May
14
Spidey: The Poor Little Rich Movie
"Spider-Man 3" continues to rake in the dough, bringing in $60 million at the domestic b.o. its second weekend. That's a sum that would be considered a smash opening weekend for just about any other film, but the focus for this shadenfreude-cursed film is on the big 60 percent drop from last weekend's stunning $150 million opening. The film's doing equally well in the international market, where it brought in $85 million, bringing its worldwide cume to $622 million.
The film's been good for Marvel, which reported its first-quarter earnings last week with a boost in overall revenues of 68 percent, thanks in large part to licensing from the film.
Still, there's a lot of complaining still going on. Marvel stock actually dropped the day its earnings were announced, and from the way people are talking and writing about "Spider-Man 3" you'd think it was a flop. A lot of that has to do with the heightened expectations for the film, but part of it is that the success of the franchise makes it a target. And there are things to complain about, both creatively and from the business standpoint of how wise it is to spend so much money on a single film.
The backlash has spilled over to comicbook movies as a whole, leading to some interesting discussions of what kind of future the genre faces. There appears to be no shortage of folks who'd like nothing more than to see the comicbook superhero movie go away, but all the signs show that the genre is holding up pretty well and comicbook movies have their defenders. Take The Comics Reporter's Tom Spurgeon, who wrote an op-ed in Saturday's L.A. Times cannily outlining the difficulties Marvel faces in turning its remaining list of heroes into blockbusters now that A-listers "X-Men" and "Spider-Man" have run their course:
The contrasts between the big names and the others can be stark. "Spider-Man" was a youth-oriented comic book bestseller featuring an appealing teenage hero and an important life lesson: "With great power comes great responsibility." "Iron Man" has been a mostly second-tier comic starring a 40-something munitions dealer and featuring an alcoholism subplot that suggests a less teen-friendly message: "Our lives have become unmanageable."
Yet while it seems ridiculous to suggest that potential headliners like Sub-Mariner, Cloak and Dagger and Luke Cage will enjoy as much success as established Marvel characters like Spider-Man or the Incredible Hulk, Marvel has a better chance of success than its critics suggest.
The "Spider-Man" franchise may be the flagbearer for the superhero
genre, but it's also an exception toa lot of rules. As Spurgeon notes,
"Spider-Man" has an elusive universal appeal that elevates it into the
upper level of franchisedom, next to the likes of "Harry Potter," "Star
Wars" and "The Lord of the Rings" in terms of financial success. What's
encouraging about Marvel is the company understands that the rest of
its characters will not be able to live up to "Spidey's" lofty
standards. Even "X-Men," which for years trounced everything else in
the comics market sales wise was unable to hit the heights of "Spidey"
even with good, even excellent adaptations.
The "Fantastic Four" franchise is an excellent counterpoint. The
original film was a limited adaptation that had a few charming moments
and was reasonably enjoyable but came nowhere near the grandeur and
excitement of the classic stories by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The
budget was limited, but so were the expectations, and when it hit a
sweet spot with family auds became an unexpected hit. The upcoming
sequel will likely do little to change that (though those trailers
offer some hope), but it matters little in the long haul that "FF:
RotSS" earns only a fraction of what "Spider-Man 3" pulls in as long as
it makes enough to satisfy Marvel.
So far, it seems Marvel is investing more in "Iron Man" and "The
Incredible Hulk" than Fox has in "FF2," and it seems to be paying off
with good buzz, especially for "Iron Man." Since comicbook sales bear
no relation to the success of a film, the only thing that Marvel really
should be worrying about is the quality of their films and making sure
they're getting a good deal for their money.
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