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Entries in DC Comics (58)

Warner Bros., DC Comics Look to the Future of Superman and Batman

When it comes to comic book supremacy at the box office, it's still pretty clear that Marvel has done a better job manufacturing hits than has its rival, DC Comics. Even with the towering success of The Dark Knight, there have only been four DC films to ever gross over $200 million in the U.S., and two of those feature Batman and the Joker. Marvel, on the other hand, has four franchises that have posted a total of seven $200 million flicks since 1997, in the form of Spider-Man, X-Men, Men in Black, and Iron Man.

There has been some question for a while about what DC Comics will do moving forward; Superman Returns was not what everyone thought it could be, and that franchise may now be in for another retooling. Anne Thompson at Variety says that Warner Bros., which has enjoyed all of this Batman success, may want to similarly freshen up The Man of Steel. "Today I was told that it is a priority at the studio to find the right direction and if Bryan Singer is willing to do that, fine, but if he gets in the way, he may not stay on the project," reports Thompson. She also reveals that there are currently no writers attached to the project.

I'll say it now so I don't have to put up with a dozen comments later: What about Kevin Smith's script?

There. Happy?

Anyway, the point is Warner Bros. may want to take a mulligan on Superman, the same way Marvel did with The Hulk. Although you'd have a hard time convincing anyone that the New Coke version of the Hulk made a noticeably deeper impression with audiences.

Do you find it surprising that they can't figure out what to do with Superman? I don't.

I've been of the opinion since seeing the Bryan Singer flick that Superman is just not a contemporary hero. We don't like superhumans, or super-Kryptonians, or whatever the hell you want to call Clark Kent's alter-ego. We like 'em real, flawed, and dark these days. And Superman is not those things. His weakness is a rock. On the plus side, he can reverse the rotation of the planet. See? We don't respond as well to God in a cape as we used to.

Yes, there are dark corners in the DC canon for Superman to pursue, but will that please enough people? Maybe it's just best if DC bides its time with Superman and searches for another more complicated hero instead.

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Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 12:46AM by Registered CommenterColin Boyd in , , , , , , | CommentsPost a Comment

Tom Cruise, Sam Raimi Teaming Up for DC Comics' 'Sleeper'

There's bouncing back from adversity and then there's what Tom Cruise has managed to pull off in the past two weeks. In the middle of a fairly brisk period of headlines for the former top star in the world, his longtime friend and producing partner Paula Wagner bailed on their joint project of running United Artists. He has also seen his name scratched off above the title of the CIA flick Edwin A. Salt (only to see it replaced by the name Angelina Jolie), and his WWII film Valkyrie, which moved from late 2008 to early 2009 a couple months ago, has now moved back to 2008.

And then there's the matter of his borderline brilliant cameo in a recent comedy.

But the news keeps on coming for Cruise, who, separate from his deal with United Artists, has now expressed interest in three upcoming projects operating at rival studios. The Spyglass thriller Tourist was first, followed by the Universal/Working Title comedy Food Fight, and now there's the DC Comics adaptation Sleeper, which will be produced by Sam Raimi and his Star Road Entertainment.

The Hollywood Reporter has all the details, but we'll give you the highlights: Sleeper is a sci-fi comic that ran from 2003 - 2005. Should Cruise star in the film (and it's his interest that is reportedly moving the business end of the deal along), he would likely play "an operative whose fusion with an alien artifact makes him impervious to pain and allows him to pass it on to others through skin contact." That's right: He has Impervious Cooties. We all knew this day would come.

Here's another hot little detail: The film is the property of Warner Bros., which is in the news for its arm wrestling match with Fox over the rights to Watchmen. Because the studio may look at this as a franchise opportunity, they will probably be a lot more careful when it comes to the language of the contract.

The project sounds really interesting. Raimi has an eye for quality material, and frankly, the movies Cruise has chosen to do over the past few years all sound interesting at first; it's when you actually see a Lions for Lambs or a Vanilla Sky that things start to fall apart. Hopefully, the combo of Raimi and Cruise can attract a top-flight writer who understands the comic and how to transfer it to the screen, and then they can hope to find a director who can create the world that story needs to succeed. It's not enough to have a big name star wanting to do a movie anymore, particularly one with the names Marvel or DC etched on the side.

Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 01:51AM by Registered CommenterColin Boyd in , , , , , | Comments1 Comment

Seriously, Brian Austin Green Wants To Be The Riddler

You can probably gauge an actor's level of heat by how their casting rumors are circulated, particularly for a movie like the follow-up to The Dark Knight. If you're Angelina Jolie and the rumor du jour is Catwoman, it's probably because Angelina is in the running for every role: Who wouldn't want her in their movie? The same goes for Johnny Depp playing The Riddler. There's zero evidence indicating any of that is true, and yet, because it would be a big role in a big movie, the chatter starts and it's hard to stop.

When your career resembles that of Brian Austin Green's, however, you have to start your own rumors. Yes, the former beau of Megan Fox and the one-time 90210 cast member told MTV this week his grand plan to crash the Batparty:

"I would love to be the Riddler,” says BAG boldly of the yet-to-be-determined next Batman movie. “I hope to God that they don’t try to replace Heath and have the Joker. And Two-Face is gone. So they need a new villain, and the Riddler makes sense,” Green reasoned.

OK...assuming we were intrigued by that possibility in the slightest, how would Green approach the role of the Batman villain? "That’s impossible to answer now,” Green said. “That would take years of preparation. It’s tough. Heath set the bar at a new level, which I think is fantastic for comic book lovers and movie lovers. He changed the face of what people expect out of those films.”

I've heard worst casting ideas - like yesterday's shot across the bow that Mike Myers may be in Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards - but I think I'd rather have Tori Spelling play the Riddler, honestly.

Posted on Friday, August 15, 2008 at 01:54PM by Registered CommenterColin Boyd in , , , , , | Comments9 Comments

Iron Man Just Doesn't Get 'The Dark Knight'

"'I'll burn that bridge when I come to it' is my favourite phrase I've ever coined," admitted Robert Downey Jr. recently in an interview with Moviehole.

It's hard to argue that anyone is enjoying a better year in Hollywood, both in current box office stature and when you consider the sorts of roles he's lining up for down the road. This would be that time in someone's career when they might begin to "play the game" to protect the little empire they've suddenly found waiting for them. But Downey is apparently not going to start kissing ass anytime soon, even after the tremendous success of Iron Man and his almost immediate follow-up as an Australian playing an African American 35 years in the past in the new comedy Tropic Thunder.

In an interview that covers a lot of ground, from the inspirations of his character Sgt. Osiris in Thunder to the not-too-distant Sherlock Holmes reboot with Guy Ritchie, the most interesting comments Downey makes are about another movie, one he has no part in.

"My whole thing is that I saw The Dark Knight," he begins. "I feel like I'm dumb because I feel like I don't get how many things that are so smart. It's like a Ferrari engine of storytelling and script writing and I'm like, 'That's not my idea of what I want to see in a movie.'"

Gasp: Iron Man taking a swing at Batman? Just wait: It gets better.

"I loved [director Christopher Nolan's] The Prestige but didn't understand The Dark Knight. Didn't get it, still can't tell you what happened in the movie, what happened to the character and in the end they need him to be a bad guy. I'm like, 'I get it. This is so high brow and so f--king smart, I clearly need a college education to understand this movie.' You know what? F-ck DC comics. That's all I have to say and that's where I'm really coming from."

Classic. Sounds like he came to that bridge just in time to set it on fire.

Posted on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 at 01:26AM by Registered CommenterColin Boyd in , , , , , | Comments48 Comments

Box Office - 'Dark Knight' Wins Again, Now Third Highest-Grossing Film in U.S. History

darkknighposter19.jpgWhat an unusual five days it's been at the box office. Pineapple Express broke through big time on Wednesday, setting an August record for a Wednesday release, and then trailed off quickly. And just when it looked like The Dark Knight had reigned for its last days heading into the weekend, the Batman sequel came back in a big way to claim its fourth box office victory in a row, and almost certainly its last.

With $26 million in weekend ticket sales, according to the new Box Office Mojo estimates, The Dark Knight has now amassed $441 million in 24 days. That's the third-highest total in U.S. history. (Nobody make the case for inflation, please, because I'm tired of arguing it.)

The film will very likely beat Star Wars and its $460 million by this time next week, meaning it will have taken a month to become the second film to ever rake in over $465 million.

As for Pineapple Express, the Wednesday opening did hurt its weekend totals, a theory we put out there on Thursday. So many people wanted to see it immediately, that by the time the weekend arrived, there was little fire left. In fact, the only day where it showed an increase was going to Friday from Thursday; the Judd Apatow-produced stoner comedy starring Seth Rogen and James Franco lost audience on Saturday and on Sunday, while The Dark Knight gained about 40% of viewers on Saturday, the day that really put the sequel over the edge.

The same kind of early release blahs hit The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, which never really got on track anyway, taking in just over $19 million over five days, and during the weekend, struggled to make $10 million. A fourth-place finish is all the film could muster, even with a near freefall by The Mummy, which held on for a third-place finish.

Step Brothers continued to do good business despite the new comedy in theaters; it rounded out the weekend's top five and has earned $80 million. $100 million seems unlikely, but there's a fair chance it could enter that club in another three or four weeks. Mamma Mia! is the newest member in that club, incidentally, and internationally, the film has nearly grossed $250 million.

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Posted on Sunday, August 10, 2008 at 11:03AM by Registered CommenterColin Boyd in , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments5 Comments
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