The Biggest Flop Of All Time?

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Potentially the biggest flop of all time isn’t from Hollywood, in publishing, or on the small screen. Richard & Marina discuss the failing of Sony’s Concord, an online shooter game taken offline just two weeks after release. From huge flop to huge success, The Chosen is perhaps the most popular TV show in the world you’ve never heard of. How has this American Christian drama telling the story of Jesus of Nazareth, risen to achieve a Rotten Tomatoes rating on parity with Breaking Bad, The Wire and others? On Rotten Tomatoes people are making (and losing) money betting on film popularity ratings. Is review bombing gaming this system? Recommendations: Richard: Agatha All Along (Disney+)

Producers: Neil Fearn
Executive Producers: Tony Pastor + Jack Davenport

Stat Significant: Who’s the Worst Actor in Movie History? A Statistical Analysis

Inside This Episode

• Introduction: Hosts Marina Hyde and Richard Osman discuss various entertainment topics, focusing on a mix of unexpected successes and colossal flops.
• Biggest Show You’ve Never Heard Of: They talk about The Chosen, a TV series about the life of Jesus Christ with a massive worldwide following of over 200 million viewers. Despite its popularity, it has minimal mainstream media coverage.
• Production and Reception of The Chosen: The show is in its fifth season, with a dedicated fan base and high production values. The show is created by Dallas Jenkins, son of Jerry B Jenkins, co-author of the Left Behind series. It is praised for its character-driven storytelling and unusual depiction of biblical figures. The show has been crowdfunded by Angel Studios, with the first round raising $11 million.
• Review Bombing and Rotten Tomatoes: The episode addresses the issue of review bombing, where fans collectively give low ratings to shows or films they disagree with. They discuss its impact on films like Captain Marvel, Ghostbusters (2016), and others. The practice has influenced fan ratings on platforms like Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb.
• Betting on Rotten Tomatoes Scores: A new practice has emerged where people can bet on Rotten Tomatoes scores, with professional gamblers analysing various factors to predict outcomes. The hosts mention how certain movies like Joker: Folie à Deux and Gladiator 2 have bets placed on their expected critical reception.
• The Biggest Flop: They discuss Concord, a Sony live-service game that cost $200 million to produce but was pulled from the market after launching to just 697 concurrent players, making it potentially the biggest entertainment flop of all time.
• Gaming and Live-Service Models: The episode explores the shift in the gaming industry towards live-service games like Fortnite Battle Royale, which has earned around $27 billion. The hosts compare the profitability of these games with other entertainment industries.
• Future of Entertainment: The episode concludes with a discussion on how live-service games dominate young audiences’ attention, reducing interest in traditional media like film and television.

Media Mentions

• The Chosen (TV series)
• The Sopranos (TV series)
• Breaking Bad (TV series)
• Game of Thrones (TV series)
• Left Behind (book series)
• The Wire (TV series)
• The Crown (TV series)
• Die Hard 3 (film)
• May of Easttown (TV series)
• The Wolf of Wall Street (film)
• The Batman (film)
• The Penguin (TV series)
• Ghostbusters (2016 film)
• Captain Marvel (film)
• The Last Jedi (film)
• She-Hulk (TV series)
• Sound of Freedom (film)
• Passion of the Christ (film)
• Oppenheimer (film)
• Barbie (film)
• Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (film)
• Joker: Folie à Deux (film)
• Gladiator 2 (film)
• Casablanca (film)
• The Godfather (film)
• LA Confidential (film)
• Fortnite (video game)
• Candy Crush (video game)
• Grand Theft Auto (video game)
• Minecraft (video game)
• League of Legends (video game)
• Roblox (video game)
• Ghost of Tsushima (video game)
• Heaven’s Gate (film)
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (film)
• Wanda Vision (TV series)
• Agatha All Along (TV series)

Hot Takes

• “The Chosen is basically The Crown but with more thorns.”
• “It’s too good to be a fun ironic watch for students. It’s dark and genuinely well-done.”
• “[Fortnite Battle Royale] is probably the biggest entertainment proposition of the century.”
• “[Concord] could be the biggest entertainment flop of all time. “
• 697 players? That’s so wild!”
• “A live service game would be the way to go if you want to lose $200 million”
• “there are two areas where the critics score things higher than the general public so
• [There are two things] critics prefer to the general public… all documentaries and dark comedies”
• “I absolutely set out doing this knowing Steven Seagal would be the worst actor of all time, and I was gutted to see he was only eighth.”

Notable Numbers

• 200 million viewers worldwide for The Chosen.
• $11 million raised through crowdfunding for The Chosen.
• $40 million budget for The Chosen’s fourth season.
• 770,000 viewers for The Chosen season premiere.
• $184 million earned by Sound of Freedom at the box office.
• 697 concurrent players for Concord at launch, compared to 2.5 million for Black Myth Wukong.
• $27 billion made by Fortnite Battle Royale.
• $200 million lost by Concord.
• $20 billion earned by Candy Crush.

Unclear Words/Names for Double-Checking

• Dallas Jenkins (spelling and context of his father’s name)
• Jonathan Rier (actor playing Jesus)
• Angel Studios (spelling and context regarding dispute with Jenkins)