It’s a bit dishonest to state the movie made $200 million, when in fact, it made close to $400 million.

It’s a bit dishonest to suggest that because it only made close to $400 million dollars it was this great disappointment.

It’s a bit dishonest to ignore the other avenues this movie made money in. Besides merchandising, free tickets were given in Superman Related DVDs. We have no idea how many of those tickets were used and if they are counted towards box office (since that goes by money made, not tickets sold). And, the fact it came with a free ticket would lead to better sales for the DVDs.

It’s also dishonest not to mention the simple fact that Superman Returns made more money with licensing then Batman Returns, Fantastic Four, and X3. I don’t remember the X-Men on cans of Pepsi or having their own cereal.

It’s a bit dishonest when X-3, the 3rd of a series, only made a littler over $30 million dollars more (domestically) then Superman Returns, the first of a series.

It’s a bit dishonest when Batman Returns only made about $8 million dollars more (domestically).

It’s a bit dishonest when X-Men 2 (another movie you used as proof and the second of a series) only made $15 million more.

It’s not only dishonest, but laughable, to suggest inflation has anything to do with a movie only two years old.

See, I’m still hearing conflicting reports about this. What constitutes the budget, anyway? What’s counted from the Smith/Burton/Abrams/McG/Whatever that came before Singer?

Box Office: $234 million
Budget: $210 million

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=x3.htm

Superman Returns is one of only 8 superhero movies to have grossed $200 million. Could it have been better and/or grossed more? No doubt about it. But $200 million ($390 million worldwide) is nothing to laugh at…

Now, if SR made $400 M (Spider-Man numbers), then its popularity among moviegoers could not be questioned.

Hence, Singer has to rely on more than movie nostalgia if he wants the Superman sequel to be more than a critical darling, but financial weakling.

1. Its lead character

2. Its acclaimed director, Bryan Singer

3. Glowing reviews from most critics

4. Its intense ad campaign

So, when SR wound up making less than X3 or even Batman Begins, the word “lackluster” began to be whispered. SR was expected to be a Spider-Man sized blockbuster, an honor that instead went to Pirates 2.

SR looks worse if you factor in all the superhero flicks from movie history. Even without adjusting for inflation, SR made less than Spider-Man 1 and 2, X2 and X3, The Incredibles, Batman, and Batman Begins.

And the situation doesn’t improve if you factor in comic book flicks, superhero or not. In addition to those films listed above (except for Incredibles), another film that made a lot more that SR was Men in Black starring Will Smith.

Huh? Maybe Smith should have played Supes instead of Brandon Routh.

BTW, I got all these figures from Box Office Mojo:

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/domestic.htm

So, it’s a bit dishonest to act like SR was this massive hit when the figures indicate otherwise. While I don’t think Superman is as obsolete as Millar claims, the Man of Steel is clearly no longer the end all and be all of superheroes. Supes will have to accept being just part of the spandex crowd.

Good grief.

FUN FACT #2: Millar was one of them. (See: That column he did on CBR).

Millar says:

“Superman Returns is a really good movie. It’s not a GREAT movie, but it’s good enough and the flaws were outweighed by the great moments and the little touches and the huge amount of love that beats from the heart every frame. I went last night, for the first time, about 50 mins after returning from my holidays. It KILLED me that the movie was released when I was trapped in a remote cottage in the Scottish hills and I had to wait 5 whole days to see what everyone else was eating up with their eyeballs. But I assembled a quick crew last night as I always do for the big event movies, a nice collection of pals and family and sixteen of us filled a row in the UGC, every single one of us just loving it to bits. The ages ranged from two nephews aged 11 and 12 all the way up to one of my brothers aged 52 and everybody got something out of it. Not surprisingly, in what’s essentially a chick flick, the girls got the most out of it. They just absolutely LOVED it and had no complaints whatsoever. On this front, Singer absolutely delivered. He wanted to make a Titanic, a movie that thrilled the ladeez as much as the laddies, and he absolutely pulled it off.”

But, I know what’s really bothering Mr. Millar. Stuff like this make the “Superman isn’t relevant” arguement silly.

Why you ask would he do this?

Why did a pal (joined by a chorus of sychophants) of his claim that a low box office proves he isn’t relevant? (Fun Fact: Superman Returns did better box office then Batman Begins, the Hulk, and the Fantastic Four. They, unlike Superman? Still relevant.).

Why did he himself, along with his pals and sychophants claim that low comic sales proved their point? (Fun Fact: Aside from Civil War, Superman generally does better then most of those Marvel Icons and depending on the circumstance, better then Wolverine and Spider-Man).

Why?

So Mark Millar can save them.

Wizard isn’t relevant anymore, because they chose to have a 6 page article on “Civil War” and a 4 page article on “52.” Obviously, they didn’t use the extra 4 pages on Mark Millar, so they aren’t relevant anymore.

And, Mark Millar is the one that made Captain America relevant again. I thought it was Ed Brubaker, but silly me, it was really Mark Millar.

And, what Superman needs is for Mark Millar to save him. Look at the job he did with Spider-Man and Wolverine (Fun Fact: Didn’t do much better then the current Busiek Superman run and Busiek’s Superman run could now be outselling both).

So for Superman too succeed, DC Comics must admit that no one cares about the character anymore. Eliminate Superman altogether. Cancel his comics. Cancel his movie. Cancel his TV Show. Cancel his cartoon.

This way, whenever Millar’s contract with Marvel comes up, if he generously decides to give DC a break and sign a one year exclusive, he’ll be able to save Superman.

Now let’s all hold hands and pray for the delivering of Superman’s Messiah.

Except it wouldn’t be Scotland, since that actually starts with an S. It would be something like “Do you think the S on my chest stands for Japan?”

All Singer has to do to know that level of agony is read Civil War #4. At least that’s how Marvel fans are feeling. And by the way, Superman Returns was very good, and better than anything you’ve done in the last few years. You’re just mad because you lost that bet with Harry Knowles…

Millar should be smacked in the head with the DVD of MANHUNTER.