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EON's 'The Rhythm Section' (2020)

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  • boldfingerboldfinger
    Posts: 5,767
    antovolk wrote: »
    *whispers* this is a good movie

    Blake and Morano carry this entire thing on their shoulders. But in many ways it really feels like EON's attempt at getting as faaaaaaaar away from any Bond comparisons as possible. Spy-assassin-craft is a bloody, messy enterprise. Hardly the glamour and class Bond and John Wick make it out. Evil organisations with heightened head honchos pulling the strings? Some schmucks out for profit. Can you train to be a good assassin? No. Does Lively's character become one? Hell no.

    Very worthy concept on paper but together with the colder, less actiony & more arthouse-y pace and approach and a certain sense of detachment that more typical genre films like this don't really have, I can see why people were turned off by this. Because you can't really sell a $50m wide studio release like that - that was the bone of contention apparently between EON and Paramount. And that sense anti-climacticness is arguably the only weakness of it I'd say - but maybe that was the point. Because otherwise, with right expectations, I think most peeps would enjoy it! I certainly did.

    It's one of those where you admire them for giving this a wide traditional theatrical release and stuff instead of selling to eg Netflix but people would honestly probably receive the film better (& see it) had it been on there.

    @Dwayne yeah, per that Deadline piece, as soon as Paramount saw bad test screening scores that indicated that this wasn't quite so wide audience friendly they spent as little as possible to advertise it precisely to limit their losses. Wonder if a wide traditional release in the US and UK was contractually obligated by EON.
    There you go. Give me that film now, I´m curious.

    I wonder what would have been the problem to market it to a more select audience? There are tons of independent films getting better marketing than this one got.
  • antovolkantovolk
    edited February 2020 Posts: 3,164
    @boldfinger I'm guessing two reasons
    - 1. It's simply something a studio like Paramount doesn't know how to do, limited and more targetedreleases aren't their wheelhouse
    - 2. I presume a wide traditional release was a condition from EON - given the $50m budget (and likely more $$$ from TV rights) and also for image purposes: a female led and directed new-to-screen genre IP (that EON may or may not have come on board of in the first place as a response to the outcry for a female Bond) getting the widest possible traditional platform. Same issue plagued the brilliant, and mega acclaimed Booksmart (the biggest 2019 case of critics crying out why didn't it make more money) - they gave it a release like that to make a point, while in today's marketplace it wasn't the right place for the film.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,480
    Yeah, I was coming here to post your tweet on this, @antovolk. :)
    I'm still looking forward to seeing it, mainly because of Blake's performance.
    But I do wish it had gotten the right kind of publicity and better timing.
  • boldfingerboldfinger
    Posts: 5,767
    antovolk wrote: »
    @boldfinger I'm guessing two reasons
    - 1. It's simply something a studio like Paramount doesn't know how to do, limited and more targetedreleases aren't their wheelhouse
    - 2. I presume a wide traditional release was a condition from EON - given the $50m budget (and likely more $$$ from TV rights) and also for image purposes: a female led and directed new-to-screen genre IP (that EON may or may not have come on board of in the first place as a response to the outcry for a female Bond) getting the widest possible traditional platform. Same issue plagued the brilliant, and mega acclaimed Booksmart (the biggest 2019 case of critics crying out why didn't it make more money) - they gave it a release like that to make a point, while in today's marketplace it wasn't the right place for the film.
    Seems like it, because I´ve never heard of Booksmart. I probably woudn´t have noticed TRS too, if I didn´t know it´s an Eon-produced film and thus followed it from the beginning.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,480
  • niblzniblz
    Posts: 4
    Has anyone seen "Age of Adaline"? (2015). Blake Lively is excellent in that movie. I believe there is a very good chance EON saw Adaline and picked her for TRS based on her performance in that. At least that's immediately what I thought of when I heard that EON was making TRS.

    I don't know whether Lively is an action hero type, but she would definitely be very good in a John Lecarre style film, if you take something like The Little Drummer Girl.

    Adaline has thriller aspects and many identity changes through time.

    The film is a mixture of romantic thriller with fantasy elements, but overall I think it's just an interesting story. I wasn't satisfied with the ending, but liked 90% of the movie.

    Bonus: Harrison Ford's best dramatic performance I have seen. A small role, but really convincing.

    Fantasy/sci-fi/time travel always requires much suspension of disbelief, so ymmv. But the movie has great production values. Really looks like a sweeping epic and like more money on screen than it cost.
  • CatchingBulletsCatchingBullets facebook.com/catchingbullets
    Posts: 292
    DIFFERENT RHYTHMS, DIFFERENT SECTIONS – Catching EON Productions newest thriller, THE RHYTHM SECTION...

    https://markoconnell.co.uk/different-rhythms-different-sections-catching-eon-productions-newest-thriller-the-rhythm-section/
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    Posts: 4,585
    4EverBonded wrote: »

    Excellent take. The final paragraph hits it on the head.
  • boldfingerboldfinger
    Posts: 5,767
    niblz wrote: »
    Has anyone seen "Age of Adaline"? (2015). Blake Lively is excellent in that movie. I believe there is a very good chance EON saw Adaline and picked her for TRS based on her performance in that. At least that's immediately what I thought of when I heard that EON was making TRS.

    I don't know whether Lively is an action hero type, but she would definitely be very good in a John Lecarre style film, if you take something like The Little Drummer Girl.

    Adaline has thriller aspects and many identity changes through time.

    The film is a mixture of romantic thriller with fantasy elements, but overall I think it's just an interesting story. I wasn't satisfied with the ending, but liked 90% of the movie.

    Bonus: Harrison Ford's best dramatic performance I have seen. A small role, but really convincing.

    Fantasy/sci-fi/time travel always requires much suspension of disbelief, so ymmv. But the movie has great production values. Really looks like a sweeping epic and like more money on screen than it cost.
    Blake Lively is alone for 70% of The Shallows, and she totally carries it. If TRS should have any flaws, she will hardly be one of them.

    Oh, and welcome to these pages, @niblz :-)!
  • 2Wint2Kidd2Wint2Kidd
    Posts: 698
    Quite disappointed about the negative reviews of this film. Probably means this film will be extremely difficult to catch on release in my country, if it comes at all. I might just hold out hope it will be on Netflix by the end of the year, which is probably what they should have done in the first place.
  • valentinzukovskyvalentinzukovsky
    Posts: 503
    Just been to see it. It's pretty good, far better than the reviews would have you believe, hopefully the box office will pick up a bit.
  • Red_SnowRed_Snow Australia
    Posts: 2,540
    The Australian cinema release has been cancelled :(
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    Posts: 4,585
    I feel bad for Blake Lively. Anyone who caught her on TV last week, doing press for this film, will know why. I have never seen her do any interviews before: what a delightful, charismatic, energetic woman! And to think: she busted up her hand pretty bad for this film. To suffer that sort of injury on a film that is considered one of the biggest flops in history, has to be painful on two fronts.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    edited February 2020 Posts: 15,718
    The Rhythm Section's 2nd weekend is tracking towards a $1 million total. This means that after 10 days of release, the film has yet to cross the $5 million domestic mark. Internationally, it has earned just under $300,000 from 1 territory (UK). It is opening in Denmark this weekend, and with Australia's release being cancelled, its only remaining foreign release is in Spain on March 6th.
  • 00Agent00Agent Any man who drinks Dom Perignon '52 can't be all bad.
    Posts: 5,185
    4a3d5e77-e176-4b1d-aca8-ecfac6e3ea2e_text_hi.gif
  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    Posts: 13,813
    Pretty funny.

    But I remember what happened to the guy that proposed that, @00Agent. Take care.

  • 2Wint2Kidd2Wint2Kidd
    Posts: 698
    They should just cut their losses and put the film on Netflix or Amazon where more people are likely to watch it.
  • ResurrectionResurrection Kolkata, India
    Posts: 2,541
    00Agent wrote: »
    4a3d5e77-e176-4b1d-aca8-ecfac6e3ea2e_text_hi.gif

    :))
  • boldfingerboldfinger
    Posts: 5,767
    RichardTheBruce wrote: »
    Pretty funny.

    But I remember what happened to the guy that proposed that, @00Agent. Take care.
    That´s what I thought too the moment I saw it, haha.

  • 00Agent00Agent Any man who drinks Dom Perignon '52 can't be all bad.
    edited February 2020 Posts: 5,185
    No worries, guys. In my business, you prepare for the unexpected.
    giphy.webp
  • Red_SnowRed_Snow Australia
    Posts: 2,540
    The Rhythm Section: 5 Reasons It Should Be The Next Big Action Franchise (& 5 It Shouldn't)
    https://screenrant.com/the-rhythm-section-next-big-action-franchise-pros-cons/
  • bondsumbondsum
    edited February 2020 Posts: 3,333
    Red_Snow wrote: »
    The Rhythm Section: 5 Reasons It Should Be The Next Big Action Franchise (& 5 It Shouldn't)
    https://screenrant.com/the-rhythm-section-next-big-action-franchise-pros-cons/
    :)) It's a box office bomb.

    No way will it ever become a franchise. Despite the so-called shill media, it won't even make its modest budget of $50 million back. The Hollywoke Reporter tries to give its reasons as to why it flopped, but at the end of the day, audiences just didn't want to shell out their hard-earned readies for another Femme Nikita-The Long Kiss Goodnight-Salt-Atomic Blonde wannabe. Add to the other recent flops of female led-actioners, Charlie's Angels, Terminator: Dark Fate, Underwater, and the currently under-performing Birds of Prey, and I'd say I can understand whyThe Rhythm Section tanked. Without delving too deeply, I'd suggest that the marketing wasn't right for any of the above movies. Hint-hint: it's not a good idea to tell your future audience that your movie isn't aimed at them or indeed made for them, and then expect them to queue up and pay to go see it as if they were docile consumers. I'm not saying that The Rhythm Section's marketing campaign was particular anti-male, but by having a female badass protagonist in the central role, it just came over as another regurgitated agenda-driven clone. Of course, this isn't solely down to men not going to see these movies as women don't bother either. You see, both sexes have taste and can sniff out a turkey without the need for coughing up their cash. Hollywoke take note.

    https://hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/why-rhythm-section-bombed-1275797
  • boldfingerboldfinger
    Posts: 5,767
    bondsum wrote: »
    Red_Snow wrote: »
    The Rhythm Section: 5 Reasons It Should Be The Next Big Action Franchise (& 5 It Shouldn't)
    https://screenrant.com/the-rhythm-section-next-big-action-franchise-pros-cons/
    :)) It's a box office bomb.

    No way will it ever become a franchise. Despite the so-called shill media, it won't even make its modest budget of $50 million back. The Hollywoke Reporter tries to give its reasons as to why it flopped, but at the end of the day, audiences just didn't want to shell out their hard-earned readies for another Femme Nikita-The Long Kiss Goodnight-Salt-Atomic Blonde wannabe. Add to the other recent flops of female led-actioners, Charlie's Angels, Terminator: Dark Fate, Underwater, and the currently under-performing Birds of Prey, and I'd say I can understand whyThe Rhythm Section tanked. Without delving too deeply, I'd suggest that the marketing wasn't right for any of the above movies. Hint-hint: it's not a good idea to tell your future audience that your movie isn't aimed at them or indeed made for them, and then expect them to queue up and pay to go see it as if they were docile consumers. I'm not saying that The Rhythm Section's marketing campaign was particular anti-male, but by having a female badass protagonist in the central role, it just came over as another regurgitated agenda-driven clone. Of course, this isn't solely down to men not going to see these movies as women don't bother either. You see, both sexes have taste and can sniff out a turkey without the need for coughing up their cash. Hollywoke take note.

    https://hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/why-rhythm-section-bombed-1275797
    There are enough horrible movies at the top of the charts to refute the above.

    On a purely subjective note, what I saw of TRS, i.e. a teaser and a trailer, didn´t put it anywhere near "another Femme Nikita-The Long Kiss Goodnight-Salt-Atomic Blonde wannabe", and I didn´t dream of associating it with any of "the other recent flops of female led-actioners, Charlie's Angels, Terminator: Dark Fate, Underwater, and the currently under-performing Birds of Prey". Quite the opposite in fact.

  • 00Agent00Agent Any man who drinks Dom Perignon '52 can't be all bad.
    Posts: 5,185
    I think EoN just got the message hahah :))

  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    edited February 2020 Posts: 12,480
    Yes, indeed, @boldfinger. Thanks.

    And here's this bit; it's relevant (though not mentioning TRS; it is about reaction re BOP ... but it fits other comments that have been made on the forum).


    Anyway, TRS as a book was a slow building burn and I enjoyed it. The film clearly was not marketed to its best advantage. I still really look forward to seeing it, especially because of Blake's performance which nobody, I think nobody at all, has anything but praise for).
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    edited February 2020 Posts: 13,978
    Bob Chipman aka Moviebob isn't a name you use when you're trying to make a serious point. He is only slightly less intolerable that DarkSydePhill.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    edited February 2020 Posts: 12,480
    Yeah, I don't follow him. :) I don't know his work; I simply agree with his statement in this tweet. I don't read film critics too much. I don't know Phill either. I follow @antovolk on twitter (where I found Bob's tweet) and he gives me a great variety to read.
  • DwayneDwayne New York City
    Posts: 2,848
    A question for those of you closer to this issue than me. Are people generally aware that TRS is based on a pre-existing novel (Mark Burnell) and that the main character is written as a female? Or do they think that it’s an especially designed female action movie?

    I don’t see a lot of references to the source material out there, and maybe that has clouded the perception for some potential viewers.
  • boldfingerboldfinger
    Posts: 5,767
    Dwayne wrote: »
    A question for those of you closer to this issue than me. Are people generally aware that TRS is based on a pre-existing novel (Mark Burnell) and that the main character is written as a female? Or do they think that it’s an especially designed female action movie?

    I don’t see a lot of references to the source material out there, and maybe that has clouded the perception for some potential viewers.
    I don´t see how. Again, purely subjectively speaking, I wasn´t much aware of any source novel until recently, and neither the descriptions from Eon around the start of the production nor the trailers gave me an impression this might be artificially constructed.

  • ResurrectionResurrection Kolkata, India
    Posts: 2,541
    4EverBonded wrote: »
    Yeah, I don't follow him. :) I don't know his work; I simply agree with his statement in this tweet. I don't read film critics too much. I don't know Phill either. I follow @antovolk on twitter (where I found Bob's tweet) and he gives me a great variety to read.

    Metoo looking forward to watching this. Sadly I'll have to wait a few months.
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