Predicting the Movie Hits and Bombs of 2014

You're right I'm sure everyone involved received a nice pay cheque.

But the IRS doesn't care if you're preparing your royalty statements correctly. They only care if you report your income and expenses correctly & if you pay your taxes.

It's easy to get statements passed auditors as well. Their main concern is if you recorded your transactions properly and according to the accounting standards that apply in general. When it comes to royalty statements they'll be looking at your statement and reconciling back to your accounting system to make sure what's in the system is in the report. But they really aren't going to go through every cost and check if you're allowed to deduct it. Even if they find something they suspect shouldn't be there, they'll ask you about it. You'll then provide an explanation as to why it's ok. If they believe you they forget about it. If they don't they do this; they'll have a discussion amongst themselves and they'll ask, "Well if remove this cost how much would the number change?" "$XM" "Is that change material?" "No" "Then forget about it." They really don't care if you are cheating someone out of money. What they are concerned with is did you record the liability and is any under reporting material enough to affect the statements.

It's remarkably easy to create Hollywood style royalty statements because the only people who really care are the people who signed the agreement, and all, bar the studio, have no real power except to call for an audit and go to court.

I think the money people do take advantage of those that want to be in film and you're right they should really do their due diligence and get the best lawyer they can find. The problem is, it won't matter how good your lawyer is if the deal on the table is defined by "This is the deal. We aren't changing anything. Sign or no movie." Your lawyer will just tell you it's a standard deal and you don't have the cache to get a better deal. So the people just sign.

 

The true ne'er workings? It's like the music biz which operated like the Mafia.

 

Only recently.

 

I just came from watching Neighbors at the second chance cinema.

It was a riot, really cool frat flick.

Way better than the director's last, "The Five Year Engagement".

 

"Tammy" is going to bomb. Big time.

 

Transformers expected to hit north of $100 million domestic in week 1 - no bomb here.

 

Doesn't seem to look like a big budget affair, it could break even if it's under $20 million.

 

Judging by the trailer, it's really awful.

 

She sets my teeth on edge. That "I'm an obnoxious bitch" schtick is something I never find funny. Ugh.

 

Anal polyps are better than "Five Year Engagement"...

 

I turn the channel every time an ad comes on. She was OK in Bridesmaids, but a little goes a long way.

As I said before, I've never seen a full Transformers movie, either in the theater or on TV, but I'mm planning on seeing the upcoming one.

John K.

 

I dunno...I think Tammy's catchphrase, "Look out fish!" has the potential to blow up big time. Ring tones, t-shirts, tattoos, etc.

Please note: I am an idiot.

 

I can't find the budget of 'Tammy' - I'll assume it's between $35 and $45 million. I will guess it does $150 - 200 million in box office receipts. So, a hit.

 

It's hard to predict this stuff. Note that the current Adam Sandler movie, Blended, cost $40M and has made $63M so far, and that's considered a disappointment. My guess is that this is what will happen with Tammy.

I thought she was extremely good in Bridesmaids and in Identity Thief, but she needs somebody down to earth to bounce off of. I don't think she's at the point where she can carry an entire movie. I also marvel at the special effects in Tammy, where they've managed to make her look like she's the size of Godzilla...

 

Her whole thing is to be very, very abusive to people. It gets very unpleasant and unfunny very quickly. I groaned with horror when she turned up in a surprise cameo in a film recently.* How people can stand her for any length of time I can’t understand. A little goes a very long way.

***SPOILER***
* Hangover 3

 

Is there anything good out in theaters this weekend?

 

"Tammy" looks like an SNL skit blown up into a movie. Never a good idea.

 

Don't tell Wayne...

To my eyes, the biggest problem with these Melissa McCarthy films are screenplays trying to transform excellent wacky supporting characters into leading characters. That's a hard trick to pull off...

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

 

The film was co-scripted and co-directed by McCarthy and her husband.

 

'22 Jump Street' has taken in $156 million with a budget of $65 million. So, people aren't avoiding comedies this summer; although 'Jump Street' may have more youth appeal than 'Tammy'.

I'm not sure whether 'Transformers' is going to overwhelm everything this July 4th weekend, or not. I think 'Tammy' has a chance. The $150 - $200 million box office prediction seems to be in the ballpark for McCarthy's recent films. I'm not certain whether Saradon is really a box office draw or a good comedy foil for McCarthy as someone like Sandra Bullock was - but McCarthy did do well with Jason Bateman [no great film box office draw, himself] in 'Identity Thief'.

 

Same deal in The Heat, so much of her time in the movie could be boiled down to "fat lady curses a lot and gets aggressive", which I guess some people think is funny. I think she has a pretty good sense of comedy based on her SNL appearances, but you wouldn't necessarily know it from her movies.

 

I liked "The Heat" - I think it's better than you make it out to be:

http://www.dvdmg.com/theheat.shtml

 

Nope

Apes on Horses in 3 weeks... read a book till then.

 

It's interesting to note that Jason Bateman produced and developed the movie Identity Thief, and when another actor dropped out (said to be a major movie comedian who was not doing well), he happened to see a preview of Melissa McCarthy and said, "hey! What if we rewrite the part to make it a woman?" And the studio immediately agreed, and they got a deal together in less than a week. So that was all his idea.

 

I must preface this by saying I have a friend who runs a local theatre, where I see a movie or two each week for free, so...

I saw 22 Jump Street last night and while there are some cute in-jokes and one pretty funny laugh out loud scene, it is also one of the most painfully -- no, willfully -- stupid movies I've seen in a very, very long time. I kept thinking of the discussion in this thread of Jonah Hill taking scale for Wolf of Wall Street knowing he had this ahead, a project where he'd be guaranteed a ridiculous sum. Mind blown.