Like all movie ads, even this phony one has some truth buried within its hyperbole. Pixels are taking over the film industry, for both better and worse.
Because of pixels, we are seeing more spectacular-looking films (TV shows and TV commercials, too), and more boring, empty ones.
You've probably noticed computer-generated visual effects: an ever-increasing number of movies with stunning special effects — from explosions that are impossible in real life to "characters" that exist only on a computer screen (all those Autobots in the two "Transformers" films).
Pixels are causing a major shift in moviemaking as Hollywood studios plan to produce more superhero pictures, because they make so much money. The film based on a back-of-the-shelf Marvel comic — "Iron Man" (2008) — is set to become a franchise, in showbiz lingo, with the release of "Iron Man 2" in May 2010.
Film franchises used to be called series, pictures based on the same character: all those Frankenstein, Tarzan or Sherlock Holmes films, for example. They made good money, until the filmmakers' creative juices wore out or the public got bored.
But the first "Superman" film in 1978 changed that. From mere series, films based on comic-book heroes became blockbusters, turning in millions and millions at the box office. (The successful James Bond and Rocky films, where the lead character is more human than superhuman, are an exception.) "Superman" has had four feature films, plus the "Smallville" TV series, which is set to begin its ninth season on the CW Network. Another blockbuster series is "Batman," with five movies, plus the "Catwoman" spinoff in 2004. The latest Batman, "The Dark Knight," grossed more than $1 billion worldwide.
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