Captain America, Thor, Green Lantern. Which will be the most and least successful?

[Hector]

Tell us which movie...and why...

[The Toyroom]

GL will kick everyone's carcass from here to Oa and back next year. I think all the stars are aligned for him to become DC's "Iron Man" as far as a franchise builder.

Thor will be the toughest sell IMO..more fantasy that straight super-heroics....

[Random Axe]

Green Lantern will likely be the most successful. It will boast the best special effects and CGI, and that will attract kids big-time. It worked for Iron Man, a relatively marginal character for a film. It also helps you have an actor with such a personality as Reynolds. He's not Downey, but he's perfectly cast. With the WB/DC marketing campaign you know is coming along with movie tie-in toys, I think 2011 will be green.

Thor will be very close behind simply because of Kenneth Brannagh. His eye for detail and ability to get the most of his actors will push it farther than a lesser director would. I do think it will suffer from a lack of character knowledge by the general public. When you throw Odin, Hemidal, Loki, the Warriors Three and Balder at them, will they accept them as characters or dismiss them as distraction?

Captain America will have a tough time I think. I hope not, but a period piece superhero film might not go over as well as planned. I want this to be a success, but it has to contend with this country's loathing of history. Although, it may have a slight boost from the recent Natsee killing movie Inglorious Basterds. Chris Evans really has to perform here. He's got a lot of smartass roles to make people forget about before he can convincingly portray Steve Rogers.

Scott

[saildog]

To hard to tell, at this point.

Thor is first to hit the screen and I have to think that Iron Man will have paved the way for this movie to open big. If it is good and ties into Cap, as I presume it will have to, the combined success will be pretty massive. Audiences love tie ins.

If Thor fails, it will shy people away from GL at first, even though they are not directly related. The GL movie will have to be strong and word of mouth, if the movie is good, will have to overcome a weaker opening if Thor sucks. (Audiences will tie the two together.)

All I know is that three big Superhero movies in one Summer is unprecedented. I want every one of them to be biiiiiiiig.

[madmarva]

I hope it will be Green Lantern, but I think it will be Captain America because he is the character that is best known by the general public.

DC should have gotten its animated GL series out prior to the film to build up more recognition among the masses about Green Lantern.

To me Thor is the hardest sell, but all the images I've seen from it look cool.

I hope all three are blockbusters.

The GL movie has the most riding on it. It's the first movie truly under the "DC Entertainment" banner. It can't just be a medium success if there are to be more DC movies outside of Batman and Superman.

I also have a feeling Geoff Johns' reputation as DC's chief creative officer will ride along with this movie. It's his baby and his star is hitched to it. It needs to do at least $350 million if we're going to see a Flash, Captain Marvel, JLA or Wonder Woman movie.

If it just does moderate business like the Hulk movies or Superman Returns, Warner Bros. may go looking for other tent poles.

[clemso]

I think the film that has the hardest time crossing over to the general public will be the one that suffers at the box office most. Thor may be the hardest to sell, but they do have a some well known actors in the movie, so may actually surprise us. I think GL will be the the film that struggles to perform. How well is the character of GL known over there?

[david_b]

I believe Cap will have the hardest time.., GL's got the coolness and CGI. Thor can appeal on a lot of different levels of geekdom. Not so sure about Cap.

david_b

[MIB41]

Green Lantern - This film will BURY the competition. That's the one thing about films in this genre. I tend to have a pretty good "gut" reaction to these films based on the conceptual design, money invested, and the talent involved. Green Lantern is hitting high marks across the board. Well cast and brilliantly surrounded by a talented director and the best CGI team in the world - WETA. That and the budget tells me the studio is balls-to-the-walls serious about this being the best it can be. I think this has blockbuster written all over it.

Thor - This is one of those films where the studio pulls you in with nice shots of grand production props. Sort of the "wow" pieces of the film. But this is very deceptive. Look to early set shots of Van Helsing that were massive and yet the film was anything but grand. The budget is rumored to only be $150 million. So you know a good chunk of that has already gone for sets. So how much CGI will we get for the environment these sets need to be surrounded by to look convincing? Or is this going to be a sterile environment like Flash Gordon? Whether I end up liking it or not is one matter, but as far as public reaction goes, I don't think they have committed enough budget to make this film convincing for people outside of the comic realm. It sounds like a film along the lines of the Incredible Hulk aimed specifically at that crowd and no one else. I think Marvel expects to make their money back on DVD's and toys here. I don't anticipate a wide audience for this film.

Captain America - This film gets poor grades across the board and I think it's dead in the water. Irregardless of what anyone thinks about the costume, this project is woefully under-budget and poorly cast. Not to mention handed to a director who is well versed in NOT getting the job done in high profile films or successful series like the Wolfman or Jurassic Park III. A story like Captain America needs the kind of talent Green Lantern has. It needs a director with an eye for the message within the story, as well as a cast of players that can give engaging performances. Chris Evans has already played a superhero, so the plan here appears to be less about craft and more about the aesthetics of Steve Rogers. Translation: Marvel just picked a pretty boy. The outfit is okay, but you have to ask yourself if anyone outside the comic realm will find this look even remotely engaging. It's cheese. Your trying to ground a red, white, and blue superhero in army surplus attire, so you can say, "It has a function. See?" Right. If it was suppose to serve a function in war time fighting, why the h*ll would they let him out in red white and blue gear? He could only be effectively camouflaged during a fireworks show.
I'm sorry. But this studio is ashamed of it's hero and they are not being true to his roots. This will alienate some within the fan base. Plus his look is so conceptualized that people outside the comic realm will barely recognize him. So product recognition is out the door here as well. Once more, I think Marvel is aiming for one specific audience with it's ubber-low budget and is expecting to make the real money from toys and specialty DVD's. I don't believe the studio expects to make real profit off ticket receipts here.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

Each will be the #1 movie for one week, come out on disk two months later, and disappear into obscurity six months from now when the NEXT crop of supermovies is announced.

Don C.

[samurainoir]

I'm pulling for Green Lantern in the upcoming year, but the following year, The Avengers will be blowing everything out of the water (is my hopes).

[Earth 2 Chris]

I think GL will rule. Cap and Thor, I can't say. Marvel is releasing a TON of shots from Thor, very early. It's as if they are checking with folks to gauge reaction or something. Cap...I want it to be the best Marvel movie ever. I think it will be good, not great. I'm not sure how the WWII setting will do. If they market it as balls-to-the-walls non-stop action, it may work. They need to sell the action and adventure with Cap, and the epic fantasy with Thor. Bad marketing campaigns can really kill these movies. GL seems to have been building street cred with the general public for a while now. Reynolds is recognizable to most, even if they call him Van Wilder. It's got much more going for it.

Chris

[BlackKnight]

If they Went All Asguard met with Lord of the Rings, Thor could be pretty Damn cool ...., But based on Marvel's track Record, I think that Because of who it is ...., The Movie will be less of a BlockBuster..., I just sorta think Blade, Ghostrider, DareDevil Here ... Not saying the Movie won't be good, Because I liked the ones I listed, However I could see it not being as Popular, When it came to sales.

Hard to say with Cap & GL ...
I expect Cap to Reach Spidey 1 Records opening Weekend. He is Probably the most anticipated Character to get a Recent Movie of all time, next to Spidey ...., But Reviews could make or break this, then topped with ,... the thought of, "Was it good ? "

Green Lantern has an Arseload of Hipe..., and probably is the Most Popular character in Comic GeekLand right now.
I expect it to do well enough to Spawn a Sequel, But still am worried about the Film. Other than The DarkKnight ...., WB hasn't had a Sold hit with a Movie in almost 2 Decades when it comes to Super Heroes. And thier Main Movie Focus is really only ever on Batman ..., with little Else.

It should be interesting to say the Least.

[Captain]

I go with the majority. Green Lantern will be huge.

Cap and Thor....I fear they will break even at best. They just dont look all that spectacular from what we've seen so far. comic geeks will go, but general audience will stay away. I think GL will go the other way and not just draw in the fan brigade, but appeal to the general public as well.

[Werewolf]

I'm thinking Captain America. At least in the States anyways. Isn't he the most well known of those characters by non comic fans?

[Timothy2251]

Hmmmm....

Each will be the #1 movie for one week, come out on disk two months later, and disappear into obscurity six months from now when the NEXT crop of supermovies is announced.

Don C.

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