[Man of Steel] wasn’t a bad movie I just feel that it wasn’t at all a great, or even a good, one. And no, I am not excited for Man of Steel 2 should it come out, yet I will still see it.
– Alexi Demetriadi
The above comment was the first one left on Man of Steel. Alexi’s thought process is exactly what studios are counting on from us and I’d say we probably all fall right in line with the same thinking when it comes to the movie events each year you feel you must see to remain “in the know”. This last weekend the film to see was Man of Steel and while some loved it and others loathed it there is this feeling in most people that saw it that, “Yes, I will see the next one.”
Well, that next one is now rumored to be closer than we thought.
Fanboy bloggers are breathlessly quoting Ben Fritz’s WSJ article, which says we may see Man of Steel 2 as soon as 2014 and a Justice League movie a year later:
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.
This is what most people are reporting as “news”, but the more telling information comes a little later when Fritz writes:
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.
I love the passive aggressive nature of the paragraph. The way it says nothing and something at the same time. Even though Christopher Nolan‘s three Batman films were huge successes, combining for a grand, worldwide total of $2,463,216,216, somehow Warner Bros. is under-performing because they don’t churn out two cookie-cutter superhero movies a year a la Marvel. For whatever reason, industry press/bloggers would rather breathlessly report the fast-tracking of a sequel rather than suggest a studio take their time and make the best movie possible. People want more and they want it now and despite this urging for more they’re just as ready to get out the knives and tear something to shreds.
To put it simply, I wish studios would put as much effort in the movie making part of the equation as they do toy and marketing part of it. At the same time I wish movie bloggers could stop reporting on sequels as if they were always something to be excited about. You want to see a good sequel? Go see Before Midnight, it was nine years in the making.
Then again, what’s the use in complaining? Even when audiences don’t particularly like a movie and aren’t excited for its likely sequel, we still go see it. Unfortunately, I feel as guilty of this as anyone. Of course, it’s the optimism in us all that it will somehow be better than the one before it, or learn from previous mistakes. In this day and age we want everything to deliver the same exhilaration we felt watching The Dark Knight. I wish us all luck.
DID YOU SEE MAN OF STEEL? Share your thoughts here
