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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   35439 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 3, 2022

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A mainline MCU movie has a budget north of $100,000,000. How much do they save by going economy-size on the writers and directors?

talking completely out of my ass here, but maybe its the revenue and not the production cost that the bean counters are worried about. Big name directors may want a point from the end rather than an additional zero on the check up front or something.

They're closer to $200 million at this point.

There's two answers:

  1. They short everyone they can. Entry-level actors don't get paid that much iirc. The idea is that they'll happily work for the experience so they can end up with a good, steady gig that raises their profile like Hemsworth. VFX companies are constantly complaining about the tight timelines and pay Disney can impose upon them, despite them being central to these movies' success. So the logic isn't limited to just directors.

  2. IIRC the argument wasn't just about direct cost but control. These movies are pre-visualized long in advance so directors need to fit what has already been decided. Less experienced directors are presumably easier to control (using the same logic as stars in Point 1) and directors with enough cachet presumably won't sign on. As Patty Jenkins laid out when she explained why she left marvel

When asked about making movies with Marvel Studios (she was originally slated for Thor: The Dark World), Jenkins opened up about her frustrations with the creative process behind those films. She went on to explain why she likes what she's doing with DC, and that she was approached to take on Justice League at one point.

"I really like the people who work there, but they want full control over their movies. The director is under control," [Jenkins] said

Less experienced directors are presumably easier to control (using the same logic as stars in Point 1) and directors with enough cachet presumably won't sign on.

I can see the logic there; an established A-list director can always say "to hell with this" and walk off in the face of 'creative differences', and still be assured that their reputation isn't ruined and they are now unhireable. A starter or minor guy can't afford to piss off Marvel or Disney the same way.

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