It 's true that the Luthor character is getting a little trite, but as for short term gains it wasn't so much that but rather having an actor that could carry the film (meaning draw an audience).
Both Hackman and Kidder were in the film for that reason.
Agreed.
On that topic, they could (and maybe should) try to introduce new villains in a Superman sequel, but I think whomever is cast should be an A-list actor. Brandon Routh (although expected to be Superman) can not carry the film by himself.
Agreed.
I think both they (and DC) already have. They know what they want to adapt and they also know that these characters are relatively weak (compared to the Superman and Batman franchises).
I agree with what you’re saying but I don’t think the situation is as black and white as that.
Many of those characters haven’t gotten any exposure beyond being in comics. Others have been lucky to get cameos in tv shows like Smallville and JLU but it hasn’t gotten any of them cartoon/tv show spin-offs of their own or movies green lighted.
The top franchises have been in cartoons and tv shows over the years but none of them have been able to reach the potential creatively like in the comics. The most recent, WW and Flash, were decades ago. Technology and the tv medium has adapted enough to let these franchises get much closer to that potential in live action unlike back then.
Updates and exposure could make any of these franchises much stronger given the proper treatment. Especially the higher rung franchises like Green Lantern, Flash and WW.
They could also work on low budget direct to dvd/made for tv live action adaptions, too. They must be of quality, of course. This type of thing has to be shown possible with series like Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, Buffy and Angel. Of course this type of feature wouldn't have the quality or scope a big budget movie would but surely WB could make some decent adaptions here. Especially with street level heroes like Huntress, Black Canary, Kate Spencer Manhunter The Question. They should be able to make a decent Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes or Ted Kord versions), Wonder Woman or The Demon though they would have to lower the power scale down naturally.
They’ll never not be weak until WB allows them to get stronger instead of just doing stuff with Batman and Superman. Those franchises are already rock solid. They’ll be fine taking a rest for a while. This could allow DC/WB to actually grow more franchises to equal them in success or build them up to be worthy franchises which can be successful just not on that scale.
They have been consistently saying that they want to get it right
Saying and doing are completely different things.
and have been successful with most of the films they have produced,
Most of their films have failed to produce a single new successful DC film franchise to match Batman and Superman. Those two have had serious mistakes, too.
but I am not sure if they are confident with the others outside of Green Lantern and Justice League.
See my previous response to the weak franchises.
Apparently it looks like they are featuring the DC Super Villains with Green Arrow in an ensemble cast in "Super Max" as another approach so we will see how that works out.
I hope that succeeds.
I think we should trust them with the decisions they are making since the have all the experience (more so than Marvel) and know the best thing to do for themselves.
That experience isn’t perfect. That said I do hope they keep on improving with each adaption and take the lessons learned from both successes and failures to move forward not backward with their new comic adaptions.
I think you might want to go back and look the past 30 years of DC super hero films. The have had fewer financial failures than Marvel.
They still have had a shaky relationship with Batman and Superman and haven't succeeded in making a third film franchise from DC.
Marvel has gotten Blade, Iron Man, X-men, Fantastic Four, Hulk and Spider-man franchises into being financially successes. They would still have had Blade and X-men if Fox didn’t make the franchises become persona non-grata with awful third movies, still they did well since the audience came in from the previous films good reputations.
That’s Marvel – 6, WB/DC – 2.
FF was awful but it still managed some financial success. If these movies had actually been good it might have been Spider-man level IMO.
DD did well enough to get a spin-off.
Punisher is on its third film, too.
I don't know. I think that version of Batman (along with his car and costume) might be copyrighted to that production company (Syncopy Films?).
Okay.
They would have to get permission from them (or whomever it is) before they could use it.
Makes sense.
They've got to have an idea that they can sell first.
You mean a script and/or director who wants to do it or the actual concept itself? If you mean the latter DC has no shortage of.
Prices don't go down (remember, inflation).
My mistake.
There is no guarantee of that
Their whole industry is about taking risks.
(its a 60:40 chance unless you have good info that it will sell).
How do they judge that, exactly? There can be so many variables with any movie.
Blade III, Ghost Rider, Hellboy II.
Didn't Blade 3 do extremely well in theatres? Isn't GR getting a sequel? Did Hellboy 2 make its money back? It had a lower budget then the first movie. I do agree it was a huge mistake to release it so close to TDK. It should do better on dvd IMO.
It's not a surefire thing. It's smarter to feature the characters with your popular franchise characters and then see which ones stick.
They need to rely just on movies for this.
Animated movies, direct to dvd projects and animated series could be used to introduce the public to lesser known franchises for potential future films.
It is long term strategy, of course.
Getting the public interested in a franchise is going to take time unless a successful movie gets made no matter what it is. It’s got to be cheaper then making a multimillion dollar movie, though.
You can go with those in solo films and lower your risk of losing a lot of money.
That tactic I like.