The Johnny Depp Problem

[David]

www.forbes.com/sites/dorothypomerantz/2014/04/18/the-johnny-depp-problem/

this article on Depp's falling star mentions the DS film

[Gothick]

Glorioski.  I had no idea that current "movie math" dictates that a film must surpass earning twice the amount it cost before the suits will consider that they are seeing a profit on it.

DS as a "horror soap opera"--cringe.

G.

[KMR]

Glorioski.  I had no idea that current "movie math" dictates that a film must surpass earning twice the amount it cost before the suits will consider that they are seeing a profit on it.

Gothick, I think that's been the rule of thumb for quite a long time.  The budget figure that's made public is usually the cost of production.  Marketing and distribution are on top of that, and I guess the idea is that the more a movie cost to make, the more money it's going to need in promotion in order to earn everything back.  This tends to turn into the rule that boxoffice needs to be around double the production cost in order to break even.  Of course, every film is going to be a little different (and of course, it's going to be harder to find the actual production cost for a film than to find the Holy Grail).

[Patti Feinberg]

But, hasn't there been some 'mathy' type numbers, because of DVD (used to be rentals), but now sales?
I myself had pre-ordered and purchased 3 of the 2012 new....
There 'used to'?? be a way to figure in the rentals then sales, but Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, et al., will probably 'scew' these numbers.

Patti

[David]

I read that because of so many cable, online and home video platforms, films just keep playing forever. No film, including major bombs (which Depp Shadows was not) can lose money anymore because they all generate income in perpetuity due to so many venues where they can be shown.

[madscntst]

I'm trying not to read most of these gloomy articles, lol    But here is a somewhat related take from Lucas Shaw from The Wrap that I found interesting, via YouTube:

Hollywood Torrent With Lucas Shaw: Who Do We Blame For Johnny Depp's Box Office Flops?

[David]

He's right: stars are overpaid these days and studios are spending too damn much money on production.
There was no justification for spending $150 million to produce Depp Shadows. The film could easily have been made for half that.
Depp Shadows grossed $245 million worldwide on it's theatrical run, which is respectable. Had the film been made for $75 million, it would have been considered a major hit.