A Hollywood Gamera Movie

[Legion1979]

Aside from fans, people in the US only really know Gamera through MST3K. This is an absolute fact.

If even Legendary keeps making Godzilla/Kong films because they're uneasy about solo films, what chance does something as obscure as Gamera have?

[LegendZilla]

Aside from fans, people in the US only really know Gamera through MST3K. This is an absolute fact.

If even Legendary keeps making Godzilla/Kong films because they're uneasy about solo films, what chance does something as obscure as Gamera have?

He's still more famous than Guilala, Gappa and Yonggary combined.

[edgaguirus]

True, but how much does a general audience know about Gamera? As Legion said, the general audience may know Gamera from the Satellite of Love, but that's still a niche interest.

[Vakanai]

I'm talking about adaptations that are financially successful and have longevity to them. Alita Battle Angel likely didn't make its money back when factoring all expenses in. It failed to gross even $100 million in the US by the end of its run and more than $300 million of its $405 million worldwide gross came from overseas. That isn't enough. At best it may have broken even.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmende ... ig-enough/

I listed the above franchises because Sonic already has a fourth film planned and Detective Pikachu and Mario both have seen financial success at theaters with more movies to be expected. These are notable exceptions that I can think of. So while they may not be the best examples, I would still count them. Brand names matter. Not always, but it's important. Good films can and do fail every year and I can see a Hollywood Gamera film become another casualty, especially in this age of bloated production budgets.

Not everything needs "longevity" to be successful. One good Gamera film is fine, we don't need a franchise starter. And even if you're right about Alita, the other titles mentioned still hold. I mean we live in a world where Oppenheimer was a success - definitely not a "big IP" and certainly not going to spin off more movies, but you can't argue it was successful. Maybe setting up 3 or 4 sequels is something important for some, but if we get one great movie that is only profitable enough to justify itself, that's still a win.

Added in 58 seconds:
And there's no reason it has to have a bloated budget fwiw.

I never said that it had to have longevity to be successful, and I think you're misconstruing my point. I'm saying that as someone who regularly checks out box office totals, recognizable IP's are the top-selling thing right now and I don't think many people are paying attention to that reality. The top 10 highest grossing films from last year were almost entirely comprised of sequels to existing films. They were also widely loved and renowned properties. Godzilla is a recognizable name. So is Sonic. Oppenheimer worked because of the people involved, because of its overall quality, and because it had the Barbie film to feed off because of the internet memes going around during that year.

My ultimate point was that Gamera is not on this level. People don't know who Gamera is unless they're older or kaiju fans like us. Even if Hollywood made an entertaining film, maybe it could crack $200 million worldwide at best? It honestly would depend on the people involved and the execution of the adaptation. I just can't see it succeeding. People didn't even tune in to see his Netflix series, and the Heisei series didn't generate big box office money either in his native country.

And my ultimate point is that it doesn't have to be on that level to get made. Cloverfield wasn't, Pacific Rim wasn't, Rampage wasn't, The Meg wasn't, and yet all still got made. There's no reason Gamera couldn't get made.

[JAGzilla]

Recognizable IPs are easy money, but I don't think the average moviegoer knew what Dune was before the reboot came out and made bank. Sinners was a totally original story, and it's cleaning up. Make good movies, include recognizable cast and crew, market them well, and people will go see them. It's totally possible for Gamera to succeed in Hollywood.

... just not very likely, is all.

[edgaguirus]

There are always independent films.

[Vakanai]

There are always independent films.

Independent films aren't going to have the budget for the visual effects required for even a modest kaiju film.

Added in 1 minute 1 second:
Well Colossal. but that had like a minute of CGI total...

[Jetty_Jags]

He's still more famous than Guilala, Gappa and Yonggary combined.

I’m not really sure what your point is here…

[edgaguirus]

Most likely that while Gamera may not have the fame of Godzilla, the giant turtle is still well known to genre fans.

[Showa Gyaos]

Not everything needs "longevity" to be successful. One good Gamera film is fine, we don't need a franchise starter. And even if you're right about Alita, the other titles mentioned still hold. I mean we live in a world where Oppenheimer was a success - definitely not a "big IP" and certainly not going to spin off more movies, but you can't argue it was successful. Maybe setting up 3 or 4 sequels is something important for some, but if we get one great movie that is only profitable enough to justify itself, that's still a win.

Added in 58 seconds:
And there's no reason it has to have a bloated budget fwiw.

I never said that it had to have longevity to be successful, and I think you're misconstruing my point. I'm saying that as someone who regularly checks out box office totals, recognizable IP's are the top-selling thing right now and I don't think many people are paying attention to that reality. The top 10 highest grossing films from last year were almost entirely comprised of sequels to existing films. They were also widely loved and renowned properties. Godzilla is a recognizable name. So is Sonic. Oppenheimer worked because of the people involved, because of its overall quality, and because it had the Barbie film to feed off because of the internet memes going around during that year.

My ultimate point was that Gamera is not on this level. People don't know who Gamera is unless they're older or kaiju fans like us. Even if Hollywood made an entertaining film, maybe it could crack $200 million worldwide at best? It honestly would depend on the people involved and the execution of the adaptation. I just can't see it succeeding. People didn't even tune in to see his Netflix series, and the Heisei series didn't generate big box office money either in his native country.

And my ultimate point is that it doesn't have to be on that level to get made. Cloverfield wasn't, Pacific Rim wasn't, Rampage wasn't, The Meg wasn't, and yet all still got made. There's no reason Gamera couldn't get made.

Apologies, as I clearly misunderstood.

That being said, a Hollywood Gamera film would have a budget above $100m unless maybe a smaller studio picked them up. Or one like Summit got a hold of the rights or something.

[Vakanai]

I never said that it had to have longevity to be successful, and I think you're misconstruing my point. I'm saying that as someone who regularly checks out box office totals, recognizable IP's are the top-selling thing right now and I don't think many people are paying attention to that reality. The top 10 highest grossing films from last year were almost entirely comprised of sequels to existing films. They were also widely loved and renowned properties. Godzilla is a recognizable name. So is Sonic. Oppenheimer worked because of the people involved, because of its overall quality, and because it had the Barbie film to feed off because of the internet memes going around during that year.

My ultimate point was that Gamera is not on this level. People don't know who Gamera is unless they're older or kaiju fans like us. Even if Hollywood made an entertaining film, maybe it could crack $200 million worldwide at best? It honestly would depend on the people involved and the execution of the adaptation. I just can't see it succeeding. People didn't even tune in to see his Netflix series, and the Heisei series didn't generate big box office money either in his native country.

And my ultimate point is that it doesn't have to be on that level to get made. Cloverfield wasn't, Pacific Rim wasn't, Rampage wasn't, The Meg wasn't, and yet all still got made. There's no reason Gamera couldn't get made.

Apologies, as I clearly misunderstood.

That being said, a Hollywood Gamera film would have a budget above $100m unless maybe a smaller studio picked them up. Or one like Summit got a hold of the rights or something.

Maybe, maybe not. Yes it needs a lot of special effects which bloats any budget, but CGI costs are going down, never mind sending work over seas where it could be cheaper - look at the budget and effects of Shin Godzilla, Shin Ultraman, and Godzilla Minus One - expensive for Japan, but less so for Hollywood. Never mind Korean and Chinese CGI is slowly coming along with CG studios/whatever to match - and AI (hate it or not) is slowly making its way into this space (even if needs cleaning up afterwards, unless you're MAGA for some reason and post as is, oddities included) also bringing costs down.

The big obstacle really is getting big stars on board under budget...