Peter Berg Blames A Lack Of Star Power For The Commercial Failure Of BATTLESHIP

Peter Berg Blames A Lack Of Star Power For The Commercial Failure Of BATTLESHIP

Hancock director Peter Berg looks back on the commercial failure of Battleship, sharing his thoughts on why he thinks the movie ultimately failed to find an audience. He also reveals that he will be giving big budget blockbusters a rest for a while now. Check it out!

News
By JoshWilding - Aug 17, 2013 04:08 PM EST
Filed Under: Sci-Fi
Source: The New York Times


"I felt I had a new understanding of what went into making a blockbuster," Peter Berg said of his approach to box office flop Battleship. After the success of Hancock (which starred Will Smith and earned upwards of $600 million at the box office), you can't blame the director for being confident, but Battleship would go on to earn only $300 million on a $200 million budget. "I got a taste of a film’s global power. But I discounted the effect of Will Smith on ‘Hancock’s’ success. I thought I could pull off ‘Battleship’ without a big star." That point is of course debatable - look at the recent commercial failure of After Earth - but Berg blames the lack of a big star on the fact that there simply wasn't enough money left for one due to nearly half of the budget being spent on special effects. So, what's next for the director? Well, he's giving big budget blockbusters a break to focus on movies like Lone Survivor; a story about a team of Navy SEALs. "I don’t want to tackle that kind of economic project for quite a while," he added.

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JoshWilding
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A lifelong comic book fan who grew up on Spider-Man: The Animated Series in the '90s, Josh Wilding has been contributing to ComicBookMovie.com since 2009.

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Lozzy
Lozzy - 8/17/2013, 4:17 PM
Liam Neeson isn't star power?
TheOneAboveAll
TheOneAboveAll - 8/17/2013, 4:18 PM
...yeah sure it was...
It was not the shit script
TheSuperguy
TheSuperguy - 8/17/2013, 4:21 PM
How about the fact that it just looked completely stupid?
LEVITIKUZ
LEVITIKUZ - 8/17/2013, 4:21 PM
You had Liam [frick]ing Neeson dummy.

You know your film is shit when Liam prefers Phantom Menace over it.
whoa123
whoa123 - 8/17/2013, 4:22 PM
F*ck, this film was unbearable
antbwan
antbwan - 8/17/2013, 4:23 PM
Even though Hancock made money....it was awful! Liam Neeson is a star, but the movie lacked a good script and good co-stars!
ABH1979
ABH1979 - 8/17/2013, 4:24 PM
I'm pretty sure it failed because it was a terrible idea for a movie...
GoILL
GoILL - 8/17/2013, 4:26 PM
Damn he is still whining over this shit flopping?
gambgel
gambgel - 8/17/2013, 4:27 PM
Liam wasnt the lead actor, and the Taken saga was done to a whole different audience.

Two totally different type of movies.
Minato
Minato - 8/17/2013, 4:27 PM
Liam Neeson, Rihanna, Taylor Kirsch, Alexander Skarsgard
Thats plenty of star power the movie wasn’t good
pesmerga44
pesmerga44 - 8/17/2013, 4:28 PM
It wasn't due to you not having star power Liam Neeson is a decently big named actor hell they put him all over the advertisements even though he was barely in the movie. The issue was you tried to emulate Michael Bay, which on it's own is a terrible idea, but with a piss poor Transformers rip off with all the soullessness that the Bayformers movies have but with no franchise to stand upon. Bay hasn't made a good movie The Rock with Bad Boys 2 and the first Transformers film being decent.
pesmerga44
pesmerga44 - 8/17/2013, 4:30 PM
Hancock wasn't a terrible film the first half was pretty damn good. Everything from being introduced to going to prison to his release/first sanctioned heroic deed that was great. It is the ending that really brought the movie down.
inkslinger616
inkslinger616 - 8/17/2013, 4:40 PM
It was just a shit movie
Minato
Minato - 8/17/2013, 4:40 PM
@ALgendaryPanda-Good point
Yea dropping at the same time as Avengers was death for all movies at that time
ABH1979
ABH1979 - 8/17/2013, 4:42 PM
Minesweeper The Movie would kill at the Box Office.

But they better respect the source material, because I'm super good at that game...
DamienA
DamienA - 8/17/2013, 4:44 PM
As others have said Liam Neeson isn't star power? GTFO!
bagadoosh
bagadoosh - 8/17/2013, 4:45 PM
photo tumblr_m2ztiqsY921qkh6cbo1_500_zpscabdacb1.jpg

if at first you don't succeed
SageMode
SageMode - 8/17/2013, 4:54 PM
First he blamed it on THE AVENGERS, now its because of "lack of star power". Next it'll be because of the wrong camera.
Redmest
Redmest - 8/17/2013, 4:56 PM
YEA... lack of star power is what made the movie garbage.... gimme a break
TonyChu
TonyChu - 8/17/2013, 4:57 PM
Lack of a good script is was what I thought it was.
nach1wan
nach1wan - 8/17/2013, 5:03 PM
i went to see it cos of liam neeson, so dont tell me about lack of star power. that god-awful piece of shit was all wrong from the get go

and he seriously thought hancock's success didnt had to do with will smith starring in it? that director lives in the moon
Luminus
Luminus - 8/17/2013, 5:04 PM
@MrSundayNight: No, Hungry Hungry Hippo.

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/04/entertainment/la-et-ct-hungry-hungry-hippos-action-man-monopoly-movie-20121004
Reviewscrub72
Reviewscrub72 - 8/17/2013, 5:07 PM
ya maybe next time you wont release your movie when avengers is still playing genius
DravinClaw
DravinClaw - 8/17/2013, 5:07 PM
It was a ok movie if it wasn't called battleship it might have done better that and a decent script
wookiefit
wookiefit - 8/17/2013, 5:14 PM
How about the movie just sucked?

How about it was based on a kids game, so jokes automatically precceded any discussion?

How about it seemed like a Micheal Bay movie?

How about the plot didn't make sense?

If it was because of no Will Smith, then how do you explain that crap movie him and his son just did?

If the aliens wanted to take over, why not jus release those spheres with all the blades all over the place?

How about almost every scene was way to cliche?
wookiefit
wookiefit - 8/17/2013, 5:23 PM
While we're at it, here's a few more kids games that will probably make crappy movies:





ezio619
ezio619 - 8/17/2013, 5:29 PM
yeah,thats why 2009 star trek failed too..ohhh wait
ezio619
ezio619 - 8/17/2013, 5:30 PM
gi joe retaliation was fun, transformers was crap so was gi joe rise of cobra, so who the hell wanted a battleship movie?
Ancar
Ancar - 8/17/2013, 5:35 PM
A shitty script, too much celebrity actors and a Transformers aura made this film a total GARBAGE!

Berg is a good director, but Battleship is pure waste.
kirbyfan
kirbyfan - 8/17/2013, 5:35 PM
I don't think it's any of those reasons. There was nothing wrong with the script, story, actors or any of that.

The real reason is people make up their minds about a movie and don't give it an honest chance!

I totally enjoyed Battleship, in fact I still enjoy Battleship, I got it on Blu-ray.

Look at the DREDD movie, why didn't it connect with audiences, because it was a good movie?

People are just too judgmental and fickle!!
ezio619
ezio619 - 8/17/2013, 5:39 PM
jollem- i hope transformers 4 and ninja turles fail next year so they can reboot it 10 years down the line and do it RIGHT!! but its gonna make millions...so people can blame themselves
mgeoff88
mgeoff88 - 8/17/2013, 5:42 PM
Liam Nesson isn't considered star power??? Talk about grasping at straws.

The movie just sucked. Plain and simple.
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