Is hiring a first-time director a risk?
Of all the creative jobs involved in the making of a feature film, the role of director is perhaps the most important. It’s also the one which most clearly identifies a film. We talk about Spielberg films and Tarantino films more than we do Streep or Hanks films, even though all of these creatives are […]
Is a movie’s box office gross connected to its budget?
In the last couple of weeks, I have looked at a number of topics around movie budgets. To complete this trilogy, I am turning to the connection between a movie’s budget and the amount of money it collects at the box office. Specifically, I’ll be looking at the “Domestic” gross, i.e. all the money spent […]
How has the cost of making a movie changed over the past twenty years?
According to news reports, Netflix boss Ted Sarandos has privately been telling producers that his company will be more cost-conscious going forward. This comes on the heels of Netflix’s Triple Frontier (a movie which reportedly cost $115 million but which has gone down poorly with audiences and critics alike) and their up-coming blockbuster Red Notice (which […]
How much does the average movie cost to make?
Among the most frequent questions I’m asked by those new to the film industry is “How much does the average movie cost to make?” The short answer is “it depends”. It’s similar to asking “How much does the average meal cost to make?” It depends where you are, who’s making it, for whom and whether […]
How do actors compare to the general population?
Acting is a strange profession, with many contradictions. The job officially requires no qualifications but actors are expected to train to a high level in a wide variety of skills. Good actors convince audiences that they are the character (rather than an actor pretending) and yet top actors have loyal fanbases keen to see the specific […]
Is a delayed release a sign that a movie will be bad?
X-Men: Dark Phoenix opened in cinemas a few weeks ago – a release date which is significantly later than first intended. The film’s director, Simon Kinberg, blamed the delayed release on a few factors, including the complexity of the film’s visual effects. Said Kinberg: When we felt like we weren’t going to be able to complete […]
What percentage of actors are willing to perform nude?
On-screen nudity has always been a contentious topic for new actors. Many movies and television shows have small roles for actors who are willing to bare their bodies, meaning that if an up-and-coming actor disrobes on-screen, they can potentially give their CV a boost. On the other hand, doing so means that there will forever […]
Is acting a profession dominated by the young?
I have been asked a number of times over the years to study actors and the acting profession. The interested parties tend to fall into one of two camps: Young, fresh-faced up-and-coming actors looking to understand how they can best succeed in their exciting new career of acting. Working professional actors asking why the industry […]
How far in advance are movie release dates announced?
Earlier this month, Disney published release dates for their upcoming slate of movies, including their newly expanded roster of titles acquired when they bought rival studio Fox. This included a domestic theatrical release date (i.e. when the movie will open in American and Canadian cinemas) for Avatar 5 of 17th December 2027. Yup, the date […]
Are video game movies the worst type of adaptations?
The recent release of Pokémon Detective Pikachu has prompted some readers to get in touch and ask about the quality of movies based on video games. Most of the questions were variations of: “Are video game movies the worst type of movie adaptations? To answer this, I looked at all movies released in US cinemas between […]