Kudos to the cast & crew for giving up a lot of money to bring this project to life @Jade Bahr
āBeetlejuice Beetlejuiceā Hands Warner Bros. a Lifeline
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So the horror comedy āBeetlejuice Beetlejuice,ā which arrived in theaters from Warner on Sept. 6, in some ways became a flash referendum on the studioās future. Some people in Hollywood were starting to wonder aloud if there would even be one, at least without a merger with a competitor.
Talk about the undead: āBeetlejuice Beetlejuiceā collected $111 million in its first weekend in North America, one of the best results on record for September. The PG-13 sequel, directed by Tim Burton, has now been No. 1 for two weeks in a row. It took in another $52 million over the weekend, for a 10-day domestic total of roughly $190 million.
Worldwide ticket sales will total about $264 million through Sunday, according to box office analysts. The film cost $99 million to make.
āDancing in the hallways, smiles on faces,ā said Michael De Luca, one of Warnerās top film executives. āThere is really nothing better for morale than a hit.ā
All of a sudden, the studioās summer misfires, including āFuriosa: A Mad Max Sagaā and āThe Watchers,ā were distant memories.
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The notion of doing a sequel to Mr. Burtonās āBeetlejuiceā (1988) had kicked around Warner Bros. for more than a decade. But haggling over cost and distribution ā for a time, the studio tried to push āBeetlejuice Beetlejuiceā toward the Max streaming service ā had frustrated Mr. Burton and other members of the creative team.
āThat was never going to work for Tim,ā Ms. Abdy said, referring to a streaming slot. āYouāre talking about a visionary artist whose films demand to be seen on a big screen.ā
At least on paper, the executives who preceded Ms. Abdy and Mr. De Luca had reason to be cautious. A sequel ⦠to a 36-year-old film? Hmm. Also, Mr. Burtonās last big hit was in 2010, when āAlice in Wonderlandā took in more than $1 billion worldwide. Since then, results had been soft. (The less said about Mr. Burtonās live-action āDumboā from 2019 the better.)
Mr. De Luca and Ms. Abdy wanted to rebuild the studioās relationship with Mr. Burton. But the gross projected budget for āBeetlejuice Beetlejuiceā was roughly $147 million, in large part because of star salaries and producer fees. Too risky. Make it for under $100 million, they said, and Warner would give it a major theatrical release.
Mr. Burtonās agent, Mike Simpson, started working the phones. Were any stars willing to join Mr. Burton and vastly reduce their upfront payment? In return, they would get a larger piece of the āback end,ā Hollywood slang for the money that a film generates over its lifetime.
āTwo months went by where every day the movie almost died,ā said Mr. Simpson, a partner at the William Morris Endeavor agency.
During that time, Ms. Abdy and Mr. De Luca ā against the advice of Warnerās business development department ā began spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a week on preproduction. That way, when the deals were done, Mr. Burton could quickly start shooting, before losing stars to other commitments.
āThat showed real guts, especially for two executives who were fairly new in their jobs,ā Mr. Simpson said.
In the end, the principal cast (Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega, Catherine OāHara) agreed to work for substantially less money upfront, as did Mr. Burton and some producers. Additional financial maneuvering (tax incentives, some cost cuts related to shooting) got āBeetlejuice Beetlejuiceā to the magic budget number.
The strong box office figures mean that those people will be cashing checks. And while one hit movie canāt turn around the fortunes of an entire company, certainly not one with problems as big as Warner Bros. Discovery, it can at least deliver a glimmer of hope.
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