By George Robbins
No matter how subjectively we look at certain aspects of the Marvel franchise, the fact remains that it has been pretty much a massive success. Even before the Marvel Studios films started coming into existence, the Marvel franchise created its foothold with movies like the early 2000’s Spider-Man films. Although the third film in that original trilogy was not viewed very well, it was overall a pretty successful trilogy that saw hero movies entering a new era. Spider-Man has held a pretty strong opinion in the eyes of fans over the years, especially through the ups and downs that came with them. When it was announced he would be returning for the MCU, fans everywhere instantly became excited once again. No one was quite sure what would end up happening because the company that owns the rights for the Spider-Man films was Sony.
Ever since the inception of the 2000’s Spider-Man films, Sony has been the company which has held the rights to make films related to the aforementioned hero. When the MCU films started becoming more and more popular, fans became worried because they knew that Spider-Man had to become a part of it all eventually, but they also knew Sony had his film rights. Luckily for fans, a deal was worked out and Spider-Man officially became a part of the MCU, but this doesn’t mean that Sony gave up his rights and, in the background, they made an animated film called ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.’ This movie would go on to be the best piece of Spider-Man related content they had produced themselves in years.
‘Into the Spider-Verse’ was an animated film created by the Sony company which revitalized Sony’s own market for their character that they have creative control over. The movie was a massive hit on release and there was word not too long ago that a sequel for the film was currently beginning production and would become available to the public by some time in 2022. With word of a sequel on the way, it is of no surprise really to anyone that new information is coming out in regards to the first film and some of that info is actually really interesting. One of the big things to come out about the film is the fact that live-action versions of Spider-Man were considered for the film, but were seen as being too weird. That is saying something considering the different types of Spider-Men already in the film, but it makes sense given the fact that trying to blend live-action and animation like that would have been nearly impossible. Still, it definitely would have been interesting to see a version of the film where live-action Spider-Men were a part of the action.
By George Robbins
Zack Snyder is the creative mind responsible for the creation of the DC Extended Universe, or DCEU, as a whole when he made the ‘Man of Steel’ movie. While the movie, like much of the DCEU, was not received especially well critically, it did start a franchise of films which made a lot of money. This sort of thing kind of needs to be taken into account when looking back at everything that has happened over the years. There have since been a number of films which have released which have expanded a bit more into the universe that was originally portrayed in that first film. Needless to say, if not for Snyder, DC would not really have any foothold whatsoever in the era of franchises in which we currently find ourselves in.
Although since the release of ‘Man of Steel’ many of the films in the DCEU have not been well received, they are still a sight to behold as they shape DC as a whole in the modern era. One of the films that followed which was also directed by Snyder was ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’ which changed things moving forward, but only just a little. What that movie did was set up a reason for a plot point in the ‘Justice League’ movie to exist. That plot point was just how much Superman was needed to further the storyline in the ensemble film, but we did not get what we expected in the final version. This probably had something to do with the fact that Snyder was not able to stay on the ‘Justice League’ project and director Joss Whedon took over.
Fans took heavy notice of the fact that Snyder was not really going to be involved in the upcoming film and a petition was put in place where they asked the studio for a director’s cut of ‘Justice League.’ This new cut, directed by Snyder, would be the version of the film that was originally supposed to be shown on the big screen. This new version will be appearing early next year on Warner Bros. streaming service HBO Max in four one-hour segments to give people what they wanted. We have just now found out that the movie will apparently pay off on more of what happened in ‘Batman v Superman.’ According to Snyder, the opening of his version of ‘Justice League’ will peak back at the fight between the heroes and Doomsday while showing things from Batman’s perspective, showing how his views changed from the beginning of the movie to the end.
By George Robbins
The creative industry is one where people are always competing in order to make things that can draw in different people’s attention. If not for creative differences, we would not have entertainment the way that it is today and much of the industry would be very much different from what it is nowadays. If not for this phenomena, we would have plenty of movies that are exactly the same from their predecessors which is already an issue given how much content exists out in the world. Among those creative types are the ones responsible for the creation of the DC and Marvel franchises. These franchises are rightfully seen as among the biggest franchises to actually exist in the world currently and they pretty much dominate the markets.
If not for the DC films and shows of the 80’s and 90’s, we probably would not have had such a successful run with the Marvel films of the late 2000’s. If not for the love people had for superhero films in general, the movie industry could be a very different place for hero films right now. Among those Marvel films, were movies that no one expected to be as good as they were such as ‘The Guardians of the Galaxy’ which was not very well known outside of a select group of comic book fans. That group of heroes would actually go on to be one of the most popular groups to grace the big screen because of the efforts of the movie’s director James Gunn. Gunn put a lot of work into the likeability of the characters seen on screen and the overall aesthetic that made up the film, giving it an air that made it seen as a great film overall.
Due to a controversy caused by old messages that Gunn had online for jokes that didn’t age well, he was temporarily let go from the upcoming ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ movie. Eventually they rescinded this, but during that time, Gunn was picked up by Marvel opposition DC to direct a new film. That movie would go on to be the upcoming spiritual sequel ‘The Suicide Squad.’ One would probably expect some bad blood between Gunn and Marvel Studios, but Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige actually went to Gunn’s set to see how he was doing with his film. Gunn revealed that Feige was “very cool and supportive as he always is,” and that any behind the scenes enmity is only existent in the fan community.
By George Robbins
Fair is fair and credit needs to be given where it is due with everything that is currently going on in the world right now. Some companies are handling things pretty well right now given how the world is currently functioning and it is pretty apparent. Unfortunately, Disney does not really seem like it is being one of those companies with everything they have been in the news for as of late. Of course, one of the biggest things they have been in the news for over the past couple of months is for their stance on the reopening of their parks. Their reopening plans have been a huge source for debate given all of the information that keeps coming out about their current business practices.
As of late, Disney has been doing all they can to try and get people back into their parks and so they have tried to open their parks back up again as early as possible. This turned into a huge point of contention given the fact that the world at large is still very much a dangerous one. This even resulted in an heiress from Disney calling out the company for openly allowing the risk that could cause people to get sick. They tried making up for this by putting restrictions in place, but it seems that everything they try to do just ends up being for naught. They keep going against themselves and it keeps coming back out in the news in some way shape or form.
Not too long ago, the Disney company came under fire due to the fact that they are apparently allowing Disney employees to work while Covid-positive. This kind of goes against the fact that they have restrictions in place in their parks in order to try and keep park guests and their employees from getting sick. Needless to say, much of what Disney now says holds much less weight than it did earlier during the pandemic. That aside, they are still trying to say that they have peoples’ best interests in mind when it comes to their movie releases. This may or may not be the case, but it just seems more likely that things worked out better with the way they are doing things now.
Disney is well-known for their parks, but the thing they are known best for by the general public are their movies. Most specifically, they are known for the animated films that they produce, but over the past decade they have managed to make themselves established in the live-action market. It isn’t as though they have never tried to shove their way into that market, it is just that they were never really all that great at making films that did well in that market. That is, until they bought Marvel Studios and Lucasfilms which ended up making them the biggest blockbusters the world has ever seen. Before then, most of their successful live-action films were straight-to-TV movies that were popular with their young audiences.
After discovering that they did have their hands in a successful market with the live-action crowd, they continued working onward with that in mind. This is how the age of re-releases began in the Disney company and it is the reason we have live-action versions of their older films now. Disney decided at some point that their best chance of getting their own in-house live-action films to be successful would be to take old successful films and turn them into live-action versions of themselves. This is why there are now live-action versions of their older animated classics which release every so-often. The most recent of those releases ended up being the re-release of the animated film ‘Mulan.’
‘Mulan’ is a film that follows the titular heroine as she battles against the Hun forces which are invading her home country. The main point of the film is the fact that she pretended to be a male so that she could join the Chinese army in her father’s place in order to save his life. The story of Mulan is a famous one in China and the character is a major historical figure to this day. Unfortunately for Disney, although the China market was their best bet for making money for the release of both the original animation and the new live-action version, this plan failed miserably. Both of the films actually sold well in the United States, despite the new version having to be released straight to digital. Meanwhile, in China, both versions of the film were disappointing in both execution and overall box office.
Not only has the film been seen as an overall disappointment, but it has been a disappointment that has been surrounded by nothing but controversy. Much of that controversy comes from the fact that the movie apparently runs through a lot of different Chinese stereotypes. Beyond that, however, they also included thanks in the credits for filming locations in China where there are currently internment camps which many fans noticed while watching through the credits. This has sparked perhaps the biggest bit of controversy related to the film as of late because viewers believe that by thanking government groups from the region, Disney is indirectly supporting this cultural genocide. This issue, along with other claims that the film has been whitewashed, has brought about a movement to boycott the remake.
By George Robbins
Movie theaters have begun the slow and painful process of reopening their doors to the public now that rules have been put into place. With the new rules in place, theaters have been able to allow people back through their doors to see whatever movies that they have available to them. That is not to say that there is actually a decent amount of movies actually available however, as there aren’t. This is mainly due to the fact that studios don’t want to release films if they are not going to make the money they want off of them. Therefore many films have been pushed back so that time can be allowed to accumulate where people may build up their confidence once again in going to theaters.
As of now, it is known to many people that although public places are once again open to the public, it is still very dangerous. It only takes one person in an enclosed space to infect a number of other people and this is why many people are still not comfortable with leaving the house. This has become increasingly apparent as time goes on because it can easily be seen with how much money ends up entering every industry out there. For movie theaters it is the amount of money that ends up entering the box office over each and every weekend. It is how much money a movie itself ends up raking in after it has been out in theaters for a little while.
This justified fear that people have has made itself all the more apparent, at least for Christopher Nolan’s new movie ‘Tenet‘, over this past weekend. This previous weekend was only the second weekend that the movie has been released domestically and it has taken a sharp drop in the amount of money it has managed to bring in. The studio was ready to brave the storm following its opening weekend, but now things may become a bit more difficult for them. They brought in over $150 million over the first two weekends, but now they have only brought in $6.7 million which just shows that they may not have waited long enough because they could end up losing much more than they anticipated. Given that they need to make $500 million just to even come close to some kind of success, things are not looking well for them.
By George Robbins
Many films are currently working on getting things properly set up so that they can makes some kind of money moving forward. ‘Tenet‘ is probably the film that has been doing the best job adjusting as of late as it has made the most money out of every film which has had an authentic release. What I mean by this is simply that the movie has managed to have some kind of theatrical release involved in it in some way shape or form. Not many movies have been able to do this as they have either been pushed to some time later this year or some time next year, or they have done straight to digital. This makes it kind of difficult for them to make any kind of plans in which they can make a steady stream of income.
Some movies have been doing their best to make due with the cards they have been dealt, but it is not an easy game to play at the moment. For instance, even though ‘Tenet’ has managed to make money with everything that is going on, they are still far under the amount they need just to break even. This just shows how much of an uphill battle there is for them to be able to have a successful launch and the same goes for all other movies. The movie which seems to be having the most unfortunate time of all right now is the movie ‘Mulan.’ The movie had a digital release on Disney+ for a $30 premium on top of the subscription fee and then it had a theatrical release this past weekend in China.
The theatrical release in China is their way of making up for the fact that Disney+ does not have a foothold in China and movie theaters there are open in a larger capacity. This was meant to be their real way of making money off of the movie with everything going on in the world at the moment. It seems that things did not end up according to plan because the movie only ended up grossing $23 million in the Chinese movie market. It turns out that the buying option on Disney+ actually ended up raking in more over the previous weekend than the theatrical release did in China. Things are really not looking good for the live-action ‘Mulan‘ film and it is doubtful things will get better.
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