The Huntsman: Winter's War was a box office flop that lost around $75 million. As a sequel without Kristen Stewart's Snow White, it failed to attract the same audiences as the original. With a budget of $115 million and box office returns of only $164.6 million, the film only covered around 71% of its budget through ticket sales. Critics panned the film for its lack of plot and for trying to establish a new franchise without the character that drove the original film's success.

1. PRODUCTION
BIGGEST HITS AND FLOP MOVIES…

2. BIGGEST FLOP MOVIES

3. The Hunstman: Winter's War'

4. Winter’s war
• Sans Snow White — played by Kristen Stewart in the first
film — Universal's sequel/spinoff The Huntsman: Winter's
War failed to cast a magic spell at the box office following
its late April release. The movie, which saw Chris
Hemsworth reprise his role as the Huntsman opposite
Charlize Theron, Jessica Chastain and Emily Blunt, topped
out at $164.6 million despite costing at least $115 million
to make, plus a major marketing spend. Box-office
analysts put the loss in the $75 million-plus range. The
first film, Snow White and the Hunstman, grossed $396.6
million in 2012.
• Portion of budget covered by box-office rentals: 71
percent.

5. Winter’s War was greenlit following the box office success of 2012’s
Snow White and the Huntsman, which took $397m worldwide. But the
move to dispense with Kristen Stewart’s princess in favour of
Hemsworth’s Huntsman appears to have failed to impress audiences.
Critics have also been largely scathing: the film has a 16% rating on the
review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, while the Guardian’s Peter
Bradshaw labelled it a “dreary sub-franchise fairytale product”.

6. What made the movie fail?
• The fantasy movie follows the war between Evil
Queen Ravenna, played by Charlize Theron, and
her little sister, the Ice Queen (Blunt). The Ice
Queen raises an army of soldiers with one rule:
they can’t fall in love. But Eric (Chris Hemsworth)
and Sarah (Jessica Chastain) do, much to the
dismay of the Ice Queen, but they must put their
differences aside to fight Ravenna.
• So why will “The Huntsman” make significantly
less its opening weekend than its predecessor?
See five reasons below.

7. • 1. No Kristen Stewart … and No Snow White
• Kristen Stewart starring as Snow White was the main draw for many
people going to see the 2012 film, as Stewart’s fanbase grew
tremendously after “Twilight.” Now that she isn’t starring in the prequel,
fans are opting out. Moreover, there is no Snow White in a movie that is
somewhat related to the original fairytale. In fact, there is no Snow White
flashback (or flash forward) in the new film, either, we just briefly hear
about how well things are going in her happy kingdom.
• The first film was unique in the sense that it was a female-driven action
fantasy film. That element is now gone, and many critics are describing the
film as a “Game of Thrones,” “Frozen,” and J. R. R. Tolkien mashup instead.
• 2. It’s a Prequel
• Prequels are hard to sell in general and it’s very difficult to the match the
original one, says BoxOffice.com’s senior analyst, Shawn Robbins. Jeff
Bock, senior analyst at Exhibitor Relations, added, “any suspense is gone
out the window. For example, we know that Charlize Theron survives,
because she’s in the next movie.”

8. • 3. Chris Hemsworth Doesn’t Attract Audiences
• The flop of “In the Heart of the Sea” proved that Chris Hemsworthdoesn’t necessarily draw people to the movie
theaters. Produced on a $100 million budget, it only made $25 million domestically and $93.8 million worldwide.
“Blackhat” didn’t even crack $10 million. “Rush” made $26.9 million on a budget of $45 million. Of course, when
he’s part of the Avengers cast, he makes bank, but when Hemsworth doesn’t don his God/superhero costume, he
isn’t attractive to moviegoers. 4. It’s Sandwiched Between Two Huge Blockbusters
• Disney’s “The Jungle Book” opened last week to a whopping $103 million. Given its stellar word of mouth, the film
will do solid work at the box office in its second weekend, with experts only anticipating a 45 percent drop for
the Jon Favreau-directed film.
• “No one will go see ‘The Huntsman’ because ‘Jungle Book’ is the main attraction,” Bock said.
• Two weeks after “Huntsman” opens, one of the biggest movies of the year is hitting theaters: “Captain America:
Civil War.” The third film in the franchise is looking at a massive $200 million opening. Even Keegan-Michael
Key and Jordan Peele‘s “Keanu,” debuting next weekend, is likely to storm past “Huntsman” with a projected $19
million debut, according to BoxOffice.com. A huge percent drop-off for “Huntsman” is extremely likely.
• 5. Bad Reviews
• Reviews have been anything but good. Currently scoring 19 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, critics are attacking the
film’s mixed target audience and lack of a plot line.
• “The Huntsman: Winter’s War’ is all fairly silly, but unfortunately the filmmakers don’t quite realize it — along with
banning love, decent gags seem to have been outlawed, too,” wrote TheWrap film critic Jason Solomons.

9. Effects in the movie
• Initially I designed four of five ideas. I pulled together ideas that
pushed the concepts of frost and frozen moments, as well as the
molten gold world, playing with graphic and illustrative realms and
all-CG spaces. Knowing that with Robert we could achieve strong CG
worlds gave me a completely new lens to look through.
• The process was initially about exploring those powerful contrasting
characters and using their main visuals — ice and gold — as a
playground, juxtaposing them against each other and exploring
that. After viewing the film, for a week I tackled a few different
design interpretations, some reliant more on live action, others
more on CG, a combo, an all-graphic route. From a flowing gold
mirror re-forming from its frozen shards, to an ice journey through
a cracking fragment, to frozen objects being shattered proving that
love will prevail, to a painterly direction… Different design routes
set to a beautiful background to complement the film’s palette.

10. • Tell me about that live-action shoot. How did you set everything up, and how did you achieve those
shots?
• This was a huge undertaking. The high-end CG, the shoot, and the design all push the boundaries of any
budget so I had to get my hands dirty upfront. I sketched each storyboard frame pre-shoot, and then
Robert and I had each camera move pre-visualized.
• The BOLT moves lightning fast so we could move with the flying arrow. This preparation was more
intense than any other job I have done.
• We combined our high-tech techniques with a number of materials. The ice was formed and sculpted from
pre-designed and 3D objects. The owl was a gorgeous piece of craftsmanship and I was both heartbroken
and excited by its destruction. It’s a strange place to be seeing the work sheared to pieces by a powerful
motion-controlled axe dropping on it!
• Ice sculptor refining the ice sculpture on set, giving the owl additional cracks in its wings. Ice sculptures
by Ice Bulb.
• The arrows were hugely exciting, seeing the rig fire them across the studio with precision to destroy
objects, the rose, the medallion, and ultimately itself.
• The arrow rig was great. The dangerous power of the device and then seeing it play back in slo-mo, seeing
the particles falling from it as it glides through the air with this seemingly bizarre wobble as it blasts
through the rose or the wall with utter precision, that was my highlight.
• Proof-of-concept video and initial test of the rose and arrow impact, shot on an iPhone

11. • After the shoot, which tools and software did you use to put it all together?
• It was a lot of Maya, Houdini, Nuke, Flame, and After Effects.
• With such a complicated shoot, what are some of the big lessons you learned?
• I think — try not to do so much in one day! We had 27 setups to shoot in one day with a motion
control rig, ice, shattering gold, frozen roses, firing arrows, and smashing sculptures. A usual shoot
day with motion control allows for four shots…
• But I am so happy with how much we pushed the possibilities. The complex camera technique and
the 3D were areas that tested the way of creating work like this. We found a visually delicate world
despite these brand new techniques and those challenges and obstacles, which I’m most proud of.
• What have you seen or watched lately that’s been exciting to you?
• I actually quite like the titles for Broad City. It’s quick, light-hearted and seems right for the show —
and of course I like the show itself!
• I wish The People vs. OJ Simpson had a title sequence, as it was a great show and it would inspire
such an amazing collection of ideas.
• Is there anything that you would love to work on that just hasn’t come up yet? What would be a
dream project for you?
• With a newfound world of 3D, I would love to do a Bond movie. Combining those graphic
sensibilities with the 3D world would be a dream.
• View the credits for this sequence

12. MAX STEEL

13. • On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of
0% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 2.5/10.] On Metacrtic,
which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score 22 out of 100,
based on reviews from 7 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable
reviews".[] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of
"B" on an A+ to F scale.]
• IGN critic Alex Welch gave the film a score of 4 out of 10, summarizing his
review with: "Max Steel is one of the more forgettable and pointless
attempts at a superhero franchise in the current post-MCU Hollywood
market, lacking any of the originality or vibrance that could give it even a
remote shot at a successful future." Variety's Joe Leydon gave a negative
review, describing it as: "A half-baked, time-wasting curtain-raiser for a
superhero franchise that is never, ever going to happen."] Christy
Lemire for RogerEbert.com gave half a star out of 4, writing: "For a movie
about developing the greatest energy source in the universe, Max Steel is
surprisingly bland" and that "a movie based on a toy should be a whole lot
more fun than this."[] The Hollywood Reporter critic Frank Scheck gave an
unfavorable review, writing: "Even tweens may find themselves
underwhelmed by the new live-action film based on what — for many of
them — may be their favorite Mattel action figure. Delivering a bland
cinematic origin story which seems calculated to boost Christmas toy
sales, Max Steel is a stillborn, would-be franchise starter, sneaked into
multiplexes without advance critic screenings."

14. • Max Steel grossed $3.8 million in the United States and
Canada and $2.5 million in other countries for a
worldwide total of $6.3 million, against a production
budget of $5–10 million.[3]
• Max Steel opened on October 14, 2016, alongside The
Accountant and Kevin Hart: What Now?, and was
expected to gross $5–7 million from 2,034 theaters in
its opening weekend.[17] After grossing just $1,637,795
on its first day the film went on to open to $3.2 million,
finishing 8th at the box office.[18] In its second weekend
the film grossed $680,104 finishing 17th at the box
office, making it a box office bomb.[19]

15. Why did it fail
• The acting in this film is difficult to watch. Veteran actors Andy Garcia, who plays
Max’s deceased father’s former colleague, and Bello seem to be misplaced in this
movie. For actors who’ve taken on major roles in various films and played them
well, the way their roles are presented in “Max Steel” shows a waste of talent. Ben
Winchell’s portrayal of Max McGrath is boring at best, at worst a failure because
he adds nothing to the character – often resorting to cliched looks of surprise in
instances of consequence or shock. Though Josh Brener tries to bring life to the
admittedly shoddy CGI Steel, his attempts at humor and cliched one-liners come
off flat and he translates better as the quirky sidekick instead of one-half of the
namesake superhero.
• However, the real problem in this movie stems from the writing and overall
direction. The movie comes off well as part of the action genre, but Steel’s jokes
and tidbits of humor take away from some of the serious aspects throughout the
film. The writing also left much to be desired, as the characters’ lines were often
over dramatic and predictable.
• Max Steel needed and would have benefited from a strong villain. Instead, the
writers decided to add many lesser villains for Max to face before the actual
antagonist arrives. And while they try to keep the antagonist’s identity a secret, it
was blatantly obvious who the writers were setting up a the final boss.

16. • The only real takeaway from this movie is the high
quality action we get to see. In the short moments of
watching Max use his powers, fight his battles and
overcome seemingly impossible odds, the movie does
draw you in. But sadly, even these moments can be
overshadowed by poor acting and scenes that look like
stock footage from another action film.
• Max Steel is an absolute box-office disappointment.
What could have been a trip of nostalgia for long time
fans turned into a forgettable two hours of watching a
childhood hero metaphorically die on screen. The
worst part about Max Steel is that it had the potential
to bring the franchise back to life.

17. • Filming
• The shooting of the film began March 31, 2014 in North Caroline and finished in
April 2014. The principal photography began in Wilmington, and was expected to
hit the theaters next year. On July 3, the first images of the movie were unveiled
on the network of Moviefone.
• Cast
• The studio had chosen the actor of Twilight, Taylor Lautner, however, he decided
to decline when he was chosen to another role in a movie called "Stretch
Armstrong", which was later cancelled in April 11, 2014 by Hasbro.
• In Februrary 2014, the studio confirmed Ben Winchell as Maxwell
McGrath and Ana Villafañe as his love interest, Sofia Martinez.
• In April 2014, two actors, Andy García as Miles Edwards and Billy
Slaughter as Agent Murphy joined the cast. In the following month, Maria
Bello joined the cast.
• In May 21, 2014, the actor Mike Doyle that eventually would appear in the new
adapdation of Jersey Boys, joined the cast as the father of Max.

18. Best Movies

19. •
Captain America:
Civil War
Domestic Total Gross: $408,084,349
• Distributor: Buena VistaRelease Date: May 6,
2016
• Genre: Action / AdventureRuntime: 2 hrs. 27
min.
• MPAA Rating: PG-13
• Production Budget: $250 million

20. • A visual effects reel from VFX company and animation studio Cinesite, who
also worked on Iron Man 3, shows the impressive CG work that went
into Captain America: Civil War. The video shows the character animation
behind Black Panther, breaking down the layers and details that went into
creating his intricate costume and claws. The video also shows the
creation of Hydra’s Siberian base and the CG in the Spider-Man post-
credits scene.
• Cinesite was just one of many visual effects houses that worked on the
film. Co-director Joe Russo spoke about ILM’s work on Black Panther’s
suit, which had to be created in post-production due to the cost and
technicalities of the costume. “We could never afford to construct an
outfit like that that an actor or a stunt player could move around in
without sweating to death or that would capture the luminescence that
we need,” Russo revealed in the movie’s Blu-ray commentary.
• It’s pretty incredible the movie was able to make CG look so seamless and
undetectable with Black Panther.

21. • “The primary challenge in Cinesite’s sequences
of Black Panther shots was to completely
replace the original practical suit, shot by shot,
with a full CG rendition, to tighten folds in the
material and create an overall metallic
look. In one Bucharest rooftop battle
sequence, Cinesite executed a complete
replacement of the live stunt performer.”

22. Expansive Effects
• “We used some in-house tools for layout (overseen by layout artist
Cameron Widen) but the work then fell into the FX department’s hands,”
says Hackl. “That involved a process of scattering instanced geometry over
the top of the geometry of the cliff face itself.”
• Specialized algorithms were even used to read the angles of rock faces and
determine whether vegetation would ‘grow’ at certain points: “We were
able to scatter points across a surface and it would ask, is it a flat surface
or not?” explains Hackl. “If it was not flat, to what degree would we want
a plant to grow? At a certain termination point there would be no
vegetation.”
• A final consideration came in the form of the mist and fog wafting through
the valley. These elements were creating using substantial effects
simulations: “We were counting up the individual simulations, and within
the body of the shot there’s probably well over 100 different mist sims
that were utilized for the varying waterfalls and mist being kicked around
within the huge valley,” recalls Hackl.

23. The Jungle Book

24. • The Jungle Book is a 2016 American fantasy adventure film directed and produced
by Jon Favreau, produced by Walt Disney Pictures.
• The film became a huge financial success and a sleeper hit.] It briefly held the
record for the biggest remake of all time until the studio's own Beauty and the
Beastsurpassed it the following yeari t grossed $364 million in the United States
and Canada and $602.5 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $966.6
million, against a budget of $175 million. Worldwide, the film was released across
28,000 RealD 3D screens and had an IMAX worldwide opening of $20.4 million
from 901 IMAX screens, a new record for a PG film It grossed a total of $39 million
in IMAX screens worldwide ] On May 13, it became the second film of 2016 (after
the studio's own Zootopia) to pass the $800 million mark On June 10, it became
the third film of 2016 after Zootopia and Captain America: Civil War to pass the
$900 million mark Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be
$258 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film,
making it the sixth-most profitable release of 2016.

25. How did they make it look real?
• Photographically, you can make something look real, and
then you can get it behaving like it’s real, and then you can
put it in a big production … but we wanted to do that times
30,” While that may sound like a near-insurmountable task,
Legato explained that the thought process actually made
the prospect of creating the massive cast of animal
characters in The Jungle Book seem moremanageable.
“[You have to think], ‘Well, yes, you can do it — because
you can do one, so you can do 30.'”
•
Of course, once they had the most realistic animals
possible, the producers then turned to making the animals
do something decidedly un-realistic: speak English.

26. Make an animated movie look real.
• Legato has learned step-by-step, tagging between Cameron and
Scorsese, how to integrate live environments with digital figures,
from creating algorithms to move the first digital people on the
deck of the “Titanic” to creating the “Aviator” crash scene with a
camera pan and tilt in real time inside the computer. “We shoot as
if it’s real,” he said. “On ‘Avatar,’ Jim would add motion capture to it
and take advantage of CG.”
• This naturalism extended to how animal mouths moved around
human words. “We don’t make them human,” said Legato. “They
don’t enunciate every word. The voice that comes out of a parrot
doesn’t do anything a parrot can’t do.”
• Because of the accretion of all these minute details, he said,
“people forgot about the natural movie artifice and started
watching the story and engaging with the kid and the music and the
visually interesting jungle, with dust and flies and wet areas on the
ground.”

27. How did they make the animals talk?
• “We had to approach it from the perspective of ‘If the animals did
talk, they would talk this way,'” explained Legato. “They would
move their throats in a particular way, and they would breathe in a
particular way, [and] they would have to take breaths between
lines, and all of those various things. That was our leap of faith.”
• “But if you’re doing it and you designed the creature to reflect the
exact physical nature of the animal, with muscles and joints and the
way the mouth moves, it’s not really animated in a way that lets
you do anything you want,” he continued. “You’re now a puppeteer
and controlling the physical nature of them only in ways that their
musculature allows. And then you hope that will sell it … That’s the
way we approached it: Give them so much reality that you forget
that any of it is fake. It becomes real to you.”

28. How the lightning and props were
planned?
• The film's production designers then recreated small sections of the set as
required for each of Sethi's live-action shots using blue screens and props,
while puppeteers or actors stood in for the animals. Even the lighting was
meticulously planned, with LED panels programmed to create the
particular shadows for passing elephants or buffalo. Using a rig called
SimulCam, also developed on Avatar, Favreau's crew could then combine
the live-action footage - shot in native 3D using a Cameron-Pace rig - with
the previz set and motion-capture in real time. "You'd see the kid with a
guy in a blue suit, or a puppeteer, then with Simulcam you'd see the bear
walking next to him," says Favreau. "We had the editing system on-set,
and we would cut what we just shot into the movie, so that at any given
time you could watch the whole thing." Finally, the finished footage would
then go into post-production for the bulk of the visual-effects work -
animating every tiny hair (modelled on those of real animals) and shadow
by hand - and editing. The result is a jungle that looks and feels almost
intimidatingly real.