This post brought to you by Viral Films Media and its legal advisers.
The REBEL’S RUN campaign is progressing swimmingly. Chuck and Vox have been hard at work on the script, and the Viral Films Media team is busy on various work streams to keep the project moving forward on schedule.
And if you are already a supporter of the campaign, please check your email and make sure that you are following all the necessary steps to follow through and fund your pledge. Both the Viral Films Media team and the campaign site are more than happy to answer any questions you might have and assist you in completing the process.
On Sunday, Hollywood’s alpha studio announced its films have collected a record-shattering $7.67 billion at the 2019 global box office — and it’s not even August.
The previous industry record of $7.61 billion was set by Disney in 2016.
The $7.67 billion figure includes $5.09 billion amassed overseas. It’s the first time any Hollywood studio has surpassed the $5 billion threshold internationally.
Already this year, three Disney titles have crossed $1 billion worldwide, not to mention that Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame ($2.79 billion) has surpassed Avatar to become the top-grossing film of all time. Fellow Marvel pic Captain Marvel finished its run with $1.23 billion.
Disney’s live-action Aladdin rode its magic carpet past the $1 billion mark last week, while The Lion King is on the verge of achieving the milestone after finishing Sunday with a worldwide total of $962.7 million after just two weeks in release.
And don’t forget Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 4, which is likely to top $1 billion in the coming weeks. If so, Disney will set a new high-water mark for the number of $1 billion-plus films released in a given year (it set the current record in 2016 with four).
Disney accounts for as much as 45 percent of the $16 billion-plus collected worldwide so far this year by movies released on more than 1,000 screens, including revenue from titles inherited following the Disney-Fox merger. In stark contrast, the next closest studio, Warner Bros., has taken in just shy of $2 billion.
The devil, so to speak, is in the details. Devil Mouse movies are doing very well on a superficial level, but the Great Rat is rapidly devouring its seed corn and riding on the inertia of its past successes. It probably has one more good year in it before the numbers begin to turn south and the rapid decline begins.
Now two former DC illustrators are predicting the near-term collapse of DC Comics, as Ethan van Sciver recently supported Rob Liefeld’s controversial contention that “DC Comics is going to drive off a cliff” on a recent CAPS stream:
I’m a 26-year veteran of this crumbling comic book industry. World’s most charming and disarming elegant and eloquent humble because occasionally I fumble man a great big star Wars fan, trusted member of the media, so you know, part of the commentary that I’ve been offering in on this channel for the past few months is that I fully expect at this point the comic book industry to collapse very soon. I mean you know in a matter of just a handful years it’ll be gone, and it’s gonna go with a whimper.
What will happen is that Warner Brothers initially will announce that they are shutting down their publishing arm of DC Comics. They will put everything on offer, they will offer all of their back catalogue, digitally they’ll be producing, kind of, I don’t know, you’ll be able to buy a ticket to read all this stuff digitally. I think they already kind of do that, but there will be no more new DC Comics, not really. And then shortly after that, Marvel will linger, but not for very much longer. The comic book stores will further erode, they will go under. Marvel Comics will experiment with other means of distribution, maybe Walmart and Target and all these other things, they’re gonna try to bring back the newsstand, but it’s not going to work.
Marvel Comics eventually will also fold and that’s it. Once DC Comics shutters its doors, that’s the end of the comic book industry, and it’s going to shut down with a whimper. Just like when Mad Magazine closed down, a few people will shed tears, but on a much bigger scale than Mad Magazine because a lot of people, a lot of creative people, are going to find themselves unemployed, and frankly, unemployable. It’s really bad that people just don’t want to buy comics anymore, they don’t want the low-quality and high prices. And the fact that these idiots are insulting them on social media and in the pages of the books themselves – when you pick up a copy of Captain America and you have the Red Skull mouthing very sensible Republican talking points, you know that the comic book industry is no longer for you – and you also make up 50{739b910556a9cc9c1a54a816a1fda004c1b87c8f235f686ea012b71861344b41} at least 50 percent of the comic buying audience, it’s over. From there it’s just over.
I think both Liefeld and EVS are correct. The unit sales decline I’ve been tracking has continued apace even though total reported dollar sales remain relatively flat. When unit sales fall and dollar sales remain flat, that is a reliable sign of an industry on the verge of collapse, as it means the companies are increasing the prices on their products to try to compensate for their lower sales. It also means that production costs are being cut, which indicates that the quality is in decline as well.
That decline is precisely why we chose to keep Arkhaven and Dark Legion comics out of the Diamond distribution system and the comic book stores. We are actively working on improving the quality of our comics, as those who have received the new standard-size comics have noted how much better they are than the similarly-sized DC and Marvel floppies. When the Alt-Hero Vols. 1-6 omnibus ships to backers in a week or two, people will see some of the fruits of that effort. What’s interesting is that we haven’t even begun exploring the very channels that Marvel is using to keep itself afloat, such as library sales. And beginning with our first foray into film, we’re going to be contesting that area of the culture wars as well.
As I’ve mentioned, comics can be considered movie seeds. And since Disney and Warner a) already possess more seeds than they can possibly produce, b) recognize that the comics now being produced by Marvel and DC are markedly inferior to their predecessors, and, c) prefer to rewrite the stories and characters they are using in their films anyhow, neither conglomerate have much interest in subsidizing what from their perspective is an insignificant, shrinking, and unprofitable industry. The business logic therefore strongly suggests both Disney and Warner will shut down their new-comics-producing operations in the near future.
Speaking of comics, QUANTUM MORTIS: A Man Disrupted #4is now available in a gold-logo print edition in our new standard size.
Unauthorized.TV is very pleased to announce its second documentary available for viewing on the channel, Unforgettable: The Korean War. This powerful and sobering documentary is comprised of veterans of the Korean War telling of their experiences fighting what has been described as “the forgotten war” on the Korean Peninsula. The documentary is available for all Unauthorized subscribers; non-subscribers can also purchase the documentary or viewing access to it there. If, after watching it, you would like to support the filmmakers as well as the channel, please note that all sales proceeds will be split between them and Unauthorized.
On a related note, subscribers may be interested to know that Unauthorized is filming its first original documentary this weekend. We anticipate releasing it in September.
The Alt-Hero Cinematic Revolution begins with REBEL’S RUN
We continue to ramp up preparations for the production of Rebel’s Run. For those of you who have not yet heard the news, a group of Arkhaven backers have set up a new film production company, Viral Films Media, which will be producing a live-action superhero film based on characters from the Alt-Hero comic book series. The Legend Chuck Dixon and I are writing the script. Viral Films Media will be working together with Galatia Films, a Georgia-based production company, to develop, produce and market Rebel’s Run. The movie is based upon an entirely new story that expands upon the existing comics and will not simply be a movie version of them.
If you want to be a part of it, there are a number of ways you can support this project:
Invest in REBEL’S RUN
First, if you are interested in investing in Rebel’s Run, Viral Films Media is running a crowd-investing campaign. The campaign is already successful, but there are still some slots available for those who are interested in joining it. You can also visit Viral Films Media’s website to learn more about the film project.
Support REBEL’S RUN
We will be putting together other ways to support the movie and get involved in supporting it besides the crowd-investing campaign. We plan to provide supporters with a range of products, including early release access to the film. Here are some of the ideas that have been kicked around.
digital download of the movie
collector’s edition DVD of the movie
soundtrack (digital and CD)
cameo appearances in the film
a graphic novelization of the movie
a novelization of the movie
movie posters
t-shirts, caps, and other merchandise
exclusive access to video discussions with the producer, director and cast as well as back-stage footage
Feel free to let us know what other products and perks might be of interest to you.
It was only a matter of time before James Bond became a gay black woman.
Since Daniel Craig announced he was standing down as James Bond, debate has raged whether the next 007 should be a woman, or black.
Now The Mail on Sunday can reveal that she will be both – thanks to the intervention of feminist TV writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
In what’s been called a ‘popcorn-dropping moment’, British star Lashana Lynch, will be given Bond’s licence to kill in the 25th movie in the franchise, currently being shot in Italy and the UK.
They’re just teasing it now with replacing the number. But they’re obviously hoping they can get away with making the actual substitution once Craig is actually done for good. While they’re at it, why don’t they really shake things up and give him Downs Syndrome and put him in a wheelchair?
This is a Bond for the modern era who will appeal to a younger generation while sticking true to what we all expect in a Bond film,’ the source added. ‘There are spectacular chase sequences and fights, and Bond is still Bond but he’s having to learn to deal with the world of #MeToo.
I’m guessing it probably won’t appeal as much to the younger generations as they think. Perhaps we’ll have to start thinking about writing a script for Roland Dane….
True Blood and Westworld actress Evan Rachel Wood helpfully provides young women with dating advice:
Westworld actor Evan Rachel Wood took to Twitter to attack Stranger Things’ Hawkins Sheriff Jim Hopper.
You should never date a guy like the cop from #strangerthings Extreme jealousy and violent rages are not flattering or sexy like TV would have you believe. That is all.
Wood would add, “Yes I am aware its ‘just a show’ and its set ‘in the 80s’ even though this stuff was unacceptable then too, but thats exactly my point. Its just a show and this is a gentle reminder not to fall for this crap in real life. Red flags galore.”
Now, keep in mind that Miss Wood is best known for portraying a bisexual vampire who kills and eats people as well as a killer robot. So if you take one thing away from this, it is a gentle reminder not to fall for bisexual vampires and killer robots. Bisexual vampires and killer robots are not flattering or sexy like TV would have you believe.
Takeaway: never take relationship advice from any woman dumb enough to date Marilyn Manson.
If SJWs are this upset about a pro-life movie, I suspect they’re going to be over-the-top apoplectic over Rebel’s Run:
Police have been called in to investigate allegations of death threats made to cinema theater owners in Canada who had scheduled to screen the pro-life movie Unplanned. B.J. McKelvie, president of Cinedicon, the Canadian distributor of the film that tells the story of Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood manager-turned pro-life activist, confirmed two Canadian independent cinema owners reported threats that caused them to be “fearful for their families,” said LifeSiteNews.
Yet another independent theater owner was reportedly “harassed to the extreme.”
Chuck Konzelman, one of the film’s producer-directors, reportedly said McKelvie requested, for the sake of safety, the film’s producers remove from their website the July 12 listing of 46 Canadian theaters that will be screening the movie.
The death threats are reportedly aimed at the independent theater owners. McKelvie noted “they didn’t get anywhere with Cineplex, or they didn’t get anywhere with Landmark.”
No worries. We’ll be ready for any and every type of opposition. And there will be opposition.
“I was contacted by an experienced producer.” He added, “Then I got contacted by first one producer then I got contacted by other people. Which puzzled me because we’ve published over a hundred books and nobody from the movie industry or TV industry has ever contacted us.”
Vox adds, “I was very curious about this and finally the smartest of the producers that had contacted me said, ‘Well, you have to understand, nobody in Hollywood reads.’”
He went on to praise the level of talent that is part of the film, “The level of talent that is taking in part in this, whether its with Chuck Dixon being the lead scriptwriter…we’ve got a great script, you can see from the trailer, the director, Scooter, has a really great visual eye. We are going to bring so many very strong elements to the table that I think that people are going to be really surprised at the final result.” He continues, “We are actually aiming for one of the best movie soundtracks. I want a soundtrack that is going to stand up against the Matrix, Mortal Kombat Annihilation…”
The third soundtrack I couldn’t recall during the stream, and which I consider to be a model along with the others, is Cool World. You might also be interested in last night’s Darkstream on the subject, during which I addressed a number of questions that have been raised, such as if Rebel is just another Strong Independent Woman who Knows Kung-fu and Doesn’t Need a Man to Save Her.
