Superheroes cry too

After Wonder Woman earned rave reviews in the press and became the highest-grossing superhero film in history, viewers began to feel that the creators of the DC universe learned from the mistakes of the blockbusters Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Squad suicides ". At the time, both of these comic books faced serious off-screen problems due to the intervention of the leaders of Warner Bros. in the work of directors. Superhero and super villainous action movies were remade so many times during filming and post-production that, as a result, real Frankenstein monsters reached the screens.

Few audiences would have thought that the studio bosses would surpass themselves and ruin the key film of their young universe. The Justice League was supposed to be a fun movie ride and a skating rink in the box office, but it showed the worst start at the box office in the history of the franchise, caused a storm of negativity from critics and even divided the loyal fans of the DC world into two camps.

Representatives of one believe that the studio had an obligation to let Zach Snyder complete the film. Fans have even started collecting petitions demanding that the WB release a director's cut of The League. The idea looks dubious, since the studio is unlikely to spend tens of millions of dollars to fine-tune the computer graphics in the draft tape. However, no one knows what is on the mind of the head of WB Kevin Tsujihara. In the end, he did not skimp on large-scale reshoots and expensive special effects on Henry Cavill's upper lip, thanks to which the production budget of the Justice League, according to rumors, jumped over $ 300 million.

Another camp believes the studio bosses were right when they handed the project over to Joss Whedon. Many are convinced that Snyder's Justice League was not at all a cool and dark epic, but looked even worse than the final version of the film. Fans of conspiracy theorists have already put forward the version that the scene in the prologue of the movie comic, in which the sign "I tried" stands in front of the homeless man, is a hidden message from Joss that the picture could not be saved from failure. Curiously, the studio bosses themselves did not publicly blame either Snyder or Whedon for the film's failure. Both directors have a good reputation in Hollywood, and therefore WB simply did not have the opportunity to repeat the trick of 20th Century Fox, which at one time unleashed all the dogs for the failure of the "Fantastic Four" on young Josh Trunk.

Whoever was really to blame, the main losers, as usual, were the audience. Who knows, maybe a couple of decades later in Hollywood they will shoot a documentary in the spirit of the film "Death" Superman Alive ": What Happened?" ...

In the meantime, LostFilm.INFO invites you to recall other problematic comic books, behind the scenes of which real madness was happening.

Blade 3: Trinity

The third film about the adventures of a charismatic vampire hunter was supposed to set the stage for future spin-offs, but instead hammered an aspen stake into the chest of the entire franchise. “Trinity” had problems even before the start of its filming. Wesley Snipes was disappointed with the plot of the picture and sharply criticized New Line Cinema, which decided to entrust the director's chair of the trickwell to the writer of the first two parts, David S. Goyer. The eight-figure check made the actor change his anger to mercy and start packing his bags for Vancouver. Perhaps the Canadian climate was to blame, but on the set of the film, Snipes was very depressed. "Wesley did not leave his trailer, where he smoked marijuana all day," said actor Patton Oswalt. -Delay in the production of Trinity

Creators of Trinity let us choose clothes for our heroes on our own, - continues to recall Oswalt. -Once a black guy put on a T-shirt that said `` Trash '' on the chest. At that moment, Wesley finally appeared on the set. He walked up to Goyer and said, “There are only two African Americans in the movie, and you make one of them wear a T-shirt with the word Trash? Racist bastard! '' After that, he almost strangled David. That evening, my company and I went to a nearby strip club, where a group of bikers was already hanging out. David paid them drinks and asked them to come to the set the next morning and pretend to be his bodyguards. As soon as Wesley saw these guys, he immediately retreated to his trailer. As a result, he and Goyer still had a serious male conversation. “Why don’t you leave,” Snipes said. “You’re damaging this movie.” “Why don’t you leave yourself,” David retorted. - We shot all the close-ups. Then we can only use your backup. ” Snipes really starred exclusively in scenes with close-ups, but the director's words seemed offensive to him. As a result, until the end of the film, David and Wesley communicated exclusively with sticky notes. And each such piece of paper Snipes signed "From Blade." It's funny that when we first met, he also introduced himself as Blade. ”
Why don't you leave yourself, ”David retorted. - We shot all the close-ups. Then we can only use your backup. ” Snipes really starred exclusively in scenes with close-ups, but the director's words seemed offensive to him. As a result, until the end of the film, David and Wesley communicated exclusively using sticky notes. And each such piece of paper Snipes signed "From Blade." It's funny that when we first met, he also introduced himself as Blade. ”
Why don't you leave yourself, ”David retorted. - We shot all the close-ups. Then we can only use your backup. ” Snipes really starred exclusively in scenes with close-ups, but the director's words seemed offensive to him. As a result, until the end of the film, David and Wesley communicated exclusively using sticky notes. And each such piece of paper Snipes signed "From Blade." It's funny that when we first met, he also introduced himself as Blade. ”
As a result, until the end of the film, David and Wesley communicated exclusively using sticky notes. And each such piece of paper Snipes signed "From Blade." It's funny that when we first met, he also introduced himself as Blade. ”
As a result, until the end of the film, David and Wesley communicated exclusively using sticky notes. And each such piece of paper Snipes signed "From Blade." It's funny that when we first met, he also introduced himself as Blade. ”

"Trinity" earned $ 128 million at the worldwide box office, but devastating press reviews put an end to the prospects for further development of the franchise. After the release of the picture on the screens, Wesley Snipes filed a lawsuit demanding $ 5 million in moral damages for racial discrimination. Luckily for fans of the franchise, the rights to the popular comic book hero eventually returned to Marvel Studios, which had already begun planning a new Blade project.

Ghost Rider

Not only Snipes, but also Nicolas Cage managed to get used to the image of the comic book hero. The Oscar-winning actor has long been a big fan of the Ghost Rider stories. At one time, Cage even got a tattoo of a fiery skull on his arm. In 2001, Nicholas learned that a film was being prepared based on the graphic novels about Johnny Blaze's adventures, in which Johnny Depp was being wooed. Cage decided to contact the creators of the picture and offer them his candidacy. In those years, his name on the billboard served as an excellent bait for the audience, and therefore the producers did not look at other actors. The movie comic was supposed to go into production at the end of 2003, but Cage had to stay on the set of Synoptic. Then the script of the film was sent for revision, which is why the start of filming was postponed until February 2005.

At first, director Mark Stephen Johnson was in awe of how well Cage understands his character. “Nick even in everyday life dresses in the style of Johnny Blaze, - said the director. -He once confessed that he had never played a character so similar to himself. " However, the actor soon began to overdo it in his desire to work according to the Stanislavsky system. Ghost Rider's fire skull was supposed to be created with the help of computer graphics experts, but for some reason Nicholas decided to wear makeup. His first appearance on set surely added gray hair to the crew and other cast members. “I painted my face black and white to resemble Baron Saturday from voodoo mythology,” Cage admitted. -I wore dark contact lenses, which made it impossible to distinguish between the pupil and the sclera in my eyes. I wanted to be like a great white shark before the attack. I showed up on the set and didn't say a word to my colleagues. There was an animal fear in their eyes that made me believe I was a Ghost Rider. "

Despite the fact that IGN has recognized "Ghost Rider" as the worst film comics of the XXI century, the film grossed more than $ 228 million worldwide and even received a sequel.

Iron Man

Today, Marvel Studios is releasing one big screen hit after another, and its cinematic universe is confidently at the top of the list of highest grossing franchises in history. It's hard to believe, but at the dawn of its construction, it stood on the verge of failure. In the middle of the last decade, the publishing house Marvel decided to abandon cooperation with leading Hollywood studios and took out a $ 525 million loan to create its own film department. The first film of the young company was to be a superhero action movie about the adventures of Tony Stark. It soon became clear that the writers of the Dream Factory were not at all eager to risk their reputation and agree to participate in the risky Marvel project. According to producer Jeremy Lutchem, at least thirty eminent Hollywood authors have turned down an invitation to work on Iron Man.

Marvel executives also had to work hard to spark an active interest in the main character of the blockbuster from the public, since in the middle of the last decade, the average viewer was convinced that Iron Man was a robot. The studio was well prepared for the filming of spectacular action scenes, but the dialogues in the film script were far from ideal. Director John Favreau had to let the actors improvise on set. It got to the point that in each new take the stars of "Iron Man" had to pronounce completely different variants of phrases. Sometimes the actors even changed roles to hear the words of their characters from the outside. Not all participants in the filming process liked this approach to creating an expensive blockbuster.

“At the beginning of each working day, we gathered for a meeting right in the makeup and costumes of our characters, - Jeff Bridges admitted in one of his interviews. -This was necessary in order to make changes to the text. Of course, I like to go to the site fully prepared for work, knowing all the dialogues in advance. In the case of Iron Man it turned out that we were shooting almost an amateur film with a multi-million dollar budget”.

Fortunately for the Marvel bosses, the Iron Man stars turned out to be real geniuses of improvisation and were able to save the blockbuster from a fiasco. The first part of the Tony Stark trilogy grossed more than $ 580 million worldwide and was voted one of the best films of 2008 by the American Film Institute.

"Superman" and "Superman 2"

"Superman" by Richard Donner is rightfully considered the Holy Grail of the superhero genre. The blockbuster about the adventures of an alien from Krypton turned out to be the most expensive film of its time, revolutionized the field of visual effects and for many years became the standard of quality for the creators of large-scale fantastic film projects. It is all the more difficult to believe that the path of this tape to the big screen was full of all kinds of obstacles. In November 1974, Ilya and Alexander Zalkind acquired the rights to create a film about Superman. To make the best deal with Warner Bros., the producers decided to launch two films at once. The work on the script for the film comic strip was entrusted to Mario Puzo, who received a huge fee for his services - $ 600 thousand. The author of The Godfather worked his salary to the last cent: the fruit of his labors is an impressive 550-page manuscript. However, soon Richard Donner was appointed the director of the film, who decided to abandon many of Puzo's developments. “The studio planned to transfer all 550 pages of Mario's text to the screen, - recalls the director. -It was a great script, but incredibly huge. I immediately told the studio bosses that it would take us at least five years to implement it. " The revision of the text was entrusted to the famous screenwriter "doctor" Tom Mankiewicz, who, due to the rules of the Writers Guild of America, had to be content with the title of creative consultant of the project.
The studio planned to transfer all 550 pages of Mario's text to the screen, - recalls the director. -It was a great script, but incredibly huge. I told the studio bosses right away that it would take us at least five years to get it done. ” The revision of the text was entrusted to the famous screenwriter "doctor" Tom Mankiewicz, who, due to the rules of the Writers Guild of America, had to be content with the title of creative consultant of the project.
The studio planned to transfer all 550 pages of Mario's text to the screen, - recalls the director. -It was a great script, but incredibly huge. I immediately told the studio bosses that it would take us at least five years to implement it. " The revision of the text was entrusted to the famous screenwriter "doctor" Tom Mankiewicz, who, due to the rules of the Writers Guild of America, had to be content with the title of creative consultant of the project.

The studio received a new version of the script, but there were problems with finding performers for key roles. The WB bosses wanted to entrust the image of Superman's father to an actor with a big name. As a result, their choice settled on Marlon Brando, who offered a rather unexpected interpretation of the image of his hero. “I remember Agent Brando saying he wanted to make Jor-El a green suitcase,” Donner said. -I couldn't understand what that meant. The agent replied, “Marlon loves money but hates work.” According to him, the actor was ready to convince the producers that the inhabitants of Krypton look like green suitcases. Brando sincerely hoped that I would start filming my carry-on luggage and only get paid for the voiceover. " The director managed to reason with the actor, but he nevertheless knocked out a truly royal deal for himself. According to the terms of the contract, the studio was obliged to shoot all the scenes with his participation in 12 days. The Oscar-winner also flatly refused to memorize dialogues, which is why the filmmakers had to place numerous tablets with text in the scenery. Marlon's fee for such a dusty job was $ 3.7 million and a few percent of the box office of the picture. As a result, the actor earned about $ 19 million on Superman, but even that was not enough for him. He said that the studio did not pay him all the dividends and filed a lawsuit against her, demanding another $ 50 million.
7 million and a few percent of the film's box office. As a result, the actor earned about $ 19 million on Superman, but even that was not enough for him. He said that the studio did not pay him all the dividends and filed a lawsuit against her, demanding another $ 50 million.
7 million and a few percent of the film's box office. As a result, the actor earned about $ 19 million on Superman, but even that was not enough for him. He said that the studio did not pay him all the dividends and filed a lawsuit against her, demanding another $ 50 million.

There were also serious problems with the search for the performer of the role of Superman. Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, Paul Newman and many other Hollywood stars applied for participation in the film. As a result, Richard Donner suggested that the Zalkindam look for a lesser-known actor for the title role. The director was afraid that audiences would not take his film seriously if they saw a superstar floating in the sky on the screen. The audition for the role of Kal-El was passed by Christopher Reeve, who had to gain about 11 kg of muscle mass for filming. Curiously, the actor's fee was only $ 250,000 for both films about the Man of Steel.

Initially, Ilya and Alexander Zalkind planned to shoot in Italy. They even managed to spend $ 2 million looking for locations and building the first sets, but then it turned out that the carabinieri had an arrest warrant for Marlon Brando, who, along with the creators of Last Tango in Paris, was accused by the Italian authorities of indecent behavior. As a result, the producers had to urgently conclude a deal with the London studio Pinewood. The ambitious project went into production in March 1977. The main filming period for the two parts of Superman was supposed to be about eight months, but due to numerous off-screen problems, Richard Donner's team had to spend more than a year and a half in England. Warner Bros. Studio planned to release the film on screens in June 1978, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Superman's debut in the comic book pages. However, a delay in production forced the company to reschedule the film's premiere. In October 1978, the Zalkinds ordered Donner to stop filming and begin preparing the first part of the comic strip for release. Surprisingly, with the support of Stuart Baird, Richard managed to edit the film in just two months. "Superman" was released in December 1978 and immediately began to demonstrate excellent performance in the box office. The tape completed its theatrical release with $ 300 million in cash, setting a new record for Warner Bros. by the amount of box office receipts.
In October 1978, the Zalkinds ordered Donner to stop filming and begin preparing the first part of the comic strip for release. Surprisingly, with the support of Stuart Baird, Richard managed to edit the film in just two months. "Superman" was released in December 1978 and immediately began to demonstrate excellent performance in the box office. The tape completed its theatrical release with $ 300 million in cash, setting a new record for Warner Bros. by the amount of box office receipts.
In October 1978, the Zalkinds ordered Donner to stop filming and begin preparing the first part of the comic strip for release. Surprisingly, with the support of Stuart Baird, Richard managed to edit the film in just two months. "Superman" was released in December 1978 and immediately began to demonstrate excellent performance in the box office. The tape completed its theatrical release with $ 300 million in cash, setting a new record for Warner Bros. by the amount of box office receipts.

After calculating the dividends, the producers finally remembered Superman 2. Donner had about three-quarters of all the scenes filmed, but the Zalkinds prevented him from completing the sequel. The conflict between the creators of the dilogy occurred due to the fact that Richard did not want to endure the constant interference of producers in the work of the film crew. During the Superman press tour, the director demanded through journalists that he be allowed to complete the sequel in a calm atmosphere. The producers did not go to meet him and handed the second film about the mighty Krypton into the hands of the head of the second film crew, Richard Lester.

Many actors were unhappy with this castling and sided with Donner. To the displeasure of the producers, Gene Hackman, Valerie Perrine, Ned Beatty and E. G. Marshall decided to refuse to participate in the additional filming of Superman 2, who had to be replaced by stunt doubles. The studio also cut out all scenes from the film with the participation of Marlon Brando, who threatened her with a new lawsuit. According to Richard Donner, the final version of the picture consisted of only a quarter of the material he shot. Despite serious off-screen problems, the film received high reviews from critics and more than paid for its $ 54 million budget. In 2006, Warner Bros. restored historical justice and used archival recordings to create the director's cut, and viewers were finally able to appreciate Donner's original design.

Fans of the DC universe can only hope that in thirty years WB will repeat this experience again and still release Snyder's Justice League.

Suicide Squad

Work on the picture started back in the days when the DC universe was supposed to be an alternative to the Marvel superhero franchise. From the set of David Eyre's film, it was clear that the WB plan was working. Jared Leto got so used to the image of the Joker that he sent his colleagues crazy gifts in the form of rats, bullets and contraceptives. Yuel Kinnaman set himself up for work by watching videos of the atrocities of South American drug cartels. Finally, David Eyre encouraged the actors to beat each other with full force in the fight scenes. “A person can only be truly recognized the moment you punch him in the face,” the director said in an interview with Yahoo. Surprisingly, in such an atmosphere, the actors managed to become great friends and even got joint tattoos in the style of the "Lord of the Rings" stars. Everything went to the fact

The lion's share of complaints about the second film of the DC Cinematic Universe concerned the overly gloomy tone of the narrative. Instead of stubbornly bending their line, the WB management decided to add jokes and action to the already filmed Air. "Suicide Squad" was urgently sent for additional shooting, which cost the major a tidy sum. The studio set to work on color grading the film, and then sent a whole squad of editors into battle. It is rumored that a dozen different versions of the film were produced in just a few weeks. The final cut did not appeal to critics or fans of the DC universe.

Despite a flurry of negative reviews, the film grossed $ 745 million worldwide, won an Oscar for Best Makeup and allowed WB to launch multiple supervillain spin-offs.

Spider-Man 3: The Enemy in Reflection

A decade ago, Sony studio bosses had one of the most successful superhero franchises in history, but plans to create a second trilogy about Peter Parker's adventures were thwarted by the producers' greed. Director Sam Raimi planned to make Vulture one of the main antagonists of "Spider-Man 3" and even looked at this role of Ben Kingsley. However, producer Avi Arad insisted that the director involve Venom in the film. The alien symbiote allegedly had a much larger fan base among comic book readers, and therefore its appearance on the screens promised to provide the blockbuster with additional box office.

As a result, it was Venom who finally overloaded the film script with characters and storylines. “People still hate me for 'The Enemy in Reflection',” Raimi admitted a couple of years ago. -I tried to make the script work, but I could not fully understand and feel all the characters in the film. This, of course, did not hide from the eyes of loyal fans of Spider-Man. I guess we should have paid more attention to the key characters in the story and their relationships, rather than trying our best to impress the audience. ”

Despite the fact that "Enemy in Reflection" received mixed reviews in the press, it managed to become the highest-grossing film in the Raimi trilogy with a result of $ 890 million. Sony management intended to continue working with Sam on the fourth part, but a couple of years later it was unexpected decided to restart the film series. Rumor has it that the plan to create a quadrivel collapsed like a house of cards at the moment when the studio bosses again tried to impose their candidacy on Raimi for the role of the main villain.

Superman Returns

If the first two films about the adventures of Superman became real classics of the genre, then the loud reboot of the franchise caused quite conflicting feelings in the audience. Some fans of the DC Universe liked it, while others consider the 2006 film the worst film adaptation of the Man of Steel comics. After the failure of Superman 4: Struggle for Peace, Warner Bros. was looking for ways to revive the franchise. First, she wanted to do the adaptation of the comic strip "Death of Superman", and then decided to bet on the project "Superman Alive". Nicolas Cage was to play the lead role in Tim Burton's film, written by Kevin Smith. The studio spent about $ 30 million on preparations for filming, but then unexpectedly curtailed work. At the beginning of the XXI century, the major announced his desire to realize the script of JJ Abrams Superman: Flyby, but then changed his mind again. The studio wanted to collaborate with Brian Singer, who during the filming of X-Men 2 came up with the idea of creating a kind of sequel to Superman 2. The development of the script was entrusted to the authors of the second film of the Fox mutant universe - Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris. As a result, they wrote six versions of the text at once, and the studio, apparently, was not able to fully decide on the final concept of the blockbuster. The latest version of the script was clearly damp, but the WB bosses were already eager to get the tape into production.
As a result, they wrote six versions of the text at once, and the studio, apparently, was not able to fully decide on the final concept of the blockbuster. The latest version of the script was clearly damp, but the WB bosses were already eager to get the tape into production.
As a result, they wrote six versions of the text at once, and the studio, apparently, was not able to fully decide on the final concept of the blockbuster. The latest version of the script was clearly damp, but the WB bosses were already eager to get the tape into production.

One of the biggest complaints about Superman Returns is that for a $ 270 million blockbuster, it was criminally lacking in action. The highlight of Singer's film is the scene in which Kal-El lowers the plane into a baseball stadium. Some Hollywood insiders tend to believe that the filmmakers simply stole this moment from Abrams' script. At the same time, Dougherty and Harris did not even bother to properly work it out in the text. “When we first met Brian Singer, he simply said that the film should have a scene in which Superman saves the plane, recalls storyboard artist Gabriel Hardman. -We had to create a complete pre-render of this film segment from scratch. When we showed the video to Singer's team, they were absolutely delighted. They added some action inside the plane, but otherwise our pre-render frame-by-frame matches the scene from the final movie. "

Four months before the film's premiere, the studio bosses announced that they would continue to work with Brian Singer on a sequel to the movie. The executives of the company were absolutely sure that the blockbuster would become the main hit of the 2006 summer box office. However, in the end, the film did not reach almost $ 150 million before reaching the level of self-sufficiency. WB Studios had no choice but to start preparing for the next reboot of their superhero franchise.

The Topic of Article: Superheroes cry too.
Author: Jake Pinkman

Superheroes cry too (Topic)

Superheroes cry too