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Posts Tagged ‘comic books DC’

Comic book movies have been animated, made-for-TV, loaded up with special effects and made with both serious and comical overtones. While the graphic novels industry owes much to film producers for their ability to reinvent the superheroes and drum up renewed interest in old comics, there is always the fear that the market will become too saturated, that people will stop trusting the idea of turning comic books into movies because of a few duds or that one film will sour the deal for them all. To be safe, both DC and Marvel Comic Books often screen their directors, screenplays and appear on set to ensure the films do their characters justice.

The comic books DC put out seemed to enjoy more big screen success throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with “Superman II, III, and IV,” “Swamp Thing,” “Batman,” “Batman Returns,” “Batman Forever,” and “Batman and Robin.” Warner Brothers released all these films relentlessly, with a new debut each year it seemed. The 1989 Batman movie, directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton as Batman and Jack Nicholson as the Joker, was the second-highest grossing comic book movie until “The Dark Knight” (2008) knocked it down a notch. The sequel “Batman Returns,” the third-highest grossing film of 1992, again starred Keaton as Batman and featured directing by Tim Burton but added Danny Devito as the Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman. Writer/Director Kevin Smith called 1992 “the summer of the bat,” when Batman merchandise filled every store and sold with amazing efficiency.

While DC Comics dominated the 1990s with their “Batman” series, “Spider-Man” vied for top superhero status in the new millennium. Until Christopher Nolan’s “Batman: The Dark Knight” (earning $522,106,180 at the box office) reclaimed the winning spot for the caped crusader, Sam Raimi’s “Spiderman” trilogy was considered #1 (with $403,706,375, $373,585,825 and $336,530,303, respectively), as far as comic book movies were concerned. All three Spiderman films set opening day records in the US, were the top 3 Marvel Comic movies ever made and were the most successful films ever produced by Sony/Columbia. Stan Lee was actively involved in the scripting and filming of the movies to ensure success. Marvel’s “Iron Man,” starring Robert Downey Jr. was the fifth most successful comic book box office hit, bringing in $318,223,785.

It is obvious why motion picture companies love comic book movies; they are big moneymakers! “Batman: the Dark Knight” (2008) was the second-highest grossing film ever made, coming in at $522,106,180 and counting! It beat out the original Star Wars, Shrek, ET, Pirates of the Caribbean, the new Star Wars and Lord of the Rings but fell just short of Titanic. But why do we love these movies so much? “They’re not just silly stories of people wearing capes hitting a bad guy,” Stan Lee explains. “They have more dimension to them…. There will never be an end to superhero stories.” Perhaps it’s because, deep down, we love the concept of vigilante justice. When a man shoots another man robbing his neighbor’s house, we celebrate. When a cold-blooded killer gets taken out by the cops, we feel it’s only right. Sometimes ordinary citizens long for the extraordinary and there’s something so satisfying about watching comic book characters confront the issues and overcome both external and internal forces. Additionally, comic books lend themselves so naturally to showing off the best in modern cinematography, making the films a dynamic spectacle of sights and sounds.