kowhite Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 (edited) All the big franchises had an episode 1 nobody believed in, they all share the same story more or less... except for big books adaptations but even that, Lord of the Rings was a massive gamble, people were probably laughing in 2000 at the guys who did 8 freaking Harry Potter movies for 10 years with the same cast of kids, every big studio said no to Hunger Games (the kids killing kids thing) etc etc So it s easy to comment on Hollywood when you re not inside the machinery. Every Movie is a prototype, and yes, even Fast & Furious 8 & Transformers 5. Executive Producer: Steven Spielberg. I'm not sure Transformers qualifies. That shit made sense the day it was announced. You got me on a Fast and furious. Edited September 17, 2015 by kowhite 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Futurist Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Executive Producer: Steven Spielberg. I'm not sure Transformers qualifies. That shit made sense the day it was announced. You got me on a Fast and furious. Even Bay laughed at the idea of Transformers, he wasn't fond of it and nobody expected the first movie to do what it did. In fact, the first movie had a smear campaign narrative, Michael Bay was coming off of his only real flop & everybody shrugged at the idea of Hollywood going full retard by adapting a Toy brand ( yeah, I know there was an animated tv show). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kowhite Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 You might be right. Maybe I just know better than everyone. I thought it was a slam dunk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deep Wang Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 You might be right. Maybe I just know better than everyone. I thought it was a slam dunk. I have to imagine nothing gets green lit unless someone assumes it's a slam dunk right? Like, there's someone involved that convinced everyone else that it's gonna do gangbusters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kowhite Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 I have to imagine nothing gets green lit unless someone assumes it's a slam dunk right? Like, there's someone involved that convinced everyone else that it's gonna do gangbusters. Usually. Though sometimes things get greenlit cause...hey, we got all this overhead, we have to make something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Futurist Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Usually. Though sometimes things get greenlit cause...hey, we got all this overhead, we have to make something. Yep, at one point, you have to feed the pipeline something. A 200m Battleship movie with Taylor Kitsch made sense somehow ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kowhite Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 (edited) Yep, at one point, you have to feed the pipeline something. A 200m Battleship movie with Taylor Kitsch made sense somehow ... Honestly, I think that's less an overhead filler than a ...it's like Transformers! I'm stupid! Thing. Or maybe a this seemed like a good idea a year ago thing, but shit...it's too late and we have nothing else. Usually the overhead fillers are obvious cash grab sequels or mid level budget movies, I think. Edited September 17, 2015 by kowhite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimisawesome Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Yep, at one point, you have to feed the pipeline something. A 200m Battleship movie with Taylor Kitsch made sense somehow ... A 200m Battleship with Taylor Kitsch never made sense. The only way a 200m Battleship ever makes sense is with 2005 Will Smith and even then it really doesn't. There just happens to be a person that is willing to say yes to something that is so obviously a bad idea in charge of a studio. This is not to say every movie that fails did not make sense on paper at some point. Nor does it mean that not ever project that is stupid at price point X is stupid when its much cheaper at price point Y. Battleship at 85 million is worth the risk. Man from UNKLE at 75 is worth the risk. John Carter at 185 greenlight budget never did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TServo2049 Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 (edited) While it's not a hard and fast rule, many blockbuster first entries were mocked/second-guessed/eyebrow-raised beforehand, either in the industry or by industry-watchers like us (Star Wars, Superman (IIRC), E.T. (again, IIRC), Back to the Future, Batman '89...and nobody has mentioned Pirates of the Caribbean yet?! Much of the Internet, myself included, thought it was going to be a terrible movie and a colossal bomb) while many big-budget failed/underperforming franchise tentpoles were talked up massively by their studios and/or had high anticipation in geek circles, at least early on (Dune, Dick Tracy, Godzilla, Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, John Carter). As I said, not a hard and fast rule - Battleship was mocked by the Internet and tanked, while something like Raiders of the Lost Ark or Jurassic Park was certainly risky but wasn't constantly dogged by rumors and naysaying (even though Raiders was Spielberg's follow-up to 1941, he still had had Jaws and Close Encounters, and Lucas had just come off of producing Empire; and with Jurassic Park, sure Spielberg came off of Hook, but that wasn't a bomb, and even if he wasn't at his 80s heights, he was still freakin' SPIELBERG) OK, maybe that doesn't make much sense, but the point is that often the big successes are "underdogs" pre-release, with even the studio doubting them, while the notable failures/turkeys are often "pride before the fall" situations where the studio is insanely confident (at least publicly)... ...what were we talking about again? Edited September 17, 2015 by TServo2049 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonwo Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 While it's not a hard and fast rule, many blockbuster first entries were mocked/second-guessed/eyebrow-raised beforehand, either in the industry or by industry-watchers like us (Star Wars, Superman (IIRC), E.T. (again, IIRC), Back to the Future, Batman '89...and nobody has mentioned Pirates of the Caribbean yet?! Much of the Internet, myself included, thought it was going to be a terrible movie and a colossal bomb) while many big-budget failed/underperforming franchise tentpoles were talked up massively by their studios and/or had high anticipation in geek circles, at least early on (Dune, Dick Tracy, Godzilla, Final Fantasy, Green Lantern, John Carter). As I said, not a hard and fast rule - Battleship was mocked by the Internet and tanked, while something like Raiders of the Lost Ark or Jurassic Park was certainly risky but wasn't constantly dogged by rumors and naysaying (even though Raiders was Spielberg's follow-up to 1941, he still had had Jaws and Close Encounters, and Lucas had just come off of producing Empire; and with Jurassic Park, sure Spielberg came off of Hook, but that wasn't a bomb, and even if he wasn't at his 80s heights, he was still freakin' SPIELBERG) Pirates was a risk, it was a $140m movie based on a theme park ride and a genre which had been dead for years starring an actor who was known for cult films rather than blockbusters. Jurassic Park was a risk but everyone in Hollywood wanted the film rights before it was even released as a book so they clearly saw the film potential. Was Batman a risk? I would imagine while nobody thought it was end up outgrossing Indiana Jones and Ghostbusters II, it had one of the biggest names at the time, Jack Nicholson as the Joker in it and based on an iconic comic book character. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dementeleus Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Eh, I don't think JP was much of a risk. You've got the director whom everyone loves, a concept that everyone loves, a hugely successful book, and it wasn't even that expensive for a huge blockbuster. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonwo Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Executive Producer: Steven Spielberg. I'm not sure Transformers qualifies. That shit made sense the day it was announced. You got me on a Fast and furious. Transformers as a live action film made a lot of sense considering how popular it was as a toy franchise and as various TV series. It probably would have been made a lot earlier but the technology to realise it was still in its infancy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TServo2049 Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 (edited) Eh, I don't think JP was much of a risk. You've got the director whom everyone loves, a concept that everyone loves, a hugely successful book, and it wasn't even that expensive for a huge blockbuster.That was my point, I brought it up as something that didn't fit my thesis in the previous paragraph. JP's only "risk" was the CGI, and that didn't actually risk losing them a ton of money. And I did say Pirates was a risk - I specifically said I was surprised nobody had yet mentioned it. I don't know if it had to contend with Jaws/Star Wars-type studio doubts, however, since it seems a "thought up by studio executives" concept - which is part of why the Internet was pessimistic on it. (I have mused in the past that Battleship is basically what the Internet feared Pirates was going to be.) Edited September 17, 2015 by TServo2049 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4815162342 Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 I just want this to have a kickass Gothic score. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewy Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Executive Producer: Steven Spielberg. I'm not sure Transformers qualifies. That shit made sense the day it was announced. You got me on a Fast and furious. Well, Fast & Furious wasn't really the mega-budget blockbuster prototype at first. The first few movies have very little in the way of action Franchise became that with the 4th movie cuz, well, Vin and Universal were desperate. And they struck gold and really refined the formula with 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TStechnij Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 What people under 17 were going to see a "boring" period horror film directed by someone know best for their world cinema? This always seemed niche to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudalb Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 This... Is probably correct. Hollywood expects ego, but when you take the credit for the sucess of a film you had nothing to do with except putting up part of the funding,that is going too far. And that is what Tull did with Jurassiac World. The film was ready to go before the cameras, all the creative decisions had been made,at Universal when Tull,possibly as a reward for siging with Universal,was allowed to put up 25% of the budget. Film would have been exactly the same if someone else had put up the 25%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box Office Hit Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
filmlover Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 What people under 17 were going to see a "boring" period horror film directed by someone know best for their world cinema? This always seemed niche to me. This. I'll be really impressed if this makes more than $60M domestically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethan Hunt Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 I can't decide which one looks more boring, this or Bridge of Spies 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
