COMIC BOOK ADPATATIONS IN JEAPORDY?

[Torgaman]

The last few comic book film adaptations that have come out have sadly
not been enormously succesful commercial films.BLADE 3,ELEkTRA and SIN
CITY have all underperformed at the box office when compared to the X-
MEN and SPIDERMAN film franchises.Even with star power names like Wesley
Snipes[BLADE 3]Jennifer Garner[ELEKTRA]and Bruce Willis[SIN CITY]the
films haven't exactly dominated the box office.Even highly positive
reviews for SIN CITY weren't enough to rake in the bucks.Though it
opened at number one it wasn't a very strong opening,and fell to the
number two spot the following week with considerably less box office
numbers.So the question asked here is wether this bodes ill for future
comic book film adaptations?The most recent adaptations to come out are
FANTASTIC FOUR and BATMAN BEGINS.The only things that seem to be in
their favor so far is that these are recognizable characters.Sadly they
are coming out during a summer movie season packed with multi budget
film spectacles like STAR WARS REVENGE OF THE SITH and WAR OF THE WORLDS
to name a few.The FANTASTIC FOUR film already suffered a setback by
bowing out of the Fourth of July weekend in essence running from the
H.G. Wells inspired big budgeted special effects directed by Steven
Spielberg and big name actored Tom Cruise film.The most recognizable
name in the FANTASTIC FOUR film is Jessica Alba,star of the poorly
rated and rapidly cancelled Fox series DARK ANGEL.Some already view the
F.F. film as just a glossier version of the shelved Roger Corman version
which was "locked away" to make room for this "mega budgeted
blockbuster" though copies of Corman's version have repeatedly turned up
in the underground videomarket.BATMAN BEGINS is perhaps more likely to
make a dent in the Summer box office,since BATMAN is one of the most
recognized comic characters in mainstream media.There is also hope that
since they dropped the "Cartoony" approach Joel Shumacher used in the
last two BATMAN films it will reinvigorate the character's box office
appeal.The one thing it seems to have against it is the lead is played
by Christian Bale,hardly a big name star.Still after seeing him in
REIGN OF FIRE I have to admit he has the physique for the part,I can
compare it to the physique artist Neal Adams drew for BATMAN in the
sixties.Well defined musculatur without being too massive.Of course the
three films I mentioned above all had big names in the leads and that
didn't help their box office any so Bale's unfamiliarity may not be such
a handicap after all.However the film does boast some recognizable
acting muscle in the forms of Gary Oldman as James Gordon[who is not
yet Commisioner Gordon in the film]Michael Caine as Alfred,and
according to the commercials I've seen Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman
will also lend their acting muscle to the film.All four actors are
known for their critically aclaimed and award nominated/winning work as
well as their big blockbuster movies so this is a plus for BEGINS.Still
the film is sandwiched between what many already consider to be the
champions of summer STAR WARS and WAR OF THE WORLDS.It remains to be
seen if BATMAN BEGINS can actually put a dent in their box office
intake but hopes are high that at best it will be moderately succesful.

One can argue that BLADE 3,ELEKTRA and SIN CITY suffered from being
released at the wrong time.They certainly weren't released during the
peak Summer season when these types of films make money.[I also recently
found out that after test screenings of ELEKTRA the studio decided to
cut alot of footage out and dumb it down for mass appeal so that shows
the kind of people who are running the studios]But then again if they
had been released during this coming summer they would be facing the
same uncertanties of FANTASTIC FOUR and BATMAN BEGINS so in essence
they were stuck between a rock and a hard place.I have to ask myself
wether or not the "big boom" of comic book adaptations come to an end?

[Xenorama ™]

all i hope is bad scripts and over-use of effects are on the way out. Batman seems OK- some of it i like, some i don't (the hideous Bat-SUV) and i hope there is at least SOME humor in the movie.

the FF i don't know about, except they all look the same age, and Doom has some "organic armor" which sounds really stupid as well.

the new Superman looks OK, if a bit young, but they have muted the red in the suit which looks bad. and the trunks... well, those don't look great at all either. but the actor looks pretty good.

the Ghost Rider movie... Cage looks OK, i guess, but the "hellcycle" looks kind of dumb.

anyway, i may see some of these, but it will be difficult.

David

[Zone Fighter]

I've had never heard of Blade or Elektra until I saw the commercials for the movie. Other then your post I've never heard of Sin City. If the'yre going to make movies based on comics they need to pick ones that more than just comic fanatics have heard off. Everybody's knows of Superman and Batman.

I have a Fantastic Four DVD must be that "shelved" one you mentioned.

The War of the Worlds film I'm interested in the low budget one actually set in the original timeline. I don't plan to see the Spielburg thing.

[Torgaman]

Z.F. I am not certain where you are located at but here in Chicago the films ELKTRA,BLADE THREE and SIN CITY
have all received ample publicity time on tv spots.BLADE
THREE even got free publicity from the WWE since their overinflated egomaniac Triple H had a part in the film.
Still they didn't do impressive numbers at the box office
and these films are now judged by the box office numbers of the X-MEN and SPIDERMAN movie franchises
so studio heads expect Comic book inspired movies to
do just as well as those films.SIN CITY may be considered a money maker for the studio since it was a small independant studio however theater owners may have expected the film to draw bigger box office.After all
the theater also has to get their cut of the pie.

[Xenorama ™]

despite all the positive reviews for Sin City, i think it was too violent for most sensibilities- my friend rightly predicted that it would play well with boys aged 17-25 the most, and not with many women at all.

i just don't care for the look of most of the movies, that's why i don't go.

ZF is right, most people won't know that Blade was even a comic book character- most people don't even realize comics are still being MADE any more. HULK was so different than the tv show- the Hulk most non-fans are used to, that of course it tanked.

and i think comic book movies are becoming saturated as well.

David

[Torgaman]

Thus you would agree their future is not looking very bright at this point?

[Torgaman]

The release date of BATMAN BEGINS has been pushed back to June 15th.I still don't know the "official" reason but one can assume that studio didn't want to eat the dust left behing by STAR WARS REVENGE OF THE SITH
at the box office.Again my doubts about the comic book inspired films arrise.FANTASTIC FOUR has already chickened out from a lucrative FOURTH OF JULY weekend[though in all truthfulnes it stood little chance against
WAR OF THE WORLDS]and now BATMAN BEGINS seems to want to put some distance between itself and Lucas's long awaited final installment of STAR WARS[don't think I'm knocking STAR WARS I am a big fan]which is somewhat disconcerting.I can understand if a property like BLADE or ELEKTRA,who are really secondary characters,couldn't compete with STAR WARS.But BATMAN is an AMERICAN ICON who has endured close to seventy years.If BATMAN runs from STAR WARS does any other comic book adaptation
stand a chance at the box office anymore?

[RoadWarriorYajuta]

I don't know if it is being scared or trying to bolster overall ticket sales. Most people don't have enough to go see multiple movies on opening weekend when most films make their money. By spacing them out they increase their odds of a higher intake of loot. Sin City is an obscoure comic, not as mainstream as other comic adaptations so casual fans won't be as familiar with it.(Kind of like how non wrestling fans know Hulk Hogan)

[Xenorama ™]

well, good or not, SW is going to KILL that first weekend, at least, any other competition. that's just all there is to it. depending on how good it actually is, it may kill the next several weeks of competition, and Batman and the FF are movies that need to have big opening weeks to make their money back.

David

[Torgaman]

STAR WARS and WAR OF THE WORLDS will definately be enormous hits in their first three to four weeks.STAR WARS will most likely be number one at the box office for
two weeks and will probably remain a strong second for another two weeks.Once WAR OF THE WORLDS comes out it will take the lead for about the same amount of time.In overall long temr performance
they will definately have gobbled up most of the box office between the two.I really can't say I expect FANTASTIC FOUR to even make a dent in their profits but
I had high hopes that BATMAN BEGINS if not beat these two films could definately give them a run for their money.Now however they have drawn out of an opening weekend,meaning already any posters,lobby
cards,billboards,trailers and commercials with the June 6th opening are already considered lost revenue.So already BATMAN BEGINS has started to trail both films and has to catch up.Also whenever a film backs out of an
opening weekend it definately sends smoke signals to the critics and moviegoers that the film may not be as good as one had hoped for,and this might keep people away.In both cases FANTASTIC FOUR and BATMAN BEGINS will open already considered to have lost revenue just because of the promotional material with the original release dates are now useless yet the cost hast still to be recuoped.Last year SPIDERMAN 2 was THE Summer blockbuster,but then it didn't have the strong competition that F.F. and BATMAN BEGINS has.In
retrospect one may be able to conclude that Comic book adaptations due well at the box office in Summer just so
long as there are no other strong movies out there to contend with.