The BJMDDS General Discussion Thread......

[FormerBondFan]

I hear David Arnold wont be composing the music for 'Skyfall' as he's been given the task of doing the job of the music for the London 2012 Olympics.

Instead 'Thomas Newman' a composer used by Mendes in the past is to do the score.

Does anyone know of Newmans work, and do they think it would be suitable for a Bond film?

I hope we dont get a Michel Legrand type score, or that will alienate Bond fans further.

Shame Arnold cant do the music, as that has always been very Bondian.

EA

I was wondering this, I remember Arnold from earlier movies long before Bond he was memorable. I've seen the new guys movie but I don't remember being impressed with the score. He has won awards but I'd rather someone like whoever scored the Incredibles.

I think Arnold will be missed big time. IMO this is a bad omen for Skyfall.

Is he available? I bet he's perfect to score Bond 23: Nothing Special.

[bjmdds]

"When asked if that makes Dragon Tattoo a flop, one movie analyst tells E!:"A debut of $13 million over the holiday season is equivalent to a lump of coal, especially for a film that brings along this much fanfare. With a budget approaching $90 million, plus purchasing the rights to the Millennium franchise, plus big-time marketing, this will go down as a dud." {After 3 weekends out it is only at $76 million in the USA. They spent tons promoting this so far}

[Blowfeld]

Falls in line with something Mazer said to me.

Sony Going Ahead With ‘Dragon Tattoo’ Sequels Despite Underperforming Box Office
By NIKKI FINKE | Sunday January 8, 2012 @ 4:59pm PSTTags: Steig Larsson Millenium Trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest, The Girl Who Played With Fire
Comments (1)

EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures is not known for risky moves. So all through the holidays rival studio execs were predicting that Amy Pascal et al would not go forward with the 2nd and 3rd film installments of Steig Larsson’s bestselling Millennium-trilogy The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest. That opinion was based on the mediocre opening for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Sure its domestic debut was significantly behind M:I4 and Sherlock 2, but it’s R-rated and both of those are PG-13. Then overseas grosses, expected to be huge, began trickling in underwhelming. GWDT opened only 3rd in the UK, and disappointing in Asia, and “not as good as hoped for” in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. Now I’ve learned that Sony Pictures is indeed going forward with The Girl Who Played With Fire already written by Steve Zallian, and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest which Zallian is penning. Studio chief Amy Pascal and producer Scott Rudin have not yet locked in David Fincher as director. But they’re looking to start shooting #2 by the end of this year/beginning of next. Overseas Sony now expects GWDT to do over $200M — so $300M all in globally. “And that’s a really good number,” the Sony exec told me hopefully. But one mogul counters, “The surprising part is that Sony is not waiting to see if the movie works overseas before going forward with the sequels. I would have.”

Right now Dragon Tattoo has amassed a $76.8M domestic cume and should get very close to $100M because it’s holding better than any other holiday movie. Sony and rival studios believe the movie’s box office was hurt by that long brutal rape scene not appropriate for a Christmas release. (“It’s a notch too dark for that window,” one studio chief tells me. Agrees a top Sony exec, “It was too cocky of us. We might think about that next time.”) Counting against GWDT was that the Hollywood version of the bestselling book had already been made into a Swedish film widely distributed beginning in 2009. Plus Zallian and Fincher changed the first book’s ending. As for book #2, its challenge is that title character Lisbeth Salander played by Rooney Mara) isn’t much in it. But Sony has changed that, too, and Zallian’s script places her front and center again.

[Alessandra]

I love Nikki Finke. She manages to be sarcastic without making it appear like that at all and by using actual facts and figures. She is making Pascal come off as the utter and complete moron she is while sounding apparently completely objective.

I knew they'd go ahead with the sequels (at least for now) because not doing so would have meant admitting MAJOR defeat for Sony and they'd never do that. Wait until they're done though. Saying they'll do them and actually filming them are two entirely different things. It could also be that the deal they have forces them to go through with it because of many reasons. There's no way to spin this ridiculously bad performance for such a much-fanfared movie into anything good. It was a dud, the end. But they are still going through. For now.

As far as Arnold not doing the theme. Well I'm relieved. At least this is officially NOT a Bond movie anymore, with an actor who was never Bond in the role and all the rest being turned into a gigantic mess, music included. I'm seriously curious to know how this will go down because for now there isn't a SINGLE piece of news about it that is satisfying. Not one. It's actually quite funny at this point because they seem hellbent on not doing ANYTHING right, which is just

Falls in line with something Mazer said to me.

Mazer is ALWAYS right!

[FormerBondFan]

Ale, what do you think of this person as the composer for Bond 23: Nothing Special?

[Omega]

Heard you the first time.

[Omega]

"When asked if that makes Dragon Tattoo a flop, one movie analyst tells E!:"A debut of $13 million over the holiday season is equivalent to a lump of coal, especially for a film that brings along this much fanfare. With a budget approaching $90 million, plus purchasing the rights to the Millennium franchise, plus big-time marketing, this will go down as a dud." {After 3 weekends out it is only at $76 million in the USA. They spent tons promoting this so far}

"They spent tons" Hom much is a tons the cost of the movie, more?

[Omega]

I love Nikki Finke. She manages to be sarcastic without making it appear like that at all and by using actual facts and figures. She is making Pascal come off as the utter and complete moron she is while sounding apparently completely objective.

I knew they'd go ahead with the sequels (at least for now) because not doing so would have meant admitting MAJOR defeat for Sony and they'd never do that. Wait until they're done though. Saying they'll do them and actually filming them are two entirely different things. It could also be that the deal they have forces them to go through with it because of many reasons. There's no way to spin this ridiculously bad performance for such a much-fanfared movie into anything good. It was a dud, the end. But they are still going through. For now.

As far as Arnold not doing the theme. Well I'm relieved. At least this is officially NOT a Bond movie anymore, with an actor who was never Bond in the role and all the rest being turned into a gigantic mess, music included. I'm seriously curious to know how this will go down because for now there isn't a SINGLE piece of news about it that is satisfying. Not one. It's actually quite funny at this point because they seem hellbent on not doing ANYTHING right, which is just

Falls in line with something Mazer said to me.

Mazer is ALWAYS right!

If the movie really sucks it will be stuck in development hell like the sequel to Superman Returns. Now that gone and the series is rebooting, like spiderman and Batman will do soon.

[bjmdds]

"Hitting fifth place, David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo drew US$12.6 million from 33 territories, including US$6.6 million in Russia.

The Hollywood version of the Swedish thriller, starring Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgard and Rooney Mara (The Social Network), debuted at the top in Hong Kong and South Africa. With a worldwide gross of US$106.1 million, 72.4 per cent has been generated in the US so far. — AFP-Relaxnews" {They have a LONG way to go to reach the projected $300 million worldwide Sony said would occur......a LONG way }

[bjmdds]

"When asked if that makes Dragon Tattoo a flop, one movie analyst tells E!:"A debut of $13 million over the holiday season is equivalent to a lump of coal, especially for a film that brings along this much fanfare. With a budget approaching $90 million, plus purchasing the rights to the Millennium franchise, plus big-time marketing, this will go down as a dud." {After 3 weekends out it is only at $76 million in the USA. They spent tons promoting this so far}

"They spent tons" Hom much is a tons the cost of the movie, more?

Mazer might know the totals but all articles state they are going full out to promote this rubbish.

[Alessandra]

"When asked if that makes Dragon Tattoo a flop, one movie analyst tells E!:"A debut of $13 million over the holiday season is equivalent to a lump of coal, especially for a film that brings along this much fanfare. With a budget approaching $90 million, plus purchasing the rights to the Millennium franchise, plus big-time marketing, this will go down as a dud." {After 3 weekends out it is only at $76 million in the USA. They spent tons promoting this so far}

"They spent tons" Hom much is a tons the cost of the movie, more?

Big promotion for a movie like they did with this one usually costs around $150 mln. Of course those are to be added to the budget so as you can see the famous 3x the production costs to break even has a reason...

[Mazer Rackham]

"When asked if that makes Dragon Tattoo a flop, one movie analyst tells E!:"A debut of $13 million over the holiday season is equivalent to a lump of coal, especially for a film that brings along this much fanfare. With a budget approaching $90 million, plus purchasing the rights to the Millennium franchise, plus big-time marketing, this will go down as a dud." {After 3 weekends out it is only at $76 million in the USA. They spent tons promoting this so far}

"They spent tons" Hom much is a tons the cost of the movie, more?

Big promotion for a movie like they did with this one usually costs around $150 mln. Of course those are to be added to the budget so as you can see the famous 3x the production costs to break even has a reason...

Then there is the cost of the promoting this flop (safe to say at the moment) for award consideration.

Remember MGM was supposed to get a taste of the profits from TGWTDT.

[bjmdds]

"When asked if that makes Dragon Tattoo a flop, one movie analyst tells E!:"A debut of $13 million over the holiday season is equivalent to a lump of coal, especially for a film that brings along this much fanfare. With a budget approaching $90 million, plus purchasing the rights to the Millennium franchise, plus big-time marketing, this will go down as a dud." {After 3 weekends out it is only at $76 million in the USA. They spent tons promoting this so far}

"They spent tons" Hom much is a tons the cost of the movie, more?

Big promotion for a movie like they did with this one usually costs around $150 mln. Of course those are to be added to the budget so as you can see the famous 3x the production costs to break even has a reason...

$150 million for publicity, or $150 million total for their entire expense? They spent $90 million to make it.

[Omega]

$240 million for Tattoo and Sony will be happy to make $300 million ? Maybe they think it will sell better as a DVD.

Is it really going have a chance for the Oscars? If it does have a chance then it kind of makes sense , that again it is one of the most successful books series of the last few years and when Twilight and Hunger games get big buzz maybe they have to stick it out and hope it picks up.

[FormerBondFan]

Take a look at this, and what was not mentioned?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/1 ... 96656.html

[Alessandra]

"When asked if that makes Dragon Tattoo a flop, one movie analyst tells E!:"A debut of $13 million over the holiday season is equivalent to a lump of coal, especially for a film that brings along this much fanfare. With a budget approaching $90 million, plus purchasing the rights to the Millennium franchise, plus big-time marketing, this will go down as a dud." {After 3 weekends out it is only at $76 million in the USA. They spent tons promoting this so far}

"They spent tons" Hom much is a tons the cost of the movie, more?

Big promotion for a movie like they did with this one usually costs around $150 mln. Of course those are to be added to the budget so as you can see the famous 3x the production costs to break even has a reason...

$150 million for publicity, or $150 million total for their entire expense? They spent $90 million to make it.

No, $150 mln is JUST AND ONLY for the advertising and publicity. Then there's the $90 mln to make it, so $240 mln total. Which is why everyone is telling Sony "uhm you may spin it but this is a dud and bombed". $300 mln clearly will make them book a loss (reminder that the box office gross DOES NOT all go to the studio, the studio gets way less than 1/3 of it as most money goes to theaters and distributor). They will have to have SENSATIONAL DVD performance for this to break even.

BTW, fresh from the official Bond twitter:

We're live from CES in Las Vegas for a very special #007 reveal. John Glen, Martin Campbell & Michael Apted in attendance. Stay tuned!

Uh? What are they going on about.

[Omega]

It says all the movies will be on Blu-ray for the 50th.. We knew this already. That can't be it can it

[FormerBondFan]

It says all the movies will be on Blu-ray for the 50th.. We knew this already. That can't be it can it

I will not fall for this, and I have no intention of buying them, considering every one of them (including Pierce's) has Bond Blu-Ray trailer that features CR scenes. I prefer the Special Edition DVD and the old school VHS thank you very much.

[bjmdds]

"When asked if that makes Dragon Tattoo a flop, one movie analyst tells E!:"A debut of $13 million over the holiday season is equivalent to a lump of coal, especially for a film that brings along this much fanfare. With a budget approaching $90 million, plus purchasing the rights to the Millennium franchise, plus big-time marketing, this will go down as a dud." {After 3 weekends out it is only at $76 million in the USA. They spent tons promoting this so far}

"They spent tons" Hom much is a tons the cost of the movie, more?

Big promotion for a movie like they did with this one usually costs around $150 mln. Of course those are to be added to the budget so as you can see the famous 3x the production costs to break even has a reason...

$150 million for publicity, or $150 million total for their entire expense? They spent $90 million to make it.

No, $150 mln is JUST AND ONLY for the advertising and publicity. Then there's the $90 mln to make it, so $240 mln total. Which is why everyone is telling Sony "uhm you may spin it but this is a dud and bombed". $300 mln clearly will make them book a loss (reminder that the box office gross DOES NOT all go to the studio, the studio gets way less than 1/3 of it as most money goes to theaters and distributor). They will have to have SENSATIONAL DVD performance for this to break even.

BTW, fresh from the official Bond twitter:

We're live from CES in Las Vegas for a very special #007 reveal. John Glen, Martin Campbell & Michael Apted in attendance. Stay tuned!

Uh? What are they going on about.

Who in their right mind would spend MORE to promote than the actual cost of a Cr-egg film? Is $150 million normal? Where do they spend it on? TV ads mostly? What a cash cow for the advertisers and what a rip off. How can any studio make money under these formulas? Nuts

[Alessandra]

Who in their right mind would spend MORE to promote than the actual cost of a Cr-egg film? Is $150 million normal? Where do they spend it on? TV ads mostly? What a cash cow for the advertisers and what a rip off. How can any studio make money under these formulas? Nuts

$150 mln is what they spend when they advertise BIG which is what they did with this one (there were commercials for it even on satellite TV over here in Italy). It's ALL types of ads. TV, posters, banners, newspapers. All that. The cost can go down if they don't massively advertise but generally for a decently promoted action movie it is always around $100 mln.

LOL I don't think the actual film budget was only $90 mln, they probably lied like they always do and declare a SMALLER budget than the actual one (so people will think they did break even when they in fact did not). But in any case, nobody in their right mind would spend more on advertising than on the movie itself. Consider that it anyway must be around $100 mln for the massive promotion they did. In the best-case scenario they spent as much for advertising as they did for the movie. This is how it works, it's not just for this one... advertising is often the biggest cost for a movie. And that's why they need to make at least 3x production costs to break even.