After 'Superman' Scores $400M Globally, How Will Marvel Respond?
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige "isn't interested in your theories of superhero fatigue, which he doesn't buy as real," writes The Hollywood Reporter. Feige points to the $400 million worldwide box office for Superman (which another article notes in only its second weekend "has already passed up the entire lifetime run of Marvel's Thunderbolts*.")
So how is Marvel moving forward?
Yes, Feige knows Marvel made too many movies and shows (and the other things they did wrong). From the first Iron Man in 2008 through Avengers: Endgame in 2019, Marvel produced around 50 hours of screen storytelling. In the six years since Endgame, the number jumps to an astounding 102 hours of movies and television. 127 hours if you include animation. "That's too much," Feige said.
He characterized the time period after Endgame as an era of experimentation, evolution and, unfortunately, expansion. And while he's proud of the experimentation — he points to WandaVision and Loki as some of the best stories they've made — he admits "It's the expansion that is certainly what devalued" that output. Being high on success also may have pushed them to readily agree to try to deliver more programming at a time when Disney and the rest of Hollywood were engaged in the streaming wars. "It was a big company push... [T]here was a mandate that we were put in the middle of, but we also thought it'd be fun to bring these to life."
Marvel has already pulled back the amount of movies and shows it will make. Some years may even only have one movie. Certainly there will be years with only one show released. Also, Marvel has started "grinding down" on budgets, with movies costing up to a third cheaper than the films from 2022 or 2023.
Feige also explains why Thunderbolts* struggled at the box office (even though he's called it a "very, very good movie").
The massive expansion into television and focus on Disney+ led to the feeling that watching Marvel was becoming a type of homework. "It's that expansion that I think led people to say, 'Do I have to see all of these? It used to be fun, but now do I have to know everything about all of these?' And I think The Marvels hit it hardest where people are like, 'Okay, I recognize her from a billion dollar movie. But who are those other two? I guess they were in some TV show. I'll skip it.'" Which had an effect on Thunderbolts*, which featured characters that were seen on various platforms, including some only on shows.
The article notes Friday's release of Fantastic Four: First Steps is Marvel Studios' first crack at the characters after "a trio of movies of various quality and box office made by Twentieth Century Fox before its 2019 acquisition by Disney." And the article also acknowledges "the never-released, 1994 feature produced low-budget king Roger Corman. (Fun fact: the four stars of that movie cameo in Fantastic Four: First Steps.)"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Danny Dyer reveals he ran 'NAKED' through a council estate while filming new series of Mr. Bigstuff
Danny Dyer is back in the buff in series two of Sky's Mr Bigstuff as he revealed he 'ran through a council estate naked'.
80s movie icon who was once linked to Al Pacino looks unrecognizable as she steps out for rare outing... can you guess who?
On Tuesday, July 8, the actress was seen running errands - over 40 years after she first rose to fame on the silver screen.
Jennifer Garner reunites with daughter Violet Affleck, 19, MONTHS after teen detailed their blow up argument
The mother and daughter duo seemed to have put any differences behind them following an essay Violet, 19, wrote about the Pacific Palisades fires and climate change while at Yale last semester.
Here in the Cotswolds so many middle-class women are snorting cocaine. I'm shocked at what these mums REALLY get up to behind closed doors - everyone can see the damage
I love living in the beautiful Cotswolds. We moved here seven years ago for the scenery and the schools, but I am astonished by the hard partying.
James Norton sparks fresh rumours of a romance with socialite Flora Huddart - just weeks after he partied with Lily Allen
James Norton has sparked fresh rumours of a romance with socialite Flora Huddart - just weeks after he partied with singer and actress Lily Allen at a festival.
Netanyahu's appearance in court is delayed as PM has food poisoning, his office says
On Sunday, the Israeli Prime Minister's office announced the 75-year-old is recovering at home after being diagnosed with intestinal inflammation caused by spoiled food.
NIGEL FARAGE: If you're a criminal, I'm putting you on notice. Follow the law or face serious justice
Britain is lawless. Over the past 20 years, crime has become commonplace across Britain - something Labour and the Tories have accepted rather than challenged.
Smirking thug who battered his friend, forced him to strip naked and then paraded him through the streets is jailed
Karl Griffiths (pictured), 42, of Penclawdd, Gower, staged his heinous attack after a day of group socialising at the friend's flat in the Welsh village on January 30 this year.
How Did Amazon Spin This Year's Prime Day Sales?
"Amazon stretched out its annual Prime Day sales event so that it lasted four days — twice as long as in the past — and, as a result, blew away previous sales figures," reports USA Today:
Spending for [the four-day] Prime Day amounted to "more than two Black Fridays — which drove $10.8 billion in online spending during the 2024 holiday shopping season — and sets a new benchmark for the summer shopping season," Adobe said in a news release. The total also surpassed Adobe's pre-Prime Day estimate of $23.8 billion in sales.
But an article in Fortune notes that "what stood out to this longtime Amazon watcher is that the company didn't disclose anything about the number of items sold."
The last time it made that choice was 2020, when nothing normal was happening anywhere in the world, and Prime Day was moved from summer to October. Before that, you have to go back to the second-ever Prime Day in 2016 to find a wrap-up that didn't provide any update on the number of "units" sold.
It's unclear exactly why Amazon decided to withhold that number for 2025, but this Prime Day was odd for a few reasons. Sellers, and brands big and small, had to come up with different strategies to contend with tariff chaos. And they're trying to woo increasingly pessimistic consumers. Those factors could be weighing on the company's decision to withhold exact numbers.
Instead Amazon's official Prime Day recap swapped in some unusual alternate statistics. For example, Amazon reported that if you added up all the discounts given to customers over the four-day event, it was larger than any previous total amount of all discounts given to customers (over the earlier two-day events).
To be sure, it's possible that this Prime Day was a success. An outside analysis from Adobe estimated that sales across online retailers overall increased by more than 30% during this year's four day Prime Day period, compared to last year. And Amazon said in this year's recap that the four days of Prime Day 2025 outsold any other four-day period that included previous Prime Days. But historically, the event hasn't run longer than two days. That means that previous years have included two prime days and two regular days, while this year included four prime days. It's unclear why the company would change the basis of comparison.
Amazon "declined to comment on the absence of specific product sales tallies for 2025," according to the article (while pointing Fortune instead to an Amazon blog post with facts about past Prime Day events.)
But in a sign of the time, Amazon's announcement notes that their Prime Day customers found deals and other product information using Amazon's AI-generated buying guides, as well as an AI-powered shopping assistant named Rufus and Alexa+ — Amazon's next-generation personal assistant ("now available in Early Access to millions of customers").
Another interesting statistic? USA Today notes that "a majority of shoppers (53.2%) made purchases on mobile devices, compared to on desktop computers, accounting for $12.8 billion of the spending, according to Adobe."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Girl, 9, in 'imminent danger' after being abducted in white van from Lake George in New York
Authorities have asked for the public's assistance in locating Melina Galanis Frattolin, warning that they believe she is in 'imminent danger'.
Golf fans all say same thing as Scottie Scheffler's son Bennett steals the show with adorable mishap at The Open
In a now-customary sight for golf fans, Scheffler's family, including wife Meredith and one-year-old Bennett, rushed to greet him on the 18th green to congratulate the golf star on his triumph.
Pilots are to blame for South Korea plane crash that killed 179 when aircraft slammed into concrete wall and burst into flames, report finds
The Jeju Air Boeing 737 was moments from landing after a flight from Bangkok on December 29 when it struck a flock of birds - believed to be Baikal teal ducks - which sent one its engines into failure.
Survivalist who hunts her own food slams 'useless' women who 'can't look after themselves'
Emily Rinaudo hit out at women who, in her opinion, 'act weak' and 'can barely cook a meal, let alone catch their own dinner.'
JD Vance plans family holiday to 'Britain's answer to The Hamptons' as residents brace for gridlock
The Vance security circus looks set to roll into the Cotswolds in August as JD, his wife Usha and three children are reported to be spending their summer holiday in The Cotswolds.
Kill Russian Soldiers, Win Points: Is Ukraine's New Drone Scheme Gamifying War?
ABC News reports that Ukrainian drones struck Moscow last night — over 100 of them — closing all four of Moscow's international airports and diverting at least 134 planes. And Ukrainian commanders estimate that drones now account for 70% of all Russian deaths and injuries, according to the BBC — which means attacks on the front line are filmed, logged, and counted.
"And now put to use too, as the Ukrainian military tries to extract every advantage it can against its much more powerful opponent."
Under a scheme first trialled last year and dubbed "Army of Drones: Bonus" (also known as "e-points"), units can earn points for each Russian soldier killed or piece of equipment destroyed. And like a killstreak in Call of Duty, or a 1970s TV game show, points mean prizes [described later as "extra equipment."]
"The more strategically important and large-scale the target, the more points a unit receives," reads a statement from the team at Brave 1, which brings together experts from government and the military. "For example, destroying an enemy multiple rocket launch system earns up to 50 points; 40 points are awarded for a destroyed tank and 20 for a damaged one."
Call it the gamification of war.
The article concludes that the e-points scheme "is typical of the way Ukraine has fought this war: creative, out-of-the-box thinking designed to make the most of the country's innovative skills and minimise the effect of its numerical disadvantage."
And "It turns out that encouraging a Russian soldier to surrender is worth more points than killing one," the article notes — up to 10x more, since "a prisoner of war can always be used in future deals over prisoner exchanges."
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 for sharing the article.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Families in 'Stonehenge' village say it is a speeding death trap as World Heritage rules means safety signs are frowned upon
Residents in Avebury say the spate of accidents - including three deaths in two years - is because of a lack of signage.
Missing mother-of-three who vanished after running to a garage at 3.50am bought a bottle of wine and milk before disappearing - as police divers search nearby lake for clues
Rachel Booth, 38, was reported missing on Saturday July 19 after last being seen in the Barnton area of Northwich, Cheshire.
Christie Brinkley details devastating heartbreak that 'nearly broke her'
Christie Brinkley revealed she was almost driven to tears while recording the audio version of her memoir, Uptown Girl, which recounted her four marriages and near-death experiences.
Tributes to devoted nan among the death and funeral notices from Essex Chronicle this week
Our thoughts are with those who have lost a loved one