Anyone else see this article (http://slate.msn.com/id/2117309/) on Slate.com? I think it explains a lot about today's movies.

Hmmm, pretty interesting stuff... It's too bad, really, because some of the more recent best films have been the low budget independent fare, such as Sideways and Bend it Like Beckham.

Dan

This is not necessarily all that new. I recall in reading "Chekov's Enterprise" (Walter Koenig's diary of the making of STTMP) about the way that ABC executives came to the set one day, and an announcement was made that ABC was paying $10 million for the TV rights to STTMP, while it was still being filmed.

When you think of all the avenues for a movie to make money:

Box Office
DVD/VHS Sales
Pay TV Revenues
Network TV Showings
Syndication Movie Packages

It's kind of surprising when a movie can't break even. And this doesn't even count the potential for merchandising (if it's that kind of a movie). Lucasfilms reportedly makes more from merchandise than the movie screening revenue sources I listed above.

Well, that's yet another explanation for why so much of what plays at movie theaters these days is unmitigated crap.

Right Zorro. :thumbsup:
Because the Germans *LOVE* David Hasselhoff.

Well, that's yet another explanation for why so much of what plays at movie theaters these days is unmitigated crap.

On the other hand, as the article points out, the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy was also financed via foreign pre-sale, as was Terrence Malick's upcoming historical epic "The New World." My point being that decent (or potentially decent) films also benefit from this method of financing.

Speaking of which - I'm looking forward to "The New World".
It's funny - I want it done "right", but don't quite know what "right" should be - but I'll know it when I see it!

Well, maybe I do - not modernized with 21st century conceits of 17th century actions and attitudes...

Speaking of which - I'm looking forward to "The New World".
It's funny - I want it done "right", but don't quite know what "right" should be - but I'll know it when I see it!

Well, maybe I do - not modernized with 21st century conceits of 17th century actions and attitudes...

Well, the actress playing Pocahontas (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0452963/) is at most fourteen years old (depending on when it was shot). Does that count?

The trouble with these financing tricks is, as the article pointed out, they only work with big-budgeted movies. And even if it is easy to finance, a studio is not going to OK a movie unless they think it'll make a lot of money. So films that may appeal to a more limited audience just don't get made.

The trouble with these financing tricks is, as the article pointed out, they only work with big-budgeted movies. And even if it is easy to finance, a studio is not going to OK a movie unless they think it'll make a lot of money. So films that may appeal to a more limited audience just don't get made.

Sure they do; just not nearly as often as they used to.

For what it's worth, the budget for "The New World" is a relatively modest $65 million. And as far as making "a lot of money" is concerned, NewLine knows very well that a Terrence Malick-directed version of the Pochohantas story is not exactly going to set the box office on fire. In this case, an overseas pre-sale secured financing for what is more or less an art film.

halle berry said she took the part of catwoman without reading the script.

How can that kind of thing happen?! People just care about the deal, not the Idea.

I imagine she only said that only after it became obvious the movie was a pile of kitty litter.

Most Hollywood actors and actresses take whatever parts are offered to them. Once they become famous, they feel obligated to buy a $20 million mansion in Beverly Hills, and live the jetset lifestyle. That's expensive, and they have to keep income rolling in. Only the $20 million per movie stars like Jim Carrey, Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Denzel Washington, etc can pick or choose which movies they say yes or no to. There have been a few exceptions wherein actors refused bad parts soon after they got famous - Mark Hammil, Keanu Reeves, and Michael Keaton all turned down bad work shortly after each became famous via Star Wars, Speed, and Night Shift, respectively. Which is not to say they never made any clinkers over the years, but sometimes, a movie looks better on paper than it turns out on screen.