by John | Sep 22, 2017 | Industry News
After the less-than-super Summer Box-Office, the power and attraction of superhero films may be declining. Some are suggesting that the expanded universes are on their way out and that stand-alone superhero films are back in (see this article). Jamie White discusses this potential new trend for superheroes…
This summer has shown some signs of this. LOGAN is pretty much a stand-alone in its own right and has little connection to the rest of the X-MEN universe really. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2 hasn’t shown much of a connection to the wider MCU (yet) either – and has a strong enough team not to need one.
Even looking at WONDER WOMAN, this was set way way out of the way from the already established DC universe. Maybe this was to distance it from the terrible DC films released recently to give DC the option to do stand-alone only films in the future.
Can standalone superhero films re-fill Hollywood’s empty summer theatres?
There have even been strong rumors that DC is considering a Joker origins story starring Leo DiCaprio and produced by Martin Scorsese – which I am not cool with. But, this does kinda indicate that Warners and Disney could be tempted into stand-alone films with no connection to their current universes.
Now, this does not mean they will stop milking their expanded universes, but this could present an opportunity to writers…
There could be the chance that more studios will be persuaded into producing superhero films that have no existing relation to Marvel or DC. We’ve all seen the praise for LOGAN for breaking the superhero mold, and there could be a chance that more of these types of films will be produced.
Let’s quickly look at the best stand-alone superhero film, or should we say films, arguably ever… THE DARK KNIGHT trilogy. This isn’t even thought of as a standalone trilogy, but there’s no connection to the expanded DC universe, and it would be almost criticizing the films to call them superhero films – they’re anything but really.
This trilogy takes Batman and the superhero genre to the most realistic and thematically mature place it’s ever been, and its success, both commercially and critically, speaks for itself. It’s realistic, it’s tragic, it’s pessimistic and noir-esque – it’s an all-round excellent subversion of the genre while still paying homage to it. With the mention of films that are sorta stand-alone (GUARDIANS, LOGAN, WONDER WOMAN) we forget that the stand-alone hero used to be the norm, and that pulling together all those worlds adds so many separate suspensions of belief that any failings of the movie are amplified. And let’s face it, two out three of those films above are in the top 10 best superhero films ever. It’s a little odd then how Hollywood is only just catching on to this again, especially with franchises like Bond and Indiana Jones not needing expanding universes to carry them.
So, THE DARK KNIGHT trilogy can be seen as the ultimate example of the promise of stand-alone superhero films, and if Hollywood can exploit this angle properly… it could be amazing.
We’ll likely just end up seeing the odd Joker origin film (sigh) but audiences are hungry for variation in their supers. Hell, who wouldn’t want to see more imaginative and original superhero stories?!
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by John | Sep 1, 2017 | Industry News, Updates
Summer Box-Office flopbusters – Notice the trends of Summer flops to avoid the same pitfalls.
A Summer to forget for Hollywood… the worst grossing Summer in the last ten years, but just why has this happened?
The content has been there. WONDER WOMAN, SPIDERMAN: HOMECOMING, BABY DRIVER, THE DARK TOWER, DUNKIRK, WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES. Of course, they’re different in quality and appeal, but these belong to some big franchises and film companies. But, this Summer has not been so hot.
It’s hard to remember many other films beyond these. If I asked you to name 15 films released since the start of June you’d probably struggle – hell, we’d struggle!
One of the issues is the ease which moviegoers can check a review and decide on whether it’s worth going to see and spend their hard-earned cash on. It takes less than 30 seconds to open up the IMDB app on my phone to check the Dunkirk rating (8.4/10, not bad, Nolan). And this is no doubt how a lot of people are choosing to see films now.
And so many of those low scoring films will just be forgotten. Remember how the BAYWATCH movie was released this Summer, or PIRATES 5 at the end of May? No, me neither. It seems that Hollywood films are becoming more polarizing each year – we’re losing middle ground and average, yet enjoyable, rom-coms and now receiving either complete trash or filmmaking brilliance. We think that script development professionals deserve a bigger voice in the studios’ choice of projects and scriptwriting – and our founder Alex is compiling the research that’ll prove it, we’ve already had a look!
The lack of comedy seems apparent this Summer. Summer action films are always likely going to be a hit, but there’s very little engaging or original comedies or rom-coms out there. Which is just sad for the Summer. Now, we have to settle for things like THE EMOJI MOVIE… We used to get much better quality and ideas…
Maybe this represents a need for better and more original comedies, but there’s also a sign that Winter is becoming the time to release films. The Oscar bait is usually released around Autumn and Winter time, plus the STAR WARS franchise (and before it THE HOBBIT trilogy) was released around Christmas to increase revenue… and it worked.
It’s worth looking more deeply into what films have flopped and why. Try and spot any trends that occur in the failures and do your best to avoid them.
Read more on Hollywood’s horrible Summer here; https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-11/hollywood-s-summer-from-hell
You can also see what sort of scripts are selling recently with Script Pipeline: https://scriptpipeline.com/category/script-sales
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© WriteMovies 2017
by John | Aug 28, 2017 | Movie Reviews and TV Reviews, WriteMovies News, Writing Insights
GAME OF THRONES Season Review – Spoiler Free! By Jamie White
The latest season of GAME OF THRONES has perhaps been the most divisive amongst fans and critics.
Now it’s well past the books, THRONES’ showrunners have had more creative license with the show. It’s arguable if that’s a good thing, though…
The 7-episode length of the season gave the show a noticeable problem – how to pace itself. It began fine, and the quick travel and teleportation of characters is something viewers have almost always questioned and just let go. But with ultimately less screen time, the show has struggled to purvey the same fulfilling content as it has done in previous seasons.
In what started as a briskly paced season, it turned into a season that accelerated so fast, I personally felt like I needed a filler or a bottle episode (like THE FLY, S3E10 from BREAKING BAD). I ended up feeling like a car sick passenger with the driver putting the foot all the way on the gas.
This has still been a season with some magnificent moments, and one of the best episodes in the entire series. But it has been hindered by forced, rushed, and sometimes just damn silly plot developments. I’ve still enjoyed the season, but it doesn’t have the same substance as it once had…
This season of GAME OF THRONES has also been marred by leaks and hacks – some from incompetence, some from hackers. And this signifies the ever-changing world both TV companies and even Hollywood must adapt to.
Cyberattacks on big names like HBO and Sony must mean these honchos must adapt how they do business and how they produce film and television. (I even have my own theory that Sony has been releasing trash like THE EMOJI MOVIE to deter potential hackers…)
You can read more on Hollywood’s need to adapt to avoid cybercrime here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-11/hackers-are-threatening-the-way-that-hollywood-does-business
Here’s a few links where you can find discussion on the current season of GAME OF THRONES:
https://www.reddit.com/r/gameofthrones/
https://www.reddit.com/r/freefolk/
http://www.slashfilm.com/category/features/slashfilmcast/a-cast-of-kings/
http://fightinginthewarroom.com/category/storm-of-spoilers/
https://www.youtube.com/user/JaiWbio
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© WriteMovies 2017
by John | Aug 25, 2017 | Elite Consulting, Highlights, Pitching, WriteMovies News, Writing Insights
Our new Elite Consultant, multi-produced screenwriter Bobby Lee Darby, shares his pitching tips on how you should approach pitching to Hollywood, how to plan for it, and how to ace it! (more…)
by John | Aug 18, 2017 | Industry News, WriteMovies News, Writing Insights
Why Hollywood loves book adaptations… and how we can help with yours!
A recent article from The Verge earlier in the year caught our eye. It’s an excellent piece on why Hollywood are so into book adaptations right now. Here’s our summary on the article and our own thoughts on it…
“Why Hollywood is turning to books for its biggest productions” by Andrew Liptak. https://www.theverge.com/2017/1/26/14326356/hollywood-movie-book-adaptations-2017-expanse-game-of-thrones
“The book is better than the movie!” – it’s a complaint we’ve all heard from audiences. So, why does Hollywood keep the faith with adaptations? In recent times, adaptations have taken off dramatically, all starting with Peter Jackson’s THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, and the best current example being GAME OF THRONES – the biggest TV show in the world right now.
Some reasons why book adaptations work so well for Hollywood:
1. There’s already a plot and a story for them – there’s less risk of them creating a bad story if a good one already exists.
2. There’s a positive knock-on effect to book publishers. A successful film release probably means increased sales of the book itself.
We definitely agree with the first point. Low risk, high-yield when it comes to book adaptations. But good books have more than just a good story. They already have a fanbase. Studios see this fanbase as a guaranteed audience, guaranteed cash in the bank. Then they’ll try to appeal to as many other people as possible, too.
Here at WriteMovies, we’ve always championed books with great screen potential, and generated the first novel commission for acclaimed author Cornelia Kempf. Enter our Summer competition with YOUR book to have the chance of winning our contest itself, and ALSO of our award for ‘Book with the Best Screen Potential’ which could be the breakthrough your book is waiting for as you seek adaptation to the screen. The ‘Best Screen Potential’ winner gains free Development Notes to help you adapt it yourself or attract a leading screenwriter to the project.
Read the full article by Andrew Liptak at The Verge here: https://www.theverge.com/2017/1/26/14326356/hollywood-movie-book-adaptations-2017-expanse-game-of-thrones
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© WriteMovies 2017
by John | Aug 11, 2017 | Industry News, Our pick of the web for writers and producers, WriteMovies News
Our pick of the web for July 2017 – From the @WriteMovies Twitter Feed!
Our @WriteMovies Twitter feed has been sharing lots of exciting things giving our tips of the best new articles, insights and offers for screenwriters and producers on the web. And in case you’ve missed anything there, here is our pick for July 2017…
by John | Jul 31, 2017 | Elite Consulting, Highlights, Script Mentoring offers, Updates
Two New Elite Script Consultants Revealed – action, horror and thriller specialists!
We are happy to announce two new signings to the WriteMovies team. Hollywood co-writers Bobby Lee Darby and Nathan Brookes have come onboard as our newest Elite script Consultants, joining the likes of producer Tom Craig (RAINMAN, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE).
- Bobby and Nathan have collaboratively written several Hollywood produced films such as…
- ELIMINATORS (2016), action film directed by James Nunn. “A former US Federal Agent must abandon the witness protection program and come out of hiding when his London home is invaded in error due to a wrong address. When the event ends with multiple homicides, the news triggers those hunting him to send Europe’s most dangerous assassin to kill him. Now on the run with his daughter’s life in jeopardy, a determined father must get her to safety before the people he’s been hiding from track him down.” (IMDb)
- SEE NO EVIL 2 (2014), a horror film directed by Jen Soska and Sylvia Soska. “An undertaker’s birthday party is interrupted when Jacob Goodnight rises from the dead and proceeds to terrorize her and her friends.” (IMDb)
- 12 ROUNDS 3: LOCKDOWN (2015), an action crime thriller directed by Stephen Reynolds. “Upon returning to work after recovering from an injury, a police officer discovers and attempts to turn in incriminating evidence of illegal activities against his fellow cops.” (IMDb)
- Bobby and Nathan often work together (as they did on these three films), so they could be a great option for you if you’re collaborating with someone!
