Unhappy Endings:Big Studios Find Quality Films Too Often Are a Losing Proposition (Hollywood FAILS!)

The Washington Post ^ | May 7, 2003 | Sharon Waxman

[Timesink]

Unhappy Endings
Big Studios Find Quality Films Too Often Are a Losing Proposition

By Sharon Waxman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 7, 2003; Page C01

LOS ANGELES

When Amy Pascal, chairman of Columbia Pictures, gave director Spike Jonze a green light two years ago to make his offbeat film "Adaptation," she also gave him a warning: Don't go over budget, she said, or she'd have to get involved in the production.

Jonze didn't exceed the $20 million budget, and the studio didn't tinker with his vision. But "Adaptation" still ended up costing a small fortune, because Sony (Columbia's parent company) spent another $20 million to market the film. Despite Oscar nominations for screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and stars Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper (who won), the film brought in just $22 million at the U.S. box office.

"I wish it had done better," laments Pascal. "It deserved to find a better audience."

But "Adaptation" is not the only prestigious, critic-pleasing picture from a major Hollywood studio to run into trouble at the box office of late.

[Timesink]

Hollywood's films are bombing like crazy!

[SunStar]

Maybe if they made more quality, pro-American films, people would open their wallets. As it stands now, most new movies suck and have no redeeming quality.

[Grando Calrissian]

Well the stupid thing about the "Adaptation" example is that the film would have made the same amount of money with no marketing from the studio. Sony is notorious for burning money in the unnecessary over-marketing of their films.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

I've been wondering how much that loser movie Gangs of New York made, or lost. A bunch, I hope.

[KantianBurke]

this explains the dumbing down of The Two Towers.

[Hildy]

I suspect Gangs lost a ton.

[ServesURight]

Can't wait to see The Matrix. X-Men rocked!!

[joy361]

...I don't know...I liked "Adaptation". It was from the guys who did "Being John Malkovich" (sp?)
Quirky

[BushCountry]

Latest losers (movie that did not make production budget much less marketing costs): Dreamcatcher, Confidence, The Core, Basic, The recruit, Bulletproof Monk, The Real Cancun, Tears of the sun, Gods and Generals, The Hunted, the list goes on...

However, there are a couple of good movies in this bunch. I guess I will have to re-write my movie script so that the hero is a superhero.

[BushCountry]

Gangs cost a total of 130 Million (budget and marketing) and Made 77 million. Net loss 53 million dollars.

[Zathras]

Note the writer's name? Waxman?
Any relation to "Thundernose"?

[onehipdad]

Adaptation is one of the best movies I've seen in the past year, and I'm looking forward to the Director's Cut of Gangs if and when it comes out..

[lilylangtree]

"Despite Oscar nominations for screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and stars Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper (who won), the film brought in just $22 million at the U.S. box office."

Just proves the point that many FReepers have repeatedly made--we, the public, have the loudest voice. Keeping in mind that we, the public, don't vote on the so-called Oscar winners just the members of the screen actors guild do the voting. But we, the people, have the everlasting power in terms of who becomes the celebrity and what film will get the biggest reception.

[ArGee]

Even with a good story it is hard to make a good movie. Not that I've ever tried, but I remember how badly "Man of La Mancha" sucked. That is one of my favoriet plays and it was hard to imagine anyone could do badly with it. But whoever produced that turkey did badly with it.

Shalom.

[PsyOp]

The problem is the vast difference in what Hollywood considers quality and what the paying public considers to be quality. Add to that fact that America is pissed at Hollywood right now, and the fact that Fox and CNN have been far more interesting than any movie the past few months due to war coverage, and this is a no brainer.

Good as well as bad movies took a hit recently. This summer will be more telling.

[proust]

Sony (Columbia's parent company) spent another $20 million to market the film

Their "marketing" of the film was criminal. Adaptation had some of the worst print ads and commercials I've ever seen. It's a hard sell movie and it was obvious that they had no idea how to market it. And they released it in December, which is a notoriously competitive month.

[JohnEBoy]

I didn't see them myself, but word of mouth was "The Hours" and "Solaris" expanded the limits of the word "boring".

As far as the Oscars, how much of a hit in prestige did they take when they awarded an Oscar to the child rapist Roman Polanski, who will not return to this country to receive it?

[TheWillardHotel]

The Culture We Deserve, by Jacques Barzun

[proust]

And I wouldn't be too happy about Jonze and Kaufman failing here. They are some of the most brave and creative folks in the biz today. Their previous film, "Being John Malkovich" reached almost Pythonesque levels of absurdity and creativity. Do you guys have any idea how hard it is to get an art house type movie into wide release? With these guys gone, we'll be stuck with more american pie movies. So be careful what you lump in with "Hollywood" movies.

[carton253]

Isn't that the truth... what a huge disappointment.