Oscar.
‎
‎The elusive Oscar finally came, and he picked "The Odyssey" as his next project and, from what we have seen so far, this appears to be the project where he has decided to relax his usual high technical standards and flex a bit stylistically. But I personally think he could not have picked a worse film to do this with.
‎
‎The Odyssey is perhaps one of the most important literary works from ancient Greek mythos, and if a filmmaker like Christopher Nolan is adapting it, there should be an air of seriousness and originality to it..nobody should think it is a parody. But the trailer and promotional materials released so far suggest otherwise. From the dull cinematography, to the game-like costumes, to the out-of-place dialogue for a period piece like this, everything feels oddly artificial and so so unlike Nolan.
‎
‎But perhaps the most obvious blunder so far is some of the casting choices, which scream unnecessary DEI. The elephant in the room is the casting of Lupita Nyong'o in the dual role of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. The argument can be made that the story is fictional and therefore subject to reinterpretation, but I still think the casting choice is wrong for reasons that are obvious enough not to require extensive explanation. And it begs the question..why do black actors continue accepting these obvious “pick-me-up” roles? What purpose does it serve? It certainly does their careers more harm than good.
‎
‎Misappropriation in casting used to happen far more often than many people realize, but the world has changed so much that you would never see white actors doing the reverse today. Jenny Slate had stepped down from her role on "Big Mouth", because she felt it was out of place for her, a white woman to be voicing a Black character, and it was recast to Ayo Edebiri. Lupita Nyong'o and Paapa Essiedu have only opened themselves up to vile rhetoric from racists. Elon Musk has been on Christopher Nolan’s case for the better part of a week just because of this casting discourse. Imagine such a charlatan speaking ill of the work of a famed film auteur like Nolan.
‎
‎Now, whether the film will perform well at the box office is not really in question. The IMAX tickets reportedly sold out months in advance, and mind you, this is largely off the strength of the Nolan brand alone. But it should still be said that no filmmaker is above making a bad film, not even him.
‎
‎I mean, Asghar Farhadi, one of my favourite directors, had seemingly never put a foot wrong, and yet his latest film was met with severe rebuke at Cannes last week and currently sits at an abysmal 18% on Rotten Tomatoes!. But then again, I would be a terrible gambler if I bet against Christopher Nolan. He has proven his mantle over and over again. Still, I hold far more fear for The Odyssey (2026) than excitement.
‎
‎Has my GOAT sacrificed his career for scraps from the woke table?
‎Only time will tell.
‎
‎Side note: On the subject of casting misappropriation, if they eventually make a sequel to "Michael" (2026) and cover the period where MJ transitioned to full on white, do they recast him with a white actor, or do they simply keep Jaafar Jackson and “leather him up” with makeup? 👀

Daniel Kaluuya hasn’t starred in a major release in four years. What gives? He’s only 37, already has an Oscar & is clearly one of the most talented actors on Earth. It confuses me why he’s not making more films right now. This guy is a world-class actor in every sense imaginable pic.twitter.com/5DTLKFhd1H

— Cinema Tweets (@CinemaTweets1) May 20, 2026

BlackManta:

Daniel Kaluuya hasn’t starred in a major release in four years. What gives? He’s only 37, already has an Oscar & is clearly one of the most talented actors on Earth. It confuses me why he’s not making more films right now. This guy is a world-class actor in every sense imaginable pic.twitter.com/5DTLKFhd1H

— Cinema Tweets (@CinemaTweets1) May 20, 2026

abduleez1:
Lol, maybe this would be one of my misses in a long streak of getting box office predictions right.

Still, I'm holding on to my hopes it comes short at $900mn+.

The only key markets missing is Japan, bruv and Russia. It's already opened in 84 markets globally.
There's been no BIG summer movie yet after it's release that's why it's still getting good legs.
Waiting to see how it holds pre Mandalorian and Grogu.

phr0nesis:
Oga you haven't hit any target this year, and we are already in May

Kelvinnchucks:
Why this long write up for a 2014 movie.

oyaskii:
‎"The Odyssey" (2026)...The long calm before the storm...
‎
‎Long read...pardon 🙏🏿
‎
‎Christopher Nolan is arguably one of the best filmmakers in modern cinema, one of the very few auteurs whose films are instantly recognizable through a common set of traits, but I fear his latest foray might prove to be his undoing.
‎
‎From Memento (2000) to The Prestige (2006) to TDK (2010) , you always knew what you were getting from his movies...exceptionally high technical filmmaking prowess, so much so that people were genuinely fearing that he was going to use an actual atomic bomb! 😩 in Oppie (2023). All these make for great blockbusters, and yet he has also come under criticism for focusing solely on the technical aspects of filmmaking at the neglect of other areas, particularly dialogue, handling of female characters and emotional nuance.
‎
‎I personally have noticed that he struggles to deliver emotional subtlety through his characters, often making them feel robotic, mechanical, and devoid of spontaneity. There is a reason why Tenet (2020), which I loved by the way, is many people’s least favourite film of his. People simply could not grasp it. The technicalities of the film overshadowed everything else, coupled with an over-convoluted plot that often felt convoluted for the bare sake of being convoluted, serving no real purpose beyond spectacle. Some people even argued that perhaps he made films this way because he wanted that elusive Oscar.
‎
‎The elusive Oscar finally came, and he picked "The Odyssey" as his next project and, from what we have seen so far, this appears to be the project where he has decided to relax his usual high technical standards and flex a bit stylistically. But I personally think he could not have picked a worse film to do this with.
‎
‎The Odyssey is perhaps one of the most important literary works from ancient Greek mythos, and if a filmmaker like Christopher Nolan is adapting it, there should be an air of seriousness and originality to it..nobody should think it is a parody. But the trailer and promotional materials released so far suggest otherwise. From the dull cinematography, to the game-like costumes, to the out-of-place dialogue for a period piece like this, everything feels oddly artificial and so so unlike Nolan.
‎
‎But perhaps the most obvious blunder so far is some of the casting choices, which scream unnecessary DEI. The elephant in the room is the casting of Lupita Nyong'o in the dual role of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. The argument can be made that the story is fictional and therefore subject to reinterpretation, but I still think the casting choice is wrong for reasons that are obvious enough not to require extensive explanation. And it begs the question..why do black actors continue accepting these obvious “pick-me-up” roles? What purpose does it serve? It certainly does their careers more harm than good.
‎
‎Misappropriation in casting used to happen far more often than many people realize, but the world has changed so much that you would never see white actors doing the reverse today. Jenny Slate had stepped down from her role on "Big Mouth", because she felt it was out of place for her, a white woman to be voicing a Black character, and it was recast to Ayo Edebiri. Lupita Nyong'o and Paapa Essiedu have only opened themselves up to vile rhetoric from racists. Elon Musk has been on Christopher Nolan’s case for the better part of a week just because of this casting discourse. Imagine such a charlatan speaking ill of the work of a famed film auteur like Nolan.
‎
‎Now, whether the film will perform well at the box office is not really in question. The IMAX tickets reportedly sold out months in advance, and mind you, this is largely off the strength of the Nolan brand alone. But it should still be said that no filmmaker is above making a bad film, not even him.
‎
‎I mean, Asghar Farhadi, one of my favourite directors, had seemingly never put a foot wrong, and yet his latest film was met with severe rebuke at Cannes last week and currently sits at an abysmal 18% on Rotten Tomatoes!. But then again, I would be a terrible gambler if I bet against Christopher Nolan. He has proven his mantle over and over again. Still, I hold far more fear for The Odyssey (2026) than excitement.
‎
‎Has my GOAT sacrificed his career for scraps from the woke table?
‎Only time will tell.
‎
‎Side note: On the subject of casting misappropriation, if they eventually make a sequel to "Michael" (2026) and cover the period where MJ transitioned to full on white, do they recast him with a white actor, or do they simply keep Jaafar Jackson and “leather him up” with makeup? 👀

abduleez1:
So many things wrong with The Odyssey. I was watching the trailer and wasn't really feeling anything. Unlike a Nolan film for me. I was indifferent to it.

The design, the cast, the dialogue just doesn't scream epic to me. That Cyclops I saw didn't move me one bit despite being happy with the fact that Nolan decided to add the fantasy elements.

As for Asghar Farhadi, bruh...... I was flabbergasted when I saw that score last week. I was like is this the famed Iranian director for films like A Hero, A Separation, The Salesman.
I am yet to watch his films but I know the man as well respected auteur. In fact, a maestro when it comes to international feature films.

I guess there's no good director who doesn't have a stale film. TENET was Nolan's.

This could be more catastrophic or very divisive.
Just two months away to see how it all unfolds.

Illusioneffect:
This before the movie even gets any reviews is weird ☺️

Illusioneffect:
Wish we could bet on it 😂😂😂 it closing off not reaching 900 million is absolutely preposterous. The lowest it can get is 950 million. Projections for Japan are through the roof, there's a high possibility of it doing 150 million in Japan alone😂😂. It's holding so well it's competing with end game and infinity war, just 20-24% recently ☺️. I'm sure it'll get to a billion let's watch and see broski

oyaskii:
Broooo... Christopher Nolan is casually flirting with career suicide but like you said, we have to wait and see...

The Cannes panel have been brutal this year, and they have had mixed reactions to so many flicks screened at the festival. For example The first reviews for "Hope" (2026) was that it was a chaotic mess with bad CGI and no story but the Asghar Farhadi bit shocked me the most...like how? 😩..Times have changed so much... it's easier to make a bad film than a good one actually in these current times 😞

abduleez1:
Lmao.... I haven't rated much films box office for first half of this year.
Ones I remember talking much about is Wuthering Heights and Michael. I talked about Project Hail Mary briefly doing $550-650mn+.

I missed Wuthering Heights prediction. Michael is still playing..... I'm betting less than a billion.
Not opening my account this year on solid ground, but who says there can't be a turnaround?

Most of the films I'm interested in their box office comes later this year. I'm still to adjust some predictions based on anticipation closer to release and data collection. There's many more films to look at later this year I'm yet to talk about.

Mirasteel:
Michael will surpass 1 billion, it's not one month yet and it has made $700 million plus in the box office, just imagine if it reaches 3 months.

GloriousGbola:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtsnToMAaPk?si=pPhEjbmR28aER-Ty


Beat this review if you can