{"id":101018,"date":"2016-08-13T10:00:47","date_gmt":"2016-08-13T08:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/?p=101018"},"modified":"2016-08-13T07:36:01","modified_gmt":"2016-08-13T05:36:01","slug":"suicide-squad-sucked-but-its-still-too-big-to-fail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/entertainment\/101018-suicide-squad-sucked-but-its-still-too-big-to-fail","title":{"rendered":"Suicide Squad sucked but it’s still too big to fail"},"content":{"rendered":"

Defying some particularly harsh reviews<\/a><\/strong>, Suicide Squad is killing it.<\/p>\n

This latest cinematic comic book adaptation has managed to rake in an impressive $267m worldwide<\/a><\/strong> in only three days and is currently top of the UK box office<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

David Ayer\u2019s film \u2013 about a motley crew of supervillains strong-armed into saving the world from an even worse supervillain \u2013 is proof that the superhero genre\u2019s popularity shows no signs of diminishing yet.<\/p>\n

Cinema\u2019s current superhero renaissance is well into its second decade, Hollywood having been alerted to the lucrative potential of the genre in its contemporary form by the success of Bryan Singer\u2019s X-Men<\/a><\/strong> in 2000.<\/p>\n

From a studio\u2019s point of view, the superhero film currently appears to be the closest thing to that ever-elusive holy grail of the guaranteed box office hit.<\/p>\n

Commercially speaking, these films satisfy all the requirements of a blockbuster.<\/p>\n

They are based on essentially simple core narratives which feature iconic heroes and villains, provide numerous opportunities to showcase spectacular visual effects and action set pieces, do not necessarily require expensive stars to attract audiences, and naturally lend themselves to multiple merchandising opportunities.<\/p>\n

And protagonists such as Superman, Batman and Spider-Man bring with them that all-important pre-existing audience awareness which films based on new material lack.<\/p>\n

The value of this to an industry in which film studios are becoming more conservative<\/a><\/strong> and less willing to digress from identifiable brands is obvious.<\/p>\n

But perhaps one of the most attractive features for studios is that these characters have often evolved over decades of comic book source material, meaning that they have an unparalleled potential to be mined for unending sequels and spin-offs.<\/p>\n

Since 2000, Twentieth Century Fox alone has released six X-Men films \u2013 plus two Wolverine spin-offs with a third on the way.<\/p>\n

Warner Bros. has made six Batman\/Superman films (including Suicide Squad), starting with Christopher Nolan\u2019s retelling of the Batman myth, the Dark Knight trilogy. Marvel has granted Captain America, Iron Man and Thor a trilogy each.<\/p>\n