BloodRayne Fails to Set Box Office on Fire

[fitbabits]

Much to no-one's surprise (excluding, perhaps, Dr. Boll), videogame-to-movie adaptation BloodRayne bombed at the box office - making only a paltry $1million.

Read more by checking out this article (http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/va/20060108/113675689900.html), courtesy of Yahoo! Movies (http://movies.yahoo.com).

Two newcomers failed to make the top-10, led by "Grandma's Boy," an intergenerational romantic comedy from Adam Sandler's production company. The 20th Century Fox release opened at No. 13 with just $2.9 million. Additionally, the video game-inspired "BloodRayne" earned about $1 million for its independent distributor, Romar Entertainment, according to a rival studio.
All in all a poor showing for game-related movies. Now someone please tell Boll to give it up for the sake of the mediums he claims to love so much - videogames and movies.

[ezra]

People paid to see this?

[fitbabits]

People paid to see this?
Yes, unfortunately so, and a lot of them are regulars here! Who probably have seen the movie twice already.

*shudders*

[ezra]

Yes, unfortunately so, and a lot of them post here!

Egads, and Gasp!

[EvilBob46]

Bloodrayne's average at RottenTomatoes: O SNAPS!!!! (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bloodrayne/)

[51|RandoM]

Usually, they often show some of the very best bits of a movie in the preview. Watching the preview for Bloodrayne, I can't see anybody going into it thinking it was going to be good.

I figure they went to see it just to see how incredibly bad it could be. Wonder what BK was thinking? Needs to fire his agent.

[spacerat100]

anyone who spent money on this peice of visual offal should be beaten

[JazGalaxy]

As much as I hate Boll, you kind of have to respect him. He makes the movies he wants to see. He, for some dumb reason, thinks that Pac Man would be better if it featured scandalous women and a Rammstein soundtrack. Other people don't think so, and with good reason. They aren't insane.

But calling Boll out for making movies that the public doesn't love is kind of the same as calling out Tim Schaefer for making Psychonauts. A game the public does not love.

[mkelehan]

Anyone know the per screen average?

Edit: found it. $457 for Friday! http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=bloodrayne.htm

By my calculations, assuming 7 shows per screen and $8/ticket, every showing on opening night had about 8 attendees. More people watched me play Castlevania last night.

[ezra]

But calling Boll out for making movies that the public doesn't love is kind of the same as calling out Tim Schaefer for making Psychonauts. A game the public does not love.

Please, please, please do not compare Tim Schaefer to Uwe Boll, for they are only similar in the most narrow of perceptions. Tim Schaefer is not in the gaming business because of a hole in german tax law that allows wealthy germans to save money by giving cash to him, mmmmk?

[bean19]

I just saw Grandma's Boy.

It is hilarious. Sandler really should have taken at least a supporting role in this to give it more exposure. Nick Swardson (I know I am probably spelling that wrong) is freaking hilarious.

[Qoz]

But calling Boll out for making movies that the public doesn't love is kind of the same as calling out Tim Schaefer for making Psychonauts. A game the public does not love.

It is not the same at all.

People do not want to see an Uwe Boll movie because he is so incredibly bad at making them. We have no clue as to what Uwe's motivation might be, but I highly doubt it is artistic. He include themes from all the popular movies and that suggests he is in it for the money - you cannot see he was involved in making the movie except for the fact, that it is incredibly poor. His movies are filled with cliche scenes ripping off others who did them better before him. If he was actually a tiny bit able, he would be just another hollywod director being succesfull at making the things hollywood execs think people want to pay for. We can poke fun at Uwe because he tries so badly to rake in the dollars (making cliche crap), but is so horrible at even that. It is incredible how he managed to get all these stars in the movie - he should retire from directing and concentrate on producing.

Tim Schafer is the opposite. I think Tim is perfectly capable of making games that could make money. He is very talented. He could have stripped/changed some things in psychonauts to make it more accesible, but he didn't. He believed in his design and it IS a great game. We can feel bad for Tim because he actually made something new, unique and artistic that sadly didn't make money.

So a recap... Uwe bad. Tim good.
;)

[kickmybum]

So... did anyone here actually SEE Bloodrayne? if so, post something good about it. I'm curious if there was anything good about it.

[eth3rton]

I'm wondering if HALO will recieve the same Negative "another game related movie" Light and do poorly in the Theater. I know Peter Jackson is making it but after King Kong my faith in him is little shaken to say the least..... :(

Although even if the people (gamers) that bought and played Halo just went and seen it that would still be a decent take.... :D

[Balthasar]

But calling Boll out for making movies that the public doesn't love is kind of the same as calling out Tim Schaefer for making Psychonauts. A game the public does not love.

No it isn't. Boll's movies have no merit or intrinsic value to them. It's not at all the same.

[thecrazyd]

So... did anyone here actually SEE Bloodrayne? if so, post something good about it. I'm curious if there was anything good about it.
It was HILLARIOUS! Billy Zane deserves the Academy Award for "Most Obvious Wig," and Michelle Rodriguez's (who plays Billy Zane's daugther, despite all logic) half assed attempt at an English accent is consistently entertaining. If you have a sense of humor, unlike most posters here, it is a good bit of fun.

[Hieremias]

He, for some dumb reason, thinks that Pac Man would be better if it featured scandalous women and a Rammstein soundtrack.

And you don't?

[agentgray]

Anyone know the per screen average?

Edit: found it. $457 for Friday! http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=bloodrayne.htm

By my calculations, assuming 7 shows per screen and $8/ticket, every showing on opening night had about 8 attendees. More people watched me play Castlevania last night.
Even though it is Sunday, that's the best line I've read this week.

[Zanzibar]

I'm wondering if HALO will recieve the same Negative "another game related movie" Light and do poorly in the Theater. I know Peter Jackson is making it but after King Kong my faith in him is little shaken to say the least..... :(

Although even if the people (gamers) that bought and played Halo just went and seen it that would still be a decent take.... :D

My God, it all makes sense now. Peter Jackson is secretly paying Uwe Boll to direct crappy videogame movies, just so that people can say "'Halo' is the best video game adaptation EVER...BAR NONE!"

[TheEpicOfTyler]

I didn't even know there was a BloodRayne movie.

[Balthasar]

My God, it all makes sense now. Peter Jackson is secretly paying Uwe Boll to direct crappy videogame movies, just so that people can say "'Halo' is the best video game adaptation EVER...BAR NONE!"
Peter Jackson is not directing Halo. His next directing project will likely be The Lovely Bones. He is Executive Producer on the Halo project.

[Zanzibar]

Peter Jackson is not directing Halo. His next directing project will likely be The Lovely Bones. He is Executive Producer on the Halo project.

Yeah, I actually knew that. I was suggesting that Boll is getting directing jobs for Bloodrayne etc. through Jackson just to make the video game adaptation genre worse and worse, so that even if Jackson's 'Halo' (whoever directs it) is even the remotest bit entertaining, it'll stand head and shoulders above the rest of the genre.

[EvilBob46]

Peter Jackson is not directing Halo. His next directing project will likely be The Lovely Bones. He is Executive Producer on the Halo project.

Zanzibar never said Jackson is directing the Halo movie.

[Balthasar]

Yeah, I actually knew that. I was suggesting that Boll is getting directing jobs for Bloodrayne etc. through Jackson just to make the video game adaptation genre worse and worse, so that even if Jackson's 'Halo' (whoever directs it) is even the remotest bit entertaining, it'll stand head and shoulders above the rest of the genre.
Whoops, my mistake.

[Zanzibar]

Whoops, my mistake.

S'ok, I should have let it go. Nothing worse than trying to explain a lame joke ;)

[Averic]

The bloodrayne trailer is hilarious. Throughout the whole trailer you hear things like:
A Hero, A wizard, a warrior, a father, a daughter, a mighty leader, a prophet, a guardian, A Land... Ruled by Evil, A secret society.

Haha So bad.

[fushi]

Bloodrayne's average at RottenTomatoes: O SNAPS!!!! (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bloodrayne/)
I love how the only positive review has this quote:
"the perfect video game to film adaptation, complete with level bosses and magical power-ups."
-- Stefan Halley, HERO REALM

His obliviousness is almost too cute! I can almost picture his thoughtprocess as he was watching the movie:
Bosses and powerups?? = VERY ELABORATE VIDEOGAME REFERENCE = :mindblown:

[Kelegacy]

It was HILLARIOUS! Billy Zane deserves the Academy Award for "Most Obvious Wig," and Michelle Rodriguez's (who plays Billy Zane's daugther, despite all logic) half assed attempt at an English accent is consistently entertaining. If you have a sense of humor, unlike most posters here, it is a good bit of fun.

I have a beautiful sense of humor, but I think sitting through this movie would be like watching a porno of my parents doing it, with a special guest appearance of my grandfather coming in massaging his trouser snake and crooning "awww, yeah" in an aroused tone.

[Lint of Death]

Everyone: go to the official movie website and, on the Trailer menu, watch the special "bloody" one. It's so funny.

[Kelegacy]

I saw this e-interview (http://www.gametab.com/news/457816/) on 1UP, with Uwe Boll. Read it and laugh. Read it and realize that even the lowliest retard can achieve his dreams. If this guy can direct, I can too.

[dead]

Ah.... all of uwe boll's movies are hilariously bad

[PacoTaco]

guys... uwe boll makes horrible movies on purpose.

There's a german tax incentive that was passed by their government in order to bolster the german movie industry... in order to encourage investors, they made it to where if a movie bombs in the box office, the german government actually compensates the movie makers and funders by delaying and relieving the tax burden of the wealthy german investors...

Uwe is exploiting this policy by purposefully making bad video game movies that have no chance of earning back the money spent on the movie, and as a result, making him rich and his investors very happy with their tax breaks. The best way to hurt him, ironically, would be if one of his crappy movies becomes a cult smash.

Read more about it here:

http://www.cinemablend.com/feature.php?id=209

[Beelzebud]

Grandma's Boy and Bloodrayne both looked like utter crap. I wouldn't watch either if they were on free TV...

[Kefkataran]

So... did anyone here actually SEE Bloodrayne? if so, post something good about it. I'm curious if there was anything good about it.


I'll tell you what's good about it: UWE BOLL IS A FUCKING GENIUS. You guys heard it here first!

His obliviousness is almost too cute! I can almost picture his thoughtprocess as he was watching the movie:
Bosses and powerups?? = VERY ELABORATE VIDEOGAME REFERENCE = :mindblown:

If you actually read that review, he's not saying it's a good film, and he's actually saying it's bad for doing this.

About that IGN interview...

UB: no. HARRY and Quint are retards

Hahaha. It's so good to see SOMEONE in the film industry say that.

The best way to hurt him, ironically, would be if one of his crappy movies becomes a cult smash.

[TrackZero]

But calling Boll out for making movies that the public doesn't love is kind of the same as calling out Tim Schaefer for making Psychonauts. A game the public does not love.

Whoa there. Bad analogy. Psychonauts wasn't a commercial success for reasons other than the game itself. Firstly, if I go and ask someone "hey, have you played Psychonauts yet?" it's not that they think it's an uninteresting game, they simply never even heard of it. Anyone how does try the game enjoys it at the least.

[DeadPixel]

There is no suprise here. Once again, no reviews on rottentomatoes the day before BloodRayne came out, which is basically an idicator of total suckage.

Is it possible Uwe Boll is given money as a tax write off? Either that or he is exceptionally good at kissing ass.

[JazGalaxy]

guys... uwe boll makes horrible movies on purpose.

There's a german tax incentive that was passed by their government in order to bolster the german movie industry... in order to encourage investors, they made it to where if a movie bombs in the box office, the german government actually compensates the movie makers and funders by delaying and relieving the tax burden of the wealthy german investors...

Uwe is exploiting this policy by purposefully making bad video game movies that have no chance of earning back the money spent on the movie, and as a result, making him rich and his investors very happy with their tax breaks. The best way to hurt him, ironically, would be if one of his crappy movies becomes a cult smash.

Read more about it here:

http://www.cinemablend.com/feature.php?id=209


That's not remotely the case. First of all, we have this same law here in America. If you've ever heard anyone talk about a "tax writeoff", this is what they are talking about. When the government wants something done, but doesn't or can't actually spend money on it, it will allow private entities to use their money for that purpose and then not pay taxes on it. For instance, Hurricane Katrina. If you donated money to the Hurricane Relief funds, you can write that off of your taxes. We talked about this ad naseum in my theatre classes because it's the easiest way to get funding for a play house. If you start a play house, and you can get someone to invest in it, you can in certain circumstances get that investment written off of your taxes.

This is the same thing that the german investors are doing with Uwe Boll. The goverment wants to start a german hollywood, and they want people to make films to achieve their goal. THE INVESTORS WOULD LOVE IT IF HE SUCCEEDED. If germany created a german hollywood, they would be just as happy as American film investors. There is no reason they wouldn't. The write off, however, works in their favor as well.

Boll takes advantage of this to make the movies he wants to make. It has nothing to do with him intentionally making bad movies. If you read about him, he basically is the equivalent of a hyperactive A.D.D twelve year old, and he makes his movies accordingly.

He's terrible, yeah, but any comic book fans in here can attest to going into the comic book store and seeing racks of small press comic books that are the equivalent of a Uwe Boll movie. Am I wrong? Some people simply think that crap is cool,and with no one to tell them otherwise, they make it and enjoy what they have made.

[Kefkataran]

He's terrible, yeah, but any comic book fans in here can attest to going into the comic book store and seeing racks of small press comic books that are the equivalent of a Uwe Boll movie. Am I wrong? Some people simply think that crap is cool,and with no one to tell them otherwise, they make it and enjoy what they have made.

Actually, as a comic book fan, I think you're way off base here. I don't really see how indie comics have any sort of relation to the terrible big-budget flicks Uwe Boll is making. And while some indie comics are terrible, sure, there's also plenty of gold-start stuff. I just don't see the connection here at all.

[Balthasar]

guys... uwe boll makes horrible movies on purpose.

There's a german tax incentive that was passed by their government in order to bolster the german movie industry... in order to encourage investors, they made it to where if a movie bombs in the box office, the german government actually compensates the movie makers and funders by delaying and relieving the tax burden of the wealthy german investors...

Uwe is exploiting this policy by purposefully making bad video game movies that have no chance of earning back the money spent on the movie, and as a result, making him rich and his investors very happy with their tax breaks. The best way to hurt him, ironically, would be if one of his crappy movies becomes a cult smash.
That sounds suspiciously like the plot of "The Producers."

[PacoTaco]

"First of all, we have this same law here in America"

Actually, we have a similar program here in the US but the one in Germany doesn't have any restrictions on it like we have here. Do some research on it and you'll find that it's a big problem in Germany and a lot of interested parties are trying to get it changed and put restrictions on it so Boll and others can't exploit it.

While it is true that investors would do good business if the German film industry got huge, they didn't get that much money by being stupid. They expect a certain result when they invest in a Uwe Boll movie and Boll delivers the goods. If the movie makes any sort of profit, the investors have to pay tax. Therefore, the investors do well if the movie does very poorly or very well. They get screwed on a mediocre release. So, as there's no way they're expecting him to release a huge success, it's pretty obvious that they're exploiting the opportunity for a huge tax break. It's a huge scam, and the joke is on US moviegoers who want to see a decent video game movie for once.

The funny thing is, it really is like the plot of The Producers, an analogy that the hundreds of articles written about it have referenced.

[TKO]

I'm wondering if HALO will recieve the same Negative "another game related movie" Light and do poorly in the Theater. I know Peter Jackson is making it but after King Kong my faith in him is little shaken to say the least..... :(
You didn't Like Kong? Man, I thought it was brilliant. I have the original movie, but can't say I remember it at all well (heck, I didn't even remember there were dinosaurs) :) ..I just found the new movie engrossing from start to finish. The Ape was brilliant, Jack Black was the usual brilliant Jack Black, the girl (whoever she was) was a good choice for the part ..I didn't like the choice of the writer, but he did his part well. Oh, and the 'natives' on the island: damn creepy, oh yeah.

The death of the ape felt a bit "Lord of the Rings" with its sweeping shots. But that was probably the only thing that felt a bit odd.

Although even if the people (gamers) that bought and played Halo just went and seen it that would still be a decent take.... :D
With the huge following the game Halo has, I'd be very suprised if the movie doesn't do well. Half the publicity is already done through game sales.

[net7runner]

I have a beautiful sense of humor, but I think sitting through this movie would be like watching a porno of my parents doing it, with a special guest appearance of my grandfather coming in massaging his trouser snake and crooning "awww, yeah" in an aroused tone.

<3 That made my day.

[JazGalaxy]

Actually, as a comic book fan, I think you're way off base here. I don't really see how indie comics have any sort of relation to the terrible big-budget flicks Uwe Boll is making. And while some indie comics are terrible, sure, there's also plenty of gold-start stuff. I just don't see the connection here at all.

I feel they have relation because many times they are of the exact same quality, large budget or not. There are two kinds of storytellers. Those who tell well crafted stories for the sake of telling stories, and those who tell their personal fantasies in story form not quite realising that nobody cares about their personal fantasies. These are the stories that usually feature some sort of butch "badass" action hero who is completely unlikeable and a jerk, yet women find him irresistable because he's the imagiary projectoin of the writer himself. The women are idealized fantasy women with no personality that exist outside the sexual realm. Then, anything else in the book is a smattering of whatever else the writer thinks is cool at the time. A good number of 90's image books were JUST like this, and I'm sure you know as a comic fan. Uwe Bolls movies are nearly the same.

I can't tell you how many people I've heard say they wish halo was "darker". Personally I think that's the dumbest thing in the world, but these people would rather see the game have a Slipknot soundtrack, topless Cortana, aliens who's faces explode when you punch them. If they made Halo, that's what it would be. They just don't have that power.

Boll, unfortutely, does.

I'm not saying I like the guy or that he has any talent, I'm just saying he's doing what he wants and making the kind of movies he wants and I think that's somewhat inspiring in a perverse sort of way. If more people with more talent did what he does, maybe Hollywood wouldn't suck like it does.

[Last of the Red Hot Mamas]

While it is true that investors would do good business if the German film industry got huge, they didn't get that much money by being stupid. They expect a certain result when they invest in a Uwe Boll movie and Boll delivers the goods. If the movie makes any sort of profit, the investors have to pay tax. Therefore, the investors do well if the movie does very poorly or very well. They get screwed on a mediocre release.

No, they don't. The tax break in question isn't contingent on the film losing money. Yes, they get a writeoff if the movie loses money. But if the movie makes money they still get the writeoff, plus whatever profits the movie might bring in. Sure, they have to pay taxes on those profits, but they still get a writeoff equal to the amount they would've received had the movie lost money. In other words, money-losing movie = writeoff, money-making movie = writeoff + taxable profits. The writeoff minimizes the risk of investing in a money-losing film, but it doesn't give any special treatment to bombs that profitable movies don't also receive (Monster, for example, benefited from the writeoff despite making loads of money).

[Shodan2020]

I didn't even know there was a BloodRayne movie.

WITH BEN KINGSLEY as some WIZEND OLD KING!

[Kefkataran]

These are the stories that usually feature some sort of butch "badass" action hero who is completely unlikeable and a jerk, yet women find him irresistable because he's the imagiary projectoin of the writer himself. The women are idealized fantasy women with no personality that exist outside the sexual realm. Then, anything else in the book is a smattering of whatever else the writer thinks is cool at the time. A good number of 90's image books were JUST like this, and I'm sure you know as a comic fan.

Yeah, I know what you're talking about... and those books sound a LOT more similar to what the DC, Marvel, and Image (the big three if ever there were in comic books) are/have put out rather than what you'll find from most indie publishers. Small label books tend to be more reserved, artistic, and experimental. This isn't always the case, of course, but still.

[RMan]

Uwe is exploiting this policy by purposefully making bad video game movies that have no chance of earning back the money spent on the movie, and as a result, making him rich and his investors very happy with their tax breaks. The best way to hurt him, ironically, would be if one of his crappy movies becomes a cult smash.

Now, I don’t really understand the tax law fully, and don’t really intend to, but I doubt this is accurate. I think this guy just sucks, but keep in mind that Lord of the Rings and Tomb Raider were also largely funded the same way. Although Tomb Raider was likely assumed to fail, there’s little chance that the people funding Lord of the Rings didn’t expect it to make their money back eventually (It was the highest selling book next to the Bible, likely still beats Potter, but not sure, no matter what it was one of the hottest IPs you could ever hope to get). My understanding of it was that it’s a way to defer taxes to a later date if the film was successful (in which case the tax dollar is worth less money) or lose the money on the film (which would have otherwise gone to taxes anyway).

In short, they could pay money into taxes, or pay into movies, and possibly make more money later. Again, I could be wrong about the details of the law, but for certain they don’t try to make bad movies. IMO, they really lucked out with LotR since it was a property that required such a huge budget that likely no “normal” studio would fund it, but in general the movies are funded independently and don’t have the infrastructure and clout that major studios have, so that’s why they generally get less than impressive scripts, directors, and movies.

[Oddmaker]

I thought it was pritty good :P

[absolut taco]

Usually, they often show some of the very best bits of a movie in the preview. Watching the preview for Bloodrayne, I can't see anybody going into it thinking it was going to be good.

I figure they went to see it just to see how incredibly bad it could be. Wonder what BK was thinking? Needs to fire his agent.
There are girls kissing in the trailer!

[absolut taco]

I love how the only positive review has this quote:
"the perfect video game to film adaptation, complete with level bosses and magical power-ups."
-- Stefan Halley, HERO REALM

His obliviousness is almost too cute! I can almost picture his thoughtprocess as he was watching the movie:
Bosses and powerups?? = VERY ELABORATE VIDEOGAME REFERENCE = :mindblown:
Usually Wireless Magazine gives these suckmovies the only good review, and are often quoted in ads and TV spots. Who fucking cares what WM, if it even exists, thinks of movies.

[Captain Awesome]

lol, Gigli and Catwoman have a new contender.

[NeuroMan42]

Is anyone REALLY surprised that a Uwe-Vomit flick is not making money.

I mean really!