Chapter 670： superman is a pit

Warner's action was quick, and the next day, Lyman learned about it from Nolan.

Going to the company, Lyman called Joseph to the office.

"Warner wants to set up a project for "Batman." Lyman said when they met.

"Oh? Maybe they're in a hurry." Joseph is also always concerned about the market dynamics. "In the new week, less than 8 million will be recorded in a single day. "Superman Returns" will never be able to turn over, and it has been declared a failure."

That's right, the 350 million big production is so stretched in less than 7 days of showing, how can there be any market prospects.

"But, what else would Warner mean by doing this?" Lyman pondered.

"I want to know too. Haha." Joseph joked: "Maybe the DC adaptation missed the Superman market at the very beginning, and Warners can't accept it."

The speaker has no intention of listening, and Lehman's heart moved: Yes, Superman is one of the two big hills in DC, how could Warner give up, even if it is such a serious loss - later generations, can't wait to take the gimmick of Batman vs. Superman, consume The Batman reputation Nolan has accumulated to guide the audience, isn't it also to set up Superman? After all, Batman was already on the rise at that time, but Superman was still quite miserable...

Lehman continued: "So, are there any internal market reports from Warner? How have they been doing recently?"

"It is estimated that this matter needs to be specially investigated. However, when "Superman Returns" premiered some time ago, I heard that Fox secretly let go of the crew. After all, the confirmed director of "X-Men 3" Brian Singer is there The night before the script was completed, it was poached by Warner. Warner can’t do it properly.” Joseph indicated that he could find Fox. Right now, Firefly’s overseas business is all Fox’s agents, and the relationship is in the honeymoon period.

"And this?" Lyman missed a lot of things because he went to Nice to shoot "Untouchable". If Joseph didn't mention it, Lyman would not know that the filming of "Superman Returns" was so tortuous.

This also means that Warners really attaches great importance to Superman, and even digging the corner of the opposite family is so straightforward, which obviously offends people.

Lyman pondered for a while, and felt that he still underestimated Warner's emphasis on Superman. After thinking for a while, he said: "Let Liam contact Fox and inquire about Warner's recent actions. Also, have they not given up on "Superman Returns"? "

Although Joseph didn't know the reason, he answered and went to ask. About 2 hours later, Liam called. Warners really didn't give up "Superman Returns". Whether it was propaganda or public opinion, they were deliberately going to "Even if defeated." Glory" direction guide.

The new Superman, Braden Ross, is the actor who is closest to the image of the comic Superman; what is "18 years of sharpening a sword", the new version of Superman is like the rebirth of the comics, and more deliberately not reporting the production cost, always taking fans' comments to say things— - Superman in the eyes of fans is of course the most perfect, but passers-by have no idea.

You know, the era of superhuman popularity has long passed - this is not the 70s and 80s, and the new generation of audiences who have grown up have no so-called superhuman feelings.

Of course, maybe Warner wants to create such a superhuman feeling again, otherwise it doesn't have to give up after the project fails, and continue to invest resources to promote and guide.

After knowing this, Lyman was relieved - as long as Warner did not seek cooperation with malice, there would be nothing to worry about. Moreover, Superman is a big pit, and a big somersault is just the beginning... .

Later, Lyman instructed Joseph to let him ignore the invitation sent by Warner for the next period of time and deliberately not to contact him.

Knowing Warner's future layout, Lehman didn't even think about it, so he decided to get down and squeeze the benefits.

Batman's investment cannot be separated from Firefly, unless it is delayed until the contract limit expires, but if Warners is willing to wait until 2009 to start filming "Batman", it will delay the market reputation that has been accumulated so hard, and Lyman will recognize it. .

Moreover, the most important thing is that "Superman Returns" is giving Warner a huge headache. Be tough at this time, and it will definitely have a miraculous effect.

After not responding for so long, I thought Firefly was very generous.

To gain a foothold in Hollywood, you must at least show your knives and means. Fireflies are not so easy to target.

Lehman thought to himself, no wonder it is said that the accumulation of capital is always accompanied by blood. Since Warner does not want to give up Superman and insists on hitting the wall, then use these market losses to pave the way for Firefly to go up, and it can cut Warner fiercely.

Moreover, the failure of the TV network plan makes Warner even more unable to bear the failure of the DC adaptation plan. In the era of big IP, does Warner dare to stop moving forward?

Perhaps, this year will be the year when Warner, the giant, begins to weaken.

Before that, Warner's share of films was always at the forefront, and after that, there were many studios that could challenge its position - the rise of Disney is the road to the decline of several other studios. .

Maybe every studio has such a situation, the once huge MGM also suddenly entered a period of pain, the fleeting years were not smooth, and it slowly collapsed...

......

If Lyman can learn more about Superman's past, perhaps he will understand Warner's dedication to the role.

Turn the time back to the 1930s and 1940s, the era when DC Comics was created.

At that time, comics had always been a niche product, and even among teenagers, very few people would like them, and they could not be on the table at all. Even in the traditional and conservative concept of creation, comics were refused to be recognized as a kind of literary works.

However, it is undeniable that this special two-dimensional subculture will usher in its own spring, because it has market space and popularity.

In 1968, when DC loomed over the comics sales market, it was also in this year that they happily announced that the average single-line volume of the "Superman" series of comics reached 700,000 copies, with a total of 20 million copies, easily killing all characters, except for the same family. of Batman. But Superman is still number one.

The most exaggerated thing is that Superman has become the symbol of that generation, and children and teenagers have grown up and become the mainstream of society.

In later generations, the "DC orthodoxy" that many fans of American comics always emphasized was the product of those years, because it was true that DC at that time was quite invincible and lonely.

While witnessing the influence of the second-dimensional subculture in the younger generation, Time Warner acquired DC at its peak in 1969 and firmly controlled it.

The following year, Warners successively adapted DC superheroes to great success.

The already famous Superman and Batman have become classic screen characters. Even in that slightly closed international relationship, Superman wearing underwear and outerwear is still popular all over the world. Related animations, movies, posters, and photos have once become superheroes. synonym.

In other words, Superman is the top traffic representative and a pioneer in this subculture trend.

Even when Marvel went bankrupt for the second time and wanted DC to take over, it was rejected - because it was unnecessary and affected the development of its own business.

Also, Marvel? What company is that?

The huge success has given Warner infinite confidence and continuous profits. It is also because of its possession of DC that Warner has embarked on a road of rapid expansion. With the money it has earned, it has constantly made up for the shortcomings of the text and media, such as entering the TV field and expanding overseas. Deploy the industry, and spend a lot of money to upgrade your own studio.

Until now Warner Studios is still the shooting choice of more than 70% of the studios on the market.

But it is precisely because Superman is so famous that in the past 30 years, it has been put on the big screen countless times, and the related image of tights and red underwear is even more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. .

Change, how to change? The same, the audience does not like to watch it.

This is undoubtedly a century-old problem with no answer, and it has been tormenting Warner.

As a result, after a long period of freezing, the re-emergence of Superman still did not make the audience have any chemical reaction. Although fans like it, it is obviously not acceptable to Warner.

A vicious circle may be summed up very simply.

In the eyes of outsiders like Lehman, Warner is a little bit **** on the issue of Superman, holding a gold mine and not knowing how to dig, but who can understand how much fame and fortune the previous Superman brought to Warner, and who hasn't had a good memory?

Of course Superman can't give up, that's the view of many at Warners because it's DC's own son...