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Jeffrywith1e
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Mar 12 2009, 11:12 AM
Post #1
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I recently read an article analyzing the downfall of the comic book industry. It was fascinating and actually hopeful (and printed in a comic book shaped magazine). One element of the comic industry's demise is all the comic book movies that have been coming out in the last 10 or so years. The article states that the success we've seen through these movies cannot continue forever. And when it dies down the production companies will lose money fast. This will result in the franchises losing value and the companies that hold the licenses will look at how well the comics are doing. Possibly resulting in an end to the Big Two continuity universes. The article goes on to say that a new and better comic age will rise up from what is left, etc...
This has me wondering about the comic movie craze. I have wondered what role Watchmen might play in this scenario. Perhaps this is the last great comic movie? Perhaps it's just the latest one of many more to come. I've spent some commutes on the phone with Greg discussing this issue.
Then this pops up in my reader service...
- Comic Book Movies in Danger?
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I've been hearing some buzz around the interwebs that since the Watchmen movie, although extremely well reviewed, isn't pulling in the money they expected it to, which means that movie studios are starting to use this as a sort of cultural geiger counter to see if the whole "comic book thing" is over with or not. They are literally watching The Watchmen and this makes me nervous. Mostly because as far as I'm concerned they can just keep making comic book movies until my head explodes, but movie studios look at them as high risk because they're crazy expensive to make and you just never know if you're going end up with a Spider-man or a Ghost Rider. To prove that the ground is starting to shake, I just read this article on Marvel Comics' decision to delay some of their big upcoming movie releases, including Captain America, Thor and the Avengers. Here's what the article had to say... - Quote:
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Media company Marvel Entertainment Inc said it rescheduled the release dates of some of its self-produced feature film properties through 2012.
As per the revised schedule, the release date of the multi-character superhero film 'The Avengers' has been extended by about a year to May 4, 2012, from July 15, 2011.
'Thor', the big-screen adaptation of one of Marvel's popular comic book characters, will now release on June 17, 2011, instead of July 16, 2010, the company said.
"It maximizes the visibility of our single character-focused films, leading to the highly anticipated release of the multi-character The Avengers film in 2012," David Maisel, chairman of Marvel Studios, said in a statement.
The company now plans to release 'The First Avenger: Captain America' on July 22, 2011, instead of May 6, 2011.
However, 'Iron Man 2' will be released as scheduled on May 7, 2010, Marvel said.
Marvel also confirmed that Sony Pictures will release 'Spider-Man 4' on May 6, 2011. Marvel has licensed theatrical rights of Spider-Man, its most popular character, to the unit of Sony.
Hmmmm... Makes me a little nervous. I just find it an odd coincidence that The Watchmen is not performing like movie studios had hoped and less than a week later, Marvel starts to shuffle their feet on some projects. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. link
And that article leads us to this one (which was quoted above)...- Marvel delays The Avengers and Thor releases
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March 12 (Reuters) – Media company Marvel Entertainment Inc said it rescheduled the release dates of some of its self-produced feature film properties through 2012.
As per the revised schedule, the release date of the multi-character superhero film 'The Avengers' has been extended by about a year to May 4, 2012, from July 15, 2011.
'Thor', the big-screen adaptation of one of Marvel's popular comic book characters, will now release on June 17, 2011, instead of July 16, 2010, the company said.
"It maximizes the visibility of our single character-focused films, leading to the highly anticipated release of the multi-character The Avengers film in 2012," David Maisel, chairman of Marvel Studios, said in a statement.
The company now plans to release 'The First Avenger: Captain America' on July 22, 2011, instead of May 6, 2011.
However, 'Iron Man 2' will be released as scheduled on May 7, 2010, Marvel said.
Marvel also confirmed that Sony Pictures will release 'Spider-Man 4' on May 6, 2011. Marvel has licensed theatrical rights of Spider-Man, its most popular character, to the unit of Sony.
Shares of Marvel closed at $24.55 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. link
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