Seriously…when will they learn?

So…I’d love to talk about how Hollywood is stupid and clueless. Since it is VERY covered territory by funnier writers than myself, I do honestly wonder; will they ever “get it”?
Electra hits theaters this weekend. Rotten Tomatoes (with over 45 reviews in) have it at 2%. Now, assuming you give some audience to critics…once more -a consensus of over 100 critics with varying tastes and margin for quality- a 2% approval rate is overwhelmingly damning…it’s in all likelihood a very terrible movie. I won’t see it, so I suppose I’m incapable of making a judgment call on the movie personally.
So, I’ve heard from someone with fantastic taste and a keen eye for filmic qualities that it’s absolutely terrible.
Now with that established, how and why does this scenario happen so often?
Meaning; LOTR was phenomenal. In time, it will be a benchmark in cinematic achievement, a success on so many levels it’s mind-boggling. Suits just saw horses, swords, and the return of the Epic. “GLADIATOR” wasn’t a fluke God-damnit! Kids wanna see swords and sandals; we’ll give ‘em swords up the ass!”
I’m sure there are dozens, literally dozens of writers, producers, executives, grips and set painters that understand that the quality of the product is what made it good; the story told, the execution and so on…not that it was a particular genre.
Up until very recently, pirate movies never made any money. In fact, the record-holding money-losing film of all time (this may be different now) was CUTTHROAT ISLAND. PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN made gobs of money.
This means one of two genres (perhaps both) will start to flood out of Hollywood; either movies based on Disney rides, that only have the most tenuous connection to the ride (like the name) or more pirate movies. Now while I’d love to see better pirate movies, that’s the rub…GOOD pirate movies.
Which brings me to the comic movie. We (as fans and geeks) have had a pretty good run of comic book movies lately; X-MEN, X2, SPIDERMAN, SPIDERMAN 2, MEN IN BLACK and to a lesser extent THE HULK, HELLBOY (marginally watchable). It does seem like there are an excess of failures; LEAGUE of EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN, two of three BLADE films, DAREDEVIL, MEN IN BLACK II, and now ELEKTRA.
In the development world, it’s a big, fat payday. I’ll save this for another blog sometime, but there’s a whole industry of producers and packagers that have put food on the table and sent kids through ivy-league schools...while not making movies.
To my knowledge the next Batman, Fantastic Four, Superman Returns, Sin City, and Constantine are all coming out this year or next.
Black Widow, Black Panther, Captain America, Deadpool, Dr. Strange, Batman Vrs. Superman (World’s Finest), Deathlok, Green Lantern, Ghost Rider, Gen13, Iron Man, Jinx, Magneto, Luke Cage (yes, Luke Cage), Man-Thing, Powers, The Preacher, Shi, Silver Surfer, Sub-Mariner, The Watchmen, Lone Wolf and Cub, Wonder Woman , X3, and a bunch that I’ve missed are all in various stages of development.
While the fact that they’re comic books has absolutely zero bearing on their inherent potential to be a good film, they’ve gotten into development simply because they’re comic properties…awesome.