come anticipate the masterpiece that will be terrence malick's TREE OF LIFE.

I imagine Malick's funding situation is somewhat similar to Woody Allen's--there are enough investors out there who are just happy to be associated with a project of his, even if they know there's no real chance at making money. His films are obviously more involved than the ones Allen churns out, but there may be (just guessing) a comparable situation where you end up breaking even after secondary markets. (Note to self: make that the last time you ever type the words "secondary markets.")

don't allen's films do alright, generally? combination of relatively low budgets and 'long tail', still a lot of residual love for him in france etc

maybe it IS generic mystical nonsense and they're just advertising it honestly

well... maybe if you cut out the final 15 minutes. But the final 15 minutes of TNW>>>>>Jesse James.

― Matt Armstrong, Sunday, December 5, 2010 9:02 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

maybe, but i'd argue TNW doesn't have much going on for it outside of those final 15 mins

don't allen's films do alright, generally?

I honestly don't know. I always figured that once you got past about Hannah and Her Sisters, he did just well enough to keep going.

match point and vicky christina did ok, i think, but he's bankrolled by french investors and it doesn't really matter at this stage. malick has a somewhat tougher time getting stuff made because his productions are on a different scale, and he's made too few films to have a reliable set of rich emo banker dudes to pay for them, afaict.

although obviously if malick wants to make a film made then he can. but for allen it's basically just a case of being in the mood.

Curse of the Jade Scorpion:
With its production budget of $26 million, it is Allen's most expensive film. The film fared poorly in American theaters with ticket sales of less than seven million dollars. Its worldwide gross was $18.9 million.(4)

Vicki Cristina Barcelona:
As of July 2009, the film has grossed $96,408,652 worldwide; in relation to its $15 million budget, it is one of Allen's most profitable films.

Scoop:
Scoop opened in 538 American theatres on July 28, 2006. In its first three days, it grossed $3,046,924 for a per-theatre-average of $5,663. Box Office Mojo listed its opening as the biggest limited release premiere of 2006.[9] By the time the film's domestic run had ended on September 28, 2006, it grossed $10,525,717 in the U.S. and $39,212,510 worldwide. The film had a $4 million budget, not including prints and advertising expense.

allen's movies do well internationally - more than i even realized, vicki cristina made almost 100 mil worldwide - and are cheap to make

malick doesn't exactly have to scrape and claw to get a movie made, especially since stars are always dying to work with him and will do so on the cheap

Thanks--eye-opening. So I guess an Allen disaster is that the film loses a little money, and otherwise his films make a lot. Malick's films are clearly more economically risky than that.

yeah i think malick is more about star names wanting to share in the glory

i guess colin farrell was a star in 2005

The UK used to be a good market for Allen but they usually don't get a cimema release here now.

they do, usually

Yes they do...only Scoop or Cassandra's Dream (can't remember which) didn't get one. They're basically about a year behind as we only had Whatever Works this summer, while Tall Dark Stranger has already come out in the states.

The last new Allen I saw was Small Time Crooks, and it scared me away. Things start getting dodgy maybe post Husbands and Wives (although I haven't seen the apparently well-liked Bullets Over Broadway).

scoop didn't. i didn't know that cassandra's dream did but it seems it did. anything else, melinda & melinda and hollywood ending, all from the 2000s, didn't.

hollywood ending never came out here iirc

VCB was a hit, but some of them barely get a release -- 'whatever works', that one with ewan mcgregor, etc

i was gonna say that malick doesn't work cheap, but apparently his movies arent as expensive as i thought... the new world 'only' cost 30 mil, which seems pretty reasonable for a period movie. tree of life has the most recognizable movie star in the world in it too, which means its practically a lock to make a lot of money worldwide... aside from jesse james (and i have no idea what kind of international release that got, plus it's a western) everything he's been in has done amazingly well internationally, even the quirky arty crap

I could see Tree of Life being a decent-sized hit. All the cinephiles will flock, casual fans will be interested with the (likely) good reviews and star wattage. Couple in the awards run-in as the year goes on...

how much did tree of life cost?

brad pitt has gotta be the biggest star he's ever had in a lead role so yeah

guessing he's on a 'massive paycut'

shd have a thread for 'shitty passion projects' like 'jesse james' and 'a mighty heart'

according to that article upthread, tol has "cost somewhat more than its original $32-million budget"

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/2010/08/19/waiting_for_malick_when_will_we_see_tree_of_life/#

surprised it would be budgeted that low to begin with

probably $50m or so which is recoupable

i guess doug trumbull is not weta, but he doesn't work cheap either

I wonder how many reactions like this there will be for the Tree of Life:

I think more people walked out of [The New World] than any other film I have ever seen (and SOONER too--one girl heard the first voiceover, loudly said "Hell no", grabbed her friend and walked out AND then came back in five minutes later to snatch a soda from her boyfriend who had stayed haha!)

i love that

the assassination of jesse james
babel

― tldr swinton (nakhchivan), Sunday, December 5, 2010 8:37 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

it pains me to see these movies grouped together

^

I was not nuts over New World or anything, but it was in an entirely different realm from The Preciousness Of Jesse James.

h8 all dis Jesse James h8n tbh

x-post Before I even read the comments I thought the trailer looked like the unlikely sequel to the end of "2001." Esp. knowing that the movie features dinosaurs is some way.

luv dinosaurs, luv the assassination of jesse james

I think "Jesse James" is pretty perfect, and both Affleck and Pitt really, really good in it. The reason it got hosed in theaters was due to conflicts between director and studio/distributor, right?

Also it is a 2 hr 40 min moody contemplation piece set in the Old West

it's super boring

u r

It's also the twee-est movie not directed by Jason Reitman.

Roger Deakins alone makes it totally not boring imo

yes, it's very handsome

Also it is a 2 hr 40 min moody contemplation piece set in the Old West

Like it was pitched as anything else. I seem to recall murmurings of demands for reshoots or radical cutting, and the director refusing. So it barely played theaters in retaliation. I love "The New World" and consider it pretty similar in mood and tone, and even that got a bigger theatrical push.

while I always "liked" the new world, i didnt it love it until watching the extended cut on blu ray on a suitably big tv. fwiw.

i also liked Jesse James a lot! but im a sucker for that kind of thing.

i liked jesse james, but it should have been 2 hours shorter, and the old timey lenses bits were distracting.

thought that worked well as it tended to (iirc) only happen during narration

I think more people walked out of [The New World] than any other film I have ever seen (and SOONER too--one girl heard the first voiceover, loudly said "Hell no", grabbed her friend and walked out AND then came back in five minutes later to snatch a soda from her boyfriend who had stayed haha!)

― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Sunday, December 5, 2010 3:10 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark

I saw TTRL in the theater 7 times, and saw someone walk out every time. I was in high school at the time, and a friend of mine went with a group of 15 people and was the only one who didn't walk out (this quickly led to me realizing that my school was filled with disgusting savages).

Ha, reminds me of a summer I convinced several co-workers to go see "Unforgiven" on their night off, and it was totally not what they were expecting from a Clint Eastwood movie.

The Thin Red Line... was filled with disgusting savages.

― Matt Armstrong, Sunday, December 5, 2010 3:45 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

with portentous whispers.

what is the PLOT of this movie exactly, is sean penn an astronaut, anyway, it looks good

"One day Joe Spicoli manned up...and shit got real."

Well, from that trailer it looked like Sean Penn is the adult version of the kid being bullied by dad Brad Pitt. Beyond that, who knows, but there are dinosaurs. And I can presume lingering shots of light glinting through tree branches.