“Man of Steel” Sequel in 2 Years?
As Capt Grid Iron reported earlier this morning, Man Of Steel opens with best June Opening Ever, news around the web is already speculating that not only will the sequel to Man Of Steel be hitting theatres in 2014 to get lay down some more DC pavement for the assumed 2015 summer Justice League juggernaut. Dan Fellman -the Warner Bros president of domestic distribution- had this to say when asked about the future of the DC film franchises…
“It’s more than just a franchise for us, it really opens up the door to do combinations of the DC Comics characters. We can build them up like Marvel did and benefit from the history of DC.”
So what does DC nation think? Are 24 months too soon to watch another epic, destroying downtown Metropolis Superman brawl?
Join the Discussion after the JUMP!
Source:TheWallStreetJournal
‘Man of Steel’ May Give DC Comics More Superpowers
A blockbuster opening for “Man of Steel” this past weekend paves the way for Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros. to rev up its efforts to challenge Walt Disney Co.’s Marvel Entertainment in the superhero movie game.
Warner Bros.’ costly Superman reboot opened to an estimated $125.1 million, including $12 million from Thursday evening shows, in the U.S. and Canada, the second-biggest debut of the year behind Marvel’s “Iron Man 3.”
Combined with $74.1 million from 24 overseas markets—most foreign countries will get “Man of Steel” in the coming weeks—”Man of Steel” had a strong enough start to leave studio executives already thinking about what more they can do with characters from their DC Comics unit.
“It’s more than just a franchise for us, it really opens up the door to do combinations of the DC Comics characters,” said Dan Fellman, Warner’s president of domestic distribution. “We can build them up like Marvel did and benefit from the history of DC.”
Warner is already in development on a sequel to “Man of Steel” and is expected to fast track that for release as soon as 2014, said knowledgeable people close to the studio.
In addition, it has long been developing a “Justice League” team-up movie featuring characters such as the Flash and Wonder Woman that could come out as soon as 2015.
Though Warner Bros. had great success with director Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy of Batman films, it has otherwise lagged behind far behind Disney’s Marvel, which releases two superhero films a year and has had a consistent record of hits since 2008.
Warner and its corporate predecessors have owned DC Comics since the late 1960s, but lately the studio has struggled to bring a number of movie adaptations to production. Its one recent superhero movie not made by Mr. Nolan, 2011’s “Green Lantern,” performed poorly, earning $220 million world-wide.
Reviving Superman was considered key to a turnaround for Warner and DC, as he isn’t only their best-known character, but perhaps the best-known superhero in the world. “Superman Returns,” in 2006, was considered a commercial and critical disappointment despite raking in $391 million world-wide, leading to the studio’s decision to reboot the character rather than making a sequel to that movie.
While Mr. Nolan produced “Man of Steel,” it was directed by Zack Snyder. He was considered a risky choice by many in Hollywood coming off three consecutive box office whiffs—”Watchmen,” “Legend of the Guardians” and “Sucker Punch.”
Despite mixed reviews, audiences embraced “Man of Steel,” giving it an average grade of A-, according to market research firm CinemaScore. As a result, Mr. Fellman said he expects the movie to enjoy strong weekday business from families with older children and to hold up well against a number of coming competitors such as “World War Z,” starring Brad Pitt, and “Monsters University,” a prequel to Pixar’s “Monsters Inc.”
People close to Warner and the film’s production offered slightly different estimates for its final cost, ranging between $225 million and $270 million, split between the studio and Legendary Pictures LLC. Tickets for Thursday evening shows were sold exclusively at Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Also new in theaters this weekend was the post-apocalyptic comedy “This is the End,” starring Seth Rogen, James Franco and Craig Robinson. The inexpensively made R-rated film, from Sony Corp.’s Sony Pictures Entertainment, opened Wednesday and took in a solid $32.8 million through Sunday
