It’s no secret that The Wachowski’s SPEED RACER is primed to be the summer’s first big FLOP. Nikki Finke explains:

The real problems plaguing this pic occurred not in the marketing but in the production. Oh heck, they started as far back as handing control of the project to the writer-director Wachowski siblings (since they’re no longer brothers). The Industry scuttlebutt is that Warner Bros Pictures Group prez Jeff Robinov, a one-time agent, gave way too much power to his former clients. Of course, the success of their Matrix franchise justified a certain degree of autonomy. But Robinov and for that matter his boss Alan Horn should have written into the contract that Speed Racer had to clock in at 90 to 100 minutes long — the average for kiddie pics these days — and not the absurd 2 hours, 15 minutes length it is now.

Now we’d gladly sit through 2 hours (we think) of a SPEED RACER acid trip, which looks like nothing so much as playing an auto racing game. But most people wouldn’t. Movie Marketing Madness has more on how Warners dropped the ball

And right there I think you have a sense of how this movie is differing from most of the other tentpole releases this summer: It’s the only one that seems to be sublimating character for visuals. Iron Man, The Dark Knight, heck even The Incredible Hulk have all taken pains to make sure it’s the character every bit as much as the special effects that are drawing people in. I can’t help but think it’s this sterility in approach that’s contributing to the lack of buzz around the movie and its poor tracking. People are engaging with the characters that they’re seeing as more fully fleshed out rather than something that just looks wicked cool.

Be that as it may we have every intention of going to see SPEED RACER. First off, it looks weird, even if it is dreadful. Second, the SPEED RACER cartoon was our first great love. We HAD to be home in time for Speed. We threw horrible tantrums when we missed it, and wore our vinyl-lined Speed-esque kiddie driving gloves until our mom had to just about cut them off our hands and they smelled like egg salad inside. So yeah there’s some nostalgia at play. But we just like Speed Racer.

BONUS: the new Speed Racer cartoon debuted on Nick recently, and it was written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray.

¶ Online chatter about Frank Miller’s adaptation of THE SPIRIT has been a bit harsh but apparently Lionsgate is high on it. While the movie was previously planned to be released in the cinematic no man’s land of January, it’s been moved up to a Christmas Day release.

Of the move, Lionsgate president of theatrical films Tom Ortenberg said: “Comic-Con fans (in New York in March) resoundingly confirmed what we felt in our bones about ‘The Spirit’: This is a great film and an irresistible piece of entertainment. … For all of us, it was an easy decision.”

Perhaps IRON MAN had a little something to do with this decision.

¶ Okay we all know there will be an IRON MAN 2, but will it adapt “Demon in a Bottle” the iconic story of a superhero on a drinking binge? It would seem to be a natural storyline for Robert Downey Jr to handle, but not so fast, says Borys Kit of the Hollywood Reporter:

Robert Downey Jr. (who’s not yet signed on for the pic but could very well end up doing it) said he thinks oblique is the way to go. “I have a feeling that the best way to go into Tony and the ‘Demon and the Bottle’ storyline is show his 40th birthday party,” he told Risky Biz at the premiere. “Let that tie in with something people can understand, (people) who maybe don’t have that disease. Anyone over 40 knows what it’s like to feel like you’re looking at the back 9 of your life. Mid-life crisis. A couple of bottles of champagne and he’s just getting started, and they think there’s something wrong with him, and you understand why he’s going to these excesses. It’s much more fertile when you don’t call a spade a spade.”

Downey already faced a lot of questions from journalists on the subject of substance abuse during the worldwide tour promoting his new hit movie, and probably won’t be thrilled to rehash it again. In fact, he doesn’t think most fans are interested in that facet of his life. “It’s simply not what people want to read or hear about. Its a failsafe thing for journalists who dont know that I’ve moved on from that.”

¶ There’s a new WATCHMEN video up, this one about the costumes.

¶ Yes yes Matthew McConaughey rumored to be Captain America. A trusted Beat operatives sat a few rows in front of the bongo-lover at the Yankees game the other night but didn’t get a chance to quiz him on it, alas.

¶ Cinematical looks at DC’s efforts at making superhero movies:

I know all about the Justice League movie problems and the inability to get Wonder Woman flying, but really: After seeing how well-received Iron Man was — and after hearing about Marvel’s plans regarding The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, and The Avengers — I’m starting to feel a little bad for DC Comics’ movie division. But here’s the thing: As a character of popular culture, Iron Man (born 1963) is not exactly a Spider-Man or even close to a Superman — and still Marvel and Paramount were able to bang a really excellent blockbuster out of the guy. (And let’s not forget that a relatively obscure Marvel character called Blade pretty much kick-started this comic-flick renaissance.) Does anyone doubt that a character like The Flash could have similar results? Given the right cast and crew, I’m thinking The Flash could be one hell of a fun flick. So let’s get moving already!

Marvel held an earnings call this morning, and the big, no-brainer news was IRON MAN 2 in 2010. Also on the slate: THOR in 2010, followed by CAPTIAN AMERICA: FIRST AVENGER and THE AVENGERS in 2011. 2009 will be a bare cupboard year for Marvel, because of the writers strike, but IRON MAN’s smashing debut should keep their name in lights until then.

The company said its improved forecast did not include upside from the box office success of “Iron Man,” only its better-than-expected first-quarter performance.

Marvel shares jumped $2.34, or 7.7 percent, to $32.59 in morning trading.

The rise in stock prices is a first for Marvel — traditionally, after a big movie opening the stock price goes down a bit. It wasn’t all golden news, though: publishing was down 4% for the quarter and 14% year to year. Marvel hopes SECRET INVASION will pick up the slack and leave this year up over last, however.

It is official: Iron Man is a monster hit, taking in over $200 mil worldwide in its first weekend.

Pictures and Marvel Studios’ Iron Man exceeded all expectations, earning a massive $100.75 million during its opening weekend domestically from 4,105 theaters and $104.2 million since debuting Thursday night, averaging $24,543 per site. Internationally, the film has also earned an incredible $96.7 million in 57 countries since it began opening Wednesday, putting its worldwide total at $201 million after just five days!

As predicted, it’s the 10th biggest opening ever, the 4th biggest opening for a superhero movie, and the second biggest non-sequel movie opening, after Spider-Man.

The news is great for Marvel, of course, although traditionally their stock dips after each and every blockbuster as profit-takers sell off. Stock was up slightly on Friday behind very heavy volume. We’ll update it when the market opens. They’re holding their Q1 earnings call this morning, and that should be a lot of fun to listen to.

On the larger front. this will do nothing to crimp Hollywood’s love affair with the comics…well, hell, we write this every time a comic-book-movie does well, but the fact is that CBM’s do very well at the box office. Now, the movies that do well are always based on source material of some vision and/or passion — from Spider-Man to 300 to Ghost World. It remains to be seen of the stampede of “made to be optioned” comics to the option block will result in any actual films, let alone good films. Even something like 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, which opened at #1 but was generally undistinguished yet profitable, was based on a graphic novel which had flair and originality. But there will have to be many, many, MANY clinkers to end this love affair.

But there is always a naysayer, as Popular Mechanics points out that comic book movies, are driving out real SF films:

Despite the rise of the so-called graphic novel over the past few decades—self-contained, morally complex comic series like Alan Moore’s Watchmen and Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns—comic books are still widely regarded as kiddie stuff. And when X-Men and Spider-Man recently proved that film adaptations of popular comics were a relatively untapped box-office goldmine, they did so without substantially updating the science behind the superheroes.

We’ll throw in our own little naysay here: while IRON MAN’s critical response is the best ever for a superhero movie, it is not, in our opinion, the best ever superhero movie, let alone best ever comic book movie. It is very very good, but the plot is too formulaic for that. We’d pick SPIDER-MAN 2 as the best superhero movie — just our opinion, mind — followed closely by BATMAN & ROBIN. Wink wink! But you know, almost every time a good superhero movie opens everyone thinks it’s the best ever for a while.

So much for GTA IV:

The summer blockbuster season is off to a flying start with Robert Downey, Jr. in Iron Man. Financed and produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount, the spectacularly-reviewed comic book adaptation received an estimated 12% improvement from its opening day for a staggering $36.4M Saturday. That should translate to a $94.74M 3-day, and when Thursday night preview screenings are added in, the John Favreau-directed pic should have $100.24M banked by Monday morning.

The movie is tracking to be the 9th biggest opening ever, and the second biggest non-sequel opening ever after — what else? — Spider-Man.

Anyway you slice it, it’s a it’s a spectacular success for the debut film from Marvel Studios.

How if they can just get past the Hulk.

IRON MAN is a lot of fun and will make a lot of money. It seems to have a bit of “four quadrant” appeal even, and may be the superhero movie that breaks out of the young male demographic that is their bread and butter.

Or maybe not. It’s hard to imagine a movie that investigates boyish fantasies more thoroughly. Fast cars, loud missiles, flying around in a metal suit shooting fire out your hand, tinkering in the lab and soldering together a miniature nuclear power plant out of some scraps you found lying around the cave - this is a Radio Shack fantasy all the way.

Mild spoilers to follow below the cut.

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Warning: You must sit through all of the credits in IRON MAN to see a cameo by Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. This has kind of been floating around, but though we stayed to the “shot on Arriflex” credit for IRON MAN, most of the Marvel screening audience had already left the theatre, so we bolted, and we didn’t hear any whooping and hollering as we walked out that would have indicated the ending scene. But there it is up on Youtube…or it was for a few days. So what gives? If only we had paid more attention to Rich Johnston the other day.

One thing missing from the film was the much-touted end of movie scene with Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury. I understand from British Film classification sources that the scene is in the print that they’ve approved for general release, but not in premiere or preview screenings, so as not to spoil the um.. surprise… bugger. Anyway, he’s recruiting for a group called The Avengers.

Vulture has a whole run down of the affair, but basically the cameo was kept out of the critics’ screenings and put back in for regular audiences. Personally, we don’t mind saying until the very end of the credits—we were raised to believe it is a mark of respect to the filmmakers. However that was before credits went on for 5 minutes or so. (We were watching 1979’s Alien on TV last night and were shocked to see the credits lasted all of about 30 seconds.) What we do find annoying is the current trend of putting the ending of a movie AFTER the five minute credits — see Pirates of the Caribbean 3. Many movies these days do not pass the “bladder test” and making it necessary to sit through those endless credits may well be torture for many.

Meanwhile, the films has a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes at the moment. Trust us — it was GOOD, but it wasn’t the rapture. The movie is key for Marvel Studio’s future but they spent big — very big, ICv2 reports:

Iron Man, which cost $150 million to produce and another $75 million to promote, will require a strong debut to keep the stock market analysts looking favorably on Marvel Entertainment’s stock. Although with Marvel Studios’ unique financing plan, the company actually has little immediate financial risk associated with the film (see “Marvel to Produce Its Own Films”).

Not that Marvel really has much to worry about: the question about IRON MAN is not whether it will be a blockbuster, but how big a blockbuster it will be.

The movie is expected to open well, between $65 and $100 million, depending on how seriously you take the tracking that shows young women are not interested in seeing the picture–only 19% first choice– which makes it a “three quadrant” movie for starters. The biggest blockbusters, like Narnia, wind up pulling everybody. Young men under 25 have 95% awareness of Iron Man, 65% definite interest and 35% first choice. Women over 25 are more interested in Downey and Gwenyth Paltrow; they will spread the word that Downey is fun and Paltrow actually has a decent role. So the picture could hold well.

Up at Apple.
Image ganked from Pulp Secret. Sorry boys, we’re very pressed for time.

Five of them!
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Variety liked it:

Finally, someone’s found a sure-fire way to make money with a modern Middle East war movie: Just send a Marvel superhero into the fray to kick some insurgent butt. The powerhouse comicbook-inspired actioner “Iron Man” isn’t principally about this fantasy, but it won’t hurt at least American audiences’ enjoyment of this expansively entertaining special effects extravaganza. Having an actor as supercharged as Robert Downey Jr. at the center of such a tech-oriented enterprise reps a huge plus, and Paramount should reap big B.O. rewards by getting out ahead of the summer tentpole pack with such a classy refitting of an overworked format.

It’s refreshing, for a start, that the character suddenly endowed with superpowers isn’t a dweeby teen, but rather a pushing-middle-age genius who is himself entirely responsible for the advanced means he acquires to combat his adversaries; even more than the latest incarnation of Batman, he’s a self-made superman. And while we’ve seen plenty of masks and gravity-resistant heroes before, the outfit sported by the main man here, which looks as though it was made by a top ski boot manufacturer, is striking and capable of great things.

• Quick Stop has the Season 3 teaser we’ve been hearing about. Does anyone know what that music at the start is?

• Gawker yells: Stop Adapting The Wrong Comics and has this idea for a LOVE AND ROCKETS movie:

Who should star and direct? Even the visual style of the Hernandez brothers fits King of the Hill creator Mike Judge, and instead he is wasting years of his life on movies like the Luke Wilson-Maya Rudolph comedy Idiocracy. Judge is laboring on another television show in the interim, and when he decides to come back to the big screen L & R should be the reason. Casting a bunch of total unknowns for this would be a stroke of genius. My office will bill your office, Mike.

• Vulture, however asks a different question: Which Superhero Movie Will Suck?:

Why Hellboy 2 might suck:
We’re a huge fan of Guillermo del Toro, but Hellboy creator Mike Mignola’s comments last week that the new movie represents Del Toro’s vision more than his own didn’t inspire a huge amount of confidence. Neither did the trailer, which is so overstuffed with Pan’s Labyrinthine creepy-crawlies that Hellboy’s trademark wit gets lost in the shuffle. Most of all, this is the superhero movie we’re most looking forward to this summer — which makes us all the more nervous that, in the tradition of past so-called sure things Hulk and Spider-Man 3, it’ll be lousy.
Odds it won’t be super? 3:1.

• What is it like inside the LOST writer’s room? Noted fan magazine Popular Mechanics tells us:

CC: The writer’s room is a very lively place where every story point is debated and kicked around. We break the stories in their totality in the writer’s room down to really the very very kind of minute details of scenes, so, you know, you’re kind of harnessing the brain power of eight people in there, and that mind hive is very helpful in problem solving. And different people know more about various subjects, so, you know, one of our favorite pastimes in the room is we play this game…ah, what’s the actual title…? It’s Geek versus Jock.
DL: We have one writer, Brian K. Vaughn, who writes comic books, and then another writer, Adam Horowitz, who’s like a die-hard sports fan.
CC: Yankees fan. He used to sell hot dogs at Yankees Stadium.
DL: We’ll ask Vaughn an easy sports question, like how many innings are there in a baseball game…
CC: Or what is the color of the Carolina Panthers or what sport do the Carolina Panthers play…
DL: And then we’ll ask Horowitz to name two of the Avengers. And they will face off, and it’s fun to watch them, you know, try to answer questions outside of their specific area of expertise.

Confession: we’re out of gas and waiting for the weekend to chill out, sleep in and change the cat litter. So nothing on the agenda today. However thanks to everyone who sent us the news that acclaimed Mexican director Guillermo del Toro is a lock to direct The Hobbit and its mysterious sequel. Del Toro will move to New Zealand for four years to work with Peter Jackson and WETA on the films. As we mentioned before, we’re quite happy with this choice. Like Jackson himself, del Toro has the necessary understanding of evil and terror to make the films the wide ranging saga it should be, and not a cutesy tale of little furry footed fellas.

Of the greatest concern is still the mystery-shrouded “sequel” to The Hobbit, which apparently takes place between the Battle of the Five Armies and Bilbo Baggins’ birthday party. With Ian McKellen on board as Gandalf we’d watch anything, but there doesn’t seem to be an obvious moment in the history to end with a triumphant reception at the White Tower. Given the crying game of Pan’s Labyrinth, don’t be too surprised if there are some sad tear-jerking moments in between happy hobbit dancing and the wailing of the wargs.

Technorati Tags: Guillermo del Toro, Tolkien

via AICN

Just for NYCC.

EW covers the rumored Ed Norton/Marvel feud over the upcoming Hulk movie, and scoops Norton’s own statement on the donnybrook, which he refers to by the Hollywood term: “healthy process.”

“Like so many people I’ve loved the story of The Hulk since I was a kid, so it was thrilling when Marvel asked me to write and help produce an altogether new screen incarnation, as well as play Bruce Banner. I grew up reading Marvel Comics and always loved the mythic dimension and contemporary themes in the stories, and I’m proud of the script I wrote. In every phase of production, including the editing, working with Louis Leterrier has been wonderful…I’ve never had a better partner, and the collaboration with all the rest of the creative team has been terrific. Every good movie gets forged through collaboration, and different ideas among people who are all committed and respect the validity of each other’s opinions is the heart of filmmaking. Regrettably, our healthy process, which is and should be a private matter, was misrepresented publicly as a ‘dispute,’ seized on by people looking for a good story, and has been distorted to such a degree that it risks distracting from the film itself, which Marvel, Universal and I refuse to let happen. It has always been my firm conviction that films should speak for themselves and that knowing too much about how they are made diminishes the magic of watching them. All of us believe The Incredible Hulk will excite old fans and create new ones and be a huge hit…our focus has always been to deliver the Hulk that people have been waiting for and keep the worldwide love affair with the big green guy going strong.'’

So you see? Nothing to see here. Just buy a ticket already.

Here’s a little background for you. It seems the writers strike has left Hollywood scrambling for IP — any IP, even graphic novels, books and magazines. :

Feature development execs were bracing for a deluge of feature spec scripts to flood the market after the 100-day writers strike wrapped in mid-February. But the storm, if it’s brewing at all, has yet to hit, so the majors are chasing after books and magazine articles harder than they have in years.

Because the volume of pitches and specs from screenwriters has been light so far, studios, flush with new fiscal-year development budgets, have turned to books, mags as well as graphic novels for ideas, biz insiders say.

The article lists a lot of books and articles in development about things like salvage ships and women who are desperate to find husbands. So see, it ISN”T all comic book stuff after all.

We’re all for it! CAT FOOD!!!!!!!

Chris Brandt’s documentary about indie comics, THE INDEPENDENTS, years in the making,has a screening at NYCC and you can buy the finished DVD at the Top Shelf booth. More here.

The first look at Frank Miller’s THE SPIRIT movie and big sneak peeks at HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY and THE INCREDIBLE HULK are the most sure-to-be-blogged about presentation at New York Comic-Con. It isn’t quite up to the level of San Diego’s star fest, but it’s getting there, for better or worse. All details in the jump.
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We’re still a little verklempt over the whole leaked-Spirit-photos thing and getting our very first studio cease and desist letter. Luckily, IGN has the first OFFICIAL Spirit stills a photo of Samuel L. Jackson as the Octopus and ScarJo as, yes, a sexy nurse.

Things on the SPIRIT movie front are definitely heating up, with the website live, including a message board. There’s also this countdown clock:

which, you don’t need to be a mathematician to figure out, is counting down to the SPIRIT panel at New York Comic-Con.

Numerous sources are reporting that Join HETFET.org appears to be a viral marketing site for HELLBOY II. Keep watching.

Some mixed messages for Marvel’s next two films — both of them from the newly launched Marvel Studios.

First, the New York Times rounds up what everyone has been whispering for some time: THE INCREDIBLE HULK movie may be more of a tantrum than a rampage:

Bad buzz. Creative infighting. Superhero gridlock at the multiplex. For Marvel Studios, handling gamma rays is starting to look like a cakewalk compared to turning “The Incredible Hulk” into a movie franchise.

The article covers all the familiar beats: Ang Lee disappointment, blah blah; Edward Norton and studio feuding, blah blah; fan dismay with cgi, blah blah.

The story reports “lip-biting” among investors and worries over Norton’s continued feud with the filmmakers: if he doesn’t get his say over the final cut he may not even do any publicity, a body blow in a summer crammed with competing action/adventure movies. Marvel Studios head David Maisel handles the rumors with the diplomacy one must develop when dealing with volatile stars whom you wouldn’t like when they are angry:

“When you get to this point in the process, there are always lots of passionate discussions,” he said. “Edward is very passionate. He is as passionate about the Hulk as we are.” (For those unaccustomed to Hollywood speak, “very passionate” roughly translates to a seven on the “he’s a difficult person” scale.)

BUT all is not gloomy for Marvel, as trade reporter Anne Thompson delivers a big wet kiss to Marvel’s OTHER summer movie: “Iron Man: Why it Will be Huge”:

Those of us who saw Paramount’s first Iron Man materials at Comic-Con–and witnessed the hordes lining up just to see the damned costume unveiled–don’t need to be convinced that this picture will be a summer boxoffice juggernaut. It should easily pass $200 million. Will it get to $300 million is another question.

Why?

1. NEW ACTION HERO. This may be the robust male action fantasy hero that we’ve been waiting for. A new contemporary complex male who isn’t Batman or Superman. (Face it, they’ve been around for a while.) Check out the latest clip and our photo gallery. Who wouldn’t want to fly around like that? While Iron Man comicbook fans are legion, this is a new modern movie hero who kicks ass. And he’s not a nice guy.

All systems seem to be go for IRON MAN — good buzz, great looking trailers, well received assets. Even people who aren’t familiar with Ol’ Shellhead think the movie looks “fun.”

Our guess? IRON MAN will do very well; THE INCREDIBLE HULK will make money on DVD.