What is wrong with WB?

[SFII]

well the WB has the top 2 most popular comic book characters of all time: Superman and Batman. they've overdone both film franchises and turned them into bull****. that's why no one gives a crap about seeing those flicks because they've already been done, and mostly ruined. that's why movie-goers have enjoyed Spider-Man and X-Men because they're new. and they haven't been ruined(yet).

 

[matrix_ghost]

maybe wb ralizes that dc's super-hero characters are considered by some to be over-powered and have to depower them to make for good conflict rather than a one punch fight

I disagree with that actually. It's not soo much the fact that the characters are overpowered , IMO it's more about the fact that until now there still hasn't been a movie that truly shows just how powerful the character really is.
People are expecting some giant superhero action with truly EPIC battles.
You get a glimpse of Superman's strength when he saves the plane in SR but to truly have him battle like he's doing in the comics is something that isn't seen.

Which is one of the reasons why Spider-man is doing well. They have super hero action. They have the technology now and with the right amount of $$$ you can get pretty sweet CG battles.
This IMO is why the matrix is referenced with Superman. It fanboy haters can actually look with a ope mind towards the matrix movies instead of bashing it in an attempt to be cool , they'll see that especially Matrix Revolutions shows that the technology is there to make epic superhero flying battles. The superbrawl with Neo and Smith goes to sky , with buildings being smashed and finally the fight lands back on earth with a giant shockwave that levels a whole street.
That's what people want to see.

What WB has is money , but they don't have an unlimited supply of money. You need a capable director who can find inventive ways of the money to make these things work. The ALL CG approach will always be the easiest way to make these epic battles come to life but at the same time its also the most expensive. To use the matrix movies as an example :
The bullet time sequences of the first movie were initially thought to be impossible to film with real actors. Even the camera move was considered to be impossible for a traditional camera . Unless it was a all CG appraoch with virtual actors and virtual backgrounds , there just was no way it would work with a conventional camera.
Yet they still pulled it off using a different method of shooting.
That's what you need with these movies. USing different methods of shooting the scenes. Use better rigs. Use cheaper ways of shooting CG scenes but still maintain the quality.

I think If James Cameron is really telling the truth that he has made PHOTOREALISTIC humanoid CG characters , then WB would be wise to use that technology to make superman.
Rumor has it that Avatar's budget is 190 million. As of now , that figure could grow if that is in the initial budget. However it could stay that way. In that case that figure is less then what SR cost AND from what i've been reading it's going to be far more epic and grander then SR.
A true superman movie could then be made.

 

[matrix_ghost]

well the WB has the top 2 most popular comic book characters of all time: Superman and Batman. they've overdone both film franchises and turned them into bull****. that's why no one gives a crap about seeing those flicks because they've already been done, and mostly ruined. that's why movie-goers have enjoyed Spider-Man and X-Men because they're new. and they haven't been ruined(yet).

Well batman Begins was a giant step in the right direction.
The general audience loved it. The critics loved it. Fanboys practically worship Nolan and co. as a god so i don't think that is 100 % true.
Batman Begins is one heck of a great movie. Everyone in my company who has seen the movie got hooked instantly and loved it.
Not only that , but everyone is looking at TDK with extremely high expectations. From the rumors so far as well as the casting it seems that those expectation can be met.


SR was a step in the wrong direction. I'm not gonna debate how much it sucked or whatever but i think that any person will admit that in this day and age of comic book heroes fighting their villians , SR was something that just wouldn't work.

Using the comics as inspiration , a faithful adaptation , changes that dont screw up the history and a visual represantion of the character is all that is required to make any comic book movie succesful.
Nolan and co. got that right. Now it's Singer's turn with Superman

 

[Marcus M.]

I think it's because DC heroes are seen as tired and dated, while Marvel's heroes are more edgier and over the top. I think the only DC hero they got left that has not been made into a movie that people will want to see in large numbers is Wonder Woman.
It's funny, because DC started this whole thing of bringing superheroes to the big screen in big budget movies, starting with Superman in 1978. They also upped the standerd for the look of superheroes, on screen as far as using leather or vinyl and body armor instead of tights. Changing the look and even color of the costumes to make it work better in live-action starting with Batman in 19889.

 

[Red Mask]

If Disney can succeed in their Pirates films, what is so wrong with Wonder Woman film in World War 2? They bought it, so why not use it?

 

[Sun_Down]

I think DC's heroes are inherently harder to adapt because they're more old-fashioned and fantasy-based. It's not that they're any worse, but things like, say, adapting Wonder Woman's look is much more difficult than adapting the X-Men's work. The X-Men have never had one signature look, so it was generally accepted to stick them in black leather. But a character like Wonder Woman definitely has one definitive look and that look is rather old-fashioned and "out there".

Also, Marvel characters tend to have slightly more grounded origins and stories. Much more of Marvel's heroes are human and I think that's probably easier to work with from a film standpoint.

 

[kedrell]

^Well I know WW has more than just one look. I really liked her knee-shorts/tights & jacket costume. Now that would work in a movie.

 

[Red Mask]

But a WW2 period Wonder Woman wouldn't be so hard to accept.

 

[Apollo]

becasue they dont want to be like marvel and always make crappy comic movies... catwoman was the beginning of them turning into marvel

 

[Red Mask]

But Marvel isn't afraid of failure. They've even managed to undertake Iron Man on their own. DC is owned by Warner Bros. who have more faith in Harry Potter films than DC's spandex circus.

 

[Jordacar]

But Marvel isn't afraid of failure. They've even managed to undertake Iron Man on their own. DC is owned by Warner Bros. who have more faith in Harry Potter films than DC's spandex circus.

Too true. And I don't see DC going independant from WB anytime soon.

 

[maxmccumber]

Well I think another reason why Marvel is so much better at getting their characters on the big screen is because they have a visionary like Stan Lee overseeing the production. Think about it, Lee started all those charcters like Spider-Man, X-Men, Hulk, FF, and even in his 80s the guy is still active and plays a big role in their development. The creators from DC have either passed away or retired and want to settle down rather than help bring the characters to film.

 

[Sun_Down]

becasue they dont want to be like marvel and always make crappy comic movies... catwoman was the beginning of them turning into marvel

Marvel's still making stacks of money on their crappy movies, so I'm sure WB would want to do the same.

 

[Red Mask]

Marvel's still making stacks of money on their crappy movies, so I'm sure WB would want to do the same.

That's why they chose to make the Harry Potter films. Kids and adults really love that stuff.

 

[ANTOINE X]

Let s face it! WB did some stupid mistakes! Why constantine & cat woman and Vendetta before the Flash? or before green arrow? 2 super heroes that are well known. I understand that before spider rman red flashy costume was a no go, but with the succes of spider man the flash would have been a perfect fit!. Now we will probably wait until 2010 before we see a flash movie because WB is betting all he s money on batman and superman sequels.

 

[Red Mask]

Before we continue bashing WB's impotency, look at what they are producing. Watchmen, a mature graphic novel. But the Wachowski Bros. are now developing Speed Racer - a classic anime. The subsidiary company, New Line Cinema, is handling Shazam and Y: The Last Man.

Other studios are doing superhero titles not related to Marvel or DC. Universal will release "Wanted", starring Angelina Jolie. It's now in production. Universal Pictures and Dark Horse Entertainment has Hellboy: the Golden Army. Columbia Pictures still has to shoot "Tonight, He Comes", starring Will Smith.

Finally, look at the titles that aren't superhero related. There's Whiteout, Sin City 2, Hack/Slash, and 30 Days of Night.

Most of these films aren't your typical superhero flick. So Hollywood has got a certain attitude to comicbook flicks.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Warner Bros. should just stick with Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, and Aquaman. They're the big names. People know who they are. And if they're good, people will flock to them like they did for Batman Begins.

Don't do what Marvel is doing and make films for minor characters like Blade, Ghost Rider, Cloak & Dagger, and the Power Pack.

 

[toad376]

Well I think another reason why Marvel is so much better at getting their characters on the big screen is because they have a visionary like Stan Lee overseeing the production. Think about it, Lee started all those charcters like Spider-Man, X-Men, Hulk, FF, and even in his 80s the guy is still active and plays a big role in their development. The creators from DC have either passed away or retired and want to settle down rather than help bring the characters to film.

Well sorry to burst your bubble their but Stan Lee doesnt oversee anything in the Film industry as a matter a fact he even sued Marvel, Marvel used to have a very talented man overseeing all of their projects AVI ARAD, but he has left to make his own Production company and will only be attached to Hulk and Iron Man, but after that no more for him, and while people are constantly criticizing DC for bringing out there movies (Catwoman, Constatine, Batman Begins, V For Vendetta, Superman Returns), they should really focus at the slate record that both comanies have had with hit and miss. Example DC 5-Movies so far only one failure Catwoman, while Marvel has had like 16 movies ( Blade, X-men, Spider-Man, Blade 2, Daredevil, Hulk, X2, Punisher, Spider-Man 2, Blade 3, Man Thing, Elektra, Fantastic Four, X-Men 3, Ghost Rider, Spider-man 3) 7 have been Complete Failure ( Daredevil, Hulk, Punisher, Blade 3, Man-Thing, Elektra, Ghost Rider) and 3 have been just Entertaining movies(Fantastic Four, X-Men 3, Spider-Man 3) not to say they werent good or they didnt make money but they just werent up to par with the original 2 from there own franchises ( Blade 1&2, Xmen 1&2, Spiderman 1&2) and those 6 is all that Marvel can really brag about in quality, now Marvel should Practic a little something called QUALITY and not QUANTITY. Ya DC has taken a long time and yes they need to put there properties on the fast track, and i really believe the best way to introduce all of there characters to the big screen would be to bring them in all at once JUSTICE LEAGUE, then they can spin-off Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and hopefully Martian Manhunter, but ultimatley DC comics will also be slower not only because of Quality but alos because WB owns them and they dont want to cough upp all this money for 3 movies a year and not be sure what will happen, were as Marvel has any studio they want to shop around so they CAN release multiple movies at once because of all the different studios.

But as longs as we(us fans) kee pushing for it, we will get all of there upcoming films- Watchmen, The Dark Knight, The Man of Steel, Wonder Woman, FLash, Justice Legaue, Shazam, Metal Men, the Spirit, Dead Man.

Start Supporting and Stop Criticizing, HATERS!!!!!!!!

 

[Marcus M.]

Warner Bros. should just stick with Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, and Aquaman. They're the big names. People know who they are. And if they're good, people will flock to them like they did for Batman Begins.

Don't do what Marvel is doing and make films for minor characters like Blade, Ghost Rider, Cloak & Dagger, and the Power Pack.

Blade 1 and 2 were damn good films and it was a very smart thing for them to make them. Do you really consider Ghost Rider minor? Not in my book. That crap movie might have made him seen minor.

 

[Mr. Socko]

An X-Men film makes more than a Superman film, that's quite sad.

 

[Lestat74]

An X-Men film makes more than a Superman film, that's quite sad.

I'm not sure how that's surprising...the X-Men franchise has been more popular than Superman for decades, and Superman has had 4 movies and 2 live action tv shows since Superman IV had come out. the "newness factor" for lack of a better term, has worn off on both Superman and Batman. And believe me, the same thing will happen to both Spidey and the X-Men. Right now both franchises are just a few years old...wait till they've been around for awhile. To me, Batman and Superman are now in the James Bond category of franchises; you can always rely on them to make money from a certain audience on a pretty consistent basis, but long gone are the days when they were the "It" franchises.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

Simple: WB doesn't have to. Marvel is a comic company, who is marketing comic characters and making movies devoted to said characters. WB is a multimedia conglomerate who happens to own a small side project called "DC comics group". Marvel may make, what, 1 or 2, 3 tops, movies a year. WB makes 100s of shows and movies, and even has their own network. Marvel may make top grossing films, but they are still a mere gnat to WB, who makes more movies, more shows, and more multimedia properties to compete about more than just superheroes

 

[Lestat74]

As to the original question in this thread, "What is wrong with WB?" I think it can be summed up in one word:

Fear.

I think fear is the real reason why both The Flash and Wonder Woman have been put on the backburner while almost at the same time a Justice League of America film was announced. Warners saw that both Batman Begins and Superman Returns made about $200 million at the domestic box office, and panicked. If the two most well known Super Heroes can only do that amount at the box office, where does that leave far less known characters like Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman? Not a single one of those films will cost loss than $125 million, and each will likely make less than both Batman and Superman, maybe significantly so. Why take the risk? Studios like sure things, not big expensive risks, despite the fact that some of the biggest hits of all time ( Star Wars, Titanic, even the first Pirates of the Caribbean ) were big financial risks for their studios. However, something like Justice League? That is almost a sure-fire hit movie; Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash and Green Lantern ( and possbly more ) all in one movie? Every Gen X-er who grew up with Superfriends will go see it, and everyone of the following generation who watched Justice League on Cartoon Network will want in too. That movie will market itself.

Now, I think making a JLA movie now is a bit shortsighted. I think WB would be wiser to make decent flicks of Wonder Woman, Flash and Green Lantern before making a JLA movie. However, for that to work all three of those movies will have to be at least moderate hits for a JLA movie to work, and that's a huge risk that it seems WB does not want to take. It seems they would rather put all their eggs in one basket and go for the sure fire hit ( especially if by the time JLA comes out the Super hero movie bubble will have burst ) Now, if JLA is as huge as I expect it to be, then, then we may see spin offs for WW, Flash and GL. But I have a strong feeling that it won't happen before.

Now, despite what I said about Batman and Superman "only" making $200 million, realize that even in this day and age, even with Spidey and Pirates making ungodly amounts of money, $200 million is still a nice amount of money. WB will almost certainly let Christopher Nolan complete his Batman Trilogy, and Bryan Singer will likely get to do Superman Returns 2 and then we will see a JLA film.

 

[ANTOINE X]

As to the original question in this thread, "What is wrong with WB?" I think it can be summed up in one word:

Fear.

I think fear is the real reason why both The Flash and Wonder Woman have been put on the backburner while almost at the same time a Justice League of America film was announced. Warners saw that both Batman Begins and Superman Returns made about $200 million at the domestic box office, and panicked. If the two most well known Super Heroes can only do that amount at the box office, where does that leave far less known characters like Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman? Not a single one of those films will cost loss than $125 million, and each will likely make less than both Batman and Superman, maybe significantly so. Why take the risk? Studios like sure things, not big expensive risks, despite the fact that some of the biggest hits of all time ( Star Wars, Titanic, even the first Pirates of the Caribbean ) were big financial risks for their studios. However, something like Justice League? That is almost a sure-fire hit movie; Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash and Green Lantern ( and possbly more ) all in one movie? Every Gen X-er who grew up with Superfriends will go see it, and everyone of the following generation who watched Justice League on Cartoon Network will want in too. That movie will market itself.

Now, I think making a JLA movie now is a bit shortsighted. I think WB would be wiser to make decent flicks of Wonder Woman, Flash and Green Lantern before making a JLA movie. However, for that to work all three of those movies will have to be at least moderate hits for a JLA movie to work, and that's a huge risk that it seems WB does not want to take. It seems they would rather put all their eggs in one basket and go for the sure fire hit ( especially if by the time JLA comes out the Super hero movie bubble will have burst ) Now, if JLA is as huge as I expect it to be, then, then we may see spin offs for WW, Flash and GL. But I have a strong feeling that it won't happen before.

Now, despite what I said about Batman and Superman "only" making $200 million, realize that even in this day and age, even with Spidey and Pirates making ungodly amounts of money, $200 million is still a nice amount of money. WB will almost certainly let Christopher Nolan complete his Batman Trilogy, and Bryan Singer will likely get to do Superman Returns 2 and then we will see a JLA film.

You say it s fear? But they pay big time for doing constantine. I mean if you r really afraid of not losing money well you better choose your movie wisely before Paying Mr Keanu Reeves . Don t get me wrong I liked constantine but it was not my first choice either.

 

[Red Mask]

Every Gen X-er who grew up with Superfriends will go see it, and everyone of the following generation who watched Justice League on Cartoon Network will want in too. That movie will market itself.

Superfriends is not on the same level as JLU, and that cartoon wasn't that big a hit. Why else are we getting Superman: Doomsday and Judas Contract straight to animated video?