That's a very well-informed and interesting article that dares say the things not many dare say. In particular:
2. No Stars
Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford may seem like box-office draws but let’s be honest: Audiences have not been kind to any of their recent ventures outside of their martini-sipping and fedora-wearing comfort zones. (Ford’s résumé in particular deserves a harsher reexamination. The guy hasn’t had a legitimate, non-Indy action hit since Air Force One, a movie that would have celebrated its bar mitzvah last year.) Robert Downey Jr. was originally cast as the lead cowpoke (he bailed to cross-dress in Sherlock Holmes 2), and his strong box-office track record — not to mention his winking, welcome persona — would almost definitely have been able to lift even a leaden film like this one above the white-capped heads of those devil-worshipping Smurfs.
Thanks so much for telling us we are right when we say Craig isn't a box office draw at all. And you forgot to add something there: while Harrison Ford CREATED Indiana Jones, Daniel Craig thank God did NOT create James Bond, and the only reason why his two movies haven't failed at the box office (other than QoS making the studio book a loss) is that it's JAMES BOND, not that it's him starring.
5. The Promo
Despite all of the above, C&A was green-lit on the back of the attached talent — but only two things are really expected of pricey names: showing up on set at least marginally sober and, as the release date nears, working the talk show circuit like a hungry comedian. But Daniel Craig was reportedly a "pain in the ass" when it came to doing publicity. And the legendarily cranky Harrison Ford told interviewers he was "in it for the money" and that he read 30 pages of the script before throwing it across the room with the same ferocity he once used to throw punches. "That stuff hurts a lot," says one Hollywood publicist. "Especially when it's the most marketable person in both of the genres they were trying to sell it — he's Indiana Jones and Han Solo. Why would people invest in the movie if they don't feel the star is?"
Thanks so much again for telling us we are right, for the second time. We've been saying this ever since his debut on CR... Craig is a total failure at publicity, which is one of the many reasons why he should never have been James Bond. Can't afford to have someone who fails at that as Bond. And that's on top of him being totally unsuitable for the role in the first place. I really think that also shows lack of professionalism. Are you kidding me? Publicity is part of your job. You do it and you must do it well. Needless to say, Henry Cavill is the exact opposite at that. He's polite, smiling and charming even with the most hideous interviewers (I have video proof).
9. A Bad Poster
C&A's first poster featured a glowering, alien-bracelet-wearing Daniel Craig and the tagline, "From the director of Iron Man." "That tells me nothing," says a publicist. "If guys are this movie's target audience, how do you not have a poster with Olivia Wilde looking hot? They overestimated Daniel Craig's star power. If they'd wanted to go that route, the poster should have said, 'James Bond in Cowboys & Aliens.'"
Say what? You're telling us we are correct (and from the start) again? Imagine that. (And this is from no James Bond site so the stupid fanboys can't even complain about it being biased. It's a freaking agent/publicist/producer talking).
10. A Bad Movie
Could be! "Cowboys & Aliens bombed because it was a shitty movie," says the agent. "At the end of the day, that is usually the no. 1 reason summer tentpoles bomb."
LOL truth is harsh. And lots of us said this right after saying the trailer, me included. It looked like a hot mess, and it is a hot mess.
The Fallout: Who Will Cowboys & Aliens Hurt?
Harrison Ford
He'll survive Cowboys & Aliens, and not just because was barely invested in it: "He's long past being someone Hollywood thinks carries movies," says our agent. "His name won't get a movie green-lighted. He'll show up in movies where he's a good creative choice and that's it."
Daniel Craig
"He seems to be following the long line of James Bonds who can't carry a movie outside of the franchise," says the agent. "He does have The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo coming, which should be huge. But it remains to be seen how much credit he gets for that, given that it's based on a massive, worldwide best-seller." But, asks the producer, "can we really be sad for a guy who goes back and forth between being married to Rachel Weisz and playing James Bond?"
So this is a producer talking, and already saying that whatever Girl with Dragon Tattoo does, it won't be Craig's merit mainly. Thanks for that, too.
Love this story, it points out ALL the things people here have been saying since, well, he was appointed as Bond. I don't know what "long line" this man is referring to though. Sean Connery DID struggle at first but then did just fine. Roger Moore sure never had that problem. I guess Lazenby and Dalton did but I think it's because they were never much interested in the rest? Dalton has always been more about theatre than movies. And Pierce had various hit movies that weren't Bond, comedies included, so I can't really see this. I'd say he'll be the first Bond who actually does a lot of other stuff and regularly doesn't deliver in terms of box office (heck even Munich didn't do well).
$19,750,000