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Fanboys Protest Fizzled
Superhero Movie tanked this weekend, becoming the first spoof film since the initial Scary Movie to open under the $10 million mark as reported in our weekly box office report. I think the reason for the low box office proceeds is pretty clear: the movie was spoofing a film from five years ago, without looking at any of the more relevant super-hero movies. Fans of Fanboys, who called for a protest/boycott of the movie, want to take credit, despite a pretty effective campaign against the movie.
The anti-Superhero Movie campaign had nothing to do with people being tired of spoof movies. Instead it ties into The Weinstein Company’s treatment of Fanboys, which they purchased and then have edited and reshot over the past year, pushing back the release date several times. In an effort to get the movie released in its original state, fans tried to hurt The Weinstein Company’s stake in Superhero Movie by damaging its box office take. When I heard about the call to arms by the 501st (a Star Wars fan group / stormtrooper battalion), I imagined armies of stormtroopers showing up at key movie theaters, dissuading patrons from seeing Superhero Movie through brute intimidation and cleverly phrased picket signs. Seriously, if I showed up to a movie theater with twenty to thirty armored stormtroopers warning me not to see a movie, I would seriously rethink my plans. Nothing quite so dramatic was to happen, however. Reports in The Hollywood Reporter offer differing perspectives. The fan group says fourteen fans showed up to a New York movie theater but instead of protesting they paid to see 21 when guards threatened to remove them from the premises. The theatre, however, claimed nobody showed up, while a short lived YouTube video had one person there. On the other side of the country, a Century City theater was selected instead of a more public L.A. theater, and the 501st claimed twenty supporters were asked to leave, while the theater said a lone Darth Vader was the only protesting force. I guess they were immune to his jedi mind trick to make them think there were more. The biggest problem is the protest wasn’t well planned out. Shopping malls are private property, which means the second a protester showed up on the property they could be asked to leave. According to the protesters, AMC theaters planned for the protests with an increase in security. Still, this sort of thing should have been taken into account when plans were made. What good is holding a protest if you set up in a place that will require you to stop after a minute? Key locations in proximity to the theater, but not on the private property should have been selected. And what the hell was with the Century City theater? Go high profile fans! You wear stormtrooper armor for fun. Making a spectacle shouldn’t be a problem. The fans don’t seem to be worried about the lack of turnout (if AMC is to be believed) or the low profile of the protest (if the fans are to be believed) since the final outcome was what they were looking for: the movie opened to low numbers. I think the fans are claiming a victory that isn’t theirs to claim though. This was a movie set to fail regardless of their actions. If the 501st really wants to make the power of fandom known, they need to pick a higher profile release that their efforts might actually impact. Unfortunately for both fandom and The Weinstein Company, there aren’t any high profile releases planned from the studio for quite some time, with the next really big flick scheduled being Kevin Smith’s next picture. While the Fanboys war may very well still be underway at that point, if there’s one group stormtroopers don’t want to mess with its Smith’s fans, who will show up and will kick the asses of anyone who tries to mess with his movie. Hell, for Elizabeth Banks and Seth Rogen, I may join them. UPDATE: I was contacted by the 501st who indicated that, despite what the Hollywood Reporter stated (which is where the basis for this article started), they are not behind the attempted protest against Superhero Movie. They even have an official statement on their website found here. Truth be told, it seemed odd to see "reliable" places like HR stating the 501st was behind this because it seemed counter to their usual community goals. Sorry troops. RELATED: protest, superhero movie, star wars, fanboys
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