Excel
O-bama-ama-ama-ay-ay
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2005
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I think there is an argument to be made that Batman was losing appeal before Batman And Robin ever opened.
And Batman Forever was not that big of a hit. It was a big hit, but to say it brought back Batman back to the levels achieved by the original is nonsense. Batman inflates to 500 million. Batman Returns to 300 million. Batman Forever sits at 330 million inflated. Batman Forever did not exactly bring the franchise back to the literally block-busting levels of success Batman originally made.
Batman was made with being a crowd pleaser in mind, and had the greatest single advertising campaign of all time. It did what it intended to do: please crowd while taking the character seriously.
Batman Returns went off the deep end with the "seriousness" part and came off just too wierd. Burton ignored the "crowd pleaser" aspect that fueled the first one, and went all arsty instead, and audiences hated it.
Batman Forever, as a result, amped up the crowd pleaser aspect (Batman is more "heoric" in this one than the previous 2) while toning down the seriousness due to the BR backlash. The result was a far more maketable and "entertaining" movie, and WB thought they had it figured out. Turns out, word of mouth on Batman Forever was not so hot. May have the biggest movie of the summer, but it's box office legs were beyond horrible for it's time, so much as that 13 years later in the middle of the frontloaded era, TD would have a higher multiplier. There were verey little repeat viewing of Batman Forever.
Of course, treating the character as a joke a bad idea; an idea WB decided to increase with B&R. Even with it's powerhouse and red hot (Clooney, Silverstone were hot **** when it opened), it only hit 40 million opening weekend, lower than the originals 8 years earlier. And this disappointing opening weekend was before the word of mouth had truly hit. People had simply begun losing interest 4 movies in.
Nolan waiting 4 years could be a great thing for the franchise, because it will allow it to avoid overkill.
And Batman Forever was not that big of a hit. It was a big hit, but to say it brought back Batman back to the levels achieved by the original is nonsense. Batman inflates to 500 million. Batman Returns to 300 million. Batman Forever sits at 330 million inflated. Batman Forever did not exactly bring the franchise back to the literally block-busting levels of success Batman originally made.
Batman was made with being a crowd pleaser in mind, and had the greatest single advertising campaign of all time. It did what it intended to do: please crowd while taking the character seriously.
Batman Returns went off the deep end with the "seriousness" part and came off just too wierd. Burton ignored the "crowd pleaser" aspect that fueled the first one, and went all arsty instead, and audiences hated it.
Batman Forever, as a result, amped up the crowd pleaser aspect (Batman is more "heoric" in this one than the previous 2) while toning down the seriousness due to the BR backlash. The result was a far more maketable and "entertaining" movie, and WB thought they had it figured out. Turns out, word of mouth on Batman Forever was not so hot. May have the biggest movie of the summer, but it's box office legs were beyond horrible for it's time, so much as that 13 years later in the middle of the frontloaded era, TD would have a higher multiplier. There were verey little repeat viewing of Batman Forever.
Of course, treating the character as a joke a bad idea; an idea WB decided to increase with B&R. Even with it's powerhouse and red hot (Clooney, Silverstone were hot **** when it opened), it only hit 40 million opening weekend, lower than the originals 8 years earlier. And this disappointing opening weekend was before the word of mouth had truly hit. People had simply begun losing interest 4 movies in.
Nolan waiting 4 years could be a great thing for the franchise, because it will allow it to avoid overkill.


Sometimes it amazes me when certain fans can't even grasp the obvious point(s) of the character they enjoy.

