Why not release this in US before Christmas? - Paddington (2015) Discussion

[–] L0GAN5 10 years ago

Paddington is not particularly well known in the US and would have been up against stiff competition i.e. The Hobbit, Annie etc. By opening after Christmas it loses some of the holiday audiences but it will probably get more screens to play on. It's a bit of a trade-off but opening in February worked in The Lego Movie's favor so hopefully it will be the same for Paddington.

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[–] jschillig 10 years ago

Here's hoping! Although with the lousy reviews Annie has been getting as opposed to the nearly unanimous praise for Paddington, maybe it wouldn't have been such a bad idea after all to release at Christmas.

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[–] FairlyAnonymous 10 years ago

I kind of have a feeling that Paddington's reviews will start to drop once it hits the U.S.. I'm not saying it's a bad film or anything, but I have a feeling the charm that it has in the U.K. will not be the same in the U.S. due to it not being a major icon.

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[–] aseaofemotions 10 years ago

Actually that's not true. I grew up on Paddington Bear & I'm in the U.S. He is well known here.The first time I saw him was on Pinwheel on Nickelodeon then on PBS.

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[–] L0GAN5 10 years ago

I seriously doubt there is any comparison between a cult following in the US and being a icon in the UK. If the distributor and exhibitors believed it had the level of appeal to compete with the likes of The Hobbit and Annie then presumably they would released it. They don't just pick dates out of a hat, they take surveys and make projections etc.

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[–] ageelg 10 years ago

me and my family never heard about him and all liked the movie, its a good family movie by all accounts.

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[–] number1212 10 years ago

There was already a massive amount of family movies around this Christmas season so they moved it to a time that was less crowded.

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[–] smithmissy171 10 years ago

...this would've been huge on Christmas in the states. I guess they were too scared of the holiday competition, Annie, unbroken, and Into the woods, so lame lol.

- this is a wonderful heart warming family movie and it's funny.

..hope there's a sequal.

..

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[–] L0GAN5 10 years ago

Sometimes it isn't up to the distributor. If the cinema chains go with other films there is nothing the distributor can do about it.

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[–] petepi3 10 years ago

Americans prefer films like Annie?

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[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] matt_w_kit 10 years ago

A good question considering the positive reviews its getting (at 37-1 on Rotten Tomatoes). Certainly miles better than Annie, it prob. would have done fairly well

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[–] QuibblerofDoom 10 years ago

I don't believe Paddington is as well known in the US as it is in the UK and there was more competition in the US in December. In the UK BBC1 used to show the Paddington cartoon just before the 6 O'Clock News so it was really well known in the UK in the late 70s. Those children who watched it with their parents now have children or grandchildren to take to the cinema. Paddington has a very nostalgic air about it in the UK.

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[–] jschillig 10 years ago

Yeah, those Paddington shorts were shown in the US (on the Nickelodeon show Pinwheel--that's how I first saw them--and on Romper Room), but they weren't as well known as in the UK. Let's hope this movie changes that.

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[–] QuibblerofDoom 10 years ago

It is a shame the BBC doesn't show cartoon shorts just before the 6 O'Clock news anymore.

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[–] richard.fuller1 10 years ago

I recall stop motion Paddington shorts airing on Captain Kangaroo back in, it must have been the mid-'80s or so, probably the same ones that aired on Romper Room.

Rupert was briefly a Saturday morning program, that must have been about twenty years ago now.

No, I haven't seen anything of either one since. They aren't as well known in the states as is Winnie the Pooh, which is a shame.

We were in our twenties when we saw those Paddington shorts and we thought he was hilarious.

I wanted so badly to see Paddington over the holidays. I enjoyed Annie, but would have welcomed seeing Paddington as well.

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[–] bhobnine 10 years ago

This is being released with zero competition,

and thus is gonna make a boatload of money.

Blackhat and Wedding ringer will have their own audiances,

but this will suck in all the kiddie bucks!

Hell, I'll go see it too!

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Pffft, my suspension of disbelief has higher standards than that.

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