On 25 Mar 2002 at 19:28, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > In a message dated 3/25/02 1:56:46 PM Eastern Standard Time, > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > > If "The Scorpion King" takes off, I think we'll see more modern pulp > movies, as Hollywood may then decide the genre is piqueing people's > interest again. > > > More than likely, if THE SCORPION KING does well. It will spawn a > sequel, can't see it going beyond that.
"The Sorpion King" itself is a spinoff from a popular modern pulp movie. The success of a spinoff should encourage more investment in lookalike movies. Of course, cheap knockoffs tend to weaken the market for fantasy films. The original Conan movie spawned a horrifying succession of bad movies such as the Deathstalker series, "Ironmaster", "Warrior Queen", "Warrior Princess", "Tor, Hunter from the Future", and many others which though cheap to make were almost complete duds at the box office. The film industry has not really quite given up on the genre. We got "Kull" a few years ago, although it failed at the box office. But it showed that studios were still willing to make the attempt. But we also got "The Phantom" and "The Shadow". These were not barbarian movies, but they came out of the print pulp genre. Movies such as "Dungeons and Dragons" don't qualify, as they belong to the adventure/fantasy genre. I think Hollywood is looking for vindication of its genre productions. The Batman films showed decreasing returns, and yet we're about to see a big-budget Spider-man movie. "The X-Men" was a smashing success and we're now waiting "The X-Men 2". Comic book superhero-inspired movies are thus doing pretty well. So, the modern pulp action movies may get a shot in the arm if "The Scorpion King" does well. It won't be the trigger setting off the stampede. That would have been "The Mummy". But "The Scorpion King" may be the vindication the film industry is seeking for this kind of film.
