So the summer movie season has begun in an explosive fashion. Maybe you’re one of those that have invested your entire being, your personality, heart, body and soul into that ONE IP that you want to do really well! Or you want to be a big time influencer and get invited to the next meet and greet at the theme park so you rah-rah for any news that looks good but totally avoid any negative news about the movie. And if it gets beaten by a low budget horror film that’s already been out for a week and a half, you just don’t talk about it at all and glaze one of the other movies in the series that came out a decade ago with every post you make. The movie comes out and it looks like it’s just doing gangbusters! It’s the number one movie in the world! In just a few days it’s already recovered its production budget and is just now earning pure profit! YAY!! But then comes along that killjoy as you’re celebrating on social media and he says, “Well, actually…” They start explaining things like production budgets, marketing budgets, revenue splits, how your movie that you have been celebrating it’s win actually needs MORE before it even breaks even? Like almost half a billion dollars?! Bull hockey, you say. That’s all part of the movie’s budget over all. Or maybe the studio owns a major television network and can just air all the commercials for free there. Or you say the toy sales and theme park rides will help cover the budget. You’re desperate! Because of this movie is a failure, then you PERSONALLY are a failure! So you lash out, you say it’s not true. It’s just some right-wing YouTube grifter bull crap. Even when presented with the evidence from verified news sources you call it a tabloid rag or dismiss the unnamed source as just made up for clicks. You do everything you can to keep your narrative the one and true even going so far as to block anyone who says otherwise. But, it’s all true. The studio doesn’t keep all the money the film earns, it has to share it with the theaters. It can’t be considered a financial success until it pays off everything it owes. And that’s not to say that it’s a bad movie if it flops. The Shawshank Redemption is wildly loved and considered one of the best movies ever made and it was a massive failure at the box office. But the facts are facts, that’s how the business works whether you like it or not. Included here is a video that explains exactly how the system works. If you think it’s hogwash, that’s on you. If you think it’s a lie and you want to refute it, by all means, I welcome the discussion. Just make sure you have evidence to support your argument other than, “Dude, trust me, Bro.” youtu.be/hzterBmxQKk?si=LIAA…

#DoctorWho is NOT dead! It’s just pining for the fjords of Bad Wolf Bay…

RTD brought Doctor Who back into the world, RTD took it back out.

As Director of Human Resources for Snake Mountain, I maintain an open-door policy. Employees are encouraged to bring me their concerns, complaints, suggestions, and dreams. I assure you they will be given the attention they deserve. The volcano is accepting appointments immediately. Compliance is eternal. 💀 #HRSkeletor #MastersOfTheUniverse #MOTU #OfficeHumor #WorkplaceHumor #CorporateLife #HRLife #ComplianceIsEternal #SnakeMountain #Skeletor

At Eternia Corp, we believe employees perform best when empowered with choices. That is why, despite severe weather conditions, you may select the commute experience that best suits your lifestyle. Option A: Hurricane Option B: Blizzard Remote work remains unavailable. Compliance is eternal. #Skeletor #MastersOfTheUniverse #WorkMemes #OfficeHumor #CorporateHumor

#HR #Skeletor #MOTU #MastersoftheUniverse

#HR #Skeletor #MOTU #MastersoftheUniverse

Well, #MastersoftheUniverse did better than I had expected, so I’m happy to report that. I really thought it would come in behind Obsession and Backrooms landing at Number 4 in the box office. But it came in second place after #ScaryMovie6 with just $54.3M worldwide. Not a great start for a film if this size, but I’m happy to see it in the second position as opposed to where Mando is! But one thing I keep seeing asked on here is why isn’t MOTU resonating with younger audiences? Seems older audiences dig it. I’ve seen it twice now. My mom as well! But I was there when the Deep Magic was written, so of course I’d be into it. But younger generations, it doesn’t seem to stick. There was the 1990 New Adventures of He-Man, which took He-Man and Skeletor to the far future on a distant world. That lasted one season. There was the 2002 reboot, the Kevin Smith Netflix series, a CGI Netflix series, but none seem to catch on. I would posit that it was lightning in a bottle. When He-Man debuted, it was at a time when Star Wars was winding down and epic fantasy, sword and sorcery films were all over HBO and cable TV. Most toys (for boys) were Star Wars related or adjacent. There was GI Joe, A Real American Hero that had just launched. But nothing for the kids who wanted to play in fantasy worlds like Dungeons and Dragons. In comes He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. With its mixture of sword and sorcery as well as sci-fi tech, it was a huge hit spawning a whole merchandising industry and was one of the top selling toys bringing in up to $400M ($1.2B today) at its peak. It even outsold Barbie! But the sword and sorcery craze started to fizzle out. Fantasy films didn’t really dowel in the box office. Dark Crystal, Legend, Highlander, Labyrinth, Ladyhawke, films with cult followings today didn’t cut it back then. Hollywood turned its back on fantasy films. Kids started becoming fascinated with ninjas. I remember buying a magazine that had ads in the back where you could order ninja throwing stars and this palm hooks so you could climb trees easier. My mom wouldn’t let me buy them. By ‘87, He-Man fizzled out, its last gasp being the low budget live action movie. A little over a month later, Star Trek: The Next Generation debuted. For a thirteen year old kid aging out of fantasy toys, this was perfect timing. He-Man got boxed up and sent to the attic. With the other attempts to bring back MOTU to a new generation failing people are asking why? I think it’s because kids don’t really have an interest in fantasy like my generation did. We don’t have those kinds of films or shows. Got LOTR and The Hobbit trilogies, How to Train Your Dragon, but most of the ones we do get aren’t made for younger audiences. 300, The Immortals, the Conan remake, Game of Thrones. So why isn’t MOTU catching on? There’s nothing else like it that kids seem to be into. Now is any of this true? I don’t know, I’m just speculating. I work with kids and I see them playing with Pokemon, Star Wars, TMNT, and others. I can’t recall ever seeing a kid with an Aragon action figure or pretending to be King Arthur. What do you guys think?

Well #MastersoftheUniverse had a really strong opening on Friday. After premiering in fifth place on Thursday’s previews, it came in second after #ScaryMovie $24.7M opening. MOTU came in second with a little less than half the BO at $11.7M. #Backrooms dropped to number three followed by #Obsession and #TheAmazingDigitalCircus which is a Fathom Events screening just for this weekend. Meanwhile, #MandalorianandGrogu is seeing its way out the of the top five and out of theaters as it dropped to sixth place. The numbers for MOTU aren’t great, but it’s encouraging that it’s in second place. We’ll see how it fares through the rest of the weekend. I know I had pretty much written it off because I’m pretty much the primary audience for the film having grown up with He-Man and having that fondness for the IP. I will be VERY happy to be wrong in calling the movie a flop. Time will tell. I’m seeing it again tomorrow because I think my sister would like it. We’d watch He-Man and She-Ra together on TV in the 80s, so she’s familiar enough with the story. And believe it or not, my mom wants to go again too! At dinner, on our way to see a stage production of 1776 (one of my most favorite musicals), she was going on and on to my dad about the movie. She really loved it. I wouldn’t be surprised if she bought it when it comes out on digital.

My mom went through Hell to get me Grayskull for Christmas. She had gotten pretty much everything else but Grayskull was to be the centerpiece! Her order was lost and then got canceled because it was all sold out, she went to just about every toy store in Northern Virginia trying to find one and it looked like it was gonna be a bust. She was so stressed. Christmas Eve she gets a call from the original store. They have ONE that was ordered and never picked up. If she could get there right now it was hers. We all got in the car and headed to the mall (which was a forty-five minute drive from where we lived) and my dad took me and my sister to the movies while my mom went to Sears to get the toys. For her trouble and stress they even threw in a Talon Fighter set to go with it! She told me this story many, many years later, probably when I was in my late twenties. She also never knew that that was my favorite Christmas. It was also the reason why she wanted to see the Masters of the Universe movie so badly this week because seeing how much I loved playing with my He-Man toys brought her so much joy.

youtu.be/_94-7kl3LxU?si=jbPh… So sad, again, the death of Anthony Head. Years ago I got the movie, “Repo: The Genetic Opera” because Sarah Brightman was in it and I love Sarah Brightman! I mean I got my start in musical theatre before my life took a left hand turn and I joined the circus! Heck, I’m on my way now with Momma and Daddy Monster to see a production of one of my favorite musicals, “1776” (early birthday present)! But I was pleasantly surprised to see Head in this film as well and when it turned out he was the Repo Man and the way he just went from milquetoast dad to horrifying slasher was just brilliant! He’s gonna be missed! #anthonyhead #musicals #buffythevampireslayer

Looks like more numbers have come in and been updated. For the most part it looks like what I thought it would be with the exception of Amazing Digital Circus. Total wild card that was. Given my circus history and background, should I watch this?

Sad news, Anthony Head, one of the stars on the cult TV series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, has died at age 72. apnews.com/article/anthony-h…

Wow! The numbers are in for Thursday night previews and surprisingly, the big studios lose AGAIN to YouTubers! Something I didn’t take into account was the Fathom Events showing of The Amazing Digital Circus. Turns out according to The Numbers, the Thursday night showing grossed $7,856,552. Coming in at a close second was Scary Movie 6 with $7,700,000 and rounding out the top three was Masters of the Universe with a disappointing $4,400,000. Digital Circus is playing all weekend so will that affect the big Hollywood studio’s weekend or will international numbers help put the studio films back on top? #theamazingdigitalcircus #scarymovie #mastersoftheuniverse #boxoffice

The movie was enjoyable. I saw it twice, as I’ve mentioned many times on here. The movie is a flop because it didn’t make its money back. Transformers: Age of Extinction is regarded by many as an absolutely TERRIBLE movie. Hell, I’ve seen it and don’t even remember a thing about it! But it made over $1.1B, so not a flop.

Took Mama Monster out to see #MastersoftheUniverse tonight! OMG, I felt like I was eight years old again! I loved this movie so much! I’m gonna have to keep an eye out for a deep dive video like what Screen Crush does for all the Easter Eggs, but I’m sure I caught them all. My mom actually accused me of seeing this already and I’m like it’s the first night it came out! As for Mama Monster’s verdict: she liked this WAY better than Mando and Grogu.

So it does look like already MOTU is gonna fall short. Again, not surprised. This movie might have been better served coming out in March like Minecraft did. Taking Momma Monster tonight. She’s very excited for this movie and I expect we’ll both have a good time.

With #MastersoftheUniverse opening today I was reflecting upon my love for the original. As a kid it was second only to Star Wars. I never really wore my MOTU love on my sleeve like Star Wars or Trek, horror movies and whatnot, but I still have my Castle Grayskull and He-Man and Skeletor figures. But my most cherished MOTU collectible is the GeekyTiki mugs. These were the very last gifts I ever received from my fiancée. She got me He-Man, Skeletor and Orko intending on giving them to me for my birthday. However she had to have surgery the day before so we held off. She wound up developing sepsis and was in the hospital for two months before her little body gave out and she died. While helping her mom go through her room I cane across the He-Man mug. Her mom kept the other two so I’d have something from my fiancée for Christmas.