Bad News For Us Movie Lovers???

[Cosima___J]

Here's an article that caught my eye:



Steven Spielberg: Big tickets, big budgets make film industry 'implosion' imminent


Randee Dawn NBC News contributor


Movie ticket prices have long been a subject of grumbling among theater-goers, who have balked (but paid) for years as admissions rose ever higher into the double digits. But as two of Hollywood's leading directors recently noted in a panel discussion, it's likely to get a lot worse -- and ultimately will change the industry forever.

"There's eventually going to be an implosion -- or a big meltdown," said Steven Spielberg, who sat down with George Lucas at the USC School of Cinematic Arts on Wednesday. The conversation was originally reported on by The Hollywood Reporter. "There's going to be an implosion where three or four or maybe even a half-dozen megabudget movies are going to go crashing into the ground, and that's going to change the paradigm."



Big budget films like last year's "John Carter" or this week's "Man of Steel" have bumped budgets into the hundreds of millions, and Spielberg suggested that once more than a handful of them flop at the box office, the industry will be forever altered. He said that theaters will start charging different prices for different films -- like $25 for "Iron Man" or $7 for a smaller film like his own "Lincoln." (Which, he noted, came "this close" to being an HBO movie instead of a film in theaters.

That's already happening -- Paramount and Regal Theaters have paired up to create a "Mega Ticket" for the upcoming Brad Pitt film "World War Z."

George Lucas agreed with Spielberg, with whom he has paired in the past on multiple films. Lucas suggested that attending movies in the theater is going to become more like going to Broadway, with fewer movies released that stay there for a year or more, with higher ticket prices.

But why do movies cost so much to make? Part of it is that blockbusters require an A-list star like Tom Cruise, who can cost upward of $75 million to hire. But another part -- as Lucas noted -- is that marketing budgets are enormous. Those high costs paired together mean that movies are geared to the masses, rather than to niche audiences the way TV shows are; he called cable TV "much more adventurous" than film today.

Still, those aren't the only factors involved. As New York movie critic David Edelstein noted in his "Man of Steel" review, quoting from producer Lynda Obst's book "Sleepless in Hollywood," big-budget, action-heavy films now help studios recoup more than 80 percent of their profits from overseas sales -- especially in China. Explosions, car chases and action require less translation and cross cultural borders, which means theatergoers in the U.S. should expect even more (and it may explain the last 45 minutes of "Steel").

Meanwhile, actors (like Zach Braff, who held his own Kickstarter to raise funds for a new film recently) and directors alike are recognizing that the best way to do projects they really want is to create them from scratch. Spielberg noted that the only way he got "Lincoln" into theaters was to co-own his own studio.

"The pathway to get into theaters is really getting smaller and smaller," said Lucas.

http://www.today.com/entertainment/stev ... 6C10321443

[jbuck919]

Exactly what to do movie lovers think they are going to miss if movies like Iron Man start to flop?

[Cosima___J]

John, here's a quote from the article that prompted me to use the thread title:

"George Lucas agreed with Spielberg, with whom he has paired in the past on multiple films. Lucas suggested that attending movies in the theater is going to become more like going to Broadway, with fewer movies released that stay there for a year or more, with higher ticket prices. "

Don't you think that would be bad news for movie lovers?

[jbuck919]

John, here's a quote from the article that prompted me to use the thread title:

"George Lucas agreed with Spielberg, with whom he has paired in the past on multiple films. Lucas suggested that attending movies in the theater is going to become more like going to Broadway, with fewer movies released that stay there for a year or more, with higher ticket prices. "

Don't you think that would be bad news for movie lovers?

It is hard to see movies in general release around the country ever being like the English-language theater in one of its two grand capitals. It is an inherently different experience.

Obviously, Spielberg and Lucas have a vested interest in the success of semi-juvenile blockbusters. The film industry will find a way to remain a going concern at levels great and small whether or not we get to see Iron Man 17 or whatever on a (relatively) big screen at what is now considered a normal ticket price. It may not look exactly like it does today, but once we had single-big-screen theaters where people smoked in their seats, not to mention drive-in theaters (actually, there is still one of these in operation in Lake George).

[Mookalafalas]

I rather like overblown Hollywood blockbusters, but am also excited at events leading to an "implosion" of Hwood as we now know it. If this leads to a rebirth of rich, creative character driven stories that depart from the Hwood manual's requirements ("love interest should be introduced between pages 6-8...") I think it may turn out to be a wonderful thing. I live in Taiwan. Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan used to have really strong cinematic traditions, but as the US company's bought up their theaters and killed the local markets, their entire cinemas dried up. Maybe we will see a re-emergence of international cinema like we saw in the 70s when Hwood was struggling desperately, before being converted to the blockbuster teen-flick mentality by....Steven Spielberg (Jaws, Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind, etc.) and George Lucas (Star Wars).