"DC Universe" Animated Feature News & Discussion Thread, Part 7 (Spoilers)

[Lighthammer]

Bah, Apocalypse was easily one of the better DCU DTVs and I'm still writing it off as odd-ish release period. DC Movies released in the last week of a month never have done as well.

Still, the movie was solid, the story was great --- I think it was fairly one of the best DCU DTVs despite garning lower ratings and sell through.

Situations like this make me sad; a almost similar situation that has all the fixing to explain away the problems will still cause a good potential project to not even be looked at.

 

[Gold Guy]

Bah, Apocalypse was easily one of the better DCU DTVs and I'm still writing it off as odd-ish release period. DC Movies released in the last week of a month never have done as well.

Still, the movie was solid, the story was great --- I think it was fairly one of the best DCU DTVs despite garning lower ratings and sell through.

Situations like this make me sad; a almost similar situation that has all the fixing to explain away the problems will still cause a good potential project to not even be looked at.

I agree. In fact, Aocalypse may be my second favorite DC DTV. I didn't know it sold badly.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

Where's the source that proves Apocalypse sold badly?

 

[Hero Supreme]

Where's the source that proves Apocalypse sold badly?

In fact, according to the-numbers.com, its has a Total Domestic Video Sales of $7,818,839, one of the better selling titles.

 

[EmaHalJordan]

They already said this was going to happen.

My guesses are Throne of Atlantis, Hush, and a Superman movie.

no more Superman or Batman animated movies (in 2015 at least)!!!. And start to give opportunities to other characters, and perhaps with 3 years of Arrow tv series we can see a Green Lantern / Green Arrow, and with the Flash Series we can also see a Flash solo movie, plus Justice League: Throne of Atlantis!

I was looking the sales of Wonder Woman in The Numbers.com ... $ 7,587,427!

There are movies like SupermanUnbound with $2,679,182 Supeperman vs the Elite with $2,421,475 Batman Dark Knight Returns part.2 with $3,883,722. With the good sales of Wonder Woman no more movies? I do not understand!

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[Hero Supreme]

I was looking the sales of Wonder Woman in The Numbers.com ... $ 7,587,427!

There are movies like SupermanUnbound with $2,679,182 Supeperman vs the Elite with $2,421,475 Batman Dark Knight Returns part.2 with $3,883,722. With the good sales of Wonder Woman no more movies? I do not understand!

It is a bit frustrating looking at those numbers, but from what has been said in the past retailers are more interested in a title with lots of sales right away, even if they decline quickly. Even though Wonder Woman has a nice total, its sales were slow and steady.

 

[Lighthammer]

no more Superman or Batman animated movies (in 2015 at least)!!!. And start to give opportunities to other characters, and perhaps with 3 years of Arrow tv series we can see a Green Lantern / Green Arrow, and with the Flash Series we can also see a Flash solo movie, plus Justice League: Throne of Atlantis!

I was looking the sales of Wonder Woman in The Numbers.com ... $ 7,587,427!

There are movies like Superman Unbound with $2,679,182 Supeperman vs the Elite with $2,421,475 Batman Dark Knight Returns part.2 with $3,883,722. With the good sales of Wonder Woman no more movies? I do not understand!

This sadly isn't a good mark for success. There's been a general decline in the movies as a whole.

Though that being said, I easily would agree Wonder Woman was a better movie then the aforementioned ones.

 

[Yojimbo]

It is a bit frustrating looking at those numbers, but from what has been said in the past retailers are more interested in a title with lots of sales right away, even if they decline quickly. Even though Wonder Woman has a nice total, its sales were slow and steady.

As Hero Supreme indicated, total sales is just one factor. The speed at which units sell have been implied to be a bigger factor. Wonder Woman and GL: First Flight had great totals but the speed they sold at was slow, which stores don't like. They want product in and out. Hence, the folk at WBA appeared to try and adapt; keep making Batman, JL, and Superman movies but attempt to feature another character tied to that mythos (Flashpoint Paradox - Flash, Superman Unbound - Supergirl) rather than try a dozen failed pitches of a movie titled Flash or Supergirl. Business can be brutal like that.

 

[BigFatHairyDeal]

Don't forget digital sales eats into the sales totals of physical discs. For instance, look how many of us bought iTunes releases of Justice League: War and Flashpoint Paradox.

 

[Lighthammer]

Don't forget digital sales eats into the sales totals of physical discs. For instance, look how many of us bought iTunes releases of Justice League: War and Flashpoint Paradox.

Yea, but the annoying thing is we can figure out how much it REALLY impacts TPTB. Its unclear how much they weigh or even how much they get from it.

For instance, iTunes REALLY 'takes' when it comes to their take compared to retail but when you sell the videos at retail level you're also concerned about production and transportation costs.

 

[BigFatHairyDeal]

Yea, but the annoying thing is we can figure out how much it REALLY impacts TPTB. Its unclear how much they weigh or even how much they get from it.

For instance, iTunes REALLY 'takes' when it comes to their take compared to retail but when you sell the videos at retail level you're also concerned about production and transportation costs.

That's probably why iTunes has been getting away with taking a big cut out of the digital sales. Distribution and production are cheaper, and there's no secondary market (that I know of) where you can buy a "used" iTunes download. If the studios have an incentive not to sell physical media, it gives iTunes leverage to bargain a larger cut (i.e. let us take our cut or else stick to your old model that we know you don't like).

 

[Lighthammer]

Well, there's a bit of trap here that we've been playing with for years where Amazon and Apple are concerned (they're the biggest 'crooks' in this mess, Apple more so).

Essentially digital publishers like Amazon and Apple think that the cost that would normally be allocated to making the discs and shipping should now be directly reallocated to them. The problem is bulk shipping costs very little. When you mass produce discs, they cost around 2 cents a piece and DVD case costs about 19 cents once everything is calculated for bulk. You're not even talking about quarter being spent to produce each disc; then maybe another 10 cents on average per disc accounts for shipping to retail stores.

The public has a perception the cost for production of the discs is a ton more and the digital publishers absolutely ride that.

Instead of passing the savings of digital publishing (which isn't free, for the record, there is bandwidth overhead cost) they turn around and do a bait and switch of sorts on the guys selling the discs.

There's a lot of cases where people have crunched numbers on product releases and shown that Apple makes more money selling digital copies then the guys who make the actual product. What I mean by that statement is Apple is percentage off the top where the money left over from the sale still needs to be allocated to pay for the cost of production in the first place.

The strangleneck they have here is actually pretty criminal =(.

 

[BigFatHairyDeal]

iTunes and Amazon aren't obligated to pass savings. This is a contract that millionaire (or billionaire) execs from the studios negotiated with the millionaire (or billionaire) execs at iTunes, so I certainly wouldn't use the word "criminal" to describe what's going on here. If the studios don't like their contract, they can find another company to distribute their digital, or they can create their own and cut out the middle man altogether.

iTunes earned the right to charge what they charge, through creating a distribution network so far-reaching that studios want to contract them for services, and by negotiating their contract.

 

[Hordesman]

Apple also has its costs too, from bandwidth and storage to personnel. The Wal-Mart model doesn't help thing, though, because they want things in and out faster. And I just heard Amazon is implementing some system where they use your purchase history to do the following- when you browse, certain items will automatically be transferred to the shipping hub- packed and awaiting you placing the order.

 

[BigFatHairyDeal]

Apple also has its costs too, from bandwidth and storage to personnel. The Wal-Mart model doesn't help thing, though, because they want things in and out faster. And I just heard Amazon is implementing some system where they use your purchase history to do the following- when you browse, certain items will automatically be transferred to the shipping hub- packed and awaiting you placing the order.

That serious is happening? Well, I better start browsing for dummy items just to screw up their process. Data mine that!

BTW, I think this digital release plan is working well for the studios, or at least it changed my buying habits. My preferred plan was to buy the BluRay, then sell it on eBay. By releasing a digital release two weeks in advance of the physical, I had to make a decision to wait, or just buy it ASAP. I chose ASAP, and in return, they netted one additional sale of the movie that wouldn't have happened if they only sold physical discs.

 

[Yojimbo]

So fron tonight's The Paley Center panel live stream PaleyLive Live Stream | The Paley Center for Media

Gary, SuperPRGuy, not-so-subtly hinted Heath Corson will be writing more scripts. Tucker was tight lipped about what's to come but did say at the end they've been talking about doing some form of Justice League Dark. It didn't sound like they were at the point of talking about a Trinity War but Tucker gave the 'it's possible' response.

EDIT: 2/3
Though many guessed it already...Looks like Mr. Tucker has confirmed a Justice League and Batman movie set in New 52/Animated for 2015.
EXCLUSIVE: "Justice League: War" Launches "First Salvo" for Future DC Animated Features - Comic Book Resources

 

[Bobbywoodhogan]

So fron tonight's The Paley Center panel live stream PaleyLive Live Stream | The Paley Center for Media

Gary, SuperPRGuy, not-so-subtly hinted Heath Corson will be writing more scripts. Tucker was tight lipped about what's to come but did say at the end they've been talking about doing some form of Justice League Dark. It didn't sound like they were at the point of talking about a Trinity War but Tucker gave the 'it's possible' response.

EDIT: 2/3
Though many guessed it already...Looks like Mr. Tucker has confirmed a Justice League and Batman movie set in New 52/Animated for 2015.
EXCLUSIVE: "Justice League: War" Launches "First Salvo" for Future DC Animated Features - Comic Book Resources

Am I reading that wrong or does it sound like we're only getting JL and Batman movies in future? Cause I was really hoping for another Superman film.

 

[Yojimbo]

Am I reading that wrong or does it sound like we're only getting JL and Batman movies in future? Cause I was really hoping for another Superman film.

The third in 2015 could always be Superman. But no, in the recent past, it was said it would be Justice League, Batman, and Superman movies but with an extra effort to spotlight a non-title character in each one.

 

[EmaHalJordan]

How could anyone be happy with another animated movie Batman? or ask a new Superman?
I want OTHERS heroes!

-a Justice League movie with the Blackest Night arc centered on other heroes like GL, Flash, Atom and Mera (The trinity in minor roles).

-Green Lantern/Green Arrow Hard Traveling Heroes

-Batman/Wonder Woman Hiketeia (With the help of Batman, Wonder Woman may have another movie!)

-Identity Crisis (another arc of the League that puts the Trinity in minor roles and focuses on Elongated Man / Sue, Atom / Jean Loring, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Flash, Zatanna, Canary and Hawkman!)

I like ALL of the DC universe, and it saddens me to see the fans asking only Superman and Batman. i hope some day heroes like Hawkman, the New Gods and Atom can have their movie!

 

[BigFatHairyDeal]

A good source about budgets for all to save and bookmark. Jay Oliva.
And a description of the teaser seen at the end of War with accompanying grab. So all but confirmed by the crew what title we'll see in 2015...

So their budget is about to same after 4-5 years? That's a tad disappointing. I was kind of hoping that they'd increase it if the movies were successful enough.

I was also hoping they'd make a 4th movie this year. As I've said before, I like the idea that we get a new Batman movie every year, but two Batman movies and one JL seems like overkill. Well, as long as they don't adapt The Dark Knight Strikes Again into a multi-parter...