After a somewhat long break we are back to superheroes. Last time around we were in 2008 looking at what was arguably the best year yet for the genre. Today we’ll look at a few comic book characters brought for the first time on the big screen, an original black hero, two sequels, a spin-off and a once considered impossible to adapt graphic novel. But first there’s a little something that must be done.

Before we get going I have to give Spider-Man 3 a second look just to clear some things. I understand very well that last time I came across way to harsh on Sam Raimi, blaming him for a lot more then he deserved blaming. What I didn’t mention was how Sony handled the project and how they forced Venom into Raimi’s story with a crowbar. This explains why the Symbiote plot was so underdeveloped and why it seemed shoehorned into the overall plot. Now I’m not saying Raimi is a saint, he could have handled certain plot points a lot better and his direction was all over the place compared to previous entries. Throwing that to the side, I blame Sony and only Sony for how Spider-Man 4 was handled (read cancelled) and I have to be honest, if it wasn’t for Mark Webb (500 Days of Summer) directing The Amazing Spider-Man, I would not be interested in that reboot.

Back to 2008, we start with Wanted, the Mark Miller comic turned big budget movie starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman. This isn’t your typical superhero but the dude can curve bullets and he fights a secret worldwide assassin organization, so you could say he qualifies to be in here. Wanted made $134.5 million in North America and $341.6 million worldwide. A sequel has been considered and then dropped but there’s still a chance we might get Wanted 2 in the future.

Released on the 2nd of July 2008 starring Will Smith, Hancock became the first original superhero movie to hit big. It made $227.9 million in North American and $624.3 million worldwide, mostly thanks to the huge drawing power of its star, Will Smith. Hancock 2 is categorized as being in development on IMDB for a 2013 proposed release.

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army came out on July 11th 2008. You see, the original Hellboy (2004), while loved by fans, wasn’t a particularly big hit grossing only $99.3 million worldwide on a $66 million budget, so Sony dropped it. Few years later, Universal stepped in and gave Guillermo del Toro $85 million to make the sequel fans expected. Hellboy 2: The Golden Army was well received by just about everyone but, turns out releasing just a week before the most hotly anticipated title of the year isn’t a good idea, even more so when said title is also a superhero movie. With $160.3 million worldwide Hellboy 2 didn’t cover its budget so the 3rd planned entry is now on hold. Unfortunately with time passing by so fast and Ron Perlman (Hellboy) not getting any younger (61), not to mention Guillermo del Toro being so busy with other projects, Hellboy 3 is starting to look like a pipe dream.

July 18th 2008, the day The Dark Knight opened in theaters. Now for those living under a rock, this is the sequel to 2005′s Batman Begins, the fantastic reboot of the cape crusader handled by the brilliant mind of Christopher Nolan. Now Batman Begins made $372.7 million worldwide, a good number, certainly not enough to prepare us for how big The Dark Knight would become. I won’t make a big deal out of it but the untimely death of Heath Ledger (28 at the time), playing the Joker in the movie, turned more then a few heads and ears. But it was the movie that kept building hype and if Spider-Man 3 taught us anything, hugely anticipated popular superhero movies can become extremely popular at the box office. The Dark Knight was no different, grossing $158.4 million opening weekend, a new record at the time (second today). It generated $533.3 million in North America becoming the 2nd highest grosser ever (3rd today) and by far the biggest superhero movie (a title it still holds). The Dark Knight made over $1 billion worldwide (4th movie to ever get there) turning Batman in Warner’s biggest moneymaker and going as far as having them move Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (that was set to open in November 2008) to summer 2009 just so they had a big movie the following year, since they already had their fill for 2008. The Dark Knight Rises, followup to this, will open in July 2012.

As you might remember, 2008 started bad for superhero movies with the godawful Superhero Movie. It was only fitting that it would end on that same note with The Spirit. This is a movie I can only describe in so many words and those would be: REALLY BAD. The Spirit made only $39 million worldwide, so a massive disappointment on all accounts.

Watchmen, the highly anticipated big screen adaptation of the most celebrated graphic novel ever, came out in March 2009 under the direction of Zack Snyder of 300 fame. Thought by many to be impossible to adapt, making Watchmen was anything but an easy task. When it finally came out, the movie was appreciated for a lot of things it did (or tried to do) but not nearly as much as I think it deserved. For anyone interested in a more complex, brainy, superhero flick, I definitely recommend you watch this. It gets a lot more hate then it should, blue penis aside. A 163 minute R-rated superhero movie is not what you would call commercial so Watchmen only made $185.2 million worldwide on a $130 million budget. Warner were not too happy about that.

In May 2009 it was time for Fox to dust off that old X-Men license once again with a spin-off titled X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The movie tells the story of Wolverine and how he became the character we knew in the X-Men movie trilogy. Arguably the most popular of the X-Men, this was the obvious choice for a spin-off and it payed off, at least financially since fans didn’t particularly enjoy this one all that much. On a budget of $150 million, X-Men Origins: Wolverine made $373 million worldwide and a sequel simply titled The Wolverine is planned for sometime in 2013 (and yes, I am well aware they are not calling it a proper sequel).

Finally on today’s order is Kick-Ass, a weird yet awesome flick based again on a Mark Miller (Wanted) comic. Coming out in April 2010, just before the big summer craziness, Kick-Ass had a lot of internet hype that unfortunately didn’t translate into big numbers at the box office. It made only $96.1 million worldwide on a $30 million budget, so at least it made back some money. The idea of a sequel has been thrown around but so far nothing is certain.

We started in 1978 and we’re already in 2010, now there’s just one more part left to go and I promise it won’t take as long as this one. Until then, if you’ve missed any of the previous parts, you can check them right here in the links: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 and Part 8.

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Last years winner was The Golden Compass

As well as announcing Hugh Jackman as the new host for next February’s Oscars, the Academy have revealed the 15 movies in the running for the 2008 visual effects Oscar.

Here is the list in alphabetical order:
Australia
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Cloverfield
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Hancock
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
The Incredible Hulk
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Iron Man
Journey to the Center of the Earth
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Quantum of Solace
The Spiderwick Chronicles

This award is probably the one people care about the most, seeing as though this category contains movies people actually see.

In early January the list will be narrowed down to 7, then on January 15th members of the visual effects branch will watch excerpts from the movies, and the list will be narrowed down to 3.

Which movie do you think deserves the Oscar?

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The reviews for Hancock weren’t that great, however if a movie makes $624 million worldwide does that really matter? Of course not! Therefore it isn’t the biggest surprise in the world to hear that Hancock 2 may eventually get made.

From Joblo.com:

We just got done talking to Will Smith, who’s promoting SEVEN POUNDS, and he told us that we’ll “definitely” be seeing a sequel.

When we asked Will if he’d ever be up for playing another superhero he replied that there were a lot of unexplored characters in the HANCOCK universe that would be ripe for a sequel and confirmed that we’ll definitely see the rumored HANCOCK 2 in a few years. So who do you think these “unexplored characters could be?”.

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We now know why the eagle was featured heavily in the movie but had no explanation…it was to appeal to the Japanese market!

The Japanese poster comes from IMPA and shows Will Smith with an Eagle shirt surrounded by lightning.

To any Japanese people out there. Does this turn you on?

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Hancock is set for release on July 2, and is set to make an estimated $150 MILLION over the five-day Fourth of July weekend! This will make his EIGHTH CONSECUTIVE $100 MILLION grossing movie!  Something no other actor has been able to accomplish.

Here are some interesting numbers:

MOST $100 MILLION MOVIES IN A CAREER (List includes animated films and excludes cameos)
1. Tom Hanks — 15
2. Tom Cruise — 14
3. Eddie Murphy — 13
4. Will Smith — 12 (including Hancock)
4. Harrison Ford — 12
6. Jim Carrey — 11
6. Robin Williams — 11
8. Mel Gibson — 10
9. Matt Damon — 9
10. Bruce Willis — 8
10. Jack Nicholson — 8

Will’s streak started with Men in Black II, and continued with Bad Boys II, I, Robot, Shark Tale, Hitch, The Pursuit of Happyness, and I Am Legend, and will continue with Hancock, which is estimated to make upwards of $280 million domestically.

Damn! Wish we had Will’s golden touch!

This will put him in front of Hollywood legends Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise for the most consecutive $100 million grossers!  His next movie, Seven Pounds (helmed by Pursuit director, Gabriele Muccino), is set for release in December and could make his ninth!

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…in a new clips from the movie. We have seen bits of this in the various trailers and TV spots but here is the the whole scene, well maybe not all of it but a good 41 seconds of it. I think it sounds better with the epic trailer music in the background but it is cool non the less.

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The clip below was shown on The Ellen DeGeneres Show when Will Smith was on to promote Hancock. The clip doesn’t reveal a major spoiler but does reveal something interesting about Hancock himself. Watch if you dare!

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A new image of Hancock all suited up has appeared online. It looks like a giant eagle structure has landed on the police cars behind him, which is only adding to the chaos. Check it out below!

Hancock will hit the big screen July 2nd.

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A new TV spot for Will Smith’s Hancock is now online. I can’t believe I am saying this but I am more pumped for this than I was for Iron Man.

Check it out below!

Note to Bryan Singer: Take notes for your second attempt at Superman

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I underestimated Hancock. I thought it was just a typical Will Smith fun Hollywood movie, well that’s what we are being sold anyway. From the trailers we’ve seen Hancock throwing a screaming whale out to sea, turning up in his tight X-Men suit to the bemusement of a police officer, and there is also an amusing moment when he asks a woman who is in obvious need of his help ‘”Do I have permission to touch your body? Its not sexual’”

I don’t know whether there was an alternative take of that scene or whether there was prison fun involved (if you know what I mean), but apparently Hancock involved a rape scene up until three weeks ago. The film has been given an R rating twice now, and director Peter Berg explains why.

“We had statutory rape up until three weeks ago,” Mr. Berg said, describing just one of the elements that has turned “Hancock” into an exercise in brinkmanship.

The film, he said, remained surprisingly sexual, violent and true in spirit to an original script that was viewed as brilliant but unmakable when its creator, Vincent Ngo, first circulated it more than a decade ago under the title “Tonight, He Comes.”

That’s the power of marketing for you. Who would have thought that Hancock could be darker then The Dark Knight? I think a few scenes will be cut to get bums on seats in July, but lets hope the DVD contains all of this R rated goodness!

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