Meryl Streep Points Out Movies Geared at Women Make Huge Profits [QUOTE]

Meryl Streep, June 12, 2012 at the Women In Film Crystal + Lucy Awards

Excerpted from Entertainment Weekly’s “Tentpoles in Trouble” June 29, 2012

While presenting a prize at the Women In Film Crystal + Lucy Awards on June 12, Meryl Streep pointed out that “in the last five years, five little movies aimed at women have earned over $1.6 billion: The Help, The Iron Lady—believe it or not—Bridesmaids, Mamma Mia!, and The Devil Wears Prada…They cost a fraction of what the big tentpole failures cost…Let’s talk about The Iron Lady. It cost $14 million to make and brought in $114 million. Pure profit!

Webster's defines “tentpole” as "a big-budget movie whose earnings are expected to compensate the studio for its less profitable movies"

Alex Kurtzman (Co-writer of Star Trek, 2009) “I think those movies [tentpoles] will always be around. Because when they work, they work so well.”  

I Think This Summarizes Me To A Tee [quote]

Aaron Sorkin above right

"By and large, I write about people who are considerably smarter than I am. I was raised that way. My family members and friends growing up were all smarter than I. I really fell in love with the phonetic sound of intelligence and the sound of a really good argument." Aaron Sorkin, Fortune magazine


I think "I really fell in love with the phonetic sound of intelligence and the sound of a really good argument." summarizes me to a TEE! Since birth! I've always loved hanging around older people to hear them talk. Not that WTF they were saying was "intelligent", but it was a lot more intriguing than the bubblegum bullshit I heard from my peers. LOL.

I will argue shit I don't even believe in if I think it's a good argument. Those who follow me on Twitter will notice that I might retweet shit I don't even believe in if it stirs conversation. Something I posted on Instagram about a week ago

Basically a retweet is not an endorsement.

I said all that to say that I love a good argument. Not a mean spirited type with personal attacks, but  "A course of reasoning aimed at demonstrating a truth or falsehood; the methodical process of logical reasoning." I always joke that if I give up this film thing I might become a lawyer. LOL

LINKS
Check out the Fortune video interview here

Read more about Aaron Sorkin @ Wikipedia

How Boomerang had the same budget as Malcolm X [QUOTE]

I was listening to the commentary for the above film again and I had to share what the director said. I'll probably write more later.

From the commentary for the 1992 film Boomerang by director Reginald Hudlin (pictured above right)

"Boomerang was my second movie. I did House Party which is a movie that I wrote and directed for 2 ½  million dollars, took it to Sundance was a surprise hit there...again relative to what it cost did fantastic in the box office again spent 2 ½  made 27 million just in domestic theatrical box office alone, huge in home video, so we had a great hit out the box and we had offers from every studio so it was a great time.

poster for House Party (1990)

And then to top all that off with a call from Eddie Murphy saying you know hey let's make a movie together...once we decided on Boomerang suddenly you go from 2 ½  million dollar budget to a 40 million dollar budget.

And at the time I remember Spike Lee was really under a lot of pressure because he was spending 40 million dollars on Malcolm X. And I was like I'M NOT TELLING ANYBODY I GOT 40 MILLION DOLLARS TOO (laughs) because he can take that heat by himself."

Hudlin and Murphy on the set of Boomerang

ADDITIONAL INFO

I couldn't find documentation on either film's budget, but Wikipedia reports around $30 million for Malcolm X—Dankwa

Wikipedia reports that Boomerang "By the end of its theatrical run, the film had grossed over $70 million domestically, and $61 million outside of the U.S., making a total of $131,052,444. It was the 18th highest grossing film in the U.S. in 1992."

Box Office Mojo reports Malcolm X’s Domestic Total Gross: $48,169,910.


You can also read more about Malcolm X's budget issues @ Wikipedia


 @ IMDb Boomerang (1992)

Related Link
Read all of my posts about the Malcolm X film @ Cool Black Media here

Acting & Theater [QUOTE]

I TOTALLY AGREE with this quote about acting

"I get a lot of the actors I work with from theater. I like theater actors a lot, they have a discipline & preciseness that sometimes lacking in people that don't have theater experience." Joe Wright, Director of Hanna

Great quote about the state of diversity in film [QUOTE]

Great quote from a friend I made over on @NotherBrother Twitter account from a great podcast she co-hosts Cinema In Noir.

Cinema In Noir is a podcast featuring "Unabashed film talk from three mahogany film mavens. Hosted by Candice, Rebecca, and Kim"

The below quote is from their first podcast of 2012 titled “Movie Resolutions” (Jan 8, 2012) and it’s by Kim or as she is known on Twitter @ReelSistas

“I’m kinda over the fact that more animals have been in films than blacks, Latinos and Asians put together in leading roles. We’ve had horses, revolting monkeys, quadriplegic whales are in these starring roles and where are the black people or people of color? They have interesting lives too! So I really would like to see more of that, please! Not more of the animals, more of the people of color in films.”

Her delivery is way better in audio than it is in print and her co-hosts laughing in the background is priceless. You can listen to it at around the 36:00 min mark along with ALL of their Movie Resolutions below.

Listen to internet radio with KimberlyRenee on Blog Talk Radio

Scorsese on movie funding [QUOTE]

Entertainment Weekly: You were supposed to direct Hugo four years ago, but it fell through. Is it harder to get movies made these days?

SCORSESE: We had a meeting with [Warner Bros.] and I felt there was no enthusiasm on their part. I had just done a couple of pictures—The Aviator and The Departed—where we were on the same page. But if they're not gung ho about it, what are we doing here? Making a product, but I want everyone to be enthusiastic. -Entertainment Weekly November 18, 2011

Note: Hugo was eventually done at Paramount Pictures-Dankwa Brooks

Read more about Hugo at Wikipedia by clicking the poster above