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'Ben-Hur' Faces Epic $120M Loss as Summer's Biggest Box-Office Bust
Hollywood Reporter ^ | 9/8/2016 | Pamela McClintock

Posted on 09/08/2016 12:45:52 PM PDT by simpson96

click here to read article


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To: vladimir998

Hollywood loves remakes. First they don’t have to pay anything to the author in royalties as the copyrights have expired. And they generally can count on a certain number of people to go out of nostalgia or just to compare the films. They can usually count on at least not losing any money. But then most aren’t 100 million dollar summer “blockbusters”.

Haven’t seen the movie, I’ll watch it when it’s free on Netflix, Amazon or HBO.


41 posted on 09/08/2016 1:18:20 PM PDT by Hugin (Conservatism without Nationalism is a fraud.)
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To: Michael.SF.

I have done two small movies. Production cost is usually matched by P&A, so a $100m film has an actual cost of $200m. As to who makes money, it’s in the contract: production companies are paid up front, investors and banks and studios, last.


42 posted on 09/08/2016 1:25:02 PM PDT by LS ("Castles Made of Sand, Fall in the Sea . . . Eventually" (Hendrix))
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To: simpson96

Ben Hurl.


43 posted on 09/08/2016 1:27:50 PM PDT by IronJack
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To: simpson96

Further proof that some movies just should not be remade.


44 posted on 09/08/2016 1:28:17 PM PDT by DoodleDawg
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To: Hugin
First they don’t have to pay anything to the author in royalties as the copyrights have expired

Not necessarily true. After repeated bribes to Congress copyrights now last a LONG time.

Total Recall was made in 1990 and again in 2012. I doubt any royalties expired.


45 posted on 09/08/2016 1:29:20 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: simpson96

I thought Ben-Hur (1959)was long and boring so why do a remark when today’s remakes are crap


46 posted on 09/08/2016 1:31:30 PM PDT by butlerweave
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To: Buckeye McFrog

Copyrights may last a long time, but Ben-Hur was first published in 1880. Author died in 1905.


47 posted on 09/08/2016 1:45:29 PM PDT by dorothy ( "When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty." - Thomas Jefferson)
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To: fortheDeclaration

My mistake. I apologize.


48 posted on 09/08/2016 1:45:53 PM PDT by Kozak (ALLAH AKBAR = HEIL HITLER)
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To: libstripper

Excellent point. Generally speaking, when one makes an expensive movie set in the distant past, it is a good idea to put movie star or two in it.


49 posted on 09/08/2016 1:48:27 PM PDT by karnage
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To: DouglasKC

I was curious how they would make the Circus Maximus look, especially after I saw the site with my own eyes last spring, and tried to imagine what it looked like then. Now of course it is just a big open space, but they were excavating part of it when I was there. I could not believe I was sitting on a hill on the Circus Maximus on Rome’s birthday, drinking wine and watching gladiatorial reenactors. So cool.


50 posted on 09/08/2016 1:53:05 PM PDT by cld51860 (Volo pro veritas)
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To: Snickering Hound

It’s so obvious that the pod race from Star Wars was a total ripoff of the 1959 Ben-Hur chariot race.


51 posted on 09/08/2016 2:00:29 PM PDT by Disambiguator
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To: Dr. Ursus

He was terrific in Boardwalk Empire.


52 posted on 09/08/2016 2:01:25 PM PDT by Rastus (#NeverHillary #AlwaysTrump)
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To: Jonty30

And in the process end up offending everybody.


53 posted on 09/08/2016 2:04:10 PM PDT by jmacusa ("Dats all I can stands 'cuz I can't stands no more!''-- Popeye The Sailorman.)
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To: simpson96

Row well and live 41


54 posted on 09/08/2016 2:06:49 PM PDT by KosmicKitty (Waiting for inspirations)
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To: CatOwner

Ben Hurnia? For when he fell off the chariot.


55 posted on 09/08/2016 2:11:08 PM PDT by PJ-Comix (Tell It, Skinner, about your Clinton Cash Payoff Money)
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To: Kozak
I agree it was a mistake, typical of Hollywood's almost complete lack of originality. But on the other hand, people ought to remember that the 1959 classic was itself a remake of the silent version, 1925.


56 posted on 09/08/2016 2:22:12 PM PDT by katana
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To: katana

Reception
The studio’s publicity department was relentless in promoting the film, advertising it with lines like: “The Picture Every Christian Ought to See!” and “The Supreme Motion Picture Masterpiece of All Time”. Although audiences flocked to Ben-Hur after its premiere in 1925 and the picture grossed $9 million worldwide, its huge expenses and the deal with Erlanger made it a net financial loss for MGM. It recorded an overall loss of $698,000.

In terms of publicity and prestige however, it was a great success. “The screen has yet to reveal anything more exquisitely moving than the scenes at Bethlehem, the blazing of the star in the heavens, the shepherds and the Wise Men watching. The gentle, radiant Madonna of Betty Bronson’s is a masterpiece,” wrote a reviewer for Photoplay. “No one,” they concluded, “no matter what his age or religion, should miss it. And take the children.” It helped establish the new MGM as a major studio.

The film was re-released in 1931 with an added musical score, by the original composers William Axt and David Mendoza, and sound effects. As the decades passed, the original two-color Technicolor segments were replaced by alternate black-and-white takes. Ben-Hur earned $1,352,000 during its re-release and made a profit of $779,000 meaning it had an overall profit of $81,000. It remains one of the few films at Rotten Tomatoes to maintain a 100% freshness rating.

Source: Wikipedia


57 posted on 09/08/2016 2:28:10 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: katana
I agree it was a mistake, typical of Hollywood's almost complete lack of originality.

Unoriginal, sure, it's a remake, but Roma Downey and Mark Burnett aren't really typical Hollywood.

In standard "them vs. us" politics, they may be as much or more "us" than "them."

58 posted on 09/08/2016 2:29:52 PM PDT by x
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To: simpson96
If you are going to change a classic movie based on a classic book you need to change it to be more like the book not less.
59 posted on 09/08/2016 2:30:12 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Proud Infidel, Gun Nut, Religious Fanatic and Freedom Fiend)
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To: colorado tanker
I rewatched the '59 version a couple of months ago and noticed that the film's producer, director, and screenwriter were all Jews. I wondered why they made it at all, until I decided they must have concluded, "This movie is going to be (re)made by someone, so let's do it ourselves so we can control its content." As a result, two editorial decisions became apparent:

1. The Jews' involvement in Christ's crucifixion is entirely absent from the film--the only "villains" are the Romans.

2. As others have noted on this thread, the Gospel is strangely muted, compared to the latest version (which I've not seen).

60 posted on 09/08/2016 2:50:55 PM PDT by Hebrews 11:6 (Do you REALLY believe that (1) God IS, and (2) God IS GOOD?)
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