Posted on 12/29/2005 3:47:07 PM PST by dangus
2005 has been a tough year for major movie studios, certainly. But it’s been a dreadful year for independent studios. There were no runaway hits, like “The Passion of the Christ,” “Farenheit 911,” “My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding,” or “The Blair Witch Project.” Nor were there any "art-house" films which ran away into major movies. Time Warner had a hit with “March of the Penguins,” but that can be considered “independent” only through a marketing decision to release it from Warner Independent Productions, instead of Warner Brothers.
The biggest disaster was Miramax. Long ago bought out by Disney, the curtains have finally folded on the distribution company, as the Weinstein brothers, John and Harvey, have set out to start a new company. The transition was deadly for the studio’s slate of films. “The Great Raid,” which cost $80 million to produce, made less than $9 million. And keep in mind that the theater owners, as a rule of thumb, keep half of the gross. Also flopping were “Proof,” “An Unfinished Life,” and the American Bollywood cross-over, “Bride and Prejudice.”
Another re-make of “Pride and Prejudice” made $74 million internationally, but the was Focus Film’s only true hit, although “The Constant Gardener” held its own. Focus’ “Brokeback Mountain” has received tens of millions of dollars of free publicity and incessant praise, but has yet to succeed outside of its core homosexual audience. Focus has quit publishing daily box office receipts of Brokeback Mountain.
Dimension, which has previously produced the “Scream,” “Scary Movie,” and “Spy Kids” franchises had one hit, “Sin City.” But its’ sizeable profits were lost again with the flops, “The Brothers Grim,” which cost $120 million to make and market, and “Cursed.” “Shark Boy and Lava Girl,” is, in a sense, a continuation of the very successful Spy Kids series, but it will need to do quite well on DVD to turn a profit.
Fox Searchlight, creator of “Napoleon Dynamite” failed to find a hit with “Roll Bounce,” “The Ringer” and “Millions,” although any of the movies may still turn a profit if they catch on as home rentals or sales.
Rogue had an excellent return on investment on “Cry Wolf,” selling $10 million on a $1 million production budget, but lost even more money on each of “Assault on Precinct 13,” and “Unleashed.”
Sony’s “independent” studios had a very mixed bag, but overall did far better than other “independent” studios. “Revolution Studios” struck out, with “XXX: State of the Union,” “Rent,” and “The Fog” all bombing. Sony/Screen Gem’s “Kung Fu Hustle” performed much, much better overseas, making five times its domestic take, easily making up for the mild failure of “Capote,” which still might make money on DVDs or a pay-TV deal; it’s exactly the sort of movie HBO and Show-Time love: a small drama with a liberal bent. “The Exorcism of Emily Rose,” and “The Gospel” also were hits.
Even three billionaires couldn’t make a start-up movie company succeed; it looks like the Dream is dead for “Dreamworks SKG.” Don’t pity Spielberg or Katzenberg: The studio’s animated movies, such as “Madagascar,” “Wallace and Gromit” and “Shrek” have done phenomenally, so the anticipated sale to Paramount should make them a lot of money. But lately, only cartoons and thrillers (“Red Eye,” and “The Ring Two”) have worked for Dreamworks. “The Island” bombed horribly, although it did do somewhat better overseas, where it avoided unflattering comparisons to a certain Mystery Science Theater 3000 movie. Other Dreamworks failures included “Just Like Heaven,” and “Dreamer.”
The big, big, big winner was the positively evil, “Lion’s Gate” studio. After having made huge money from vicious anti-American slander (“Farenheit 911”), Lion’s Gate seemed to find a very successful niche showing horrific torture (“Saw 2,” “The Devil’s Rejects”). “Diary of a Mad, Black Woman,” “Crash,” and “Waiting” also succeeded; “Lords of War” was the studio’s only flop.
N.B.: Time Warner owns a secondary movie studio which seems to have outgrown the label, “independent,” after producing a $400 million trilogy, “the Lord of the Rings,” which earned billions of dollars. It had another very successful year, with hits such as “Wedding Crashers” and “Monster-in-Law” easily making up for incredible bombs like “Son of the Mask,” “Domino,” and “The Man.”
Hey, make a Coen brothers movie with Bruce Campbell on a no name label and I bet it makes money. TCB baby.
>>“The Great Raid,” which cost $80 million to produce, made less than $9 million.<<
What a shame. While 95 percent of what comes out of Hollywood today is crap, this is one movie that should be seen by everybody, especially the backward-hat wearing idiots who listen to Kanye West and Fifty Cent.
We will see what DVD sales have to say. I know my family is all buying rather than going to a theater.
Was the Great Raid the movie about the first Army Rangers who went in to the rescue the POWs held in Battan?
>> It has nothing to do with whether any quality indie films were made. This is only about the $$ <<
Perhaps. Or does it also say something about the failure of independent films to cross over like they used to. I would argue that the success of movies such as not only "the Passion of the Christ," (which admittedly had huge buzz), but also "My Big, Fat Greek Wedding," "Veggie Tales' Jonah," "Pi," "The Blair Witch," and others suggest that well-liked indie films can become commercial successes... but there were precious few this year.
Yes it was. A great flick.
We just rented The Great Raid - fabulous movie - a real "period piece". A must see.
POWs held in the Phillipines at the end of WWII.
Bruce Campbell bump.
Yes, I think the movie would have done much better if it had been promoted at all... it was truly a victim of the demise of Miramax. However, war movies in general don't do very well. Even movies perceived of as hits like "Once We Were Soldiers" lost money.
BTW, the lack of any successful foreign-language movie is noteworthy. The wire-fu slapstick, "Kung Fu Hustle" was the closest thing to an American success. This is quite an interesting development, after years of successes such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Life is Beautiful," "Amelie," "The Passion of the Christ," "City of God, "Hero," and "Monsoon Wedding."
The top foreign-language films of 2005 (besides Kung Fu Hustle), listed by their rank among all-time foreign language films:
39. Downfall (German)
63. High Tension
64. The Chorus
79. Walk On Water
116. Look at Me
Compare this to last year:
1. The Passion of the Christ
4. Hero
10. The Motorcycle Diaries
17. House of Flying Daggers
29. Maria Full of Grace
(Unless you consider Wallace and Gromit to be a foreign-language film :^D)
Wiser heads in the Motion Pictures Academy may think twice about making this the Buttcrack Mountin Academy Awards.
I just don't understand why Hollywood don't come up with fresh new ideas. With today's underground, digital filmmakers, surely they can't buy a script from them?
There are few wiser heads when they're thinking with their xxx's, which a huge proportion of Ho-wood does. Pushing the gay agenda means more to them than making money. I predict a Brokebutt Acadamy Award sweep.
The "free publicity" isn't all complimentary either...the late-night talkshow hosts have been absolutely brutal to it. Especially Craig Ferguson, the funniest/brightest of the lot, who has been scathing not only to Brokebutt but to King Kong of which he says "wait until the second hour of the movie to take your seat."
"Free publicity" isn't all complimentary either...the late-night talkshow hosts have been absolutely brutal to it. Especially Craig Ferguson, the funniest/brightest of the lot, who has been scathing not only to Brokebutt but to King Kong of which he says "wait until the second hour of the movie to take your seat."
Wouldn't it be a scream if the result of Buttcrack Mountin is that men feel more comfortable saying openly that they find sodomites disgusting ?
Bruce Campbell is awesome!
(How he missed out on being a big Hollywood star, I'll never understand. Handsome, great sense of humor, and terrific at physical comedy. What more could you want...)
Had they not waited so long (he's too old now) , he would've been PERFECT for the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man. They did give him a cameo in the one movie, but I wish they'd let him do a lot more in the upcoming sequels.
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