Wonder Woman also did amazing numbers before WW84 made the lowest opener for DC
Since the first movie, there's no trust left in DC, the DCEU is already r making this movie a zombie, and WB hasn't yet learnt from Ezra fiasco sheen they decided to persist with Amber.
The only real question is if this will be buffet flop then The Flash or The Blue Beetle?
IMO, the difference here is that this isn’t reliant on just the superhero crowd. People who loved James Wan and fast and furious movies showed up for Aquaman and I feel like they will again. The flash and blue beetle had way more of an uphill to climb being basically unknown outside of a cw show and the Snyder movies and there’s a big difference between what Ezra and Amber did. One went on a hugely publicized crime spree essentially and one got into a domestic incident that most people didn’t really care that much about outside of entertainment news spheres.
James Wan also has a lot more clout to throw around than Patty Jenkins. He also has a much better and proven track record.
I think this notion that people are checked out on DC or Marvel or superhero movies in general is very exaggerated. People will go to movies if they’re good and hear from their friends said movie was good. As long as the movie matches James Wan’s typical quality level I think this will not be a flop.
People will go to movies if they’re good and hear from their friends said movie was good.
Yeah, I don't know. I hear Blue Beetle is good and I have zero interest in seeing it. I was also told by friends I trust that the Flash movie was fun and interesting and I can't be bothered to watch it.
I'm not saying I don't want to see any superhero movie anymore, but I don't know that just "good" is good enough anymore. Even so-called "good" superhero movies these days just seem to invariably devolve into forgettable CGI mush.
I watched both of those movies and can attest Blue Beetle was not good by movie standards. It was a fun superhero movie but lacked any real depth and largely did not capitalize on blue beetles powers. That’s lazy filmmaking to me and it didn’t really deserve to succeed.
I’m one of the few people who liked the flash movie but totally cede that it isn’t a traditionally good movie either. Especially if you can’t get past undercooked CGI or don’t have nostalgia for the character's it uses.
In both of these cases, I don’t think the majority of people out there were recommending these in mass. I remember when the first Aquaman came out I had my 40-50 year old coworkers and even older family members bringing it up. I think if you can get that demographic interested you’re more likely to succeed. I could see Aquaman 2 driving similar hype with that crowd. Plus, it’s coming out in December which is usually a good time for these type of movies. I’ll eat crow if I this doesn’t happen but I think this one has more potential than any superhero movie released the past couple years.
The Flash is an awful movie. I watched it this past weekend and I couldn't believe how generic it was. The whole movie is cameos and fan service with no payoff. It's as if the movie exists just so that the producers can say, "Hey remember these old characters you used to love? Here's a scene with them! Why are they here? I dunno, just pay us money!"
I usually hate people who criticize CGI just because it wasn't filmed for real, but the CGI in the Flash is objectively bad. Apparently the VFX team barely had time to get the shots out the door and it shows. At the beginning of the movie, there's a shot of Ezra Miller eating a candy bar in slow mo and his head looks like an enlarged bobblehead compared to the rest of his body.
I keep hoping that the guys running DCEU will turn things around, but the Flash broke me like Bane breaking Batman's back and then threw me down the pit, except I don't even want to climb back out at this point.
The last hit DC was Shazam and without any controversy and with good director, Shazam 2 was a big flop as well.
Wan may attract few crowd, but saying people care about DC is outlandish. Even worst MCU movie, Ant-man 3, made more than past 3 DC movies. There is no superhero fatigue, but there's definitely DC fatigue, especially when it's already going to be rebooted.
Btw last Wan movie was a flop, and it was his own genre, horror.
People absolutely care about DC in general. Batman is still the literal worlds most popular superhero. Superman as a property is more iconic than anyone in the MCU across the entire world. People absolutely have an appetite for DC movies, WB just hasn’t put out the right content as far as a cinematic universe goes. The Batman was also a huge hit and that was very recent.
I assume you’re talking about malignant which didn’t perform well but has already become a cult classic… many notable horror enthusiasts cited that as their favorite movie of the year when it was released and it’s had an amazing streaming and rental run.
It's going to be fighting upstream for sure, audiences appear to be losing interest in yet-another-superhero movie. Jason Momoa has alot of star draw, so I'm not sure if that will even out. There actually hasn't been much of a media campaign at all for this release, so thats not a great sign, it means the studio isn't confident and is hedging its bets by not wasting money on media.
The casting controversy probably will hurt it too, but maybe enough people will be interested in it that it works as advertising and drawing in more people.
Overall I'd say the expectations are cautious right now