Simple Infographic Shows Hollywood is Giving Up on Original Ideas
Generally, we’re not very happy with the slew of remakes and sequels that seem to be taking over multiplexes. Sure we love comic books film franchises like Iron Man and soon-to-be-sequelized heroes from The Avengers like Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, not to mention the now concluded Harry Potter franchise and the highly anticipated Avatar sequels. But much of our excitement comes from original films like Looper, arthouse beauties like The Master or even ambitious adaptations like Cloud Atlas. Sadly, an infographic looking at Hollywood’s films over the years has shown that the studios have all but given up on original films and, as we already knew, favor sequels and remakes.
They say in Hollywood it’s not what you know, but whom you know. Friends are more likely to be cast in films, and frequent collaborators always call each other first when lining up a new project. That’s why it’s no surprise to hear that Tom Hardy, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Tobey Maguire have teamed up to produce a project for Warner Bros.
The untitled film - envisioned as an interweaving narrative in the style of Steven Soderbergh‘s Traffic on the topic of the animal trafficking business – originated from Hardy, who has several special forces friends working against poaching. Basically, the film’s various storylines would encapsulate all facets of animal trafficking and poaching from the “ground war on poachers in the African savanna to how animal material ends up in fashion houses of Paris.”
Bloomberg’s Jon Erlichman talks to Oscar-nominated filmmaker Morgan Spurlock about deal he struck for “A Day in the Life”, his original documentary series for Hulu, and the potential for Apple TV.
Hollywood has a vernacular all its own and it’s best to learn the lingo so that you can become an eloquent practitioner.
It’s what identifies you as a native to the other members of our tribe, as someone who’s in the know. Among the town’s most popular pieces of parlance is “I don’t disagree.” But is it an affirmation worth a damn or is it just another equivocation on the road to development hell?
The move to leverage around movies has been largely a marketing task to date. There are apps that will remind you when a movie you wanted to see is released, one that sound-scans trailers you like and pushes it out on Twitter and Facebook, one that ranks the potential of a movie?s first weekend box …
David Fincher’s adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is only the latest English-language version of a hit Scandi film to disappoint at the box office. Have we now got a taste for ‘authentic originals’?
When producer Scott Rudin optioned the English-language rights on Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo books in early 2010, he’d be forgiven for anticipating a slam-dunk hit. He had a global bestseller and two lead characters likely to attract A-list actors. The only snag was that the material had already yielded film versions in the original Swedish. But these had yet to open in the key English-speaking markets, which would surely be way more excited about a version directed by David Fincher and starring Daniel Craig. Right?
Swooning fans of the erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey — critics call it “mommy porn” — meet author E.L. James and explain why, as one woman put it, you can have “an orgasm just from reading the book.” Watch the video, above, and read TIME’s story about James here.
Starz has picked up Magic City for a second season before the first one has even aired, which means the sex, money, and drama of Miami must be making critics and Starz suits happy. And this makes us happy too, because Jeffrey Dean Morgan can rock a suit and tie like its 1959. Morgan, whom some of you may remember as Denny Duquette on Grey’s Anatomy, plays Ike Evans, owner of the fictional Miramar Playa Hotel.
