This Week in Geek for the Week Ending August 9, 2014

This is a new weekly feature here at the geeky mormon.  It will cover some of the big stories affecting the world of Geek each week.  It will include some brief summaries of the story, followed by a link to the original source.  Enjoy!

Guardians of the Galaxy Another Big Hit for Marvel

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Despite the fact that most mainstream Marvel fans had never heard of the Guardians of the Galaxy before this film was announced by the studio, they all showed up in droves.  Many people were predicting that because people had never heard of these heroes before, no one would come out to see the movie.  It would be Marvel’s first flop.  I’ll admit, when I heard that this film was going into production, I was among the group predicting that nobody would want to see it.  It has a talking tree thingy and a raccoon as two of its main characters.  However, there Marvel machine got behind their big budget film and promoted the heck out of it.  And, as an added bonus, the trailers made the film look pretty amazing.  Say what you will, but I believe there were a lot of people who went to this movie simply because it had the Marvel label.  Fortunately, it doesn’t suck either.  It opened with $94 million last weekend, the biggest opening ever in August, and the 3rd biggest of the year. Let’s see if it can hold on to the top spot this weekend as it goes up against TMNT.  I know, it should be a no brainer.  TMNT has gotten horrible reviews, but remember, so did all the Transformers movies, also Michael Bay projects, and they all scored big at the box office.  Click here to see the whole story on the box office numbers for last weekend.

TMNT May be a Bigger Hit than We Thought

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See if this sounds familiar:  Big movie company hire Michael Bay to come in and take an old children’s franchise and turn it into a major motion picture, big budget and all.  He comes in, adds that signature Michael Bay touch, and totally ruins it for original fans of the franchise.  He also ruins an evening for critics across America as they go and have to sit through the movie to review it.  It does not go well for Bay with the critics, and they spend their time trying to warned people about the movie, begging them not to go.  Everybody goes anyway, and the film is a huge hit, spawning numerous sequels.  I know, you’re thinking Transformers, but wrong.  This is exactly what is happening again with Bay’s latest project, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Every review I have read has talked about how awful this movie is and has warned against going to see it.  People read this stuff, I know they do.  People know how awful the Transformers movies have been.  They know what to expect, but the news coming in about the box office so far is demonstrating that nobody cares.  They are all going to see this movie.  The reports are saying that it could bring in around $65 million so far.  Why? Geeks are nostalgic and they just can’t resist a film that might bring back some good memories.  Unfortunately, this will only mean more garbage like this will be made.  Click here to read more about the TMNT opening.

DC Calls off Major Movie Stand Off with Marvel

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The big showdown we were all looking forward to in 2016 has been called off by DC.  They moved the release date for Dawn of Justice back to the end of March instead of May 6 where it would compete directly against Captain America 3.  It was going to be a match for the ages, and a great weekend of hiding out at the theater for hours for geeks everywhere.  This move seems like it is DC waving the white flag before the war could even start, and I think it awfully interesting that it came out right after Guardians’ epic opening.  In addition, DC also announced 9 other dates that will be the opening of other DC films, although they have not announced what they are.  Click here for the story and the list of dates.  As you can see, DC is not competing directly with any Marvel film.

SDCC is Still a Big Bully, Sues Salt Lake Comic Con

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As we have all heard by now, SDCC is not happy with Salt Lake Comic Con because of the use of the term “comic con”. As SDCC was going on, the event organizers sent a cease and desist letter to Salt Lake Comic Con.  I shared my thoughts on the action here.  Salt Lake responded with big no on the request from SDCC, so the convention giant has responded in typical jerky fashion by filing a lawsuit with a US District Court.  If they win, it will set a precedent that will cary over into disputes with other events throughout the country that use the term “comic con” in their title.  Salt Lake is not just fighting for themselves, but for the little guy conventions everywhere.  If they win, it will be a victory for all cons not associated with SDCC.  If they lose it will be a big blow to the same conventions. There are currently around 24 major conventions throughout the country that use “comic con” in their name.  The full story can be seen by clicking here for the article in the Salt Lake Tribune.

That will do it for the news this week.  Do you have any stories that should be featured here?  Let me know, tweet the link to me or add it to the comments here or on Facebook.  Did I miss a major story?  Again let me know.  Thanks for reading.

Jake Dietz
Jake Dietz is a humble bank employee by day, and super dad to 5 little monsters by night. He enjoys all things geeky. That's why he started this blog. He considers himself a member of many fandoms, and dreams of the day when all geeks, everywhere, can find a way to live together in harmony.