Frankenweenie Forum

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Apparently, most or all of Tim Burton's Frankenweenie is going to be black-and-white. Wow! The last black-and-white movie to get nationwide release was The Artist, and that only happened when it was clear it would win the Oscars. And it flopped!

I can't believe this is happening. I am super-psyched for the picture, but I am still shocked at this fact.

EDIT: The Artist flopped when it first went into nationwide release. After it actually won the Academy Awards it made good money.

Well the original short film that Burton made like 30 years ago was in black and white so I'm guessing he wanted to stay true to the aesthetic of the short film.

@RockinKemosabe said:

Well the original short film that Burton made like 30 years ago was in black and white so I'm guessing he wanted to stay true to the aesthetic of the short film.

he did get fired and sued for making that film lol

@VioletEyedDragon: Wait, what? The Artist made 44 million domestically, and 80ish in foreign markets. On a 15 million dollar budget. This is a black and white SILENT film, released in 2011, that made almost 130 MILLION DOLLARS. How is that a flop at all?

@litrock said:

@VioletEyedDragon: Wait, what? The Artist made 44 million domestically, and 80ish in foreign markets. On a 15 million dollar budget. This is a black and white SILENT film, released in 2011, that made almost 130 MILLION DOLLARS. How is that a flop at all?

thanks for catching me on that one. While when it first went to nationwide release The Artist flopped, I just researched and found out that it made a ton of money after it actually won the Academy Awards.

@VioletEyedDragon: Don't worry about it. I just knew that wasn't right, because I had kind of kept tabs on its box office because I hate it, so every bit of money it makes just proves to me that if you make something saccharine enough it's DESTINED to make money.

Yes, it's a sickness.

@litrock said:

@VioletEyedDragon: Don't worry about it. I just knew that wasn't right, because I had kind of kept tabs on its box office because I hate it, so every bit of money it makes just proves to me that if you make something saccharine enough it's DESTINED to make money.

Yes, it's a sickness.

wow, hate?!? I didn't think it was the year's best picture--or even one of its top ten--but I didn't hate it. I see your point, though--it was a little simplistic.

@Ghost_of_GhostDad said:

Who gives a shit? The Artist bombed because it stank of Oscar-bait pretension and was a foreign film.

I don't think it being a foreign film had anything to do with it. It was in English and took place in America.

@VioletEyedDragon: I have a particularly negative review somewhere on the site, if you care to dig for it. I expound upon my problems at length, and even outside of that appraisal, the awards that were later heaped upon it just made it so much worse for me. Proved everything pessimistic I think about awards.

While The Artist's highest weekly gross came the week after the Oscars, it still made 28 million dollars (64% of it's domestic gross) before it won Best Picture. I find it hard pressed to say that it "flopped" before the Oscars. Also keep in mind that The Artist was limited to around 1000 theaters for its entire run. I would say that that fact, and the fact that it was a silent film with a limited marketing budget was the reasons why it made how much money it made, rather than the fact that it was in black and white. I personally don't believe that black and white is an immediate turn off for movie viewers. Yes, Schindler's List was released 20 years ago, but that black and white film made 320 million dollars.

@Suedehead: Both of those had overwhelmingly positive critical praise (and both ended up winning the Oscars). The former was financed to be marketed towards the art-house audience and had little marketing budget and the latter was financed mostly by Spielberg and people who wanted to remember the Holocaust (they didn't expect to make their budget back).

It could be that Frankenweenie makes money. I just think it is a bit out of the ordinary.

@litrock: Ill go find it. :)

@VioletEyedDragon: I personally don't believe that Frankenweenie will make very much money, but not because its in B&W. First off Burton's animated features don't connect with kids and families very well. Corpse Bride did manage to make over 100 million dollars, but that was in 2005. I just don't believe that Tim Burton's name holds as much weight for moviegoers like it used to because he has really only made one worthwhile film in the last decade (Big Fish). I feel as though the general public is tired of seeing Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter dress up and act goofy in "weird" Tim Burton movies and because of this Burton's brand is beginning to turn sour. I'm predicting that Dark Shadows will bomb hard and Frankenweenie will suffer because of it.

@Suedehead: could be. You're right that aside from Big Fish most of Burton's stuff pretty poor quality. I still hope this is good. It is the kind of thing Burton is best at. And no Johhny Depp!