Hollywood adaptations of comic books in a post-9/11 context: the economic and cultural factors
With the release of Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975) and then Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977), blockbusters have dominated Hollywood’s way of doing business while they have confirmed the importance of the young audience. The paper will first show that adapting comic books is ideal for the film industry...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Association Française d'Etudes Américaines
2017-10-01
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| Series: | Transatlantica |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/5419 |
| _version_ | 1818113612175114240 |
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| author | Nathalie Dupont |
| author_facet | Nathalie Dupont |
| author_sort | Nathalie Dupont |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | With the release of Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975) and then Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977), blockbusters have dominated Hollywood’s way of doing business while they have confirmed the importance of the young audience. The paper will first show that adapting comic books is ideal for the film industry as comic books perfectly fit the blockbusters’ formula. All this explains why American studios have successfully adapted (and/or distributed) many comic books over the past few years. But the paper will also underline that adapting comic books would however be fruitless if the context was not right for their characters. The paper will thus question the timing of these adaptations, and more precisely it will try to show that if comic book superheroes have an important audience in cinemas, it is probably because they are also in tune with the post-9/11 American mood. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T03:37:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-319566d881194c9d9e94a23888ed5152 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1765-2766 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T03:37:36Z |
| publishDate | 2017-10-01 |
| publisher | Association Française d'Etudes Américaines |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Transatlantica |
| spelling | doaj.art-319566d881194c9d9e94a23888ed51522022-12-22T01:22:12ZengAssociation Française d'Etudes AméricainesTransatlantica1765-27662017-10-01210.4000/transatlantica.5419Hollywood adaptations of comic books in a post-9/11 context: the economic and cultural factorsNathalie DupontWith the release of Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975) and then Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977), blockbusters have dominated Hollywood’s way of doing business while they have confirmed the importance of the young audience. The paper will first show that adapting comic books is ideal for the film industry as comic books perfectly fit the blockbusters’ formula. All this explains why American studios have successfully adapted (and/or distributed) many comic books over the past few years. But the paper will also underline that adapting comic books would however be fruitless if the context was not right for their characters. The paper will thus question the timing of these adaptations, and more precisely it will try to show that if comic book superheroes have an important audience in cinemas, it is probably because they are also in tune with the post-9/11 American mood.http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/54199/11comic book heroesHollywood cinemablockbustersteenage audience |
| spellingShingle | Nathalie Dupont Hollywood adaptations of comic books in a post-9/11 context: the economic and cultural factors Transatlantica 9/11 comic book heroes Hollywood cinema blockbusters teenage audience |
| title | Hollywood adaptations of comic books in a post-9/11 context: the economic and cultural factors |
| title_full | Hollywood adaptations of comic books in a post-9/11 context: the economic and cultural factors |
| title_fullStr | Hollywood adaptations of comic books in a post-9/11 context: the economic and cultural factors |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hollywood adaptations of comic books in a post-9/11 context: the economic and cultural factors |
| title_short | Hollywood adaptations of comic books in a post-9/11 context: the economic and cultural factors |
| title_sort | hollywood adaptations of comic books in a post 9 11 context the economic and cultural factors |
| topic | 9/11 comic book heroes Hollywood cinema blockbusters teenage audience |
| url | http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/5419 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nathaliedupont hollywoodadaptationsofcomicbooksinapost911contexttheeconomicandculturalfactors |