Why did MOS not connect with US audiences

[ye5man]

Good point about repeat viewings. Certainly the case for me. I am in the mood to see it again now, but no longer showing

[theoj]

I think the point about the lack of humour is a strong one and perhaps MOS needed to try and entertain the family more with lighter touches of comedy in the script and more witty lines from Superman himself, and tone down on the violence and action which, as has been said already, can be seen in many other summer blockbusters.

So perhaps it was the character of Superman himself that wasn't written well enough to connect with audiences and specifically, with children.

MOS 2 needs to be more of a family film and WB need to work harder at a story, script and characters that connect with a wider span of moviegoers, but specifically children.

I wouldn't mind if MOS 2 goes for a PG rating, which would probably be a wise move, because if they can't connect with children, then the entire future of Superman is in trouble, as they are the future fans that Superman needs to survive.

[Jor-L5150]

franchise left for dead a few years ago, with zero expectations from the director and it banks between 2/3 and 3/4 of a billion. In a crowded season of huge franchise /tentpole blockbusters.

Ten years ago we were diasppointed the "worlds finest" was shelved and now we're getting a "worlds finest".

I wish ALL my nerd fantasies were this tragic.

[Metallo]

I wasn't that disappointed that BvsS got put on hold. It had Akiva Goldsmans name on it. It was the wrong direction to take back then. Especially as it was

Haven't a few of the last summers been crowded with big name competition? If MOS had better legs at the summer box office that wouldn't have been as much of an issue. It's not like most of this summers blockbusters have been home runs. A lot of them didn't live up to some people's hopes.

Aug 12, 2013 12:58:11 GMT -5 theoj said:

I think the point about the lack of humour is a strong one and perhaps MOS needed to try and entertain the family more with lighter touches of comedy in the script and more witty lines from Superman himself, and tone down on the violence and action which, as has been said already, can be seen in many other summer blockbusters.

So perhaps it was the character of Superman himself that wasn't written well enough to connect with audiences and specifically, with children.

MOS 2 needs to be more of a family film and WB need to work harder at a story, script and characters that connect with a wider span of moviegoers, but specifically children.

I wouldn't mind if MOS 2 goes for a PG rating, which would probably be a wise move, because if they can't connect with children, then the entire future of Superman is in trouble, as they are the future fans that Superman needs to survive.

It really wasn't as much of a kid friendly movie as it could have been. I'm not talking smurfs or some shit but it was fairly dark in tone and aesthetics.

[EnriqueH]

Kevin, as I said, about 95% of people I talked CASUALLY liked it.

Actually I'd say 96%. 2% loved it; 2% thought it sucked.

[atp]

MoS needed more emotional content. Not anger.

[EnriqueH]

Do you think they should try again?

[Jimbo]

Aug 12, 2013 17:57:48 GMT -5 EnriqueH said:

Kevin, as I said, about 95% of people I talked CASUALLY liked it.

Actually I'd say 96%. 2% loved it; 2% thought it sucked.

There's a very fine line between casually liking something and "meh".

[EnriqueH]

There is.

But it's absolutely, positively weird about how almost everyone I've talked to has given me those furrowed eyebrows followed by that bewildered, "I liked it." Like they weren't sure they liked it.

[Jor-L5150]

So man of steel upset the applecart.






Good.

[EnriqueH]

Mind translating?

[Jor-L5150]

If I did, it would be :
"Lazy writing...making fans 'explain' everything"
If I don't,
"Lazy writing...making viewers ask questions".


So...no.

Go watch "TITANIC". Pussy.

[crazy_asian_man]

I think the point about the lack of humour is a strong one and perhaps MOS needed to try and entertain the family more with lighter touches of comedy in the script and more witty lines from Superman himself, and tone down on the violence and action which, as has been said already, can be seen in many other summer blockbusters.

So perhaps it was the character of Superman himself that wasn't written well enough to connect with audiences and specifically, with children.

MOS 2 needs to be more of a family film and WB need to work harder at a story, script and characters that connect with a wider span of moviegoers, but specifically children.

I wouldn't mind if MOS 2 goes for a PG rating, which would probably be a wise move, because if they can't connect with children, then the entire future of Superman is in trouble, as they are the future fans that Superman needs to survive.

I didn't mind that MOS wasn't going for a family audience- (TDK certainly wasn't/isn't appropriate for the family- though, neither were Batman Begins nor TDKR for that matter)--- but I was just bothered that the execution of what they committed to, (imo) wasn't done in a better way + it felt like a different character to me by the end.

DOES a Superman film need to be one that's family friendly?

I'm not sure- but it's certainly an interesting question..... moneywise I don't think that they need to, proven by TDK- but what do you guys think?

[Deleted]

I think I've said it before, but as someone without kids I'm tired of feeling like I'm being denied more adult-oriented material (no, not porn). But how many really good dramas come out anymore from a major studio? Something like a "Silver Linings Playbook" are sleeper hits, usually produced by a studio's smaller offshoot. Studios want to shoot for something suitable for all audiences because it's the way to maximize box office returns. Everyone's got a shitty animated franchise. Movies franchise that were once R-rated violence and curse-word fests are now PG-13 for no reason other than to get more tickets sold. Fuck that. I'm tired of this shit.

[theoj]

Yes but I do feel that Superman should go the other way and be a PG rated movie that is family friendly and connects with children just as STM did with me when I was 4 years old!

STM was PG and had more than enough WOW moments to impress audiences of all ages.

MOS 2 doesn't need to impress through scenes of intense action and violence and destruction.

It needs to impress through a great message of hope and optimism and heroism, that MOS promised on and claimed to symbolise but didn't really deliver on.

Batman is DARK and is more about justice and revenge.

Superman is about truth, justice and the American way... and surely darkness and violence have no place in a Superman movie. If the new Superman is about hope, then give us hope, and show Superman leading the people with this message.

That's exactly what I was expecting after the trailers, but even though I do love MOS, and have enjoyed the movie on multiple viewings, it does disappoint me that the character of Superman did not come across in the way that I expected.

Nevertheless it showed signs of promise and signs of hope, but I guess I will have to HOPE for more with MOS 2.

PS, screw Batman... I've had enough of Batman!

[Metallo]

Despite being a "lighter film" STM still shows more maturity in its production than MOS. the people making it didn't depend as much on gimmicks and they understood the content. They were smart about not to clutter it up to try to create faux complexity.

[cypher85]

I think the reviews killed it. The people who were going to see it saw it regardless of the reviews opening weekend. The rest, the normal folks out there, waited. Word of mouth wasn't great but don't you people act like just because YOU didn't love it that NO one did. The only people I know that just sorta liked it, outside of people on here, are my parents. MY PARENTS. Everyone else LOVED it or at the very least liked it a LOT. So, it's just one of those things.

Nailed it. And I think with an almost $300 million domestic take, there's no way in heck I would say it didn't connect. Now I won't say it absolutely did connect though. As Kev said, it's one of those things. It isn't going to become or go down in history like TDK, or heck even Iron Man. But, it is in no way a flop, not even close commercially or critically.

[Deleted]

Yeah, the second biggest movie of the year is NOT a disappointment. Just falls to personal disappointment. If you didn't like it, it kinda failed at the box office. If you liked it, it did pretty well at the box office. If you loved it, it did amazing at the box office. Reality can be skewed by point of views.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using proboards

[Jimbo]

SR sadly had to stand on its own. It never got a followup.

There will be a sequel to MOS, so it will be a stepping stone for new adventures. When it comes to Batman, most focus on The Dark Knight. Batman Begins set the groundwork, and is typically marginalized by its more popular sequel. Same could happen with MOS.

[Metallo]

Aug 13, 2013 7:40:00 GMT -5 cypher85 said:

I think the reviews killed it. The people who were going to see it saw it regardless of the reviews opening weekend. The rest, the normal folks out there, waited. Word of mouth wasn't great but don't you people act like just because YOU didn't love it that NO one did. The only people I know that just sorta liked it, outside of people on here, are my parents. MY PARENTS. Everyone else LOVED it or at the very least liked it a LOT. So, it's just one of those things.

Nailed it. And I think with an almost $300 million domestic take, there's no way in heck I would say it didn't connect. Now I won't say it absolutely did connect though. As Kev said, it's one of those things. It isn't going to become or go down in history like TDK, or heck even Iron Man. But, it is in no way a flop, not even close commercially or critically.

Last time I read it was struggling to hit 290. Even most of the people who liked the movie weren't raving over it. And more people were disappointed than just a handful. This isn't a Star Trek 09 situation where only hard level Trek geeks didn't give it a chance. MOS divided people far more.

The movie did well but it also had a front loaded weekend thanks to reboot curiosity and Nolans name slapped on it. If the movie connected as much as some people say it would have done better after its second weekend. Like Enrique said a lot of people thought it was ok n also so way. You say folks you know liked it. Most people I know weren't impressed. Even people who I thought would be.

WBs actions post release say everything about MOS and people's reactions. Money doesn't always mean a film is good. Revenge of the Fallen is a laughing stock to many people yet it made a shitload of cash. And it had far lower expectations than MOS.

[Metallo]

Aug 13, 2013 12:23:55 GMT -5 Jimbo said:

SR sadly had to stand on its own. It never got a followup.

There will be a sequel to MOS, so it will be a stepping stone for new adventures. When it comes to Batman, most focus on The Dark Knight. Batman Begins set the groundwork, and is typically marginalized by its more popular sequel. Same could happen with MOS.

Yeah. MOS was guarantee a sequel cause they want Avengers money. There's no way WB was going to start over again. When high level execs are talking about what Marvel did we know WBs salivating at the thought of billions. Like you said SR was never guaranteed that chance because WB wasn't as hot on a shared universe.

[atp]

Which flopped harder, SR or MoS?

[Metallo]

I wouldn't say either was a flop financially but MOS certainly performed far better financially. I've also got a feeling WB EXPECTED MOS to make more. They threw everything they had at it and Nolan is their Golden Boy. They thought they addressed why SR didn't work. Not quite.

[ShogunLogan]

The more I think about it, the more I missed Clark Kent. You know, the grown-up Clark Kent in Metropolis. He was non-existent until the very end of the movie. I think that would have brought in the charm.

[Metallo]

Hopefully we see more of him in the sequel. And hopefully they don't make him painfully serious. I don't mean clumsy geek but Cain's Kent would be nice.