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(LA Times)   Hollywood isn't actually out of ideas --they just reject any new ones   (theenvelope.latimes.com) divider line 69
    More: Stupid, Hollywood, King George VI, Lisa Cholodenko, Stretch Armstrong, Akiva Goldsman, David O Russell, Geoffrey Rush, Annette Bening  
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13269 clicks; posted to Main » on 22 Feb 2011 at 5:56 PM   |  Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook   more»



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2011-02-22 02:44:58 PM
Everything in the entertainment industry comes down to formula. They actually have software that determines if a book, movie, tv series, comicbook, or song is going to be a success.

Art, creativity, none of that means anything anymore. It's all about the formula that makes the most amount of money for the least amount of work. Period.

Projects that are too far outside the mainstream just can't be properly calculated into the formula so they're ignored. Basically the studios don't want to take a chance on something outside the predictable. They'd rather let somebody else take that initial risk and then if it does succeed the data is added to the formula and the formula is adjusted and the project gets copied.

This might sound like a pretty bleak future for entertainment as everything is reduced to a computer formula and all creativity and art is removed from the equation and consumers just get the same bland recycled hash but it actually isn't so bad because technology is delivering the means for artists to self produce.

That has already happened for musicians. Professional production equipment is cheap and world wide distribution and promotion is attainable with the internet. It's all a matter of finding your niche market. Writers and comicbook artists are also able to produce their own stuff inexpensively and distribute it on the internet. Movies are a bit more difficult because they require a collaboration of a whole lot of different artists. Cinematopgraphers, writers, directors, special effects artists, make-up artists, costume designers, editors, and of course actors. But even with movies technology is making it cheaper and easier to do more with less and I can foresee a future where feature length films are produced as a communal effort with all participants getting a share of any profits rather than a salary upfront.

There will be two industries. The mainstream entertainment industry which simply recycles entertainment based on formula. They'll have the advantage of better production values and promotional power. And then a independently produced entertainment industry. They'll have the advantage of creativity and artistic expression on their side. Their production values won't be as high and they won't have the promotional power but these will be the people who will be more bold and innovative with what they create because for them it's not about maximizing profits, it's about the work itself.
 
2011-02-22 02:58:32 PM
Ghastly: There will be two industries. The mainstream entertainment industry which simply recycles entertainment based on formula. They'll have the advantage of better production values and promotional power. And then a independently produced entertainment industry. They'll have the advantage of creativity and artistic expression on their side. Their production values won't be as high and they won't have the promotional power but these will be the people who will be more bold and innovative with what they create because for them it's not about maximizing profits, it's about the work itself.

There is also a theory that states that this has already happened.
 
2011-02-22 05:56:49 PM
images.wikia.com

Gameshows are back!
 
2011-02-22 06:01:01 PM
By the end of 2011, Hollywood will break their record for most sequels released in a calendar year. According to Box Office Mojo, 27 films released in 2011 will be sequels, up from 24 in 2003.

Here's how it breaks it down. 27 sequels total. Nine second movies (up from eight in 2010), five third movies (down from seven), five fourth movies, five fifth movies, two seventh movies and one eighth movie. 9+5+5+5+2+1=27.

The second movies are Cars 2, Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules, The Hangover Part II, Happy Feet 2, Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil, Johnny English Reborn, Kung Fu Panda 2, Piranha 3DD and Sherlock Holmes: The Book of Shadows.

The third movies are Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, Madea's Big Happy Family, Paranormal Activity 3 and Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

The fourth movies are Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Scream 4, Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part One).

The fifth movies are Fast Five, Final Destination 5, Puss in Boots, X-Men: First Class and Winnie the Pooh.

The seventh movies are The Muppets and Rise of the Apes.

And the eighth movie is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two.Link (new window)
 
2011-02-22 06:01:17 PM
Well when your new ideas are "about a dead king who stutters" then yes, they will get rejected.

Srsly? about a dead king who stutters?
 
2011-02-22 06:03:39 PM
Haha yeah, ok. I bet everyone that will be claiming they want originality in this thread is also totally clamoring to go to the local indie movie house or renting French New Wave from Netflix.

It's out there if you want to find it. It's always been out there. You just have to take a minimal amount of effort but that would take work on your part so it's not going to happen.
 
2011-02-22 06:04:31 PM
if you still go to movies, you are the problem
 
2011-02-22 06:04:35 PM
Haha man studio system? No way man, movies used to be about ART!
 
2011-02-22 06:05:10 PM
thumbnails.truveo.com

Um... Okay, how about this: Adam Sandler is like in love with some girl. But it turns out that the girl is actuallya golden retreiever or something.
 
2011-02-22 06:07:01 PM
Ghastly: Everything in the entertainment industry comes down to formula. They actually have software that determines if a book, movie, tv series, comicbook, or song is going to be a success.

Art, creativity, none of that means anything anymore. It's all about the formula that makes the most amount of money for the least amount of work. Period.


It's always been like that. Any art form with the suffix "industry" is like that. Don't pretend like this is something new.

The majority of the good film is on cable TV at the moment, but the internet is the future. It'a all about adaptation. You adapt with the changing market. People don't want to watch prime time network TV anymore, and they generally don't want to go out to the movies anymore for anything except big effects blockbusters.
 
2011-02-22 06:09:43 PM
Mel Gibson cut out the news article and carefully taped it in a scrapbook.
 
2011-02-22 06:10:09 PM
Benjimin_Dover: Well when your new ideas are "about a dead king who stutters" then yes, they will get rejected.

Biographical and historical films have been a part of Hollywood's things to make as long as there has been a Hollywood.
 
2011-02-22 06:11:46 PM
Hollywood has rarely had ideas. A movie requires a whole bunch of people and technology and not one penny comes in until the movie is entirely complete. There are certainly a lot more sequels now, but there has always been plenty of adapting from things like books and stage shows.

With any physical media, you can do very small printings on the cheap and if it proves popular bump up productions.

A failed stage show or even TV show can close early and save money and a successful one can extend runs.

But with a movie, you have to go all in.
 
2011-02-22 06:12:09 PM
stirfrybry: if you still go to movies, you are the problem

Laemmle theaters for foreign and independent films, only place around for the good stuff. And the discount theater - $3.50 a show.
AMC, Pacific etc. for the mainstream garbage that is put out these days - no way.
 
2011-02-22 06:16:47 PM
Anayalator: By the end of 2011, Hollywood will break their record for most sequels released in a calendar year. According to Box Office Mojo, 27 films released in 2011 will be sequels, up from 24 in 2003...

That list is so safe and warm. Full of concepts with character/brand recognition and market research data to back them up.
 
2011-02-22 06:19:10 PM
Um... Okay, how about this: Adam Sandler is like in love with some girl. But it turns out that the girl is actuallya golden retreiever Jennifer Aniston or something

FTFY
 
2011-02-22 06:21:12 PM
So Hollywood and Republicans are more alike than either would admit.
 
2011-02-22 06:23:09 PM
Anayalator: By the end of 2011, Hollywood will break their record for most sequels released in a calendar year. According to Box Office Mojo, 27 films released in 2011 will be sequels, up from 24 in 2003.

Here's how it breaks it down. 27 sequels total. Nine second movies (up from eight in 2010), five third movies (down from seven), five fourth movies, five fifth movies, two seventh movies and one eighth movie. 9+5+5+5+2+1=27.

The second movies are Cars 2, Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules, The Hangover Part II, Happy Feet 2, Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil, Johnny English Reborn, Kung Fu Panda 2, Piranha 3DD and Sherlock Holmes: The Book of Shadows.

The third movies are Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, Madea's Big Happy Family, Paranormal Activity 3 and Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

The fourth movies are Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Scream 4, Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part One).

The fifth movies are Fast Five, Final Destination 5, Puss in Boots, X-Men: First Class and Winnie the Pooh.

The seventh movies are The Muppets and Rise of the Apes.

And the eighth movie is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two.Link (new window)


Can you please tally up all the movies that are also remakes and translations from other media??? Pretty please??
 
2011-02-22 06:23:10 PM
No surprise really. Just like with music, it's an industry. There is a lot of money to be made from film so you end up with film treated as investment. If you want to compete on the national popular market, you are much better off with a big budget and mass appeal. That requires lots of investment and producers want to make a return on their money. No surprise really. For better or worse, just like with music, you sell a lot more copies or tickets by being familiar enough that people are attracted to the result. There is a lot of psychological research that has been done into the balance between familiarity and novelty that most adequately captures the mass market. That doesn't even get into the marketing aspect which also plays a huge role. Once again, it costs a ton of money to have your ads all over the subway and McDonald's Happy Meals and USA Today. Money means investors and investors mean a primary concern with return.

Thankfully with independent distribution becoming a reality with the internet and with the rapidly dropping price of passable production equipment, both music and film (and probably even episodic television-type stuff) will find new outlets. For years I was so pissed off at the state of commercial radio since I couldn't find anything I liked. Now with ubiquitous wireless data and streaming radio and downloads, I don't care. I never am stuck with Clear Channel recycled boring music anymore. As long as I have an alternative that appeals to me, the labels and studios can pump out all the crap they want.
 
2011-02-22 06:27:41 PM
The what now?
 
2011-02-22 06:28:23 PM
Yeah yeah, originality is good and everything, but when are they going to remake The Matrix? That thing is LONG overdue for a remake.
 
2011-02-22 06:35:04 PM
epoc_tnac: Yeah yeah, originality is good and everything, but when are they going to remake The Matrix? That thing is LONG overdue for a remake.

Pffffft. Please. They need to re-boot "Green Lantern." Yeah, I know it's not even out yet, but it looks LAME.

What's the hold-up, Hollywood?
 
2011-02-22 06:40:36 PM
epoc_tnac: Yeah yeah, originality is good and everything, but when are they going to remake The Matrix? That thing is LONG overdue for a remake.

You mean a prequel.

/musical
/on ice
/"There is no SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNN!"
/*twirls*
 
2011-02-22 06:41:53 PM
Benjimin_Dover: Well when your new ideas are "about a dead king who stutters" then yes, they will get rejected.

Srsly? about a dead king who stutters?


The scene where he tries to order a single tuna fish sandwich will move you to tears.
 
2011-02-22 06:47:19 PM
I_Can't_Believe_it's_not_Boutros: Benjimin_Dover: Well when your new ideas are "about a dead king who stutters" then yes, they will get rejected.

Srsly? about a dead king who stutters?

The scene where he tries to order a single tuna fish sandwich
actual movie will move bore you to tears.
 
2011-02-22 06:47:26 PM
MaxxLarge: epoc_tnac: Yeah yeah, originality is good and everything, but when are they going to remake The Matrix? That thing is LONG overdue for a remake.

Pffffft. Please. They need to re-boot "Green Lantern." Yeah, I know it's not even out yet, but it looks LAME.

What's the hold-up, Hollywood?


I think they should redo The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

They could have Brendan Fraser, Ben Affleck and the grumpy kid from Twilight in it.
 
2011-02-22 06:47:27 PM
Universal working to bring Stretch Armstrong to the screen, while Paramount develops a Magic 8 Ball movie

Dear Hollywood,

Please kill yourselves. Now.

Thanks,

The World.
 
2011-02-22 06:52:34 PM
Who gives a crap about Hollywood anymore? World movies is where it's at.
 
2011-02-22 06:53:02 PM
Rob Schneider Derpity derpity durr
 
2011-02-22 06:57:38 PM
MaxxLarge: epoc_tnac: Yeah yeah, originality is good and everything, but when are they going to remake The Matrix? That thing is LONG overdue for a remake.

Pffffft. Please. They need to re-boot "Green Lantern." Yeah, I know it's not even out yet, but it looks LAME.

What's the hold-up, Hollywood?


I'm still waiting for a third "Alien" movie and those Star Wars prequels Lucas promised.
 
2011-02-22 07:00:10 PM
Esc7: Can you please tally up all the movies that are also remakes and translations

Isn't "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" remake out this year? The original only came out in 2009, and was only released in the US in 2010. We're really down to two years for the remake cycle?
 
2011-02-22 07:00:47 PM
Benjimin_Dover: Well when your new ideas are "about a dead king who stutters" then yes, they will get rejected.

Srsly? about a dead king who stutters?


Is that a d-d-d-d-dagger I see before m-m-m-me?
 
2011-02-22 07:16:30 PM
"people want to see the same thing they've seen a hundred times before, being clever makes them feel stupid, and new things makes them feel scared."

Fry, The Delivery Boy.
 
2011-02-22 07:24:40 PM
way south: epoc_tnac: Yeah yeah, originality is good and everything, but when are they going to remake The Matrix? That thing is LONG overdue for a remake.

You mean a prequel.

/musical
/on ice
/"There is no SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNN!"
/*twirls*


Mis-ter Anderson!
Can't let you do that Mis-ter Anderson!
 
2011-02-22 07:28:33 PM
raygundan: We're really down to two years for the remake cycle?

We've been there since the early 90s. True lies and Three men and a baby were made 2 years after the French movies on which they were based, and Point of no return, 3 years after Nikita.
 
2011-02-22 07:35:38 PM
We needed an entire long winded article to tell us what everyone already knew? Hollywood banks on proven franchises. Wow, thanks for the scoop.
 
2011-02-22 07:35:50 PM
Cromar: It's always been like that. Any art form with the suffix "industry" is like that. Don't pretend like this is something new.

darthaegis: "people want to see the same thing they've seen a hundred times before, being clever makes them feel stupid, and new things makes them feel scared."

So much a combination of these. Hindsight is 20/20, folks. There is and always has been worthless, derivative crap... we just aren't constantly bombarded by commercials for old, worthless, derivative crap. (ie)
 
2011-02-22 07:44:02 PM
All studios should just make the same movie over and over. Then we would have a frame of reference to tell if they are any good.
 
2011-02-22 07:44:50 PM
You could take all the integrity in Hollywood, stuff it up a sandfly's arse, and still have room for the souls of most producers.
 
2011-02-22 07:51:24 PM
12349876: Hollywood has rarely had ideas. A movie requires a whole bunch of people and technology and not one penny comes in until the movie is entirely complete. There are certainly a lot more sequels now, but there has always been plenty of adapting from things like books and stage shows.

With any physical media, you can do very small printings on the cheap and if it proves popular bump up productions.

A failed stage show or even TV show can close early and save money and a successful one can extend runs.

But with a movie, you have to go all in.


Not really the case anymore, with promotional tie-ins before the movie comes out, and in some cases before the movie is even in the can.

Hell, Lucas has said outright the reason he whored out the first SW prequel was so he didn't have to pay out of pocket to finance the second and third ones- a huge portion of the budgets was deals with Pepsico and toy makers for exclusive tie in rights and promo deeals for all 3 movies.
 
2011-02-22 07:53:57 PM
Ghastly: Everything in the entertainment industry comes down to formula.

Sorta...
 
2011-02-22 07:54:08 PM
mikdeetx: Um... Okay, how about this: Adam Sandler is like in love with some girl. But it turns out that the girl is actuallya golden retreiever Jennifer Aniston or something

FTFY


Pretty much the same thing, isn't it?
 
2011-02-22 08:07:25 PM
Esc7: Anayalator: By the end of 2011, Hollywood will break their record for most sequels released in a calendar year. According to Box Office Mojo, 27 films released in 2011 will be sequels, up from 24 in 2003.

Here's how it breaks it down. 27 sequels total. Nine second movies (up from eight in 2010), five third movies (down from seven), five fourth movies, five fifth movies, two seventh movies and one eighth movie. 9+5+5+5+2+1=27.

The second movies are Cars 2, Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules, The Hangover Part II, Happy Feet 2, Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil, Johnny English Reborn, Kung Fu Panda 2, Piranha 3DD and Sherlock Holmes: The Book of Shadows.

The third movies are Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, Madea's Big Happy Family, Paranormal Activity 3 and Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

The fourth movies are Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Scream 4, Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part One).

The fifth movies are Fast Five, Final Destination 5, Puss in Boots, X-Men: First Class and Winnie the Pooh.

The seventh movies are The Muppets and Rise of the Apes.

And the eighth movie is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two.Link (new window)

Can you please tally up all the movies that are also remakes and translations from other media??? Pretty please??


No.
 
2011-02-22 08:33:00 PM
Esc7: Anayalator: By the end of 2011, Hollywood will break their record for most sequels released in a calendar year. According to Box Office Mojo, 27 films released in 2011 will be sequels, up from 24 in 2003.

Here's how it breaks it down. 27 sequels total. Nine second movies (up from eight in 2010), five third movies (down from seven), five fourth movies, five fifth movies, two seventh movies and one eighth movie. 9+5+5+5+2+1=27.

The second movies are Cars 2, Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules, The Hangover Part II, Happy Feet 2, Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil, Johnny English Reborn, Kung Fu Panda 2, Piranha 3DD and Sherlock Holmes: The Book of Shadows.

The third movies are Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, Madea's Big Happy Family, Paranormal Activity 3 and Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

The fourth movies are Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Scream 4, Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part One).

The fifth movies are Fast Five, Final Destination 5, Puss in Boots, X-Men: First Class and Winnie the Pooh.

The seventh movies are The Muppets and Rise of the Apes.

And the eighth movie is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two.Link (new window)

Can you please tally up all the movies that are also remakes and translations from other media??? Pretty please??


Reading all of that made me depressed.

/ Obvious tag busy on the casting couch?
 
2011-02-22 08:37:56 PM
grinding_journalist: 12349876: Hollywood has rarely had ideas. A movie requires a whole bunch of people and technology and not one penny comes in until the movie is entirely complete. There are certainly a lot more sequels now, but there has always been plenty of adapting from things like books and stage shows.

With any physical media, you can do very small printings on the cheap and if it proves popular bump up productions.

A failed stage show or even TV show can close early and save money and a successful one can extend runs.

But with a movie, you have to go all in.

Not really the case anymore, with promotional tie-ins before the movie comes out, and in some cases before the movie is even in the can.

Hell, Lucas has said outright the reason he whored out the first SW prequel was so he didn't have to pay out of pocket to finance the second and third ones- a huge portion of the budgets was deals with Pepsico and toy makers for exclusive tie in rights and promo deeals for all 3 movies.


First of all, established franchise there with Star Wars.

Second of all, if you're releasing toys and seeing if they're successful before you make the movie, then Hollywood didn't really try a new idea, the idea was proven with the toy just like a proven book turns into a movie.
 
2011-02-22 08:43:05 PM
12349876: grinding_journalist: 12349876: Hollywood has rarely had ideas. A movie requires a whole bunch of people and technology and not one penny comes in until the movie is entirely complete. There are certainly a lot more sequels now, but there has always been plenty of adapting from things like books and stage shows.

With any physical media, you can do very small printings on the cheap and if it proves popular bump up productions.

A failed stage show or even TV show can close early and save money and a successful one can extend runs.

But with a movie, you have to go all in.

Not really the case anymore, with promotional tie-ins before the movie comes out, and in some cases before the movie is even in the can.

Hell, Lucas has said outright the reason he whored out the first SW prequel was so he didn't have to pay out of pocket to finance the second and third ones- a huge portion of the budgets was deals with Pepsico and toy makers for exclusive tie in rights and promo deeals for all 3 movies.

First of all, established franchise there with Star Wars.

Second of all, if you're releasing toys and seeing if they're successful before you make the movie, then Hollywood didn't really try a new idea, the idea was proven with the toy just like a proven book turns into a movie.


Couldn't you say that Star Wars was a risky investment by Hollywood and kind of debunks the article?
 
2011-02-22 08:44:00 PM
Ghastly: Everything in the entertainment industry comes down to formula. They actually have software that determines if a book, movie, tv series, comicbook, or song is going to be a success.


It's simpler than that. A good story is the first thing that is needed. Hollywood certainly produces plenty of crap in addition to the few good stories that appear, but the reality is if you write a good story, they'll find you. And a good story produced by a studio that knows its ropes is called a Pixar film. Meanwhile, indies sometimes have flashes of potential, but there's usually a reason why a given indie script was passed on by the studios. They're not ALL about "gay cowboys eating pudding," but in many cases they're not that far from.

Right now, the movie studios are crying out desperately for good stories. In some cases they are their own biggest obstacle, with overworked readers and assistants and idiot producers unable to get out of their own way when a good story crosses their path. But those good stories will eventually go somewhere, when some star looking for a vehicle or some producer having a lucid morning finally spots Surprisingly Decent Script #815 and options it.

In 2009, for example, there were four movies that were really worthy of being called "top-tier" for entertainment value and quality: The Hangover, Up, District 9, and Zombieland. The common denominator among all four? A well-written, well-paced, well-structured, well-executed STORY.
 
2011-02-22 08:54:31 PM
Benjimin_Dover: Well when your new ideas are "about a dead king who stutters" then yes, they will get rejected.
Srsly? about a dead king who stutters?


Yeah, how could you tell when a zombie is stuttering anyway? Fail.
 
2011-02-22 08:55:29 PM
Anastacya: Couldn't you say that Star Wars was a risky investment by Hollywood and kind of debunks the article?

The sequels weren't risky. And there's rarely an absolute in this world, trends always have exceptions.

Sci fi was a well established genre. Lucas had Francis Ford Coppola on his side making successful movies. A script that reads like a Western. Star Wars had a lot of originality, but it wasn't created from a vacuum.
 
2011-02-22 08:57:30 PM
stirfrybry: if you still go to movies, you are the problem

Or there isn't a problem. Some people have sticks up their asses and some people go to movies to catch a flick to have something called... fun.
 
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