Which is what I've been saying all along. You can't squeeze an entire concept into popular culture: it doesn't retain that much. There's one bit of information that everyone will know, and in this case, that information is that the JLA is a group of known superheroes. That's what the passing familiarity you speak of is composed of.
Is it? Or do they just know that it's a group of superheroes. Like X-Men you can pretty much pick and choose who you want in the film when it comes to the general public. It's only the 'fans' who are going to bitch when someone is left out.
Besides, if the Flash is so pop culture, don't you just need him to be the 'known superhero' to get the public attention to draw them into a movie with Hawkman and Plastic Man?
Originally Posted By: Im Not Mister Mxyzptlk
Of course cartoons help characters get into pop culture, but once they're firmly planted there, that's where they'll stay. Look at Popeye: what's that fucker done for the past two decades? Kids today have never seen a Popeye cartoon, yet they're probably aware of the character because he's part of pop culture.
You have to still maintain some bit of popularity in order to stay in pop culture. Otherwise, it just becomes an obscure reference. Star Wars is known to the public because it is still shown and watched on TV pretty regularly. Popeye is know to kids today because his cartoons are still being shown. Hell, I was watching Popeye, Tom & Jerry, and other cartoons that hadn't been in new cartoons for a least twenty years. They're known because they're still being shown to a mass audience.
Originally Posted By: Im Not Mister Mxyzptlk
It's a fact that most people go into movies knowing nothing or really little about them. Most people don't watch trailers or read reviews. They show up at the theatre, look around, "hey, that looks scary"/"hey, that looks funny"/"hey, that's Alf there", buy pop corn, get in. Word of mouth can get you to go see a specific movie, but in general it consists of nothing but "hey, you know that talking car movie? it's really good."
I don't know how they do it in Chile, but that's not how it works here. In a time when it's just as easy to rent or buy DVD's and watch a movie in your home with your own surround sound system, people go to the movies because they're intrigued by the trailers and marketing campaign or what their friends tell them about a movie. Trailers sell movies. Put enough special effects and catchy one-liners in a trailer; and the audience will be talking about it for weeks, building up their own anticipation for the movie. The movie studio defines what the movie is to the public. It's only the people who are really in the know (i.e. the fans) who are turned off when they don't see exactly what they want. Look at The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Alan Moore didn't have Tom Sawyer or Dorian Grey in his book. Mina wasn't a vampire. Yet, that's how the movie went down, and the general public loved it. These characters had never been written together by their original authors or in the way they were. The movie studio defined to the public what LXG was, and they can do the same to JLA. If the general public can accept a grown up Tom Sawyer who works for a CIA like agency, or a Captain Nemo who is Indian, they can accept a JLA without Superman and Batman.
Anyway, doesn't your own argument that people don't know much about the movies they see mean they'd be more accepting of anything they're shown as long as it looks entertaining?
Originally Posted By: Im Not Mister Mxyzptlk
This is really simple. "Hit" is a technical term that indicates how a movie did on its initial theatrical run. In this case, the movie surpassed its budget, but not a by too much. I think a nasty cunt in this forum once told me a movie has to DOUBLE it's budget to be considered a hit, and that seems like an accurate definition.
From Dusk Til Dawn cost about $10 million. US box office alone was over $24 million. By your own definition, it was a hit.
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
