Chapter 443: Dark Horse Comics

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The summer vacation in June this year was far more lively than in previous years, and many large-scale commercial films were screened together.

Including many films originally scheduled for May, the release time has also been postponed to June and July.

It can be said that the competition in June and July of this year is extremely fierce.

At the beginning of May, there was a war blockbuster produced by Disney, on June 8th there was a Warner Bros. film, and on June 15th there was another film produced by Disney.

On June 22, there are films produced by Universal Pictures, released on the same day, and films produced by 20th Century Fox, and films produced by DreamWorks and Warner Bros. on June 29.

In addition to the above films, on June 1 there will be a blockbuster song and dance film produced by 20th Century Fox, as well as a film produced by Orion Films, which will also be released in June.

Originally, Orion Films wanted to set the release date in July, but Ryan decided to advance the release date of the two films by a period of time.

The final schedule is scheduled for release on June 8.

There are releases the previous weekend, there are releases during the same period, and there are releases the following weekend.

This is the summer season, and there are large-scale commercial films released almost every weekend. It is impossible to avoid the competition of films of the same period.

The schedule in July is also crowded.

On the contrary, the schedule at the end of the summer vacation in August is a little looser.

However, Ryan knew that there would be 9/11 incident in September, and the North American box office market would be completely hit.

What's more, a song and dance movie was released a week earlier, and a blockbuster movie was released at the same time.

The original starred John Travolta, Halle Berry, and Hugh Jackman.

The North American box office of the film was 69.77 million US dollars, the overseas box office was 77.3 million US dollars, and the global box office was 147 million US dollars. It seems that it is not bad.

It's a pity that compared to the film's $102 million budget, it is impossible to reap the investment cost.

It is also a less successful film, with an investment of up to 120 million U.S. dollars, but only achieved a global box office of 186 million U.S. dollars.

Most of that box office came from overseas.

On the day of its release on Friday, June 8, it opened in 3,778 cinemas, and earned a box office of 19.23 million US dollars on the first day.

The box office of the next day was 19.05 million US dollars on Saturday and 17.89 million US dollars on Sunday.

After three days in the first weekend, the North American box office of the film reached 56.17 million US dollars.

Released at the same time, it only earned $11.25 million at the box office in the first weekend, which is much less than the original version.

Compared to the $102 million budget, Warner Bros. has stumbled a bit.

However, the word of mouth of the company is not so good.

Many viewers complain that the plot is the same and there is nothing new.

Even if Ryan has repeatedly revised the script, it still cannot avoid the visual fatigue caused by aesthetics.

It is estimated that the word-of-mouth accumulated by this series of films will almost be ruined this time.

Of course, Orion Pictures had no intention of continuing to shoot sequels.

The third is itself a money-making film.

These are all within Ryan's expectations, including the next box office trend.

The only slight surprise is that in the first weekend, it earned $56.17 million at the box office in three days, which is $7 million higher than the original box office of $49.1 million, which is not a big surprise.

"Judging from the current box office trend, China's North American box office exceeds 150 million U.S. dollars, and there is no problem."

In the restaurant of the studio, Ryan enjoyed the grilled veal steak on the dinner plate, and chatted with Kevin Fitch opposite him about work.

"Orion Films has denied it. The sequel shooting plan of this film will be released in July. This series will probably end next year."

"In the next step, Marvel will be the focus of Orion Pictures' development."

With the end of the series of films such as , , and , in addition to creating new series of films, Orion Pictures will gradually shift the focus of strategic development to Marvel Pictures.

Kevin Fitch thought for a while and said, "Marvel Pictures owns the copyrights of many superhero characters, so we can try to make some low-cost films."

"Yes." Ryan nodded and agreed, "Marvel can try to shoot the Punisher and Daredevil first, and then continue to shoot the Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider and other superheroes in a few years."

Not counting the copyrights of derivative superhero characters, Marvel Pictures still owns the copyrights of more than 2,000 superhero characters.

The copyrights of these superhero characters will not just be used as decorations, but will require Marvel Pictures to continue to try to make some films.

However, the Punisher, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, and Ghost Rider that Ryan said.

These superheroes are not part of the Avengers plan, or they are not going to be included in the Avengers plan.

At least the early Avengers plan will not include these superheroes.

"Of course, as you said, try to control the cost of shooting." Ryan specifically asked.

The global box office of the original version was only tens of millions of dollars. Fortunately, the investment cost of the film was not high, otherwise the investment company would have to pay a fortune.

It grossed $179 million worldwide on a production cost of $78 million.

The key to the success of these two films is the production cost, at least they did not lose money.

Kevin Fitch nodded, and then suddenly said: "Actually, we can cooperate with other comic companies."

"Other comic companies?" Ryan showed a puzzled look.

Kevin Fitch didn't go around the bush, and said it directly, "Like Dark Horse Comics!"

"This comic book company holds the rights to a large number of superhero characters."

Hearing the name of Dark Horse Comics, Ryan showed a look of enlightenment, and then said: "You can try to get in touch."

Dark Horse Comics is the third largest comic book company in North America, second only to Marvel Comics and DC Comics.

Some time ago, a survey agency released data on the market share of comics.

Because of the success of the two films, as well as the filming of, and the concept of the world of Marvel comics proposed by Ryan.

As a result, Marvel Comics' market share in the comics market surpassed that of DC Comics again after many years, with a market share of 36.9%.

The market share of DC comics dropped to 32.9%.

The market share of Dark Horse Comics reached 5.6%.

Although it is less than one-fifth of Marvel Comics and DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics is still the third largest comic company in North America, owning the copyrights of superheroes such as Hellboy.

In addition, Dark Horse Comics also holds the right to adapt comics to sci-fi movies such as , , , , , etc.

Ryan tried his best to recall. In his impression, there are not many films about Dark Horse Comics. The only ones that are relatively famous are two low-cost series films.

Among them, Hellboy is the most famous superhero under Dark Horse Comics, and his status in Dark Horse Comics is probably similar to Spider-Man in Marvel Comics.

Another one.

Dark Horse Comics only owns the publishing rights of the comics, and the rest of the copyrights are in the hands of the original author Frank Miller.

As for whether he has sold the copyright of the movie adaptation or not Ryan is not sure.

"Hellboy!"

"We can cooperate with Dark Horse Comics on Hellboy." Ryan quickly made a decision.

He has no interest in the rest of the superheroes under Dark Horse Comics.

"Ryan, you think the same as me."

Kevin Fitch couldn't help showing a smile, "Hellboy has a lot of fame in North America, even in Marvel Comics, he can be regarded as a second-tier superhero."

That's what Marvel Comics is all about.

Even the most famous superhero under Dark Horse Comics, the third largest comic company in North America, is at best a second-tier superhero for Marvel Comics.

After lunch, Ryan returned to the studio to continue shooting.

Kevin Fitch is planning to take time to go back to the United States to prepare the filming plans for The Punisher and Daredevil, and to contact Dark Horse Comics.

In fact, in addition to the filming work of the crew, Ryan also pays attention to the progress of some projects of Orion Films.

For example, the progress of negotiations with Rowling.

According to Ryan's request, Nancy Utley had private contact with Rowling several times, and the two sides quickly reached a consensus and signed a copyright licensing agreement.

Of course, Nancy Utley also appropriately increased the share of copyright licensing fees and box office, peripheral copyrights, and merchandise.

In this regard, Warner Bros. somewhat complained.

However, at the same time, many senior executives of Warner Bros. secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

With the formal agreement between the two parties, Warner Bros. can rest assured and focus on filming and copyright operations.