Why did Dredd fail at the Box Office

 

Dredd is a film that is about a very violent and a very futuristic city where the police are called judges and have lots of authority. They have the right to kill someone whenever they like as long as they deserved it from a crime they have committed. The main character in the film who is ‘Judge Dredd’ teams up with a trainee judge on her first day out in the field, little does she know it is going to be the hardest mission of all time, while ‘Judge Dredd’ decides whether she passes her test. The gang they try and take down is one from Beach Trees tower block, which makes and sells and also abuses the use of a reality-altering drug called slow-mo. This drug makes you see time at 1% out of the normal 100%. This film doesn’t take long until it hits the

main part of the story that drags on for some time.

Pre-Production

The film’s producer was someone called Alex Garland who has produced other films such as; 28 days later and Sunshine, which are totally different film to Dredd. The distributors for the film were; Entertainment Film, Lionsgate and Distributors. Lionsgate are a Canadian-American entertainment company who has distributed loads of other films such as The Hunger Games. This film was a massive hit, so Alex Garland may have thought this would have ben a great choice of distributors. The chairman of Lionsgate is a man named Mark Rachesky, CEO is Jon Feltheimer and vice chairman is Michael Burns. The films script writer was by someone called John Wagner who has wrote about things in the past before so it was a bit of a mystery on why he was chosen to write a script to do with the future. Lionsgate announced that they had a three picture deal with IM global while in 2010. IM Global is one of the leading film financing, sales and distribution companies in the world. The companies owner is a man called Stuart Ford who is the CEO. DNA Films is a British film production company who are owned by two men called Duncan Kenworthy and Andrew Macdonald. They have a very close relationship and also, they partner with Fox. The funding that DNA provided for the production of the film was $50 million and Fox paid half towards that sum on money aswell.

The character for Dredd was announced and it was Carl Urban who was going to play the role of ‘Judge Dredd’ who is the main character in the film. Comic-Con was the place that he announced he would be playing this role and it was to the Collider.com web site. The film had a good start as it made $45 million in pre-sales which in my opinion is pretty good. Also, a distributer even paid $7 million just to show the film. Dredd was filmed in South Africa at the Johannesburg and Cape Town studios. Also, the set was only on three floors not the two-hundred it shows n the film.

Production

The law govern is the gun that Judge Dredd himself uses. This is a gun which only fires when he is the one using the gun, also it has lots of different ammunitions which can be automated into use with just a command of his voice. The law govern was first designed back in the 20^th Century in the year of 1995. It originally appeared in the comic book. Also, it appeared in the first make of the film Dredd. The reality altering drug that is called slow-mo was first designed at the same time as the film ‘Never Let Me Go’ by Jon Thurn. The film makers of Dredd felt no pressure at all by the film being certified at an 18. The first day of filming the film Dredd started out on the 12^th November 2010 and then carried out until around 13 weeks later which was when they finished the filming Dredd. The cameras that were used to film Dredd were the RED MX cameras and the S12k’s.

Post-Production

There was a huge issue that occurred once it came to the editing side of the filming of Dredd. This was that the main editor, Travis was prohibited in the editing process as there were creative disagreements between some of the production team and the production executives.

 

Distribution and Marketing

The film Dredd wasn’t shown in loads of cinemas as the majority of the viewings were in 3D. Dredd was shown in 2,506 locations and cinemas and up to 2,200 of those were shown in 3D. The producers wanted to promote Dredd in 3D and by doing so they had a whole section which was all about the film at Comic-Con. This was for under 25’s, and this was the way to get the film noticed. The producers wanted the film to be known viral and to do that LG partnered with other publisher 2000AD and Motion Comic which they then created an online comic strip for people to see that there was going to be a prequel to the original film Dredd. There is an event which is an annual film festival in Austin Texas which was founded in 2005; this is called ‘Fantastic Fest’. This would appeal to the films target audience as there will be other films similar to Dredd there. Also, it will appeal to people who like any type of film which takes their interest. Dredd’s marketing campaign was pretty good as they had made a trailer which won awards. The award that the films marketing campaign won was the Golden trailer award.

The budget for Dredd was only $45 million which doesn’t make it a block buster or anywhere near it as they would have to have a budget of double that just to make it close to it being a blockbuster film. However, the film grossed $41 million at the box office which shows that they didn’t make much money there. There was an unusual step that the producers took to get people to see the film which was to completely get rid of the option of being able to watch the film in 2D and that it must be viewed in 3D. There are people who are physically unable to watch films in 3D and that figure is 18% of people. This then makes you wonder why the producers did this as it already cuts out an audience for viewing the film. An unfortunate thing occurred when Dredd was being released and that was that a film called ‘Raid 2’ had been released shortly before that and the two films story lines were identical to eachother. However, this all happened by an accident and it wasn’t anyone stealing ideas on their films. The position occupied by the film Dredd in the DVD charts was 1^st place. The films DVD in America managed to sell 650,000 copies which isn’t that much at all. The amount of money that equated to was just over $10.5 million which isn’t much considering that was all of their DVD sales in America.

 

Why it failed

Dredd made a huge mistake I feel in that they produced the film in 3D instead of the normal 2D. I feel that this was a bad decision by the producers as 18% of people cannot physically watch films in 3D. Another reason is that viewers will have to pay a few dollars or pounds extra which may be too much for viewers or they feel that after that price they would rather see another movie that is on show at the cinemas at that particular time. Also, to watch movies in 3D you have to wear 3D glasses which people can find very annoying to sit through the duration of the film with glasses on which is uncomfortable for viewers who don’t normally wear glasses which is including myself. Another reason as to why Dredd failed was that it was certified as an 18 at the cinemas. This then narrowed down the potential viewers who can see this film at the cinemas by a considerable amount. Also, I believe that most adults would rather watch a blockbuster film in 3D that they know they will get their money’s worth for, rather than watching a prequel to a futuristic film that never took off in the first time it was produced. With all of these reasons in mind, I feel as though they were then aiming this film now at a niche market which didn’t help sales. My final reason as to why this film failed was that the film Raid 2 was released shortly before Dredd was released and was a better version of Dredd anyway which also again would have decreased sales.

Comparison to the Avengers

These two films were similar to eachother in a roundabout was as they were both futuristic.

The Avengers had a budget of $220 million in the making of the film which was huge and it was also huge in comparison to Dredd’s budget which was $45 million. The producer of The Avengers was by a man named Kevin Feige who was a well-known producer just like Dredd’s producer who was Alex Garland.  The cast members of The Avengers were way more attractive than Dredd’s cast list as The Avengers had; Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Evans, Robert Downey, JR and Mark Ruffalo. This was compared to Dredd’s cast list of whom it featured; Carl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Wood Harris and Lena Headly. The actors were much better in The Avengers cast list than Dredd’s as you can see. I believe that this had a major impact as to why The avengers did much better at the box office than Dredd managed to do.

Ethnicity -

An ethnicity, or ethnic group, is a socially-defined category of people who identify with each other based on common social, cultural, or national experience. Membership of an ethnic group tends to be defined by a shared cultural heritage, ancestry, myth of origins, history, homeland, language, or even ideology, and manifests itself through symbolic systems such as religion, mythology and ritual, cuisine, dressing style, physical appearance, etc.

Black people -

Black people are normally stereotyped as thugs, thieves and people to be afraid of. An example of this is in the TV series ‘Topboy’ where the main characters are black and it follows the rise of local drug deals which they are the ring leaders of. This stereotypes against black people as it isn’t a white or Asian person selling drugs. 

Another example of this is from series 3 and 4 in 'skins' where are black boy called Thomas comes form Africa and makes money through selling weed at a club and his business gets bigger and bigger and his family then comes over and lives with him in England. This again stereotypes black people because it is a black person selling the drugs, also it stereotypes black people with immigration witch is a common stereotype. 

Muslim -

An Example of a typical muslim is Amwar of  the TV drama, 'skins' he is a muslim teenager who is rebellious and does not act by the rule of his religion and does not want to be a muslim but he has to do it to impress and please his family. He also has a lot of pressure on him to do well at school and his parents expect him to get the best of grades. These are two stereotypes of muslim teenagers one being rebellious and not actually wanting to be Muslims and just doing it to please his parents as they have expectations of him. The other stereotype being that his parent except him to do really well at school. 
Another example of a stereotype of muslims is terrorism. Since 911 and Bin laden and various other muslim extremist attacks a lot of muslim people are stereotyped as terrorist. An example of this is in the film lions which is a film about a group of muslims learning to be terrorist and trying to do an extremist act. This stereotypes against muslim people as it is not another Ethnicity.

Tony representation


When I first stated to watch the first episode of the TV drama skins from the off I see the zoom camera angle as it slowly moves away from his face and then we see him laying in bed. You also notice that he doesn't have one single crease in his bed and that he is already awake before his alarm. This shows that Tony has OCD and that he is very structural and organised. Once we get to know Tony we see that he is a very rude character not just to friends but to his family aswell, especially his dad. Tony is a very controlling person and is in particular to his close friend Tony. He isn't a nice teenager as he takes drugs and smokes a lot. Tony is very anti-social and treats a lot of people like dirt, including his girlfriend who he nicknames 'nips' because he thinks she has strange nipples which isn't exactly a confidence booster.



















Tony is a very lustful character and is part of a very strange friendship group. He has Anwar who is a horny muslim, Chris who comes across as a player as he is pictured with a girl in bed, and he has max who is a gay dancer. Tony is the ringleader of that group and always likes to feel in control. He is a passive aggressive who is popular but has a rebellious side to him. Tony objectifies his girlfriend and behaves very badly toward her, not treating her right at all.

Basic Camera Angles, Shots and Movement

Basic Camera Angles - Over the shoulder shot









Basic Camera Angles - High angle shot




Basic Camera Angles - Low angle shot

Camera movement - Tracking shot




Camera movement - Tilt shot


Camera movement - panning shot



Camera movement - zoom

Camera movement - arc shot


Camera movement - crane shot


Camera shot - extreme long shot


Camera shot - long shot


Camera long shot -

Les Miserables

Development:

Where the idea came from?   The idea came from the musical which was made way before the movie
Which studio agreed to make the film?   Working Title Films, Relativity Media and Cameron Mackintosh LTD
Who owns that studio?   Ryan Kavanaugh, Colbeck Capital and Ron Burkle own Relativity Media
What was the films budget?   $65 milion
Who was the films producer?   Tim Bevan, Debra Hayward, Cameron Mackintosh and Eric Fellner  

Pre Production?


Who wrote the script? Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil
Who directed the film?   Tom Hopper

Who starred in the film?   Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Sacha Baron Cohen and Amanda Seyfried
In which country was it filmed?   UK and France
Which locations were used?   Greenwich, London, Chatham, Winchester, Portsmouth and in Gourdon and Alpes-Maritimes which is in France.

Production

How long did filming take?  
Which cameras were used to film?   35mm spherical package of ARRICAM lite and studio cameras with ARRI/ZEISS master primes lenses

Post Production?

Who was the films editor?   Melanie Oliver and Chris Dickens
When was the film released in the UK and the USA?   UK - 11th January 2013     USA - 25th December 2012
What special effects were used?   It featured SFX and CG visual effects
Find three marketing campaigns used for the film.   Trailers in theatres, posters and TV adverts
Find 5 film reviews of the film and then review them?   Reviews for the film were mixed such as one review said they knew they had made a mistake watching it within the first few minuets, another said they found it incredible and had nothing negative to say about it. The third review said even though they don't like musicals they found Les Miserable amazing, the fourth one said that the 'movie captured a live theatre production on screen for all cinema goers who never had the chance to enjoy a live theatre production' and finally the last one said they were shocked at the amount of positive reviews because they found the film 'dreadful'.
How much did the film make at the UK box office?   It made £8.1 million in its opening weekend
How much did the film make at the USA box office?   $148,809,770 million
How much did the film make in total?   $441,809770 million
How many DVD versions exist?  
When was the film released on DVD/Blu-Ray?   22nd March 2013














Avengers






























































































Production:


The idea of the film came from the marvel comics
Marvel studios agreed to make the film

Avi Arad owns marvel studios and the budget for the film was £220 million and the film  produced by Kevin Feige 

Pre Production:

The script was written by Zak Penn and Joss Whedon.

The film was also directed by Joss Whedon.

The people who stared in the film where;

Robert Downey,Jr.

Chris Evans

Mark Ruffalo

Chris Hemsworth

Scarlett Johanson 

Jeremy Rennerbigigitututut

Tom Hiddleston

Clark Gregg

Cobie Smulders 

Stellan Skarsgard

Samuel L. Jackson  

The film was filmed in the USA. And the Filming locations were;  

Parma, Ohio 

Public Square Cleveland  

Wright pattersons air force base, Ohio 

Cincinnati, Ohio
East 9th street, Cleveland
Plum brook station, Sandusky
Albuquerque studios
Wilmington, Ohio
Lake side court house, Cleveland
New Mexico
Ameritrust, Cleveland
Cedar Avenue and Ashland road, Cleveland 

NASA glan centre
Los Angles, California
Pittsburg Pennsylvania
Raleigh Manhattan studios
Grumman aerospace centre, New york
New york city centre. 

Production:

The filming for the mvid began on April 25th and finished on August 28th

There were a few different cameras used to shoot the film these include the canon EOS 5D mark 2 and the Cannon EOS 7D SLR. some of that shots there were high speed were shot with the arrifflex 435. 

Post Production:

 The film was edited by Jeffery Ford and Lisa Lassek.

In the UK the film was released on the 26th April and in the us the film was released on May the 4th 2011.   

All together there were 2200 special effects used in the film. A company called ILM were involved and did many of the special effects. 

One review said "The avengers have been assemble and, for the most part, they fit together superbly. A joyous blend of heroism and humour that raises the stakes even as it maintains a firm grip on what makes there individual heroes tick." http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=136194
The Guardian said that "For me, no superhero crew with out Kick-Ass's Hit girl could ever be truly awesome, but this one i.e. registering strongly on the awesome-o-meter nonetheless. Its an enjoyable absurd and absurdly enjoyable extravaganza, both delirious and surrealist. http://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/apr/26/avengers-assemble-review
Another review said "with great power comes great banter in writer/director Joss Whendon's blockbuster multiplier, which isn't the best superhero movie ever - but might well be the funniest"http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/the-avengers-assemble
IGN said "We can all rest. They pulled it off! Marvels The Avengers is everything we've been hoping for an exiting superhero team-up film packed with memorable moments. http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/04/27/the-avengers-review
Another review said "The Avengers has it all. And then some. Six superheroes for the price of one ticket: Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow and the Hulk. It's also the blockbuster I saw in my head when I imagined a movie that brought together the idols of the Marvel world in one shiny, stupendously exciting package. It's Transformers with a brain, a heart and a working sense of humor. Suck on that, Michael Bay."http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/the-avengers-20120430
There were a few different marketing campaigns involved in the avengers, one was that all the marvel films leading up to the avengers were building up to it and acted as trailers for the film. 

Another one was that there were different teasers and trailers being released up to the released date. Also there was a big premier for the film that built up a status for the film.  
The Film at US box office made $200.3 million and in the UK it made $25.5 million and overall now has made 641.8 million world wide.The film was released on DVD and blu-ray on the 25th september 2012.