William Quincy Belle: Movies: Business, profit, and recycled Transformers footage

Wednesday 6 July 2011

Movies: Business, profit, and recycled Transformers footage

We like the movies. We talk about them; we read about them and we critique them to no end. Some of us debate their merits going so far as to use the word "art" to further qualify them as a notch up from something so pedestrian as "entertainment". Nevertheless, we tend to forget that making a movie is a business venture and like anything connected to business: sho' me the money! It may seem crass; it may seem capitalistic; it may be the pinnacle of all that is wrong with the world, but if you ain't making a profit, you ain't staying in business for long.

Recently I saw Transformers: Dark of the Moon and while I found the film to be "artistically" inferior, I have had to admit that it's an entertainment juggernaut.

Transformers (2007)
Budget: $150 million
Gross: $710 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 57%

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
Budget: $200 million
Gross: $836 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 20%

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
Budget: $195 million
Gross: $418 million (as of July 5/11; just 6 days since its release: Box Office Mojo)
Rotten Tomatoes: 38%
my review (Hey! I have to plug my own s**t, don't I?)

In looking at the above numbers, it's almost a foregone conclusion film number three is going to do just as well as the first two, all with about the same "rotten tomato" rating.

In contrast, heads are going to roll at Warner Brothers over the following financial disaster.

Green Lantern (2011)
Budget: $200 million
Gross: $140 million (as of July 5/11; 18 days: Box Office Mojo)
Rotten Tomatoes: 27%
my review

Can anybody truly know what's going to work or not going to work? And when I say work, I mean capture the attention of a fickle public who are going to shell out $15 or $20 for the cinematic experience. $20? Heck, throw in a popcorn and a drink and you're talking about some serious cash for a date!

X-Men: First Class (2011)
Budget: $160 million
Gross: $325 million (as of July 5/11; 4.6 weeks: Box Office Mojo)
Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
my review

Thor (2011)
Budget: $150 million
Gross: $440 million (as of July 5/11; 8.6 weeks: Box Office Mojo)
Rotten Tomatoes: 78%
my review

In contrast to the blockbusters, the lesser films have smaller numbers but face the same problem of turning a profit.

Beginners (2011)
Budget: $3.2 million
Gross: $4 million (as of July 5/11; 4.6 weeks: Box Office Mojo)
Rotten Tomatoes: 83%
my review

Larry Crowne (2011)
Budget: $30 million
Gross: $18.7 million (as of July 5/11; 4 days: Box Office Mojo)
Rotten Tomatoes: 35%
my review

Midnight in Paris (2011)
Budget: $30 million
Gross: $62 million (as of July 5/11; 6.6 weeks: Box Office Mojo)
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
my review

Michael Bay reuses footage from an earlier film
Here's the premise: Michael Bay has taken footage from his 2005 film The Island and spliced it into the film Transformers 3. Britain's Guardian discusses this with a link to a YouTube video which shows both films together. The video certainly makes a strong, okay obvious, case. Apparently this is not the first time Bay has done this having swiped a shot of an aircraft carrier from his 2001 film Pearl Harbour to use in the first Transformers.

Uploaded by cinefilojermain23 on Jun 30, 2011
Transformers 3 scene from The Island
Scenes from the movie Transformers 3 of the movie The Island-2005.