That is the title to an article in the new Entertainment Weekly written by Jeff Jensen. While the article is written well, there is one very questionable snub.
The article (which I couldn’t find a link for) states that “In the aftermath of Christopher Nolan’s $533 million-grossing The Dark Knight-and the relative failure of the earnest Superman Returns-Hollywood became glib and grim about superheroes, with mixed results. Zach Snyder’s epic translation of Watchmen grossed just $107 million, in part because it connected best with more hardcore fans. Already this year the edgy Jonah Hex (think Ghost Rider-goes-country) tanked, and Kick-Ass, Matthew Vaughn’s witty adaptation of the ironic meta-hero, arrived in theaters with great reviews and still mustered only $48 million. The buzzy Scott Pilgrim vs. the World-a quirky romantic comedy that spoofs both superhero and videogame conventions-hopes to fare better when it opens next month. The year of superhero irreverence will conclude with the animated Megamind”.
WHAT? FIRST of all, where was the mention of, what’s it called again? IRON MAN?? According to Wikipedia, “In its opening weekend, Iron Man grossed $98,618,668 in 4,105 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking number one at the box office,[89] giving it the 11th-biggest opening weekend".
The only mention of Iron Man at all was in a small blurb about the “Marvel revolution of the ‘60s”. As a DC fan, not only did I think Iron Man was an amazing CBM but a really great action packed movie alone, without looking at the Comic Book elements.
Kick-Ass was made for specific audiences. Non Horror movie fans aren’t going to rush out to see the next great Horror film, they won’t advertise in Fancy Cat Outfit magazine (which they should, I would order a year subscription just for that). For a CBM character that has only been around (the movie rights optioned before the book was released) since 2008, I think the box office numbers are pretty darn good, The Hurt Locker (which I really enjoyed) is the lowest grossing film to win the Best Picture Oscar. There are a couple different reasons for this, check sources below.
The point is that it’s not always about money, if that was the case then Superman Returns did just fine….it grossed over $200 million in the United States alone. What member on here holds THAT movie as THE CBM to go to?? (sorry if you liked it haha)
Not every CBM makes $800 gazillion dollars but neither do NON CBMs, the movie studios owe A LOT to Comic Book related material and they know it....
I won’t comment on the Spider-Man reboot because we hardly know anything about it. What I will say is this..More than a couple of years ago I was sitting in a theater and a preview came up on the screen. When the first image appeared on the screen, the people sitting behind me said, “OH NO, not ANOTHER one!!” That preview was Batman Begins..
For sales figures vist Wikipedia.