MARVEL STUDIOS: Going Big on Entertaining us Mortals

Marvel on a Superhero roll

It's all about Marvel at the moment; the other day we had a Thor, Iron Man 1 & 2 movie marathon. I really got into the Shakespearian style conflicts, the good old will-or-won't they chemistry between the leads and the pretty amazing soundtracks. Plus, I do enjoy techno-gadget-costume fantasy sequences, apparently the military are actually testing out an Iron Man suit for combat, read here about the XOS2 suit - pronounced 'exo'. With all this in mind, I thought it'd be interesting to take a quick look at Marvel's success and story to date.

Thunderous Box-Office Performance
Thor looks like it will storm the Box-Office and replicate the kind of takings for Marvel Studios, that Iron Man achieved. So far it has collected £6.4 million already in the UK and $93 million in the US. Iron Man 1 & 2 collectively made over a BILLION. It hasn't always been this successful for Marvel comic creations, I took a look over their box-office receipts since the release of their first feature in 1986, the legendary dud, Howard the Duck.

Howard the Duck cost Universal $30 million to produce and took just $37 million worldwide. So the film broke even but the studio took a huge hit financially and critically. It took eleven years before another Marvel creation made it to the multi-plex, this time Sony took the risk. Men in Black, produced for $90million made a staggering $590 million world-wide. Then in the summer of 1996, Marvel Studios was set-up. They re-claimed their comic book creations and produced a mix of high profile, Spider-man, X-Men, and lesser well known comic book hero films, The Punisher, Elektra.

Disney's Epic Strategy
Interesting to note Marvel Studios produced two Hulks, both made with comparable budgets and generating similar Box Office. I'm curious why they re-made it - did they expect a bigger success on second outing? I think Marvel know now to never have a Duck in their movie title, and stick to featuring the words 'Man' and 'Men'.

In 2009, Disney bought Marvel Studios for $4billion, so that kind of explains their strategy for releasing in quick succession Thor, Captain America, Iron Man over the last few years. They are acquiring and building audiences for this EPIC outing: 

All-Star Superhero Film 'The Avengers'
I am really late on this, however Marvel studios announced at the 2010 at Comic-Con how they are putting all of their top heroes into one movie, The Avengers. 'That's the most ambitious movie ever seen', quipped Robert Downey Jnr at the all-star press announcement. See the press call video, it's quite exciting.

It's going to be HUGE. Then again, I have been writing lately about giving fans too much of what they want, which is not a bad thing, but the danger of over-kill. I really hope this is not a super-hero packed nightmare of s competing stories and OTT marketing. It will be really interesting to see how they integrate the different worlds of the heroes. In the meanwhile, check out this fan-made poster, I mean look at it, I am already picking on being on the Hulk's side.

Power of the Convention: Comic-Con

The Red Sonja re-make - the buzz of Comic-Con 2008

Getting my Comic-Con On

I was day-dreaming earlier about being my alter-ego Red Sonja, it was treacherous, there was a Barbarian man to contend with, a killer lesbian queen to ward off and all with just a chain-mail bikini and sword to my name. Then I came back to earth and wondered; what did happen to that Red Sonja remake? Back at Comic-Con 2008, some Hollywood Studio announced they were making the film, starring Rose McGowan and directed by my guru Robert Rodriguez, and I was very excited. They released some stunning images, created a lot of talk and then there was.... nothing. I have since learned that the film has been shelved for various reasons, including copy-right infringements, finance issues and quite significantly a huge bust up between former lovers McGowan and Rodriguez.

I have always been fascinated with Comic-Con (I have now a real reason to attend, I am intent on this film being made) and how it got to be such a huge deal. New Media Strategies posts here about its rise, and the power of a fan at a present-day gathering. Back in 1970, the convention started out as a small gathering in San Diego for comic-enthusiasts, who would occasionally get to meet the creators behind their favorite stories and get a tantalizing sneak-peak at new characters and titles. Over 30 years later, it has transformed into one of the biggest events in the entertainment calendar. It's now huge multi-media showcase, promoting everything from niche anime to big Blockbusters films and Comic-Con fans wield extraordinary influence: they can pretty much commission their own content.

However reporter, Wes Taylor, is quick to point out how Comic-Con shouldn't be seen just as a celebration of fan-power, but as an adept marketing tool for content creators to 'plant their next big thing indelibly into the collective consciousness of the critical-but-rewarding geek masses'. So who's ideas are invading who? Is it Fans vs Marketers? Does it matter? No, not in my non-fiction world, I see it as a mutually beneficial love-in, in which fans get to at least have a say in what they consume, or as co-creation agency Facegroup advise about fans “let them create it and they will embrace it”. So it seems a win-win situation, well it was until I read about the Guardian in visiting in 2010, they couldn't help noticing that this idea could be back-firing, citing the recent failure of Tron.

It seems the key to making Comic-Con work for you as a producer/promoter, is controlling how much you share of your content and working hard at protecting the most vital thing: the plot. What Comic-Con really owns, is its ability to tease.There is a lot of little show and tells to get you going, which is why for me, a good poster campaign like the one for Red Sonja seems to really work in creating the right amount of fan anticipation. So much so, that it is now time to go back to my own fan- story to rescue my heroine from Barbaric Development Hell, it would make one amazing movie.