Hollywood Discovers the Fanboy Factor

This is an interesting article from USA Today on how Hollywood is now trying to figure out what fanboys want to watch:

Whoever Fanboy is, he has plenty of power

“Who is Fanboy? And more importantly, what does he want with Hollywood? Studio executives know he’s out there, somewhere. Stealing scripts. Pirating films. Firing off reviews before a movie opens. Befriending Snakes on a Plane on the Internet, only to crush it in theaters. Quietly marshaling forces behind 300 to make it the surprise hit of the year.

For all the alter egos and caped conventioneers who will populate this weekend’s Comic-Con gathering in San Diego, only Fanboy’s true identity gnaws at the movie honchos who annually prowl the nation’s largest comic-book convention looking for the next pop hit.

Each year, the suits follow his trail, trying to determine what Fanboy will champion, defend or vanquish. Usually, they come back empty-handed. “I know he’s real, because he makes my job harder,” says Marvin Levy of DreamWorks, which had the geek smash Transformers. “But trying to figure out who he is and what he wants to see will keep you up at night”.”

…I”ll give a hint to the powers that be: Just make some damn good films for a change!