On the verge of the opening night for X-Men: Days Of Future Past, I invite you to recall the history of comic book franchises.
It was Superman and director Richard Donner that first introduced the movie-goers that superheroes do exist back in 1978. Through its success a sequel soon followed in 1980, a third 1983. By this time, it was clear where Superman was headed - the financials were in a steep decline.
Thinking that this couldn't have been the end, a fourth one was pushed out and made an abysmal USD 11 million domestically in 1987. And that was it. Unfortunately, so was Christopher Reeve's career.
Warner Bros. probably knew the end was nigh and have already started looking forward to introducing another superhero from the DC universe, and Batman was born on the silver screen in 1989. So was Michael Keaton.
Directed by Tim Burton, the movie garnered a worldwide gross of USD 411 million with a budget of only USD 35 million. The sequel Batman Returns was released in 1992, a budget of USD 80 million this time and a worldwide gross of USD 267 million; a huge step down from the original.
But unlike Superman, Batman still had hope. And Joel Schumacher and Val Kilmer sparked some life into the franchise in 1997 with Batman Forever. Still, under Schumacher's stewardship, the franchise has become ditsy, cheesy, trite, and couldn't get away from being a "comic book" movie.
Then came Batman & Robin. While trying to up the ante for the sequel with George Clooney, something went horribly wrong. Was it the writing, the directing, or the acting? Many will tell you it was a combination of everything.
It was so bad that it left a horrible after taste in the audience's mouths. Arnold Schwarzenneger's Mr. Freeze was the butt of all jokes. The franchise has gone from ditsy and trite to confirming a suspicion that comic book adaptations were second rated offerings that just can't be taken seriously.
That's when Warner Bros. gave up on any future superhero movies. They did Superman, and then Batman. And that was it.
Enter Bryan Singer at Fox studios. They had an idea for Marvel's X-Men back in 1996. But because Batman & Robin had spoiled the market, so to speak, it took Fox another 3 years to roll out X-Men; with Singer putting everything on the line, his career, his neck. Because if this flopped, Fox and Singer would be the laughing stock of Hollywood in the light of that precedence set by Batman & Robin.
But under Singer's direction and leadership, the comic book movie genre was reimagined and revitalized. Singer came from a different angle. He wanted to make a serious movie using superheroes, and that's what he did. The result was the critically acclaimed X-Men. It surprised everyone.
Even though X-Men didn't break any box office records (far from it), but it showed the world that comic book movies can be done in another way. A way that showed how these movies can move forward into the future.
X-Men and Singer were an inspiration. They have paved the way. They have washed out that horrible after taste that was Batman & Robin in everyone's mouths. They had everyone's approval.
Sony quickly went and made Spider-Man, released in 2002. Daredevil hit the silver screen in 2003 under the banner Marvel Enterprises. The Punisher was released in 2005 by Lions Gate, and Ghost Rider in 2007 by Columbia Pictures.
Five years after X-Men, Warner Bros. couldn't keep away and took another stab at Batman, this time with the visionary Christopher Nolan. Ironically, the studios that first brought superheroes to the big screen is now struggling to play catch-up.
Marvel saw this huge potential, recruited Kevin Feige - another visionary - and set up a Marvel studios so that they can better dictate the future of their properties. From that brainchild, Iron Man was introduced in 2008, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger in 2011, followed by The Avengers in 2012.
This year we will be introduced to Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy in August. And next year, Fantastic Four will be rebooted with a younger cast, Fox clearly going in a different direction this time with this property. And there's even been talks of a crossover between X-Men and Fantastic Four down the line.
Looking back at the history thread, Bryan Singer with X-Men went and did what Superman and Batman couldn't: Inspire others to follow in their footsteps.
Back in 2006, X-Men's third installment (The Last Stand) was released with Brett Ratner stepping in as director as Singer left to do Superman Returns. The Last Stand was poorly received by fans as Ratner butchered many of the characters, some literally. Luckily, it wasn't enough to kill off the franchise. L
X-Men: First Class saw Fox's Lauren Schuler Donner getting in touch again with Singer to come back as producer. Singer recruited Matthew Vaughn as director and they re-introduced the X-characters in a different way. The movie soared to success in 2011. From there, the producers and the studio were trying to think of a way to move forward.
Singer wanted to bring back Sir Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart and ingeniously came up with the notion to adapt the story of Days Of Future Past with writer Simon Kinberg. However, Vaughn decided to leave for another project and so Fox signed back Singer as the director; but not just for one movie, also for X-Men: Apocalypse set to open in 2016 after Fox saw in the post-production how well things were going with the movie.
X-Men: Days Of Future Past is the second biggest production for Fox to date. X-Men: The Last Stand racked in the most in terms of sales for this franchise at USD 459 million. But Days Of Future Past is set to break the USD 500 million record for the first time in the franchise history. Not only that, but it is the only one that has the biggest potential to hit the USD 1 billion mark.
I am most excited for this movie. I've said this in a previous post. All hopes of a great summer movie now lie with X-Men as The Amazing Spider-Man and Godzilla failed to deliver their best. Whether or not it will break the USD 1 billion ceiling, I can't say. But I have a good feeling about this.
In closing, and really what this post was all about, I want to thank Bryan Singer for giving comic book movies a second chance. For having the vision and to give shape and framework to an entire genre that was on its way to the dumps. Thank you for coming back to the franchise and bringing us the story of Days Of Future Past in such a creative way by merging two eras together.
This is going to be a spectacle and I can't wait to see it. I'm sure I'll be playing my part in contributing to the USD 1 billion mark.
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