2. The audience for a typical superhero film are predominantly males, aged 12-25.
The main reason why I think these films are so popular is that a lot of these
movies have been transferred from very popular comic books from Marvel & DC.
Therefore, one interest the audience may have would be comic books. Another
interest the audience may have could be a lot of action, explosions and the thrill
of constantly being on the edge of their seat.
Title of film Lifetime Gross Distributor
The Dark Knight $533,345,358 Warner Bros.
Spider-Man $403,706,375 Sony
Iron Man $318,412,101 Paramount
The Incredibles $261,441,092 Buena Vista
X-Men: The Last Stand $234,362,462 Fox
‘The Dark Knight’ is more of a darker and serious film than other superhero
films, such as ‘Spider-Man’, ‘Iron Man’ and ‘The Incredibles’. This means the
audience for ‘The Dark Knight’ would be a bit more older, presumably for 15-30
year olds, looking for a more serious storyline & deeper action sequences.
Consequently, the comic and light hearted elements in ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘Iron
Man’ would attract an audience of a slightly younger age, such as 12-25 year
olds. However, ‘The Incredibles’ is an CG superhero film, meaning the audience’s
age would be significantly lower than the other films (about 7-15 year olds), and
the audience’s main interest would be animated films .
3. Upcoming releases
Title of film Demographic factors Psychographic factors
The Avengers 12-25 year olds Read Marvel comics
Predominantly males Like action/explosions
The Amazing Spider-Man 12-20 year olds Interested in 3D
Predominantly males Read Marvel comics
Seen other Spider-Man films
The Dark Knight Rises 15-30 year olds Seen ‘The Dark Knight’
Predominantly males Read DC comics
Like dark storylines
4. Why the upcoming releases will be
successful in finding audiences
• ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ has a huge advantage as it’s the sequel of the highest grossing
superhero film, ‘The Dark Knight’. The film has also changed the way moviegoers view
superhero movies. In addition, it features the return of Christian Bale as Batman &
the same director, Christopher Nolan; the same main actor & director from ‘The Dark
Knight’.
• ‘The Avengers’ is predicted to be a great success as it combines six different
characters from previous summer blockbusters into one large scale epic movie which
has been planned for years. Additionally, ‘The Avengers’ is one of the first superhero
movies out in the summer, creating a buzz. Another huge selling point for the film is
the return of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, which helped the two ‘Iron Man’
movies gross $300 million.
• ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ is predicted to bring in a fresh, new audience by rebooting
the franchise. Sony did a big global event in March to get the world out there what
people can expect from the movie as well as ramping up their viral campaigns.
Furthermore, if the word-of-mouth is good, it should be able to bring in a lot of
people to see it.
5. Why superhero films are successful
I believe there are many factors to why superhero films are so successful:
1. Escapism – superhero films are specifically designed to entertain. They do this by
limitless action, excitement and stunts, immersing the audience into another world.
Watching a superhero film is a great way to relax and escape any stress.
2. Star actors – I believe that this is the main reason most superhero films are as
successful as they are. This is because it creates a buzz and excitement for the
audience to see their favourite actor on the big screen. Star actors include Christian
Bale, Anne Hathaway, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Downey Jr & Scarlett Johansson.
3. Star directors, such as Christopher Nolan, can also boost customer awareness and
increase the range of the audience as they may have done a variety of films which
have been very successful. For example, Christopher Nolan has directed many
successful films, such as ‘Batman Begins’, ‘The Dark Knight’ & ‘Inception’.
6. Enjoy!
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPoHPNeU9fc – This is
the ‘Avengers’ official movie trailer.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBaRl8JIP0g – This is the
‘Amazing Spider-Man’ official teaser trailer.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GokKUqLcvD8 – This is the
‘Dark Knight Rises’ official movie trailer.
7. What we like about the superhero
genre, it’s storylines and characters
This data was collected from a group of a variety of ages and gender.
They responded:
• “The development of the characters and their powers is
interesting”. For example, my mum said that watching Peter Parker
in ‘Spider-Man’ was intriguing as it showed him maturing from a shy
teenager to a superhero.
• “Very clear-cut story (good vs. evil)”. For instance, my brother said
he liked the fact that ‘X-Men’ was purely the X-Men vs. the
Brotherhood.
• “Out of the ordinary story, not normal”
• “Exciting effects” – my mum and brother both said that ‘The Dark
Knight’ visuals gripped them and constantly kept them on the edge
of their seats.
8. What we dislike about the superhero
genre, it’s storylines and characters
• “Can be repetitious”
• “Sometimes it’s too unrealistic and fake”
• “Can be too simplistic at times”
• “I don’t like the romantic aspect in some superhero films”. My
brother believed that the love story in ‘Spider-Man’ wasn’t
necessary.
