At the movie theater the other night, one couldn’t sneeze without hitting a standee for a comic based film. Red 2 here, Smurf 2 there. Here’s a list of upcoming comics movies:
Jun 14 Man of Steel
Jul 19 Red 2
R.I.P.D.
Jul 26 The Wolverine
Jul 31 The Smurfs 2
Aug 2 2 Guns
Aug 16 Kick-Ass 2
Oct 4 Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
Oct 25 OldBoy
Nov 8 Thor: The Dark World
Throw in Iron Man 3 and that’s a real winger dinger of a year — 11 movies based on comics.
2014 will be comparatively light with a mere 8.
300: Rise of an Empire
I, Frankenstein
Big Hero 6
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Guardians of the Galaxy
Which ones are you going to see?
And where is ‘Snowpiercer’ exactly in that list?
And Blue is the Warmest Colour. Both will be out before the end of 2013 I’d wager…
I will see Spiderman 2 and X-Men. The others will depend on what the reviewers say about them at the time.
Ugh. An american remake of old boy… At least Spike Lee is a pretty good director.
i guess the plan is to release these types of flicks (based on comic books) while the iron is hot (granted this hot iron may last for another decade), ’cause just like the westerns and musicals there will come a time when these types of movies will one day lose favor with the larger general public ( while the comic book fan base will always dig these types of flicks), and while there will still be these types of movies still around for decades to come, they’ll probably be far and few inbetween (just like westerns and musicals). tho’ should be a nice ride while it lasts.
I kind of wish they would though.
There really isn’t much reason to focus on comics as source material for movies. As a format, they’re not much different from books, plays, or real-life events. They might be better than TV shows or remakes. The exposure a comic gets from being made into a movie might boost enthusiasm for the format, and the source, but that requires some marketing effort. To the extent that people think comic book movie=superhero movie, that’s an image problem for the industry.
SRS
abc,
I assume you mean *super hero* based films, because there are plenty of comic book-based films that a lot of people may not even know the source material, thus no perception of a specific genre film. Such as Red, Old Boy, 2 Guns, Surrogates, etc.. Just as the vast majority of films are often based on prose books — comic books are no different. We have just as many genres (and more, in my opinion).
But don’t get me wrong, I understand what you’re saying… Hollywood seems to have a love affair with high-concept comic book properties (and are even happy to promote it as such). I recall when Road To Perdition came out and the studios did everything they could to bury the fact that the source material was from a graphic novel. Those days have changed.
The Scribbler (Image, 2006) No set release date.
Snowpiercer has no set release date in the U.S. (August, October in other parts of the world.)
Oblivion (Radical, 2012, never published)
Blue will probably screen in October. Check the AMPAS rules for eligibility.
For 2014:
I, Frankenstein (2014)
300: Rise of an Empire (2014)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
Hercules: The Thracian Wars (2014) (Radical )
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Moomins on the Riviera (2014) (Animated)
Abattoir (2014) (Radical)
The Secret Service (2014) (Mark Millar)
Annie (2014)
@jimmie- yeah, my main point was about the ‘super hero” side of comic book movies. it will be interesting to see in the coming years if hollywood continues to make movies out of non-super hero comics (my guess would be yes they will) and will continue to tout comic books as the source material. as for the “super hero” movies, i’m guessing that before the “far and few inbetween” phase kicks in, we’ll probably see the “james bond” treatment of these movies (every few years or so a younger actor will take over the lead role), but with marvel going whole hog with trying to bring so many characters to the big screen, it will be interesting to see which characters survive the “franchise” treatment.
It would be interesting to see superheros do cameo appearances in other films. The next Rom Com with Jennifer Aniston for example, having Spiderman fighting out in the street while she sits in the restaurant on a first date with someone. Just keep plunking superheroes into the backgrounds.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/jun/11/man-steel-hollywood-break-superheroes
The Guardian: Hollywood’s superheroes are “sexist, semi-fascist bores.”
Key line: “As Steven Soderbergh recently complained, these films are sucking the life out of motion pictures, diverting virtually all of the industry’s resources into insanely expensive “tentpole” films that supposedly prop up other projects.”
And: “At heart, all superheroes are Republicans.”
Yes, and three decades ago, all the action-heroes were Reagan kiss-ups.
The more things change…
I’ll see in theaters Thor, Man of Steel, and probably the Wolverine. I’ll most likely rent Red 2 on DVD and possibly RIPD.
Granted, the author of the Guardian article (Joe Queenan) is a satirist and professional curmudgeon who makes his living from trashing just about everything. But he did make a couple of valid points: there are too many superhero movies, and they’re starting to run together and become indistinguishable.
Superhero movies are no longer “events,” as they were a decade ago. They’ve become almost as routine and predictable as Westerns were in the ’50s. As the sequels and reboots pile up, it’s hard to maintain that old sense of wonder, unless your sensibilities are stuck in adolescence.
That said, I do plan to see “X-Men: Days of Future Past.” And I’m curious to see what Robert Redford will be doing in the Captain America sequel. The rest? Rentals, if I bother to see them at all.
Originally, 2 Guns, 300: Rise of An Empire, and Kick Ass 2 were all scheduled to open on the same day: August 2nd.
That must been quite a stare down contest, because 2 Guns is the only reigning champ while Kick Ass 2 moved a week later and the 300 sequel movie moved to March.
~
Coat
Why are we not counting the Lone Ranger?
~
Coat
“Why are we not counting the Lone Ranger?”
Maybe because he was created for radio?
The LR comic strip began in 1938, five years after the character made his debut in a radio show.
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