Comic books have Taken Control of Hollywood
I think it is safe to say that comic books are currently running Hollywood right now. They are filling studios movie pipelines for the years to come. Studios are scrambling to buy the rights to the hottest new comics that have not even been released yet, or optioning the rights to comics that haven't even had time to gather a decent following yet.Hollywood is comic book crazy. Why have comic books taken over? Because they have pictures. All the studio executives need to do now is look at the pictures in a comic book and read a few lines of dialogue to make a decision. Believe it or not they use to read things called scripts. Bulky plain black and white text of 90 to 120 pages of dialogue and descriptions. It takes less imagination for a studio exec to read a comic book. They get to see what the potential film will look like. This is good for studio executives that lack imagination.
It is a no brainer to take classic comic books and make them into movies. Who wouldn't want to see all the superheroes that we grew up with and loved to be brought to life? Some are more popular than others, but these classics have been around long enough to generate a huge fan base, which means the movie is going to make money, especially if it is done right.
So what about these new lesser known comics that are being picked up before anyone has had a chance to hear about them? Just because the movie is based on a comic book doesn't mean it's going to be any good. There are a lot of comic books out there that suck. These studios are taking just as great a risk on these new comic books that they would have taken on optioning a script. I am shocked they don't wait for the comic book to be published first, to see if it is able to generate fan base before they start dumping money into it. If the comic is successful then movie has a better chance of success. They could test the audience before they spend a dime, but they don't.
I'm sure the comic book industry couldn't be happier about all this though. These movies are driving people back to the comic book stores. They are buying and reading the comic book these movies are being based off of. It's a win, win marketing situation. Everybody is making money.
I hate how Hollywood is rehashing old movies, and making lame ass sequels. Sequels to movies that don't need sequels! If these comic books can give them a fresh original idea then go for it. Frankly I don't care where studios get there stories from as long as they are good. At the same time I don't want them to forget that there are some amazing screenwriters out in the world that have some amazing stories to tell. Some of these stories may end up being much better than the comic books studios are shelling out millions of dollars for.
In the end I love watching movies, and if there is a great story to be told then I want to see it.