Wall Street looks at how Warner Bros. can achieve a similar successful financial formula, like Marvel Studios and Disney. There suggestion is to turn the keys over to a very familiar name... The investor community is picking Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) as a stock to BUY based off the recent Avengers trailer and recent success of Captain America and Thor this past summer. There not so crazy about Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) thanks in part to who they put it, "failed to establish a cinematic foothold for one of its own lesser heroes in June, Green Lantern. However, they do offer some suggestions as to how TWXcan be just as successful as Marvel. Look In-house My suggestion? Look to Bruce Timm, the creative genius behind DC's animated epics. His latest -- Green Lantern: Emerald Knights -- has taken in roughly $2.9 million in DVD sales, according to TheNumbers.com. Count me among the buyers. My 6-year-old son and I rented Emerald Knights on iTunes because I thought the live-action version might be too scary for him. As a series, DC's animated flicks have grossed more than $73 million since 2007. We don't know how those sales have fed profits, but using animation and voice-over narration is far cheaper than hiring actors, actresses, production trucks, makeup artists, visual-effects geniuses, and the like. DVD and digital distribution also cost less. It's a formula that, judging by DC's aggressive production schedule, seems to work really well. Warner's animated group has also won over fans through television-distributed hits such as Batman: The Animated Series and Justice League Unlimited. Want to kick-start DC's lesser franchises, Mr. Johns? All the elements for a Justice League film -- a flick comparable with that of next May's The Avengers -- is present in two seasons' worth of JLU stories. The Marvel Formula At the very least, I think JLU has something that Green Lantern didn't and that every one of Marvel's major live-action hits had: a strong writer-director team with a specific vision for what to put on the screen. GL had four writers. Four. No wonder this otherwise-promising story got garbled on screen. The Avengers? It has Whedon, a writer with top-notch credentials when it comes to scripting movies, TV, and, yes, even comic books. That's why I'll be unsurprised if Disney wins big when the film reaches theaters next May. Take notes, Time Warner. The formula for success is right in front of you. This article was written by Tim Beyers of Motley Fool.com, someone who's a Time Warner shareholder. I must say this was a very well written argument and I agree with his ideas about how Warner Bros. can become just as successful as Disney/Marvel. Do you agree with these comments and the proposal for DC's success? Think Bruce Timm is the man for the job?
If I was running DC/WB, I'd do the opposite of Marvel having the lesser heroes have their own movies and then going to the team movie (Avengers) is start with a Justice League movie and then spin off the 2nd string characters (Green Lantern, Flash, Wonder Woman, etc.) Get the popularity of a Justice League going based on the top 2 guys, Superman & Batman being in it. People will see a movie with them in it. Of course seeing the movie exposes them to the other heroes. If JL is successful, give the other heroes a movie.
