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Wkd BO 03•25-27•16 - Batman vs Superman (or Grindr hookup gone sideways) bests Bunny

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Are they even going to keep Snyder on a shorter leash for Justice League? I ask that because that presumes basic competence on WB/DCE's part, when this is the company that gave creative oversight of the entire DCCU, with an incredibly aggressive release schedule to boot, to a filmmaker who had already proven that his vision for these characters was incredibly divisive.

I'm not sure they have any idea what they're doing, frankly:

The big question isn't whether they will keep him on a shorter leash. The big question is whether there is anyone at Warner really holding a leash. Stuff like budget and runtime are standard arguments between filmmakers and studios, but if we're talking about WB having a creative stake in the DC slate and trying to restrain Snyder... who's the one for the job?
 
Man, could you imagine a James Cameron directed Superman?

Goddammit.

He'd be great for the story, but I doubt he could pull off a Smallville battle in MoS.

His action seems to be tailored more toward more gritty and grounded realism, which is great for stuff like T2 and Avatar, but for a Superman movie...


Meh.
 
He'd be great for the story, but I doubt he could pull off a Smallville battle in MoS.

His action seems to be tailored more toward more gritty and grounded realism, which is great for stuff like T2 and Avatar, but for a Superman movie...


Meh.

It is so weird we almost got a Cameron Spider-Man movie

(from Wikipedia)
James Cameron submitted an undated 47-page "scriptment" with an alternate story (the copyright registration was dated 1991), part screenplay, part narrative story outline.The "scriptment" told the Spider-Man origin, but used variations on the comic book characters Electro and Sandman as villains. This "Electro" (named Carlton Strand, instead of Max Dillion) was a megalomaniacal parody of corrupt capitalists. Instead of Flint Marko's character, Cameron’s "Sandman" (simply named Boyd) is mutated by an accident involving Philadelphia Experiment-style bilocation and atom-mixing, in lieu of getting caught in a nuclear blast on a beach. The story climaxes with a battle atop the World Trade Center and had Peter Parker revealing his identity to Mary Jane Watson. In addition, the treatment was also heavy on profanity, and had Spider-Man and Mary Jane having sex on the Brooklyn Bridge.
 
It's going to be interesting to see if BvS can get to 1B. I personally hope that it gets there, but if it doesn't then it'll be close.

Hollywood Reporter: It's a Game of Chicken as Jeff Bewkes Mulls Options

I don't know how reliable Wolff is, but he's speculated that the Big Six could become the Big Three (Disney, Fox-Warner, Universal) in a couple of years. Columbia is in poor health, Time Warner could be broken up and when Sumner Redstone dies Paramount may be strip-mined for its IPs or sold off to Chinese investors.

Edit: Sumner, not Summer, sorry.

I think there will be some consolidation, but I'm not sure I agree on his remaining big three. It could be a big 4 or a different big 3. I think Columbia/Sony Pictures can definitely be sold off for parts if it keeps struggling (and looking at the garbage they are putting out this year, I don't doubt. Next year looks a bit better though). Paramount is kind of in the same boat, but their year looks better than Columbia's. Finally, I don't think Bewkes or the board would want to sell to Fox. They already straight up didn't even entertain their offer in 2014. I think other, deeper pocketed, bigger companies are better suitors to purchase TWX. Apple was rumored to be interested in buying them, Amazon, Google, Verizon, ATT, Comcast, Disney are all potential buyers IMO. It would be interesting on how each company would approach it though, some of them would probably just want HBO streaming service and subscribers and sell everything else, while the latter would probably mainly want WB and CNN, and maybe production rights to HBO originals. I don't think anyone would keep the whole Time Warner intact like Bewkes wants.

Conversations are definitely happening behind the scenes though.
 
I don't know if Cameron would make the story better. His "stories" in Titanic and Avatar were reaaaaallly mediocre IMO.

I feel for Cameron fans, waited 12 years for Avatar and now 10-ish years for Avatar 2. Titanic and Avatar may not be topped but the guy takes forever and is pretty boring and overrated IMO. His films are definitely a spectacle though.
 
He'd be great for the story, but I doubt he could pull off a Smallville battle in MoS.

His action seems to be tailored more toward more gritty and grounded realism, which is great for stuff like T2 and Avatar, but for a Superman movie...


Meh.

Realistic? T2 has a liquid metal robot that can replicate nigh on everything it touches, is pretty much indestructible and has time traveled from the future!

Putting my serious hat on however, I do know what you mean. His action set pieces tend to be more grounded in realism. Although Avatar says hi...
 
Realistic? T2 has a liquid metal robot that can replicate nigh on everything it touches, is pretty much indestructible and has time traveled from the future!

Putting my serious hat on however, I do know what you mean. His action set pieces tend to be more grounded in realism. Although Avatar says hi...
His Avatar set pieces are just as grounded in reality. The reality they're grounded in just happened to be a psychedelic planet full of subjugated dragons and blue bulemic giants totally into beastiality.
 
He'd be great for the story, but I doubt he could pull off a Smallville battle in MoS.

His action seems to be tailored more toward more gritty and grounded realism, which is great for stuff like T2 and Avatar, but for a Superman movie...


Meh.

Given tone of MoS and BvS Cameron's approach in general to action would be way more relevant than Snyders.

I fail to get why, if you look at Avatar as Cameron's most recent film, you figure he'd somehow produce worse results than Snyder for the Smallville battle (or even the climatic battle).

I see quite the opposite.

Cameron's back catalogue compared to Snyder's shows someone who has better talent in pretty much every aspect of film-making: the fact he's probably not in the least interested I'd take Cameron over Snyder for any film any day of the week.
 
I don't know if Cameron would make the story better. His "stories" in Titanic and Avatar were reaaaaallly mediocre IMO.

I feel for Cameron fans, waited 12 years for Avatar and now 10-ish years for Avatar 2. Titanic and Avatar may not be topped but the guy takes forever and is pretty boring and overrated IMO. His films are definitely a spectacle though.

Nobody else could make the movies he makes. Nobody has the chops to take on something like the Abyss or Titanic or even Avatar. He's a crazy mad technical genius. Directors like him a rare breed -- Meaning they don't exist.

Marvel or DC would cream their pants to let him direct anything. Overrated? No.
 
His Avatar set pieces are just as grounded in reality. The reality they're grounded in just happened to be a psychedelic planet full of subjugated dragons and blue bulemic giants totally into beastiality.

Yeah but let's be honest, a man who wears his pants on the outside would be a step too far. (sorry, I forgot this is a US based site - for pants, read underwear)
 
His Avatar set pieces are just as grounded in reality. The reality they're grounded in just happened to be a psychedelic planet full of subjugated dragons and blue bulemic giants totally into beastiality.

Nah don't want that. I want the blue giants and dragons and shit on a San Pedro freeway or at 404 S Figueroa St. That's grounded.
 
Yeah kids are off up here in Canada. Federal government workers got the holiday and from what I witnessed at work yesterday, 50% of people just took it off. Probably the ones with kids.
 
I have said/posted it before, I fully believe this film will do very well financially. It has Batman in the title and is heavily marketed, with neat action in the trailers. I do, however, have major doubts in the success of the overall DCU after this one, the lesser known heroes in particular.
 
I have said/posted it before, I fully believe this film will do very well financially. It has Batman in the title and is heavily marketed, with neat action in the trailers. I do, however, have major doubts in the success of the overall DCU after this one, the lesser known heroes in particular.

Aquaman is destined to flounder.
 
AND STAY THERE *launches tomatoes*

There's nothing you can do to stop me Bronson. I will come over there, take your jobs, eat your IHop, drink your watered down beer and plastic jug milk and you will never know the difference. Growing up on Detroit TV has drained me of all aboots and ehs.
 
There's nothing you can do to stop me Bronson. I will come over there, take your jobs, eat your IHop, drink your watered down beer and plastic jug milk and you will never know the difference. Growing up on Detroit TV has drained me of all aboots and ehs.

Every American border crossing has a table with a pair of ice skates and a bowl of delicious poutine.

No true Canadian has ever been able to pass it without gorging themselves on one or the other.
 
They're doing what they've been doing for awhile now: Trusting in the artists.

Sometimes that trust is misplaced. Sometimes it pays amazing dividends.

But I definitely appreciate that they're a studio that gives their creatives the room to be creative in a way not a lot of studios will do.

It certainly appears to have bitten them in the ass quite severely in the past few years though. There's been victories to offset that, but of all the properties to miscalculate a pairing on, it seems Snyder + Superman/Batman might have been a hell of a miss.

But then again: considering 300 + Watchmen, it might not have seemed that much of a miss on paper, and that's before Nolan signed off on the guy.

Still though: They gave David Ayer a supervillain heist flick. They got Patty Jenkins to do Wonder Woman set in World War I. They're making interesting choices at the least, and it appears they're giving them the freedom to follow through. That's worth something.

No, I get the creative argument for what they're doing. It makes sense in theory, and lord knows we probably wouldn't have gotten Fury Road from another studio.

But given how vital the DC properties in particular are to the studio's future, given that they've already scheduled two films a year through 2020 that spin out of this one to varying degrees, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense from a corporate/shareholder perspective.

For instance, looking slightly further ahead - assuming they keep all their current release dates, the 2018 Flash and Aquaman films will already be in post-production by the time those characters get any substantial screen time... in Justice League, another Zack Snyder film. How does that make sense, particularly in light of BvS' reception?

The big question isn't whether they will keep him on a shorter leash. The big question is whether there is anyone at Warner really holding a leash. Stuff like budget and runtime are standard arguments between filmmakers and studios, but if we're talking about WB having a creative stake in the DC slate and trying to restrain Snyder... who's the one for the job?

That's what I'm wondering myself!

If this were a single franchise comprising a finite number of films, the relatively hands-off approach they seemingly took with Snyder would be a lot more defensible. But of course, the model they're trying to replicate here is the MCU, not the Nolan trilogy.
 
There's nothing you can do to stop me Bronson. I will come over there, take your jobs, eat your IHop, drink your watered down beer and plastic jug milk and you will never know the difference. Growing up on Detroit TV has drained me of all aboots and ehs.

IHOP on the Canadian dollar?
 
Gitesh Pandya ‏@GiteshPandya 49m49 minutes ago
About $15M MON for #BatmanvSuperman - 1 notch above Furious7's $14M #EasterMonday last yr. $181M in 4days going to $215-220M in 1st 7days.
 
Really, part of me wonders if WB's response will just be to continue full steam ahead with the Snyderverse and pray to God that future films are more warmly received.

Given their recent history and how much money they've already sunk into the DCCU, I'm not sure they know how to do anything else.
 
There's nothing you can do to stop me Bronson. I will come over there, take your jobs, eat your IHop, drink your watered down beer and plastic jug milk and you will never know the difference. Growing up on Detroit TV has drained me of all aboots and ehs.

Oh so you think you can just assimilate into our elite society, huh?!

Every American border crossing has a table with a pair of ice skates and a bowl of delicious poutine.

No true Canadian has ever been able to pass it without gorging themselves on one or the other.

Now I'm thinking of kswiston trying to eat ice skates. I hope you're happy!

IHOP on the Canadian dollar?

One small stack and THAT'S IT

He's allowed to make one bad movie.

Tomorrowland was so shit it killed TWO franchises!

Aquaman will have to swim upstream against a current of public opinion to avoid flopping.

Especially since the last movie had James Cameron and did great opening weekend numbers
 
Really, part of me wonders if WB's response will just be to continue full steam ahead with the Snyderverse and pray to God that future films are more warmly received.

Given their recent history and how much money they've already sunk into the DCCU, I'm not sure they know how to do anything else.

Well..there isn't anything else to make. THey seem to have picked up good people for those movies. And looking BvS they obviously lack any sort of commitee that would be able to successfully strongarm directors into making the movies they want to. At this point it's better to trust those people instead of trying sime panicky moves.

Sticking to the course untill Justice League lanches seems like the only sensible choice. After that finishes filming they will have enough data to make any judgments. For now it's simply too early for any big changes
 
Its not like WB has better prospects. Slightly disappointing superhero grosses are better than throwing $100M+ down the toilet on big budget bombs. Thats part of the reason they rushed forward with the DCEU to begin with. Middle Earth is done. I doubt these HP spinoffs will recapture the entire audience of the main series. What else do they have for their live action slate?
 
Its not like WB has better prospects. Slightly disappointing superhero grosses are better than throwing $100M+ down the toilet on big budget bombs. Thats part of the reason they rushed forward with the DCEU to begin with. Middle Earth is done. I doubt these HP spinoffs will recapture the entire audience of the main series. What else do they have for their live action slate?

Godzilla?

I got nothin'
 
Aquaman will have to swim upstream against a current of public opinion to avoid flopping.

I will of course look forward to the Mrs. Paul Aquaman branded fish sticks in my local grocers freezer section.

Well crafted.

And I agree, unless he creates a huge wave of interest, I don't see the tides changing.
 
Well..there isn't anything else to make. THey seem to have picked up good people for those movies. And looking BvS they obviously lack any sort of commitee that would be able to successfully strongarm directors into making the movies they want to. Sticking to the course untill Justice League lanches seems like the only sensible choice

Well, obviously, it's too late to do anything beyond the scope of reshoots on SS and WW. The question is more how BvS' reception will impact JL, and especially their announced 2018-2020 slate.

They have to be keenly aware that the viability of the Flash, Aquaman, and (lol) Cyborg movies is heavily contingent on how those characters are received in Justice League. But are they even capable of doing anything about that, let alone willing?
 
Snyder working off a better script, with a better editor, and with less permitting co-producers could probably turn in a decent JLA.

BvS is aggravating because there was some good stuff mixed in with the not good and the WTF moments.
 
Snyder working off a better script, with a better editor, and with less permitting co-producers could probably turn in a decent JLA.

BvS is aggravating because there was some good stuff mixed in with the not good and the WTF moments.

Right?! When BvS goes high, it goes real high. Knock on Snyder for a lot of shit, but he can bring some fun goddamn action to the table
 
Its not like WB has better prospects. Slightly disappointing superhero grosses are better than throwing $100M+ down the toilet on big budget bombs. Thats part of the reason they rushed forward with the DCEU to begin with. Middle Earth is done. I doubt these HP spinoffs will recapture the entire audience of the main series. What else do they have for their live action slate?

Thing is, I think they're looking at more than "slightly" disappointing grosses if they continue down this road. Maybe not for SS or WW, but if Justice League gets a similar reception to BvS... yikes.
 
Its not like WB has better prospects. Slightly disappointing superhero grosses are better than throwing $100M+ down the toilet on big budget bombs. Thats part of the reason they rushed forward with the DCEU to begin with. Middle Earth is done. I doubt these HP spinoffs will recapture the entire audience of the main series. What else do they have for their live action slate?
HP should bring in a ton of money either way though. Can't wait to see it tonight, not sure exactly what to expect.
 
Lot of people get Monday after Easter off don't they?

I've never heard of that. Schools might plan their spring breaks around it though.

Snyder working off a better script, with a better editor, and with less permitting co-producers could probably turn in a decent JLA.

BvS is aggravating because there was some good stuff mixed in with the not good and the WTF moments.

I wonder how many more writers Snyder needs to go through before we can accept that maybe it's Snyder himself who just don't know how to do story very well.
 
I've never heard of that. Schools might plan their spring breaks around it though.



I wonder how many more writers Snyder needs to go through before we can accept that maybe it's Snyder himself who just don't know how to do story very well.

Up until last week, I honestly believed Goyer was responsible for 90% of what I disliked about MoS, but I may have to revise that opinion.
 
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