WB/DC: It's All Part Of The Plan

[The Guard]

DAREDEVIL was one of Affleck's better performances. Not a bad one at all. I think he would have been in there with the best actors to portray the role, because he is a fan...and he took it very seriously.

 

[Nixon]

No offense. But, I really think this is riduculous premise. I've seen Prison Break. And what is GA going to make a bow and arrow with? Without it. He is just a tough guy with some martial art skills. DC's big problem is that they have such a great stable of characters yet go to odd and obscure ones to make movies.

Theorectically he could make a bow and arrow like this.

 

[Matt]

G.L. would make an awesome (IMHO) trilogy for them if they would just do it.
Start out with Hal Jordan, and end it with John stewart.
You could have the G.L. corps, space battles, visiting different planets, etc etc.

John Stewart......John Stewart!?! KYLE RAYNER DAMNIT! :heart:

 

[Matt]

No. If WB can put out an amazing Batman film that gets lots of love from both fans and critics then there is no reason why the same can't happen with Superman. The problem here is that the people behind Batman (Nolan brothers and Goyer) did their homework by reading up on several comics and using some of those storylines to influence their movies. All the people behind Superman did was look at the pretty pictures but never actually bothered to read anything. They were too busy copying lines and scenes from Superman: The Movie.

WB just needs to hire the right people to handle Superman. Someone willing to do some homework. Singer is not the answer.

FlawlessVictory, that was a flawless post.

 

[Olea]

What I really don't get with WB is why they don't want DC's input. I mean both DC and WB are owned by Time Warner, they don't need to create a new studio like Marvel did, nor do they need to use other studios and yet, they go out of the henhouse for writers, when they have few dozen amazing ones, who know the characters better than any comic enthusiast like Singer.

So why can't they get Bruce Timm? His JL & JLU were amazing. Or Loeb or any number of Superman writers who know their stuff and won't add insult to the character....

No. If WB can put out an amazing Batman film that gets lots of love from both fans and critics then there is no reason why the same can't happen with Superman. The problem here is that the people behind Batman (Nolan brothers and Goyer) did their homework by reading up on several comics and using some of those storylines to influence their movies. All the people behind Superman did was look at the pretty pictures but never actually bothered to read anything. They were too busy copying lines and scenes from Superman: The Movie.

WB just needs to hire the right people to handle Superman. Someone willing to do some homework. Singer is not the answer.

I agree 1000%!!!!!

 

[Olea]

I just don't get the stupid idea of hiring very young actors who don't look the part. JLA should not be confused with Teen Titans. Just the fact that it became an issue in the fanbase communities, it means that it started out wrong. JLA was formed when most of these heroes were well established, in their late 20s or early 30s. And there are so many good actors that can do wonders but they must LOOK the part!!!!!

 

[romeogbs19]

What I really don't get with WB is why they don't want DC's input. I mean both DC and WB are owned by Time Warner, they don't need to create a new studio like Marvel did, nor do they need to use other studios and yet, they go out of the henhouse for writers, when they have few dozen amazing ones, who know the characters better than any comic enthusiast like Singer.

So why can't they get Bruce Timm? His JL & JLU were amazing. Or Loeb or any number of Superman writers who know their stuff and won't add insult to the character....

Indeed, the $200 million dollar question... My take: WB is run by a group of idiots.

 

[Excel]

haha some of you guys

w.b. are the biggest, most successful studio int he world and look to 2 300 million dollar this year! hell, in 2011 theyll have the hobbitt, batman 3, and harry potter 8

madddddd money be heading their way

 

[nintendo nerd]

going to be? not happen yet? i'm telling you, WB are mad. they thought by simply using all these teenage idols, they would have a megahit summer block buster. luckily JL is in vain. if not we would get another huge eyesore.

i guess right now, WB has only harry potter to generate some profit for them. when the franchise comes to the end, they heve better to get on some really good plan.

I expect TDK to be quite successful for WB but mostly because of Ledger's dead.

 

[nintendo nerd]

WB/DC hasn't handled some of their comicbook characters well on screen, but have hit home runs with others.

Well, compared to Catwoman, Batman and Robin, Batman Forever, I'd say they handled really well SR and BB.

 

[Matt]

Well, compared to Catwoman, Batman and Robin, Batman Forever, I'd say they handled really well SR and BB.

Just because one thing is crap doesn't mean it justifies other crap. Saying that Batman and Robin is bad so that makes Superman Returns' many shortcomings okay is like saying Catwoman is a good movie because its not as bad as Plan Nine From Outerspace.

 

[Marcus M.]

I agree. With the sole exception of Batman Begins, WB just doesn't seem to have a clue as to how to handle it's DC comic properties.

They should spin off DC and let it become its own in-house studio like Marvel is now.....

As of now, Marvel is just cleaning DC's clock with its comic book movies. Not saying all of the Marvel films were good or mega hits ( there were a few duds ), but compare the output:

Marvel:

-Blade
-Xmen
-Spider-man
-Daredevil
-Hulk ( both '03 Hulk and the new Incredible Hulk )
-Fantastic Four
-Ghost Rider
-Iron Man
-Thor ( future )
-Ant Man ( future )
-Captain America ( future )
-Avengers ( future )

DC:

-Catwoman
-Batman
-Superman

Marvel has already announced the IM sequel for 2010, with Thor, Captain America, and Ant Man leading up to a 2011 Avengers film. Also, don't forget the Wolverine and Magneto solo flicks, as well as any potential sequels to the Spidey and Xmen franchises. IOW......Marvel is moving full speed ahead with its CB properties.

DC, or should I say WB, otoh, STILL hasn't officialy announced a SR sequel. The JL movie is on thin-ice. No official status on a solo WW, GL, Flash movie........

All WB has as a hit is the BB franchise, with the upcoming TDK.....

even so.....the formula for a successful CB movie was proven again by IM. You need to have a team ( director, writers, cast, etc. ) that GETS the particular character. For the most part, Raimi GOT it with Spider-man, Nolan GOT it with BB, Favreau GOT it with IM. Singer sort of GOT it with X1 and X2. However, Singer totally DIDN'T GET IT with SR......

You forgot Elektra, The Punisher (Punisher War zone coming Dec 08) and Man-Thing. Man-Thing was going to be a R rated theatrical release, but was sold to the Sci/Fi channel instead. MT might have sucked, but they did get it made. Also don't forget that Wolverine is already being filmed and Dr. Strange is coming.

 

[nintendo nerd]

Just because one thing is crap doesn't mean it justifies other crap. Saying that Batman and Robin is bad so that makes Superman Returns' many shortcomings okay is like saying Catwoman is a good movie because its not as bad as Plan Nine From Outerspace.

Dude I know you hate SR with all your heart. But for me BB and SR are way better than those movies I previously mentioned. I love SR and you know it.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

I mentioned this in a post on a different thread, but I thought it might be worth examining in more detail. We've all seen some bad superhero films and frankly, I thought Iron Man was going to be more of the same. But like many, the movie has surpassed expectations -- not just b/c it's good but b/c it's actually really good. That got me wondering why a 2nd-tier character like Iron Man can get such great attention, and then this MSNBC piece caught my eye. It seems Marvel basically managed the flick in-house.

It explains a lot. Quality control is best likely in the hands of the originator. I don't think DC has this option ... but if it could, I would surmise that any flick we'd get would be better than SR. The excerpt is below. IMHO, I think that's the core problem with Superman -- it needs to be in the hands of writers like Busiek and Morrison with art direction from people like Kubert, McGuinness, and Ross. I sat next to Ross for the SR premiere, and he told me he was never asked to be involved -- not even any input. I'm not saying Ross has to be the guy involved, but the fact that so little of the people who are passionate and work/breath Superman are not included makes me think Marvel is doing this a whole lot better than WB/DC is.

What do you think?
________________

“In controlling our destiny, we can control where the characters are and we can have our movies connect and be in the same universe,” Maisel said.

“Iron Man” was the first film financed by Marvel, which previously licensed its superheroes to Hollywood studios for such hits as the “Spider-Man,” “X-men” and “Fantastic Four” flicks.

Seeking more creative control and a bigger cut of the receipts, Marvel plans to make future films itself and hire studios to distribute them for a fee.

Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24468784/

I've been saying it since 1987. Someone needs to buy Batman & Superman away from WB. Buy the entire DC company & get it away from WB. That would help a great deal.

 

[Ita-KalEl]

haha some of you guys

w.b. are the biggest, most successful studio int he world and look to 2 300 million dollar this year! hell, in 2011 theyll have the hobbitt, batman 3, and harry potter 8

madddddd money be heading their way

IMO The Hobbit will suck. Batman 3 in 2011? Maybe, but if they are smart they'll try to do a Flash or a WW movie.

 

[Excel]

Well, tdk was 3 years after bb, so i would say bat3 is 3 years after tdk/

the hobbit may suck. but its still a lock for 800 million+ worldwide. hell, the hobbit n potter 8 have a shot at 1` billion worldwide.

 

[FlawlessVictory]

WB is one of the biggest studios. they have to know how to make a summer blockbuster that will make money. if they dont then they should close down.

Yea, they sure know how to put out summer blockbusters! Looks like its up to TDK to save their ass for the summer:


'Speed Racer' Crashes & Burns To Become First Summer Bomb: 'Iron Man' Still No. 1


SATURDAY AM: As expected, Marvel's Iron Man is the blockbuster No. 1 for the second week in a row. It took in a str0ng $15 million Friday from 4,111 theaters (-62% from its opening) for what should be a $50 million weekend. Its new cume is a monster $141.4M. But the big story this weekend is what a big bomb Warner Bros' has released. It's now official: Speed Racer is the first domestic box office disaster of the summer (although the PG pic should do better overseas). It placed only No. 3 Friday, well behind Fox's romantic comedy What Happens In Vegas, which opened with $7.1 million from 3,215 venues for what should be a $20 million weekend.


But back to Speed Racer: despite a wide release into 3,606 theaters, the anime actioner opened Friday with only $6.1 million (and some studios said it was merely $5.7M). Even if today's kiddie matinees generate some of the usual high-octane and the movie moves up a notch to second place, it still won't move Speed Racer out of the slow lane or approach Warner Bros' own expectations of a mid-$30s million debut (and that was down from a hoped-for $40 mil a few days before...). The alarming fact is this film will struggle to even make $20 million for the weekend. At an estimated cost of at least $140 million (some sources put the final budget as high as $185 million), this family fare is yet another case of a studio letting talent run amok: the Wachowski siblings of Matrix fame delivered a long, loud, and lousy movie that the Warner Bros bosses were contractually powerless to fix. (The Industry scuttlebutt is that Warner Bros Pictures Group prez Jeff Robinov, a one-time agent, gave way too much power to his former clients. Of course, the success of their Matrix franchise justified a certain degree of autonomy.) The film's biggest handicap is its 2 hour, 15 minute, running time, bucking the current trend of kid movies clocking in at a mercifully short 90 to 100 minutes. And then there are the bad reviews: only 27% positive among the cream of the crop of Rotten Tomatoes film critics. In addition, the pic should have been "aged up": it plays too young and limits its audience by appealing mostly to little boys. According to the "Parents and Kids" premium tracking, Speed Racer was first choice among parents and boys aged 7 through 11. Unfortunately, the Warner Bros film will get creamed by the competition from the Disney/Walden blockbuster Narnia 2 opening next weekend. One bright spot is international: Speed Racer also debuted Friday in 30+ foreign territories.


As for Fox's What Happens in Vegas and its tired "been-there, done-that" plot, stars Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz didn't deliver much firepower playing newlyweds. But the first-time-paired duo haven't been hot at the cineplex individually for a long while. "Guys just do not like him. He's a pretty boy toy and not someone guys feel they connect to," said an insider. "The upside is that the film cost only $35 million." Fox's well-oiled marketing machinery can make something out of nothing, and did that again here.

FRIDAY PM: Here are very early numbers for Friday's domestic box office gross...


Marvel's Iron Man still the easy No. 1 blockbuster. -61% for $15M tonight. Looks platinum for Paramount distributed pic: $50+M weekend and cume $177M.


Fox's What Happens in Vegas #2 tonight with $6.8M for $19M-$20M wkd.
Warner Bros' Speed Racer only $6.6M tonight. Probably gets the kids matinee bump tomorrow and still ends up an oil-leaking #2 for the weekend at awful $23M-$24M.


Sony's Made of Honor #4 with $2.5M tonight for $8M weekend and cume of $26.6M.


Overall, this weekend's box office should be up at least 20% over last year's.


More analysis later...

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.c...first-summer-bomb-iron-man-still-strong-no-1/

 

[dark_b]

someone wrotte that WB owns DC. so this wont happen.
with nolan WB got lucky.
what i dont understand is why the WB doesnt want money.if someone will say now that WB wants quality moveis then i say f... you WB. catwoman was not a quality movie. batman89 was not an oscar movie.

with comicbook movies they could make the whole world happy. they could make movies that people love because of action and humor and they could be faithfull to comics and please the fanboys.

 

[dark_b]

i am sad that speed racer is not doing well. IMO SR is fresh and new. it not the calssic summer blockbuster. visual it is new. and i am hapyp that they wanted to make something new.

 

[Showtime]

Wow. I really didn't think Speed Racer was going to do THAT bad.

 

[dark_b]

it was a shock.

 

[Showtime]

I actually thought it was do a bit better than the horrible projections. Isn't my face red.

 

[GreenKToo]

I thought it would do bad but NOT that bad. wow.

 

[superbaby]

haha some of you guys

w.b. are the biggest, most successful studio int he world and look to 2 300 million dollar this year! hell, in 2011 theyll have the hobbitt, batman 3, and harry potter 8

madddddd money be heading their way

are all those movies greenlit??? what make you so sure we are getting those in 2011? you know... 2011, it's 3 years ahead.

btw, i'm still very skeptical that TDK will do great. we will see in july.

 

[superbaby]

I thought it would do bad but NOT that bad. wow.

serve them right. t: evil me.