Superman in Green: an audience study of comic book film adaptations Thor and Green Lantern

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Title: Superman in Green: an audience study of comic book film adaptations Thor and Green Lantern
Author(s): Burke, Liam
Abstract: Over the past two decades comic book fans have become a digitally-empowered minority, with mainstream filmmakers much more likely to yield to fan pressure when adapting comics than in pre-digital times. Nonetheless, this fidelity-favouring audience is still only a fraction of the eventual attendance of these blockbuster releases. The larger non-fan audience is frequently drawn to ‘comic-book movies’ by generic markers carefully positioned by filmmakers and publicity to evoke past successes; with the continued popularity of comic-book movies suggesting these strategies have been successful. To better understand these two broad groups that attend comic book adaptations, audiences at screenings of recent high-profile films Thor and Green Lantern were surveyed. Adopting a similar methodology to Watching The Lord of the Rings, this research was carried out as a quali-quantitative paper survey of filmgoers at three different screenings of each film. The results offered a nuanced picture of the audience(s) for one of the most popular trends in modern cinema. Ultimately, it was found that while the two broad audiences that attend theses adaptations are not mutually exclusive, they do have differing interests and expectations, which the filmmaker and scholar must consider.
Publication type: Journal article
Research centre: Swinburne University of Technology
Source: Participations: Journal of Audience and Reception Studies, Vol. 9, no. 2 (Nov 2012), pp. 97-119
Publication year: 2012
FOR Code(s): 1608 Sociology; 1902 Film, Television and Digital Media; 2002 Cultural Studies
Keyword(s): Audience research; Comic book movie; Comic book fans; Fidelity; Film adaptation; Genre
Publisher: Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies, University of Wales
ISSN: 1749-8716
Publisher URL: http://www.participations.org/Volume%209/Issue%202/contents.htm
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