The UBS Evening Movie News 09.06.07
Posted by George H. Sirois on 09.06.2007
The “Star Wars of Comedy” Edition…
Welcome everyone to the latest edition of The UBS Evening Movie News. I'm George H. Sirois, and starting next week, you'll be seeing a brand new logo for this news report. (Thanks, Eric.)
But before that, we have to congratulate fellow 411Maniac Scott Rutherford for his child getting past development hell and recently getting the greenlight. Scott was the first of the 411 crew to welcome me here back in '04, and he filled in for me here at the Thursday News Report. So, thanks again for everything Scott, and much congrats on the upcoming child!
Now, on with the news…
TOP STORY
Media Rights Capital has committed $250 million to fully finance eight films from directors Robert Rodriguez, Ricky Gervais, Walter Salles, Ryan Murphy, Richard Kelly, Bennett Miller and Todd Field. Funds come from a combination of Fortune 500 companies, Wall Street money and private equity, and investors including AT&T, Goldman Sachs and WPP Group.
The eight films span the comedy, drama, family and horror genres, and MRC partners Modi Wiczyk and Asif Satchu are betting big that distributors will place a premium on high-quality fare to fill holes in their 2008 and 2009 slates. MRC will be racing against the same clock as the majors in trying to get its films completed in advance of an expected Hollywood work stoppage next June. The MRC duo said they expect to complete production on all eight by next summer.
Distribution rights to nearly all of the films are available, with one exception: "Bruno," the Sacha Baron Cohen starrer based on the Austrian fashion reporter character, which, like Borat, originated on Baron Cohen's "Da Ali G Show." Universal has already committed $42.5 million to license English-speaking territories, winning a four-studio bidding battle just before "Borat" was released last year.
While MRC has begun to expand into broadband Internet programming and is on the verge of a TV division launch, its eight-pic slate marks the company's most ambitious step since the company was formed in 2003.
Wiczyk said MRC is in business with UTA, ICM and WMA on upcoming TV and online programming ventures. He said the new films came together after a long courtship of artists he and Satchu wanted to be in business with.
Their pitch to talent boils down to a simple concept that MRC road-tested on "Babel," and with the upcoming films "Sleuth" and "The Tourist."
"It comes down to more money, and more control for artists, and this company's core strength, the ability to valuate films and place them for distribution in an optimal way," Wiczyk said. For talent, that means equity partner treatment, high upfront fees against gross participation and creative control. MRC doesn't develop material or take producing credits on films it bankrolls.
Another lure for talent is an ownership deal that no studio would make. Since MRC's licensing deals give studios short-term distribution rights -- Universal has "Bruno" for only 15 years, for instance -- MRC's offer of shared copyright ownership is more meaningful than similar deals that are of lesser value because studios have tied up distribution rights in perpetuity.
Wiczyk added that MRC gives its filmmakers input into those decisions on distribution.
Satchu noted that "given the uncertainty of film production for the foreseeable future, there is great demand for greenlit, elite projects right now."
What a refreshing way for business in the industry to be done! For decades, we have been stuck with executives with money that want to flaunt their creativity at the same time. (More often than not, we moviegoers are forced to discover that they have NO CREATIVITY, but since they're the ones with the money, they turn out to be the ones with the power.)
Now, along comes a company with money to burn, and the first thing they say upon their arrival is, "We may not know what makes movies work, but we understand you do, so we'll pay you to make it happen for us." Not only are these guys offering money to filmmakers to make their vision come to life, but they are offering them control over their vision. This means a minimum of those dreaded notes that mostly do nothing but downgrade the quality of the film.
Despite what you may think, Hollywood's no stranger to doing this kind of business. In fact, it's been proven more than once that it's a risky venture to open the purse strings and loosen the restraints for filmmakers. The Director's Company was a major example in the 70s, and that crumbled due to the clashing egos of Peter Bogdanovich, Francis Coppola and William Friedkin. And of course there was United Artists, which was left a shell of its former self after paying the price for Michael Cimino's vision of Heaven's Gate.
Nevertheless, I applaud these guys for giving it another shot. After several decades of the standard methods of producing movies, it's nice to see a shake-up in the system, especially since we now have this year competing with last year for the most remakes produced.
SYBIL THE SOOTHSAYER
UPCOMING MOVIES
I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With: Jeff Garlin stars and directs a romantic comedy about a man, the food he loves, and the woman who tortures him.
I'll be taking a look at this and sending my review in next week. Despite me calling him out a while back for his ½ Hour Comedy Hour special on HBO, I like Jeff and I do feel a little guilty about that unprovoked attack. So I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out.
3:10 To Yuma: A small-time rancher (Christian Bale) agrees to hold a captured outlaw (Russell Crowe) who's awaiting a train to go to court in Yuma.
I look at this the same way I looked at The Prestige. You have two actors I hold in high regard (one of them who was in both films) playing against each other, in a film directed by a very good director (James Mangold in this case). And I loved The Prestige, so this should be a hell of a time.
Shoot ‘Em Up: A man named Mr. Smith (Clive Owen) delivers a woman's baby during a shootout, and is then called upon to protect the newborn from the army of gunmen.
I honestly don't know what to make of this one, but I'm a fan of Clive, Monica and Paul, and it looks like they all had a blast putting this movie together. Let's hope that fun translates to the audience having fun as well.
The Brothers Solomon: A pair of well-meaning, but socially inept brothers (Will Arnett and Will Forte) try to find their perfect mates in order to provide their dying father with a grandchild.
I love how creepy both the Wills look here, but I'm not sure if that will creepiness will hold for over an hour-and-a-half. This could either be hysterical or it could suck with the red hot intensity of a thousand suns.
Credit: Themoviebox.net
DVD NEWS
Oh boy, do I have some updates for you guys. It seems that just as summer is ending, all of those movies we spent so much money on in the theaters (I'll get to that part later) are on their way to our DVD collections. Here's what we know of so far regarding this summer's biggest hits…
First off, we have the news about TransFormers. The 2-disc DVD will offer the movie itself, complete with plenty of bonus materials, such as a Commentary Track by Michael Bay and two multi-part documentaries exploring both the humans and robots.
Presented in multiple parts, "Our World" and "Their War" include segments with Steven Spielberg discussing his love for the franchise and the early concept for the movie, the extensive casting process, the training, consultants and real-world weapons provided by the military to lend authenticity to the film, the evolution of the robots from Hasbro's iconic toy line to big-screen stars, the unique vehicles created for the movie, a discussion with ILM's legendary digital artists and much more. Also included are early Sketch Concepts of the robots and an in-depth look at the making of the Scorponok attack from writing and conceptualization through the creation of the stunning visual effects.
In addition to a 1080p transfer and all of the DVD's bonus materials in high definition, the HD-DVD version also includes a number of Web-enabled Features which will be expanded over time. Initial features include a Transformers Intelligence Mode in which an on-screen dashboard over the film provides information about the robots and weapons, their strength levels, character updates and more. Plus, a GPS Locator that can access a map and GPS coordinates. To increase the excitement, additional HD-DVD exclusive features will be revealed at street date and over the next few weeks.
The HD-DVD version also includes a Transformers H.U.D. (Heads Up Display) that lets viewers access running text commentary while watching the film and even view relevant behind-the-scenes footage in a picture-in-picture window. Additionally, viewers can explore the main robots' individual details in high definition with the Transformers Tech Inspector.
"Transformers" will be on store shelves on October 16. Its current price on amazon.com is $25.99.
Live Free or Die Hard is coming to DVD and Blu-Ray on December 18, but there are some odd plans that Fox has for this summer hit.
A fullscreen single disc edition and a Blu-Ray version with plenty of extra features is on the way, but also coming is a widescreen version of the film on DVD as an Unrated Cut. A single disc version and a two disc edition containing the same standard features of the Blu-ray disc will be available with considerable extra footage removed from the film to achieve a PG-13 rating.
So if you want the Unrated Cut, you'll have to watch it widescreen since no fullscreen version is available and you'll have to watch it on DVD. Of course conversely, if you want to watch the theatrical version on DVD in widescreen, you're out of luck. Weird.
The Simpsons Movie is on the way to your DVD collection. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is preparing a nice - if not extravagant release for December 18th Its current retail price is $29.98.
Both an anamorphic widescreen and a fullscreen version of the DVD will be released in Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 ES. Two audio commentaries; one with the animators and one with the produces and cast will be included along with five deleted scenes and promos. No Blu-ray release is planed.
Next week, more TV series get the complete set treatment. What a shocker.
Credit: DVDReview.com
MOVIE TRAILER OF THE WEEK: No Country for Old Men
I just saw this trailer before seeing Superbad. Looks damn good, although I would like to see the Coens get back to doing original work instead of adaptations or remakes…
JIM WEBBING AND HIS IT'S-THE-HONEST-TRUTH-DEPARTMENT
Remember that whole Slump Anatomy column I wrote a couple years ago? Forget it.: What a difference a couple of years make. Two years ago, amid a prolonged box office slump -- at least compared with the previous, more bullish year -- naysayers were predicting the end of the theatrical motion picture experience. Moviegoers were said to be abandoning the multiplex in droves and parking themselves in front of their home entertainment centers.
Last summer, the tide began to shift back. Seduced by popular entertainment, moviegoers headed back to the theaters. And that movement only accelerated this summer.
Now that the summer season -- which began May 4, the first Friday in May -- has officially ended with the close of the Labor Day weekend, Hollywood is basking in the warmth of a new summer box office record.
For the 18 weeks of summer, the North American box office totaled $4.33 billion, as tracked by The Hollywood Reporter. To be sure, the tracking services report slightly different totals. According to Media By Numbers, the summer hit the $4.18 billion mark. Nielsen EDI reports a summer box office haul of $4.16 billion. THR's numbers show a slightly higher total because in addition to charting box office for all studio and indie films in theatrical release, it also includes ticket revenue from such other sources as ethnic film venues and museums.
But all the numbers point in the same direction -- upward. As calculated by THR, this summer's total of $4.33 billion is up more than 11% compared with last summer's $3.896 billion.
Well, it looks like the industry's picked up quite a bit, doesn't it? The slump that had everyone panicking – and me writing a scathing column about the state of films at that time – seems to have subsided and now Hollywood can pat itself on the back with record grosses.
At least that's what it looks like on the surface. But take a closer look, and this is what you'll find from the same report…
Admissions, though, tell a slightly different story. Ticket-price inflation partly accounts for the rise in this summer's box office. Factor that out, and admissions for the current season numbered 632.2 million, still an improvement compared with 2006's 593.9 million, but a more modest increase of 6%.
For while Hollywood might have set a box office record this summer in terms of dollars, 2002 still holds the record for the number of summer admissions -- 668.1 million.
Oops. Only a 6 percent increase from last year. Obviously it's a good thing that numbers are going up, but Hollywood seems content to just get the good numbers at the expense of the good attendance. And judging by the speed in which movies go from theaters to DVD & On Demand, it doesn't look like these numbers are going to dramatically change any time soon. It's a shame.
FILM MUSIC NEWS
If you're like me, and you've been waiting for Paramount & DreamWorks to get off their collective asses and greenlight a score album for this year's TransFormers, then you're in luck. According to The Knight Shift, a blog that's been tracking the progress of this album, the street date for its release is October 9th. So after several thousand fans made their voices heard via online petitions, Warner Bros. Records is making this a reality. Great news for film music fans, since the score for this film was very solid and held up despite the upstaging of the various artists album.
Oh, and if the sales dictate it, a 2-Disc special edition score album for TransFormers might be on the horizon for next year. More details will follow as they come in.
This week, we'll take a quick look at Emma Stone and Martha MacIsaac, the Superbad Girls! Get used to them; I have a feeling you'll be seeing more of them soon enough…
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MAD PROPHET OF THE AIRWAVES
So it took a couple weeks longer than I expected, but I finally saw Superbad. And damn, was it worth the wait or what! Right from the start, with the 70s style credits and the dancing silhouettes, I was hooked. Just ask Cheryl and Charlie, who sat on either side of me. I was laughing for about 90 percent of the film's running time. Sure, the laughs slowed down a bit after about 45 minutes, but the story was just settling in, and I was still into what was going on.
Overall, in one viewing, it became one of my favorite comedies. Not only because it was funny as hell, but probably for the same reason a lot of you guys loved it. That was us up there way back when. In a lot of cases, it's still us regardless of how old we are. We're one of those characters, or maybe even all of the characters at various times. Hell, as soon as I told Chad Webb that I saw it, he immediately responded with the instant-classic line, "I am McLovin." And I couldn't help but respond, "Chicka chicka yeah!" (Yes, we're film geeks and damn proud of it!)
So now, we have a comedy trilogy that actually doesn't run out of steam by the third chapter. Once you put The 40 Year Old Virgin in with Knocked Up and Superbad, you have what I would refer to as the "Star Wars" of comedy. Not because all three of them were of high quality, which they are, and not because all three of them were financial successes, which they are, but because they weren't released in the right order.
Wait, let me re-phrase that. They were definitely released in the right order, since Virgin had the perfect mixture of romantic comedy and frat house comedy while Superbad was more on the side of frat house (even though it was a high school film) and Knocked Up was more on the side of romantic comedy. But now that all three of them are out, and will all be on DVD before the end of this year, they shouldn't be viewed in the order in which they were released.
The best way to look at them is by gauging how important Seth Rogen's characters are to each story. In Superbad, he's a character in the secondary storyline. In The 40 Year Old Virgin, he's part of the main ensemble, but he's still a supporting character. And in Knocked Up, he's the main character and we're seeing his story being told.
If you want to get a little deeper, then look at this as an evolution of our own maturity with these films. First, we're introduced to characters like Seth and Evan, best buddies who want to get drunk and get laid before they move on to college – the great unknown – where they will be apart for the first time in so many years.
Then, we jump ahead and we meet Andy, the worst-case scenario that terrified us all when we grew up. We always felt that lingering doubt in our minds, that belief that nobody would want us and we would just walk through life without someone to call their own… well, I don't know about you, but at least I felt it.
But then, more time passes, and even though we're not 40 years old when we find ourselves in Ben's position, he is someone that has gotten over that sexual hump just like Andy did at the end of the previous film. The only problem here is that Ben does NOT have his act together whatsoever and, all of a sudden, he finds himself 9 months from being someone's father!
Whatever Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen decide to do from here on is obviously up to them, and I'm sure I'll be seeing it. But no matter the quality of their other works, I have to thank them for putting together these three terrific comedies that work so well together.
The only thing I'd recommend to people is to pick up the R-Rated version of The 40 Year Old Virgin. The extra stuff they added in the Unrated version… well, it doesn't work as well.
And that's a wrap for Chapter 29 of The UBS Evening News. I'm George H. Sirois, and I'll see you next week with a brand new logo!
