At the box office, 2019 ended much as 2020 began: Studios are in crisis mode as they try to figure out how to get moviegoers into theaters. This is how Universal came to back two disastrous movies like the $95 million “Cats,” Tom Hooper’s movie version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical blockbuster, and the $175 million “Dolittle,” Stephen Gaghan’s adaptation of the children’s book classic “Dr. Dolittle.”
It’s easy to armchair quarterback. What were they thinking? What was it about these two costly projects that propelled them forward? Didn’t the risks seem obvious?
Here are the reasons why smart people at studios come to back such boneheaded movies.
1. They have global slates to fill.
This is the primary impetus for someone like Donna Langley, a veteran executive who champions edgy movies like “Get Out,” “Straight Outta Compton,” “Fifty Shades of Gray,” and “Queen & Slim,” to push forward...
It’s easy to armchair quarterback. What were they thinking? What was it about these two costly projects that propelled them forward? Didn’t the risks seem obvious?
Here are the reasons why smart people at studios come to back such boneheaded movies.
1. They have global slates to fill.
This is the primary impetus for someone like Donna Langley, a veteran executive who champions edgy movies like “Get Out,” “Straight Outta Compton,” “Fifty Shades of Gray,” and “Queen & Slim,” to push forward...
- 1/22/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
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