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[Bobby Roberts]

I sometimes wonder about this myself. Like, who are they trying to market these films to?

The general audience.

They're gonna leverage the brand name to get people possibly interested. "Oh, it's that thing I'm kinda familiar with but I never actually watched."

Then they get to use all the critical acclaim that comes attached to the book and the movie as a means to make the thing look prestigious without having to actually show you anything.

Then they get to point to the fandom for this story going back multiple decades, building on itself as new generations of comics readers and animation fans stumble upon it in their own right.

All of that intended to get people who otherwise wouldn't give it a chance the feeling that its safe for them to finally give this thing the shot they otherwise never would have given it. "Well, I don't give a fuck about anime, and I'm not about to spend 200 bucks to read 2000 pages of a comic book, but this looks cool and all those other people who did do all that shit seem to like it, so I guess now is the time to hop on and see if I like it"

 

[blame space]

that is literally how I make all of my entertainment decisions

 

[Mrs. Manky]

Well, Justin Lin, all I can say is:

 

[Jon Carter]

Fox can't stay away because they legally own movie distribution rights. They will just let Toriyama do outlines for animated films.

I personally like Dragonball Evolution, but yeah objectively that project was just horribly handled, and coupled with the Fantastic Four reboot, I'm left wondering how it's possible for a big studio like Fox to be incompetent to this extent. They buy the rights to something with tremendous potential, do nothing with them until the very last minute before their rights expire where they rush out a movie that is guaranteed to fail just so that they can keep the rights, then do nothing again. It's incredible.

As far as Dragonball Evolution goes, they hyped it up like a major project, paid a million dollars for a script and got Stephen Chow on board, only to give it a $30m production budget and not listen to a single thing the most prestigious person attached to the project says. The only reason people initially had hope in the project was that Stephen Chow was a part of it. When he says the script is not ready, it's not ready.

Because of the writers' strike, they asked James Wong - a good writer - to make rewrites, but only to follow the notes from the studio. A flop was a certainty. They poisoned the well yet sit on the rights. It's infuriating.

 

[Guzim]

I wonder who Sung Kang will play.

 

[Magwik]

I personally like Dragonball Evolution

I don't believe you.

 

[Jon Carter]

I don't believe you.

It's NeoGAF. Believe.

 

[Zackat]

I don't believe you.

He probably liked John Carter too. I just get the feeling for some reason.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

I personally like Dragonball Evolution

What's wrong with you?

 

[fader]

.

wtf? your avatar is animated

 

[hateradio]

I'd prefer a full length version of, "Bartkira"

I hate how all these 80s wannabe videos always have that VHS filter.

 

[pillowtalk]

I'd like them to do a movie of the second half of the manga, where everything is already fucked up. Hollywood is good at making gang war movies right.

 

[Kalentan]

Hopefully it not only leads to Lin casting Japanese or Japanese-American actors and setting the film in Japan, but his leaving Space Jam 2.

Hmm... I would love for them to cast Japanese-American actors but maybe not set it in Japan. The only reason for this is that, let's be honest, if they set it in Japan with Japanese-American actors it would come with the expectation that it would all be in Japanese (and why wouldn't it be, would be weird for everyone to be native to Japan but all speaking English.)

Also I doubt WB would fund a movie that is all in Japanese for an American audience.

Edit: Saw a post that suggested a multi-cultural hub. That would be interesting.

 

[Kelsdesu]

goodluck hollywood

One of the best chase scenes on film period.

 

[Jarnet87]

And a sequel to a movie that was nothing but an extension of a 60sec shoe commercial is that much better a choice.

Nah.

There's already a movie called Space Jam and it had the greatest basketball player who ever lived and an audience who kinda/sorta still cared about Bugs Bunny and it was still a fucking pile.

A live-action crack at one of the greatest mangas ever made is worth the risk of revisiting. Space Jam is not.

You're right

After Akira and GiTS come out we will forever debate which of the two is more terrible.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

You're right

Nah, he can't be the greatest, he doesn't play defense.

 

[Bleepey]

If you think his adaptation is better than the book, I am inclined to say you're missing what made the book good.

Which is?

 

[Bleepey]

What's there to come at you for? You made a shitty driveby post and made it sound like you came up with something witty. Bring up some points next time.

Cut out the fluff.
Less stupid ending
More exciting
Fantastic visuals
One of the greatest cinematic openings.

A lot of people dislike the Watchmen film for their reasons and they think it's blasphemy to think this. Happy?

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

It'll be from America's perspective where a look-a-like president Clinton will comment on how Akira is becoming too dangerous and proceeds to create psychic soldiers to combat him.

 

[HStallion]

Cut out the fluff.
Less stupid ending
More exciting
Fantastic visuals
One of the greatest cinematic openings.

A lot of people dislike the Watchmen film for their reasons and they think it's blasphemy to think this. Happy?

What is "the fluff"?

What is a "less stupid ending"?

More exciting compared to what? Watchmen was not an "exciting" read and was never intended to be. It wasn't concerned with punching out the bad guys in better and better ways or with crazier gadgets. That was never the point.

The Visuals were straight ripped from the comic except where they dropped the ball like Oyzmandius being a pale little twig compared to what he was supposed to be in the comics. Otherwise they got a lot right but of course they left out a ton of stuff that ended up as just winks at the audience who had read the original comics like Gunga Diner.

The opening as in the Comedian's death? That is lifted pretty much from the comic except its framed in a different manner which is arguable as to which is better. If you are talking about the opening credits then I'd agree it was probably the best thing about the movie. I'd say the first half is a lot stronger than the second where it all falls apart but the cracks were definitely there in the first half.

It was a crappy adaptation and making some very vague claims and half assed points doesn't really do your argument any favors. Happy?

Edit: This is also getting off topic. It was an ok movie overall but never got what made Watchmen special and it wasn't just the "twist". I'll leave it a that.

 

[MHWilliams]

I sometimes wonder about this myself. Like, who are they trying to market these films to?

Going off Bobby's robust answer:

The general audience.

They're gonna leverage the brand name to get people possibly interested. "Oh, it's that thing I'm kinda familiar with but I never actually watched."

Then they get to use all the critical acclaim that comes attached to the book and the movie as a means to make the thing look prestigious without having to actually show you anything.

Then they get to point to the fandom for this story going back multiple decades, building on itself as new generations of comics readers and animation fans stumble upon it in their own right.

All of that intended to get people who otherwise wouldn't give it a chance the feeling that its safe for them to finally give this thing the shot they otherwise never would have given it. "Well, I don't give a fuck about anime, and I'm not about to spend 200 bucks to read 2000 pages of a comic book, but this looks cool and all those other people who did do all that shit seem to like it, so I guess now is the time to hop on and see if I like it"

Hollywood doesn't do remakes and reboots to recapture the old audience. This seems to be the big thing that pops up again and again as a concept and it's just not the case.

The brand just lessens the perceived risk in producing that film. Making a movie about a cyborg cop called Robocop is much easier than doing so with another name. Doing "psychic powers in the future" under another name might work, but calling Akira? You get the power of prestige of the "Akira" name, which might boost your movie from dead in the water to box office success.

Comic, anime, and cartoon fans; Hollywood doesn't really care about us. They're just mining your past because it's easier (and usually more profitable) than doing the exact same thing under a different name.

Of the people I'd throw Akira at, Justin Lin with a budget is probably one of the better choices.

 

[Jon Carter]

He probably liked John Carter too. I just get the feeling for some reason.

John Carter is amazing though. I don't expect people to like or tolerate Dragonball Evolution, but John Carter is legitimately a great movie. Best ending in a blockbuster since ???. So if you haven't seen it, do it. Andrew Stanton and Michael Chabon don't make bad movies.

What's wrong with you?

I guess the tl;dr version is I like colorful movies. It's a colorful movie.

http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=193160523

I also like good music.
http://youtu.be/1eHIDkwTNt4

In case you're wondering, I didn't like Speed Racer because, even without talking about the story, there's too big of a disconnect visually between the CGI sequences and the live-action scenes. It's like two different movies.

 

[Cabbagehead]

I hope this continues to be in the throes of development hell until the day i die.

GITS live action is already giving me mental heart attacks. Deep in my bones i know what's going to happen and it's going to be bad.

 

[Herb Alpert]

Not like this...

 

[strafer]

Will Han be in it?

 

[Not]

Dear God why won't this movie die

It's guaranteed lukewarm box office. Damned if they do damned if they don't with the whitewashing. What are these execs smoking?

 

[Badlucktroll]

Is Keanu still attached for this? I know he was rumored to be in it off and on.

 

[Not]

Y'know, given the recent uproar over Asian American casting or lack thereof, is it possible Hollywood may actually take a chance and do something out of the ordinary in a big budget, blockbuster special effects laden science fiction film?

I just can't see it, at best I can see them make some of the supporting characters Asian.

I hope I'm wrong.

That's a given. Look at Ghost in the Shell and (most likely) Iron Fist.

The day we get an Asian-American male lead in a big budget sci-fi movie is the day I eat my entire assortment of socks.

And I'm craving some socks

It's never really been a matter of whether it could be done. It can, now. It's always been a matter of whether Warners was going to hire people to do it right, and then get out of their way for the most part as they do it.

Could Lin do it? I think it's possible, yeah. Could WB be looking at what's happening on Ghost in the Shell and taking notes as to how every step Dreamworks and Paramount has taken is being poorly received? Hopefully. Could WB be willing to roll the dice on a giant, multi-film adaptation of one of the most well-regarded comics ever created, set in Japan and starring a primarily Japanese cast? They could, absolutely. Especially when you take note of all the super-ambitious gambles they've funded in the last 15-20 years. Will they though?

I dunno. We all know the bullshit they've been footing the bill for up to this point, so that's not a great sign. But positive answers to some (if not most) of the above questions makes it a completely different ballgame.

And the thing is, all it takes is one movie. One movie defying all the racists and doing gangbusters. Then we get the copycats and we're off to the races (so to speak).

 

[Not]

Dp

 

[Hot Coldman]

From the Space Jam 2 director you say?

KA-NE-NE-NAHH-NE-NE-NAH-NE-NE-NAH-NAH-DA

 

[Ricky_R]

goodluck hollywood

Couldn't help hearing the amazing soundtrack in my mind as soon as I saw those gifs. Specially the first one.

 

[Herb Alpert]

"ho what a great idea!" said no one ever.

 

[lightskintwin]

That's a given. Look at Ghost in the Shell and (most likely) Iron Fist.

The day we get an Asian-American male lead in a big budget sci-fi movie is the day I eat my entire assortment of socks.

And I'm craving some socks



And the thing is, all it takes is one movie. One movie defying all the racists and doing gangbusters. Then we get the copycats and we're off to the races (so to speak).

I think we'll need an Asian American superstar from another artistic medium like Comedy or Music, before Hollywood gives them a leading role in any big budget film let alone science fiction.