Twitter Destroys First Movie

You weren’t one of the suckers that saw “Sucker Punch” were you?

When I first saw the trailer for “Sucker Punch” my eyes rolled so far in the back of my head my nose started bleeding.

I’m not a science-fiction or comic fan, but like everyone else I know these types of films live or die by their fanboy buzz.

“The Watchmen” and “300″ saw their success from fan appreciation and word-of-mouth buzz more so than the studio’s marketing efforts. (“V” for Vendetta,” despite excellent acting and directing, was fan-panned for veering too far from the Alan Moore-penned graphic novel. And, yes, the graphic novel was better than the movie.)

“Sucker Punch” was initially ballyhooed but then destroyed by fanboys opening night. They attacked with Twitter.

The court of public opinion has millions of self-appointed judges and they pass judgement in 140-character bursts with emoticons and exclamation points and sometimes caps lock. I feel that studio execs must identify with Michele Bachmann, who belittles judges by calling them black-robed masters. Except the studio’s masters are guys with beards and iPhones.

Twitter exploded with negative fanboy commentary on opening night. The movie had a budget of $82 million and made $7.9 million opening weekend. This doesn’t augur well for a recoupment unless DVD and iTunes sales are through the roof.

The movie didn’t fail because Jon Hamm was in it and everyone was all, Ugh why is Don Draper in this movie? It’s because the film was a disappointing cash grab and fans hated it. This leave marketing execs nearly nowhere to pivot. Studios simply need to make great films, and art is hard.

Twitter is mostly brainless drivel, but it’s proven it can expedite human revolutions and capture the odd profundity. It also answers the question, “Who mediates the media men?” Twitter, of course.