Slashdot Mirror
Warner Brothers Announces 10 New DC Comics Movies
wired_parrot writes After being criticized for being slow to respond to Marvel's string of blockbuster superhero movies, Warner Brothers finally announced their plan for DC comic universe movie franchise. Yesterday at their annual shareholder meeting, WB announced 10 DC comics movies. The studio has unveiled an ambitious schedule that features two Justice League films, plus standalone titles for Wonder Woman, Flash, Shazam (Captain Marvel), Green Lantern, Cyborg and even Aquaman. Also announced were plans for 3 Lego movies and a three-part Harry Potter spinoff.
Actually, prior to X-Men, we were regularly disappointed. Because everyone who tried to make a comic-based movie did a terrible job prior to that. There's almost not a single comic-based movie before this which treated the material well and didn't devolve into some corny parody,
Are they escapism and popcorn cinema? Absolutely they are.
But, what you can't argue with is the bottom line -- they make money. Lots and lots of money. When X-Men came out on DVD, the sales of the DVD were higher than the highest grossing films in the box office. That was the first time sales of a DVD had done that, and suddenly people stood up and took notice.
Disney bought Marvel for something like $4 billion dollars. I believe the Iron man films alone have brought in something like $4 billion dollars, and that's possibly before we hit the merchandising.
So, you may not like them (and nobody says you have to), but there's really no denying that the Marvel properties which have been turned into film since X-Men have generated huge amounts of money, have been seen by tons of people, and have even more films (and money) in the pipeline.
DC is hoping they can cash in on the action, but they may not have as many properties as people relate to, and if they don't have a "big vision" kind of deal where someone who knows the material keeps it such that the fans still watch it.
If they carve it up, do a bunch of things which don't go according to canon, or generally do a half job and expect to just roll in the money, they could be seriously disappointed.
Marvel has been smart, they know the rules and stories of their characters, and have entrusted it in the hands of people who actually know the material. Which means the people who want to see them don't find themselves halfway through a film going "no, that's not right".
Contrast this with the Spider Man series, which is a Marvel property but has been in the hands of Sony. They're on their second reboot of the damned thing. We don't want yet another Peter Parker origin story because you don't want to pay the actor. If that's all you have, just stop.
So, "pre sold to comic fans" isn't a gimme. If DC just acts all cynical and "give me the money", they might find they've made crappy films that nobody has any interest in seeing. Think Dare Devil and Electra.
The proof is in the pudding, and in the revenues. Just jumping on the comic book movie isn't a guarantee of anything.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
you are wrong. Movies have always been like this.
I'm from the 60's.
Lets list some great 70's culture, shall we?
Six Million Dollar Man -from a book.
Planet of the Apes - Book
Soylent Green - Book.
The Godfather - book
Spaghetti westerns? Many of them are remakes.
I could go on and on.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
When I say The Wizard of Oz, the movie you are thinking of was the fifth one made, making it just a reboot.
And it was crap. MGM took a magnificent kids' adventure story and turned it into a frothy, brainless musical...then they crowned their travesty by tacking on an "It was all a dream" ending.
46 years later, Disney of all people made a real Oz story, Return to Oz, from two of the later books...and the critics savaged it because it was dark and scary and didn't have any singing and dancing.
"Actually, prior to X-Men, we were regularly disappointed. Because everyone who tried to make a comic-based movie did a terrible job prior to that. There's almost not a single comic-based movie before this which treated the material well and didn't devolve into some corny parody,"
Um, I can recall several excellent Superman and Batman movies that predate X-men. I'd put the first TMNT movie in that list as well. Some other fairly good, and successfu and somewhat accurate to the material, comic book movies before X-Men: Rocketeer, Robocop, and The Crow.