Will The new Hulk movie be a failure???

[antsiou]

ok, I've changed the title a bit cause it's not my discussion, it's a thread that have been started in google groups and I think there's some interesting point (some discussed in the various thread of the Hulk forum) and it'll be a good place for us all to give our opinion, maybe not only as fanboy, but thinking "outside the box" (i love cliche phrases like that t and see the pros and cons of making a Hulk movie (business wise mainly)

So the group started like that:

Hi! I'm a part owner of this fine company (Marvel), so I keep up on
discussions on the stock boards. I thought you might be interested in the
following, where some folks are saying that the Incredible Hulk franchise is
dead in the water before it even gets started. What are your thoughts? The first Hulk did $132M domestically, and there is a LOT of research that supports the idea that lack of enthusiasm for an early installment of a film series impacts the later installments. In other words, the poor reaction to the first Hulk film among the general population is a hurdle the second one will have to get over

You are missing one essential point: this will be marketed as the FIRST
Hulk movie, not a sequel. In other words, it will NOT be marketed as "Hulk
2", but instead as "The Incredible Hulk I". I think this will work because:

• A) It will have been long enough between the two movies for people to not see it as a sequel
• B) The " Incredible Hulk" will be done quite differently
• C) The word of mouth and advertising should all focus on how "you've seen THEIR version of the Hulk in the past -now come and see what Marvel's true version is like..."
• D) Planet Hulk and World War Hulk have renewed interest in the character
• E) If they are smart, they will leave this first one with a cliffhanger ending, and the fans begging for the sequel

and the biggest reason:

E) The " Hulk" sucked! Seriously, I left the drive-in with
loads and loads of things I wanted to have been done
differently, and now I'm so very, very glad that they
will get a chance to fix the problems, and relaunch
the franchise. Sometimes there is no better motivator
than seeing things done wrong.

(lol there's 2 E )


Full reading here: Why Hulk movie will be a failure


Gentlemen, Starts your engine

 

[Golgo-13]

Wow, that poster over at google sounds like my kinda guy.

The movie has alot riding on it. If it stinks, they can't remake it AGAIN. Which is why Norton is re-writing as he goes along. It better not fail.

 

[thegameq]

I need to see and hear more about this movie. That said, this film could suffer from a FF like stigma that harmed the second FF film.

They really need to play-up the Frankenstein type aspect of the Hulk and focus less on the psychological makeup of Bruce and the Hulk.

Again, Norton is the best thing that could happen to this film so far. But I still don't get a good feel for this movie.

 

[Ahura Mazda]

I am not sure of the outcome of this movie. It will largely depend on the US box office given in Europe it wil have a hard time doing well. Personally, I am excited and if the marketing and filming is done right this movie could be a big success. In any case, it is too early to tell.

Just one thing to consider, some movies are called succeses and other failures by the press and that creates a stigma which does not necessarily reflect the reality. With that I can mention that MsNBC is called FF2 a hit of the summer whereas Hulk was a failure and yet their numbers are not so dissimiular in real terms.

 

[November Rain]

The real failure would be if they emphasise on non-impotant hulk elements such as rage and brawls...

human characters are pretty much the most important element to this story, the hulk and his antics shoudl take a back seat, epsecially any large cgi battle scenes, they are boring

 

[Super_Ludacris]

Of course it will

 

[Bannerless Hulk]

Personally wish we knew more about the marketing strategy and whether Marvel would even appreciate word-of-mouth promotion. At the present rate, it seems they don't want anyone to know they're even making TIH. With the few non-Hulk fans (ordinary people) I've talked to, the reaction has been, "They're making a Hulk movie AGAIN??" As if to express surprise that such a thing is even being attempted. I plea with them that it'll be better than the first movie, but without having many details outside of the basic plot and Ed Norton to give them, their opinion rests almost solely on my excitement level (which is limited) and whatever enthusiastic outlook the TV show conjures for them (since it seems TIH more have more of the TV show feel).

And so I come back to Marvel, which is keeping all of us in the dark, and I wonder how effective an approach it is to neglect to stay in touch with its core audience. Do they not feel any need for our positive word-of-mouth in the months leading up to the movie? Maybe it's still early, but these largely dried-up discussion boards can't be a good sign. As for being a failure... no, Marvel will recoup at least what it spent on the movie, and then you'll have all of the disagreements as to what "failure" even means.

 

[CConn]

If it's good, I certainly hope not.

I kinda disagree with the point that people won't think of it as a sequel. People have long memories. The old Hulk TV show is STILL probably the biggest thing going in terms of popularity among the general populace for the Hulk...and that was on 25 years ago.

It all depends on marketing, though. If Marvel really ****es it out, and it's actually a crowd pleaser, I could see it being a big hit. If they keep it low key, it could be something more like Batman Begins in terms of box office. The big thing to fear is its quality, I think. I mean, if it's bad, it won't make money, and, as someone else said, the Hulk won't be getting a third chance at being successful.

 

[Golgo-13]

I need to see and hear more about this movie. That said, this film could suffer from a FF like stigma that harmed the second FF film.

They really need to play-up the Frankenstein type aspect of the Hulk and focus less on the psychological makeup of Bruce and the Hulk.

Again, Norton is the best thing that could happen to this film so far. But I still don't get a good feel for this movie.

Elaborate.....

 

[November Rain]

he/she means people won't watch it because the first one wasn't to their taste even if it is better

 

[Figs]

The real failure would be if they emphasise on non-impotant hulk elements such as rage and brawls...

human characters are pretty much the most important element to this story, the hulk and his antics shoudl take a back seat, epsecially any large cgi battle scenes, they are boring

Um........go see Ang Lee's. If they do it by your way, it won't be much different than Ang's version. What they need is large battle scenes since most of the complaints were that it lacked action.

 

[wildjokers]

Um........go see Ang Lee's. If they do it by your way, it won't be much different than Ang's version. What they need is large battle scenes since most of the complaints were that it lacked action.

fo reel.that was one of mine,another would be it took so damn long to see the hulk,it was 45 minutes

 

[HULKFish]

IMO this HULK movie will be MUCH better then the first. With the first movie they tried taking a director (Ang Lee) and thrust him into a genre he knew absolutely NOTHING about and expect him to pick out the fine points of the character (which he was largely unable to do) and create an original comic movie. I like the movie and was very excited to see HULK on the big screen but mostly underwhelmed.

NOW, they know what mistakes they made (admittedly) and are going to what appears to be GREAT lengths to not remake them. They know what works and doesn't work in a comic movie and the talent level needed.

IMO they are waiting for a cumulation of a greater amount of images/shots etc. before generating a package or image to circulate into the general public which of course will be HEAVILY scrutinized. They also can't cause too much of a buzz too soon, the movie is still a LONG way off.

 

[manofsteel4life]

IMO this HULK movie will be MUCH better then the first. With the first movie they tried taking a director (Ang Lee) and thrust him into a genre he knew absolutely NOTHING about and expect him to pick out the fine points of the character (which he was largely unable to do) and create an original comic movie. I like the movie and was very excited to see HULK on the big screen but mostly underwhelmed.

NOW, they know what mistakes they made (admittedly) and are going to what appears to be GREAT lengths to not remake them. They know what works and doesn't work in a comic movie and the talent level needed.

IMO they are waiting for a cumulation of a greater amount of images/shots etc. before generating a package or image to circulate into the general public which of course will be HEAVILY scrutinized. They also can't cause too much of a buzz too soon, the movie is still a LONG way off.

 

[November Rain]

fo reel.that was one of mine,another would be it took so damn long to see the hulk,it was 45 minutes

it took longer to see batman and probably just as long to see the spidey we all know and love in the original spiderman....

 

[November Rain]

Um........go see Ang Lee's. If they do it by your way, it won't be much different than Ang's version.

This is somewhat of the point i'm trying to make...

an action scene doesnt make a film.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

it took longer to see batman and probably just as long to see the spidey we all know and love in the original spiderman....

Exactly, people need to open their eyes and realise this, and to the people who say Ang's movie lacked action, i say BOLLOCKS, practically the whole last hour was action.

 

[thegameq]

Elaborate.....

...seeing how the masses weren't to pleased with Ang's film, some may associate that film with this new attempt, regardless if it's not a direct sequel or restart (which may add to the confusion). Thus a bias towards TIH may develop.

 

[Sarg92]

...seeing how the masses weren't to pleased with Ang's film, some may associate that film with this new attempt, regardless if it's not a direct sequel or restart (which may add to the confusion). Thus a bias towards TIH may develop.

That is completly true with my mates. My mate, Rav, says they are making an Iron Man film and I'm like yeah but they are making a new Hulk film aswell and before I have even finished my sentance they are saying, "The first one is crap." I tell them it is completly different from the first one and will have nothing to do with it, a fresh start, I tell them how cool it is shaping up to be but they don't listen!

I think once trailers start to come out then people may change their mind.

 

[Mr Jide]

I dont see what the fuss is. Marketing this movie dosn't require much effort. First of all its hulk, secondly people will be mad aware that there's a new cast and crew behind this movie and when people see the trailers, they'd all be sold on this movie, especially with the new and better cast. I have no fears about this movie, it'll be superior to Ang Lee's mess in every conceivable way.

 

[November Rain]

Well let's just wait and see....

 

[November Rain]

Exactly, people need to open their eyes and realise this, and to the people who say Ang's movie lacked action, i say BOLLOCKS, practically the whole last hour was action.

I quite dislike it when people complain about one aspect in one film then let it slide in another film...

they say the hulk didnt stick to the comic roots but neither did spidey, his symbiote, venom, sandman, and harry or MJ to be fair.

I mean they complain about nanomeds but they completely overlook spidey having his powers turn on and off due to primarily his passion for mj. Yet you'll never here a spidey fan bring this fact up...

or the fact that the pheonix wasn't an extraterrestrial entity in x2 or how blade was ultimately a complete remake of the comic character (albeit a good remake).

that's fans for ya, incredibly fickle...

 

[Super_Ludacris]

I can defintley see this Hulk film having the same mix if not worse reaction than the last one. With Lettier (sp?) directing it and Norton hands on approach, there could be some clashes. But that's not the issue for me. The issue would be if the crew decided to put more of an emphasis on smash em action. Now that's great of your Hulk fan, however look at like this...

If your someone who liked Ang Lee's Hulk, you may feel you have a watered down film with this follow-up.More importantly the general public might have already made there minds up about Hulk beforehand and think its just a typical no-brains action movie with bad CGI.

I'm not saying that's how the film will be, but I could definetly see people thinking like that.

 

[Golgo-13]

...seeing how the masses weren't to pleased with Ang's film, some may associate that film with this new attempt, regardless if it's not a direct sequel or restart (which may add to the confusion). Thus a bias towards TIH may develop.

That's my biggest fear too, but i think the main point of the marketing plan, once it starts, should be this movie is nothing to do with Ang's film, blah, blah,blah. I think trashing Angs film might also help too. It may not be right, but the public will get the point.

 

[moguy]

A) It will have been long enough between the two movies for people to not see it as a sequel

Totally disagree. Pretty much everyone will think this is a sequel.

B) The " Incredible Hulk" will be done quite differently

Ok

C) The word of mouth and advertising should all focus on how "you've seen THEIR version of the Hulk in the past -now come and see what Marvel's true version is like..."

I doubt they'll openly diss one of their previous films.

D) Planet Hulk and World War Hulk have renewed interest in the character

Unfortunately 50,000 excited comic book fans have next to no impact on the over BO. (50,000 fans x $10 ticket x 4 viewings each = 2 million = peanuts)

E) If they are smart, they will leave this first one with a cliffhanger ending, and the fans begging for the sequel

No chance of this. Once a franchise is established, they might consider a cliffhanger, but this is not the case for TIH.


Even though I disagree with most of the quoted points, I do hope the film succeeds. They've got my $10 anyways.