People who like to watch superheroes usually know the director through superhero movies. You may have seen his works before, but you have not paid attention to who the director is. If you look at the introduction of a movie online, if there are more than two actors from Marvel and DC, it will say “Batman and Spider-Man pursue Black Widow!” because the audience already loves to label them. Even Nolan had to go to TDK to be recognized as a god by superhero movie audiences. He was not so strongly recognized at BEGINS.
Chuck Snyder came to prominence in 2004’s “Dawn of the Dead”, and then became famous in the 2007 comic book movie “300”. In 2009, he directed “Watchmen” that no one dared to take over! In 2005 and 2006, Warner already had “BATMAN BEGINS” and “SUPER MAN RETURN”. “Watchmen” can be said to be “not as good as expected” at the box office and word of mouth. It cannot be regarded as a complete failure, but it is definitely not a success:
- global box office: Approximately US$185 million
- Budget: Approximately US$130 million (excluding marketing)
- US box office: Approximately US$107 million
Although the box office equaled the production cost, considering the promotion fees and the film company’s share, the actual profit was very limited, and it should even be a loss.
The reviews and audience reactions at the time were very polarized. Some people praised it for its loyalty to the original work, strong visual style, and heavy atmosphere.
However, many people criticized it for its slow pace, unrelatable characters, being too dark, and making it difficult for ordinary viewers to enter the story.
But the film later released a Director’s Cut that added about 24 minutes of plot, and an Ultimate Cut that added the animated short “Tales of the Black Freighter” (Tales of the Black Freighter), totaling more than 3 hours and 30 minutes.
These extended versions are closer to the depth and narrative structure of the original comics, so they are very popular in the DVD market! Reviews turned positive, and it gradually established “cult following”. Some people who originally criticized the film changed their views on the director’s cut, believing it to be more complete and rich in meaning.
The first time I watched director Cha’s work was the “Watchmen” Ultimate Edition! It was a Chinese New Year holiday with a whole week, and it took me four days to finish reading it! It’s not that the movie is too boring or too bad, but because there are so many New Year’s events, I can’t concentrate on watching it at all. Since the video contains too much information, it needs to be chewed carefully.
But my first thought after watching this movie was: “This director is a genius!” From the very beginning, the celebrities reinterpreted world events, and the deliberately nostalgic superhero costumes! When I was young, I became a cross-dressing hero to fight against evil, and when I was old, I was bullied and beaten to death by gangsters. The scenes of the hero in his later years made me deeply moved…
I thought at the time: “If this director were to shoot Superman and Batman, he would be awesome!” Of course! I know that the pace and length of “Watchmen” are not the commercial factors that a superhero entertainment film should be. I just appreciate this rare film from the perspective of an “adult” who also likes superheroes. After all, people of a certain age like us all hope that the superheroes we loved as children can be shot from a more realistic and rigorous perspective, whether it is a special photography or robot work.
Recognize heroes and value heroes
Due to the success of Nolan’s TDK trilogy and the fact that Marvel has successfully assembled and produced “Avengers”, the global box office has reached US$1.518 billion! And Warner thinks that “The Dark Knight Rises” has already earned 1.085 billion US dollars based on Batman alone. If DC can gather together, wouldn’t it be able to achieve higher box office?
Warner approached Nolan hoping that he could make a reboot of Superman to link up with his Batman, because Warner believed that the 2006 Superman Resurrection was a failure with a global revenue of 391 million US dollars! So it must be restarted. (Interestingly, both Batman Begins, with $375 million, and Captain America: The First Avenger, with $371 million, are getting sequels.)
However, Nolan did not want to be tied to a superhero movie, so he only agreed to serve as producer and screenwriter, and to find a suitable director. So Nolan approached Chuck Snyder.
Nolan’s assessment of Chuck:
Nolan once said bluntly: “Any superhero science fiction movie released now, I can see the influence of Chuck.” He believes that Snyder has demonstrated his love for the potential of movies through the film, not only showing fantasy and visual stimulation, but also bringing emotional and shocking experiences.
Many superhero movies and TV series will refer to Chuck’s storyboards.
Nolan once praised the avant-garde filming of “Watchmen” and said that if the film was released in the era after the “Avengers” craze, it would be more accessible to audiences. He thought the film went too far…
Nolan pointed out that Snyder’s works are full of fantasy but also close to reality, which both move and stimulate the audience, showing his unique view of movies. Of course, this is the recognition of the artistry of the filmmakers by professional filmmakers! If you feel dissatisfied, that’s normal! Because we are all ordinary viewers of popcorn movies.
Because MOS is so similar to Nolan’s non-linear narrative style, Nolan said that he did not interfere with director Cha’s filming. He actually only participated in the screenwriting.
Even so, there are actually discussions between scripts. For example, in the scene where Superman kills General Zod, in the original script, Zod will be sent to the “Phantom Zone”, which is in line with the traditional image of a super character. However, David S. Goyer, one of the screenwriters, pointed out that Superman’s “no-kill principle” needs to have a source. If it has never been filmed, it will be unconvincing. He rewrote the script to describe a scene where Zod is about to use his heat vision to harm innocent civilians, so that Superman is forced to make a decision to kill him to stop this! But Nolan insisted: “This must not be done”!
Chuck believes that as an original new story, it must explain why Superman strongly refuses to kill. It is because he realized that killing a life with his own hands was the only star of his own kind in the world. This made him extremely painful and he would no longer kill easily in the future. After hearing this, Nolan slapped the case and said: Kill him!
The reviews of MOS are also very polarized, especially when Superman Resurrection was criticized for its weak point of view, but this episode doesn’t seem to have any. for example:
1. There is no classic Rif version of music
2. Henry is not like Reeve.
3. Superman is not optimistic, smiling, and confident.
4. Superman didn’t save his father during the tornado incident.
5. Kill General Zod
6. Fighting Zod did not lead him to the Sky Expansion Land
Fifth, I have already explained it above so I won’t repeat it. Here is a summary of the answers:
1. The 1989 Batman did not use the classic 1966 version of music, and Nolan’s TDK series did not use the 1989 music.
At that time, everything at TDK was considered a god, and so was the dubbing Hans Zimmer. MOS used Hans Zimmer as the voice of the new generation.
Where did the decision to compose Superman’s music come from? Maybe it hadn’t entered into everyone’s mind at the beginning. At BEGINS, everyone still hadn’t figured it out yet.
“It’s in your head”, I believe everyone is familiar with Hengchao’s musical intro, right?
2. In fact, Brandon only looked like Reeve in temperament and appearance, not really in appearance! Henry is also similar to him to a certain extent, but MOS has a different version of him in terms of dress, style, and color, so naturally it doesn’t feel like him.
3. Director Cha said that this time Superman’s growth will be a trilogy, and in the end he will become the Superman in everyone’s mind. Later we also learned that the second part was the death of Superman, and the third part was resurrected and became the Superman in everyone’s mind.
4.Why didn’t Superman save his adoptive father from the tornado? My personal interpretation is that this film uses the same “non-linear narrative” method as Nolan’s BATMAN BEGINS. The simplest method is the so-called “flashback”. People have initially seen the stout Henry showing off his power on an offshore oil tower! In the tornado scene, Superman was only seventeen years old, but he was cast by Henry himself. The movie did not tell how many powers the 17-year-old Superman had awakened, but his adoptive father always felt that protecting his identity was more important (in the bus incident, it was even hinted that he should not reveal his abilities even if he had to risk death!), so he stopped Superman from saving him. The young Superman always followed his father’s instructions, and his adoptive father died while hesitating…
The adoptive father didn’t want Clark to reveal his identity as an alien in order to save himself. He discussed with Clark earlier that maybe everyone on the school bus should be sacrificed without intervening. The adoptive father does not think that he is an exception, and he does not want to be the reason why Clark’s identity is exposed.
As a father, he didn’t think the world was ready for Clark. He also doesn’t want Clark to be ostracized by the world. If possible, he will hide his identity for the rest of his life.
6. Why don’t you lead him to an open space with few civilians during the battle? I don’t think that is a choice for Superman. The general will not listen to you! Moreover, fighting in the city is the most explosive. Do you think ULTRAMAN will lure the monsters to the open space when fighting in the city?
Final box office: $670 million
MOS ultimately earned US$670 million worldwide. Warner originally expected “Superman Resurrection” to have a global box office of 500 million, but the box office of 3.91 disappointed them! Although Warner has not stated the exact number, the results are still internally considered to be below the target. It seems that their target is 800 million to 1 billion?
The US$670 million in 2013 is converted to the purchasing power of US dollars in 2025. According to the average annual inflation rate of the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) of about 2.5% to 3%, the US$670 million in 2006 ≈ about US$990 million to 1.03 billion in 2025. Reference calculation (average annual inflation 2.8%): 670 million × (1.028)^19 ≈ $1.024 billion (2025 purchasing power)
In other words, Gunn’s new Superman in 2025 will have to reach over 600 million to defeat MOS, even if inflation is not taken into account. Our current performance is more than 500 million. Based on Warner’s current practice of maxing out the box office, if we are optimistic, it will reach 600 million! If we were to be fair and calculate inflation, we would lose a lot! And our 2006 Superman Resurrection had a house price of 391 million US dollars. In terms of inflation, 391 million US dollars (in 2006) ≈ about 598 million to 600 million US dollars (purchasing power in 2025). In the end, CEO Gunn’s new Superman was only tied with “Superman Rising”… If the new Superman can get a sequel, it can only be said that “Superman Rises” and MOS are too unfortunate, and Gunn is the CEO and has the power of life and death to control his own and other people’s works.
Of course, strictly speaking, the sequel to MOS was divided into “BVS” and “JL” by the impatient Warner. I will write about BVS in the next issue. This is also the beginning of Warner’s involvement in the film… and the DCEU’s nightmare and unfinished past all started in BVS…