Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Box Office Hits: Oblivion


Box Office: Oblivion
The number one box office hit for the weekend of April 21, 2013 is Oblivion starring Tom Cruise. Oblivion is a sci-fi flick that brought in a whopping $38 million its opening weekend and duplicated its success here in the states to that of the international market. The estimated budget for this film was $120,000,000 and grossed $75,814,250 in the United States as of May 3, 2013 according to IMDb.com. This motion picture is a 2013 release depicting an American post-apocalyptic world co-written, produced, and directed by Joseph Kosinski and based on his unpublished graphic novel.

Planet Earth is reduced to a radiation-poisoned wasteland due to the destruction of Earth’s moon and an ongoing war with the alien Scavs. Mankind is evacuated to the largest moon on Saturn called Titan. Jack Harper and Victoria Olsen who is played by Andrea Riseborough are drone maintenance officers who are in charge of protecting the drones who extract resources from planet earth to Titan. An alien invasion threaten the transference of the resources and that is where the conflict arises. They both had their memory swiped five years prior for security purposes, but the reoccurring dreams of a mysterious woman at the Empire State Building before the war who turns out to be Jacks wife, plagues Jack.
This movie was wonderfully created it is perfectly designed for the big screen the overall quality is astonishing. The film was shot with 4k cameras which added the clarity that I really enjoy. The script; however, could use some work. As quoted by rottentomatoes.com the motion picture was “Visually striking but thinly scripted”. It is not a picture that catches your attention right off the bat. The story starts off slowly and is really hard to follow. The IMAX movie experience makes it a little easier to swallow. I interviewed several people who had watch this movie and asked them, what exactly brought them out to watch this motion picture. The responses varied but the overall consensus was that they liked the previews and that they thought it would be an action packed film.
 Rovonne Odums a 31 year old mother of two had taken her sons to watch this movie, and when asked of her opinion of the film she replied that she had feel asleep during the showing. On the topics of the cast, story, and production values she replied that the picture and sound was pleasing but she really didn’t understand the movie and felt that she was lost leading to her to fall asleep. Her son: however, said that he liked the spaceships and some of the special effects in the film.
Regardless of the negative feedback given about Oblivion, the fact still remains that it took the number one spot at the Box Office for the weekend of April 21, 2013. Whether it was great promotion or a lack of other entertainment options that led to the success of this motion picture remains to be seen, but Oblivion’s first week’s profits were impressive.





Works Cited
"Oblivion | Teaser Trailer." Oblivion | Teaser Trailer. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 May 2013.
"Oblivion (2013)." Oblivion. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 May 2013.
"Oblivion." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 07 May 2013.
Odums, Rovonne. "Oblivion:What Did You Think?" Interview by Clark J. Stephens, Jr. N.d. Television.
"Website." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 July 2013. Web. 07 May 2013.