Jump to content

Blue Beetle | August 18

Keyser_Soze
 Share

Recommended Posts

TwinIon

TwinIon

Posted
Posted

I mostly agree with @Kal-El814 that cinematic universes and multi-film continuity don't really matter beyond direct sequels. I do think they can be bonuses, but only for good movies. I think they can help build hype and they can turn films into events, which is what we saw with the Avengers series, but continuity alone can't be the core reason to see something. Even if a film is part of something bigger, it has to sell on its' own merits. It's worth remembering that the second MCU film was a Hulk movie which was not very well liked. Marvel basically ignored it and we got not only a new actor, but basically a completely new Hulk in Avengers. Hulk was a selling point of Avengers, but Hulk continuity wasn't.

 

DC started with their top tier characters, but the movies were bad, so no one cared if there was continuity or not. They made other films outside that continuity that they were were pretty good and they sold some tickets. It really is that simple.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
skillzdadirecta

skillzdadirecta

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, TwinIon said:

Marvel basically ignored it and we got not only a new actor, but basically a completely new Hulk in Avengers. Hulk was a selling point of Avengers, but Hulk continuity wasn't

The Hulk that was in that second movie is the same Hulk that's in the current Marvel movies. The actor is different. Marvel didn't ignore that continuity just because they changed the actor. Both The Tim Roth's Abomination and William Hurt's General Thunderbolt Ross have appeared in the current MCU since that film so its very much "In continuity". I also wouldn't say that in movie continuity doesn't matter... if it didn't there wouldn't be so many attempts to emulate what Marvel has done with other Cinematic Universes. Clearly the studios are seeing some data that says this interconnectivity helps sell tickets. It just has to be done right and DC has failed miserably at it so much so that even their films that aren't bad are suffering due to being associated with the DC brand. Both Flash and Blue Beetle scored high at test screenings prior to release... Blue Beetle was originally intended to go straight to streaming but it scored so high in test screenings that they decided to release it theatrically. The problem is their brand is so damaged now coupled with the fact that audiences know that these films "don't matter" because the DCU is being rebooted anyway is keeping folks away or causing them to wait for streaming.

 

Coupled with movies hitting streaming faster than ever, and people will just wait unless the movie is an absolute must see regardless of quality. There are several summer movies that are or will be streaming before the summer is even over. People aren't stupid... why rush to the theaters to see something that you can see in the comfort of your own home if you wait a couple of weeks anyway?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
stepee

stepee

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, Spawn_of_Apathy said:


it’s not a transformers movie. Blue Beetle is a DC character that sometimes teams up with the Justice League. 

 

sorry, deep down I am aware of this, it’s just that is what my first thought is every time when I see this title for some reason 

  • Haha 1
  • Hugs 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Keyser_Soze

Keyser_Soze

Posted
  • Author
Posted
8 hours ago, stepee said:

I haven’t really heard anything about this movie, but I’m generally not a fan of the live action Transformers series, so I’ll probably pass 

 

Damn. I talked to my mom (as one does) and asked if she wanted to see this and she said she thought it was a new Transformers movie and that's despite me showing her the trailer a while ago. :doh:

  • Haha 1
  • True 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
skillzdadirecta

skillzdadirecta

Posted
Posted
Blue-Beetle-and-Strays.jpg?w=1024

‘Blue Beetle’ Still Eyes $25M; ‘Strays’ Goes To The Dogs With $8M+ – Saturday Box Office Update

DEADLINE.COM
Blue Beetle is expected to take the weekend with $28M-$32M and knock off Barbie in its fifth weekend in the No. 1 spot.

 

It's coming in slightly below expectations... I found this part interesting.

 

Quote

Why wasn’t this movie even strutted at San Diego Comic-Con? In a perfect world without a SAG-AFTRA strike, it would have been with Cobra Kai star Xolo Maridueña and Blue Beetle‘s cast spreading the gospel on the film, much like Gal Gadot on the first Wonder Woman. There was buzz that Warners had Hall H co-booked with Legendary for a Blue Beetle-Dune: Part Two combo, but still, even sans stars, how much does it cost for a studio to rent two movie auditoriums, grab free popcorn and soda, and put the director up in a hotel for two nights in order to show the movie off to fans? Warners opted to focus more of their marketing on Latino and Hispanic marketplace (during early August, iSpot saw that Univision was pulling in a bulk of the ad impressions on Blue Beetle at 11% with spending on such shows as Eternamente amándonos (2.6%). 

 

Social Media stat firm RelishMix says that Blue Beetle‘s social media reach of 462.5M across Facebook, Twitter/X, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok are 14% under superhero genre norms. Heck, the social media reach of The Flash was higher at 670.5M. Still, RelishMix says that “the cast has handed over buzz-making duties to fans, who have posted and re-posted materials at strong a rate of 81:1 on YouTube and 137K fans on official pages.” 

 

Seems like Warners decided to focus their marketing efforts on the Latino community which makes sense because a buddy of mine told me yesterday that he didn't even know the movie was out and hadn't really seen any advertising for it. I found that funny because I was watching a boxing match last weekend and the movie was heavily promoted during the fight, with the trailer running pretty much during every commercial break. Who watches a lot of boxing besides me? LATINOS. This part of the article jumped out to me too.

 

Quote

In addition, much like what we saw with Shazam: Fury of the Gods, which crashed with a $30M start, the loudspeaker of the new DC Universe under James Gunn and Peter Safran has stolen thunder from the current slate of previously Walter Hamada-hatched DC projects; the larger set of DC fans aren’t rushing to these movies as must-sees. Still, Gunn has been supportive of Blue Beetle on social, retweeting ads and saying that the protag will be an essential part of the new DC going forward.

 

it seems the industry thinks, as I do, that folks are staying home (particularly DCU fans) because these films don't matter moving forward. It will be interesting to see how Aquaman does.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Keyser_Soze

Keyser_Soze

Posted
  • Author
Posted
32 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

Seems like Warners decided to focus their marketing efforts on the Latino community which makes sense because a buddy of mine told me yesterday that he didn't even know the movie was out and hadn't really seen any advertising for it.

 

I thought this is what would carry the movie. IMO if like a few latinx see it and like it then word will spread like wildfire and people would flock to theaters.

 

As for seeing ads I've seen a fair amount on Twitch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
skillzdadirecta

skillzdadirecta

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

I thought this is what would carry the movie. IMO if like a few latinx see it and like it then word will spread like wildfire and people would flock to theaters.

 

As for seeing ads I've seen a fair amount on Twitch.

I think their hope is that it catches on with Latinos the same way Black Panther did with African Americans.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Spork3245

Spork3245

Posted
Posted
49 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:
Blue-Beetle-and-Strays.jpg?w=1024

‘Blue Beetle’ Still Eyes $25M; ‘Strays’ Goes To The Dogs With $8M+ – Saturday Box Office Update

DEADLINE.COM
Blue Beetle is expected to take the weekend with $28M-$32M and knock off Barbie in its fifth weekend in the No. 1 spot.

 

It's coming in slightly below expectations... I found this part interesting.

 

 

Seems like Warners decided to focus their marketing efforts on the Latino community which makes sense because a buddy of mine told me yesterday that he didn't even know the movie was out and hadn't really seen any advertising for it. I found that funny because I was watching a boxing match last weekend and the movie was heavily promoted during the fight, with the trailer running pretty much during every commercial break. Who watches a lot of boxing besides me? LATINOS. This part of the article jumped out to me too.

 

 

it seems the industry thinks, as I do, that folks are staying home (particularly DCU fans) because these films don't matter moving forward. It will be interesting to see how Aquaman does.

 

The reviews for Strays is about what I expected :p 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kal-El814

Kal-El814

Posted
Posted
22 hours ago, skillzdadirecta said:

The Hulk that was in that second movie is the same Hulk that's in the current Marvel movies. The actor is different. Marvel didn't ignore that continuity just because they changed the actor. Both The Tim Roth's Abomination and William Hurt's General Thunderbolt Ross have appeared in the current MCU since that film so its very much "In continuity". I also wouldn't say that in movie continuity doesn't matter... if it didn't there wouldn't be so many attempts to emulate what Marvel has done with other Cinematic Universes. Clearly the studios are seeing some data that says this interconnectivity helps sell tickets. It just has to be done right and DC has failed miserably at it so much so that even their films that aren't bad are suffering due to being associated with the DC brand. Both Flash and Blue Beetle scored high at test screenings prior to release... Blue Beetle was originally intended to go straight to streaming but it scored so high in test screenings that they decided to release it theatrically. The problem is their brand is so damaged now coupled with the fact that audiences know that these films "don't matter" because the DCU is being rebooted anyway is keeping folks away or causing them to wait for streaming.

 

Coupled with movies hitting streaming faster than ever, and people will just wait unless the movie is an absolute must see regardless of quality. There are several summer movies that are or will be streaming before the summer is even over. People aren't stupid... why rush to the theaters to see something that you can see in the comfort of your own home if you wait a couple of weeks anyway?

 

Just to be clear, when I say CU's "don't matter" I don't mean that they don't move the needle at all, help draw hype, etc. They do. But that continuity isn't what's driving the most popular MCU movies to the greatest box office returns and it's not something DC should have emulated from jump / tried to reboot immediately with Gunn.

 

It'd be like a foreign auto company trying to break into the US market, seeing that the F150 is the best selling vehicle in America, and coming out with a bunch of station wagons and hatchbacks with AWD because they assumed that AWD and a lot of storage is what made the F150 sell so well. Those are definitely PART of why the F150 is popular but that't not what really puts asses in the seats of F150s.

  • Halal 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
5timechamp

5timechamp

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, skillzdadirecta said:

I think their hope is that it catches on with Latinos the same way Black Panther did with African Americans.

 

When a Mexican superhero and the School of the Americas gets a shoutout you know the director tried to tap into the Latin experience.. Only thing missing is Greg Abbott drowning migrant children to complete the effect

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Keyser_Soze

Keyser_Soze

Posted
  • Author
Posted
8 hours ago, Kal-El814 said:

 

Just to be clear, when I say CU's "don't matter" I don't mean that they don't move the needle at all, help draw hype, etc. They do. But that continuity isn't what's driving the most popular MCU movies to the greatest box office returns and it's not something DC should have emulated from jump / tried to reboot immediately with Gunn.

 

It'd be like a foreign auto company trying to break into the US market, seeing that the F150 is the best selling vehicle in America, and coming out with a bunch of station wagons and hatchbacks with AWD because they assumed that AWD and a lot of storage is what made the F150 sell so well. Those are definitely PART of why the F150 is popular but that't not what really puts asses in the seats of F150s.

 

Arguably CUs matter more to a DC property than a Marvel property. Most connected universes are just introduce a character so when they show up in the movie you know who they are with maybe a stinger at the end. The thing is everyone knows who Spiderman is, we don't need to really introduce him. On the other hand Blue Beetle probably could have benefited from being introduced sooner rather than later in the DCCU.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Brian

Brian

Posted
Posted
blue-3.jpg?w=1000&h=562&crop=1

Box Office: ‘Blue Beetle’ Stumbles With $25 Million Debut, Ends ‘Barbie’s’ Four-Week Streak

VARIETY.COM
"Blue Beetle" overtook "Barbie" on box office charts.
Quote

“Blue Beetle” has dethroned “Barbie” at the domestic box office. The latest DC superhero adventure claimed the No. 1 spot despite a softer-than-expected debut of $25.4 million.

 

At the international box office, “Blue Beetle,” starring Xolo Maridueña as the alien symbiote, added $18 million from 63 markets. With $43 million globally, it’s one of the softest starts in the history of the DC Cinematic Universe.

Awkward Jay Z GIF by Complex

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SaysWho?

SaysWho?

Posted
Posted
On 8/17/2023 at 11:58 AM, GeneticBlueprint said:

Why wouldn't people think the latest slate of films was the start of a new CU when they've said they were going to be starting a new CU? And they've severed relationships with actors that were in their previous films? I'm not totally plugged into movie news anymore, but I'm not completely removed from it. And I didn't know.

 

I'm on this side of things. It's true that they started this DCU thing with Man of Steel/Batman v Superman, but it's easy to forget since we've shifted to new Batmans/Supermans anyway. I'm not even plugged into Marvel as much as others here but I'm decently familiar with what's out and on the horizon, its phases, how the new phase started with Spidey Far From Home, that kind of thing.

 

I can only speak for myself, but the only superhero of DC's I've ever been interested in was Batman; Superman was never as interesting to me, whether it's the character himself or the villains. That might just be as simple as not seeing a REALLY good Superman movie released in my lifetime that made me interested, just as the MCU made Iron Man incredibly popular. 

 

But another thing, and this is just me -- NO idea what most people think -- I just don't know many of the "B-Tier" DC heroes. I don't know why, either. Besides Spider-Man, I knew many of the X-Men characters, I knew Captain America/Thor/Iron Man/Silver Surfer, I knew Dr. Strange, I knew the Fantastic Four, but I never really knew Black Adam or Blue Beetle. It was mostly Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman/The Flash/Green Lantern and then I couldn't recognize much of anything else.

 

I can only maybe chalk it up to having Marvel cards as a kid.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ghost_MH

Ghost_MH

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, SaysWho? said:

Besides Spider-Man, I knew many of the X-Men characters, I knew Captain America/Thor/Iron Man/Silver Surfer, I knew Dr. Strange, I knew the Fantastic Four

 

They all had cartoons in the 80s, 90s, and 00s. The only one here that didn't is Doctor Strange, but he made a bunch of cameos in the Spider-Man and X-Men animated series from those eras.

 

10 hours ago, SaysWho? said:

I never really knew Black Adam or Blue Beetle

 

They didn't have cartoons in the 80s, 90s, and 00s. If memory serves me well, they were in Young Justice or something else in the 10s.

 

10 hours ago, SaysWho? said:

It was mostly Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman/The Flash/Green Lantern

 

They all totally had cartoons in the 80s, 90s and 00s.

 

I will stress this until I'm blue in the face. When Gunn starts rebooting things, he'll make things unnecessarily hard for himself if he doesn't include John Stewart and Virgil Hawkins in his plans.

  • Halal 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
skillzdadirecta

skillzdadirecta

Posted
Posted
19 hours ago, Ghost_MH said:

 

They all had cartoons in the 80s, 90s, and 00s. The only one here that didn't is Doctor Strange, but he made a bunch of cameos in the Spider-Man and X-Men animated series from those eras.

 

 

They didn't have cartoons in the 80s, 90s, and 00s. If memory serves me well, they were in Young Justice or something else in the 10s.

 

 

They all totally had cartoons in the 80s, 90s and 00s.

 

I will stress this until I'm blue in the face. When Gunn starts rebooting things, he'll make things unnecessarily hard for himself if he doesn't include John Stewart and Virgil Hawkins in his plans.

Shit, the only reason that Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Hulk and Spiderman were so well known prior to the 80's outside of comic book readers was because of their shows and cartoons. ALL of these characters had live action shows in the 60's and 70's that were pretty popular and they became household names because of that. I remember a time when NOBODY knew who the Xmen were when their comic went on a ten year run of being the best selling comic in the 80's. It wasn't until the cartoon that they became a household name. Venom only became as popular as he is now because of his appearances on the the Spiderman cartoon and games of the 90's. Gunn should definitely lean into that and draw from the JL cartoons and of course Static Shock in his plans moving forward.

  • Halal 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
BloodyHell

BloodyHell

Posted
Posted
On 8/19/2023 at 1:52 PM, skillzdadirecta said:
Blue-Beetle-and-Strays.jpg?w=1024

‘Blue Beetle’ Still Eyes $25M; ‘Strays’ Goes To The Dogs With $8M+ – Saturday Box Office Update

DEADLINE.COM
Blue Beetle is expected to take the weekend with $28M-$32M and knock off Barbie in its fifth weekend in the No. 1 spot.

 

 

 

 

it seems the industry thinks, as I do, that folks are staying home (particularly DCU fans) because these films don't matter moving forward. It will be interesting to see how Aquaman does.

I honestly think Amber Heard being in that movie, and the vitriol towards her even a year later, is going to hurt it pretty badly. Much like I believe Flash was hurt by its star (on top of being not very good). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ghost_MH

Ghost_MH

Posted
Posted
17 hours ago, silentbob said:

Static Shock was one of the best DC shows when around. Also liked the cross over episodes with The Justice League and how we saw him older in the JL: Unlimited series

 

I'm also pretty sure Static Shock is one of the few DC properties to win an Emmy.

 

3 hours ago, skillzdadirecta said:

Shit, the only reason that Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Hulk and Spiderman were so well known prior to the 80's outside of comic book readers was because of their shows and cartoons. ALL of these characters had live action shows in the 60's and 70's that were pretty popular and they became household names because of that. I remember a time when NOBODY knew who the Xmen were when their comic went on a ten year run of being the best selling comic in the 80's. It wasn't until the cartoon that they became a household name. Venom only became as popular as he is now because of his appearances on the the Spiderman cartoon and games of the 90's. Gunn should definitely lean into that and draw from the JL cartoons and of course Static Shock in his plans moving forward.

 

Yeah, that's exactly it. I don't think DC is at the point where they have the buy in from general audiences to go check out a movie from unknown characters. That's especially true if they aren't making movies for those well known series like Teen Titans and Static Shock. Marvel, obviously, seems to be there already, but I don't know how long they'll be able to keep that going if the quality of their movies don't keep up with expectations.

  • Halal 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
TwinIon

TwinIon

Posted
Posted

Saw it in IMAX tonight and felt like it was a sub-par mishmash of superhero tropes. There are recognizable bits of so many heroes, including Spider-man, Iron man, Batman, Shazam, and Black Panther, but all put together it is far less than the sum of it’s parts. It often looks pretty cheap, sometimes only a half step better than some of the DC Television efforts. It’s never actively bad or grating, which itself is win of sorts for DC, but if the box office dooms this series future, it won’t be a great loss.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...