Posted on 09/08/2016 12:45:52 PM PDT by simpson96
Ben-Hur? More like Ben-Horrendous.
The ancient tale directed by Timur Bekmambetov is officially the biggest bust of summer 2016 and is on track to lose an epic $120 million or more, according to sources close to the film and multiple box-office analysts consulted by The Hollywood Reporter. The Paramount/MGM release has grossed just $54.1 million to date at the global box office since its mid-August debut, including a dismal $25 million domestically. While it has several major foreign markets yet to open, the film is fading fast and will have a hard time getting past $75 million globally, say knowledgeable sources.
Ben-Hur cost nearly $100 million to make before a major marketing spend. The loss is calculated when comparing box office and marketing costs against box-office film rental and revenue from ancillary revenue (home entertainment and television).
MGM will take the majority of the financial hit, since it put up more than 80 percent of Ben-Hur's budget and much of the marketing spend (it did minimize some of its exposure by selling off rights in select foreign markets). Paramount's loss is pegged by sources at a relatively modest $13 million.
An MGM rep declined comment on the exact amount of its loss on the film.
(Excerpt) Read more at hollywoodreporter.com ...
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.
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.
Ben Hurl.
Further proof that some movies just should not be remade.
I thought Ben-Hur (1959)was long and boring so why do a remark when today’s remakes are crap
Copyrights may last a long time, but Ben-Hur was first published in 1880. Author died in 1905.
My mistake. I apologize.
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.
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.
It’s so obvious that the pod race from Star Wars was a total ripoff of the 1959 Ben-Hur chariot race.
He was terrific in Boardwalk Empire.
And in the process end up offending everybody.
Row well and live 41
Ben Hurnia? For when he fell off the chariot.
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
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."
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).
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