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Is Avatar’s Budget Half a Billion, or Half That?
2 hours ago
An article in the New York Times has caused quite a stir today in the movie community after it claimed a $500 million budget for James Cameron’s 3-D film, Avatar.
Michael Cieply’s report wonders if Fox can turn a profit from a production that costs half a billion, a total that includes everything from paying the special effects wizards to TV spots on Nickelodeon. The studio claims the costs of making the actual movie are around $230 million, possibly a low-ball number (like most studio budget estimates) but still under the roughly $267 million spent on 1997’s Titanic after an adjustment for inflation.
Cieply writes Fox will likely spend somewhere around $150 million to market Avatar globally, but how does that suddenly add up to 500? It continues to say $250M in domestic ticket sales would mean Fox was in the black, a seemingly arbitrary number even when you figure in outside investors. »
- Jeff Leins
Jones, Gyllenhaal to Program ‘Source Code’
6 hours ago
Jake Gyllenhaal is in negotiations for the science fiction thriller Source Code with Moon director Duncan Jones. Summit Entertainment will distribute in the U.S., according to Screen Daily.
Gyllenhaal will play a soldier who wakes up in another man’s body and must relive a train explosion over again until he’s able to solve the mystery behind it. It’s Groundhog Day meets 12 Monkeys, plus a little Matrix.
Ben Ripley’s phenomenal script for the film made the 2007 Black List for best un-produced screenplays above other potential films like Book of Eli, Adventureland, and Salt (which I just reviewed). I’ve read it and hope to put something together soon on its greatness. The latest version includes revisions by screenwriter Billy Ray.
This will be the second feature for Jones, who gained recognition this year with his futuristic isolation story and has been campaigning heavily for a Sam Rockwell Oscar nomination. »
- Jeff Leins
Danny Boyle to Tell Mountain Survival Story
20 hours ago
Fox Searchlight and director Danny Boyle have worked out a deal for their next collaboration and the anticipated follow-up to Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire.
Titled 127 Hours, the film will tell the survival story of mountain climber Aron Ralston who had his right arm pinned under a rock for five days. He ultimately used a dull knife to amputate the limb and crawl to safety. It’s expected for a late 2010 release, presumably for awards season.
Boyle plans to direct and has already written a treatment, but Slumdog screenwriter Simon Beaufoy will re-team with him to flesh out the script. The director is considering options for Ralston, but so far only Ryan Gosling has been named in rumors, according to Variety.
In an interview with indiewire, Boyle said he wants to shoot the first hour entirely free of dialogue. Ralston was climbing alone during the 2003 incident, so there won’t be any witty exchanges added in. »
- Jeff Leins
‘Christmas Carol’ Wraps Up Top Spot
8 November 2009 5:21 PM, PST
Disney’s A Christmas Carol topped the domestic box office this weekend with $31 million, besting competition from one of George Clooney’s three movies this season, alien abductions, and the latest from Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly.
The figure for the 3-D winner is on the low end of expectations, but still managed to open larger than Zemeckis’ previous films, including motion capture movies Beowulf and the similarly-themed Polar Express. The latter opened on this same weekend in 2004 before earning $162M in the States. With the Yuletide holiday over seven weeks away, the studio still has a chance at recouping its $200 million production budget.
Nothing personal against Disney, but I hope it doesn’t make it. A less than profitable total means perhaps Robert Zemeckis will put aside this wasteful technique and focus on something better than the twentieth adaptation of a Dickens novel. Most of the money went towards »
- Jeff Leins
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