Chereads / Smallville: Brand New Clark / Chapter 42 - Box Office Success

Chapter 42 - Box Office Success

2008 - Metropolis, Kansas

The Superman movie was a massive success. Using Kelex to help improve the special effects and improve post-production sped up the process by a year (this movie would have needed a very long time in post-production for special effects, editing, light balancing, cleaning up scenes, and all the things needed for a box office blockbuster).

The movie amassed nearly $4 billion dollars worldwide at the box office, eclipsing my universe's totals of Avengers: Endgame and Avatar which made approximately $2.8 billion dollars per movie. The inflated cost of the 3D tickets helped the massive sum. Of course in this universe, nobody had seen Avatar and the 3D craze hadn't started yet, so the gimmick helped at the box office. But the majority of the money came from first-time goers and not people going to see the movie multiple times. Everybody wanted to see the story of Superman on the big screen. The movie stayed in the theaters for over 4 months before it went to DVD/Blu-ray where it went on to sell a record number in its first week.

There's interest in a live-action TV series, several animated series (on Superman, one on Justice League, maybe one on Batman, etc.) . A follow-up film was immediately greenlit after the first weekend at the box office.

If you're wondering about why I'm doing this...let me explain: Why bother having an inferior product like Warrior Angel in the media when you have a real-life superhero like Superman? If you're going to have comics, TV series, and movies, why would you want something about a fictional character when reality in this universe is like a comic book, and you could have media representation that reflects reality (or at least an approximation of reality)?

I've tried not to turn into Booster Gold aka someone who really likes his fame, but I can't help but enjoy it a little. While I keep the facade of the righteous hero, I secretly do like the fame. Who wouldn't? It feels good to get recognition.

But the biggest factor in why I wanted to change media to reflect how awesome DC superheroes are is that I'm a consumer as well. I like to watch TV and movies. Why settle for inferior in-universe crap, when I can help produce good content that mirrors what my original universe would produce about DC comics? Could this content be considered propaganda? Very likely, but can you blame me? If you saw a fictional movie about a lame non-existent amalgamation of Superman called Warrior Angel being produced, wouldn't you try to get them to make a Superman movie instead?

When I make the next movies, I'm going to produce them based on the enemies I fight in real life. I wonder if I'll have time for a live action series. Supergirl got 6 seasons, there's no reason a TV show about a real-life hero couldn't get that many. Plus, wouldn't it be cool to be on a TV show, have hit movies, and so forth? Jeez...I'm really turning into Booster Gold, aren't I?

Another part of why I'm doing this is to spread the message that there's nothing to fear from Superman. The movie showed what happens when crazy people like Lex Luthor (in the movie as Norman and Harry Osborne) get paranoid and start prepping for Superman to turn against humanity. The movie even showed when the superheroes can be manipulated to turn against their own (Batman). Finally, a key piece was showing how the military responded to Superman. The military's opinion was that Superman is an unknown entity with too much power and they wanted to know his limits and if they could stop him if he turned evil. Showing it on the big screen really illuminated all sides of Superman for the world.

They could see Superman's upbringing (altered to protect my identity), struggling to control his powers, feeling isolated when realizing I wasn't human, not being able to date like other people, facing my destiny as Earth's protector, dealing with my villains, the personal struggles when I can't save everyone. The movie really allowed people to empathize with me and see more than just a big flying Boy Scout. After the movie, Superman became an even bigger culture phenomenon.

The business ventures have really taken off for the Justice League funds. I've been carrying satellites into space, demolishing condemned buildings and cleaning up what's left, reinforcing structures about to collapse, mining in space, etc. We now have bilions at our disposal. Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen haven't had to put much money into our venture. I'm sure they're grateful about that. It really allows them to spend all of that money that would have gone into funding the Justice League to focus on research and development for gadgets and other technology that could help us, so really it's all still going to the League, one way or another.

In the past, I had pointed Bruce Wayne to Dick Grayson to see if he could get him as his sidekick. For some reason, in this universe, they wouldn't have met like usual. And Barbara Gordon was going to be named Nightwing? Well, not if I could help it. Dick Grayson is going to be Robin. Barbara Gordon will be Batgirl. And all will be as it should.