Superman Returns My Way

Roger RmJet writes:

Bill, got a group challenge for you, similar to the "reboot" challenge from a few weeks ago.

So, Variety confirms that WB has signed Singer to do a sequel to Superman Returns. Here's a chance for a do-over, to correct some mistakes (like the lack of action, which Singer has acknowledged) and do it right this time.

Singer has saddled himself with some challenges, however. Some are easy to fix, like the costume. But what about the kid? The casting? The writers? If you were producing, what would you do this time around?

Okay, it would be pretty egotistical of me to jump into the producer's seat of this, but fortunately for me I have ego to spare (or at least pretend to...). Here's a few things I would do (that's the caveat here folks, this is purely a wish-fulfillment scenario) :

- Singer only has $100M. Period. No cost overruns (unless there's a natural disaster like in APOCALYPSE NOW). You have to make the movie fit the budget, not the other way around.

- Shot in Australia using many of the same sets as before.

- Redesign the costume BACK to what it was. No leather-like cape. No West-Hollywood boy shorts.

- I would re-use the footage already shot wherever possible. There's a whole Krypton exploration sequence we never got to see - Let's see it.

- NO LEX LUTHOR. NO MISS WHAT'SHERNAME. They are still stuck on the island. Maybe Lex is alone now because he's killed her for food. I don't know because we will never see him in this film.

- We have to see Superman being super. We have to see the consequences of it too.

- Lois knows Clark is Superman. Lois is pissed off at being deceived all these years , but more pissed off that she let herself be deceived all these years.

- Kal-el went off into space for five years. What if something tracked him back and that something was the former Kryptonian super-computer we know as Brainiac?

- It's just Supes v. Brainiac. No other villains. No henchmen. Just pure super-humanity v. cold, hard technology (and remember, Brainiac doesn't care about casulties).

- Supes son gets hurt by Brainiac (which is why Clark kept it a secret all those years so his enemies wouldn't get at him through his family). This impacts Lois and Clark's relationship forever.

Okay kids, that's my take. What's yours?

Prepping for (a fight) AFM

[cue: Theme from ROCKY]

Been super busy - as I've told all of you who've been kind enough to email - preparing for the American Film Market. We've been finishing a lot of stuff here at Firebrain Design and I've been arranging meetings here and there.

In the meantime, VIDEO BUSINESS has another great feature promotional piece on the state of horror in Home Entertainment.

You can read about it here.

There's always a wealth of data to be had in these magazines so I urge you to sign up for the digital editions. Quick, easy and accessible news you can use.

I am retreating back to my cave... at least until AFM and then Shawna's shindig. Feel free to email and/or comment.

;D

It's Alive!

Yes, I am alive, lurking in the darkness of Los Feliz [ a suburb of LA for those who've never heard of it]. I have lots of stuff to catch up on after I get a new apartment and get ready for AFM.

I will be touching base here and there...

Going Offline

Of course the last thing being moved out of the Secret Mountain HQ is my computer. I am going to pack the beast up and transport her over to Firebrain Design where I'll be working for awhile.

My body aches with all of the boxes I've moved. It is a three Tylenol evening.

I will let you know when I'm back online. In the meantime jibber-jabber amongst yourselves leaving me all sort of quips, quotes, questions and conundrums...I'll answer when I'm back online and out of the ICU.

The pain, the pain.

AIP Formula

In response to Will Dixon's comment as to who and what Amercian International Pictures was, I present you with this concise history of the company and its principals Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson.

Please note the parallels between the movie industry in the 1950's and today. What AIP did was apply solid business marketing principles to the business and exploit the teenage audience niche. In the process they become one of the most successful independent production and distribution companies in the industry - ever.

Trendwatch

Joel Silver announced he has $240M in funding from investment banking firms for a slate of 15 films. Warner Bros is on board to distribute. You can read about the details here courtesy Variety.

Note the math: 15 films for $240M. First eight films are being produced. Investors paid back and profits plowed into the rest of the slate.
Note the financing: From outside Hollywood. Warners is distributing only.
Note the frequency: Lots of films produced at once. A Library of sorts.
Note the genre: These movies are being produced under Silver's Dark Castle banner which has given us HOUSE OF WAX, THIRTEEN GHOSTS and HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL - all considered "teen horror" movies.
Note: These movies have done okay at the box office, but killed on DVD.

My question:

Has Hollywood rediscovered the "AIP formula" from the fifties and sixties?

A Car Salesman By Any Other Name...

We've discussed how movies are sold worldwide - Sellers and Buyers gather together in hotels and pavillions all over the globe and conduct business. They try to outdo one another in making the deal. Buyers want to buy packages of movies cheap. Sellers want to sell packages of movies and want a big movie or series to 'hook' the buyers into their offices so they can sell those packages. It's the same principle that drives people to the fresh markets - in fact I expect to see butchered, smoked flesh hanging about the Loew's Hotel this AFM. Right next to that indie drama some film school graduate thought would be his artistic "statement."

But these pics of the booth in Mipcom look downright civilized don't they?
I suppose it's the wonderful banners across the back wall advertising THE TUDORS...

See - the Buyers sit down at the table with the Sellers and watch trailers and look at the artwork. Haggling is done and deals are signed.

It's that simple.

But you have to give the Sellers something to sell and the Buyers something to buy...

Maybe NOT so simple.

Poking About A Bit...

In the midst of this move, I decided to waste time gussying up the place. The nifty little slideshow in the header is from Slide.com and you can do the same with your pages too. Kind of mindless fun - which is very appropriate for the mad pulp bastard these days. I even made a slide show of pulp magazine covers that I'll have to post up. It's hypnotic.

Hmmm...maybe I'll run a contest or two around these slideshows and the winner is the one who guesses the theme linking the covers.

Things will be hectic this coming week as I move out of the secret mountain HQ and into temporary quarters. My computer and all my work will be over with the fine folks at Firebrain Design who I'm working with on all these Peace Arch campaigns. Speaking of that - the picture above was written by one of the Great White North's new pulp screenwriters and regular DISContent reader, Tim McGregor. Congratulations on having your screenwriting cherry popped!

It's being released in the US by Genius Products and in Canada by KBoom. Tim and I corresponded about his adventures in pulp filmmaking, and it's a blood-curdling tale to say the least - especially with all the cheese fries involved. I did all of the photo edits on this one, and saw the finished product only after I edited everything and wrote the captions. That's the way it works sometimes, guys.

Also coming up is an interview with the director of a film that is destined to be a pulpy camp classic - MONARCH OF THE MOON! It's a film with a ton of production value for very little money. It has style and wit and is a lot of fun. It will be released in December by Image.

I'm also arranging an interview with my pulpy pal in Brooklyn: Writer-Director James Felix McKenney and his film AUTOMATONS.

It's my goal with these interviews to show you how pulp screenwriting is turned into pulp filmmaking - creating cool movies for less - so we can all get off our collective ass and do it.

Stay tuned...

The Little Mermaid Ain't...

so little.

Disney reported that over 4 million units of the two-disc platinum edition of THE LITTLE MERMAID were sold in stores in the space of a WEEK.
The disc retails at $29.99, so at 4 million units it equals $119,960,000. 65% of that goes back to Disney (give or take a few percentage points to account for the variety of price points that the retailers set)

Now Disney also has a LITTLE MERMAID D2DVD sequel out there too - which will enjoy additional sales because of this release.

Expect another D2DVD sequel to be announced... I'm just sayin'

Now This...

This is pulp.




I need to be alone now.

How Did I Miss This?

Warren Ellis reports today in his [Bad Signal] newsletter that STARGATE SG-1 is going to DVD. You can read about it here.

In addition, there's an interesting slate of DVD Premieres coming our way.

[thinking out loud]

Things are shaking up and moving around. Financial models are being rethought as are production techniques...

They need writers. Writers who are used to low budgets and how to work around limitations. Writers who know how to deliver a near production-ready draft. Writers who can re-use stock footage. Writers who can deliver what the audience wants...and then surprise them with something they weren't expecting.

And as this develops we are going to see series of DVD features being shot back-to-back, so the concept of "The Writer's Room" may have relevance to the feature business.

And at the start of this they will be using properties they own for DVD Premiere sequels, but eventually we'll see originals come into it.

Producers won't think of these as "stand-alones" - going to be even more "franchise-think" in Hollywood.

Cable nets will come into it and movies may premiere on cable and DVD near simultaneously - using the cable release as advertising.

You Tube will become a force for premiering movies (if it hasn't already).

Another Link in the Chain...

I saw a comment by someone last night on Denis McGrath's blog that claimed to be from Scribosphere.org, which of course aroused my curiosity.

Long story short - they are taking the best screenwriting tips of the Scribosphere and putting them up on their blog. A worthwhile endeavor if only for the convenience factor. I'll be putting their link up in the sidebar soon.

That also got me thinking that there are a bunch of people out there who have linked to me that I don't even know. So do me the favor of sending me a comment about who you are and why you linked up.

Thanks!

By Now...

All of you regular DISContented folk will have seen the first two episodes of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.

(And if you haven't - leave now and go do so by any means necessary. So say we all.)

I will leave the political philosphy to better wordsmiths than myself. My contribution to that line of discussion is simply this: Ron Moore is making us think (and more importantly feel) about that dirty, nasty word "insurgent."

That is a damn good thing.

Moore and co. have taken the show in a bold new direction - the path it was always meant for, but never found in the original series. I am stirred and shaken by the quality of the writing.

Some of you have probably thought this as well but here goes:

Did Moore co-opt V and plug it into the BSG storyline?

Less Budget, More Pics

Platinum Dunes (Michael Bay's company) strikes a deal to make pictures for Rogue for under $25 Million each.

Read about it here.

It's interesting to note that the blockbuster-budgeted Bay (ARMAGEDDON, THE ROCK. PEARL HARBOR) is head of a company whose greatest success to date has been the remake of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE which was made for $9M and grossed $109M.

They also seem to be targeting remakes...which is another DISCussion.

What I've Been Working On...

Just got the go-ahead to put some of our recent work up here on DISContent. This is a show which will be airing on Showtime here in the states . It's currently in production in Ireland, and is in fact, a Canada / Ireland co-production being produced and distributed internationally by Peace Arch Entertainment.

Edit: Just discovered this free preview on Yahoo, courtesy Showtime.

The Secret to the Future is Quantity...

But don't take my word for it.

Read this.

Then we'll DISCuss it.

I Need to Write a Book...Maybe

Just got my proof back for my article in Scr(i)pt magazine, and I have to tell you guys there's a lot of useful information in there.

Too much information.

As I flipped through the pages I could see the kitchen sink sticking out from behind the pic of Carlos Gallardo from El Mariachi (one of the examples of a pulp movie I use in the article). I threw a bit of everything in there, and I think maybe I was fearful that I would never be asked to write one of these things again, so I might as well shoot my wad...

And that was a mistake. I didn't follow my own advice and focus. I used a lot of stuff from here and there - bits of it you've seen on the blog. I've given you a lovely overview of pulp screenwriting.

So maybe I need to write a book - to at least codify my thoughts and methods in the fine art of pulp filmmaking. The kind of book I could have used when I was banging my head against the wall in SC trying to figure out how to write screenplays.

[Side note: I recently found some old writings of mine, graded by a professor who I considered a mentor. He was overly kind and encouraging, and a big help when I was going through school for the second time. I read what I wrote and thought it was the biggest pile of dog drool I have ever written. Then I remembered that I was going through girlfriend trouble at the time, and it all sort of clicked into place]

Well, anyway - take a look at the article coming out next month and tell me what you think.