I really hope it fucking flops he $200 million gamble on 'Battleship' film Universal plays game of high risk, high reward By Borys Kit and Kim Masters Aug 13, 2010, 07:00 AM ET
As Universal's "Battleship" steams toward a start date this month, the pricey adaptation of the Hasbro board game is entering deep, treacherous waters. With a budget of $200 million or more and no major movie stars on board, the project is raising eyebrows among industry insiders who question whether this expensive gamble will pay off.
"It's a big bet like many, many big bets from many studios," Universal chairman Adam Fogelson acknowledged to THR. "We will be nowhere near the high point and nowhere near the low point of what people are spending."
But several huge questions hover over "Battleship," which begins filming in 15 days in Hawaii, that simply didn't apply to other big-ticket movies. In "Battleship," Universal has a director, Peter Berg, with some experience in action films, but he's not a brand name in the genre. And the concept is based on a board game that has sold more than 100 million units and raked in $1 billion-plus. This comes at a time when some studio execs are questioning whether the public is tiring of the presold concepts to which Hollywood has been clinging.
By far the most significant entry from the relatively new regime of Fogelson and co-chairman Donna Langley, "Battleship" is based on the Hasbro game about naval strategy that's been around since World War I. Berg has come up with a modern twist: making "Battleship" a movie about an alien invasion at sea. But the grief and financial woe brought about over the years by oceanic epics -- think "Waterworld" -- is a part of Hollywood history.
Adding to the pressure: new bosses at Comcast waiting to finalize the acquisition of NBC Universal. Aside from "Despicable Me," the film studio has been on a cold streak and at the same time is developing a reputation for bloated budgets.
Universal's "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," opening Friday, cost $80 million-$90 million (the studio puts the number at closer to $60 million) -- rather pricey for a genre movie. Last year, the studio spent $100 million on the Adam Sandler comedy "Funny People," compared with the more modest $60 million that Paramount, DreamWorks and Spyglass recently spent on a comparable film, "Dinner for Schmucks."
Execs even considered pulling the plug on "Battleship" in June, sources said. Such a move isn't unprecedented: Universal did that with "Cartel" five weeks before the Josh Brolin crime drama was to shoot this year in Mexico City, and with "American Gangster," the Russell Crowe-Denzel Washington crime drama that came back to life with a smaller budget.
Fogelson denied the project was ever in jeopardy and said the studio is firmly committed based on Berg's vision for the film. Berg, whose previous movie was 2008's "Hancock" for Sony, is the son of a naval historian, and he wrote a high school essay about how the Japanese could have won the Battle of Midway. He also directed the 2004 feature "Friday Night Lights" and 2007's "The Kingdom," both for Universal.
"He has a very strong passion and affinity for this material," Fogelson said. "He is a fan of the history and the current state of the military. He knows that world really, really well, and he is inspirational when he is talking about it."
Fogelson said he wasn't concerned about Berg's relative lack of experience on action films.
"He made 'Hancock,' so Will Smith thought he was a good choice for an effects-driven spectacle that cost a lot of money," he said. Hancock grossed $624 million worldwide on a $150 million budget. Unlike "Battleship," however, it featured a big movie star in Smith. __________________
oh lord Brooklyn Decker will play one of the female leads, a character named Sam who is described as being able to "surf, fight, dance and crush the NY Times crossword puzzle. (She) has driven a motorcycle around the world twice."
The character is the love interest to the naval commander played by Taylor Kitsch, who stars in the big-budget tentpole.
and this too and they added Liam Neeson to the cast of actors! Neeson will take on the role of a character named Admiral Shane, a Naval officer whose daughter (played by Brooklyn Decker) is engaged to a young naval officer played by Taylor Kitsch.
The film is shooting in Hawaii and it also stars Alexander Skarsgaard who plays Kitsch's older brother, and Rihanna, who plays Kitsch's crew mate and a weapons specialist. The film is about an epic battle "on land, sea and the sky between earth’s forces and attacking aliens.”
Comments
he $200 million gamble on 'Battleship' film
Universal plays game of high risk, high reward
By Borys Kit and Kim Masters
Aug 13, 2010, 07:00 AM ET
As Universal's "Battleship" steams toward a start date this month, the pricey adaptation of the Hasbro board game is entering deep, treacherous waters. With a budget of $200 million or more and no major movie stars on board, the project is raising eyebrows among industry insiders who question whether this expensive gamble will pay off.
"It's a big bet like many, many big bets from many studios," Universal chairman Adam Fogelson acknowledged to THR. "We will be nowhere near the high point and nowhere near the low point of what people are spending."
But several huge questions hover over "Battleship," which begins filming in 15 days in Hawaii, that simply didn't apply to other big-ticket movies. In "Battleship," Universal has a director, Peter Berg, with some experience in action films, but he's not a brand name in the genre. And the concept is based on a board game that has sold more than 100 million units and raked in $1 billion-plus. This comes at a time when some studio execs are questioning whether the public is tiring of the presold concepts to which Hollywood has been clinging.
By far the most significant entry from the relatively new regime of Fogelson and co-chairman Donna Langley, "Battleship" is based on the Hasbro game about naval strategy that's been around since World War I. Berg has come up with a modern twist: making "Battleship" a movie about an alien invasion at sea. But the grief and financial woe brought about over the years by oceanic epics -- think "Waterworld" -- is a part of Hollywood history.
Adding to the pressure: new bosses at Comcast waiting to finalize the acquisition of NBC Universal. Aside from "Despicable Me," the film studio has been on a cold streak and at the same time is developing a reputation for bloated budgets.
Universal's "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," opening Friday, cost $80 million-$90 million (the studio puts the number at closer to $60 million) -- rather pricey for a genre movie. Last year, the studio spent $100 million on the Adam Sandler comedy "Funny People," compared with the more modest $60 million that Paramount, DreamWorks and Spyglass recently spent on a comparable film, "Dinner for Schmucks."
Execs even considered pulling the plug on "Battleship" in June, sources said. Such a move isn't unprecedented: Universal did that with "Cartel" five weeks before the Josh Brolin crime drama was to shoot this year in Mexico City, and with "American Gangster," the Russell Crowe-Denzel Washington crime drama that came back to life with a smaller budget.
Fogelson denied the project was ever in jeopardy and said the studio is firmly committed based on Berg's vision for the film. Berg, whose previous movie was 2008's "Hancock" for Sony, is the son of a naval historian, and he wrote a high school essay about how the Japanese could have won the Battle of Midway. He also directed the 2004 feature "Friday Night Lights" and 2007's "The Kingdom," both for Universal.
"He has a very strong passion and affinity for this material," Fogelson said. "He is a fan of the history and the current state of the military. He knows that world really, really well, and he is inspirational when he is talking about it."
Fogelson said he wasn't concerned about Berg's relative lack of experience on action films.
"He made 'Hancock,' so Will Smith thought he was a good choice for an effects-driven spectacle that cost a lot of money," he said. Hancock grossed $624 million worldwide on a $150 million budget. Unlike "Battleship," however, it featured a big movie star in Smith.
__________________
the surgeon is back hur dur dur dur
Brooklyn Decker will play one of the female leads, a character named Sam who is described as being able to "surf, fight, dance and crush the NY Times crossword puzzle. (She) has driven a motorcycle around the world twice."
The character is the love interest to the naval commander played by Taylor Kitsch, who stars in the big-budget tentpole.
and this too
and they added Liam Neeson to the cast of actors! Neeson will take on the role of a character named Admiral Shane, a Naval officer whose daughter (played by Brooklyn Decker) is engaged to a young naval officer played by Taylor Kitsch.
The film is shooting in Hawaii and it also stars Alexander Skarsgaard who plays Kitsch's older brother, and Rihanna, who plays Kitsch's crew mate and a weapons specialist. The film is about an epic battle "on land, sea and the sky between earth’s forces and attacking aliens.”
what career? other than years of shitty music, getting beaten by a nigga, and more shitty music.
[-(
blue turbins
From Those Fishes - I Fingered An Old Bitch (i got Aids on my finger)
[-(
blue turbins
From Those Fishes - I Fingered An Old Bitch (i got Aids on my finger)