Disney paid roughly $200 million just for Robert Downey Jr. and the Russo Brothers to come back. That's before a single frame of film was shot. Before sets, VFX, marketing, craft services, anything.
The test screening results suggest that $200M bet is about to pay off at somewhere between 10x and 25x.
Here's why this leak matters more than the usual hype cycle. This is a pre-reshoots cut. The version that tested at Infinity War levels is the version before they add more characters, more cameos, more fan-service scenes. Reshoots on a film testing this well are additive, not corrective. That's a completely different production posture than what Marvel has been doing for the last five years.
The Russos' last two Avengers films did $4.85 billion combined. Infinity War alone cleared $2.05B. Endgame hit $2.8B. The entire Multiverse Saga since then has been a slow bleed of audience trust. Quantumania did $476M on a $200M budget. The Marvels did $206M. Eternals, $402M. Marvel was losing casual viewers at a rate that made the franchise look terminal.
The Downey/Russo reunion was always the play of last resort. Downey literally refused to return unless the Russos directed. His deal includes private jets, a security detail, and a trailer compound. The Russos got $80M with escalators at $750M and $1B box office thresholds, plus their AGBO banner gets a producer credit, which is a first for Marvel.
And now the thing is testing like Infinity War before reshoots even happen.
If Doomsday clears $2B in December 2026, it validates something very specific: Marvel's problem was never the audience. The audience was always there. The problem was that Phase 4 and 5 shipped B-tier directors and C-tier scripts on A-tier IP. The fix wasn't reinventing the formula. The fix was paying for the best people and getting out of their way.
The Russos' performance escalators kick in at $750M and $1B. If this thing does Infinity War numbers, those escalators trigger so fast Disney's finance team won't finish the wire transfer before the second weekend.
People, please understand that Absolute Wonder Woman and Absolute Martian Manhunter are probably two of the greatest titles in more than a decade. Every single issue is flat-out stellar. PICK THEM UP.
DC says The Absolute Universe has sold over 8.2 Million units in total,(not including December's sales) and Absolute Batman makes up around 35 percent, close to 3 Million.
•Absolute Batman #1 is on its 10th printing and #15 has over 300k orders
•Absolute Martian Manhunter also had received orders in 6 figure
•The Absolute Universe has outperformed New 52 and Rebirth
•Batman #1 also received 500k orders and continues to sell well
•DC's Compact line is also a huge success.
•DC has also struck up partnerships with supermarket chains to have certain comics, usually first issues, available for sale.
Via:(https://t.co/mxELI1mVBY)
Kyle Rayner will return to earth starting from Green Lantern #33
He finally moves back to Los Angeles and again takes up the mantle of Green Lantern of Earth. Join Kyle as he finds a job, navigates traffic, and chases down escaped villains from Oa! Hal will still be around in the background and have his own side adventures in the main story.
The teaser trailer for ‘AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY’ will play exclusively in theaters until after the first week of ‘AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH’s release.
(via @DanielRPK)
Paramount is now reportedly looking to launch a hostile bid for Warner Bros
They feel their $30 a share all-cash offer is higher than what Netflix offered — in terms of cash, stock and the value of the cable business spinoff
(via @CGasparino)
Today, Netflix announced our acquisition of Warner Bros. Together, we’ll define the next century of storytelling, creating an extraordinary entertainment offering for audiences everywhere. https://t.co/rXPFMNIs1A
Still didn't make Man of Steel's earnings WITHOUT adjusting for inflation. Stop pretending MoS was a financial flop because it was critically disliked. Two movies into the DCEU, over 1 billion dollars. Gunn is nowhere near with TSS and Superman25
According to Forbes,
regardless of who the buyer of WBD is, the DCU will continue under the management of James Gunn and Peter Safran, due to the great success of Superman
For those going home to visit family this weekend:
• Samsung calls it Auto Motion Plus
• LG calls it TruMotion
• Sony calls it Motionflow
• Roku calls it Action Smoothing
• Google TV calls it Motion Enhancement
• Vizio calls it Smooth Motion Effect.
The Bible really does contain a lot of stories where Jesus's followers are like "That person did a bad thing, should we go mess em up?" and Jesus is like "I don't know why I need to keep telling you guys this but no."
NEW: UC San Diego has released a new report documenting a “steep decline in the academic preparedness” of its freshmen.
The number of entering students needing remedial math has exploded from 1/100 to 1/8.
They’ve had to create a second remedial class covering elementary and middle school math skills in addition to the one covering gaps from high school.
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