Weekly Box Office and Film Discussion Thread

[Muppet fan 123]

Superman is less popular becuase of the amount of things he can do. It's kinda lame when he has no weakness, except some rocks from a different planet. :/

 

[jvcarroll]

Superman is less popular becuase of the amount of things he can do. It's kinda lame when he has no weakness, except some rocks from a different planet. :/

Ultimately, what you're saying is that he's not easy for others to relate to and based on the last two Superman films, you'd be right. Any character, especially Superman, can be written to be very interesting. It just takes a talented writer to pull it off. Reportedly, he last act in The Dark Knight Returns is kind of lame because the writer and director were focused on the Man of Steel script because they found it much more compelling.

I'm not sure what exactly his weaknesses are, but the things he can do will be explained through the science of his planet. One thing I read is that he can't fly for an infinite amount of time. There are limits and Kryptonite is not even used in this picture. He also has to make some very hard choices. He can't save everybody and that's something he'll have to deal with. All of this sounds very interesting to me.

 

[brkndwnbus]

Absolutely. Superman has a lot on his shoulders. He could easily turn evil and destroy the world, take it over, do whatever. But he uses his powers for good, even during times when maybe citizens are wary of him because they don't understand him. Depending on what comic book you pick up, he could just be starting out and people think he is a freak and want him taken down by police, and despite that, he still uses his powers to save people.

And yes, he can't save every one. He has amazing hearing abilities, so he can hear people crying out for help, but it's just not possible to save everyone. Along with kryptonite, Superman doesn't handle dealing with "magic" powers well.

I recommend, highly, very highly, reading "All-Star Superman" by Grant Morrison. That turned me into a Supes fan.

 

[Drtooth]

To be fair, Superman was the first Superhero to be created, and all the way back in the 30's. And the worst part is, all of the famous traits of the character weren't even part of the comics! A radio show invented Kryptonite to work around a problem with the voice actor (I recall reading he was sick), and he only flies because the Fleischers didn't want to have to animate a guy in a cape jumping around because it would look (to quote a Wow Wow Wubbzy character) KoooOOooky.

To say the least of the big variety of specialize superheroes and ones that thrive on dramatic character problems that are far more realistic weaknesses than green rocks.

That's the angle that Superman can work in. Smallville didn't last almost 10 seasons because they played Clark as a...well... Superman with no problems that's completely personality devoid and completely invincible. Even Justice League and to a lesser extent the Superman cartoon the preceded it managed to give the character depth. Look at Superman's speech about how he lives in a world of cardboard. THAT'S the kind of Superman presumably in the movie.

What it comes down to is Flanderization and the completely unfortunate Superfriends cartoon (which also really damaged the reputation of Aquaman, turning him into a joke). And maybe some of the older comics.

 

[jvcarroll]

Absolutely. Superman has a lot on his shoulders. He could easily turn evil and destroy the world, take it over, do whatever. But he uses his powers for good, even during times when maybe citizens are wary of him because they don't understand him. Depending on what comic book you pick up, he could just be starting out and people think he is a freak and want him taken down by police, and despite that, he still uses his powers to save people.

And yes, he can't save every one. He has amazing hearing abilities, so he can hear people crying out for help, but it's just not possible to save everyone. Along with kryptonite, Superman doesn't handle dealing with "magic" powers well.

I recommend, highly, very highly, reading "All-Star Superman" by Grant Morrison. That turned me into a Supes fan.

Oh, and I forgot. There are a few "big secrets" about the film. Nobody knows the answers so these aren't spoilers.

• Reportedly, one of them is that Superman uses a never before referenced power.
• Someone important to Superman dies in the film and it might not be his father.
• There's an undisclosed villain in the film
• There's also an undisclosed DC universe hero in the film

My wild guess. The film's production ties to the Dark Knight and the how they've dealt with this story as an alien invasion that occurs in our real world lends me to believe there will be Batman connections and a possible cameo by Bale himself. From what I've seen, this Supes could fit into Nolan's world. Personally, I'd prefer it to be Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter or Flash.

This is sure to be a spectacular 2 hours and 23 minutes. You never know, but I predict it will be the biggest film of the year.

 

[Drtooth]

This is sure to be a spectacular 2 hours and 23 minutes. You never know, but I predict it will be the biggest film of the year.

For all DC is putting into this movie, and believe me, it's a gamble and a half with a series of franchise films on the line, it had better be.

I'd be amazed if it tops Iron Man 3. It seems like it will do well enough on its own.

 

[jvcarroll]

I'd be amazed if it tops Iron Man 3. It seems like it will do well enough on its own.

I'll be amazed if it doesn't.

 

[brkndwnbus]

I'll be amazed if it doesn't.

I think I'm in the same boat. I'll be pretty surprised if Man of Steel doesn't top Iron Man 3. I feel like the public is really hoping for a good Superman film, and this one looks like it'll deliver.

 

[jvcarroll]

These are my predictions for B.O. totals by end of year. These aren't necessarily preferences and they only chart profits up until January 1st. It will likely be something like this:​

1. Man of Steel
2. Iron Man 3
3. Monsters University
4. Hobbit 2
5. Oz The Great and Powerful
6. Hunger Games 2
7. Fast & Furious 6
8. Star Trek Into Darkness
9. Smurfs 2
10. Anchorman 2

I also expect Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, Despicable Me 2, World War Z, Pacific Rim, RED2 and Thor 2 to be stand-outs.

I believe disappointments will include the Lone Ranger, 300 2, Percy Jackson 2, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, Ender's Game and Carrie.

Wild cards that could prove well are The Wolverine, This is the End, RIPD Sin City 2,Machete 2, and Jack Ryan.

Just my buck-o-five.

 

[Muppet fan 123]

Wild cards that could prove well are The Wolverine,

I believe they changed the name for that one. The current title is X-Men: Days of Future Past. I was just at the filming a couple of days ago!

EDIT: Holy cow. They pretty much kept this whole Wolverine movie a secret. Apparently, the movie "The Wolverine" is set to come out on July 26th worldwide. I haven't seen a single trailer/poster for this movie the whole year.

Days of Future Past is the NEXT X-Men movie, set to release July 2014.