by John | May 6, 2019 | Industry News
It’s no secret what kind of films are doing well at the box office these days – and which film in particular right now. Riding the wave of superhero successes, AVENGERS: ENDGAME, the 22nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is destroying all the competition in its path.
To put the success of ENDGAME into context, the film broke more than a dozen records in its opening weekend alone, as reported by this article by Variety. Most notably, it had the biggest worldwide opening of all time and took just five days to reach $1 billion.
And it goes on. The Marvel movie is charging towards the all-time worldwide record held by AVATAR having now made $2 billion. It took AVATAR 47 days to hit that threshold. ENDGAME has managed it in just 11.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe was already the biggest grossing franchise in movie history, and looking at this unprecedented success, it’s easy for writers and producers alike to start thinking that franchises are the way forward – hence the DC Extended Universe and the attempted Dark Universe from Universal, which got off to a rocky start with their 2017 reboot of The Mummy.
But before you start planning out your own movie universe, a few words of caution. Looking at the other biggest grossing franchises, only two out of the top ten aren’t based on pre-existing books or comics. So it’s tough to create one from scratch.
It’s also worth noting that neither of those two – STAR WARS or THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS – set out trying to create a franchise from the start. They began with stand-alone films and grew from there.
Even the MCU did something similar with its earliest films, rather than trying to introduce too much all at once. It may have shown the potential for vast, interwoven universes in film, but it didn’t overreach itself in the beginning. It also relied on the strength of its source material.
So before you start writing that massive series you’ve got planned out in your head, you might want to start on a smaller scale. The MCU may be wildly successful, but it’s tough to replicate that kind of success.
Click here to read more about AVENGERS: ENDGAME’s record breaking success from Variety, and their assessment of whether it’ll be able to overtake AVATAR…
by John | Mar 12, 2018 | Industry News, Writing Insights
With the recent announcement of a BLACK PANTHER sequel, we look at why this will be a good thing for superhero films.
They are just not going away. Disney, Marvel, DC, and any other company making superhero films will continue to make them. They just make too much damn money. At least, in the case of BLACK PANTHER and its potential sequels, we might be going in the right direction.
BLACK PANTHER shows us cinema currently evolving. It has a strong black lead (and incredible supporting cast) and it has very sparing references to the wider MCU, almost making it a standalone film. We’ve written why both of these things already, so go check those two articles out! (Links below…) But in short, BLACK PANTHER allows black audiences, regardless of nationality, gender, religion, etc. to relate to a superhero character, for almost the first time. Sure, Blade and Storm (X-MEN) kinda count, but this is the first time that a superhero film has had a majority black cast, and the reaction to the film has been great. This has been a rare film where both critics and audiences agree on how good this film is. And now the film has even surpassed $500 million at the Box-Office – overseas! (Over $1 billion worldwide, which is just as incredible).
But BLACK PANTHER really sums up the way cinema, and specifically superhero films, is going. 
Black leads are becoming more prominent and production companies can bank on black actors more and more. But I particularly like BLACK PANTHER because it was essentially a standalone film. You don’t need to have seen IRON MAN, CIVIL WAR (which was Black Panther’s live-action debut), or any other Marvel flick to understand what’s going on with this film – and that’s great. Marvel seems to be adapting and evolving and moving away from every film being inherently connected – and that’s just fine with us!
Read more about BLACK PANTHER’s Box-Office success here: http://deadline.com/2018/03/black-panther-china-tomb-raider-wrinkle-in-time-international-box-office-weekend-results-1202334223/
Read about why scripts with black leads are big right now here and why it might be time for superhero films to stand alone here.
by John | Jan 19, 2018 | Industry News
The new Amazon superhero TV show is building up steam with announcements on casting and with more details coming out about the show itself. Article by Jamie White.
Adapted from the same comic writer of PREACHER, Amazon is moving forward strongly with its new show, THE BOYS. Antony Starr, Chace Crawford, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher and Nathan Mitchell are all onboard.
While the cast might not immediately catch the eye, the concept might. Here’s how TV Line describes the show… “The Boys is set in a world where superheroes have let fame go to their heads and gotten corrupt — and a ragtag team of vigilantes sets out to take them down.” http://tvline.com/2018/01/17/the-boys-cast-antony-starr-chace-crawford-amazon-superhero-drama/
Sounds cool, right? After the whole host of MCU films, the trash of DC films and the consistently decent X-Men films, this type of superhero story will surely add a bit of much-needed variation to the genre.
This is something you can use as writers, too. When you’re writing a genre script, think about what makes that genre tick. What do we usually expect from that genre? Then, flip it on its head, add a twist and mix it up to provide something interesting and unique. We’ve often heard it said that writers should “give us what we expect, but not in the way we expect it.” That’s how you can meet, and exceed, genre expectations.
Check out Ian’s Insights article about how Genre really works, to find out more!
© WriteMovies 2017. Exclusive to WriteMovies – To syndicate this content for your own publication, contact ian (at) writemovies dot-com.
by WriteMovies | Sep 9, 2016 | Highlights, Ian Kennedy, Writing Insights
Writers need to feel this connection to these characters too – it is only through your characters that audiences can connect with your story and theme.
“Writers need to feel this connection to these characters too – it is only through your characters that audiences can connect with your story and theme.” – The follow up article to “Insights: Character Driven Storytelling” by Ian Kennedy, WriteMovies Director of World Wide Development. (more…)
