Variety: “Tomorrowland’s” middling debut points to a nagging problem in Hollywood. As much as people claim they love fresh and unique movies, they’re more likely to shell out money for sequels and reboots.
Despite the combined star power of George Clooney and “The Incredibles” director Brad Bird, audiences weren’t sure what to make of this fantasy adventure. The film opened to $41.7 million, and with a production budget of $180 million, plus millions more in promotion and distribution expenses, “Tomorrowland” looks like a money loser for Disney.
GR
It's sadly appropriate that Brad Bird and Damon Lindelof’s sci-fi fantasy Tomorrowland: A World Beyond – a film that deals in dichotomy (alternate dimensions! Retro- futurism! Grounded fantasy!) - sits squarely on a score of exactly 50 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, for both critics and audience.
David Postma from Film Takeout writes:
"As people lament the lack of original properties, they conveniently forget that franchises have gotten progressively better, while the theory of original properties seem a lot better than they actually are. Of original movies that came out in the last few months, during summer movie season, one could include American Ultra, We Are Your Friends, Spy, San Andreas, Train Wreck, Inside Out, and Tomorrowland among original properties. While some, like Spy, are undoubtedly brilliant, most of these other movies are not commercial or critical darlings"
TRR: Whatever happened to our sense of optimism? That's the question that lies at the heart of director Brad Bird's Tomorrowland, a film that takes into account Hollywood's seemingly endless preoccupation with disaster epics and post-apocalyptic genre fare and goes in the complete opposite direction — delivering a tale about dreamers and their potential to change the world for the better. A story about a disillusioned inventor named Frank Walker (George Clooney) and an optimistic teenager named Casey Newton (Britt Robertson) who set out to save humanity, Tomorrowland didn't do too well at the box office, with many critics bemoaning the plot (written by Bird and Lost's Damon Lindelof) as being clunky and lackluster. However, if it's whiz-bang special effects and a rip-roaring adventure you're after, there's still plenty of fun to be had. The film's retro-fantastic visuals look amazing on Blu-ray, and there are some neat bonus features to boot. If you're a fan of Bird's The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, you can't really go wrong with Tomorrowland.
I think this movie failed in having any purpose or guidance. Like the commercials didn't answer: "What is this about?" But it is true, reboots and sequels just do better than original stuff. But then again original stuff can lead to more sequels.