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Shawn Robbins

TDKR or The Hobbit: Which has a bigger standard to live up to?

  

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  1. 1. Which film has a bigger standard to live up to based on each one's predecessor(s) and/or relative hype and expectations?

    • The Dark Knight Rises
      15
    • The Hobbit
      14
    • They're too close to call!
      3


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This question really perplexes me, and its something I've been thinking about for awhile -- especially considering we're finally about to enter 2012 when these massively anticipated films will finally see the light of day.

The Dark Knight Rises: Has to follow not only TDK, its $533 million gross, and Ledger's performance, but additionally has to somewhat deliver what people now expect from Nolan after Inception. I don't think a director has had this much mainstream appeal coming into a film in a very long time.

The Hobbit: Has to follow what many consider the greatest -- or at least one of -- trilogy of all-time, the films that redefined the fantasy genre, and a Best Picture-winner. Not only that, its had a much longer gap between releases...essentially translating to more time for that trilogy to establish itself among history, thus creating certain expectations that may be able to be met (cough, Phantom Menace, cough).

I'll be doing an article on this at some point, but for now...discuss. :)

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Dark Knight Rises. Christopher Nolan has never made a bad film and if he falls victim to the superhero threequel hex, no one will have any faith in them ever again.The time gap between LOTR and Hobbit will work to its advantage, I think. If Jackson made Hobbit immediately after Lord of the Rings, the expectations would be astronomical. But after King Kong and the certified misfire that is The Lovely Bones, people are just happy he's going back to Middle Earth.

Edited by tribefan695
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Pretty much what you are asking is which has the bigger shoes to fill, and I think The Hobbit does because of the massive success that was ROTK. As for which will have a harder time filling those shoes, I'd say TDKR because TDK is arguably the greatest comic-book movie ever made and had arguably the greatest performance by a villain ever. How do you top joker? How do you top 534m?TDKR has a very long road ahead of it, where as The Hobbit will be deemed as a success even if it has a 30% decline in admissions from ROTK. If TDKR were to decline by 30% is admissions, it would be viewed as a major disappointment.

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I think The Dark Knight Rises, because it is a more recent movie, and the fans are unrealistic. If it's anything below The Dark Knight people will be labeling it the worst movie of all time. After King Kong, Lord Of The Rings fans don't have as huge expectations. Plus generally I would say Lord Of The Rings fans are older and more mature then Batman fans.

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The Hobbit. It's coming off a hugely successful trilogy. ROTK won 11 Oscars and LOTR is the most successful trilogy of all time. It also has had a break between LOTR series and Hobbit which can only fuel expectations.The Dark Knight Rises has a director that is coming off two very successful films but I don't think expectations are as high given Heath Ledger's passing. Most people do not expect Rises to come close to TDK domestically. Worldwide expectations will be slightly higher with the global markets expanding but it's still not as high as the Hobbit.

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I don't think people will be looking at Kong or Lovely Bones when it comes to The Hobbit expectations. People are expecting a film that somewhat matches the quality of LOTR. Most people consider it the best trilogy of all-time and has yet to be tarnished by a bad film *TPM*. Also, people won't compare The Hobbit to TPM. They aren't going to say, hey, I hope this doesn't suck like TPM. No, they will compare it to LOTR, and they will say, I hope this is good like the LOTR movies.The almost yen-year wait makes The Hobbit nostalgic. Many films have failed in this area such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and even The Godfather. I think TS3 was the only one to live up to the hype. However, TS3, while coming off two beyond well-reviewed movies, it was still not seen as serious. I mean, they were children's movies. ROTK won 11 Academy Awards. The LOTR trilogy is serious stuff. Expectations are going to be high. This is a film being compared to a movie that won 11 Academy Awards, a feat only achieved three times.For TDKR, many people are expecting it to drop in quality slightly because there is no Joker. However, Inception has caused faith that maybe, just maybe Nolan can pull off the impossible and somehow find a way to top TDK or make a film just as good. Also, TDK has a lot of quotes that have seeped into mainstream culture, most of them quotes from the Joker. LOTR has a few quotes, but I don't think as many as TDK. Also, TDK is more recent, so it is fresh in people's mind and that makes people more anxious for the film. They are both very close, but The Hobbit has a slight edge. And, for everywhere that is not the US, The Hobbit is the definite winner.Still, though, both films have a lot to live up to. I can't recall a time in BO history where we ever had anything like this. The closest was TPM, but now we are getting two films that will have hype almost at TPM levels. That is just insane.

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Now this is a very tricky question. Both Rings and TDK redefined what their respective genres were capable of, and transcended the boundaries of both from both critical and economic standpoints. Both have rabid sets of fanboys. Both have new and improved tools at their disposal (3D, 48fps and IMAX respectively). I honestly couldn't tell you which has more riding on it. I think at this moment, with all things considered a Batman failure in any way, shape or form next summer has the ability to cause a massive kneejerk ripple through the industry. Just picture how insane and panicked every single exec in hollywood would go if next years most solid sure fire hit were to underperform like many sequels this year. It would be chaotic to say the least, espescially if it's a critical darling.

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The Dark Knight Rises. It's coming off 2 successful movies that each topped eachother, with a director that hasn't missed with anything he's directed yet. This is why I foresee a letdown on the way.The Hobbit is coming off an incredibly successful trilogy, but each individual film got worse, with the last being a bloated and sloppy mess in places. Please don't remind me of the Oscars that were given for the entire achievement and pretend like that justifies ROTK in some way. It was long since decided to give that one a free pass after the quality of the first 2 didn't get rewarded. Then, if we take into account how sloppy and self indulgent Jackson's King Kong was, and then the head scratching choice to do The Lovely Bones, which bombed, I think the guarantee is less in more people's minds that it'll deliver. I personally feel the Hobbit will deliver, as long as Jackson learned to get over his self indulgent tendencies. I feel Hobbit will be given more room for error, thus having smaller shoes to fill at the time it's released.

Edited by Maverikk
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George Lucas made a lot of crap movies between ROTJ and TPM. Yet, everyone ignored said crap films. Kong and Lovely Bones will play zero role in people's expectations for The Hobbit. Zero. Almost everyone will feel as if this is Jackson's baby and that he knows what he is doing because he did such a great job with the LOTR trilogy. Anyway, most moviegoers forgot Jackson did Kong, and especially Lovely Bones. Just like movie-goers forgot about Howard the Duck.

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The Hobbit. It's coming off a hugely successful trilogy. ROTK won 11 Oscars and LOTR is the most successful trilogy of all time. It also has had a break between LOTR series and Hobbit which can only fuel expectations.

But then there was King Kong, which I think made everyone's expectations a bit lower. Not that it was a bad movie, but I think people are ready for a good to masterpiece, where The Dark Knight Rises fans are only looking for a masterpiece.
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