Batman v Superman Latest News

[hedrap]

I've been reading these reports now for the last couple of weeks and here are the items that initially come to mind for me:

1) Why would this Studio place Zack Snyder at the helm of so much of it's product development, if they were not sold on the movies he has already made? There's something very...I don't know... idiotic about this notion (not yours Hedrap, but the people who made this decision) that a studio would hire a director to make films that DON'T look something like the movies he has in his portfolio.

It all goes back to 300. Snyder was predominantly a commercial director, like Bay, but when he made 300, he showed an ability to do a heavy fx-laden movie on a tight budget with a massive return. Then add in his approach to comic adaptations - literally adapt the panel to film - and he was seen as sublime. Mind you, this was '07, so we're pre-MCU. Marvel was at its nadir, (Elektra, X3, FF, Spidey 3), and even Batman Begins was not seen as home run, but a triple at best.

Post-300, Snyder could greenlight whatever he wanted, but he got roped into Watchmen through ego and con jobs. Before Watchmen exploded, he put the Owl movie and Sucker Punch into production on the promise of a 300 sequel. As those two bombed, he bailed on the sequel. At this point, things were going sour between Legendary and WB over TDKRises, but Tull/Legendary saw Znyder as one of their boys, (along with Nolan and Del Toro). WB did not want to lose Nolan or Snyder, but they did not want Nolan to have total control anymore, so a compromise was reach; Nolan would produce, Snyder would direct.

I'm still not sure whose responsible for the final MOS decisions, but Snyder took the bullet for the Nolans, Goyer and WB. When Legendary left, Snyder stayed behind under the promise of fixing the errors with MOS2. But by that point, Marvel was on such a rampage that WB panicked and promised total control to Affleck and Brett Ratner. And that's where we're at; Snyder's visuals on a Ratner/Affleck production, except Zach's going to take the bullet, again, and in return, he gets to direct Justice League.

2) I feel pretty confident in believing that a big portion of this movie might have already been paid for through promotional partnerships and exclusive rights to parts of the licensing for this film. I'm sure the toys are also a very lucrative market for profits that likely pave the way for a more "ambitious" budget. But even with all of that in mind, you would THINK somebody would have started pumping the brakes before it hit $300 million, let alone heading north of $400 million plus. To see all of this money spent, leads me to think this movie is like an experimental stew where they started with only a notion of what they wanted and kept adding to the recipe as they made the movie. At some point, they got the flavor they could tolerate, then someone looked at the grocery receipt.

Product placement will cover some, but MOS left a bad taste for a lot of buyers. You're not seeing the tie-ins like MOS had. Whoever had the fast food deal got murdered on that. There was a big article at the time laying out how much was covered via buys, around 200M. IIRC, the US Army had a huge promo buy due to Snyder's relationship, and Congress killed them for it.

BvS is the scariest kind of production because it's always in development. Marvel did that during IM2 and it really cracked the spine of what Favreau wanted for a trilogy. Marvel lucked out in that they had Thor and Cap already lined up to negate the meh of IM2. WB sees Squad for that insurance...but ya got me.

So my impressions about this movie have been suspect for a while now. If Snyder could have been brought in to do a standalone Batman movie, I would have been exceptionally pumped for that. Why? Because I think Snyder's greatest abilities play to the strengths of that character.

I agree. But he didn't choose Affleck, and all of the Bat/Wayne stuff was rewritten by Affleck's guy, Terrio.

I think if you look at films that have been extremely successful in this genre, they tend not to be accidents that 'worked out'. Most of these films have come from people who are quite good at understanding the history of these characters and know how to craft fascinating stories that can pay proper homage to the comics while still understanding they need to entertain a broader audience with a universal story that invites people to cheer these heroes on whether they grew up reading the comics religiously or just remember them from more remote and less attached means. Batman vs. Superman sounds like a vintage comic book movie title. I hope Snyder didn't make Watchmen II. That's what I'm afraid we have here. If every single character is dark, I think this movie will fall well short of it's blockbuster ambitions. After all it's between two films that will certainly be talked about as bookends you never put yourself in - Deadpool and Civil War. What WERE they thinking? (Slap to forehead).[/QUOTE]

Well, nobody thought Deadpool was capable of those numbers. That's lottery time for Fox. As for "Watchmen 2", I think that's possible. Snyder loves Frank Miller and that's really who he feels needs to be represented. IMO, if Snyder was casting, Batman would have been even older...and then probably killed at the end of BvS.

When it comes to history, it's usually just one person who has the grasp. Raimi/Spidey, Goyer/Batman, Favreau/Iron Man. They set a tone and then you need a director or producer who knows how to bottle it. Fiege understood that, as did Nolan and Singer. WB does not have that person.

[thunderbolt]

One interesting statistic - Of all six movies Snyder has directed, four of them have dropped by 60% or more in the second weekend. Of the two he made in this genre, Watchmen dropped 67%, while MOS dropped 64%. He'll need to beat that trend if Warner Bros. is looking for the big payday at the box office.

Neither movie had the box office draw of Batman, that might make a difference.

[MIB41]

One interesting statistic - Of all six movies Snyder has directed, four of them have dropped by 60% or more in the second weekend. Of the two he made in this genre, Watchmen dropped 67%, while MOS dropped 64%. He'll need to beat that trend if Warner Bros. is looking for the big payday at the box office.

[hedrap]

Thanks Libby, I forgot the March BvS date was the retreat from Civil War.

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Batman-v-Superman-Moving-Away-From-Captain-America-3-Release-Date-66649.html

[libby 1957dog]

great read as always guys
civil war is advertised as releasing on 6th may ,so bats v supes should have a clear 6 week run for a cash grab


saw these pictures purporting to be synder in london preparing the jla movie ,not sure if the locations correct but show a possible new bat cowl ,flash suit ,no chinstrap ,mera concept art ,and other odds and sods lol

[EMCE Hammer]

Speaking of the toys, over the past two weeks in my area all of the regular DC merchandise has just disappeared and been replaced by BvS merchandise. The only thing still on the shelves not tied to the movie is the Imaginext stuff. TRU, Meijer, Target.....I haven't hit a Walmart lately (they hit back) but I expect the same thing there. I don't think the other DC stuff went to clearance, I think it was just pulled. It was there one day, and poof it was gone.

[MIB41]

I've been reading these reports now for the last couple of weeks and here are the items that initially come to mind for me:

1) Why would this Studio place Zack Snyder at the helm of so much of it's product development, if they were not sold on the movies he has already made? There's something very...I don't know... idiotic about this notion (not yours Hedrap, but the people who made this decision) that a studio would hire a director to make films that DON'T look something like the movies he has in his portfolio. When Disney hired JJ Abrams to make their first installment of Star Wars, I think it was a forgone notion that he would make a nostalgia type film because that plays to his strengths as a director in his previous outings. The results speak for themselves. So I'm lost over the suits not understanding who they hired. Is this their first day job? They're acting like they were paid to bring a $400 million production to "My Little Pony" and are just finding out maybe Quentin Tarantino was not the man they should have picked. So in my mind, there seems to be this collective "DUH" about who they have here.

2) I feel pretty confident in believing that a big portion of this movie might have already been paid for through promotional partnerships and exclusive rights to parts of the licensing for this film. I'm sure the toys are also a very lucrative market for profits that likely pave the way for a more "ambitious" budget. But even with all of that in mind, you would THINK somebody would have started pumping the brakes before it hit $300 million, let alone heading north of $400 million plus. To see all of this money spent, leads me to think this movie is like an experimental stew where they started with only a notion of what they wanted and kept adding to the recipe as they made the movie. At some point, they got the flavor they could tolerate, then someone looked at the grocery receipt. Not the best way to find yourself in the billionaires circle for successful movies. Quite the contrary, that's usually where you find yourself on the dark side of movie trivia disasters. And I never realized until you just mentioned it that Civil War's opening is not that far off from this film. That stunned me probably more than anything else I have read, because now it really makes me scratch my head why they dumped so much money into it. It definitely explains why it's opening everywhere all at once. They can't let their movie get trumped overseas by an early release of Civil War in foreign markets. What a mess.

So my impressions about this movie have been suspect for a while now. If Snyder could have been brought in to do a standalone Batman movie, I would have been exceptionally pumped for that. Why? Because I think Snyder's greatest abilities play to the strengths of that character. Batman nor Bruce Wayne need to be exceptionally colorful so much as they need to have an angst that makes both sides of that personality driven. But an ensemble piece where you have to contrast characters and bring a kind of charisma and charm to the screen that can carry spectacle but still allow the heroes to breath so there is a kind of pageantry to the comic book experience is not what Snyder does at all. His characters soak in pathos and flawed qualities that emit this kind of inner struggle with a heavy undercurrent of reluctance to be the people they appear to be on the outside. And while I find that quality fascinating for some scripts, Snyder would have been the last person I could have picked for a property making these demands.

I think if you look at films that have been extremely successful in this genre, they tend not to be accidents that 'worked out'. Most of these films have come from people who are quite good at understanding the history of these characters and know how to craft fascinating stories that can pay proper homage to the comics while still understanding they need to entertain a broader audience with a universal story that invites people to cheer these heroes on whether they grew up reading the comics religiously or just remember them from more remote and less attached means. Batman vs. Superman sounds like a vintage comic book movie title. I hope Snyder didn't make Watchmen II. That's what I'm afraid we have here. If every single character is dark, I think this movie will fall well short of it's blockbuster ambitions. After all it's between two films that will certainly be talked about as bookends you never put yourself in - Deadpool and Civil War. What WERE they thinking? (Slap to forehead).

[enyawd72]

I think he's right on the money...was just at my LCS this past Saturday and the buzz around BvS was almost non-existent.

It's like people are aware it's happening...but don't seem to care. It's truly bizarre. Everybody was still talking about Deadpool.

[hedrap]

Runtime - 150minutes

So, a number of things are finally being confirmed. I'm not Drew's biggest fan, but what he's says in this vid about WB is accurate.

http://www.hitfix.com/the-dartboard/batman-v-superman-could-dcs-entire-slate-be-in-jeopardy-fandemonium

Latino Review follows up with what I heard, (last time I cared to look), was costs were heading towards 425M, which is production, promotion, distribution. At 150 minutes, per day showings are limited, meaning they need to buy more screens, including all 3D "premium format" available, and they only have two weeks of that until Civil War stampedes them.

So once you split theatrical dollars on a weekly sliding scale, WB will need a billion to smother all doubts about profitability.

http://www.latino-review.com/news/the-lr-scoop-on-the-apparent-turmoil-at-dc-films-over-batman-v-superman

Today, WB announced Justice League starts shooting two weeks after BvS release. That's meant to pushback against the Civil War opening so I'd expect a cast photo or video the same weekend.

But I think Drew is right and that most of the DC slate is not going to happen. Drew thinks WB jobs are only on the line, which is the veiw from the industry, but this is bigger than that.