Would You Have Prefered a Smallville Movie?

[The Caped Knight]

For your infomation Hulk SUPERMAN RETURNS is still making a lot of money . More than BATMAN BEGINS did, in which Warner Bros. has already confirmed Batman Begins 2 & 3 will be flimed @ the same time . Bale & Cain are already return along with Nolan & his crew for two more flims.

The same will happen for SUPERMAN RETURNS .

 

[Zing79]

For your infomation Hulk SUPERMAN RETURNS is still making a lot of money . More than BATMAN BEGINS did, in which Warner Bros. has already confirmed Batman Begins 2 & 3 will be flimed @ the same time . Bale & Cain are already return along with Nolan & his crew for two more flims.

The same will happen for SUPERMAN RETURNS .

I really admire your hope, but that's all it is. It's going to take a nap by ALL the execs at WB to get an SR sequel, or a miracle financial turn for the better.

Good luck to you in getting either.

 

[KikiDee]

Okay, maybe I'm nuts....well, that aside, I could have sworn that I saw an interview with Singer about his future commitments to the Superman franchise. He was extremely noncommital. He did say that the actors had an option for 2 more movies dependent on the success of this film, but did not say anything about a sequel being in the works. He did, however, say he did not know if he would be even be available to helm a sequel due to other projects he was currently working on.

I could have sworn this was during the A&E airing of Up,Up and Away. You know how they have the little commercial breaks and then come back and chat with the directors and producers of the film or in this case documentary? It was in one of those breaks and he seemed really uncomfortable discussing the film's future.

If anyone could back this up then please......it would be nice to think I'm sane for a day.

Oh and I would love a SV bridge to metropolis movie with our adored crew on board.

 

[AgentPat]

For your infomation Hulk SUPERMAN RETURNS is still making a lot of money . More than BATMAN BEGINS did, in which Warner Bros. has already confirmed Batman Begins 2 & 3 will be flimed @ the same time . Bale & Cain are already return along with Nolan & his crew for two more flims.

The same will happen for SUPERMAN RETURNS.

Kal, for more specifics on the big picture, just take a gander at this article.

Keeping things on topic here, I still think $150M budget (as noted in that article above) is STILL too much, especially if the next film ends up being a restart, SV-based or otherwise.

 

[NHawk19]

A good flight scene cant be cheap, (according to the folks at SV anyway) so 150 may be about right. Again an SV movie may not need a total re-start but showing Clarks first day at the planet would almost be a must have.

 

[Hollywoodland]

Heres the fact thats working against an SV movie though. Why would they make an SV film when they could simply just make the SR sequel 150 mill?

From a quality standpoint SR got overwhelmingly good reviews and the media seems to drive that point home. Even popular and respected comic book writers Mark Waid (Birthright), Geoff Johns (GL Rebirth) etc loved the film along with the DC president who was interviewed and likely his staff.

Theres really no logic in scrapping it and starting over.

This is pretty much the Batman Begins situation all over again with a higher bugdet this time. All that will mean is a lower budget for the sequel, but it doesnt mean the franchaise will be scrapped.

 

[Hollywoodland]

My gut feeling as of 7/10/06, 11:47pm EDT is, there will be more Superman features, but the latest film continuity and its associated cast is done.

I'll take you up on that bet

 

[The Incredible Hulk]

For your infomation Hulk SUPERMAN RETURNS is still making a lot of money . More than BATMAN BEGINS did, in which Warner Bros. has already confirmed Batman Begins 2 & 3 will be flimed @ the same time . Bale & Cain are already return along with Nolan & his crew for two more flims.

The same will happen for SUPERMAN RETURNS .

you people need to stop bringing up Batman Begins, it's apples and oranges. You might as well bring up "Miss Congeniality" while you're at it b/c it's just about as relevant..... Begins cost $150 million to make, almost HALF of SR, plus it didnt have anywhere near the marketing budget. Begins made like a 50+% profit on WB's investment, SR will be lucky if it somehow breaks even.

 

[JackMercy]

Heres the fact thats working against an SV movie though. Why would they make an SV film when they could simply just make the SR sequel 150 mill?

From a quality standpoint SR got overwhelmingly good reviews and the media seems to drive that point home. Even popular and respected comic book writers Mark Waid (Birthright), Geoff Johns (GL Rebirth) etc loved the film along with the DC president who was interviewed and likely his staff.

Theres really no logic in scrapping it and starting over.

This is pretty much the Batman Begins situation all over again with a higher bugdet this time. All that will mean is a lower budget for the sequel, but it doesnt mean the franchaise will be scrapped.

Just to play devil's advocate... They could make another "loose" sequel (or extended tv feature) with a semi-familiar cast for even less... Say... $80-90 mill?

As far as public media opinions go, do you ever wonder if some public statements by well-regarded artists and writers could perhaps be part of the promotion, and not necessarily reflective of personal opinion? Media history is loaded with timely claims to benefit promotion during certain periods, claims which are often retracted, denied or buried in future histories...

You probably will be very close on your last point, though the word "franchise" does encompass more than just one "take," storyline, or actor, you know...

 

[The Incredible Hulk]

From a quality standpoint SR got overwhelmingly good reviews and the media seems to drive that point home. Even popular and respected comic book writers Mark Waid (Birthright), Geoff Johns (GL Rebirth) etc loved the film along with the DC president who was interviewed and likely his staff.

74% on RT is good not "overwhelming" not to mention the two most popular critics in the country, Ebert and Shallet, panned the film.

As for the DC president, gee the guy who heads the division within the WB who optioned the movie to WB Studios says he liked it. Shocker there. C'mon man, that's almost like taking a quoite from the WB CEO and using it as some kind of evidence of the film's quality.

Look I'm not saying I think a SV feature film would ever happen. but why on Earth would WB just toss a sequel to the same garbage they just gave us that is falling miserably below expectations? There's something about that film that isnt putting butts in seats, be it the look, the actors, or whatever. It would make no sense for WB to peddle the same crap again on a lesser budget.

Sequels always have to up the ante and are almost always more expensive than their predecessors b/c as logic would dictate they've made enough money to justify the increased expenditure to have a sequel in the first place. SR hasnt, if you slash it's big budget for those fancy effects, you cut into one of the few things of the film that was actually decent, then what's left? If Singer couldnt pull off this film with virtually everything he needed, what makes you think that he or whomever directs the sequel is going to be able to put more butts in seats with less?

 

[Hollywoodland]

I disagree. 74% on RT is enough to warrant a sequel at least. Calling it 'garbage' is of course your opinion.

I'm willing to bet that the Warners will announce a sequel to the first film though. If you disagree, theres nothing that can be accomplished by arguing about it here but we'll see whos right at the end of the summer.

To Jack, it isnt promotional purposes, those artists are free to say whatever. I'd imagine if they didnt like certain things, theyd say I hope to see...'whatever' in the next film etc Waid espeically, who wrote Birthright, loved it. Thats high praise from someone who knows Superman more than anyone on here.

And, I was refering to the 'movie franchaise'.

 

[The Incredible Hulk]

LOL so now RT scores determine whether something is sequel worthy? Money talks mon frere, critical acclaim while nice for helping you get a shiny trophy does little else for a film's financial viability. I'm sure WB shareholders will be comforted when they dont get their big dividend checks at year end by the fact that the guy at JoBlo.com gave the film 3 1/2 stars.

 

[NHawk19]

To Jack, it isnt promotional purposes, those artists are free to say whatever. I'd imagine if they didnt like certain things, theyd say I hope to see...'whatever' in the next film etc Waid especially, who wrote Birthright, loved it. Thats high praise from someone who knows Superman more than anyone on here.

Know what they like even more than the movie?


Getting a paycheck. Remember don't bite the hand that feeds you.

SV's shot is limited but it's still there. Especially if they put some distance between it and SR, and an $80-$150 million budget with an established cast, shooting locations, etc. May make for an even more lucrative option.

 

[Hollywoodland]

LOL so now RT scores determine whether something is sequel worthy?

I didnt say that. You were the one who brought RT up as relevant.

 

[The Incredible Hulk]

I brought it up when we were talking about it's alleged "quality," you're the one who said it's score was "enough to warrant a sequel."

 

[Hollywoodland]

Know what they like even more than the movie?


Getting a paycheck. Remember don't bite the hand that feeds you.

SV's shot is limited but it's still there. Especially if they put some distance between it and SR, and an $80-$150 million budget with an established cast, shooting locations, etc. May make for an even more lucrative option.

To be honest, I'd rather not try to debate this any further on an internet message board.

Because really, it isnt going to accomplish anything outside the box.

Ultimately it matters what the men in the suits think and the fans have never been as good as predicting their decisions and behavior.

My personal view, trying to look at this objectively, is that they arent going to give up on the current movie franchaise just yet. After 12 years of trying to get to this point, I dont see them throwing it all away and starting over, but rather retooling the film franchaise that already exists so the sequel will be more action oriented and kid friendly, hopefully theyll improve on the marketing also.

 

[smsvmos]

Guys come one dont start this up again. It is bound to happend and we cant do a thing about it, we couldnt do a thing before and we cant do a thing now. We can hope to get a Sv 2 hour special for season finaly and I belive thats all folks. They did us bad they did us really bad. But about SRINO 2 is bound to happend.

 

[Hollywoodland]

I brought it up when we were talking about it's alleged "quality," you're the one who said it's score was "enough to warrant a sequel."

I didnt mean to refer to the RT score specifically but I do think the film's quality is one of the factors that is considered in evaluating its future.

This wasnt a Catwoman or Batman and Robin by any means and the majority of the responses to it were positive.

This is a pretty unique situation. I personally dont think theyll give up on it that easily. Theyll likely make some excuse about the revenue, like they did for Batman saying it came off the heel's of a previously bad franchaise, and then continue. I think we'll definately get at least one more attempt by WB to make this current movie franchaise a finanical success.

 

[M.E.H.Z.E.B]

you people need to stop bringing up Batman Begins, it's apples and oranges. You might as well bring up "Miss Congeniality" while you're at it b/c it's just about as relevant..... Begins cost $150 million to make, almost HALF of SR, plus it didnt have anywhere near the marketing budget. Begins made like a 50+% profit on WB's investment, SR will be lucky if it somehow breaks even.

Sad, but true.

 

[KikiDee]

As far as public media opinions go, do you ever wonder if some public statements by well-regarded artists and writers could perhaps be part of the promotion, and not necessarily reflective of personal opinion? Media history is loaded with timely claims to benefit promotion during certain periods, claims which are often retracted, denied or buried in future histories...

Exactly!! I love it how some people read these comments that may or may not be out of context and take it as gospel. Everyone in this industry is looking out for themselves and TW is a major player with many little fingers in many little pockets. Money talks even if it doesn't always speak true.

 

[Milkman95]

I didnt mean to refer to the RT score specifically but I do think the film's quality is one of the factors that is considered in evaluating its future.

This wasnt a Catwoman or Batman and Robin by any means and the majority of the responses to it were positive.

This is a pretty unique situation. I personally dont think theyll give up on it that easily. Theyll likely make some excuse about the revenue, like they did for Batman saying it came off the heel's of a previously bad franchaise, and then continue. I think we'll definately get at least one more attempt by WB to make this current movie franchaise a finanical success.

It's definitely a unique situation. Usually a fanbase isn't divided, but in this case, it is, which probably hurt the film as well as timing, too much Donner homage, and it being a more adult film. I myself liked the film, and I thought the Donner connection would help the film with the general public, but obviously I was wrong about that - 1978 was just too long ago.........

The good thing is WB made a solid film to re-introduce the character, now let's see if they can fix a few things in order for it to connect better with audiences.

And no, I wouldn't want a SV film, too many plot-holes, but I definitely wouldn't mind a made for TV film or a straight to DVD film, that would bring a nice chunk of change to the Studio I believe.

 

[Kaboom]

It's definitely a unique situation. Usually a fanbase isn't divided, but in this case, it is, which probably hurt the film as well as timing, too much Donner homage, and it being a more adult film. I myself liked the film, and I thought the Donner connection would help the film with the general public, but obviously I was wrong about that - 1978 was just too long ago.........

The good thing is WB made a solid film to re-introduce the character, now let's see if they can fix a few things in order for it to connect better with audiences.

And no, I wouldn't want a SV film, too many plot-holes, but I definitely wouldn't mind a made for TV film or a straight to DVD film, that would bring a nice chunk of change to the Studio I believe.

studios have recently found a whole new market to exploit, direct to video. while before the medium was usually for second rate films that distributors didnt think warranted wide release, companies such as disney have found there to be a huge market for well-made, but on a lower budget, films released solely on dvd. all the sequels to their animated films, also ultimate avengeers, superman vs. braniac. it could be interesting once the series is over to see something like: Smallville: Superman's First Adventure.

 

[RakuMon]

you people need to stop bringing up Batman Begins, it's apples and oranges. You might as well bring up "Miss Congeniality" while you're at it b/c it's just about as relevant..... Begins cost $150 million to make, almost HALF of SR, plus it didnt have anywhere near the marketing budget. Begins made like a 50+% profit on WB's investment, SR will be lucky if it somehow breaks even.

No kidding! The BB comparisons hold no water for all the reasons you've already cited. And let me add one more to the pot. Last year, Batman had much stronger legs than Superman is currently having. Its first week drop off was in the 40% range, and the film never fell below 30-35% for the rest of the summer. Which indicated strong W.O.M. for the flick. All box office analyses of Superman's current B.O. numbers indicate that the film's W.O.M. is what's hurting. One example is the fact that POTC2 actually boosted the takes of most films over the weekend except for SR, which fell nearly 60%.

 

[Milkman95]

No kidding! The BB comparisons hold no water for all the reasons you've already cited. And let me add one more to the pot. Last year, Batman had much stronger legs than Superman is currently having. Its first week drop off was in the 40% range, and the film never fell below 30-35% for the rest of the summer. Which indicated strong W.O.M. for the flick. All box office analyses of Superman's current B.O. numbers indicate that the film's W.O.M. is what's hurting. One example is the fact that POTC2 actually boosted the takes of most films over the weekend except for SR, which fell nearly 60%.

Well, to be fair, Batman Begins didn't have a film like POTC2 to deal with for 3 weeks until WOTW, FF, Wedding Crashers, and CATCF were released, and those aren't on the same level as Pirates either.

I don't care what the first place film was the week before, Pirates would have ran over anything. 58% is a win in this case, it could have been much worse. Now, if it doesn't hold steady from here on out, then it's all over but the crying. The International numbers better be good as well.

Thank God for DVD sales, because we all know we'll get a few different versions with the 30 minutes that was cut, so it will do well here.

 

[RakuMon]

The best excuse for a Superman movie w/ the relevant SV cast and story?
So we can finally allow Erica and Tom to explore the Lois/Clark relationship. Seriously, even sans dialogue these two just ooze chemistry.
http://livedigital.com/content/355951/