From: CINQUE [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 6:31 AM To: don polite; Gabriel, Dexter; JohnScott Lucas; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Kenny Cash; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: 'Tracey de Morsella' Subject: THEY WAITED TOO LONG 'X-Files' fans aren't alienated - now, they can find fantasy everywhere Tuesday, July 29th 2008, 4:00 AM David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson opened with a not-so-otherworldly $10.2 million weekend. X marked the spot - the spot where a "cult following" ended and reality kicked in. "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" opened at No. 4 this past weekend with a supernaturally low $10.2 million, about half of what box-office trackers predicted. The truth was certainly out there: Off the air for six years and a full decade after the first film version, the buzzless Mulder and Scully had as much heat as an alien corpse at Area 51. Where were all the true believers who made the TV series such a touchstone? Besides the mundane possibilities (barbecues, Little League, working overtime to afford gas), there's also this: A cult following doesn't cut it anymore, because the cult now owns pop culture. >From video games to TV to the multipart movies Hollywood is creating, what was a land of the lost has become the world of tomorrow. And all of those various media - as well as graphic novels - have, this summer, cemented their hold on the multiplex. Ten years ago, when "The X-Files: Fight the Future" was released with an opening of $30 million, its siblings were really just flop revisits to "Lost in Space" and "The Avengers." Quality still counts, but no longer do fans feel like they only get one trip to the fantasy-film buffet. The table belongs to them, and they're picking up the check to boot. Some things, however, still have to go beyond their core base: Frank Miller's "The Spirit" (due at Christmas) will need to entice more than just fans of the Will Eisner comic strip to make it another "Sin City." And even the rebooted "Star Trek" movie (beaming in May 8) will have to blast past the same kind of niche appeal that seems to have sunk "X-Files." The huge superhero movies of summer 2008 - especially "The Dark Knight's" jaw-dropping event status - are, among other things, a signal that superhero movies are more than just the accepted form for modern fables. Now they're capable of appealing to most audiences 50 and younger, who don't need to know about graphic novels or be regular attendees of Comic-Con to get wrapped up in Peter Parker's troubles or the Joker's villainy. If that is the mystery of "X-Files'" fast disappearance, it may actually be a good sign for "Watchmen," the eagerly anticipated film of Alan Moore's 1986 graphic novel about an alternate-reality society overrun with powerless costumed adventurers who are seen as vigilantes by an oppressive U.S. government. "Ten years ago, being a fan of these things meant something. Now there's plenty of product to indulge in," says Tony Timpone, editor of the fantasy-sci-fi magazine Fangoria. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
