This summer has been a dead zone for horror movies…
…What’s behind the rotten box office? Analysts say a lack of originality, bad timing and poor budgeting are the source of horror-ific numbers…
https://www.thewrap.com/movies/article/horror-hits-box-office-dead-zone-30552
Romantic drama “Like Crazy,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance this year, will be hitting theaters on October 28th. The film, which was shot on a Canon 7D, was purchased by Paramount for $4 million…proving that traditional distribution deals for indie films do still happen…
The news Friday that Disney was hitting the stop button on a planned reboot of “Lone Ranger” with Johnny Depp was greeted by a chorus of surprised reactions around Hollywood, followed by tentative explanations.
In Depp, director Gore Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Disney had a team that had collaborated on three “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies. And they had a title that was immediately identifiable to an older generation, expanding an audience for a film that could already play well to the youth crowd. In the era of big-budget filmmaking, this was the form par excellence, from the studio that practiced it as often and as well as anyone else.
And yet Disney had decided, at least for now, to halt the movie in its tracks.
The consensus feeling in Hollywood is that, whatever the other doubts (“Lone Ranger’s” appeal to an international audience, the viability of the western, Bruckheimer’s mixed recent record), the main concern was a matter of dollars and cents. The movie could cost as much as $250 million, and the studio and filmmakers couldn’t see eye to eye on making that figure work, not with the other doubts looming…
A new multicultural marketing report looking at filmgoing by the Hispanic consumer finds that 75% go to the movie theater once a month, and 25% see movies three times a month. Both stats are more often than all other polled ethnic demographics (and in line with a recent Nielsen study that found Latinos represent 28% of today’s frequent moviegoers). Hispanics are reliant on their mobile when planning a trip to the movies, with 72% saying that they use their cell phones to make movie plans; of these, 65% use their mobile devices to find showtimes and locations, 39% use it to view trailers, 35% use it to discover movies, 28% use it to get reviews, and 14% use it to buy tickets…
https://www.deadline.com/2011/08/new-report-on-hispanic-moviegoing-habits/
This is one of those things Disney is going to be cleaning up for a long time. With such a reputable name, the Mouse House would probably like to keep it untarnished, especially by its own executive staff.
In a pretty huge dick move, Disney Animation Studios Chief Technical Officer Andy Hendrickson had this to say at a technical conference about his philosophy in making blockbuster tentpoles:
People say ‘It’s all about the story’. When you’re making tentpole films, bullshit.
According to Variety, he went on admit that the abysmal story behind Disney’s recent Alice in Wonderland sequel didn’t keep it from making boat loads of cash that put it now at the number 9 spot for all-time box office. Here’s the exact quote if you don’t believe us:
“The story isn’t very good, but visual spectacle brought people in droves. And Johnny Depp didn’t hurt.”…
Encouraged by Netflix’s price hike last month, Redbox is testing how consumers will react to higher rental fees at its kiosks.
The company has recently upped rental prices for DVDs at its boxes in Austin, Texas, and Portland, Ore., by as much as 20% to $1.15 and $1.20 per night. Blu-rays are still $1.50, videogames $2…
A portion of ‘The White Shadow,’ a 1923 silent film that’s considered to be his first credit, is found in a New Zealand archive…
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-hitchcock-film-20110803,0,4619800.story
5 Tips to Think About When Getting Started as an Editor…
https://hollywoodreinvented.com/2011/07/becoming-a-professional-film-video-editor/
I get dozens of emails a week asking for advice on how to become a screenwriter, director, or actor. Usually, I try to encourage people with their hopes and dreams and goals, but I’m often unsure of what to say. The truth is, most people SHOULDN’T be in the film industry. This crap isn’t for everybody.
My hope for this blog is to encourage the few who really belong here to take that risk. But, just as importantly, I’d like to persuade the rest of you to enjoy a richer life in some field besides film. It’s like convincing a buddy not to marry his alcoholic childhood sweetheart who’s been fucking his friends for years. Because, honestly, we’re a bunch of sick fucks out here in Hollywood, and very few of us, not even the rich and successful ones, are happy.
So before I give any advice on how to be a screenwriter, director, or actor, I think it’s important that you have a serious conversation with yourself about whether you REALLY want to be in the film industry…
https://www.jamesgunn.com/2006/11/07/advice-blog-1-do-you-really-want-to-be-in-the-film-industry/
If you enjoyed Christopher Nolan’s film “Inception,” you’re going to love this behind-the-scenes documentary short on how the corridor and zero-gravity room sequences were shot. It’s an amazing peek behind the curtain at how they pulled off the shots live, with a minimum of stunt doubles and CG. Fascinating engineering and planning…
https://provideocoalition.com/index.php/freshdv/story/inception_corridor/