With next year being a great year for Comic Book movies, I thought, "What will do better in the box office?"
AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON
At one end of the ring, we have Avengers: Age of Ultron. The Marvel films seem to have become Star Wars to this generation of movie viewers. Just with the name Marvel Studios behind a film, it is pretty much guaranteed to make some good money. Just look at Guardians of the Galaxy for an example.
First off, it was coming out in August, which wasn't the best time slot for movies. Secondly, it was about a walking tree, a talking raccoon, a green guy, a green lady, and a space cowboy teaming up to fight aliens. The general plot sounds about as crazy as it can get. But with Marvel's name tagged on the film, it brought in audiences, making the movie the must successful movie of the year. Over a month after the movie came out, it is still in the top ten films in the weekend box office. THAT IS INSANE!
So saying that, Avengers already has a huge name for itself with current movie goers. People who would have been skeptical of going to the theater to see the first film, but saw it later and loved it will probably show up in the seats this time around. This could bring in even MORE viewers than the first film, which has a total world-wide gross of a whopping $1,518,594,910. So, Age of Ultron has the possibility to make even more than this.
Even if you are one of those people that whine about the franchise, saying, "Marvel is ruining these movies! They're nothing like the comics!" (Which is very few people), Its a fact that you will be there opening weekend. Another advantage of this movie is that other than a few characters here and there, these actors and their characters you have already seen on screen, so you are familiar with them and have a connection to them and their histories.
So with a huge following, a good background with characters already set that you know and love, this movie will make big bucks, most likely coming close to or making more than its predecessor.
STAR WARS VII
On the other side of the ring is Star Wars VII. Pretty much anyone in the world who has access to movies and media has at least heard of Star Wars. In America, there are still kids(and adults) who dress up as characters from Star Wars for Halloween. There are shirts, hats, backpacks, etc. that can bee seen daily with Star Wars characters on it. Students in yearbooks still say that their favorite quote is, "Do or do not, there is no try".
I work at a university fixing dorm furniture in rooms, and I can testify that there are a lot of rooms I've walked into where a Star Wars poster is on the wall or a little R2-D2 figure is sitting on a student's desk next to their laptop. Saying all that, Star Wars is part of our lives and it is impossible to be an american and not have heard of Star Wars, even if it is only around in video games, comics or tv shows. Though we try to forget that the Star Wars prequels ever happened, they still brought in TONS of money.
Audiences, even those that barely go to movies anymore, will come out for this movie. Why? Well, this is where Episode VII differs from the prequels: the cast. Audiences who saw the original trilogy will come out to see this because its not just some guy playing a young Obi-Wan, it is actually Mark Hamill returning as Luke Skywalker. It is actually Harrison Ford returning as Han Solo. It is actually Carrie Fisher returning as Leia.
We are not getting look-a-likes or actors who are suppose to be older versions of these characters, but instead we are getting the ACTUAL older version of the characters. Which is just amazing the more you think about it.
The thing that may draw a few people away(but not many) is that the main cast of characters are unknown and are characters that we don't know yet, and same goes with the actors. John Boyega(by the way, he is an amazing actor), Adam Driver, Andy Serkis(who is actually well known for movie fans, but for the general audience, they won't know who he is).
These are all names that would make general movie goers ask, "Who?". But, of course, this is not always true. Again, look at Guardians of the Galaxy, though they may have more of a familiar cast, the characters were still unknown at the time. And now we will see kids running around with Star-Lord and Rocket Raccoon masks on Halloween. But with a name like Star Wars, this isn't really a problem. Because similar to Marvel being attached to a film, Star Wars will bring people in just alone on the name.
Avengers may have an upper hand when it comes to children going to see the movie. Now, most parents will take there kid to see Episode VII because they are experiencing film history. To this day, people still recall the time when they first went to see Star Wars and how amazing the experience was. So it seems like parents, wanting their children to have this same kind memory, will take their kids. But it does seem like kids would be begging their parents to go see Age of Ultron over Star Wars, but that assumption could be wrong.
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Which film do you think will bring in more money? Avengers: Age of Ultron or Star Wars VII?
we can plan on one of these films or both being in the Top 5 Grossing Films of all time, just because of how much hype is surrounding it. Comment with your thoughts below and hit that THUMPS UP button.
Thanks for reading!