Star Wars vs Spiderman

[Jedi Master Carr]

Why is that everybody wants to pit two movies off each other, first HP vs LOTR then LOTR vs AOTC now Spiderman vs AOTC This is from Dark Horizons who interviewed Avi Arad

Question: Your actually challenging one of the biggest movies, "Star Wars", at the box-office this year but the buzz is more on you guys - how does it feel to be ahead of the game?
Answer: I'll tell you I actually got a call from my friends on "Star Wars" congratulating us about the buzz and excitement for "Spider-Man". They're going to do great, they've one of the greatest franchises of all time. But "Spider-Man" is a world icon that has been in waiting for many reasons, and it just works out right as I don't know if we could've made the "Spider-Man" that we have today even five years ago. I think "Star Wars" is on its fourth sequel, we don't have to light a candle for them but its great in buzz and perception to be ahead of the curve right now. I just think internationally "Spider-Man" was always bigger than "Star Wars", "Star Wars" did quite well in more of the American derivative worlds - it did well here (Australia), did well in the UK. It did not do well in Japan, it had its problems overseas - "Spider-Man" is just such an international icon - for years we had a number one show in Australia and everywhere else for that matter, and its finally coming in a size and scope it deserves. It was really lucky for us, because of the dual facility the studio and SPI - the John Dykstra organisation. It was a corporate challenge and when everybody gets behind something, you just go for excellence and as you'll see the CG stuff in this movie has never been done before and probably wouldn't be done again, except our sequel maybe. It was a kind of undertaking that took years to get there.

First off I understand why Arid is saying what he is saying he is a Marvel exec he better being pushing the Marvel line, but what the heck is this junk that Spiderman is more popular overseas???? The only comic book character that is popular overseas is Superman and that is about it. The Batman movies all did poorly, the exception was the last one which made the most overseas because of Arnold being in it. I don't think X-men did that well either, so I have no idea what he is talking about there, and then Star Wars doing poor in Japan??? SW does great in Japan, I think its second highest revenue was in Japan I think the man has his facts mixed up.

[Marcus Telcontar]

The man is an idiot. Star Wars will eat Spider Man alive.

BTw, he is sort of right about SW in Japan. It certainly has not done as well relatively in Japan as in other places - Harry Potter is far bigger for instance.

You know what? I dont give a damn about Spider Man. The trailers so far blow. I betting on a big opening and a dizzying drop off about three weeks later. I predict SM will do no better than fourth ths year in the B.O - Star Wars, Potter and LOTR:TTT I believe will beat it easily.

He's got his head up his azz.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I think he has to push it his job but he is stupid to say that SM is more popular WW than SW that is just nonsense, no comic book film has done well overseas and I doubt SM will make more than SW.

[Charley]

The spiderman trailer looks good.

However, I am not a spiderman fan, and never have been, nor do I have any intention of doing so.

And hell, this is sad...my MOM told me she used to read spiderman comics all the time! And she knows all the characters.

This is a 50 year old woman telling me this!

And the only one I know is Spidey. LOL

So I couldn't give much more than a roden'ts posterior about Spiderman.

[JMK]

I was reading that and I honestly thought he was going to come out and say that he was joking about SM being more popular than SW worldwide. What a meathead. I wouldn't expect SM to finish higher than 6th, after AotC, LotR, HP, Matrix 2, and AP3.

[CMJ]

There's a good chance I'll be seeing "Spiderman" tommorrow at an early screening....

If I do, I'll post my thoughts. ;)

[darth_mcbain]

Spiderman will do alright, but it won't compete with Star Wars. I just don't feel it has the power to do that, regardless of all the Spidey fans out there.

I'll probably go see it, but I'm not hoping for all that much - from what I could tell in the trailers it looks like the CG isn't all that good (Spidey swinging on webs looked pretty fake to me) and I don't know how the story will be. I have to say Green Goblin looked pretty cool...

It will enjoy its first 1 1/2 weeks, but after SW comes out I wouldn't hold out much hope for it.

[JMK]

I think it would be lucky to pull off X-Men-like numbers. Very lucky. It will probably have a really big opening and drop off really fast after Star Wars comes out, showing SM who's the real boss of the movie world.

Has anyone heard if there are plans for a SM sequel? I would think there is one in the works already?

[CMJ]

I'm pretty sure they do...at least I remember reading that some of the cast signed on for more than one picture.

IMHO "Spiderman" will quite well...I'd say "Mummy Returns" type numbers(i.e. barely crossing 200M).

[Jedi Master Carr]

I agree with that probably somewhere between 180-220 is what I am thinking, which is pretty good for a comic book film, but this guy from Marvel is just pushing it up too much, especially with the WW numbers which I have no idea what he is talking about. Hey CMJ if you see it let us know what you think, I am still probably going to see it but I am not expecting much from it, other than just an entertaining film.

[Super Wookiee]

I think the footage of Spiderman swinging around in the trailers looks really bad. But even putting that aside I have no desire to see it anyway. Its too close to AOTC, so i have bigger things on my mind.......

150 Million tops for it.....and thats all depending on how hard Star Wars makes its numbers drop of.

[JMK]

Swinging Spidey looks weak, but Kirsten Dunst looks good! :eek

[Jedieb]

I have to disagree with many of you about the SM trailers. I think they've looked great. The web slingling looks pretty good IMO. Then again, I have the cheesy image of past live action Spidey movies in my head so maybe that's why I like it. I loved Spiderman comics as a kid, although I only collected Batman for awhile after college. I expect Spiderman to surpass both X-Men and the last couple of Batman films. I think this could easily be the 2nd or 3rd highest grossing movie of the year. I don't think it will top AOTC, but I do think it will bring in between $200M-$250M. Anyone remember the old Spiderman cartoon? Remember the old song? Here's a blast from the past with a SW twist:
http://www.yavin4.com/humor/oshots.htm (Just scroll down to Emperor Man!)

As for the Marvel exec, he was a bit off. Granted, SW hasn't ever pulled in Titanic like numbers overseas, but all of the SW films have done reasonably well overseas, especially in Japan. Spidey has potential, but it needs to prove itself first before he can make those claims.

[Jinn Fizz]

It's been in the news the past few days that, yes indeed, they're already planning a Spidey sequel.

I'm looking forward to seeing the movie, hopefully I'll be able to see it opening weekend. A lot of people at my workplace (a doctors' office) are planning on seeing it too.

As for the whole competition thing...I am so sick to death of the whole idea :x. I really don't understand why there has to be this whole Movie A vs. Movie B thing. It finally reached a breaking point for me with the whole FOTR/Harry Potter debacle. It makes no sense it all. At times, it ends up sounding like little kids on the playground doing the "my dad is better than your dad ! :p" kind of thing.

I don't care how much Spiderman grosses in comparison to AOTC. If I enjoy it and it entertains me, that's all I care about.

[Figrin D'an]

I'm iffy on the Spiderman movie... I'll probably see it, and I might like it since my expectations for it aren't that high... but I really don't know if it will do all that well at the box office, especially overseas (that Marvel exec doesn't have a clue).

It's one chance of doing well will be to benefit from the 'overflow' from AOTC, just like 'The Mummy' did in '99 with TPM. If that happens, I could see it reaching $200 million. I think if it were coming out later in the summer, though, it would crash hard... maybe $125 million at best, especially considering the competition from MIB:2 and AP3, among others.

[Charley]

I went to Harry Potter, cause my friends hyped it to me fiercely (and paid for my ticket).

Needless to say...YAWN.

Was not entertained.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Sure I am hopeful of the film but I don't seeing bigger than 4th at the box office considering AOTC, LOTR and HP2 all will easily beat it, MIB 2, AP 3 and Signs also have potetional to make a lot of money and it is possible that Spiderman could be no higher than 7th but that wouldn't mean it didn't do well, it could make 200-220 and still finish 7th that is how strong this year will be IMO.

[Jedieb]

What about Minority Report? The previews look good and if Cruise can carry a mediocre film like MI2 to big B.O. imagine what he could do with a sci-fi/action thriller directed by Spielberg.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I forgot about Minority Report it could do very well too, there is also K-12 the Widowmaker staring Harrison Ford, it looks like it could be a great movie too, there are others Sum of all Fears (I have my doubts about ) Bad Company, Scooby Doo (which I think will stink but I better include it) and Lilo and Stitch. There are probably others but just can't think of any for the moment.

[Sanis Prent]

The sum of all fears = ROCK

Signs = I am scared of and may chicken out of watching.

[CMJ]

Personally I'm looking forward to "Minority Report" as much as, if not more than, AOTC. Of course Spielberg being my favorite director has alot to do with that.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I'm looking foward to Signs more than every film except AOTC and TTT, it looks very weird and I can't wait to see it.

[JonathanLB]

It's not K-12 is it...? It's K-19: The Widowmaker or just Widowmaker, I dunno.

As for the comments, LOL, well those are quite humorous. Japan was a massive country for Star Wars, even on the original release of ANH, it was huge there. Read Empire Building. It was a massive success in Japan and so was TPM...

Spider-Man isn't as big as Spy Kids worldwide, let alone Star Wars! LOL.

AOTC is going to kill Spider-Man so badly.

I think the Spider-Man trailers look absolutely awesome, though, and the CG rocks. It just looks totally sweet so far. I think it'll be one of the best films of the year.

As for box office grosses, I'm guessing $170 million... Matrix-like numbers. That's my call.

[JMK]

I disagree about the CG, while it is cutting edge stuff, I think it still looks a little too fake. Maybe my opinion will change after I see it though.

I agree on your B.O. take though. I really think it's going to get smashed when AotC opens.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Whoops I could remember if it was 12 or 19 so I guessed :) As far as the CGI it looks okay except for two scenes, the one where he jumps on the cab and the one where he save the boy, neither scene looks done to me, maybe they just hadn't finished those scenes when they did the trailer I don't know. I think Spiderman will make around 200, I doubt it will do more than 250.

[JonathanLB]

"I disagree about the CG, while it is cutting edge stuff, I think it still looks a little too fake."

Well take it for what it is, though. It's a film of a comic book. The CG in the first Blade wasn't what I would call "photo realistic" as it was in TPM, in fact it was pretty "cheesy" perhaps in parts, but it was totally justifiable because Blade is a Marvel Comics character and I thought the film actually benefitted from looking somewhat comicy. I mean, it is not a documentary or a drama film, it is a comic book film. There's a big difference.

Plus I think the type of CG they are doing with Spider-Man is so difficult and they have definitely pulled it off well from what I saw so far. I really look forward to the movie, but nonetheless it is not going to be able to clear $200 million very easily at all...

I just really see this film hitting $170 to $175 million almost exactly. I just get that feeling.

It will open really huge, though, seriously I wouldn't be surprised with a $65 million opening at all. But it's going to bite it hard in the second weekend as all of these films have lately, like last summer how the films all fell so massively. AOTC will not, nor did TPM, but most big blockbusters do. It's pretty natural.

On the third weekend Spider-Man will do absolutely no damage at all to AOTC, but it should soak up a bit of spillover business and may get people who have seen AOTC on Thursday or Friday and want to see Spidey on the weekend.

Nobody is going to say, though, "Well I can only see ONE film this summer and I am going to choose Spider-Man and skip AOTC." It's just not going to happen. Even in the extremely, extremely rare situation where someone wants to see Spider-Man on its third weekend and NOT AOTC, that person is going back to see AOTC in the next four weeks or so and no business is lost.

Few movies have such a huge advantage over all of the competition. There are only a few must-see movies each year, movies where if you don't see them you are literally out of the loop. LOTR and Harry Potter were those films last year. I missed HP intentionally, but it was certainly a film everyone talked about, even people I knew, and it was a major event.

This year, it's all about AOTC and TTT. I think much less so on the second HP film after the first was considered just decent entertainment, but both AOTC and TTT are going to be major events. Anytime you have a SW film, it's going to be #1 for the year without question. Anytime you have a sequel to a film that made $300+ million and was nominated for best picture (LOTR:FOTR), you're going to have one heck of a lot of anticipation (for TTT).

As for Spider-Man, I still think it is THE film to see in the spring here before AOTC really starts the Hollywood summer. Spider-Man kind of officially starts the summer season, though, and that makes it a major draw. It just won't have any stamina no matter how good it is. I think it'll be a four star film, yet I still think it will have lousy staying power. It just doesn't matter. X-Men was great, it had bad staying power too.

[JMK]

I think there is a little bit of overestimating going on in Hollywood about the actual number of fans out there for comic book movies. I think there are a huge amount, but not enough to meet the expectations that these studios are projecting.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Well comic book movies are now becoming in fashion too, probably for the reason you mentioned. Next year we get two more The Hulk, directed by Ang Lee which I have a feeling will be huge. Then there is Daredevil which I am not sure about Ben Affleck is playing Daredevil, Jennifer Garner (from Alias) is playing Elektra, Collin Farrell is playing Bullseye, Joe Pantoliano (from Matrix and Goonies fame) is playing reporter Ben Urich, and Michael Duncan Clarke is playing The Kingpin. Its got a pretty good cast especially Pantoliano and Clarke but I am not sure about Affleck as Daredevil. Fox is also working on both a Fantastic Four Movie and Iron Man and WB is still working on another Batman and Superman films, and that doesn't count X-Men 2 coming out next year. So I guess we are in for an onslaught of these films.

[JMK]

I just hope that they stay as good a movie as the X-Men turned out to be, and not just a whole lot of fluff.

[JonathanLB]

Let's hope they are good!

"Ben Affleck is playing Daredevil"

Wow I can picture that! That's a good choice I think. Who else would you pick? Nicholas Cage? lol, that'd be pretty silly. Tom Cruise isn't Daredevil, I think Affleck looks the part a lot. That's pretty neat, but the rest of the cast you mentioned, wow, those are even better choices! That seems like almost perfect casting, but I guess we'll see.

I heard about these films but never heard of a Fantastic Four movie and I didn't realize that Ang Lee was doing The Hulk, though I had heard of the film.

I think comic book movies are awesome because finally we have the technology to make them all work. It wasn't possible before to make very good ones, but now everything has opened up and this is a Golden Age for comics coming to film. Nice.

Superman and Superman II are unbeatable, though. Both make my top 50 of all time, probably more like top 30...

[Jedi Master Carr]

I personally feel Superman II was the best comic book movie ever but that is just my opinion, in the first one I still don't like how they changed Luthor, he was a genius and a powerful buisnessmen, instead they turn him into a criminal with a silly sidekick, in the second one I love General Zod and the other two they were neat. I still like to see a Superman 5 but only if they bring in Braniac he was cool in the comics (and then they can bring in the huge story line that it was Braniac that destroyed Krypton, long story there).

As far as Daredevil, I just am not sure if Affleck has the look, I would went with Matt Damon actually he looks more like Murdock but that is my opinion. I also am interested to see how Clarke pulls off the Kingpin, I know peopel complain that he is black and the Kingpin was white, but I don't know anybody that is big enough to play the Kingpin besides Clarke (not fat now, the Kingpin is mostly muscle).

And then the Fantastic Four it has been in script hell for a few years the last script was just a huge mess and they had to start over (I think it had Dr. Doom, the FF's arch nemies, turn into the Statue of Liberty, one word stupid) I personally would like to see it, I have read the FF for a long time but mostly for one reason, Dr. Doom, he is the coolest bad guy in Marvel IMO, not sure which actor could play him maybe Gary Oldman.

[JMK]

Actually, I could almost picture Ed Norton as Daredevil, but it isn't his type of role IMO.

[JMK]

How could I have forgotten! Crock Hunter's movie is going to be a HUGE draw this summer! I think it has teh potential to challenge the top 5 grossers this year! :lol

My dirty little secret? I really am excited for this movie! I love the Croc Hunter documentary series!

[Super Wookiee]

I think all of these comic book based movies are going to kill the genera in film within the next year or two. Too many at one time is a bad thing. After a while it no longer becomes a special event, rather an ordinary thing.

[Jedieb]

I think the advances in technology are one of the major reasons we're seeing an outbreak of superhero movies. We're at a point now where comic books can be translated onto film without sacrificing most of the visuals. In the past Adam West and Burt Ward had to do scale walls by in an unconvincing and laughable matter. Now Clooney and his O'Donnel fly through the skies of Gotham after jumping out of Freeze's rocket. While both of those Batman movies where crap fests, one did a better job of visualizing Batman's adventures. Am I the only one that isn't drooling at the prospect of seeing Superman go toe to toe against Doomsday on the big screen? Or Spidey V. Venom? The Fantastic Four V. Doom? With today's technology these all hold the promise of looking amazing.

In the end though, all the CGI in the world won't save a craptacular story or poor direction. X-Men worked because they had a solid story and it was well directed. B&R sucked because of poor casting and a misguided director's belief that everyone wanted to see an updated version of Adam West's campy TV Batman. I think the best things Spiderman and the upcoming Hulk film have going for them are their directors. Like Tim Burton, Raimi and Lee have distinct visuals styles and solid story telling abilities. Give them classic comic book tales and big budgets and they should give us entertaining movies. Now if they only would have let Kevin Smith do his job we could have had a great Superman movie. :mad

[JonathanLB]

"I personally feel Superman II was the best comic book movie ever but that is just my opinion"

Probably so. I think I'd agree with you. The ending is just great, I love it. I love the first one, though, it's really great too I think. They are close, but the second is better IMO.

Batman and Robin just sucked. It was horrible. The director is such an idiot, seriously. What the heck was that?! Glitzy, annoying piece of junk of a film.

Oh that movie with the crocadile dude is going to kick butt! CRIKEY, I can't wait to see it. lol

[Jedi Master Carr]

I agree with you Jedieb and I would love to see most of those matchups. The only problem I have with Spiderman is the hype. The film is being hyped up as being the best film of the year, much like Pearl Harbor and Planet of the Apes was last year. Now I have my doubts that it will be as bad as POTA (the reason I say that is there not another movie to compare it too which is POTA's main problem). I think Spiderman will probably be a fun popcorn film, but I afraid a lot of people will walk out disapointed because the way the media is spinning it much like they did with TPM three years ago. But this time there is no massive fan base to help. Really though I think Spiderman will do okay probably pull in somewhere between 175-225 at the box office it will open huge but drop pretty bad in its second weekend (I am guessing 50%). What I am glad about is at least AOTC isn't getting the media attention that Spiderman is, I think that is a blessing.