Talk:American Ultra

Are there any other Robin Williams fans here who can help me out?
Almost a year and a half ago, I vandalized this article with a fake plot and cast. The fake plot involved a road trip to a rich family's mansion. Another Wikipedian reverted my edit because he said I copied it from a Robin Williams movie. But I'm a big Robin Williams fan, and I've seen quite a few of his movies. But I don't remember hearing about a Robin Williams movie involving a road trip to a rich family's mansion. Are there any other Robin Williams fans who can help me out? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2602:301:77A0:90:802D:F5F2:41FA:889 (talk) 15:01, 28 November 2016 (UTC)
 * Offtoptic and irrelevant, and it is difficult enough to get a Talk page response even to relevant questions. Both of these comments may be deleted. The only Robin Williams that sounds even vaguely like is RV (film). -- 109.76.134.165 (talk) 21:05, 25 August 2019 (UTC)

Locations
The end sequence of the film is set in Manila, but can we be sure it was actually filmed in the Philippines? -- 109.77.205.163 (talk) 19:25, 18 April 2020 (UTC)
 * There's plenty of evidence (and tax rebates to show) the bulk of the film was shot on location in Louisiana. There is anecdotal evidence (Youtube American Ultra Movie Filming in LA) that some filming occurred in Los Angeles. There is an establishing shot of Manila but it seems like stock footage, and the hotel interior could have been filmed anywhere. This article shouldn't include Categories claiming the film was shot in the Philippines when it is extremely unlikely to be true. -- 109.77.205.163 (talk) 19:47, 18 April 2020 (UTC)
 * WP:CATDEF. The film is largely set in West Virginia, so one scene set in the Philippines is not a Defining Characteristic so I am going to again remove the category "Shot in the Philipines" on the basis of WP:CATDEF. -- 109.79.161.49 (talk) 11:22, 5 September 2020 (UTC)

Punch Topher Grace
It isn't notable enough to add to the article but I wanted to note that Kristen Stewart punched Topher Grace, for real, accidentally, allegedly. I was trying to find out more about what stunt or martial arts training Eisenberg had for this film but I was only able to find a vague reference to him having done some kind of Filipino martial arts training. -- 109.77.205.163 (talk) 21:16, 18 April 2020 (UTC)


 * I found the production notes. According to stunt coordinator Robert Alonzo, Eisenberg did some training in Filipino martial arts, Pencak Silat, and Muay Thai. -- 109.77.196.210 (talk) 22:14, 20 April 2020 (UTC)

Question and Answer
Max Landis posed a rhetorical question about why the film didn't do better. I feel the article should answer that question. Landis himself suggested as partial answers that Hollywood is risk averse, preferring films based on established properties that bring an existing audience with them, and he also suggested the marketing campaign was misleading. I hope the sampled reviews go some way to answering his question and also critiquing other aspects of the film. An opening weekend box office of 6th place is very bad, and it is difficult to explain why so few people chose to see the film.

Stephen King also asked why the film wasn't more successful and one of the Twitter responses explained why "it's marketed like a stoner comedy and people have an unhealthy hated for Eisenberg and Stewart". On Indiewire another comment said "Neither Eisenberg nor Stewart are particularly liked by the audiences" (and that the films that week were all targeting the same demographic: young men). I think the unpopularity of the leading actors is an important answer to the failure of this film but there is the problem of finding reliable sources that say it. Frankly, critics like Eisenberg and Stewart better than audiences do.

I think most readers know about the Hollywood star system and that some stars are considered big enough to open a film. Conversely some stars are not well liked by audiences, or their presence doesn't have much effect either way on why people decide to see a film. Articles about the box office of a film will sometimes address this factor, but the most I found was a few matter of fact comments from Deadline "Obviously, Stewart’s Twilight fans didn’t show up," and "there’s the notion that the audience didn’t buy Stewart and Eisenberg as CIA killers". I looked for more box office articles but American Ultra didn't get much coverage or analysis, and what I found asked a lot of questions but proposed few answers. I trawled though many critics reviews too, but most critics focus on reviewing the film they got and not the film they thought they wanted. I did find the unpopularity of two other actors noted by The AV Club, which said Topher Grace and Jessie Eisenberg are typically cast as "beta-male pricks"

So while there are various articles explaining that Eisenberg is unpopular and Stewart was disliked I was unable to find sources directly related to American Ultra that put it all together (and it would be synthesis if I tried put it all together myself) and mentioned their reputations, and public perception at that time, as a problem. I don't the stars were the only factor, but I do think it was a significant factor, and the only remaining answer to the question Landis posed that has not already been included in this Wikipedia article. Note I'm not saying they are bad actors or that they necessarily deserve their public reputation, but it exists and it was one of the factors that caused this film to fail. Perhaps I merely failed to find the right sources, and perhaps someone can find suitable sources and add this missing piece to the article. -- 109.79.91.51 (talk) 00:50, 26 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Took another look at the sources and I'm seeing it in slightly different light, quote from Deadline"Said one rival studio chief, “Not to disparage Kristen Stewart because she was great in Twilight, but we’ve seen this before [...] It’s not them, it was the property that was working at the box office.” Then there’s the notion that the audience didn’t buy Stewart and Eisenberg as CIA killers."
 * This echoes the sentiment I've read elsewhere, about the star system (or the lack of it), nowadays the franchise is the star not the actor. It does not say that audiences actively disliked Eisenberg and Stewart (and I think that argument is plausible) but it does essentially explain that audiences were indifferent to them. If I can paraphrase that into suitably encyclopedic prose it might help add to the explanation of why this film did so poorly. (I saw The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (film), Straight Outta Compton and Hitman: Agent 47 in the cinema that month and chose not see American Ultra.) -- 109.78.199.208 (talk) 17:21, 15 December 2022 (UTC)