Monday, August 21, 2006

Despite Jordan's attempts to stop it, Superman will return again


As Superman flies high, the question about whether or not there will be a sequel has finally been answered. This summer's big comic flick "Superman Returns" will in fact have a sequel coming. With a projected box office estimate of $400 million worldwide for the bottom line, the fifth "Superman" movie outgrosses last summer's "Batman Begins." Warner Brothers President Alan Horn was hoping for something closer to the $500 million mark, but with such high numbers working for it "Superman" is lightyears away from being a failure.
In regards to the film itself, ComingSoon.net quoted Horn's explanation of his thoughts on the gap between his expectations and the reality of the profits. "We should have had perhaps a little more action to satisfy the young male crowd." While that may hold true for some, I don't believe this is a wise strategy to take into the production of a sequel. It's very possible that with Singer behind the wheel this idea would not be allowed to jeopardize the depth and complexities that made "Superman Returns" a wonderful return to all that Superman can and should be. Then again, it's possible that any tweaking of the material in that direction could run Superman right off the road that he only just got on towards a brand new future.
Don't get me wrong, because I'm very excited that there will be another new "Superman" movie. But, I don't wish to see the character or the subject matter suddenly cheapened for the sake of drawing more moviegoers. Now that it's certain they are doing a sixth "Superman" film, I would love to see them take the awe and wonder of "Superman Returns" and expand upon it. This movie had to reintroduce Superman and his supporting characters to an entire generation and bring him back to the forefront. On a whole, "Batman Begins" seems to have gotten a better reception by general audiences than "Superman" but "Superman" blew past "Batman" at the box office, and yet "Superman" seems to have this aura around it as if it disappointed its fans as well as its makers.
There is no reason the studio shouldn't have every confidence in making the next one, and there's no need to fix what clearly isn't broken. The story began in the middle of something, and some were merely scrambling to catch up, but that has happened, and now people are ready to make a smooth and less distant transition into the next chapter. Superman will make his next stand even taller now that he has re-established himself and returned to the public spotlight and the cinema. Happily, Superman will return again in 2009.

1 comment:

Octopunk said...

Ugh. This starts as a bit of news and then that guy does his "more action = bad" pitch and he manages to loop through it three times in two paragraphs. Plus, despite his big valentine to the genius of Bryan Singer, he's dead wrong.

More action for Supes! It'll be great.

Malevolent

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