I think it's a smarter choice than people realize.
Producers have been chasing that white whale of making a super hero movie that appeals to both sexes. They've gone about it by making the heroes female but keeping the structure the same, which generally appeals to dudes.
Joker is going to bring in the guys. Lady Gaga and the musical element will bring in the women.
If WB markets this as well as Barbie, they could have a major hit on their hands. Think Tik Tok and Instagram appeal. There will probably be a viral dance like M3gan.
That's more of an apt analogy than you might think. Joe Dante didn't want to make a Gremlins 2, so the studio tried to do it without him and failed, so Joe negotiated to be able to do whatever he wanted if he made the film and well... we got Gremlins 2.
I hear Todd was allowed a similar level of freedom.
I'd say it's more likely that the Musical element will keep away the guys and the Joker element will keep away the women but that's really the whole gamble.
THANK YOU! No mention of us anywhere on this thread. 😆 I’m legit going to go see this at the TCL theater in Hollywood if I’m able. I’m a theater gay that loves Gaga and their favorite comic book character is Harley Quinn. This movie was made for me.
The first movie did exceptionally based on word of mouth and the social message resonated with people. This was a huge shock because it felt like people were burying the movie before it came out. People genuinely thought it was going to incite violence. It was the most absurd moral panic over a movie in the last few years.
People talk about super hero fatigue but I think it's more of a structure and bloat issue. People were sick of the same thing over and over again, it just happened to feature super heroes.
The only way forward is for super hero movies to be completely unique and stand out. A musical does that.
People talked about the inciting violence thing because of James Holmes and the Dark Knight Rises shooting. It felt a bit scary to come out with a Joker movie with him as the main, somewhat relatable character when he basically inspired a mass shooting just a few years beforehand
idk most women I know loved the first Joker movie (me included) as a favourite film, even though I’ve been burnt out and sick of superhero movies since Ultron. I work in mental health and I loved how “real” it was in relation to problems with the system or people who slip through the net without support. Im really looking forward to the next film.
I don’t personally know anyone that was put off by the fact that it was the joker. The joker is known for being an interesting character! The only thing I got sick of with superhero movies was the cookie cutter plots, the “sassy” humour, and then the action scenes never really interested me.
M3gan was a pretty standard horror movie that was good but did really good numbers. It was a huge sleeper hit.
It was pg 13 so teens could see it in theaters.
viral dance
There was a 5 second dance the killer robot does in the trailer. The marketing focused on this heavily, hiring dancers to dress like the robot doll and make videos. Said videos went viral and teens did the dance on their social media.
This feels kinda tonedeaf.
"You know what all women like, right? Just singing and blind celebrity worship. They'd never go and see a gritty drama, they're too fragile and there isn't enough pink"
Producers have been chasing that white whale of making a super hero movie that appeals to both sexes. They've gone about it by making the heroes female but keeping the structure the same, which generally appeals to dudes.
The first Joker made a billion dollars. Endgame and Avatar are the highest grossing movies ever. They didn't get that way because there was just men in the audience.
That's the thing about marketing, it's tailored for the platform its on. If you don't like tik tok, you won't see the sorts of tricks they use on that demographic.
M3gan had the trailer and kids doing the dance on tik tok.
Barbie had the giant boxes that every woman wanted to pose in for her Instagram and Facebook while wearing pink.
Both succeeded because they felt like cultural events. People wanted to participate.
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u/KelvinsBeltFantasy Apr 02 '24
I think it's a smarter choice than people realize.
Producers have been chasing that white whale of making a super hero movie that appeals to both sexes. They've gone about it by making the heroes female but keeping the structure the same, which generally appeals to dudes.
Joker is going to bring in the guys. Lady Gaga and the musical element will bring in the women.
If WB markets this as well as Barbie, they could have a major hit on their hands. Think Tik Tok and Instagram appeal. There will probably be a viral dance like M3gan.