The Tonight Show writer Chase Mitchell shared his disdain for moviegoers in the wake of The Walt Disney Company’s most recent film, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, bombing at the box office.
(L-R): Noa (played by Owen Teague), Soona (played by Lydia Peckham), and Anaya (played by Travis Jeffery) in 20th Century Studios’ KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2024 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Reacting to a report from Variety declaring that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes only earned “$3.4 million on Friday, down 50% from its $6.8 million last Friday,” Mitchell declared, “I think it’s time to accept that a large part of the moviegoing public sucks s**t.”
Chase Mitchell on X
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Next, he attempted to justify his attack on moviegoers by sharing screenshots of the Rotten Tomatoes scores for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, The Fall Guy, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and Babes.
He mocked, “‘But movies suck now.'”
Chase Mitchell on X
X user FakeAngelof then informed him, “Movies can be highly rated, that doesn’t mean people want to see them. Last year was a horrible year for movies, because most sucked.”
Mitchell responded, “Last year was one of the best years for film in the history of the medium.”
Chase Mitchell on X
Mitchell would later reveal, specifically, who he thinks are “s**t.” One X user wrote, “Stop with the female leads in action movies. Stop shoving the message down movie goers throats. Stop the preaching and left wing propaganda. Make movies entertaining again and tone down the cgi. Get biden out of office so prices can come down.”
Mitchell responded, “oh hey I found the guy who sucks s**t.”
Chase Mitchell on X
According to The-Numbers, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes has only grossed $126.6 million at the domestic box office and another $172 million internationally for a worldwide gross of $298.6 million. The film reportedly has an estimated production budget of $160 million. That means the film needs to gross at least $400 million to break even.
The film has been in theaters for three weekends and has seen its domestic box office grosses decline by 56% in its second weekend and 47% in its third weekend. The movie clawed in $58.4 million in its opening weekend. It fell to $25.4 million in its second weekend. It then fell to $13.4 million in its third weekend.
(Left): Raka (played by Peter Macon) in 20th Century Studios’ KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2024 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Box office analyst OMB Reviews notes the film’s box office performance still has the movie in the red by over $100 million currently and he predicts it will likely end up losing around $75 million.
“Based on how it’s doing in its holds week to week, I think probably north of $75 million is likely. Maybe in a best case scenario it loses $50 [million]. Either way though, this is not a huge hit. This is not the film that people were saying, ‘Oh man! This movie is making so much money.’ When you look at the actual data, when you break it down by the individual film and where it’s actually getting released. That is actually not the case,” he shared.
What do you make of Chase Mitchell’s comments regarding the moviegoing audience?
I don’t even know what surprises me more. A critic publicly insulting an audience because they didn’t go to see a certain movie, or because it got 26 thousand likes. Twitter is really some kind of alternative world.
He’s ensconced in “film twitter”. It’s amusing to see how weak and angry they are, and how they rage about their little bubble unable to make this trash successful when in reality most people have just moved on.
Well those people are stupid as well. If the goal is to hope Disney dies, that’s not happening.
Oh it is definetly possible that Disney dies. We all die from hubris. I dont get why we have to tell people with othe opinions that they are stupid, but its stupid to think that something is so big that nothing can rock or sink the boat. I mean I dont want that because I used to love disney movies, just hope they start making movies from the heart again and not from agenda
They won’t die that easily unless their parks are destroyed or wastelands which they’re not. Besides Disney has been in the dumps before and have gotten out of it. It’s likely we’ll see an actual Renaissance sometime in the latter half of the decade or the 2030’s. When that happens, I’ll be happy not just that Disney is thriving again but that the apathetic ranters of yesteryear can be laughed at for being cowards.
Stop defending Disney, you shill! I’m so sick of you, always running defence for Disney! You’re the real coward, Alex! And you’re the real apathetic ranter, since, all your doing is stalking people, who are calling Disney out!
I don’t know you. The only ranter though is you based on how you’re coming on to me.
Because you’re running defence for Disney. Stop acting like you’re the calm one. You’re clearly, the triggered one here, since you have to run defence for your God emperor, The Walt Disney Company.
Everyone sucks because they can neither write a popular show and the entire public has chosen to avoid it.
“‘But movies suck now.’” Pretty much.
Why is he so angry? These aren’t good. I’m not interested in an ape movie. Especially with a title so bad.
When has the “blame the audience” strategy ever worked?
Just remember, he was looking in a mirror when he uttered that statement.
I think it’s time to show this latest iteration of,…………
…………. “Writers’”
Are handed their hats, and shown the door. Out.