Why The Guardians Of The Galaxy Might Flop

Why The Guardians Of The Galaxy Might Flop

Although looking good and generating optimism aplenty among fans, I have this feeling that come August, The Guardians of the Galaxy will not make it big overseas. It's logical and Disney/Marvel might still be able to prevent it. Why and how after the jump.

Editorial Opinion
By Orehrepus - May 09, 2014 04:05 AM EST

 
With the success of Iron Man, Marvel Studios stormed the industry with Thor and Captain America to finally establish their position with The Avengers. The Guardians of the Galaxy is, I would say, another gamble just as big as Iron Man was, if not more. Although their gamble with Iron Man paid off, I have a feeling that this time will be a different story. Keep in mind that I am thinking of general audience overseas (as I am part of them,) and not in the US (and perhaps some of Europe.) Here's why:
 
1. Gamble of the Unknown
Starting off with Iron Man was a gamble because Iron Man was not as well-known a character as Spider-Man or Wolverine were at that time.  However, he was KNOWN nonetheless. He was a superhero in the classic sense, quite a few people read his comic book, he had his own cartoon show way back then and made guest appearances in some other cartoon shows, had some kids' merchandise like T-shirts and bags. They didn't know Tony Stark the wealthy playboy, never heard of arc reactor or repulsor beams, but at least generally people knew that a superhero character called Iron Man existed, that he wore armor and shot laser beams from his hands and perhaps his eyes.
 
The Guardians of the Galaxy, on the other hand, is even less known than Iron Man was then. Globally, very little people read their comic books, no cartoon shows, no merchandise, nothing. They're not even "superheroes" in the classic sense.
 
2. Lack of Vehicle
Prior to these last few movies, we saw Spider-Man month, Thor month and Captain America month in Disney XD Channel, showcasing these characters in the Ultimate Spider-Man and The Avengers animated series. They had a vehicle to ride on, along with the explosive amount of TV spot trailers. Children would nag their parents to watch those movies (and some adults, like me, also watch Disney XD along with their children.) Cable movie channels and local TV channels aired the Spider-Man movies and so on and so forth.
 
Guardians don't have any of these. They don't even appear as guest star in The Avengers animated series. They don't appear anywhere, period. Disney will, undoubtedly, place a lot of TV spot trailers. Still, to the general audience, it's just a trailer of some sci-fi action movie. People still don't know them. The hype and success of Iron Man, Thor and Avengers have no effect on them. They can only say something like "From the people that brought you Iron Man and The Avengers..." but there's no real relation felt by the general audience.
 
3. Ignored Post-credit Scene
Probably ALL movie audience in the US stay in the theater for the mid-credit/post-credit scene these days. Overseas, people are leaving even before the credit starts rolling. I stayed alone (only with my family) on Iron Man, and with less than 10 people on The Winter Soldier and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
 
Even to people that stayed on The Dark World, they might not even realize that The Collector is there in The Guardians of the Galaxy. So, again, no relation to previous Marvel movies.
 
4. Lack of Hype
The hype we've been having with Guardians so far is exclusively on the internet. General people overseas are not that heavy on using the internet, people actively searching for comic book related films are even less so. Censorship on the internet in some countries are crazy tight that it's hard to find anything at all.
 
<img src="https://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/19214/gamora%202%20copy%20small.jpg"></img> 5. Lack of A-Lister
So, they have Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper, in voice only. Even if people see the trailer, they don't see Diesel's infamous smirk. Zoe Saldana is quite well-known internationally, but not in a central role. Other than that, people will ask, who is Chris Pratt? Who is Dave Bautista?
 
6. The Competition
Let's first list the action films that release on August here:
- Ninja Turtles (comic books, cartoon shows, movies, ongoing animated series)
- Lucy (with ScarJo and Morgan Freeman, and Luc Besson also well-known internationally)
- The Expendables 3 (a sequel, crammed with big name stars)
- Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (a sequel, also with big names)
 
Even the horror/thriller, drama and comedy films have the chance to be strong competitors this August. We have The Giver with Jeff Bridges and Merryl Streep, November Man with Pierce Brosnan and Olga Kurylenko, both from the ever popular James Bond franchise, Let's Be Cops with the Wayans,  Life After Beth, The Loft, Life of Crime.
 
So, it's a tough competition.
 
In regards to all that, what can Disney do to boost the popularity of Guardians? The opposite of all that, certainly, which are:
 
1. Put them on film and entertainment magazines. Plenty of these magazines have local versions overseas. The internet is not enough.
 
2. Produce some episodes of The Avengers animated series with Guardians as guest stars. I don't know if it's still possible, but if it is, then don't be stingy.
 
3. Make a different international TV spot and theatrical trailers. Incorporate clips of The Avengers in there. Make sure people realize that they are indeed in the same universe.
 
<img src="https://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/19214/gamora%20edit%202%20small.jpg"></img> 4. Produce behind the scene clips and put them in cable and local channels, making sure people realize who are behind the voice of Groot and Rocket. Reintroduce Zoe Saldana, making sure people remember that they've seen her before in Star Trek, Losers, Avatar and Pirates (if rights ownership permits.) Putting Glenn Close up there is not a bad idea either. I don't think I've seen her in the trailers or stills.
 
 
Soooo, that's it, I guess. I hope they will do that. As a matter of fact, I'm certain they will do something in essence similar to that, if not exactly that. I know Disney and Kevin Feige are not stupid. I'm sure they figured this out before I did. I want this to be a success and develops into a franchise of its own, crossing over with The Avengers eventually. That would be awesome.
 
Thanks for reading. Whether you agree or disagree, I urge you to keep the name-calling to yourself and comment in the usual section. Keep it civil, guys!
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LEEE777
LEEE777 - 5/9/2014, 4:12 AM
Blasphemy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :P

Don't even think it... this has GOT to be the Star Wars of the Marvel Universe!

Anyway I for one cannot wait, this and Winter Soldier are the only two movies I'm personally really excited to see and seen Winter Soldier... didn't disappoint.
Orehrepus
Orehrepus - 5/9/2014, 4:17 AM
Bwahahaha...

Blasphemy it is then. Thanks, Leee.
And why didn't my pictures appear? I've done this before with no problem. I'll take a look at it.
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 5/9/2014, 4:26 AM
Orehrepus @ Heh heh : D

Hey you never know though, cool read anyways, just hope your wrong :p

You gotta press the SOURCE button in your menu then put the http pic code in?

WarrenByron
WarrenByron - 5/9/2014, 4:56 AM
I live in Europe, and this article is racist.
Well, not really.
I do think that GoTG has a more difficult road up ahead than Iron Man 3, Thor The Dark World or The Winter Soldier, but it can be a box office success. Maybe not as the other Phase 2 movies, but a hit nonetheless, and that matters.
MightyZeus
MightyZeus - 5/9/2014, 4:57 AM
I really hope your wrong because i really love GOTG. I've even read the comic book series the film it's based on. I just think the brand alone would be able to sell this film to a broader audience by slapping on "By the Studio that brought you The Avengers" or even The Marvel Studios logo could sell the film.

I understand it's a risk but it has a unique dynamic team set in space which has sci fi elements.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 5/9/2014, 5:00 AM
There is always someone that complains that movies aren't being marketed enough, even though its been shown time and time again that heavy marketing on TV, fast food restaurants, and so on, usually don't start until a month or two before the movie comes out...
Abary
Abary - 5/9/2014, 5:04 AM
I think it has potential to flop because of how unknown the characters are, but the MARVEL studios logo should help a bit, plus some kids know who they are from stuff like Ultimate Spider-Man, Earth's Mightiest Heroes, all the other Marvel shows they appeared on recently, and the LEGO game. Speaking of LEGO, if they say "Chris Pratt" some kids might remember who he is. Plus the large wrestling audience will be drawn in with Bautista. I don't know exactly... we'll see.

Doopie I thought the TV Show was going to be released in 2015?
kinghulk
kinghulk - 5/9/2014, 5:18 AM
people over here watch the after credit scenes, when i saw the winter soldier both times at least 3/4 of the people stayed to watch it. I think GOTG will do fine it doesent, so what people don't know who they are it didn't stop star wars or other films.

GOTG are great characters and im sure kids will love rocket and Groot. and by the way the guardians did recently appear in a episode of avengers assemble where they teamed up to fight galactus.
kinghulk
kinghulk - 5/9/2014, 5:31 AM
you have made a lot of assumptions of what people oversees do
yossarian
yossarian - 5/9/2014, 6:14 AM
Nope.
thunderforce
thunderforce - 5/9/2014, 6:39 AM
This movie is going to be fantastic for a number of reasons . 1 Awesome music of the 80's . 2 It takes place in the MCU and you know at some point these guys are going to meet up with the Avengers . 3 Star Wars with more humor and super heroes plus they aren't flying a falling apart piece of crap they are flying the ferrari of space ships . 4 The Cosmic MCU so we can bump into many other cosmic super heroes too . There is no way this movie is going to fail everyone is very invested in the MCU now and they will not want to miss this . I think with future installments of GOTG this franchise can become bigger than Star Wars
marvel72
marvel72 - 5/9/2014, 7:04 AM
guardians of the galaxy will be the sleeper hit of the summer,i'm sure of it.
QuestiontheAnswer
QuestiontheAnswer - 5/9/2014, 7:05 AM
Won't flop. May underwhelm.
GizmoEl
GizmoEl - 5/9/2014, 7:17 AM
As long as it gets good reviews from critics and great word of mouth, this movie will be a hit.
MuscleManZemo
MuscleManZemo - 5/9/2014, 7:27 AM
Actually the Guardians have appeared before in Disney channel cartoons. They were in one episode of Earth's Mightiest Hereos titled "Michael Korvac". Although this team only contained Star-Lord, Groot, and Rocket from the cinematic team. Also there was an episode of Ultimate Spiderman that featured all five members of the film team.
blackandyellow
blackandyellow - 5/9/2014, 7:42 AM
Competition alone will screw this movie.
DylansMyDog
DylansMyDog - 5/9/2014, 8:37 AM
I think $400 million would be a total success. Cap 1 made less than that!
ruadh
ruadh - 5/9/2014, 8:39 AM
I've said it before, but I expect GOTG to be Marvel's most modest hit (or biggest flop, depending on how you look at it). Also expect it to be Gunn's biggest box office take.
DylansMyDog
DylansMyDog - 5/9/2014, 8:43 AM
I don't think anyone should expect more out of this than other characters that have been launched from Marvel. Cap made less than $400m. Thor made a little more than $400m. Iron Man made almost $600m.

Therefore:

$300m-$400m = okay
$400-$500m = good
$500^ = great
kinghulk
kinghulk - 5/9/2014, 8:54 AM
DylandsMyDog- yeah i agree marvel's movies are made on a smaller budget so it's ok if hey dont make huge numbers.
TFA had a budget of 140 million and made 370 million worldwide
Thor 150 million made 450 worldwide

bottomline the smaller the budget the less successful the film needs to be to make a profit hell batman begins had a budget of 150 million and made 374 million.
GinjaNinja
GinjaNinja - 5/9/2014, 9:40 AM
Marvel is making a animated GOTG show just for this case. It will be shoved down our throtes in the next few months. don't worry. It will NOT flop. However, it could barely make a profit. Like a 200 mil budget and only make 300mil.
ruadh
ruadh - 5/9/2014, 9:50 AM
@dethpillow

Jeez....okay...Shawshank, Amistad, ET, and Avatar...what do these gave in common besides you not liking them? How are those all movies like that?

I've never seen Avatar or Amistad, but both directors DO have solid films under their belt. Whether you like Spielberg or not, he really is a master of his craft. He's got stuff like AI of course, but there's extremely few great directors who have a perfect filmography. He is solid at popcorn, like Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones. And Jaws will always be one of my favorite films of all time.

Another though is Shawshank. Again, I'm not sure how you can lump that, Amistad, and Avatar in the same category. But Shawshank is of course just a great story, with solid relationships, original dialogue, terrific performances, and a lot of pain to get to a satisfying ending. A lot of things I want out of a movie.

One thing to really consider, and I've been arguing this since the 90's, but try to keep in mind if it's really the director you have issues with, or the writer. A lot of times, yes, they're the same person. I know with Gunn and Wright that's usually the case. But Spielberg is rarely responsible for the writing. And a lot of times I think the writing is really what turns people off to certain movies, since it's hard for me to find something wrong with a lot of these films as far as directing. Even Brett Ratner...I really don't think he's bad director. He's not great, but I don't see anything technically wrong with X-Men 3. Two other guys wrote it though, and all the complaints I've heard were story issues.

And Cameron...I would have been happy had he retired after The Abyss. To me, that's his most perfect movie, and I think Terminator said all that needed to be said about that series. Also Aliens is simply awesome.

Ultimately, there's a reason why these filmmakers are praised, even still. A lot of them DO know what they're doing. And maybe a lot of times they make movies you just aren't into. Of course that's fair. But everyone starts out with bright eyes and a head full of ideas. And they make something like Jaws, and Terminator, or even Slither or Shaun of the Dead. But eventually you play the game, and the art turns into a career etc. Doesn't have to diminish their talent.
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