The Business: News, Rumours, Analysis, and More

[methodwriter85]

That's actually a great title for it.

[BetterButter]

‘Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!’ On Universal Pictures’ Schedule Next Summer

[Spartan Girl]

4 minutes ago, BetterButter said:

‘Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!’ On Universal Pictures’ Schedule Next Summer

Oh Jesus, you mean we will have to listen to Pierce's terrible singing again?! Pass.

[methodwriter85]

I enjoyed Mama Mia...but exactly how would a sequel work? Does Sophie have a 9-year old daughter with three possible fathers?

Anyway, The Power Rangers is dunzo as a film franchise, it seems.

I've reiterated this many times- you don't take a PG-rated kids story and turn it into a PG-13 half gritty/half campy movie. It was really good and entertaining, but if I were an 8 year old, I don't think I'd be that into the movie they made.

Edited May 20, 2017 by methodwriter85

[Bruinsfan]

On 5/19/2017 at 8:38 PM, Spartan Girl said:

Oh Jesus, you mean we will have to listen to Pierce's terrible singing again?! Pass.

At least this time everyone knows to run from the theater if it looks like he's about to sing.

I'm more concerned with what the songs would be for a sequel. What's left of their hits after the first one, "Fernando" and "Knowing Me, Knowing You"?

[aradia22]

I thought the Mamma Mia sequel was a terrible idea when I heard about it. I liked the show (for what it was), hated the movie. But success breeds sequels.

As for other ABBA songs... Waterloo, Lovers (Live A Little Longer), Fernando. We're scraping the bottom of the barrel when the musical is so packed with the hits. Then again, the guys aren't foreign to musicals so they might take a chance and write new music. 

[Bruinsfan]

Waterloo was used at the end of the movie, so that's out.

Maybe they could do the next musical with Eagles or Supremes songs?

[Morrigan2575]

On 5/19/2017 at 9:32 PM, BetterButter said:

‘Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!’ On Universal Pictures’ Schedule Next Summer

The Muscial was great, the movie sucked. Can't believe their making a sequal

14 hours ago, aradia22 said:

I thought the Mamma Mia sequel was a terrible idea when I heard about it. I liked the show (for what it was), hated the movie. But success breeds sequels.

As for other ABBA songs... Waterloo, Lovers (Live A Little Longer), Fernando. We're scraping the bottom of the barrel when the musical is so packed with the hits. Then again, the guys aren't foreign to musicals so they might take a chance and write new music. 

Didn't the write Chess? Maybe we can get One Night in Bangkok?

[Silver Raven]

3 hours ago, Morrigan2575 said:

Didn't the write Chess? Maybe we can get One Night in Bangkok?

Or "Anthem", which I absolutely adore.

[xaxat]

Remember waaay back to the turn of the century when trilogies were considered to be a complete story arc, and Peter Jackson pitched two movies to do LOTR?

Those days are over. Report: Resident Evil Is Getting a Six-Movie Reboot

[methodwriter85]

Because that worked out so well for Divergent and the Power Rangers.

[Trini]

Rihanna/Lupita film pitched by Twitter/Tumblr is getting made, y'all!

[ribboninthesky1]

It will be interesting to see if that turns out well.  Definitely has potential to be fun.  Ava DuVernay doesn't strike me as a "witty caper" type of director.

[aradia22]

Quote

Rihanna/Lupita film pitched by Twitter/Tumblr is getting made, y'all!

Ooh, not in the loop at all but intrigued. I had mixed feelings about Insecure but I felt mostly positively about the episodes Issa wrote. I hope she can devote the time she needs to in order to work on both projects. 

[Silver Raven]

The Beguiled is getting raves at Cannes.  And Sophia Coppola was named Best Director, only the second woman to win the award.

[proserpina65]

On ‎05‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 11:35 PM, Silver Raven said:

The Beguiled is getting raves at Cannes.  And Sophia Coppola was named Best Director, only the second woman to win the award.

That's not a movie I imagined ever needing to be remade, but it does look interesting.

[xaxat]

To revive its flagging movie business, one Hollywood studio is censoring its films

Quote

With fewer people buying DVDs and Blu-rays, business that gives movies a long and lucrative lifespan, Sony Pictures is releasing its films online—stripped of “graphic violence, offensive language, sexual innuendo, and other adult content”—to open them up to wider audiences.

These are the same cleaned-up copies that are played on broadcast TV and airplanes.

Sony is doing this for 24 titles to start, including the original Ghostbusters, Step Brothers, and the Spider-Man films. These family-friendly versions are being included for free with the theatrical editions that are sold on the digital platforms iTunes, Vudu, and FandangoNOW.

[GHScorpiosRule]

5 minutes ago, xaxat said:

To revive its flagging movie business, one Hollywood studio is censoring its films

????

[Joe]

6 minutes ago, xaxat said:

To revive its flagging movie business, one Hollywood studio is censoring its films

Sony Pictures is releasing its films online—stripped of “graphic violence, offensive language, sexual innuendo, and other adult content”—to open them up to wider audiences.

No, I won't be watching these bowdlerised abominations. It's not like I need adult content to hold my interest, but I dislike censorship. The adult content was in there for a reason. You can't remove it without changing the spirit of the movie, and I can't believe the spirit would be changed to make a better movie. If I don't enjoy a particular movie with adult content, I just don't watch it. Hacking it up won't help at all. I hope they actually lose more money with this, just so other companies learn the lesson and don't follow their lead.

[xaxat]

Unlike the Lucas/Disney Star Wars original trilogy, it doesn't appear that Sony will stop distributing the unedited versions from what I can gather from the article. So if you want a movie uncut, I think it will still be available.

Quote

Sony is doing this for 24 titles to start, including the original Ghostbusters, Step Brothers, and the Spider-Man films. These family-friendly versions are being included for free with the theatrical editions that are sold on the digital platforms iTunes, Vudu, and FandangoNOW.

Edited June 9, 2017 by xaxat

[Shannon L.]

People aren't buying DVDs and Blu-Rays because you can get most of these movies on Netflix or Amazon Prime (etc, etc) for free or buy/rent them from regular Amazon.  My son and husband still buy a lot of DVDs and I wish they'd stop because we are running out of places to store them and we can get them on the tv through Amazon. 

Edited June 9, 2017 by Shannon L.

[GHScorpiosRule]

12 minutes ago, Shannon L. said:

People aren't buying DVDs and Blu-Rays because you can get most of these movies on Netflix or Amazon Prime (etc, etc) for free or buy/rent them from regular Amazon.  

Neither Netflix or Amazon Prime is free. You have to pay a monthly fee in order to stream on Netflix, and you have to pay an annual fee of $99 to see movies free on Amazon Prime-and not ALL movies are available to see on Prime. I still buy the dvds/blurays because you don't get the special features/interviews when you watch the movies on Netflix or Prime, or if you rent them online.

[Shannon L.]

1 minute ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Neither Netflix or Amazon Prime is free. You have to pay a monthly fee in order to stream on Netflix, and you have to pay an annual fee of $99 to see movies free on Amazon Prime-and not ALL movies are available to see on Prime. I still buy the dvds/blurays because you don't get the special features/interviews when you watch the movies on Netflix or Prime, or if you rent them online.

Good point--I hadn't thought about that. 

[Bastet]

If it's something I'll want to watch multiple times, I buy the DVD/Blu-Ray.  I like having a physical copy that is mine forever, not just for however long Netflix has the rights to it, and that I can take with me to a friend's house for movie night (or anywhere).  I also like the special features, as mentioned above.

[kiddo82]

If I care enough to buy the movie I'm buying the Blu Ray with the digital download code so I can have the convenience of digital with the forever of the hard copy for when the Internet finally realizes it's smarter than us and turns against us.  I'm also not above a couple of drunken On Demand purchases.

[methodwriter85]

9 hours ago, Bastet said:

If it's something I'll want to watch multiple times, I buy the DVD/Blu-Ray.  I like having a physical copy that is mine forever, not just for however long Netflix has the rights to it, and that I can take with me to a friend's house for movie night (or anywhere).  I also like the special features, as mentioned above.

I have Netflix, and yeah, the movie content isn't what it used to be even 5 years ago. They make up for it in some awesome original content, but I wouldn't just use Netflix to replace movies or t.v. shows I want to watch more than once.

[Kel Varnsen]

On 2017-6-9 at 9:46 AM, Joe said:

Sony Pictures is releasing its films online—stripped of “graphic violence, offensive language, sexual innuendo, and other adult content”—to open them up to wider audiences.

No, I won't be watching these bowdlerised abominations. It's not like I need adult content to hold my interest, but I dislike censorship. The adult content was in there for a reason. You can't remove it without changing the spirit of the movie, and I can't believe the spirit would be changed to make a better movie. If I don't enjoy a particular movie with adult content, I just don't watch it. Hacking it up won't help at all. I hope they actually lose more money with this, just so other companies learn the lesson and don't follow their lead.

I think this is kind of cool. My kids are dying to see the Guardians of the Galaxy movies after i showed them the baby groot trailers. But I don't really need them learning a bunch of new words. If Disney did this i would so buy GotG.

[Silver Raven]

I can't imagine how they can strip Fifty Shades of Grey of adult content without making it five minutes long.

[netlyon2]

3 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

I think this is kind of cool. My kids are dying to see the Guardians of the Galaxy movies after i showed them the baby groot trailers. But I don't really need them learning a bunch of new words. If Disney did this i would so buy GotG.

When I read the original post, I was thinking that this sounded like the KidzBop of movies.  I wonder if that's their primary market/intent.

Edited June 10, 2017 by netlyon2
Added hyperlink

[aradia22]

My favorite use of Netflix and Amazon lately is if I want to remember something or look up something in a movie to make an argument. For instance... what are the similarities/differences in Love Affair and An Affair To Remember. I have a smaller laptop so it doesn't have a CD drive and rather than fire up the desktop computer, it's easier to just pull something up on Netflix or Amazon. But I find the vast number of possible things to watch a bit daunting... until I actually want to watch something and find it's been pulled. I rarely watch DVDs anymore but I have purchased a few in the last 5 years or so because you can't always trust things to stay on Netflix and also I have weird taste. 

[kiddo82]

And the Netflix instant library is spotty at best.  It's nice when I can find the exact movie I'm looking for but it's a rarity.  My List consists primarily of "when I get around to it" titles.  When they expire it's not the end of the world.  I don't watch much of their original programming because there's no urgency to.  I could live without Netflix  Like I and others have said up thread, if it's a title I know I'm going to want to watch over and over I'm buying a hard copy.

[xaxat]

That was quick.

Sony Backs Down on 'Clean Version' Movies, Will Let Directors Opt Out

[Joe]

3 hours ago, xaxat said:

That was quick.

Sony Backs Down on 'Clean Version' Movies, Will Let Directors Opt Out

They weren't getting permission from the directors beforehand? Whata bunch of idiots. And do they have no respect for art?

[Kel Varnsen]

3 hours ago, xaxat said:

That was quick.

Sony Backs Down on 'Clean Version' Movies, Will Let Directors Opt Out

Since they are already doing it for tv broadcasts i wonder if they will just get permission to do this by rolling it all into the same part of the contract  studios make with directors. Like, want the money associated with the clean version of your movie showing up on TBS? Well then you also need to let us include the same version on the dvd.

[topanga]

On 6/10/2017 at 0:50 PM, Kel Varnsen said:

I think this is kind of cool. My kids are dying to see the Guardians of the Galaxy movies after i showed them the baby groot trailers. But I don't really need them learning a bunch of new words. If Disney did this i would so buy GotG.

I've never seen either GoG. Are there curse words?

That reminds me of the time I showed my kids 'Stand By Me.' They were 10 and 12 at the time. I forgot it was 'R' rated. And I forgot about the language that the kids used throughout the movie. My kids weren't traumatized, but I kept explaining to them that I'd forgotten about the language. They weren't bothered one bit. 

 

On 6/15/2017 at 2:23 PM, xaxat said:

That was quick.

Sony Backs Down on 'Clean Version' Movies, Will Let Directors Opt Out

 

On 6/15/2017 at 5:55 PM, Kel Varnsen said:

Since they are already doing it for tv broadcasts i wonder if they will just get permission to do this by rolling it all into the same part of the contract  studios make with directors. Like, want the money associated with the clean version of your movie showing up on TBS? Well then you also need to let us include the same version on the dvd.

Do TV networks have to get permission from movie studios regarding what they cut when they make edited TV versions ? 

[absnow54]

Do TV networks have to get permission from movie studios regarding what they cut when they make edited TV versions ?

I thought most TV edits were from the studio/filmmaker these days. Often the actors dub their own "clean curse words" and some movies will replace scenes with cleaner versions. Two examples I can think of is Good Will Hunting where they replace Minnie Driver's old couple blow job joke with some joke about angels (I think) and then there MallRats, which is almost a completely different movie when it's played on TBS (there are actually some funnier scenes in the safe cut than the theatrical.)

[Silver Raven]

There will be a sequel to Ben Affleck's The Accountant.  I'm in line already.  I hope his character's brother is in it.

[methodwriter85]

49 minutes ago, Silver Raven said:

There will be a sequel to Ben Affleck's The Accountant.  I'm in line already.  I hope his character's brother is in it.

Me, too. I'd ,much rather see him in that part than trying to play Batman.

[AimingforYoko]

Remi Malek cast as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody.

[Silver Raven]

5 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

Remi Malek cast as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody.

Will he sing, or will they dub in Freddie?

[AimingforYoko]

1 hour ago, Silver Raven said:

will they dub in Freddie?

They kind of have to, don't they? Unless Remi has really been hiding his light under a bushel.

[Trini]

A stuntwoman has died filming for Deadpool 2; the linked article also mentions some other recent stunt accidents. I know there's always pressure to top what's been done before, but I hope that things would be safer with today's technology. (However, I realize that accidents and human error happens in that high-risk business.)

[memememe76]

So sad. Does it seem that more of these tragedies are occurring or is it just media? 

[Trini]

I don't think there are necessarily more incidents (of course, I have no numbers to back that up...), but I do think we hear about them more now.

[Dejana]

A Tribute to the Truly Bungled Release of Tulip Fever. Tl;dr, after filming and first test screening back in 2014, it's finally set for release on September 1...unless Weinstein pulls it, again. The current iteration is on its fourth scheduled release date (the others were July 15, 2016, February 24, 2017 and August 25, 2017).  That's not even counting the first attempt to bring it to the screen:

Quote

Has there ever been a film as enjoyably cursed as Tulip Fever? A period romance about a painter and his married muse who try to play the tulip market, Tulip Fever at least had an auspicious debut: Dreamworks optioned the 2000 novel by Deborah Moggach at the proof stage, long before it would become a best seller, and some of the biggest names in Hollywood flirted with adapting it. Four years later, Tulip Fever nearly got off the ground with Jude Law and Keira Knightley starring and Shakespeare in Love director John Madden at the helm, but shortly after planting 12,000 tulip bulbs at the start of production, the British government closed a critical tax loophole that blew up the budget, closed down the film, and left all those poor little tulips to wither.

Call it the Tulip Fever cycle: Every time this movie is ready to bloom, someone comes along to sow the crop with salt.

Edited August 21, 2017 by Dejana

[xaxat]

On 8/20/2017 at 10:38 PM, Dejana said:

A Tribute to the Truly Bungled Release of Tulip Fever. Tl;dr, after filming and first test screening back in 2014, it's finally set for release on September 1...unless Weinstein pulls it, again. The current iteration is on its fourth scheduled release date (the others were July 15, 2016, February 24, 2017 and August 25, 2017).  That's not even counting the first attempt to bring it to the screen:

Holy shit! The Weinsteins have been reduced to selling movies to Lifetime?

[aradia22]

@xaxat That's what happened to the Grace of Monaco movie, right? I feel like the actors will all be fine. I feel the worst for that author. Maybe it's because I recently finished a book on writing but it's a tough business and it used to be that something like getting a movie deal or a spot on Oprah's list could launch you to relative stardom and actually making a decent living.

Quote

Is Tulip Fever deserving of this hilariously shoddy treatment? Most of the people I’ve talked to who have seen it describe it as just so-so, a mediocre period drama that’s clearly been recut by its studio a few too many times. Perhaps its status as a ’tweener is why the film simply can’t get off the ground: Tulip Fever isn’t classy enough to be the Oscar-contending drama that Weinstein had hoped to engineer by adding thespians like Judi Dench and Christoph Waltz to the film’s sprawling cast, but it’s also not juicy enough to be the populist hit he wanted when he cast popular-in-2014 figures like Glee’s Matthew Morrison, the Hangover-hot Zach Galifianakis, and Prince Harry’s then-girlfriend Cressida Bonas. So much time has elapsed since then that DeHaan spent the interim shooting Valerian, a megabudget space movie with minor Tulip Fever player Cara Delevingne, which came out last month and bombed.

I could have easily seen it as another The Other Boleyn Girl. Once they knew it wasn't going to be a Shakespeare in Love, why didn't they just cut their losses and release it? Why keep messing with it?

[kiddo82]

Maybe now they should just hold it back until DeHaan develops into the new Channing Tatum.

Edited August 23, 2017 by kiddo82

[Dejana]

9 hours ago, xaxat said:

Holy shit! The Weinsteins have been reduced to selling movies to Lifetime?

 

1 hour ago, aradia22 said:

@xaxat That's what happened to the Grace of Monaco movie, right?

Also Suite Française, another period movie with a prestigious cast (Michelle Williams, Kristin Scott Thomas) and based on a book. It got a theatrical release in the UK in March 2015 and a US Lifetime debut this May. The Weinstein Company has faced major financial troubles in the last year or two:

 

Quote

For decades, Weinstein bestrode the Oscars like a colossus, pulling off coup after coup (pushing Shakespeare in Love to a best-picture victory over Saving Private Ryan; winning two in a row with The King’s Speech and The Artist). He held sway over a stable of actors: “Working for Harvey is like working for the mafia,” Gwyneth Paltrow once told me, laughing. “There are all these favours.” Pop-culture fare such as Entourage referred to him by first name alone.

He’s regularly been dogged by money woes, both at TWC and his previous company, Miramax – mainly, he says, because he releases the bulk of his films in the fourth quarter of the year, as Oscar bait, so his cash flows in late.

But 2016 was an exceptionally horribilis annus. From 2012 to 2015, TWC’s share of the U.S. box office ranged from 2 per cent to 4.3 per cent, and its grosses from $222-million (U.S.) to $492-million. In 2016, however, its box office was a mere 0.6 per cent, and its grosses were only $64-million. Worse, most of that came from prior years’ films; his 2016 slate earned only $15-million. Weinstein publicly admitted TWC was seeking investors, and considering selling off its lucrative film and TV libraries.

 

 

1 hour ago, aradia22 said:

I could have easily seen it as another The Other Boleyn Girl. Once they knew it wasn't going to be a Shakespeare in Love, why didn't they just cut their losses and release it? Why keep messing with it?

Weinstein didn't earn the "Harvey Scissorhands" nickname for nothing (too many stories to link them all but here are a few good starting points. He has a long history of tinkering with movies and withholding them from release if he can't get a cut to his satisfaction. As for why he held onto Tulip Fever longer than some others, I don't know, maybe it's taken him this long to let go of the dreams he had of TF being a critical success and awards player...

Edited August 23, 2017 by Dejana

[vibeology]

Harvey Weinstein is in trouble.  There have been rumours about him for years so it'll be interesting to see what gets reported.