-
-
I think this could be a great learning topic. There are many things we can learn and talk about here. We can discuss hot topics like actors and writers pay, the current studio wars, the current state of movie theaters and more. I’ll start…
HBO’S move might be good for us fans, but it can/will likely backfire. They should have kept half of their blockbusters for theaters in my opinion.
Also, did Robert Downey Jr. Deserve $75 million for EndGame. That seems like too much money. I do feel that some actors are horribly over paid. Personal opinion.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren were the first stars to make $1 million for a single picture.
Do you think theaters are done?
Let’s talk…
ReplyMGM are looking at selling and some are concerned that Disney might further expand their growing media monopoly and take it specifically for James Bond, a franchise that Bob Iger has expressed interest for in the past. Personally if they do sell I’d prefer maybe Universal to take it or Netflix if not.
ReplyCopy URLMore chaotic than a soderbergh Oscars
What an interesting idea! Thank you England!
I’ll chime in on my thoughts about the future of movie theatres. I think that the award ceremonies should really gravitate to focusing on how to save the moviegoing experience and how special it is (as some critics groups have done with their awards by giving special awards to groups striving to save the moviegoing experience). The Oscars in recent times have become a bit star obsessed so in-person ceremony or not I think there should be a strong push for why everyone is there. The moviegoing experience is something truly special and something that really makes the Oscars special. After all they are held in a movie theatre!
ReplyCopy URLSolidarity with the striking writers. Pay them the wages they are owed for bringing us the content we are all on here because of!
Looking forward to this thread!
HBO’S move might be good for us fans, but it can/will likely backfire. They should have kept half of their blockbusters for theaters in my opinion.
Seeing as how WW84 is flopping everywhere (in theatres) right now, I think they were in a lose-lose situation. I also don’t think streaming-exclusive is a viable strategy for movies with $200M budgets, like WW, Tenet, and Dune, because there’s no way they alone bring in enough subscribers to justify the cost. Disney+ is a different story, but they really are the only feasible model for a complete shift of high-budget big screen content (The Mandalorian, new Marvel shows) to streaming, and imo it worked for them because they were starting new and have the hottest IP. Mulan for example still flopped on streaming, and is a financial loss.
Also, did Robert Downey Jr. Deserve $75 million for EndGame. That seems like too much money. I do feel that some actors are horribly over paid. Personal opinion.
Nobody deserves $75 million for anything ever. But with actors its not a question of whether their work merits it or not. A list celebrities are definitely overpaid, but in cases like this, Marvel literally could not have made the movie without RDJ, so he was in a position to leverage a gigantic salary.
ReplyCopy URLMGM are looking at selling and some are concerned that Disney might further expand their growing media monopoly and take it specifically for James Bond, a franchise that Bob Iger has expressed interest for in the past. Personally if they do sell I’d prefer maybe Universal to take it or Netflix if not.
MGM pricing themselves at $5 billion has some balls. There only remotely reliable IP atm is Bond. IIRC they shopped NTTD to Apple and other streaming services for $600m, but nobody took the offer.
I don’t think Disney is going to buy MGM, not so soon after the Fox merger. They’d face a lot of anti trust obstacles. I think it will be Apple or Amazon, maybe Universal.
ReplyCopy URLI think this could be a great learning topic. There are many things we can learn and talk about here. We can discuss hot topics like actors and writers pay, the current studio wars, the current state of movie theaters and more. I’ll start… HBO’S move might be good for us fans, but it can/will likely backfire. They should have kept half of their blockbusters for theaters in my opinion. Also, did Robert Downey Jr. Deserve $75 million for EndGame. That seems like too much money. I do feel that some actors are horribly over paid. Personal opinion. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren were the first stars to make $1 million for a single picture. Do you think theaters are done? Let’s talk…
Re: HBO Max — I agree, the reality is that times are changing and the seeds for that change were planted well before covid. However, Warners bullish and aggressive approach during a pandemic where theatres need our support no less was one of the misguided business decisions for the industry in recent history. I understand the US is in a dilemma but cinemas here in Australia for example have been suffering for months when we’ve had very little community transmission (single digits most days) outside of one state that is now under control again. I’m not worried about our mainstream distributor Hoyts because they’re a larger corporation and will bounce back on Blockbusters later, but the more local cinemas here are being totally screwed by the lack of new content. The second and third most popular cinemas here only have two locations including my city (Canberra) and desperately require a steady stream of counter programming to stay afloat. The HBO max decision needed to give some time to being exclusively in cinema — say a month, before going onto the streamer. Everyone wins that way without international cinemas catching the stray from a country that wasn’t able to get it under control.
re: Robert Downey Jr — yes. $75m is incredibly excessive especially when you consider how many other people must have worked on that movie in the less glamorous positions such as janitor work or catering etc. who are paid just enough to feed their families and pay the rent. Everyone is important and no one needs that much money, the talent should get paid less so that everyone else can be paid more… I doubt that’s a controversial take!
re: are theatres dead? — I don’t think so, I think there’s still a thirst for them and people will continue going to them particularly after a vaccine has been distributed, particularly chain cinemas are going to bounce back… but we need to aggressively oppose any strategies that would disadvantage smaller cinemas that are able to support local, foreign and independent filmmakers. We don’t want to end up in a situation where the only way to afford to make and distribute art is through the studio systems.
ReplyCopy URLMore chaotic than a soderbergh Oscars
MGM are looking at selling and some are concerned that Disney might further expand their growing media monopoly and take it specifically for James Bond, a franchise that Bob Iger has expressed interest for in the past. Personally if they do sell I’d prefer maybe Universal to take it or Netflix if not.
Disney trying to overtake everything is becoming scary. My heart still breaks for those park actors that were let go.
ReplyCopy URLI do think theaters will definitely come back. People are sick and tired of being home. It may not happen fast, but I do think it will happen.
@wolfali
The Oscars have been pissing me off.
Watching some desperately campaign is heartbreaking. It scares me as well.I am trying to be an official screenplay writer for film and tv, but thinking about the industry has me nervous. I am affraid of what will be offered to me, affraid of someone stealing from me, and affraid of fame. The industry has become so dependent on fame nowadays.
ReplyCopy URLI am trying to be an official screenplay writer for film and tv, but thinking about the industry has me nervous. I am affraid of what will be offered to me, affraid of someone stealing from me, and affraid of fame. The industry has become so dependent on fame nowadays.
I’m kind of glad that I mainly focus on shorts and writing episodic television right now. It’s been a long ambition of mine to be the show runner of my own show and produce my first feature (which I will hopefully do soon) but I understand your fears. I have them too still and I’ve been in the TV and Film industry for the last few years (I started out in theatre).
ReplyCopy URLSolidarity with the striking writers. Pay them the wages they are owed for bringing us the content we are all on here because of!
I’m kind of glad that I mainly focus on shorts and writing episodic television right now. It’s been a long ambition of mine to be the show runner of my own show and produce my first feature (which I will hopefully do soon) but I understand your fears. I have them too still and I’ve been in the TV and Film industry for the last few years (I started out in theatre).
Thats incredible. I’ve written a tv pilot but I have to work on that a bit more as well. I’ve also written the first draft of a drama play.
My goal is to be a showrunner as well. I applied for the showrunner position HBO had online but I know for sure that won’t happen.🤣What are your feelings on writers and pay?
ReplyCopy URLDiscussion Point! Do you think all cinemas should have subtitles?
I was at the movies again today and whilst some ads were playing I got to thinking about how long it takes for cinemas to begin their sessions for the deaf/hard of hearing, for blockbusters it can take weeks — more than enough time for anyone plugged into online film communities to get films spoiled. The sessions that do exist provide a screen with subtitles on them so as not to “ruin” the experience for others, and whilst I can’t speak to international cinemas that’s how it’s always been here in Australia.
What is so frustrating about this too is that at home I watch literally everything with subtitles. I don’t have any hearing problems, it just helps me focus as I do have issues with that. My partner doesn’t have that problem but he says he doesn’t even notice subtitles after about 3 seconds and I agree with that sentiment. So if for most people they don’t make any significant change to what they’re watching, but it would make the cinema a more inclusive place for everyone permanently… why not implement subtitles for all films and all sessions? Personally I think the very minor inconvenience for some is worth it to make it a space that hard of hearing and deaf people can partake and enjoy in as well.
Would love some thoughts!
ReplyCopy URLMore chaotic than a soderbergh Oscars
This post was found to be inappropriate by the moderators and has been removed.Does anyone else have a sinking feeling that Disney’s going to try and buy Paramount? The studio isn’t doing too hot right now and they’ve been bleeding money ever since last year, which is probably why they’ve been selling all of their Oscar contenders to streaming services. They also had a piss-poor run last year, with their top grossing film making a whopping $196 Million, which is pretty terrible for a major studio in a year with 9 $1 Billion grossers. That being said, Paramount still has a lot of valuable IP like Mission Inpossible, Transformers, and most recently Sonic The Hedgehog which coukd be taken advantage of.
It’s also worth noting that if Disney has the cash to buy Viacom, which they might since Viacom is also flagging right now, they would own Nickelodeon, which is their biggest competitor in kids television programming. Owning Nickelodeon would essentially give them a monopoly on kids television programming, since Cartoon Network is a shell of it’s former self.
Obviously I don’t want this to happen since Disney already owns too much, but we live in a world where this is a possibility, because Disney is going to continue to aggressively pursue buyouts, and Paramount is the most vulnerable major studio at the moment.
ReplyCopy URLI'm back bitches.
#EverythingEverywhereSweep
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
