By George Robbins
DC movies are now definitely on the list of things that people watch out for nowadays due to the inception of the DC Extended Universe. Otherwise known as the DCEU, it is a shared universe which has characteristics very similar to other shared universes. Characters are off on their own adventures with nothing of note necessarily happening, at least in the grand scheme of things, and eventually they all come together in one big film to take care of one huge problem. Or they do have something noteworthy happen in their films which could change the whole world and yet only the main character and those related to them are around. DC has managed to be a part of the later camp.
Much of what happens in the DCEU happens on a catastrophic scale and many heroes are not really present for what happens in the films. They are all given their own space to make sure that they have films where they are given the floor, so to speak. Unlike other franchises though, the DCEU does a better job of getting multiple characters involved in what happens. Hence the reason Wonder-Woman, Superman, and Batman have appeared in a couple of films together already. Apparently this trend will not be stopping any time soon either as the much-awaited upcoming movie ‘The Flash’ will eventually give us a few sights to behold.
For those currently unaware, ‘The Flash’ was a movie which was announced during DC FanDome which will be releasing in the not too distant future. It will be a story which adapts the Flashpoint story in the comics which sees the titular hero travelling through time to some degree. As it will play around with potentially catastrophic events, as well as multiple timelines, it is of no surprise that the movie will have a number of heroes appearing in it. Multiple DC characters on top of Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton’s versions of Batman will be making their appearances in the film. This just makes the film all the more interesting to look forward to over the next year-and-a-half or so.
By George Robbins
Plenty of movies are now working to get themselves released onto the open market, but there are still plenty of restrictions in place to mess with those plans. Many movies have had the fun and difficult time of trying to get themselves on the market due to the pandemic that is still managing to plague the world we all live in. This has made it just a bit more difficult for studios to carry on with their business nowadays and many movies have not released yet as planned. Although many movies are still waiting off in the wings, some have actually managed to release to the public at large. This is how we recently had releases for a small number of films within the past month or so. Well, more specifically, over the past few weeks there have been some releases.
One of the biggest releases that the world was treated to was the release of the long-awaited movie ‘Tenet‘ from director Christopher Nolan. Nolan had been advocating for awhile by the time of the movie’s release for the film to be the first one available once theaters could reopen their doors. This mostly ended up being the case as the movie had its international release as the first blockbuster film to release since the start of the pandemic. Even though the film had to wait an extra week to release in theaters domestically, it was still an overall success and among the first major releases in some time. Considering the limited variety in films upon release, it is no surprise that the film did so well.
Even though the film ended up doing well, the fact hasn’t changed that the film did not make as much money as it would have if the pandemic wasn’t an issue. It definitely did better than what they originally expected from it, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have an uphill battle going against them. The world is still in a very bad place at the moment and people are trying to just brush that fact aside which only makes things worse. Therefore, studios are in just as terrible a spot as the rest of the world at large and movies have a long way to go before they can start making money the way they want to again in theaters. Theaters are not the only option for movies to make money though as we have learned well by now.
Video on Demand, or VOD, is perhaps one of the best ways for film studios to make their money nowadays as it allows people to pay for new films without issue. Perfect for the pandemic, VOD allows people to watch new movies without having to leave their homes and risk their’s or other people’s health. This is not the best case scenario for them though as having a theatrical release beforehand allows studios the chance to make even more money before they permanently allow people to own their films. Hence the reason many studios have decided to just wait until a good time for them to be able to show their films in theaters. This is actually how we ended up with many films being delayed until either late this year or some time next year. On that list of films that have been delayed was the spiritual “sequel” to the movie ‘Candyman‘ which shares the same name.
In order to put things simply, I will just say that the original ‘Candyman‘ movie is a supernatural horror movie. It followed a young woman as she was being haunted by a man who killed whomever he felt was necessary to achieve his goals. Now we will soon be seeing a new rendition of the film which is being produced by Jordan Peele. It is one of those movies that will not be going straight to VOD and will actually hold out for a theatrical release, but some have asked why it will be among that group of films. Director Nia DaCosta admitted recently that the reason the movie is being pushed to next year for a theatrical release is because she insists that it is a movie that should be experienced by groups of people in theaters instead of being viewed individually at home. Whether this is true or not will be determined when the film releases theatrically in 2021.
By George Robbins
Recently, movies have been getting released on VOD instead of waiting for a full theatrical release because it is easier for studios to do. For instance, if you were to tell them to wait a lot longer to make money or they can save time and still make money, which option do you think companies would take. This is the dilemma they are currently facing and it is an annoying one because there isn’t actually any kind of right answer. No matter how you look at it, waiting until a theatrical release becomes much more viable is a decision that will no doubt make more money. However, the main problem comes from the fact that studios need money now in order to start working on new projects for the future.
This is why some movies are instead being released straight to VOD so that studios can at least try and make money the way they originally intended to. However, this is resulting in a loss of money because people just like the experience of going to movie theaters which is where most of the immediate money is made for new movies. Unfortunately yet again, people don’t want to go out to the movies even though theaters are now starting to open back up again because of the obvious danger of a pandemic going on right now. This was very heavily taken into account as it was pointed out recently for the Disney+ release of ‘Mulan.’ The Disney company took notice of this fear and they made that apparent recently.
Disney has been doing their best not to try and put out their films at the wrong time in order to try and make the most money they can from the film. Their most recent release is the live-action release for ‘Mulan‘ that they were trying to give a theatrical release. Unfortunately for them, the movie theater situation is still far too volatile and people are not comfortable with them yet, so they made the decision to release the film on Disney+ for a premium on top of the subscription fee. This ended up being a good choice as the number of Disney+ downloads spiked by 68% after the release of the movie to the platform. Needless to say they understand that people are hesitant about the whole situation, despite what they are apparently allowing at their amusement parks.
By George Robbins
The movie industry is having the fun that never ends right now of not knowing how they are going to handle future releases. At the very least, they have no idea how they are going to handle releases in the near future as it is a lot to think about. For instance, although theaters have started reopening to the public, they have plenty of restrictions in place which limit the amount of people they can have in their venues simultaneously. This makes it just a bit more difficult for theaters and by extension, studios, to make money. Therefore, studios are now trying to make the best decisions they can to make sure that they end up making money on their movie releases.
Studios have been trying to release their films the best way that they can over the past few months by either releasing their films straight to digital or waiting out the pandemic. The latter option is one that is probably safer, but will result in them waiting a very long time if they want to make the amount of money that they were hoping for. They have been releasing movies to VOD in an effort to make money now while waiting on bigger releases to determine if it would be worth a theatrical release. The most recent releases we have seen have gone to both mediums and have been about as equally successful in the short run thus far. Disney in particular has been going more for the VOD release method as of late.
Disney was originally opposed to having their films release straight to digital, but in a sense they have come to accept it recently. This is mainly due to the fact that they really don’t want to have to keep waiting for a proper timeframe for release. They recently put ‘Mulan‘ up on Disney+ for a $30 premium for subscribers to own the movie and it resulted in a spike of downloads for the service as a whole. Seeing this as a prime example that this could help them out with other movies as well, it seems they will also be releasing Pixar’s newest movie ‘Soul’ on Disney+ as well. While this may not be guaranteed at the moment, it is most certainly a strong possibility moving forward.
By George Robbins
The Academy Awards, or the Oscars, are an awards ceremony where people who are a part of the eponymous Academy award films for their cinematography. This applies to more than just how a film is shot as it covers topics ranging from best actor or best actress in a set of films to best make-up or even music. In other words, they go through various parts of films and award those aspects for being so well done. They also take into account just how much effort has been put into each of these aspects across all movies which have been released over the previous year. With this in mind, a lot of thought actually goes into what films or people involved with them end up getting awards.
The Oscars are in the unique position of being a set of awards that are tuned into yearly by people from all over. They take a look at films that have been nominated and then seriously give consideration to which films should have the best chance at winning. One of the biggest issues with this is that people in general have no say as to what will actually win and it is all just subjective. This essentially means that anyone not involved with the academy has no say in what actually gets to win or even what gets nominated for an award to begin with. Within the past few months, this has even been brought to a head due to the BLM protests, as well as various protests in the past about the lack of diversity in the awards.
The overall lack of diversity in films has been noted and made aware of by many different people over the past few years. The academy have tried to somewhat make up for this fact, but they are still not doing a great job at at all. In order to try and rectify this, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has introduced new rules, to be enforced from the 2024 ceremony, to ensure more diversity in their Best Picture nominees. The four categories are: Standard A: On-screen representation, themes and narratives, Standard B: Creative leadership and project team, Standard C: Industry Access and Opportunities and Standard D: Audience Development. All of these categories have to do with overall diversity in the development of the films and in order to be put forward as a nominee, movies must meet at least two of the four criteria.
By George Robbins
Star Wars is a franchise the likes of which many different franchises try to become due to just how large and in charge the franchise has become over the years. It spans countless parts of the the media industry with shows, movies, books, and video games which further enhance the hold that the franchise has on society. This is yet again something that is not so easily achieved as nowadays it is kind of difficult for a franchise to take hold. Considering the fact that it is difficult for companies to come up with something which is pretty much wholly original, it is no surprise that it would be difficult for them to come up with something new. Something that would attract the attention of many different people would be difficult in and of itself, let alone something that is good.
While there are many polarizing aspects of the Star Wars franchise as a whole, much off the franchise is loved by fans. It is not very often that a franchise is capable of making fans want to become a part of it in some way shape or form. This is how we ended up with so much fan content over the years, and while much of it remained non-canon, some of it actually made its way into the universe. If it was not for the popularity that the franchise had, a lot of different content over the years would not have been inspired. For instance, many futuristic, science-fiction, and/or fantasy media over the years have been influenced by the Star Wars franchise and we would not have them without it. There is no doubt in anybodies’ minds that the Star Wars franchise played a significant role in the forming of much of today’s pop culture.
Although the franchise is responsible for how pop culture has turned out today it is still, as previously stated, a highly controversial franchise. This controversy stems from the fact that Star Wars itself has managed to build up a fan base in all different kinds of social groups from the lowest to highest points of society. This means that various people with countless points of view see the franchise differently which causes a lot of arguments to break out. It doesn’t help that the series spans a number of generations at this point and due to this, certain generations hold a dim view of other generations. This is why many of the older Star Wars fans don’t see the newer Star Wars movies with a great pair of eyes.
The newest movies in the franchise are seen as being not as good as the previous two trilogies by the older fans of the franchise, but this has been the case with every single aspect of Star Wars as a whole. This will never change as time goes on because people just want to be right that their version they grew up with was the best version. In truth, no one version is better than the others as they all have their own issues. What can instead be taken away from the franchise as a whole is the fact that people can make whatever they want from the franchise. It is a universe that inspires many different people to create new content or become something inspired by the series. No one would have ended up being involved in the creation of the newer films if it wasn’t for this fact.
Lately, the newer Star Wars films to release have been ones that have received countless criticisms, but they are still a part of an incredible universe. Everyone who was involved with the creation of the Sequel Trilogy was excited to see how the films would turn out. Even though many people involved with the project are now saying that it wasn’t what they originally expected it to be, it became something that will define a generation. The actors may not be all that excited to be tied to the films anymore but when things first started up for the sequels they were nothing but excited about being involved in some way. Not only the actors, but fans put their all into being involved in the movies in some way shape or form.
Countless theories ended up coming out in regards to the films and the direction that the films were going in with many people trying to figure out what would happen next. This wouldn’t just be a game for fans to play though, as the actors were also trying to figure out what was going to happen. When Emperor Palpatine appeared in voice-only during the ‘Rise of Skywalker‘ trailer, theories started flooding in with people trying to figure out how and why he was in the film. One thing that was revealed in the film that many people expected but didn’t see coming was that the main character Rey was actually his granddaughter. This fact was one that shocked and confused many a fan and resulted in many people facepalming in some way.
After the end of ‘The Last Jedi,’ everyone just assumed Rey was just a random force-user in the franchise, but ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ turned this on its head. That reveal in the new film made it seem to some that it was something thrown in at the last minute and an interview given by actress Daisy Ridley, who played Rey, made this seem even more plausible. The actress revealed that the decision didn’t come until late in the process and, in fact, it wasn’t even confirmed when they were already in production. Ridley also revealed that during the early process of crafting her arc, she was supposed to be a Kenobi which was an idea that was very popular around the release of ‘The Force Awakens.’ Needless to say this didn’t happen and another route was found, but only much later on.
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