


How to make a megaflop

Three simple rules to ensure humiliating failure

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Mister Grumbles


KJMClark in reply to shubrook




It probably flopped because most Americans thought the title was "Jimmy Carter". Don't want a repeat of the late 70s, do we?

lol @ kybard#










The Doogster

As a screenwriter, I feel compelled to add my tuppence worth to this discussion.

The problem is money. When a studio spends $300m on a movie, they need to fill gazillions of seats. They generally can't do that with a pure genre movie, so they make a crossover movie. Take a genre (eg. sci-fi) and add a soppy romance (that will pull in the chicks) then add some Christmas-cracker humour (everyone likes a laugh, right?), then add in some CGI and explosions (teenage boys love that), then add action/fight scenes (for the blokes who don't want to appear gay), then put some supernatural elements in (for the people who actually think psychics are real) then finally add in some babies (those stay at home mothers will just love that). You can even add some vampires to lure in the young ladies.

The end result is a turgid mess, but one which on paper many MBA-laden Hollywood executives think is a winner because it hits all bases. Crossover movies CAN work, but the problem is that while you are setting up the plot to support romance/explosions/fights/comedy/vampires/supernatural stuff, etc you forgo genuine character and plot development, which is ultimately what makes the audience bond with a movie. Even silly big budget movies which are successful (Star Wars, etc) have good characters and a simplicity of plot, which draws the audience in. On the other hand, some movies, like the Last Airbender, defy logic because they have neither good characters or an understandable plot, so maybe it is all down to random luck!

You are going to see more big budget silliness because the big studios have abandoned the middle ground.

modernpublius in reply to BilBeau


Michael Dunne



- Albert Einstein

erniejpdx in reply to MaxH.

I'll remember that the next time I'm watching "The Deer Hunter," "Saving Private Ryan," or "The Thin Red Line."

Hollywood wants first and foremost to make money. They do it by appealing to the least common denominator of American taste, which involves sitcom-style lowbrow humor, flatulence jokes, swearing, pratfalls, chase scenes, explosions and Adam Sandler. As with politics, a nation gets the entertainment it deserves.


Noted in passing, the Fisker Karma, a company which the American taxpayers have guaranteed loans for, did not make it thought the Consumer Reports check-in process. But what would you expect from a company partly owned by Al Gore?? Yep, a $100,000 lemon. Oh and btw, if you totally discharge the battery, the Karma becomes a brick and you have to replace the entire battery for $40,000.

Lilly Anne



The following doesn't follow logically to me:



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