Little Women | December 25 2019 | Sony | Greta Gerwig directs | 24th Most Profitable Movie of 2019

[ThePrinceIsOnFire]

Sony really made a good investment with this one.  Little Women is a beloved story that was always going to make an impact on the US B.O; internationally it is comparatively weaker, but still had potential from the get-go.

 

Yet, what is really surprising is how they managed to keep the production cost at a mere 40 milion considering that: A) it is a period piece, with pricey costumes, B.) it was shot on location with many scenes on the outdoors, C) it had a very high-profile cast. 

 

About the cast, I am really surprised that someone like Emma Watson, coming from the huge success of Beauty and the Beast, would lower her fee under 10 milions... she probably got hungry for some critical acclaim- accolades.

[Spidey Freak]

Why would Emma charge 10M for this lol. The fact that Emma Stone, one of the highest paid actresses, had initially signed on for Meg shows that most actresses probably just wanted to work with Gerwig on an adaptation of a beloved story.

[DAJK]

~3 months after seeing this, yea it was pretty great but honestly what sticks out for me the most were the performances (i.e. Ronan and Pugh). I know that a lot of this can be attributed to Gerwig as a director, making sure this cast works really well together. But the two aforementioned performers have been amazing in other films as well of course, and I'm glad they brought their A-game to this. 

 

I hope this leads to studios taking more big-budget chances with older, classic novels, instead of relegating them to indie studios where they will go largely unseen. 

[ThePrinceIsOnFire]

14 hours ago, Spidey Freak said:

Why would Emma charge 10M for this lol. The fact that Emma Stone, one of the highest paid actresses, had initially signed on for Meg shows that most actresses probably just wanted to work with Gerwig on an adaptation of a beloved story.

Well she obviously cared about the project, that is for sure. What I am surprised about is that she chose this career trajectory right after a huge commercial hit with Beauty and the Beast.

Emma Stone was never the actual lead of a mega-blockbuster (she was supporting in Spider-man), is an Oscar winner and was always going for auteur's movies  (though the upcoming Cruella is a change in direction for her).

Emma Watson, on the other hand, has had her fair share of small- indie movies right after the HP saga, but I was expecting her to build on her bankability right now, as in trying to go for a Marvel/DC movie role a la Brie Larson or  booking another franchise, like Alicia Vikander ( Tomb Raider).

 

Frankly, I don't think this was a very wise choice on her part. Meg was a very supporting character in this version of Little women, with little screen time. All the buzz and attention went to Soairse Ronan (as expected) and to Pugh, while Watson got mild reviews.

 

Considering this was her first project in two years, it certainly felt like a step-back for her. Also, the movie capitalized greatly on her fame to appeal the international audiences, with the Italian, French, Spanish tv spots all massively featuring Emma as if she were an actual lead in the movie.

 

So all in all, i guess the film earned much more from Emma Watson than what Emma has gained from the film. That is ultimately why I am surprised that not only would she take such a small- non incisive role, but she'd also get a small paycheck out of it.

 

I guess all of this might be a reason why Emma went MIA during the promotianl tour, and refused to appear basically anywhere to talk about the movie.

[Noctis]

I truly believe Watson did the project solely to work with Greta, and that she didn't do any red carpet appearance bar one was because she didn't want to take the spotlight away from her co-stars. She even literally said in an interview a few months ago that she doesn't like it at all when she does something that takes away the focus from someone more deserving.

 

 

[BoxOfficeFangrl]

Watson is set for life financially. I wouldn't say she is not into acting anymore, but at the moment seems more passionate about social causes (feminism, the environment, etc.). EW has the luxury to only take on roles when she really wants to, either because they are a challenge for her (she gets to sing, or play a "complicated" character) or the role aligns with her beliefs in some way. 

 

I still find her being almost totally MIA from the Little Women promo tour strange, it was a very good movie and her reviews were mostly positive, even if she wasn't the star. Other A-listers in this situation have been savvy enough to steer the interviews so that the less famous person gets to shine. 

 

Of course, it could turn out there was some secret health thing she was dealing with at the time, or she could pop onto Instagram in a few months all, "Surprise, I have a baby! Sorry for the disappearing act these last few months, but I could not deal with a million 'Pregnant Hermione-Magic or Magic Stick?' headlines during this precious moment in my life...." And that is a whole different, totally understandable story.

 

But, barring that, if I were a colleague who had to do all those interviews and appearances, traveling thousands of miles, while she had some social media team hit send on a few Insta posts, it would NOT endear her to me one bit. The industry is a lot less forgiving of women in general, even the extraordinary talented ones, and memories can be long. Not to say she'll never work again, but Hollywood can be a small town in some ways. Stars can develop reputations over time and people remember who will go the extra mile vs. who can't be bothered...

Edited April 10, 2020 by BoxOfficeFangrl

[Barnack]

8 hours ago, ThePrinceIsOnFire said:

Frankly, I don't think this was a very wise choice on her part.

That very dependant on your goal in life, when you are talking about someone that could probably live from residual for their rest of their life even if they lost their fortune for some reason it is different.

 

If we would have went in 2017 and tell people that her IMDB would look like this :

 2019Little Women
Meg March

 2017/IThe Circle
Mae

 2017/IBeauty and the Beast
Belle

 

 

 

With no announced project after the 1.3 billion Beauty and the beast, many would have found it strange, but I doubt she is trying to maximize her revenues.

 

 

[CoolioD1]

She's actually fine in this. pretty good. it's the least interesting performance obviously, because it's the least interesting part.

[Eric Duncan]

 

[TheDarkKnightOfSteel]

Watson said that she only wants to do roles that she feels that are meaningful to her. Thing is that these roles are going to actresses like Robbie, Lawrence and Ronan ...and now Pugh. Still I do believe that studios have her as a top choice when they are discussing their huge ass role in CGI Blockbuster X. Thing is Emma doesn’t want to do them. 
 

I mean for studios she is an easy access to a shitload of followers. In fact, she is among the top actors when it comes to social media. Surely it doesn’t work in films like the freaking circle but her following is more than willing to follow her to a potential Beauty and The Beast.

[Eric Duncan]

https://deadline.com/2020/06/little-women-100-million-international-box-office-weekend-update-coronavirus-1202958712/

 

Quote

Sony’s Oscar winner, Little Women, originally began offshore rollout back in late December 2019, but continued to show off its grit at the international box office this weekend. The Greta Gerwig-directed update on the classic opened in Japan at No. 1 with $495K. In total, currently playing on 440 screens in 13 offshore markets, the weekend was worth $760K for a $99.5M overseas cume.

 

 

The century mark should be in the offing with strong play continuing in Denmark, and a China release still a possibility. Gerwig’s modern take on the 19th century novel was originally scheduled to hit Middle Kingdom movie theaters on February 14, but was caught in the coronavirus crisis which shuttered all of the market’s cinemas in late January.

 

 

[RealLyre]

hell yeah, if this re-releases here I'd be there day one for a rewatch (more incentive than even Tenet tbh)

 

 

[sfran43]

 

[titanic2187]

This is my last movie in theater before lockdown.

 

The movie was ok, through I don't think Greta deserve directing nomination as proclaimed by the people. Lady bird was far beter 

[Eric Duncan]

 

[Eric Duncan]

 

[Eric Duncan]

 

[Eric Duncan]

 

[Eric Duncan]

 

[Eric Duncan]