Ten More "DC Comics" Movies in Five Years

[Alan Smithee]

I wonder how many will actually go thru...

At the Warner Bros. panel at CinemaCon in Las Vegas Tuesday evening, CEO
Kevin Tsujihara first took the stage to give a general rundown of
upcoming movies from the studio. After saying they have "at least 10" DC
Comics movies coming in the next five years, Tsujihara finally gave
studio confirmation to a long-rumored product.

http://injo.com/2016/04/583022-if-you-hated-the-idea-of-ben-affleck-as-batman-this-news-is-really-going-to-floor-you/

[Bill Steele]

Another Batman movie is no big deal. We're still waiting on Wonder Woman
and the Justice League. I'm in no hurry for Shazam bccause they're going
to mess it up.

I don't think the Flash can carry a movie; better off on TV. Hawkman
could be interestingly dark if they stick to the original. Green
Lanterns vs. Yellow Lanterns could be fun, but I wish somebody would do
Lensman before they spoil the concept.

[Russell Watson]

On 4/13/2016 3:04 PM, Bill Steele wrote:
> On 4/13/16 9:49 AM, Alan Smithee wrote:
>> I wonder how many will actually go thru...
>>
>> At the Warner Bros. panel at CinemaCon in Las Vegas Tuesday evening, CEO
>> Kevin Tsujihara first took the stage to give a general rundown of
>> upcoming movies from the studio. After saying they have "at least 10" DC
>> Comics movies coming in the next five years, Tsujihara finally gave
>> studio confirmation to a long-rumored product.
>>
>> http://injo.com/2016/04/583022-if-you-hated-the-idea-of-ben-affleck-as-batman-this-news-is-really-going-to-floor-you/
>>
>>
> Another Batman movie is no big deal. We're still waiting on Wonder Woman
> and the Justice League. I'm in no hurry for Shazam bccause they're going
> to mess it up.
>
> I don't think the Flash can carry a movie; better off on TV. Hawkman
> could be interestingly dark if they stick to the original.

And if Flash can't carry a movie, what about Aquaman, which already sank
on TV? And there is already a TV Hawkman, as well, on that "Legends of
Tomorrow" show.

[Lewis]

In message <nelipl$1mut$1...@gioia.aioe.org>

Alan Smithee <al...@last.inc> wrote:
> I wonder how many will actually go thru...

Well, with the huge bomb of the $800 million Batman/Superman movie I'm
sure the stupid is super worried.

$800 million SO FAR.


--
These are the thoughts that kept me out of the really good schools. --
George Carlin

[Russell Watson]

On 4/13/2016 6:30 PM, Lewis wrote:
> In message <nelipl$1mut$1...@gioia.aioe.org>
> Alan Smithee <al...@last.inc> wrote:
>> I wonder how many will actually go thru...
>
> Well, with the huge bomb of the $800 million Batman/Superman movie I'm
> sure the stupid is super worried.
>
> $800 million SO FAR.
>
>

Yeah, but it still begs the question that just because you made bank on
something that was guaranteed to do so, do you then gamble it away on a
bunch of stuff that isn't likely to do nearly as well? I can see them
making these movies the same way some of the Marvel properties have been
made: on a considerably cheaper budget and for release in the
January-February post Christmas blockbuster doldrums. Anything that
doesn't feature Batman and/or Superman, and to some extent, Wonder
Woman, is probably going to be second shelf material in the mode of
"Elektra", the Punisher movies, Ghost Rider series, etc.

[Alan Smithee]

DC has a bad track record. They only get lucky with the Batman and the
Superman movies. I doubt anyone is anxious for a Flash, Wonder Woman, or
Capt. Marvel, movie.

There was even talk of another Green Lantern movie!

[RichA]

"So? You want we should come up with something original?"

[Russell Watson]

I think based on the buzz coming out of "Batman v Superman..." the
"Wonder Woman" stand-alone might do reasonably well, even if, like the
current flick, it makes most of its money opening weekend and then falls
off sharply. Gal Gadot seems to have been well-received in this one and
I think there are people who will see it because of that and others
simply because there are some who have clamored for a "Wonder Woman"
feature film (or at least a new TV series) for decades. Other than the
actual "Justice League", which I'm sure will hit pay dirt the same way
BvS has, that is the only one I expect to really make much of a positive
impact.

I can't see "Captain Marvel"...er, "Shazam!" being anything but a train
wreck. The original comic (which I read in reprints when DC revived the
character in the '70s) was always very light-hearted and cartoonish,
while the movie will no doubt try to go "dark", because that's what they
all do now. I'm sure the Big Red Cheese will be upstaged by the dark
villain, Black Adam, played by Dewayne Johnson.

>
> There was even talk of another Green Lantern movie!

Well, I'm sure they'd like to salvage the character if they can. Marvel
did a pretty decent job of rehabbing Hulk from his disastrous first
attempt to set the stage to make him an Avenger (even though they
somehow changed actors from Norton to Ruffalo between the stand-alone
reboot and the first Avengers film) and I'm sure DC would like to bring
GL into the JLA the same way at some point if at all possible. They
MIGHT have one good out: Green Lantern has a history of being more than
one guy, and they can always sweep the already misused Hal Jordan under
the rug and go with the John Stewart version, which would also give them
another minority character besides Cyborg. He's also already familiar to
non-comics readers due to being the version featured in the animated
Justice League TV series a few year back.

[Invid Fan]

In article <nemc36$9ds$1...@dont-email.me>, Russell Watson

<russell...@comcast.net> wrote:

> And if Flash can't carry a movie, what about Aquaman, which already sank
> on TV?
>

When? I remember a show about a guy from Atlantis, but no Aquaman
series. Rejected pilots don't count.

--
Chris Mack "If we show any weakness, the monsters will get cocky!"
'Invid Fan' - 'Yokai Monsters Along With Ghosts'

[Invid Fan]

In article <uJGdnc1ua5rTBZPK...@earthlink.com>, Bill

Steele <ws...@cornel.edu> wrote:

> I don't think the Flash can carry a movie; better off on TV. Hawkman
> could be interestingly dark if they stick to the original. Green
> Lanterns vs. Yellow Lanterns could be fun, but I wish somebody would do
> Lensman before they spoil the concept.
>

Has the estate of EE Smith decided to trust again? They pulled back
after the comic book fiasco in the 80's (they had let a Japanese studio
do an animated movie, which was more Star Wars than Lensemen. The
studio then sold the comic book rights to a US publisher without
telling the estate)

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

In article <nemk3d$8a7$1...@dont-email.me>,

Yeah, and it would be crazy to even think about touching third shelf
stuff like Guardians Of The Galaxy..
--
------
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

[Russell Watson]

OK, I don't claim to be any kind of "expert" on this, but my personal
belief is that GOTG actually benefited from being largely a complete
unknown to movie-going audiences. Aquaman, Flash, Hawkman, etc. have all
been around longer and have appeared on TV shows down through the years.
The odds that people who either remember them from comics as a kid or
any of various animated or live-action TV characters dating back to the
mid-'60s all the way up to the present, but none of them are exactly
wildly popular to the degree that Batman or Superman are, or even Wonder
Woman, if only because she's something of a novelty. I may be wrong:
DC/WB may throw a ton of $$$ at them and release them in the summer or
at Christmas and they may actually end up being wildly popular. No skin
off my ass either way, but I will be more than a little surprised if it
plays out that way. "Green Lantern" pulled $220 Million worldwide
compared to Marvel's lowest grossing entry, "The Incredible Hulk", at
$260-million. While that character has been in the Avengers movies, I
haven't heard of any definite plans to give him another solo shot. While
realize that Green Lantern is Green Lantern and these other characters
are different, I believe it's ultimately an apples-to-apples comparison
as to the level of draw. You may say "Yeah, but the Green Lantern movie
sucked....", but that's what critics said about BvS as well.
$800-million later... The point being that if there's a ready-made
audience they will come out, regardless.

[Bill Steele]

And on Arrow. But not the Hawkman I grew up with. Aftermall the effort
theyu went to to make it "science fictional" back in the Silver Age they
seem to be going backward.

[Bill Steele]

On 4/13/16 11:15 PM, Russell Watson wrote:
>> DC has a bad track record. They only get lucky with the Batman and the
>> Superman movies. I doubt anyone is anxious for a Flash, Wonder Woman, or
>> Capt. Marvel, movie.
>
> I think based on the buzz coming out of "Batman v Superman..." the
> "Wonder Woman" stand-alone might do reasonably well, even if, like the
> current flick, it makes most of its money opening weekend and then falls
> off sharply. Gal Gadot seems to have been well-received in this one and
> I think there are people who will see it because of that and others
> simply because there are some who have clamored for a "Wonder Woman"
> feature film (or at least a new TV series) for decades. Other than the
> actual "Justice League", which I'm sure will hit pay dirt the same way
> BvS has, that is the only one I expect to really make much of a positive
> impact.

The Justice League will,deo well,with comics fans, but to get the ,ass
audience it will have to play up the big 3, which may disappoint the
comics fans.

>
> I can't see "Captain Marvel"...er, "Shazam!" being anything but a train
> wreck. The original comic (which I read in reprints when DC revived the
> character in the '70s) was always very light-hearted and cartoonish,
> while the movie will no doubt try to go "dark", because that's what they
> all do now. I'm sure the Big Red Cheese will be upstaged by the dark
> villain, Black Adam, played by Dewayne Johnson.

The word was that he was going to play Cap. That would be good in that
he has a sense of humor, and bad in that he doesn't look anything like
Fred MacMurray.

Amd we need Mike Myers as Sivana.

There have always been some dark elements: A homeless kid, a crippled
(and presumably also orphaned) newsboy, a wizard regretting his
failures, and if they (wisely) followed the plot of The Power of Shazam,
the murder of the elder Batsons.

>
>>
>> There was even talk of another Green Lantern movie!

They set up for it, introducing Sinestro in the first movie.

>
> Well, I'm sure they'd like to salvage the character if they can. Marvel
> did a pretty decent job of rehabbing Hulk from his disastrous first
> attempt to set the stage to make him an Avenger (even though they
> somehow changed actors from Norton to Ruffalo between the stand-alone
> reboot and the first Avengers film) and I'm sure DC would like to bring
> GL into the JLA the same way at some point if at all possible. They
> MIGHT have one good out: Green Lantern has a history of being more than
> one guy, and they can always sweep the already misused Hal Jordan under
> the rug and go with the John Stewart version, which would also give them
> another minority character besides Cyborg. He's also already familiar to
> non-comics readers due to being the version featured in the animated
> Justice League TV series a few year back.

You may be on the right track. They can bring anyone they want into the
JLA movie, in any incarnation they want, then spin them out into another
movie. Same difference as starting Buster Keaton off with Fatty Arbuckle.

[Russell Watson]

Yeah, they dropped the sci-fi space race element and went back to
Egyptian myth as a starting point.

[Russell Watson]

On 4/14/2016 12:37 AM, Invid Fan wrote:
> In article <nemc36$9ds$1...@dont-email.me>, Russell Watson
> <russell...@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> And if Flash can't carry a movie, what about Aquaman, which already sank
>> on TV?
>>
> When? I remember a show about a guy from Atlantis, but no Aquaman
> series. Rejected pilots don't count.
>

Oh, I didn't realize I was supposed to find out from you what counts
before stating an opinion. Thanks for the heads-up. But in all
seriousness, if I was going off failed pilots I would have made the same
comments about Wonder Woman, since that character's last appempt at TV
landed in the same trash bin and Aquaman. However, I know a lot of
people who were looking forward to that, while only a small handful of
"Smallville" geeks seemed bummed that "Aquaman" never got past his
couple of guest appearances on that show. If you watch the parody things
about comics characters that are all over Youtube, Aquaman seems to come
up as a joke more often than just about any other character, with
comments like "His super power is that he telepathically talks to
fish..." Marvel's Prince Namor was a much more interesting take on a
similar concept, especially since he was something of an antihero. It
would appear that since marvel has not tried to market that character
cinematically that DC/WB might actually be trying to channel their movie
version of Aquaman that way to some extent. Other than his haircut,
Momoa certainly LOOKS more like Namor than Aquaman.

[Invid Fan]

In article <nep6fk$nkv$1...@dont-email.me>, Russell Watson

<russell...@comcast.net> wrote:

> On 4/14/2016 12:37 AM, Invid Fan wrote:
> > In article <nemc36$9ds$1...@dont-email.me>, Russell Watson
> > <russell...@comcast.net> wrote:
> >
> >> And if Flash can't carry a movie, what about Aquaman, which already sank
> >> on TV?
> >>
> > When? I remember a show about a guy from Atlantis, but no Aquaman
> > series. Rejected pilots don't count.
> >
>
> Oh, I didn't realize I was supposed to find out from you what counts
> before stating an opinion. Thanks for the heads-up.

Sorry about that. My drugs that keep me alive tend to fuzz my brain now
and then (both the steroids, and the ones that counter them). I
honestly assumed there was some show I missed.

> If you watch the parody things
> about comics characters that are all over Youtube, Aquaman seems to come
> up as a joke more often than just about any other character, with
> comments like "His super power is that he telepathically talks to
> fish..."

That all comes from the bad cartoons, naturally, much as all people
knew of Batman before the 1989 movie was the camp TV show (and
moderately more serious cartoons). Not saying WB would do a good job,
but an underwater 'Beastmaster' isn't a horrible movie pitch :)

[Russell Watson]

On 4/14/2016 7:42 PM, Invid Fan wrote:
> In article <nep6fk$nkv$1...@dont-email.me>, Russell Watson
> <russell...@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> On 4/14/2016 12:37 AM, Invid Fan wrote:
>>> In article <nemc36$9ds$1...@dont-email.me>, Russell Watson
>>> <russell...@comcast.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> And if Flash can't carry a movie, what about Aquaman, which already sank
>>>> on TV?
>>>>
>>> When? I remember a show about a guy from Atlantis, but no Aquaman
>>> series. Rejected pilots don't count.
>>>
>>
>> Oh, I didn't realize I was supposed to find out from you what counts
>> before stating an opinion. Thanks for the heads-up.
>
> Sorry about that. My drugs that keep me alive tend to fuzz my brain now
> and then (both the steroids, and the ones that counter them). I
> honestly assumed there was some show I missed.

It is hard to keep track, especially with all those teen-oriented things
coming and going over on CW all the time.

>
>> If you watch the parody things
>> about comics characters that are all over Youtube, Aquaman seems to come
>> up as a joke more often than just about any other character, with
>> comments like "His super power is that he telepathically talks to
>> fish..."
>
> That all comes from the bad cartoons, naturally, much as all people
> knew of Batman before the 1989 movie was the camp TV show (and
> moderately more serious cartoons). Not saying WB would do a good job,
> but an underwater 'Beastmaster' isn't a horrible movie pitch :)
>

That's a good point. I guess the question is whether enough time has
passed since the days when we saw him riding a "seahorse" in animated
form to make folks willing to give him another look. Maybe the change in
appearance will help people who do remember to get past it.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembers that the cartoons (even the
Saturday morning one on CBS that ran during the same years as the live
action show on ABC) was considerably more "serious" in tone than the
live action one was. I recognized that when I was 7 or 8 years old and
they were both new shows. It wasn't quite as stark a comparison as "Lost
in Space" vs. "Star Trek", but it was still pretty obvious.

[Lewis]

In message <neoi4h$7pg$1...@dont-email.me>

Russell Watson <russell...@comcast.net> wrote:
> OK, I don't claim to be any kind of "expert" on this, but my personal
> belief is that GOTG actually benefited from being largely a complete
> unknown to movie-going audiences.

It benefited by being a very good movie.

> none of them are exactly wildly popular to the degree that Batman or
> Superman are, or even Wonder Woman, if only because she's something of
> a novelty.

According to DC Comics, DC comics are built on a trinity, and that
trinity is Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. A lot of (male) comic
readers dismiss Wonder Woman, but she is absolutely key to the DC
Universe and no sort of novelty.

--
"Everyone has a photographic Memory, some just don't have film." ~Steven
Wright

[Invid Fan]

In article <slrnnh19e8....@amelia.local>, Lewis

<g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:

> > none of them are exactly wildly popular to the degree that Batman or
> > Superman are, or even Wonder Woman, if only because she's something of
> > a novelty.
>
> According to DC Comics, DC comics are built on a trinity, and that
> trinity is Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. A lot of (male) comic
> readers dismiss Wonder Woman, but she is absolutely key to the DC
> Universe and no sort of novelty.

That's what DC says, but it's WB that has actually killed shows because
too many females were watching (listening to creators of animated shows
talk about the BS is incredibly disheartening)

[Invid Fan]

In article <nepfob$ebq$1...@dont-email.me>, Russell Watson

<russell...@comcast.net> wrote:

> On 4/14/2016 7:42 PM, Invid Fan wrote:
> > That all comes from the bad cartoons, naturally, much as all people
> > knew of Batman before the 1989 movie was the camp TV show (and
> > moderately more serious cartoons). Not saying WB would do a good job,
> > but an underwater 'Beastmaster' isn't a horrible movie pitch :)
> >
>
> That's a good point. I guess the question is whether enough time has
> passed since the days when we saw him riding a "seahorse" in animated
> form to make folks willing to give him another look. Maybe the change in
> appearance will help people who do remember to get past it.

I assume that's why he got the mullet sometime in the 80's. Superman
had one too for awhile.

> I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembers that the cartoons (even the
> Saturday morning one on CBS that ran during the same years as the live
> action show on ABC) was considerably more "serious" in tone than the
> live action one was. I recognized that when I was 7 or 8 years old and
> they were both new shows. It wasn't quite as stark a comparison as "Lost
> in Space" vs. "Star Trek", but it was still pretty obvious.

The fact they had to add "comic relief" characters to the Superfriends
show told you the other heroes were serious. There were a number of
action cartoons back in the day (which I would have seen in the 70's)

[Obveeus]

On 4/15/2016 11:19 AM, Invid Fan wrote:
> In article <slrnnh19e8....@amelia.local>, Lewis
> <g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:
>
>>> none of them are exactly wildly popular to the degree that Batman or
>>> Superman are, or even Wonder Woman, if only because she's something of
>>> a novelty.
>>
>> According to DC Comics, DC comics are built on a trinity, and that
>> trinity is Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. A lot of (male) comic
>> readers dismiss Wonder Woman, but she is absolutely key to the DC
>> Universe and no sort of novelty.
>
> That's what DC says, but it's WB that has actually killed shows because
> too many females were watching (listening to creators of animated shows
> talk about the BS is incredibly disheartening)

Sure...if there is one thing we know is true it is that studios/networks
intentionally cancel shows for being too popular.

[Russell Watson]

On 4/15/2016 4:23 AM, Lewis wrote:
> In message <neoi4h$7pg$1...@dont-email.me>
> Russell Watson <russell...@comcast.net> wrote:
>> OK, I don't claim to be any kind of "expert" on this, but my personal
>> belief is that GOTG actually benefited from being largely a complete
>> unknown to movie-going audiences.
>
> It benefited by being a very good movie.
>
>> none of them are exactly wildly popular to the degree that Batman or
>> Superman are, or even Wonder Woman, if only because she's something of
>> a novelty.
>
> According to DC Comics, DC comics are built on a trinity, and that
> trinity is Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. A lot of (male) comic
> readers dismiss Wonder Woman, but she is absolutely key to the DC
> Universe and no sort of novelty.
>

I meant novelty in the sense that what we have now is our first look at
a new version (onscreen) in a very long time. I realize that the
character is the third leg of the stool that holds up the JLA and the
other characters are interchangeable/expendable, which is why those
three are constants when others come and go.

[Lewis]

In message <ner344$g6p$1...@dont-email.me>

With certain demographics? yes, they do.

--
Get in there you big furry oaf! I don't care what you smell!

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

In article <slrnnh2q0v....@amelia.local>,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_purge

The "rural purge" of American television networks (in particular
CBS) was a series of cancellations between 1969 and 1972 of
still-popular rural-themed shows with demographically skewed
audiences, the majority of which occurred at the end of the 1970-71
television season.

[Obveeus]

I'll grant you that...it happened once 40 years ago.

[Invid Fan]

In article <ner344$g6p$1...@dont-email.me>, Obveeus <Obv...@aol.com>
wrote:

According to people like Paul Dini, the directive was to aim the shows
at boys, on the theory that boys bought more toys. If too much of the
audience was girls, the show was canceled and replaced by another one
that didn't attract the wrong gender. Many notes were passed down to
correct things first, naturally. One rule I remember was that female
characters should always be just behind the boys in intelligence. They
should be smart, but not THAT good so the intended audience wouldn't be
threatened.

[Alan Smithee]

Popular with which audience? The only product of TV is the viewer; your
attention is sold to the advertisers. If the wrong crowd (non buying) is
in the majority then the show gets pulled.

Networks are angry over piracy because the ads are removed from the
files. That's why one TV exec said that not watching the commercials was
the same as stealing.

[Bill Steele]

On 4/14/16 6:47 PM, Russell Watson wrote:
> Marvel's Prince Namor was a much more interesting take on a similar
> concept, especially since he was something of an antihero. It would
> appear that since marvel has not tried to market that character
> cinematically that DC/WB might actually be trying to channel their movie
> version of Aquaman that way to some extent. Other than his haircut,
> Momoa certainly LOOKS more like Namor than Aquaman.

There were, in fact, rumors of a Sub-Mariner movie, with David Boreanaz
named for the role -- speaking of somebody who doesn't look like the
character.

Tjis may be why Namor has turned up in the Spider-Man newspaper strip.
The good news is that Dr. Strange is there too.

[Bill Steele]

They are the big three mot because DC decided, but because they sell the
most books. That kept them going through the dark age between Gold and
Silver, so everybody knows who they are. Even people who are in no wayn
comocs fans know the names Clark Kent and Lois Lane, and that Batman has
a butler named Alfred. (Not so much with WW: pod luck finding anyone who
knows the origin story lr her mother's name, lr where the bracelets come
from.

But of course, success begets success. Other characters aren't big in
popular culture mostly because they haven't had movies yet, which is
because they were never big in popular culture.

[Russell Watson]

Yep, I can't wait for the surprise that comes with learning she can
actually fly and no longer requires an invisible airplane to get around
in. It will be akin to but hopefully not as shocking as what people
experienced with "Batman" and "Batman Returns" when their last memory of
the character was from seeing the TV series 2 decades earlier and didn't
realize the character had moved on. Those movies (the latter in
particular) inspired walk-outs of parents with younger children because
they expected Adam West and Burt Ward redux and got Batman in the post -
Frank Miller era as filtered through Tim Burton's warped POV.