Comic Book Movies: Theatrical Releases - The List
bralinator
Posts: 5,967
Long informal survey: Of the following movies developed from comic books, how many did you go see in the theater, and how many did you catch later on home video (HBO, cable, disc, etc), and how many did you never see at all?
edit: amended 3/28/14
- 30 Days of Night
- 300
- 300: Rise of an Empire
- American Splendor
- Art School Confidential
- The Avengers
- Barb Wire
- Batman
- Batman Returns
- Batman Forever
- Batman & Robin
- Batman Begins
- The Dark Knight
- The Dark Knight Rises
- Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
- Blade
- Blade II
- Blade: Trinity
- Bulletproof Monk
- Captain America: The First Avenger
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Captain America (1990)
- Catwoman
- Constantine
- Cowboys & Aliens
- The Crow
- The Crow: City of Angels
- Daredevil
- Elektra
- Fantastic Four (2005)
- Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
- Flash Gordon
- Fritz the Cat
- From Hell
- Ghost Rider
- Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
- Green Lantern
- Heavy Metal (1981)
- Heavy Metal: 2000
- Hellboy
- Hellboy II: The Golden Army
- A History of Violence
- Howard the Duck
- Hulk
- I, Frankenstein
- The Incredible Hulk
- Iron Man
- Iron Man 2
- Iron Man 3
- Jonah Hex
- Josie and the Pussycats
- Judge Dredd
- Dredd 3D (2012)
- Kick-Ass
- Kick-Ass 2
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
- The Losers
- The Mask
- Son of the Mask
- Men in Black
- Men in Black II
- Men in Black 3
- Monkeybone
- Mystery Men
- Oblivion
- The Punisher (1989)
- The Punisher (2004)
- Punisher: War Zone
- R.I.P.D.
- Red
- Red 2
- Richie Rich
- Road to Perdition
- The Rocketeer
- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
- Sheena
- Sin City
- The Shadow
- The Smurfs
- The Smurfs 2
- Spawn
- Spider-Man
- Spider-Man 2
- Spider-Man 3
- The Amazing Spider-Man
- The Spirit
- Steel
- Supergirl
- Superman
- Superman II
- Superman III
- Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
- Superman Returns
- Man of Steel
- Surrogates
- Swamp Thing
- The Return of Swamp Thing
- Tales From the Crypt
- Tank Girl
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III
- TMNT (2007, animated)
- Thor
- Thor: The Dark World
- Timecop
- V for Vendetta
- Virus
- Whiteout
- Wanted
- Watchmen
- X-Men
- X2
- X-Men: The Last Stand
- X-Men: First Class
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine
- The Wolverine
edit: amended 3/28/14
Comments
At home- 38 (I plan on watching Thor TDW very soon. And MoS once it's on HBO... maybe)
Not at all-15
I debated on whether to count Red 2 as in the theater because I saw it while it was in the theater (don't worry piracy police I worked on the Blu-Ray and DVD releases).
I loved a bunch, hated a bunch. Favorite I paid money for... Probably Spider-man 2. I never walked away more satisfied with a comic movie then when I saw it for the first time. Favorite that I caught later... Dredd 3D. Wish I had paid to see it.
30 Days of Night
Barb Wire
Constantine
From Hell
Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Heavy Metal (1981)
Heavy Metal: 2000
Howard the Duck
Jonah Hex
Kick-Ass
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The Mask
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Sheena
Spawn
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Spirit
Supergirl
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Swamp Thing
Theatrical300
The Avengers
Batman
Batman Returns
Batman Forever
**Batman Begins
The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight Rises
**Captain America: The First Avenger
The Crow
Daredevil
Elektra
What?! It had Jennifer Garner in it!Green Lantern
**Iron Man
Judge Dredd
**The Rocketeer
Sin City
Superman
**Superman II
Superman III
Superman Returns
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
**Thor
Watchmen
RentedBatman & Robin
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Blade
Blade II
Blade: Trinity
Fantastic Four (2005)
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
**Hellboy
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
A History of Violence
Hulk
The Incredible Hulk
Iron Man 2
Iron Man 3
**Dredd 3D (2012)
Men in Black
Men in Black II
Men in Black 3
**Mystery Men
The Punisher (2004)
Road to Perdition
Spider-Man
Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 3
Thor: The Dark World
Timecop
V for Vendetta
**X-Men
X2
X-Men: The Last Stand
BorrowedCowboys & Aliens
The Punisher (1989)
R.I.P.D.
Red
Red 2
Man of Steel
**X-Men: First Class
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
The Wolverine
Remains unseen300: Rise of an Empire
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Catwoman
The Crow: City of Angels
Ghost WorldJosie and the Pussycats
Kick-Ass 2
Son of the Mask
Steel
The Return of Swamp Thing
Tank Girl
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III
TMNT (2007, animated)
Didn't originate in comicsAlien vs. Predator (Rented) Fox properties - concept originates with Predator II trophy case
**Conan the Barbarian (1982) (Cable)
Conan the Destroyer (1984)(Theatrical)
Conan the Barbarian (2011) (Cable)
Red Sonja (Cable)
**favorite300
The Avengers
Batman
Batman Returns
Batman Forever
Batman & Robin
Batman Begins
The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight Rises
Captain America: The First Avenger
Daredevil
Fantastic Four (2005)
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Green Lantern
Hellboy
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Hulk
The Incredible Hulk
Iron Man
Iron Man 2
Men in Black
Men in Black II
The Rocketeer
Spider-Man
Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 3
The Amazing Spider-Man
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Superman Returns
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II
TMNT (2007, animated)
Thor
X-Men
X2
X-Men: The Last Stand
X-Men: First Class
Rent / TV / Borrowed
Alien vs. Predator
Blade
Blade II
Blade: Trinity
Conan the Barbarian (1982)
Conan the Destroyer (1984)
Conan the Barbarian (2011)
Cowboys & Aliens
Elektra
From Hell
Howard the Duck
Josie and the Pussycats
Judge Dredd
Kick-Ass
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The Mask
Son of the Mask
Spawn
The Spirit
Supergirl
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III
Watchmen
Own (DVD/Blu-Ray/Digital Copy)
300
The Avengers
Batman
Batman Returns
Batman Forever
Batman & Robin
Batman Begins
The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight Rises
Captain America: The First Avenger
Constantine
Daredevil
Fantastic Four (2005)
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Green Lantern
Hellboy
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Hulk
The Incredible Hulk
Iron Man
Iron Man 2
Iron Man 3
Men in Black
Men in Black II
Men in Black 3
Mystery Men
Red
Red 2
The Rocketeer
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Spider-Man
Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 3
The Amazing Spider-Man
Superman
Superman II
Superman III
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Superman Returns
Man of Steel
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III
TMNT (2007, animated)
Thor
Thor: The Dark World
V for Vendetta
X-Men
X2
X-Men: The Last Stand
X-Men: First Class
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
The Wolverine
It's a safe bet to say that I enjoyed all of the ones I own. Sure, I probably favor some over others, but I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't enjoy it. Some were blind buys simply because I enjoy the property.
Alien vs. Predator
The Avengers
Batman
Batman Returns
Batman Forever
Batman Begins
The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight Rises
Blade
Blade II
Blade: Trinity
Captain America: The First Avenger
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The Crow
Daredevil
From Hell
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Green Lantern
Hellboy
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
A History of Violence
Howard the Duck
Hulk
The Incredible Hulk
Iron Man
Iron Man 2
Iron Man 3
Judge Dredd
Dredd 3D (2012)
Kick-Ass
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The Mask
Men in Black
Men in Black II
Mystery Men
The Punisher (2004)
Red
Sin City
Spawn
Spider-Man
Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 3
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Spirit
Superman
Superman II
Superman III
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Superman Returns
Man of Steel
Thor
Thor: The Dark World
Timecop
V for Vendetta
Watchmen
X-Men
X2
X-Men: The Last Stand
X-Men: First Class
First On Home Video
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Conan the Barbarian (1982)
Conan the Destroyer (1984)
Conan the Barbarian (2011)
Constantine (well, the first 20 minutes)
Heavy Metal (1981)
The Punisher (1989)
Red Sonja
Swamp Thing
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Never Saw
30 Days of Night
300
300: Rise of an Empire
Barb Wire
Batman & Robin
Catwoman
Cowboys & Aliens
The Crow: City of Angels
Elektra
Fantastic Four (2005)
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Ghost Rider
Heavy Metal: 2000
Jonah Hex
Josie and the Pussycats
Kick-Ass 2
Son of the Mask
Men in Black 3
R.I.P.D.
Red 2
The Rocketeer
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Sheena
Steel
Supergirl
The Return of Swamp Thing
Tank Girl
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III
TMNT (2007, animated)
The Wolverine
Same with the Lone Ranger & Green Hornet; they were radio first.
I'd actually remove Conan, because again, he didn't originate in the comic books anymore then Star Wars did.
M
The Wolverine is probably the one on that list I will get to the soonest. I wanted to see it in the theater, but just didn't have the time.
I'm not sure how I missed The Rocketeer at the time, but I should fix that someday.
I loved the TMNT comics when they first started and were black & white and hard to find. I think the idea that they were meant to be a satire on Frank Miller was lost on me at that age, I just thought they seemed dark and cool. But the cowabunga-era of Turtles never appealed to me.
My wife really loved Scott Pilgrim, but she also said that it is probably too twee and whimsical for me, and I trust her judgment on that.
I saw about 15 min of 300 on a plane (admittedly, not an ideal screen size) but it was enough to be able to tell that it was not for me.
The Avengers
Batman
Batman Returns
Batman Forever
Batman & Robin
The Crow
Daredevil
Green Lantern
Hellboy
Howard the Duck
Hulk
The Incredible Hulk
Iron Man
Josie and the Pussycats
The Mask
Mystery Men
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Spawn
Spider-Man
Spider-Man 2
The Amazing Spider-Man
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Superman Returns
Man of Steel
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Watchmen
X-Men
X2
X-Men: The Last Stand
X-Men: First Class
Home:
Batman Begins
The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight Rises
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Blade
Captain America: The First Avenger
Fantastic Four (2005)
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Heavy Metal (1981)
Iron Man 2
Iron Man 3
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Men in Black
The Rocketeer
Spider-Man 3
Supergirl
Superman
Superman II
Superman III
Swamp Thing
Tank Girl
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II
Thor
Thor: The Dark World
V for Vendetta
X-Men Origins:Wolverine
Haven’t seen:
30 Days of Night
300
300: Rise of an Empire
Alien vs. Predator
Barb Wire
Blade II
Blade: Trinity
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Catwoman
Conan the Barbarian (1982)
Conan the Destroyer (1984)
Conan the Barbarian (2011)
Constantine
Cowboys & Aliens
The Crow: City of Angels
Elektra
From Hell
Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Heavy Metal: 2000
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
A History of Violence
Jonah Hex
Judge Dredd
Dredd 3D (2012)
Kick-Ass
Kick-Ass 2
The Mask
Men in Black II
Men in Black 3
The Punisher (1989)
The Punisher (2004)
R.I.P.D.
Red
Red 2
Red Sonja
Sheena
Sin City
The Spirit
Steel
The Return of Swamp Thing
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III
TMNT (2007, animated)
Timecop
The Wolverine
In the theater - 67
Outside of a theater - 14
Never saw - 20
Favorites? The Avengers, Captain America: The First Avenger, Iron Man, Spider-Man 2.
In theater - 41
At home - 31
Haven't seen - 28
I was amazed at the number of movies I haven't yet seen. Many of them were movies like TMNT 3 and Barb Wire, but I still haven't seen either of the RED movies or 1st Class or the latest Wolverine either.
The Losers
Road to Perdition
The Smurfs
The Smurfs 2
Captain America (1990)
Fritz the Cat
Monkeybone
Richie Rich
The Phantom
Flash Gordon
Buck Rogers
The Shadow
The Spirit
Surrogates
Tales From the Crypt
Virus
Whiteout
Wanted
American Splendor
Art School Confidential
Bulletproof Monk
I, Frankenstein
Oblivion (the graphic novel was unreleased)
Besides, I was wondering when someone would call me out about my favorite Cimmerian... removed Conan & Red Sonja... if anyone wants to put them back, let me know.
In theater - 45
At Home - 34
Not yet seen - 37
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (you could also add the various pre-Spielberg Tintin films).
Old Boy (either version)
The Addams Family
Dennis the Menace
All the Lone Wolf and Cub films.
Persepolis
Snowpiercer (good luck seeing this as intended thanks to the Weinsteins)
A Boy Named Charlie Brown and the other Peanuts films.
The live action Asterix films
The animated Asterix films
The Lucky Luke films
Blueberry
Blue Is the Warmest Colour
The Death Note films
The Gantz films
Cutie Honey
The live action City Hunter film
The animated City Hunter film
The live action Fist of the North Star film
The animated Fist of the North Star film.
All the Dragonball films
All the One Piece films
All the Naruto films
and so on.
You get the idea. You can make this list insanely long if you want to.
Unless by widely released you mean widely released in the US. In which case you'll be missing out on a lot of films based on comics. For example, the top two films in Japan in 2012 were based on comics, and neither were The Avengers or the Dark Knight Rises.
M
M
The Phantom, Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon were all comic strips, and the Shadow was pulp, but all were published as comics for decades before the movies you listed were made. Of course If I was REALLY nitpicky, I could bring up the serials of these properties... Batman, Captain Marvel, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, etc...
Oh, and Dick Tracy.
M
Despite that, I don't think Conan really become a household name (at least, not the way I think of the term “household name”) until the first movie in ’82.
Maybe so, but I first heard of the Conan movie by seeing the full page ads in Marvel Comics. And for what it's worth, I was an early adopter of the black & white Savage Sword of Conan. For me, Conan began with Ernie Chan and John Buscema and only later, as I became more aware of the way comics work, did I discover the (illegal) Ace books with the sweet, sweet Frazetta covers... I still associate Conan with the comics.
For me, yeah, I read the Conan comics long before I read Howard’s stories, but the reason I picked up those comics in the first place was because of all the times I’d stared at Frazetta’s covers in the bookstore. I may not have read the books first, but that’s where I first became aware of Conan.
According to Wikipedia, Roy Thomas was the first writer involved in writing the screenplay, because of the success of the comics and magazines.
The main reason Roy was asked to co-write (with Gerry Conway) the script for the second Conan film was because of the fact that he had already co-written (also with Conway) four other screenplays—by that point Roy was in L.A. working almost exclusively as a screenwriter. If he hadn’t had those screenplays under his belt, he might have been used as a consultant again, but he most likely wouldn't have been asked to write a script.
As for the Mego figure, the Conan and Tarzan figures were two of the worst sellers and both were discontinued relatively quickly. I don't know how widely circulated the Conan newspaper strip was, but I don't think it was a very large number of newspapers that carried it, though I could be wrong about that.
I'm not saying the Conan comic and mags made no impact—at its peak the comic sold about 250,000 copies, a pretty good number—but people painted those Frazetta covers on the sides of their vans. One of the original paintings sold for $1 million. Those paintings are credited as being largely responsible for the popularity of the sword-and-sorcery genre in the late ’60s and ’70s. I believe that without those covers, Conan never would have be made into a comic, and therefore never made into a newspaper strip, or a Slurpee™ cup, or a Mego doll. Or a movie.
There is a lot of discussion of a sequel featuring Arnold reprising his role, this time as King Conan. It will likely blow, but I do hope they can recreate the excellent Poledouris themes. I'd watch it.