Batman V Superman: What Happens Next?

 

The hot rumour around the Internet is that Warners will release a three hour Director's Cut of the movie, Batman V Superman in an attempt to bring in more revenue from a film which has been underperforming at the box office. After a strong opening the film saw a huge decline in ticket sales following the first few days of theatrical release. Official figures state that the drop in ticket sales was as high as 69% which puts it in the same bracket as 2003 mega flop, The Hulk. However I would say it would be unlikely that the Director's Cut will get a theatrical release as the risk of low ticket sales would be too great. It is most likely that the longer cut will be released only in DVD format.

Batman V Superman was supposed to launch the Justice League of America movie, but the latest reports are that JLA will now be held back while a solo Batman movie goes into production in the place of the planned JLA - Warners say JLA will still happen, but this is very much uncertain. If a solo Batman movie did flop then that would likely put a stop to Warner's, DC Comics plans for some time.

What was wrong with Batman V Superman then? It  wasn't quite as terrible as many critics said, but it certainly wasn't a particularly good film. The much anticipated battle between Superman and Batman was anticlimactic and ending  the fight when Batman discovers Supes mother was also called Martha, was fucking stupid. There was also that ever so boring first hour when the films made no sense and almost sent me to sleep. Things did get better when Batman and Superman was on screen but again it was not as explosive as it should have been.

Official word is that Warner will stick with director, Zack Snyder but after the mess he made of both Man of Steel and Batman V Superman, this would seem like an insane decision. However rumours are that Snyder will not now direct JLA, though Warners are insisting otherwise.

Batman V Superman's $1bn (£710m) global takings mark, which seemed a certainty after the opening weekend, now looks in serious threat of not materialising. Gitesh Pandya, the founder of Box Office Guru website, has predicted a worldwide final of around $900m (£638m), around twice the amount of the film's rumoured $400m+ budget. The reason for the relatively poor performance lies in the lack of repeat viewings from super fans, says box office experts. People went to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens several time but it seems with Batman V Superman that once is enough...maybe even more than enough.

"Naturally, we will evaluate what went wrong with Batman v Superman, but when it comes to Justice League, we're not going to take a movie that's supposed to be one thing and turn it into a copycat of something else," Warner Brother Spokesman speaking to Hollywood Insider

 So will we see a JLA movie?  Who knows, but Warner's have already cancelled the project once, when the proposed George Miller version was pulled at the eleventh hour - the plot of the cancelled JLA movie can be found HERE.

Get Granny Smith the Audiobook for free

Granny Smith Investigates, the first title in my hugely popular series centered around the pipe puffing senior sleuth, is now available as an Audiobook. It can be downloaded from Amazon, Audible and iTunes, but can also be gotten for free as part of an Audible trial...find out how HERE

The Panama Papers

The rumours that Granny Smith will be implicated in the Panama Paper are unfounded, but she is up to her neck in a Murder Plot...available now for Kindle and other devices.

She's Here

THE BEST TRUE CRIME PODCASTS

Of course Serial may not have been the first podcast to use a true crime case as the foundation upon which to build a story, but it was certainly the most influential. Almost immediately following it first hitting the servers, scores of other podcasts immediately sprung up, hoping to emulate Sarah Koenig‘s compelling story telling style. Serial came from the same team who produced NPR’s  This American Life and told the story of Adnan Syed who was serving a life sentence for the murder of his 18 year old former girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. CONTINUE STORY

Rock stars, politicians and a little old lady

Shakin Stevens, Nigel Farage, Graham Norton, Nick Clegg, Phil Collins and a little old lady who solves crimes - confused? Check out Granny Smith: Murder Plot by G M Dobbs...available now.

Available from Amazon, Smashwords and iBooks

Granny Smith: Murder Plot by G M Dobbs

The lady's got a way with murder

Granny Smith Investigates, originally published in 2012, was the book that introduced the world to Granny Smith - that senior sleuth, that pipe puffing, heavy metal loving force of nature. The book has and continues to be very successful, several times appearing in the top ten listings on various eBooks charts, and receiving some glowing reviews across the untamed wilderness of the world-wide web.
This month saw the publication of the fourth book in the series, Murder Plot but also saw the first Granny Smith launched in an audiobook edition.
The audio book version has been narrated by talented voice actor, Fiona Thraille, and is currently out there for sale at Audible, Amazon and iTunes. Ain't technology wonderful! Now I'm not exactly a Luddite it terms of tech, particularly as it relates to the modern writer, but I find myself amazed at how the Kindle eBook version synchs with the audiobook version. If you own both the eBook and audiobook - and read say 10 pages of the eBook then as soon as you press play on the audiobook it will start from where you have left off in the eBook. This works in reverse too with the eBook synching to the last position in the audiobook. I find that quite amazing! Spooky even - it's witchcraft!

"The story then follows Granny Alice Mary Smith into various stages of the mystery in a humorous but intense way. The book is beautifully written and is a pleasure to read. The Miss Marple references are not only in our mind but the author has made them too, calling Granny Smith as “Miss Marple on steroids”

It is a cozy and wonderful murder mystery, the likes of which, I have not read for a long time. Agatha Christie story lovers must catch this book. It brings back many memories of age old murder mystery classics." Goodreads five star review for Granny Smith Investigates