Chapter 366: The Superhero Movie Craze Sparked by "Spider-Man"

After this week passed, the popularity of Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones declined significantly, and on weekdays, its box office earnings almost couldn't beat those of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which had already been in theaters for five weeks.

Meanwhile, this weekend, a heavyweight contender entered the North American film market: the superhero movie Spider-Man, directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, premiered.

Ever since X-Men, superhero movies had entered a new era, and this year ushered in the major release of Spider-Man.

In terms of popularity in comic books, Spider-Man is in no way inferior to DC's Batman and Superman. He is also an extremely beloved superhero.

James Cameron once considered making a Spider-Man film before he shot True Lies, but the project was ultimately shelved due to technical limitations.

Eventually, the rights to Spider-Man were acquired by Sony Columbia Pictures, and this happened before Gilbert took control of Marvel.

Now, the film version of Spider-Man was finally ready to meet audiences.

With a massive budget of $130 million, this superhero film showcased overwhelming power upon release, arriving in theaters during the second weekend of Attack of the Clones.

Spider-Man grossed $114 million in its opening weekend alone, becoming the second movie in North America to surpass $100 million in its debut weekend.

Although the response was strong, the discussion surrounding it did not reach the same fever pitch as The Return of the King.

The reason was simple being the second film to cross $100 million in the first weekend just couldn't compare to the first one that did it.

Spider-Man's strong performance successfully extended the summer blockbuster boom and was bound to affect other big summer releases, especially Attack of the Clones.

That weekend, Attack of the Clones earned only $42.105 million at the box office, a drop of more than 50% compared to the previous weekend a total box office crash.

But after all, this was a Star Wars film, so it would still turn a profit. It just wouldn't perform as well as the other Star Wars movies.

In contrast, The Return of the King, now in its fifth week of release, was less affected.

After all, by its fifth week, both its screen count and scheduling frequency had already dropped considerably.

They were both big-budget productions. While Spider-Man didn't match The Return of the King in terms of quality, it was undeniably popular and had strong promotional support.

Having been in theaters for more than a month, The Return of the King was no longer a direct competitor to Spider-Man.

However, the massive success of Spider-Man benefited not just Sony Columbia Pictures, but also Marvel Comics and the recently established Marvel Studios.

Following the back-to-back box office successes of Spider-Man and X-Men, Marvel Comics, based in New York, suddenly became a focal point for Hollywood.

DC was already a subsidiary of Warner Bros., but Marvel Comics was apparently not.

Fortunately, ever since Gilbert took over Marvel, its financial situation had significantly improved.

Although it still hadn't turned a profit, it no longer needed to sell off superhero rights just to stay afloat.

With Gilbert's support, Marvel Studios began planning its own Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Riding the momentum of Spider-Man's popularity, Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige held a press conference in Los Angeles.

"Marvel Studios was established for one purpose only, and that's to launch our own line of superhero films within the next four to five years."

Kevin Feige appeared full of confidence, and for good reason. Their boss was one of the most talented directors and film creators in all of Hollywood there was no reason not to be confident.

A reporter asked, "Mr. Feige, can you share some specifics about Marvel's plans? Which superhero will get the first film?"

In fact, this question would've been better answered by Gilbert, since he was the one who drafted the entire plan, but Gilbert was off on a yachting vacation with some beautiful women and couldn't be reached.

So, Kevin Feige had to answer: "Our entire plan stems from Director Gilbert's proposal. The first superhero movie will be Iron Man, featuring Tony Stark.

We have a whole slate of films planned, not just Iron Man, but many other projects as well."

Another reporter followed up: "You mentioned a whole slate of projects could you elaborate?"

"Sorry, we're still in the planning stage and can't reveal more details just yet."

Kevin Feige dodged skillfully: "Maybe you should ask Director Gilbert.

What kind of plans we'll implement will ultimately be decided by him."

This statement had two meanings. First, the plan indeed existed, but Marvel Studios needed Gilbert's final decision to move forward.

Second, the entire plan originated from Gilbert, and anyone in the entertainment industry knew what kind of person Gilbert was he was a guarantee of box office success. So, everyone could rest easy.

Of course, the reporters wanted to speak to Gilbert, but no one knew where he was at the moment he was likely somewhere enjoying sunshine and beaches, completely unreachable.

Still, Marvel Studios' press conference attracted a lot of attention, especially with Spider-Man's box office soaring.

As for Marvel Studios' ambitious plan, the reactions from major Hollywood companies varied, but Warner Bros.' reaction was the most intense.

In a high-level meeting at Warner Bros., the atmosphere in the conference room was tense.

Doug Walter was especially troubled. DC's superhero films were still in need of redemption, but their star director was now supporting Marvel's superheroes.

Gilbert was Warner Bros.' most important creative partner and also its largest individual shareholder. No matter how one looked at it, he should be siding with Warner Bros. and DC.

Looking around at the heavy atmosphere in the meeting room, Solomon, the head of distribution, spoke up: "I don't think we need to be so pessimistic. Doug, didn't you say Gilbert was interested in Bruce Wayne?

Did he ever mention to you when or how he might start developing a Batman story?"

This was exactly what had been bothering Doug Walter. Gilbert had indeed said something along those lines, but after that, he hadn't followed up at all.

The latest news was that Gilbert had gone on a trip around the world, and after returning, was preparing a pirate-themed project.

Pirates had nothing to do with Bruce Wayne. Gilbert couldn't possibly make Batman into a pirate, could he?

This was all normal business in the film industry. Warner Bros. couldn't limit Gilbert from working with other film companies just because he was a shareholder and board member.

And besides, Gilbert wasn't working with another major studio he was working with Marvel Studios.

Back when Warner Bros. invested in Melon Studio, Gilbert was already the owner of Marvel.

What's more surprising is that Gilbert used his own Fruit Investment Company to hold shares in Marvel, not Melon Studio.

Otherwise, Warner Bros. would already be a shareholder in Marvel by now.

Did that mean Gilbert foresaw all of this when he acquired Marvel? But then, what was the purpose behind it?

Unable to figure out Gilbert's intentions, the executive meeting ended in haste.

Doug Walter returned to his office, planning to find an opportunity to talk with Gilbert and understand what he was thinking.

But then his assistant reported, "Mr. President, Ms. Sheena Boone just had someone deliver a script. It's by Gilbert."

Doug Walter immediately perked up. "Bring it here right away."

The assistant handed over the script. On the cover, it read The Dark Knight Trilogy, written by Gilbert, David S. Goyer, and Jonathan Nolan.

Looking at the thick script, Doug Walter broke into a smile. It seemed Gilbert hadn't forgotten about Bruce Wayne after all he was just playing around.

Opening to the first page, the first line of dialogue read: Bruce Wayne asked Lucius Fox, "Does it come in black?"

Warner Bros. shouldn't have doubted Gilbert. After all, Warner's interests were also Gilbert's interests. He wouldn't abandon the DC superhero films.

DC and Bruce Wayne both needed redemption. Back in the summer of 1997, the latest Batman film had been directed by Joel Schumacher, with George Clooney as Batman he was the third actor in five years to play the role.

The villains included Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze. The film was full of big-name stars.

But due to its ridiculous costumes and action sequences, the film became the worst in the Batman series, flopping in both reviews and box office.

In response, Warner canceled the planned 1999 fifth Batman film and shelved the franchise.

It could be said that Batman was once the banner figure for Warner Bros. and DC.

Now, Marvel movies were raking in profits. While this had little to do with Marvel itself, it had even less to do with DC.

That's why Warner so desperately hoped Gilbert would step in and save the DC films at least rescue Bruce Wayne and Superman!

And when Marvel Studios made a big move, Warner's reaction was naturally intense.

In fact, as early as the beginning of the year, Joss Whedon had approached Warner Bros. with a proposal to direct a Bruce Wayne story but Doug Walter turned him down.

Doug had heard Gilbert mention that Bruce Wayne was always reserved for him.

Between Joss Whedon and Gilbert, Doug Walter obviously trusted Gilbert more.

Gilbert had long foreseen that news of Kevin Feige's press conference would trigger dissatisfaction at Warner Bros.

But he wasn't unprepared. As early as last year, Gilbert had brought in David S. Goyer and had Jonathan Nolan join the writing team.

At the start of the script development, Gilbert, Goyer, and Jonathan Nolan watched every Batman film from the 1966 Adam West version to the most recent Joel Schumacher iteration.

After viewing all of them, Gilbert concluded that the biggest issue with those films was that they were too comic-like and detached from real-world context.

Then, after discussions with the two writers, Gilbert decided the focus should be on Bruce Wayne the man beneath the Batman mask.

"I want to make the superhero movie I wanted to see when I was twelve," Gilbert had said.

It's worth noting that after Gilbert pitched the story idea, the script was written by Goyer and Jonathan Nolan in the garage of Christopher Nolan's house.

Christopher Nolan cared deeply about the Batman films and often discussed plot points with Goyer and his brother Jonathan, offering many suggestions.

If possible, Christopher Nolan would've liked to direct the Batman movie himself.

Unfortunately, this was Gilbert's project.

....

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