I’ve read the new installment of Matt Fraction and Gabriel Ba’s Casanova and it’s completely rich and strange. The art is great and the plot is utterly mind-bending. As if you needed more, there’s a scantily clad lady on the front holding guns. And at the end, Matt delves into some of his notes and influences while writing this episode.
If you wanna get a look at the engine of a well written comic book, go get this sucker.
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Word on the street is that Dave Green’s next joint, ‘Snow Angels’, is his best so far. I think it comes out this year? I damn well hope so.
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Supes cost $260m to make. Pirates cost $225m. How? Why? Where does this money go? Sure, there are stars and effects. Probably also a lot of set building and travel, etc. But that’s nearly $2m a minute.
Jurassic Park is still pretty outstanding, effects-wise, right? With inflation, that movie would cost $83m today. The first Matrix cost $65m. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which had some of the best effects I’ve ever seen, cost $20m.
I guess Superman Returns is the biggest surprise — Who on that set was commanding huge fees? Spacey? He’s not a $20m actor, is he? Posey and Bosworth aren’t pulling down that much. And I think all Routh got was parking validation. Plus, they shot the whole thing on video (albeit a brand new Genesis camera), so it should be cheaper, right? Did it all go to effects? If so… where? There was nothing that I hadn’t seen before (though, after seeing Jurassic Park, have you felt that way about CGI since?)
Even MI3 cost $150m. Why? It was practically an episode of Alias.
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That chick on the cover of Casanova looks very ’60s, which is cool.
I’m not going to speak out of turn here, but the camera they used to shoot Supes was probably really expensive. High Def cams are becoming increasingly more expensive, and increasingly better. Mandle was telling me about a new Arri HD cam that has magazines like a film camera, but they’re harddrives. He said it cost about three grand a day to rent, and when you factor in all the necessary (and not so necessary) peripherals, you’re talking a huge chunk of change, but, still, I agree with you, and I’ve had the same thought about Jurassic Park, as well. It cost 65 million, which was a first for its time, right? They had to invent software and custom build rendering bays for this movie. Then came Titanic which broke the 100 million mark. Since then, they keep climbing, and the higher the budget, the less about the film seems… real and great.
260 million for Supes? Wow. Where? And, no, I can’t imagine Spacey to be a 20 millioner. As I see it, maybe 40 million went to actors on the front end. Yeah, I just don’t get it either, Moorhead. I just don’t get it.
I hope Dave’s next film does well. I’m sure it will be great. I really like his work – although Undertow is probably my least favorite, it’s still a decent flick. He was over at Jody’s LA Filmfest premiere the other week. I said hey to him, but he acted… stand offish, as usual. He’s mad at me about something, and I’ve never been able to fully realize why. I mean, I have a pretty strong inkling, but I haven’t ever confirmed it. Back when I graduated in ’99 I was moving out of the house on Hawthorne Ave, and he was going to shoot there over the summer. We were paid up while he was shooting there, so he had a free place to shoot without any intrusions because everyone was moved out except Pedulla. I had a brand new queen size bed, a desk, two end tables and a coffee table left in the house, so being the poor kid from NC that I was, I was going to try and sell them for some quick cash. Green and Sasha Mueller asked if I’d “donate” them to the film, because they wanted to use them. Apparently, the kids in George Washington were staying in the house during production. Anyhow, I explained that as much as I’d like to help them out, I needed the extra cash. They brow-beated me for a bit and made me feel guilty, so I offered to sell all of it for a paltry $50. They balked at the price, and that was the last I heard of it from them. So, me feeling guilt-ridden, I wound up not trying to sell it whilst they shot the film, and when it came time for me to leave for LA, I had to pay money I didn’t have to have my furniture tossed in the dump. On top of that, Pedulla and I were left to clean out the house once the crew had left.
Yep, I can totally see why he’d be ticked at me. Sorry, long post.
Dude, let the past sail on. If THAT’s what he’s pissed at, then that’s just silly. I wouldn’t worry about it.
However, are you sure you didn’t bloop him somehow and just forgot it amidst all your other bloops???
Anyway, the budget of those films is insane. I wonder if part of it has to do with licensing fees when you’re working with source material like Superman. I’m sure DC doesn’t just whore that property out to anybody with a nickel. I also wonder if that budget accounts for all the previous and stalled attempts to make this movie (i.e. Tim Burton and Nicolas Cage, which now that you guys have seen the actual movie don’t you think they would’ve given you something more to chew on???). And then there’s marketing to consider.
Either way, it’s retarded. There’s no reason a movie should cost that much. Absolutely none. THREE movies shouldn’t even cost that much. When you put that kind of money in perspective with anything else in the world it’s just embarassing. I’m all for capitalism, but 260 million for a freaking retread comic book movie we didn’t need in the first place??? Sure, it’ll make a profit but that’s such a huge amount to spend up front. Look at Poseidon. Wonder how much that one’s going to hurt.
If anything, these effects movies should cost less by now. You mean to tell me the technology hasn’t made it possible to do more in less time and for less money than it did when Jurassic Park came out? That there isn’t more competition from CG houses making lower bids to do the work? How’s that happen?
I heard Dave has a crush on you, H. He’s shy, dude, that’s all.
Spot on, Shawn. Spot on.
Heck, the first Star Wars, which they invented all manner of stuff for and still actually holds up, mostly, 28 years later, would cost $35mil now. Really, man. CGI is making filmmakers fat and lazy, I think.
You’re fat and lazy.
Its because they shoot 5-10 setups a day instead of 40-50
Also, in the case of Superman, they had already spent $80m on it or so before a frame was shot… I hadn’t really thought about that.
But then… $180m? Meh feh.