WB Planning For Post Superman-Batman Future Don’t Seem to Include Tarzan
Kim Masters at the Hollywood Reporter has written an article discussing Warner Brothers strategy in the wake of Batman v Superman underperforming with all signs indicating that it will not hit $1B worldwide–making it a major disappointment given the promising nature of the source material. The gist of what Masters reports is that BvS, with it’s “dizzying” 69% drop in week two, is a big disappointment, and, coming on the heels of stinkers like Jupiter Ascending, Pan, and In the Heart of the Sea, leaves WB execs rethinking their strategy. It was supposed to kick off a big interconnected DC universe a la Marvel — now, not so much. It’s not all that clear from her article what it really means — but what was interesting from a Legend of Tarzan perspective is that there is no mention, positive or negative, of the movie. I think that on balance, it’s a small miracle that she didn’t include LOT as a likely failure. Hey — at least that’s something. Believe me, at this point with John Carter, people like Masters couldn’t resist predicting doom for Disney with JC . . . . .
That said, there’s also no mention of a Tarzan franchise as part of the solution in the future for WB. I think there isn’t a very high level of expectation that such an outcome is in the works. And that’s probably okay. If it happens, let it happen — and if not, at least let’s not have LOT go into opening weekend with the burden of those kind of expectations, which of course would bejuxtaposed with all the naysaying and schaedenfreude.
“Sleeper hit” is where we’re trying to see this thing land.
Here is a link to the THR article:
Warner Bros. Mulls Releasing Fewer Films as ‘Batman v. Superman’ Stalls
With Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, has Warner Bros. finally turned a corner?
After an abysmal run of expensive underperformers including Jupiter Ascending,Pan and In the Heart of the Sea, the studio launched its effort at a Marvel-style film universe with the DC Comics movie that had been touted as proof the regime installed in 2013 and headed by chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara was getting on track. But a dizzying 69 percent plunge that followed its March-record $166.1 million domestic opening ($422.5 million worldwide) means Batman is not a clear win.
Read the rest at The Hollywood Reporter.
By the way — Kim Masters is, even until now, the only source for he report that LOT cost $180. Here’s her article on that, which has led to everyone saying that’s the budget. But she’s where it all started, and as you can see it’s almost an aside, unsourced. Wouldn’t it be great if the real budget is less?
Warner Bros. Faces Tarzan Trouble . . . .
2 comments
I really need to set aside some time and read her other articles for HR, because this appears to be another article where there’s probably a lot of truth and some inaccuracies. Once again, I’m left with the impression that if she talked to anyone at WB it doesn’t seem to be anyone senior.
And much of she writes is true: WB did spend waaay too much to make, and market this movie. Even with this type of franchise, there is a point of diminishing returns. As Sony discovered last year with Spectre, which apparently cost over 300 million and didn’t make as much as Skyfall. Still made money, but not as much as Skyfall.
And if BvS reviews, and not unexpected 2nd weekend drop, do influence WB to rein in, and rethink, how they’re approaching the DC universe, that’s not a bad thing.
She doesn’t mention LOT, and considering her last article on it, that’s a good thing.
And apparently she doesn’t think any of the movies that WB is releasing between now and August 5 are worth mentioning, including LOT, but also the sequel to The Conjuring, and movies with Dwayne Johnson/Kevin Hart and Russell Crowe/Ryan Gosling (written by Shane Black.)
Maybe she’d done her hit piece on LOT and forgotten about it? I do think LOT is still flying under the radar, even in the trade magazines/sites.
Collider mentioned LOT in a similar article and not in a good way:
The studio actually has a really promising slate coming up, with potential hits later this year in the form of The Nice Guys, The Conjuring 2, and Keanu, aside from Eastwood’s adult-oriented Sully and the aforementioned Suicide Squad (although the less said about Legend of Tarzan the better).
http://collider.com/batman-v-superman-box-office-warner-bros-movies/
I don’t know what happened to Collider, but they were like David Yates fans and they were saying this movie would be good because of him, then they did a complete 180 after the second trailer:
This new take on Tarzan positions the character almost as a superhero who can commune with all kinds of CGI animals and make them destroy whatever the bad guys are up to. However, the feel of the film just reeks of a flop waiting to happen, and while I’ve enjoyed the Harry Potter films from director David Yates, he was working with excellent material there. I’m not sure that’s the case with The Legend of Tarzan. It would be nice to be cautiously optimistic for this one, but this new trailer screams “Pan of 2016″.
http://collider.com/the-legend-of-tarzan-new-trailer-alexander-skarsgard-margot-robbie/