10 Things Studios Don't Want You To Know

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HOW MUCH DOES THE MOVIE COST?
HOW MUCH DOES THE MOVIE REALLY COST?
HOW SIGNIFICANT IS THE STUDIO TO THE OVERALL BUSINESS OF THEIR PARENT COMPANIES?
HOW MUCH CONTROL DO STUDIO EXECS ACTUALLY HAVE OVER THE STUDIO’S FORTUNES?
WHO IS BEING BLAMED FOR FAILURE X?
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HOW MUCH COMES OFF THE TOP TO TALENT?
HOW MUCH THEY MAKE ON DVDS?
HOW MUCH IS CHARGED BY THE STUDIO FOR “OVERHEAD?”
HOW MANY SEATS ARE AVAILABLE ON A GIVEN WEEKEND?
HOW MANY FILMS DOES THE STUDIO DUMP EACH YEAR?

Still On Fumes

I really am trying to find something worth writing about, but really, the mixed negative reviews of Wong Kar Wai’s first legitimate attempt to whore out his mostly unappreciated-by-the-populace talents… not really much to discuss there.
Jerry Seinfeld in a bee suit? Please!!!
And as thrilled as I am to read story after story about how incredibly important Cannes is – the most honest piece I’ve read was Anne Thompson whining about being scammed on Variety’s massive dinner bill (note that the price is never mentioned and the photo is from some Cannes-small check for coffee or something) – when all but a couple of their outlets will end up refusing to give up a single column inch to coverage of 80% of the films that are at the festival that end up with US distribution (which will be about 50% of the festival films)… the only real news to be found there is the possibility of another Coen Bros masterpiece and how much hype Michael Moore and Harvey Weinstein can whip up for a film about American healthcare.
Yes, the festival is very important for media attention in Europe. And no, like every other major festival in the world, all the love of all the media on the planet is not nearly as important to the financial success of a film seeking grosses over $10 million worldwide as the media buy and marketing materials as the film lands in any country of the face of the earth.
So enjoy the trip, oh members of the media whose bosses also wildly overspent on The Oscars last year trying to build the narrowcast excitement into a financial windfall, and expect the same treatment from upstairs next year as you will for Sundance or Toronto… “Couldn’t we do it in 5 days instead of 10… and isn’t there a cheaper room?”
I am sure I would find a way to enjoy Cannes if I went again one of these years. But unlike the two major North American festivals, it fades into memory awfully fast and doesn’t tend to define the year to come, aside from one or two heavily hyped American films that will shortly thereafter be hyped here.
And so it fades…

Anyone… anyone…

Slow week… plenty of Cannes hype to cover the value of sending journos there… roll that log… Clive Cussler ain’t very interesting… Shrek The Thrid doesn’t seem very interesting… Pirates is still being held rather close to the vest… none of the small films in play have much of a shot at doing much business… sigh…
Anyone have anything interesting to throw at the wall?

A Tale Of Two Writers

The internet is a harsh mistress

The Reeler Defends Mistress Tribeca

S.T. VaAirsdale takes the ultimate contrarian view of The Tribeca Film Festival

The Trouble With Shrek

I missed Saturday

Klady's Sunday Estimates

Friday Estimates by Klady

Spider-Man 3 will drop in the mid-60s, which I suggested was not much of a problem in a comment yesterday. I

Box Office Hell

Box Office Note

Last summer, I wrote day by day about the fastest grossing film of all time, Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest, as it kept pace after its then-record opening ahead of all others for more than a month.
So you might be wondering how Spider-Man 3 is doing after its record-setting 3-day opening…
It fell behind Pirates 2 on Tuesday, Day 5, with $169.4 million versus P2’s $169.5 million.
On Day 6 the spread got wider, with P2’s $183.7m gaining $7.5m on SM3’s $176.2m. It also fell behind both Star Wars: Episode One – Revenge of the Sith ($182.7m) and Spider-Man 2 ($180.1m).
Of course, all of this doesn’t diminish the fact that Spidey 3 had a truly breathtaking opening. And May fatigue does not scream that people dislike the film. Schools are open later than ever and that massive opening eats through must-sees dramatically.
But thinking about to The Right Stuff… “And for a brief moment, Spider-Man 3 became the greatest box office smash anyone had ever seen.” 5 days.
(Corrected for too many Pirates, 7:41P)

SFIFF Wednesday

The San Francisco International Film Festival handed out its Golden Gate Awards this evening after a garrulous hour of cocktails at the Cowell Theater at Fort Mason.
Notably, awards went to The Violin, about the Mexican peasant uprisings of the 70s, The Silly Age, which won an audience award for the best comedy of the festival, and Souvenirs, a roadtrip doc set in Israel. Familiar names also won some of the prizes, including James Longley

Sorry Guys, But…

Matrix Reloaded is on HBO as I write… I’ve caught about 20 minutes of the last 40 so far… and I have to say, it is still the best made, most complexly conceived action film in a long while, certainly the best of the last five years.
You can complain about the slo-mo sex disco or some ham-fisted dialogue, but bit by bit, The Wachowskis still delivered like no one can right now but Cameron. Just Neo vs The Human Smith and the Squidy Attack… stunning stuff. We can only hope that Transformers delivers 75% as much on a sheer visceral level. Truly spectacular work.

Once Again…

I hate to be bringing up Chris Albrecht again… it’s catnip to the gossips, but he is basically a private man with a problem.
But his exit comment, as I read in the Wall Street Journal, really struck me:
“With great regret, at the request of Time Warner, I have agreed to step down

Me

I guess I am going to have to sit down and eat my porridge on this one eventually, so it might as well be now.
LA Weekly
Any minor issues I have with the piece are evaporated by the fact that I think Ella Taylor is not only an honorable and earnest journalist, but a good, kind person. So I will reflect on what pinches and deeply appreciate what makes me proud.
And you all will make of it what you like…

Broadway II

Phillip Seymour Hoffman and John Ortiz are a modern era Kramden & Norton. The Kramden, of course, is still unmarried in this tale, driving a limo, and barely communicative, but sugar sweet in his way. And the Norton is married, complacent on some level, but ready for whatever scheme comes his way, doing whatever he can for his friend, and filled with quirks that become story.

and
The lyrics for the songs are so lacking in anything close to a clever turn or a challenging word that it was painful listening after just a song or two, of the “I was walking down the street, in the window I saw meat, I was hungry and I had to eat” variety. Sing it loud and sing it strong and people might think they are in a Broadway theater. But I would argue otherwise.
That said, this show is a fucking cash machine. The theater was packed to the gills with teen girls and willing parents and they LOVED every second.
And more…