Big Surprise: Top Grossing Movies of the Decade Are Basically All Franchise Films
Wednesday, November 18, 2009 4:40 AM | From Film Junk
Here's another list for you to digest as we approach the end of the decade. Jason Kottke [1] recently took a look at the list of highest-grossing films from 2000-2009 courtesy of Wikipedia [2], and makes the observation that only one movie in the top 20 is based on an original screenplay. The rest of the movies are all adaptations of books or sequels to existing franchises.
Now, it's pretty easy to jump on this list and whine and moan about how it means there is nothing original in Hollywood anymore. While I agree that there is a problem with studios valuing brand over concept, don't forget, we are talking about the movies that made the most money here. OF COURSE familiar characters and titles are going to attract more viewers than strange and unfamiliar ones... doesn't that make sense? A lot of people don't even see movies at the theatre, so they don't discover something until it hits TV or DVD. The first installment is the one that introduces the concept, attracts a following and then builds the franchise. Even the first movie from an existing property needs to build an audience -- notice that Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Spider-Man are the only movies on this list that are the first in their series?
Anyway, I'm not saying it's good, but it's certainly not surprising. Unfortunately it's this trend that has also resulted in the whole toy and board game movie debacle. Maybe we need a few brand-based movies to fail so that people realize that good stories are also important. Check out the top 20 grossing movies of the decade after the jump. What do you think, is it depressing or deserving?
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
3. The Dark Knight
4. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
6. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
8. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
9. Shrek 2
10. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
11. Spider-Man 3
12. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
13. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
14. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
15. Finding Nemo
16. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
17. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
18. Spider-Man
19. Shrek the Third
20. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
[1] http://kottke.org/09/11/the-2000s-according-to-wikipedia
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000s_in_film
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Is Avatar One of the Top 100 Movies of the Decade?
Wednesday, November 11, 2009 1:40 PM | From Film Junk
The end of the decade is almost upon us, which means that over the next month or so you can expect to see all kinds of lists counting down the "Best Of" the previous 10 years in just about everything. One of the first publications out of the gate with their Best Movies of the Decade list is London's Telegraph [1], who count down their top 100 movies from 2000 to 2009. There are some interesting choices and some predictable ones, along with a few movies I've never even heard of.
One thing that has a few people raising an eyebrow, however, is the fact that they've included James Cameron's Avatar on their list, based solely on the 15-minute IMAX preview! Isn't that a little presumptuous? To be fair, they did tack it on at the end of the list at #100, but it still feels like they're going mainly based on hype rather than anything concrete. Do you think that Avatar will end up being one of the decade's best films? Do you agree with the rest of their choices? I have a feeling they're going to get some flack for that #1. Check out their top 20 after the jump, and read the rest over at Telegraph.co.uk [2].
20. Lost in Translation
19. Capote
18. Mamma Mia!
17. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days
16. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
15. Before Sunset
14. Saw
13. West of the Tracks
12. Amelie
11. The Lives of Others
10. Slumdog Millionaire
9. The Passion of the Christ
8. Amores Perros
7. Borat
6. Memento
5. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
4. There Will Be Blood
3. The Incredibles
2. Brokeback Mountain
1. Fahrenheit 9/11
[1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/6501160/Top-100-movies-defining-the-noughties-00s-in-film.html
[2] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/6501160/Top-100-movies-defining-the-noughties-00s-in-film.html
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Guillermo del Toro Talks Hobbit Monsters
Monday, November 9, 2009 5:28 PM | From Screen Rant
Guillermo del Toro (director of Hellboy and Blade II) dished to Total Film in a 10-page Q&A about his forthcoming movie adapted from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. For those of you who somehow missed the phenomenon of Peter Jackson’s Lord of The Rings Trilogy, The Hobbit is a prequel to The Fellowship of the Ring [...]
Michael Jacksons This Is It Enters the Top-25 Advance Ticket Sellers of All-Time
Three weeks prior to its October 28th release, Michael Jacksons This Is It is now one of the MovieTickets.com Top-25 Advance Ticket Sellers of All-Time, bumping The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring from the Number 25 slot. At the same point in the sales cycle, Michael Jacksons This Is It is on the heels of Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds, the highest grossing concert film of all-time.
Heres the updated Top-25:
MovieTickets.com Top-25 Advance Ticket Sellers of All-Time
1. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince + IMAX + IMAX 3-D
3. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (4) + IMAX
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
5. The Dark Knight + IMAX
6. Twilight
7. Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Disney Digital 3-D
8. Harry Potter and the Order of ...
This fall, New Yorkers and those able to travel to the Big Apple can take part in a very special occasion: The landmark Radio City Music Hall will play host to over 300 musicians performing Howard Shores award-winning score for THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING as the movie plays on its 60-foot screen for two nights only, Friday-Saturday, October 9-10. The ensemble of musicians includes Switzerlands 21st Century Symphony Orchestra, the internationally acclaimed Collegiate Chorale, the Grammy Award-winning Brooklyn Youth Chorus and renowned soprano Kaitlyn Lusk, all under the direction of maestro Ludwig Wicki.
In addition to these special evenings, there will be numerous festivities throughout the weekend which will also celebrate the upcoming release of THE MUSIC OF THE LORD OF THE RINGS FILMS by Doug Adams, which chronicles the creation of the Peter Jackson trilogys score and profiles composer Shore. These events include Adams joining Shore for pre-concert discussions and post-performance signing sessions, and panels with Tolkien linguist David Salo, who translated all of the choral lyrics for the RINGS compositions.
In his work on the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, Adams tells Fango, Howard Shore, following J.R.R. Tolkiens lead, created something that extended past pop culture and reached into the world of legitimate high art. That struck me as something worth celebrating and analyzing. Too often, music in film is thought of as nothing more than a mood-based backdrop, but it has a shape and a structure that can contribute incredibly to a dramatic narrative. Once you're aware of Shores process and the thought behind it, you appreciate his music so much more.
The book, currently scheduled for late-2009 publication, and the Radio City screenings will be the culmination of a long creative association between Adams and Shore. Weve been in constant contact over the past nine years or so, Adams says. I generally make it out to his office two, three, four times a year, but were constantly conferring via e-mail or phone. It was important for us to be in sync on this at all times. I wanted to get in his mind as much as humanly possible. And Howards such a generous collaborator, so it made my job that much easier. For tickets and more information, visit the RINGS concerts official website, and see Adams RINGS blog here.
If there's one thing I learned from the way Lord Of The Rings was released by New Line, it's that New Line's accountant were either incredibly dumb or some of the most evil people on the planet.Peter Jackson himself sued New Line in 2005 for under-paying him on The Fellowship of The Ring. In 2007, Jackson settled for an undisclosed amount. Saul Zaentz, a producer who once owned film rights to the LOTR story also sued New Line over his share of the receipts and settled in 2005 for $168 million.And this was all before Warner Bros. sucked up the studio.Once again it's legal mumbo-jumbo time on Latino Review. Let's begin!- In 1969 J.R.R. Tolkien sold the film rights to his work to United Artists for $250,000 and 7.5% of the gross after a studio recoups their expense. That much is known. The Tolkien Heirs and their charity group The Tolkien Trust also insist that the original contract let Tolkien revoke the rights to additional films in the event of a breach of contract.- MGM bought out United Artists, absorbing the rights and keeping international distribution rights on the film while selling production rights to New Line, who hired Peter Jackson, etc.- The Lord Of The Rings films gross an estimated $6 billion dollars (to date). New Line gets sucked up into Warner Bros. The Tolkien Heirs know that after the studio re-couped 2.6x their production budget, the estate is entitled to 7.5%.- Time Warner doesn't pay out, so the Tolkien estate sues for $220 million dollars. The studio says the original contract is vague, so they're only going to hand over 20% of home video sales (because home video wasn't invented) instead of the 100% the Tolkiens are seeking. Studio lawyers also say that for some lawyer-ish reason, the Tolkiens are only entitled to 2.5%, not 7.5% of revenues from The Two Towers and The Return Of The King.- The Tolkiens are pissed, settlement talks go south and the suit will go in front of a jury in October of this year in the Los Angeles Superior Court.Got it? Sort of?Here's the nitty gritty: Time Warner thinks that with some "Hollywood accounting" and a few pithy legal fees, they can avoid paying out $220 million dollars. It's unlikely that this case will cost that much in man-power. Warners is a big studio and is good with the lawyering.The Tolkiens, on the other hand, are pissed. So pissed, in fact, that if the original contract is upheld, they will halt the production and/or release of Guillermo Del Toro's two Hobbit films by pulling the rights all-together. Warners obviously doesn't want that to happen, because they are looking at a pay day estimated around $4 billion if those two films are made.Interestingly enough, if the Tolkiens do win and pull the rights from Warners, they would be free to sell those rights under a more modern contract. And get this: You know who owns the publishing rights to Tolkiens work?NewsCorp.Damn 20th Century Fox has an in.Stay tuned, entertainment law fans.Source: Bloomberg
Peter Jackson and Guerillmo Del Toro have been working hard, getting the scripts for the two upcoming prequels to the Lord Of The Rings trilogy ready for a more vigorous pre-production. We suspect certain actors from the previous trilogy will join on for these two films, one based on The Hobbit and the other on additional material bridging The Hobbit and the War Of The Ring trilogy. The question has always been hanging in the air since these projects were announced is who is going to inherit the role of Bilbo Baggins since Ian Holm (Bilbo in the previous films) is too old to return to a prequel part.Now, rumors from Hero Complex suggest that Peter Jackson (attending Comic Con in support of District 9, which he produced) is going to drop the casting bomb on us next week. That means the short list is now important, so who's on it?We've been hearing four names (although one is a stupid rumor-based long shot) and they are:
David Tennant - That's right, the UK's Dr. Who might be playing Bilbo. He's kind of a new face for audiences outside England and genre-lovi' Who fans, so he might be the best choice if Del Toro and Jackson want to bring someone new into the epic fantasy fold.
Daniel Radcliffe - Obviously not new to the epic fantasy fold as most of you saw him or plan on seeing him as Harry Potter this weekend/ It seems like an odd choice to go from one blockbuster, bar-setting fantasy to the next, but who turns down a Peter Jackson Tolkien movie? Really?
James McAvoy - He played a pretty good bad-ass in Wanted, was saccharine sweet in Atonement and flexed his chops in The Last King Of Scotland. McAvoy has some range and he's also done fantasy epic in Narnia as Mr. Tumnus in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
Jack Black - Yeah, that's not going to happen. But someone put his name in there. Probably the British and their tabloid press.
The conspiracy theory de jour is that David Tennant is going to be the winner. Dr. Who is having it's first showing ever at the San Diego Con and Tennant will be in attendance. I'm okay with every choice except - obviously - the fake one. I think McAvoy would be able to make the less-wise Bilbo believable, but also be able to transition the character closer to Holm's appearance in The Fellowship Of The Ring. Radcliffe is developing at a faster pace than I expected him to, building his chops from years and years as a wizard. It wouldn't be a bad choice, but I could see some folks getting incensed. Tennant has experience selling sci-fi/fantasy plots and with a built in audience for more Tolkien adaptations, casting a big name like McAvoy or Radcliffe might be an unnecessary move if Tennant can do the job and do it well.My money is about evenly split between McAvoy and Tennant.If Jack Black gets the part. Well, there might be riots. Geek riots.Source: Hero Complex
Originally, we heard that the plan was to adapt The Hobbit into one film, and then a second film would be made that bridged the gap between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. However Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson have revealed to Empire that the intention now [...]
Viggo Mortensen talks The Hobbit
Tuesday, February 3, 2009 2:56 PM | From Total Film
Lord Of The Rings star Viggo Mortensen has spoken to totalfilm.com about The Hobbit, addressing speculation as to whether he’ll reprise his role as Aragorn.
“I’d rather finish the job myself than have another actor do it,” says Mortensen. “I’m interested in principle, but I’d want to see it done in the right spirit of Tolkien.”
Viggo gave a nod of approval to new director Guillermo del Toro, saying, “He’s strongminded, intelligent and probably just as stubborn [as Jackson].
"I don’t know if it’ll be as big a circus [as the Trilogy] in terms of several people writing changes at the last minute.
“Maybe it’ll be more streamlined and efficient, but to some degree it’ll probably be as bewildering a set-up as the other three.”
Mortensen also claims the original trilogy became more led by effects as the series progressed.
“The Fellowship Of The Ring for me was the one most faithful to Tolkien. The one that had the most to do with any kind of subtlety in terms of performance and storytelling.
“Starting with the second one it became more of a blockbuster special effects thing. That’s not to say as that type of movie they weren’t the best.
"You can’t argue with the films’ success, but had it been me, I would have focused less on the effects and more on the characterisations.
“I’d have allowed the secondary characters to speak more and not be so focused on the heroes. There was more balance in the way that all the races of Middle-earth were presented in the first one. It was more about the relationships… That’s just my personal taste.”
See the new issue of Total Film Magazine for a full version of our Viggo Mortensen interview.
Review: Australia
Tuesday, November 25, 2008 5:49 PM | From Cinematical
With his previous feature film Australian director Baz Luhrmann came within tasting distance of a Best Picture Oscar, as well as several other awards. Moulin Rouge!(2001) did win two, for Costume Design and Art Direction, but all the glory that year went to other things. He must have taken notes; The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring cleaned up in the technical categories with four Oscars, and Black Hawk Down took two more. Two serious, disease-of-the-week dramas won in the "upper" categories: A Beautiful Mind and Iris. The following year, Luhrmann must have watched while the jaunty Chicago won Best Picture, and Roman Polanski won Best Director for his lengthy Holocaust drama, The Pianist.
So Luhrmann set out to work on his fourth film, Australia. Maybe it started out once, many years ago, as a 90-minute pop-Western about driving cattle and saving the farm. This entire section is bright and quick and exciting -- and lots of fun. But then perhaps he decided that that just wasn't enough, or at least it's not enough for anyone who wants to win a great big Best Director trophy. So at the 90-minute mark, Australia more or less stops, transforms itself into a giant-sized World War II drama, complete with grayness, dropping bombs and angel choruses, and keeps going for another interminable hour. But is it enough to fool Academy voters?
This fall, New Yorkers and those able to travel to the Big Apple can take part in a very special occasion: The landmark Radio City Music Hall will play host to over 300 musicians performing Howard Shores award-winning score for THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING as the movie plays on its 60-foot screen for two nights only, Friday-Saturday, October 9-10. The ensemble of musicians includes Switzerlands 21st Century Symphony Orchestra, the internationally acclaimed Collegiate Chorale, the Grammy Award-winning Brooklyn Youth Chorus and renowned soprano Kaitlyn Lusk, all under the direction of maestro Ludwig Wicki.
