UPDATE:The Caped Crusader role finally took a name--Ben Affleck.
This year’s San Diego Comic Con electrified the crowd when WB revealed that their upcoming Man of Steel sequel is in fact a Batman/Superman combo movie. And surely, if you’re reading this article, this news shouldn’t be surprising. If the news still hasn’t struck you, then I guess it’s time to rejoice. At face value, the idea of a crossover definitely looks amazing—who wouldn’t want Batman and Superman in the same movie? But, then comes in Man of Steel—the film that everyone was anticipating. “The best superhero movie” they said. After the long wait and my high hopes, I finally hit the theaters. Unfortunately, I left the theater thinking maybe WB can fix it the next time around.
First off, I have to say that Man of Steel was not a
bad movie but it wasn’t a great one either. The trailers fooled me into
believing that it was going to be spectacular and perfect. The truth is it
wasn’t perfect but it did have some good moments. It had the potential. Many
critics and myself included found that the film suffered from a lack of build-up
and character development. And the main cause of this trouble was the waste of
screen-time on action. There are some moments were the fight and flight
sequences are spectacular but at some point they became redundant and
pointless. It as if WB had to insure Man of Steel’s success by adding more
action and more action to make the odds of its failure lower. The conclusion it
seems is that more action equals more money. So, to be on the safe side, they
said: “heck why not add more.” I am not here to point fingers but the Zach
Snyder and David S. Goyer duo are part of this problem. WB’s aim is quick cash and
this is corroborated by their recent announcement of the Batman vs. Superman
showdown.
Man of Steel’s legs in the box office were middling, losing much
of its power quickly, mainly due to the material itself and the critical
consensus. Prior to its release, the superman tentpole spurred so much hype but once it was
released it quickly wavered. It is currently struggling to get past the $300
million barrier in North America. Looking past the big debut and the pre-release tracking, the final revenue is by far a success for any
reboot/origin movie. What is more concerning is the holding power of the film
which often tells a great deal about the success of the next film. In this
case, the numbers didn't call out a huge success for Man of Steel 2. The only
way WB could make loads of money is by once again increasing the anticipation
and hype for its upcoming sequel—that way even if the film isn't of superior
quality it will still make a lot of money. How was that done? By bringing in the second
most popular DC character or arguably the most popular DC superhero into Man of
Steel 2.
In consequence, the Superman vs. Batman film should garner a
huge opening weekend. Big openings are the best way for film studios to
profit since over the opening weekend word of mouth doesn't spread quickly and
as a result there is almost nothing* that can impede a film’s gross. The days
after its opening are important but are more susceptible to damage by critics,
word of mouth, and competition—all of which are generally immutable. On the
other hand, the opening 3-day gross can be controlled to some extent by the
marketing and thereof the pre-release word of mouth.
*Except for the present competition. However, this can also sometimes be managed by scheduling a film properly.
**2.3 including Thursday's numbers and 2.5 excluding.
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