Yesterday (Beatles movie) review

[Devilwin]

24.8 million first weekend. Slightly over budget costs.. All gravy now..Not too bad.

[devildeac]

If I see Yesterday tomorrow, is that Today?

Maybe Billy Joel answers your question:

[Bostondevil]

Saw it. Liked it well enough. It's a RomCom.

[Rich]

Saw Yesterday today and enjoyed it. It wasn’t a masterpiece, but it was a pleasant day at the cinema.

Can we do spoilers yet?

I saw Yesterday today and thought it was just meh. I started getting antsy 3/4 of the way through. Very predictable and safe formula, IMO.

Really, other than the "cameo" what's there to spoil?

[JasonEvans]

Really, other than the "cameo" what's there to spoil?

Shhhh, some people may not realize that the two main characters, who love each other from the start but are too afraid to say it, find a way to end up together at the end. I mean, that came as a total shocker to me. Did not see that coming at all.

[camion]

Shhhh, some people may not realize that the two main characters, who love each other from the start but are too afraid to say it, find a way to end up together at the end. I mean, that came as a total shocker to me. Did not see that coming at all.

It is basically a romcom. I pretty much knew how that would go.

I am somewhat interested in the post glitch world where we learn along the way that it isn’t just the Beatles that ceased to exist. By my reckoning the world also lost Coca Cola, cigarettes and Harry Potter. Someone else mentioned Oasis. Did I miss anything else gone missing?

And what of the other two people that remembered? I know. That wasn’t explored.

I also thought John Lennon looked like himself.

[Rich]

It is basically a romcom. I pretty much knew how that would go.

I am somewhat interested in the post glitch world where we learn along the way that it isn’t just the Beatles that ceased to exist. By my reckoning the world also lost Coca Cola, cigarettes and Harry Potter. Someone else mentioned Oasis. Did I miss anything else gone missing?

And what of the other two people that remembered? I know. That wasn’t explored.

I also thought John Lennon looked like himself.

So did the guy who played Ed Sheeran!

[camion]

So did the guy who played Ed Sheeran!

That guy could make some money at birthday parties and mall openings.

[Jim3k]

Enjoyable. Kate McKinnon is a howl. [Stop! In the name of money!]

Annoyed that they omitted Harrison's "Something." Personal favorite of mine.

I'd be interested to know how much of the singing was dubbed. Is Patel able to do McCartney, Starr, Harrison or Lennon? Can he even sing? [OK, Wiki says he sings throughout the film; not sure myself.] Were any of the Beatles dubbed in? Where? Or was it someone else? Credits don't say. Seems to be a lot of original Beatle voices in the background at the very least.

Fun to hear from the Beatles' songbook. Lotta memories.

[camion]

Enjoyable. Kate McKinnon is a howl. [Stop! In the name of money!]

Annoyed that they omitted Harrison's "Something." Personal favorite of mine.

I'd be interested to know how much of the singing was dubbed. Is Patel able to do McCartney, Starr, Harrison or Lennon? Can he even sing? [OK, Wiki says he sings throughout the film; not sure myself.] Were any of the Beatles dubbed in? Where? Or was it someone else? Credits don't say. Seems to be a lot of original Beatle voices in the background at the very least.

Fun to hear from the Beatles' songbook. Lotta memories.

I was disappointed they cut that song. It was in the trailer. Interestingly Ana de Armas, to whom he was singing Something in the trailer, was listed in the film credits though I don't think she made it into the actual movie.

[Blue in the Face]

That guy could make some money at birthday parties and mall openings.

He's much too busy brawling in Scottish pubs.

[Bostondevil]

I just went to imdb to find out the actor who played that surprise cameo at the end and OMG!! Did not recognize him.

[JasonEvans]

I was disappointed they cut that song. It was in the trailer. Interestingly Ana de Armas, to whom he was singing Something in the trailer, was listed in the film credits though I don't think she made it into the actual movie.

She was in the James Corden sequence (they likely paid her for one day of shooting). That whole thing was supposed to be a dream and I suspect they did not want the dream sequence to go on that long.

As for the surprise cameo at the end, he was under so much makeup, it is no wonder you could not see him.

[alteran]

Shhhh, some people may not realize that the two main characters, who love each other from the start but are too afraid to say it, find a way to end up together at the end. I mean, that came as a total shocker to me. Did not see that coming at all.

Yeah, I prefer the radical unpredictability of action/sci-if/heist/revenge movies, where the protagonists face down incredible odds with extremely high stakes.

Unlike rom-coms, whether they succeed in the end is completely impossible to guess.

[alteran]

As I said in the pod, it isn’t a bad movie and you will likely enjoy it while watching it. I think that diminished expectations may make it even better for many of you than it was for me. I just don’t think it will stick with you and feel as meaningful as it could have with a more thoughtful script and execution.

I actually had a blast despite the fact that most of your comments are spot on.

I would add that genre fiction isn’t generally saddled with the expectation of exploring great human themes. The critics are being fairly harsh on the movie, but most of their complaints seem to be about the movie they wanted and not the movie that was in front of them.

I don’t want to go spoilerrific, but I will mention that a handful of cliches were aptly dodged. I was also surprised at how verklempt I got during the “cameo.”

[Devilwin]

As of today, worldwide totals for this flic is 59.1 million. Not too bad for a 25 mil budget..

[JasonEvans]

As of today, worldwide totals for this flic is 59.1 million. Not too bad for a 25 mil budget..

Hate to burst your bubble, but the studio execs are not exactly celebrating this film as a success.

Typically, you can take a film's production budget and double it to come up with the full marketing and distribution costs (when talking about a major studio film, like this one). But, for a film with a really high or low budget that does not work. Disney/Marvel did not spend $350 mil on marketing and distribution for Avengers. Similarly, I suspect the marketing/distribution costs for Yesterday likely exceeded $25 mil, at least by a little bit.

It is also worth noting that the studio does not get every penny of every ticket sold. Though Yesterday has grossed $61 mil worldwide thus far, I would bet that the studio has seen no more than maybe $45-50 million of that. Additionally, in some international markets it can be difficult to repatriate revenues.

On the other side of the coin, there will be some ancillary revenues that the studio will get after the theatrical release from streaming, DVD, and television rights. There will be some merchandise revenues as well, but probably not anything all that significant.

Bottom line -- if this movie was going to get to $100+ mil in worldwide revenue, it would probably be a nice success, but in the 60-70 million kind of range, it is a break even film, at best.

-Jason "also, it is possible that Danny Boyle or someone else connected to the film (perhaps the folks who own the Beatles songs?) have a piece of the back end as well, which could really impact the bottom line here" Evans

[weezie]

He's much too busy brawling in Scottish pubs.

Is that so wrong?

[luburch]

I was really excited for this film when I saw the initial trailer. Interesting concept, lots of great music to work with. They kinda blew it. It wasn't a bad movie by any means. Just thoroughly mediocre. Focused on the romance aspect and not the part that actually made the movie interesting.

[Devilwin]

Hate to burst your bubble, but the studio execs are not exactly celebrating this film as a success.

Typically, you can take a film's production budget and double it to come up with the full marketing and distribution costs (when talking about a major studio film, like this one). But, for a film with a really high or low budget that does not work. Disney/Marvel did not spend $350 mil on marketing and distribution for Avengers. Similarly, I suspect the marketing/distribution costs for Yesterday likely exceeded $25 mil, at least by a little bit.

It is also worth noting that the studio does not get every penny of every ticket sold. Though Yesterday has grossed $61 mil worldwide thus far, I would bet that the studio has seen no more than maybe $45-50 million of that. Additionally, in some international markets it can be difficult to repatriate revenues.

On the other side of the coin, there will be some ancillary revenues that the studio will get after the theatrical release from streaming, DVD, and television rights. There will be some merchandise revenues as well, but probably not anything all that significant.

Bottom line -- if this movie was going to get to $100+ mil in worldwide revenue, it would probably be a nice success, but in the 60-70 million kind of range, it is a break even film, at best.

-Jason "also, it is possible that Danny Boyle or someone else connected to the film (perhaps the folks who own the Beatles songs?) have a piece of the back end as well, which could really impact the bottom line here" Evans

As of today, it stands at 80.5 million worldwide.