Saturday, June 21, 2008

Special Saturday Edition!!!

If possible, Hollywood would sell these for 30 Mil a pop.

Ok, let's talk film. Franchise fever in Hollywood. This weekend everyone has franchise fever. Why? Well one number stick out this weekend. That's King Fu Panda. This film will not go away. Seems word of mouth is keeping this film alive. Can I tell you how bad Hollywood hates word of mouth? They hate it. They despise it. Why? Because Hollywood would rather fool you into liking a film. The fact that a film is better than another is called Lightning in a Bottle. LIB as we will now call it forever and ever. LIB is something that cannot be duplicated or reproduced.

Let's say that you went off with your friends with a 32mm of 16mm camera to do a cheap student film or something for fun. And you took footage of your friends acting. Lets say it revolves around a party. Then you got home and edited the material. All you planned was a small film for fun or for class credit. Nothing huge, and then suddenly BAM!...something incredible happened! It made a really entertaining and funny film! It just came together in a crazy way where all the bells whistled and all the jets roared loudly. And your little party film became a independent film smash. Before you realize you were in your PJ's reading PEOPLE one Saturday and the very next week, you're on the VIEW. Barbara is asking you what your genius intentions were and you of course have no answer. This totally happens BTW. That's LIB cause you didn't plan it. There is no way to plan it.

Hollywood HATES this X Factor because it RARELY happens. When it does happen, it cannot be duplicated. Maybe it can be repeated, but it doesn't happen that often. Sometimes movies just come together. For example. Forrest Gump was that kind of film that wasn't supposed to be as good as it turned out. Bob Zemetckis, the director, nor the studio expected such a mega hit. They were fresh off Roger Rabbit and experimenting with special effects in a good, compelling story. They expected laughs and sad moments for the audience. In the end they wanted people to walk away from Forrest Gump and say, Wow that was funny and good.



Yet LIB happened when they made it. It just came together. When the execs watched the film with test audiences, they were amazed about how people reacted. They didn't just laugh and choke up, they roared in the aisles and cried buckets of tears. They left the theater totally changed from that experience. That is lightning in a bottle.
The opposite effect is my little example here.

Back to your PARTY FILM. Now Warner BROS. approaches you and says wow! "That was amazing" and they want you to do a sequel. You tell them you have other ideas that are better, but they want a sequel to the party movie. So they give you a large check and you say YES! I will do it! One problem. It wasn't planned to be that good in the first place. But, now you have to do the almost impossible, you have to duplicate, what cannot be reproduced. Hollywood doesn't care about you. They could care less that you may not be able to do it. Not that you're not talented, you just were not into that idea in the first place. The execs names are cleared if you fail. Even though we all secretly know EVERYTHING is their fault. Why shouldn't EVERYTHING be thier fault? When things go right, they fight for credit, when they are bad, they pass that potato. For sure, filmfans!

Well I think you get the idea. Take the Blair Witch Project for instance, it was totally LIB. And the sequel was awful. One example Speed 2, the Sting 2, Scary Movie 2, American Pie 2 Ghostbusters 2, others I am sure. That is why some LIB movies do not have sequels. They know they can't duplicate the first one.

So Hollywood does know this so they don't Greenlight original ideas anymore for that reason and others. They are now looking for Franchises that have many story options and not just one plot. I know sad huh! That's why there is Franchise Fever in Hollywood. And that's why they are hating Kung Fu Panda. It has a beginning middle and an end. It doesn't have a built in sequel. It doesn't have Tony Stark at the end of it. Or multiple villains time tested in Comics, Or TV episodes to refer to. Hollywood is pissed off at that. They wonder why this film is still afloat.

So Get Smart is perfect for a franchise, it may happen depending on the numbers. It is Saturday and Box Office Mojo has reported that Get Smart has made 13 Mil on Friday and Love Guru is 6 Mil. Like I predicted. Until Monday! Let's talk film!