Morbius (Sony/Marvel vampire movie)

[The Culture Bunker]

And has no super-powers, uses nets and normal hunting guns - unless Sony drastically change the character, it doesn't lend itself to the cgi they've relied on thus far to mimic the MCU.

Doesn't he knock back some weird potion that tops up his strength, stamina and all that? Sort of like a version of the super-soldier serum? Not quite super-powers, but enhanced all the same.

[Mister Six]

I was surprised how much I liked No Way Home as I am tediously anti-MCU, but it turned me around on Tom Holland as Spidey and I hope future films will maintain its tone to some extent.

I liked No Way Home and thought it was impressive how much they packed into the film without it feeling bloated or fragmented, but it also confirmed to me how far Marvel is going up its own arse and the extent to which hubris has infected the whole project. Releasing a film that requires you to see about nine films, five of which aren't even in the MCU, to really get the most out of it is insane.

I think we're switching polarities! Perhaps the real Mr Negative was the No Way Home we watched along the way.

[Dr Rock]

Doesn't he knock back some weird potion that tops up his strength, stamina and all that? Sort of like a version of the super-soldier serum? Not quite super-powers, but enhanced all the same.

Oh yeah. But not very cinematic is it. I bet they give him a metal arm and make him more like Deathstroke or Cable. Dunno what he's going to hunt if Spidey's not around, Morbius and Venom maybe.

[mjwilson]

How about The Spider-Man Revenge Squad?
Spot!
Grizzly!
Kangaroo II!
Gibbon!

There was a comic a few years back, The Superior Foes of Spider-Man I think,  which was just based on having shitty z-list villains. That was fun, maybe Sony should try it,

[elliszeroed]

I just feel bad for the seventeen people who really wanted a Morbius film.

[beanheadmcginty]

This was every bit as terrible as I hoped. An absolute travesty of a film with virtually no redeeming features. One thing intrigued me though - how the fuck did they get away with using the Dark Knight music whenever the bats were in a scene? Hans Zimmer really ought to send the lawyers in.

[Alberon]

Looking at the box office, it has just passed $156m worldwide on a budget of about $75-83m.

Don't think there's going to be a Morbius 2 and you've got to say the Sinister Six movie Sony is lining up is looking doubtful.

[stonkers]

Pretty bad but not a total disaster. Might not be enough to put them off the Sinister Six plan, but I'm not optimistic about Kraven the Hunter's box office chances.

[Famous Mortimer]

Whenever I see these sorts of box office receipts I think back to "Master and Commander", which was fucking great but only made that sort of profit, and I guess (even though both stars were very keen to return) they didn't quite think it was worth it.

[stonkers]

Yeah with something like Master and Commander which is well received there's an argument for a sequel even if the numbers aren't great.

What I think gets forgotten is that the first phase of MCU films had spotty box office. The Iron Mans and Thor did well but the Ed Norton Hulk and Captain America 1 not so much.

On the other hand the Andrew Garfield Spider-Mans actually did good numbers but Sony still ditched them and did the deal with Marvel / Disney.

[samadriel]

I reckon Master and Commander would've done better if it didn't have a subtitle that made it sound like it was part of some pre-existing film franchise everyone had missed out on (yes, I know there's lots of books).

[13 schoolyards]

On the other hand, bringing in double its budget despite literally every human being on the planet saying "that looks shit" is probably good news for Sony if they ever decide to try and make a decent mid-budget Spider-spinoff

[dead-ced-dead]

Earlier in the thread I said that this would probably break even, given its modest budget. Well, I was wrong.

Conventional wisdom is a film needs to make 2.5x its budget, which puts Morbius in the $190m range. That isn't happening.

[mjwilson]

Don't worry, the newly announced Sony character to get a film is El Muerto.

You know, El Muerto.

[Alberon]

Him, right?

[Mister Six]

Don't worry, the newly announced Sony character to get a film is El Muerto.

You know, El Muerto.

Starring a rapper named Bad Bunny, apparently.

Sony (live action studio) are so shit at films, aren't they?

Like, even if Bad Bunny is a Mos Def-level actor, is he going to pull in the punters to a movie about a generic-looking luchador baddie no cunt's ever heard of?

[dead-ced-dead]

Perhaps it's a way to keep the cost even tighter. As much as Morbius was a shit film, it was smart to keep the budget in the $75-83m range (even though it's still going to flop).

If they don't have to pay their lead a Tom Hardy or Jared Leto scale, they can get the budget to the low $60m range.

[13 schoolyards]

Yeah, it seems like Sony's approach to superheroes is basically going to be films that are a tight 90 minutes and with (for a superhero movie) a fairly low budget. It seems like a niche that could work if they figure out how to make decent films or find a few name-brand actors who'd like to make a superhero movie where they (and not the Marvel or Warners hierarchy) are the ones in the driving seat.

(until the film gets drastically re-edited before release)

[Dr Rock]

I can't believe this flopped with the mega-popular Jared Leto as the star.

[stonkers]

Bad Bunny really is a big star though, albeit without much of an acting career yet. I've see articles suggesting Sony mainly wanted him first and he chose El Muerto, which makes a bit more sense.

[Mister Six]

Granted, I'm old and out of touch, but is Bad Bunny a big enough star to carry a $60 million film based on an obscure property in a saturated superhero market without Marvel/DC associations, but with the residual stink of the Sony Spider-films?

I guess what they need to do is absolutely nail the script and surf the word of mouth. But this is Sony, who wouldn't know a good script if it came wrapped around an Academy Award, so...

According to Variety, the next couple of Sony Spider-films are Kraven with the guy from Kick-Ass in January next year, and Madame Web (who?) with the woman from Fifty Shades of Grey in June 2023. Surely they have more iconic/interesting characters to pursue? Or did the MCU get dibs on Black Cat et al?

[stonkers]

Oh I agree an EL Muerto movie is a risky proposition at best, just saying that Bad Bunny isn't just some guy, he's a big enough music star that trying to turn him into a movie star makes sense.

I think in theory Sony still have Black Cat and Silver Sable movies in development.

[phantom_power]

This was every bit as terrible as I hoped. An absolute travesty of a film with virtually no redeeming features. One thing intrigued me though - how the fuck did they get away with using the Dark Knight music whenever the bats were in a scene? Hans Zimmer really ought to send the lawyers in.

It really is fuck-awful. Boring origin story, dull plot, dogshit effects, unengaging fights, bland lead actor. The only good thing about it is Matt Smith, and even he is wasted on a generic baddie character. The dematerialising stuff makes no sense even in the comic book reality of the film and the slo-mo bits are pointless and uninspired

[Head Gardener]

my lad did an edit

[C_Larence]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2022/06/04/box-office-jared-leto-morbius-bombs-again-with-85000-friday/?sh=287575851cee

Sony have put this back in cinemas due to, what they perceived to be, renewed interest from all the hilarious ironic memes people have been posting about it on social media....and barely anybody went to see it again.

[Mister Six]

Or maybe it needed another week or two in cinemas to count as some kind of write-off.

But if not, given that the memes are about nobody watching the film, that was a bit of a mistake.

[Goldentony]

big fan of stringing a major film studio along on, and then falling for, a wind up

[Alberon]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2022/06/04/box-office-jared-leto-morbius-bombs-again-with-85000-friday/?sh=287575851cee

Sony have put this back in cinemas due to, what they perceived to be, renewed interest from all the hilarious ironic memes people have been posting about it on social media....and barely anybody went to see it again.

People have forgotten Snakes on a Plane. Played an absolute blinder with internet publicity and memes (to the point of filming an additional line dreamt up by people online).

But few bothered going to see the final film.

[Bad Ambassador]

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Memes/Morbius2022

Some of these are pretty funny, my favourites being the possible sequel 2 Fast 2 Morbius and the alleged line,

Spoiler alert

"Stand back! I am beginning to morb!"

[close]

[Angst in my Pants]

my lad did an edit

Excellent. Eat your heart out, DeCoteau!