Preview M21: Everyone's Story

[KyseL]

Finally watched M20 (was waiting for subs). It was not good, it had some good moments and serviceable animation, but that's about it. After watching it I did some research it didn't do much better than the XY movies from what I've seen online (grossing around $30 million in Japan compared to the $20 - 28 million of the 3 previous films), while also not being extremely well received by critics (in the West, couldn't find anything for Japanese reviews). This makes me wonder why they are sticking to this alternate timeline thing if it already didn't do that well (as a sequel only those who watched the first one might watch this one, and that's not even guaranteed given the mediocre critical reception it had).

I'm actually more surprise that they are not trying to cash in on older fans by having a sort of reunion movie, especially given that they've reestablished Kasumi and Takeshi in the main series. On top of that Sun and Moon is consistently within the 10 most viewed anime series on TV (unlike XY).

 

[NeoMiniTails]

Critics have never given Pokemon movies great reviews in the West. "I choose you" actually had decent reviews compared to their older movies.

The first XY was in the 28 mil range and their final was at the low $20M range. That is not how you want your scale of money to go. It was time for a change. They also did this in order to see if it would be wise to do a worldwide release as they haven't done that in years. WW theatre releases mean much more money for them.

Making $13.3 million more than their previous film is a huge difference. That is a 66.5% increase in ticket sales. If you saw that in your business, you'd wisely continue in the course that made the most money.

 

[KyseL]

Well, to be fair, 3 million come from it being released internationally, though (it actually grossed 30 million in Japan). The problem with this particular film is that they can't truly piggyback ride on the show's success anymore, but only on the previous film since it's a sequel, which is what worries me.

 

[Hidden Mew]

They most likely also had this continuation planned out well ahead of time, especially if they plan on making this a series through at least this generation. I'm not sure if they would care about how well the movie fares among critics, particularly with western critics. These movies, like the anime, are commercials for new Pokemon at the end of the day. I'll have to double check this, but I'm pretty sure that the previous movie did pretty well for it financially. It didn't break any records, but it was a noticeable improvement from the XY movies, which counts for something.

 

[NeoMiniTails]

The movie earned ¥2.14 billion ($19.6 million) in its fourth week, and that wasn't even at the end of it's run. Its knocked off plenty of big time movies...

In the four days it was shown under Fathom Entertainment with one showing a day for four days, it made $2,401,722.

Even if that is true, they only had a limited opportunity for people to go see it. Both days that I saw the movie, the theatre was packed. People were bringing people who were fandom blind to see their childhood come to life on the big screen. They don't need just the nostalgia anymore to get people to come... There are those who loved it and will see the next movie because of the first one.

Also, 2.4M USD is about 240Million Yen, doesn't go anywhere near the billions so most of that number (if what you said is true) would be counting the Japanese audience.

 

[Silktree]

The movie generated 3.4 billion yen in Japan, which is about 30 million dollars as KysleL. The Keldeo movie did a bit better.

This movie will no doubt do worse, but we'll see by how much. I wouldn't take a limited international release for granted, either.

 

[NeoMiniTails]

The movie generated 3.4 billion yen in Japan, which is about 30 million dollars as KysleL. The Keldeo movie did a bit better.

This movie will no doubt do worse, but we'll see by how much. I wouldn't take a limited international release for granted, either.

Most of B&W movies did better though they were declining in ticket sales with each movie, starting from the first one all the way to XY.

The point is that they needed something to stop them from declining in ticket sales. This movie having the 66.5% increase in sales showed that going forward with a different type of movie than what they'd been doing in previous years was a good/smart thing to do.

 

[SammyW27]

There's going to be an artwork presentation Friday

Movie 21 Website Updates with Info on Relevant Media

Though chances are pretty good it won't be much to talk about. We'll be lucky if we learn the new girl's name.

 

[Cresselia92]

Well, I really like artwork, so I would be fine to see that, at least.

And who knows, maybe they'll give us a little glimpse of the plot as well.

 

[ii kanji]

What I want: any image including the Rocket trio in the new art style.
What we will actually get: a big hoo-hah about the very same poster we saw several weeks back.

 

[SinnohEevee]

For me, the most important thing in a movie is the quality of the writing. I would also like a change in the formula, but M20 was meh to me because of the writing.
Also, just to note, M20 wasn't they first time they broke the formula. M15 for example didn't even focus on Ash. I don't think you need an AU to change the formula. Also, M20 still had the Chosen One trope.

I also don't think M02 needs a retelling, it was already good.

Another thing, now that they are probably going the Johto nostalgia route (plus with GS and soon C on VC), maybe that could mean Ash visiting Johto in SM is likely.

 

[kantoskies]

What I want: any image including the Rocket trio in the new art style.
What we will actually get: a big hoo-hah about the very same poster we saw several weeks back.

We all know exactly what Rocket-related image, if any, we would get out of this:

 

[Hidden Mew]

For me, the most important thing in a movie is the quality of the writing. I would also like a change in the formula, but M20 was meh to me because of the writing.
Also, just to note, M20 wasn't they first time they broke the formula. M15 for example didn't even focus on Ash. I don't think you need an AU to change the formula. Also, M20 still had the Chosen One trope.

I thought that the writing in Movie 20 was fine. I didn't have any major problems with it at least, but those seem to be unpopular opinions here. It took me forever to remember what movie 15 was even about, which was weird since that's my favorite of the BW movies. You don't have to go the AU route to change the formula, but it certainly doesn't hurt in my opinion. It gave the writers more creative freedom than if they were going for a more faithful retelling of Ash's first journey. As for the Chosen One trope, that didn't bother me. Tropes and cliches in themselves aren't bad, especially when most stories do tend to use them. It just comes down to execution and I thought that the Chosen One Trope was executed fine.

I also don't think M02 needs a retelling, it was already good.

Another thing, now that they are probably going the Johto nostalgia route (plus with GS and soon C on VC), maybe that could mean Ash visiting Johto in SM is likely.

I don't know if they'll have Ash go to Johto in SM. They don't usually make a big deal about the Virtual Console re-releases. Ash and his friends went back to Kanto, but I don't think that was due to the Virtual Console re-releases of R/B/Y. The trip was about OS nostalgia for the 20th anniversary, showcasing the different between Kanto and Alolan forms, re-introducing Misty and Brock and setting up for an Alola League. Not to mention the seventh generation games make a ton of references to Kanto more so than any other region. Johto wouldn't have that kind of nostalgic value by comparison. It would be cool if they went to other regions to meet other former traveling companions though.

 

[Rosalia R]

View: https://twitter.com/PokeshopperVGC/status/946793551198851077


My money's on Zeraora for the blank space, but as is mentioned by Pokeshopper in the replies there are other possibilities like Ultra Necrozma (though I can't really see two game mascot legendaries and a mythical all sharing the focus for the movie).

 

[Silktree]

So I guess Ho-Oh is likely to reappear, although it could just be a cameo.

(though I can't really see two game mascot legendaries and a mythical all sharing the focus for the movie).

Darkrai/Victini/Diancie movies. Except here Necrozma has nothing to do with Lugia.

 

[Hidden Mew]

That Lugia figurine looks cute. Ultra Necrozma would probably be better suited for the SM series due to its connection to Solgaleo and Lunala. I'm not sure how they'd incorporate it into the series, but it would probably work better there than in this movie.

 

[MarshiyanMisutaa]

If Ho-oh is supposed to appear in this movie, that girl could be Ho-oh's human form.

Except here Necrozma has nothing to do with Lugia.

Ultra Necrozma would probably be better suited for the SM series due to its connection to Solgaleo and Lunala.

Ho-oh and Lugia are Johto equivalents of Solgaleo and Lunala, "Golden Sun and Silver Moon".

 

[Hidden Mew]

Ho-oh and Lugia are Johto equivalents of Solgaleo and Lunala, "Golden Sun and Silver Moon".

I didn't think of it like that. That could be an interesting way to incorporate Ultra Necrozma in the movie if they went into that direction. It would probably depend on what role Ho-Oh has in the movie and how they want to handle US/UM content for SM.

 

[ii kanji]

Spoiler: USUM spoiler

Omg I just googled Zeraora - is that thing really a legendary? Looks like a knock-off cat version of Lucario...

 

[SammyW27]

I think some of those will appear in the Show, some in the Movie.

And that Pikachu doll just raised my hopes of Guzma appearing! (please tell me he'll being Plumeria with him!)