Thursday, April 2, 2009

Instantaneous Remakes and "Lackadaisical (Fox) Security" (1)

Fox's Leaky leak

Ok, let's talk film. From Rotten Tomatoes Weekly Ketchup:
2010s relaunch to the "modern horror classic" The Strangers, which starred Liv Tyler as a woman who is terrorized by a group of stalkers in her remote house. To give the remake a younger edge, Kristen Stewart is being eyed for the lead role, although the screenwriters are expected to fill the remake with knowing references to the 2008 original for fans to pick up on.

Now this is obviously trying to ride the coattails of Kristen Stewart's raven success. AND this is down the line of something I predicted a while ago about Hollywood changing scripts like plays on Broadway do. We all know there is a serious lack of creativity in Hollywood and this is another testament to that tragic fact. I did with "The Strangers" though. I thought that the couple caught in the cabin was too passive towards the Strangers. Liv and Luke's character kinda just "took it" and didn't put up much of a fight at all. Well I always thought that if I could do it again, I would put a section in the film where there is a fight back scene. Sort of a Home Alone horror movie type thing. That would make the film a lot more interesting and not have us hanging with the passive aggressiveness of the couple.
So if Rouge Pics does a remake, they should include that and not just rehash for the sake of Stewart. Heck, you could put Stewart in anything right now and the film will make it's money back.
And how far will this remake thing go? I mean if remakes are being done two years after the film is released, who's to say that remakes won't happen instantaneously. The remakes will one day come out before the original is released. You will ask each other one day "Have you seen the remake" and the answer will be "The original isn't even out yet!"
From CHUD.com
Today an unwatermarked, time code free workprint of X-Men Origins: Wolverine leaked on the Internet. Within hours thousands of people had a version of the upcoming Fox release, and once a file like this is in the wild it can never be fully brought back in.

How the hell did this happen?

I think this is hilarious, not to laugh at other's misery. But if you look at it closely, you will see that the only ones who will suffer from this are the Fox Execs and the studio itself. Everyone else involved with the production have been compensated. Producers and Execs make the money afterward with ticket sales. So the fact that only the Execs are suffering is hilarious to me. It was the Execs mishandling of the DVD's that are sent to them are the ones to blame. I guarantee you that this leak came from the top. Execs were freely passing out Wolverine DVD's to friends and family and thus the leak happened. I will use the word hubris. Yes I will use that word to describe the way execs handle these DVD's. The leak didn't come from the bottom. The lower level players want to stay working and in my theory would not jeopardize their careers like this. The early version had to come from the top. Yet, I am sure a lower level leak will get blamed for this. You can bet that Havoc is loose in Fox today and someone will pay dearly. Though, the suspect will certainly not be an exec.

CHUD continues to say
I have a feeling that the Wolverine leak is the tip of the iceberg. My source tells me that he suspects the person who leaked it may have been motivated by a grudge against the house where they work - perhaps someone who has been laid off or had his hours reduced

As I just said, no way. The leak is high up. This is ego. This is execs flexing their security clearance. I believe that.

From BBC News
"Even if you see the workprint you're still going to have to go see it in the theatre to fully experience the full movie with CGI effects fully intact."

Fox confirmed the film "was without many effects and had missing scenes and temporary sound and music."

This is even funnier. This is nothing less than a sandbox cry from execs to taunt up to still go to the theater. I mean this thing was downloaded over 100,000 times. I am sure each download had two or three or ten viewers each! Plus if the film stinks, that's bad word of mouth to not see it. So in essence, that's 500,000 times 10 dollars a ticket price. That's a lot of money to lose on opening weekend. Well at least Execs now have a scapegoat if the film under performs. They have an excuse. They have something to blame it on. And in Hollywood's continual blame, hot potato game, that is golden news. Until tomorrow, let's talk film!

(1) http://chud.com/articles/articles/18792/1/HOW-DID-X-MEN-ORIGINS-WOLVERINE-GET-LEAKED-ON-THE-INTERNET/Page1.html