Fantastic Four DVD sales/stuff

[ToM]

Fantastic Four DVD sets are selling huge in advance sales. Even before the first DVD went over a cash register the success of the release in this format was evident. Now, the only question is, where to buy one and get extra goodies with it? Circuit City offers a paperback book filled with still from the film. It's just an adaptation of the film really. At Best Buy you can pick up an edition exclusive to that store. This one has a DVD Rom featuring twenty three scanned comics of ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR, plus an actual issue of that series (number twelve). For added measure there's four round "collector's cards" if that's your sort of thing.

Me, I picked mine up for thirteen bucks at Target. This set has an exclusive "extra" DVD with fifteen minutes of backstage footage, plus trailers for upcoming Twentieth Century Fox films. I figured I'd rather have another FF. related film promotional (whatever it is) than a disc of comics I'll never use (hate the Ultimates).

There's lots of other places having offers with the release, check your ads in the Sunday papers. I'm glad it's doing well, that means they'll beef up the production budget on the second one as we saw with X2. See, strong DVD sales give studios encouragement to up the cost because they assume the sales on home video will make it easier to recoup. And of course, they just signed on the director and scribes to make the second film, so we *know* that's on the way. Man, '07 is going to be crowded for Marvel! Spider-Man 3, the X-men spin off with Wolverine, and now Fantastic Four 2. Marvel films will have become their own competition! Forget about DC Comics adaptations, Marvel is becoming maybe too successful for it's own good.

ToM

[norrinraad]

See, strong DVD sales give studios encouragement to up the cost because they assume the sales on home video will make it easier to recoup.

Good point ToM. Now then, why not extend the same courtesy and enthusiasm to Batman? After all, last I heard BB was cleaning up on DVD! :P
___________
"It's better to let the feelings die
Than to let them hold you down."

[Bigkid]

Hey, dosen't this DVD also include the new Avengers animated film that's going to be coming out soon? I mean, aren't they advertising the Avengers animated on THIS? I thought I'd read that somewhere.

I'm not really looking for all the bells and whistles, I'm just looking to get a DVD with the film on it. I think I've seen ALL of the "making of" stuff that is fit to print, quite frankly. I heard that they've also got some sort of "bonus footage" talking about the making of XMen3. But from what I've also read concerning THAT, is that it's just really only about 5 or 10 minutes or so of Avi Arad talking about the making of it, and some sketches of storyboards from the film.

[ToM]

Well, for *one* thing Norrin, I didn't *buy* Batman Begins. However, the *real* importance with the success there is that *both* comics adaptations doing well up against each other stands as evidence to studios that the comics to film genre *isn't* drying up with audiences. There had been some question of that. Most of the adaptations that came out last year were pretty shakey at the box office. Had *Batman*, a character considered to have tenure failed, if even *that* character could fail at the box office, it would signal the studios to retreat.

To be sure, that it only opened with forty six million (when it was expected by the studio and others to be a Star Wars rival) was a scare. And that it didn't crack three hundred was also worrisome for them considering their expectations. Warner Brothers didn't bank on Batman being "a sleeper hit" like it was. That's the whole reason *why* they *wanted* a new Batman, for a *blockbuster* to move tons of merchandise almost automatically. Historically Batman was never at WB to just provide successful movies, but as a commercial to sell tons of tie-in products. For example, they were ready to flush the franchise after the second Burton film when the fast food money wasn't going to back another *Burton* Batman film. To *just* be a hit movie wasn't sufficient for the studio as crazy as that sounds.The DVD sales are now more important than ever.

Anyway, the point is, I'm not enthusiastic about Batman because it was a close call for the genre. Once more a Batman failure could've erased the genre from screens (something a failed FF. movie couldn't do). If they beef up the Batman sequel and it fails, that'll be the end of that. Because Batman is a success, it means the trend isn't over. But because Hollywood could stack Fantastic Four on *top* of that and it was a winner too, *that* means the trend still has room to *build.* And that invites more studios to try more adaptations. So, that's where my enthusiasm is placed.

BigKid, the extra disc has a couple of cool functions, one being a tour of The Baxter Building. The other is a "From Comics To Screen" comparison that's done. This will really surprise all those who said they didn't see the movie sourcing the original material. They run sequences from the film in one window, whilst in panels placed along side, they show comics content. An awful lot of material from the very first issue *does* make it onto screen. And of course, they visit material from the *key* runs in the book's history (Bryne and so on).

One thing lacking is the sort of retrospective on the comics that we saw with Spider-Man, Hulk, X-Men and so on though. I'd have loved to have seen a cover gallery.

Where's the STAN LEE DELETED SCENES? In the deleted scenes section we only get a couple of sequences. I thought it was reported that various incarnations of the Stan Lee/Reed Richards exchanges were to be featured? I was really looking forward to that. Does anybody know if it's hidden somewhere on the disc? Or is there maybe a different "exclusive feature" with FF discs at other stores?

Alba's video diary has a few interesting highlights but really doesn't give you the feeling of being there with a group of people off on an adventure like what you get on the X-Men 1.5 DVD set. Man, that really makes you feel like you're there WITH them (and it's all so funny, packed with a real spirit of camaraderie). Anyway, at one point "Mister Fantastic" walks up to the camera and says, "I just threw up my entire breakfast. I dunno what I ate but I feel like EXPLICIT DELETED." They were in Mexico. Bottled water anyone?

As for the X3 content, man, Avi Arad looks like *he* just threw up his breakfast, lunch, dinner....and another breakfast. He does *not* look like he's having a good time. The presentation he gives is very stern. That's a very strange thing for a guy that's managed to get three film franchise on the screen at the present time (four if you count Lion's Gate doing The Punisher sequel). I figure he must've just seen what they had The Beast looking like.

So, where's that Stan Lee footage on the FF. disc?

ToM

[easy D]

Well, I wouldn't call Batman Begins a "sleeper hit". It is one of the more successful films of the summer, hell, even the year. I'd say movies like March of the Penguins or Constantine are "sleeper hits".

And, yeah, the part about no comic book retrospective sucks. Those are cool. Those are the reasons why I still have the Daredevil theatrical cut and the Elektra director's cut. Maybe when the Fantastic 4 director's cut comes out, it'll have that comic book retro feature.

[Pod]

Maybe when the Fantastic 4 director's cut comes out, it'll have that comic book retro feature.

Only if it does come out... :?

I'm still not sure if they're going to release one and from looking at the date of when other Director Cut's come out it looks like we might see the F4 DC in March or somewhere there! I can't wait that long...

Is there anywhere that says the official date for the F4 DC?

[ToM]

EasyD, a sleeper hit is a film that gradually *over time* reaches a considerable box office take. Warner Brothers, and most Batman Begins boosters thought the opening weekend would be much larger than forty-seven million dollars. This was a movie to rival the opening box office of all the biggest contenders (WoTW, STROTS). Read the coverage at Box Office Mojo when it didn't.

However, Batman Begins survived like all sleepers, on strong word of mouth. Scream for example opened with fair numbers. But it wasn't the huge smash sensation that it *later* became known as. It gradually racked up that huge bthe same way Begins did. The Sixth Sense was a mega hit, a seeming box office blockbuster when you go back and look at the total take. But this is a *great* example of why *tracking* box office is so important, seeing *how* the money was made on the movie to *understand* the relationship it has with audiences. The Sixth Sense opened small, a shrug really, and just grew and grew over time.

Batman Begins wasn't one of these front loaded movies like Godzilla '98, where all the cash is made on the opening weekend, and then falls (but still having a huge take at the end). It earned it's money.

Now, Fantastic Four qualifies as a literal blockbuster. The opening was huge, surprising many, the next weekend it fell by sixty percent, which is bad. However, when you look at the weekend on a day by day basis, rather than averaging it out for the *whole* weekend, you see it *nearly* was at a mere fifty percent loss (which is respectable). The funny thing is that weekend *three* saw *little* loss from weekend two, doing around the fifty percent number. In other words, you could see that it had captured a strong audience. And from the opening on, looking at the day by day numbers, you see little change from one day to another, it was *stable.* It caught it's audience right away.

This level of daily retention of audience is a match for what we see with Batman. The only difference is that Fantastic Four packed them in right away, and Batman Begins built it over time.

It is *no* insult to call Batman Begins a sleeper hit. It means that while a lot of people were ready to give Batman a pass up, not won by all the advertising and hype, the word of mouth sold it when the studio machine couldn't.

Bearpod, don't wait for the director's cut in March, it won't be there. KNow why? Rothman. See, Rothman said, "Give me another X-Men." So, they did. Fantastic Four performed almost exactly the same way X-Men did in 2000. That film opens with fifty-seven million, shocking everybody who expected *nothing* from it (causing late show hosts to rush book the cast they'd snubbed, dragging Famke Jansen at the last second from the airport where she'd been boarding a flight overseas). Fantastic Four opens with fifty-six million. The day by day take is much the same as well. Finally, X-Men closes down at one hundred and fifty-seven million plus, and Fantastic Four shuts down at one hundred and fifty-SIX million plus. To have the dollars and cents match so exactly would seem impossible to have happen by sheer accident. They planned this out very carefully. Given that, the DVD releases will I expect work the same way they did with X-Men in 2000.

The first X-Men was made in an incredible rush, as was Fantastic Four. There was little time to prepackage the DVD to get a jampacked edition out on shelves. So, like the X-Men disc, Fantastic Four has scant extras (even using stuff made for tv just as X-Men did). Now, we *never* got that X-Men director's cut, did we? And when we finally get a great edition of X-Men (the 1.5 set) it's three years after the original release, timed to hit shelves to hype X2 at theaters. As of right now, Rothman has the date for FF2. on his desk in front of him. And he has the writer and director signed and locked. So, that DC FF. is going to be on shelves around May or June of '07. And that's cause the Fantastic Four will be facing The Puppetmaster on July Fourth of that year.

ToM

[easy D]

Well, see, I thought "sleeper hit" means that the movie did better than expected. At the beginning of the year, no one thought a movie like March of the Penguins would be as popular as it is. It's a documentary about penguins boning. I mean, every where you look, there's penguins. On cartons of orange juice or drinking bottles of soda with the famous Coca Cola Polar Bears.
See, a lot of people were expecting Batman Begins to do well, and since it made over $100 million, it didn't surprise a lot of people (Since the $100 million mark is similar to the record companies' platinum sales mark). Same thing with Fantastic 4. A Marvel film, rated PG-13, featuring a top shelf super hero (or heroes) can rake in $100 million, easy (Spider-Man and X-Men films, Hulk, and Daredevil for example. Elektra is the only exception.)

[Pod]

They have more details on the deleted scene where instead of Mr.Fantastic making a big chin on him, he turns himself into wolverine..ish. It's pretty stupid because he can't move his hair but it's funny to see.

http://www.comics2film.com/FanFrame.php?f_id=16456

[ToM]

Speaking of deleted scenes Bearpod, I'm DIS-gusted to discover that at WALMART, for twenty bucks, you get this two dics DVD set of Fantastic Four! The *second* disc is jam-packed with stuff, has it's own case and everything! It has unscripted interviews with the cast, Tim Story goes over the adaptation process, and it has 15 minutes of never before seen footage!!! There's also this documentary about making the film where they go into the make-up studio for creating The Thing, all that. Man, I wish I went to Walmart to get mine instead of Target!

My "exclusive" disc from there comes in a little paper slip, has a short thing about adapting the comic to the screen, a short feature about creating the Baxter Building, and an assortment of trailers for other comics2films.

Anybody get their copy at Walmart? I'm betting the deleted scenes with Stan Lee are in that thing! What does it have in it?

ToM

[Pod]

Speaking of deleted scenes Bearpod, I'm DIS-gusted to discover that at WALMART, for twenty bucks, you get this two dics DVD set of Fantastic Four! The *second* disc is jam-packed with stuff, has it's own case and everything! It has unscripted interviews with the cast, Tim Story goes over the adaptation process, and it has 15 minutes of never before seen footage!!! There's also this documentary about making the film where they go into the make-up studio for creating The Thing, all that. Man, I wish I went to Walmart to get mine instead of Target!

My "exclusive" disc from there comes in a little paper slip, has a short thing about adapting the comic to the screen, a short feature about creating the Baxter Building, and an assortment of trailers for other comics2films.

Anybody get their copy at Walmart? I'm betting the deleted scenes with Stan Lee are in that thing! What does it have in it?

ToM

Is it me, or am I reading an ad? :?

Walmart, eh? I wouldn't expect much but that much stuff on a second disc that's only selling in one mall/store? Hmm...sounds fishy. 8)

I'm waiting for all those deleted scenes to be edited in the fully version so that I can watch Fantastic 4 with nothing missing. :D

[ToM]

Bearpod, when it comes to Walmart, we're not talking a one store/mall deal of a regular sort. I just read an article about the future of film, and how important DVD is to what gets made....with Walmart playing a major role. Turn out that *thirty percent* of all DVDs sold in the United States are purchased at Walmart outlets.

Also, Walmart has this system by which they can tell exactly what unit (particular DVD disc) is in which store nationwide. And by the first few hours of sales they can crunch numbers and know exactly how many they need to order, or how many they'll be sending back to the manufacturer. So, Walmart is an important place to studios. On Tuesday morning, the heads of home video divisions of studios gage the success of their product by the numbers that Walmart has already asserted before they even got to their office! lol!

Twentieth Century Fox copuld make more money, and *save* more money by crafting "special editions" for Walmart *only.* See, if they made extra discs for *every* outlet, there's a chance of a loss since the DVD "crazy" has dwindled from when the systems first started selling. But seeing as how thirty percent of all DVDs are sold at Walmart, by dumping special editions off *there* they have a greater chance of them being purchased rather than being sent back to the company. Also, because the rest of the DVD sets are being sold elsewhere for a less expensive price, that allows them to be more competitive (being able to be sold for, say, thirteen dollars whereas another movie is selling for twenty seven dollars).

It's weird, it's like Fox produced all the content (the stuff on the Target extra disc for example) and dropped it out over *many* disc sets, instead of one *standard* set that is sold everywhere with all of it (making it cost more as a consequence). But all the more, this makes me think it's highly unlikely we're going to see a DC or "special" edition any time soon. I wanna know what's on that Walmart version. Maybe I'll buy another set, give the movie to somebody as a present and *keep* the extra disc for myself?

ToM