Oh, GREAT! Windtalkers is now delayed until next summer! (1 Viewer)

[Scott Weinberg]

From Link Removed
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MGM delays ``Windtalkers'' debut to summer, 2002
LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. decided Friday to delay releasing its big-budget World War II film, ``Windtalkers,'' until next summer to avoid the box office uncertainty that has beset Hollywood since the Sept. 11 attacks on America.
``There's so much uncertainty right now and we don't want to spend a lot of money on promoting the film,'' the film's producer, Terence Chang, told Reuters.
The movie, set for release on Nov. 9, was expected to be a major entry for the Thanksgiving holiday season. It has now been pushed to June 14, 2002, MGM said in a news release.
MGM did not want to risk a bad showing at the box office by releasing it at a time when ticket sales are down due to the somber national mood in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon (news - web sites), Chang said.
``Windtalkers,'' based on a true story, was directed by action specialist John Woo and stars Nicholas Cage. It tells a tale of Native Americans who helped to thwart Japanese code breakers during World War II by transmitting war plans in the Navajo language.
``We feel certain this great film will be enjoyed by the broadest possible audience during the strong summer play period,'' Robert Levin, president of worldwide theatrical marketing and distribution, said in the MGM statement.
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Enough of this already!
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Scott
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[Matthew Chmiel]

What bullshit.

MGM did not want to risk a bad showing at the box office by releasing it at a time when ticket sales are down due to the somber national mood in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon (news - web sites), Chang said.

Ticket sales are down? Wow, MGM really is really freakin' clueless. Movies rarely do well in September. But then again, when was the last time MGM actually had a big hit that wasn't a James Bond film?
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[SteveGon]

Well, shoot! This was one of the few fall films that I was looking forward to...

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He thought on homeland, the big timber, the air thin and chill all the year long. Tulip poplars so big through the trunk they put you in mind of locomotives set on end. He thought of getting home and building him a cabin on Cold Mountain so high that not a soul but the nighthawks passing across the clouds in autumn could hear his sad cry. Of living a life so quiet he would not need ears. And if Ada would go with him, there might be the hope, so far off in the distance he did not even really see it, that in time his despair might be honed off to a point so fine and thin that it would be nearly the same as vanishing.
-- Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain

 

[cafink]

But then again, when was the last time MGM actually had a big hit that wasn't a James Bond film?

"Hannibal" springs to mind. So the answer is "February."

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Compared to their budgets, these MGM films alone in 2001 have been profitable:
1.) HANNIBAL $165M
2.) LEGALLY BLONDE $92M
3.) HEARTBREAKERS $40M
4.) JEEPERS CREEPERS $34M
5.) WHAT'S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN? $32M
~Edwin

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

quote: 1.) HANNIBAL $165M
2.) LEGALLY BLONDE $92M
3.) HEARTBREAKERS $40M
4.) JEEPERS CREEPERS $34M
5.) WHAT'S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN? $32M[/quote]
Other than Hannibal and Legally Blonde, Heartbreakers had no profit (it broke even), Jeepers Creepers has a bit over $15 mill profit, and What's The Worse That Could Happen? had a -$13 mill profit.
MGM needs a BIG hit, big time. Unless they hope that franchises (Hannibal/Red Dragon and the 007 films) or sleeper hits (Legally Blonde) can carry them, they're screwed. They had to write almost $70 mill off just for Supernova (Hannibal saved that write off) and who knows how much they'll end up writing off for their next major bomb Rollerball (that has a budget over $80 million).
I wouldn't be suprised if MGM goes belly up in the next few years.
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[Edited last by Matthew Chmiel on September 29, 2001 at 01:22 AM]

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

This seems pretty dumb. I would think a patriotic (and interesting; I read the script a couple of years back) movies such as this would be a shoo-in. The marketing campaign seems to already be in full swing, so this decision is actually costing MGM much more than if they'd just release it in November.

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

This seems pretty dumb. I would think a patriotic (and interesting; I read the script a couple of years back) movies such as this would be a shoo-in.

Exactly. Why MGM is delaying it is beyond me, I'd think more people would see it more than ever after 9/11 (due to it's patriotic feel).
HBO is still going on with Band of Brothers, so why can't MGM just bite the bullet and release Windtalkers in November?
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[David Nguyen]

Jeez... As if people(especially myself) haven't been waiting long enough for this movie. All I'm going to say is that this is ridiculous.

 

[Dedrick]

I have waited so long for this film. Having to endure the first delay was hard enough, but this is too much.

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Keep your flippers off my stache.

 

[Paul_D]

I have a feeling that this is just the excuse they wanted. One delay suggests what - crap film needs vast reshoots and re-editing. A second delay (whatever the reason given)suggests what - turkey of gigantic proportions of the not shown to critics before release variety.
Forget about securing a financial return, they're probably frantically trying to ensure (as with Rollerball) that this isn't critically panned. This set of delays just reminds me of Mission Impossible 2 (see hidden production problems) - and we all know how that turned out. I wouldn't at all be surprised if this turned out to be a terrible movie.

 

[Adam Tyner]

I could've sworn a read something somewhere that MGM only paid $5 million for the domestic rights to Jeepers Creepers, but I can't quite recall where...
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[Edited last by Adam Tyner on September 29, 2001 at 08:02 AM]

 

[Tino]

Am I the only one that thinks these delays, tweaks, edits etc of films coming out are no big deal? I commend the studios for being sensitive in light of what's happened. I am looking forward to Windtalkers also, but having to wait a few more months is acceptable to me in light of what's happened.
Whatever the studios reasons are, there are many other films coming out that have not been delayed so there will hopefully be plenty of good films coming our way in the next few months.
I dunno, perhaps the mood in the rest of the country is different, but here in the NYC area, there is still an overwhelming sense of sadness and to me, these reports
of delays, slight tweaks etc.. do not bother me in the least.
It's just not that big of a deal. JMHO.
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Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus.

 

[Michael Reuben]

quote: Am I the only one that thinks these delays, tweaks, edits etc of films coming out are no big deal?[/quote] No, you're not the only one, Tino. And the whining about this one strikes me as particularly silly. It routinely happens at this time of year that some big holiday release gets kicked into next year, for all sorts of reasons. I remember it happening with Broken Arrow; the stated reason was that the effects work needed more time.
Postponements were a fact of life in the movie business long before Sept. 11, 2001. (Anyone remember Titanic? It was supposed to be a summer release.) There will still be plenty of films to see this year, and the extra time might just result in a better final product.
Note to Matthew: People have been predicting the demise of MGM for almost as long as you've been watching movies. Somehow they're still here.
M.
[Edited last by Michael Reuben on September 29, 2001 at 09:31 AM]

 

[Bjoern Roy]

What Tino said. This is my most anticipated movie, but with the recent events, i just don't feel like complaining.
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[Edwin Pereyra]

Matthew wrote:

I wouldn't be suprised if MGM goes belly up in the next few years.

You can bet your ass that this won't happen in Kirk Kerkorian's lifetime.
And as far as postponing the opening of this film, it is not the end of the world.
~Edwin
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[DanR]

I think you guys should send your resumes into the studios. You guys are executive management candidates.
Regards,
Dan

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

Actually, advance word on this has been positive and, as I covered the script for a major agency back in '99, I've actually read the material and found it to be strong.
I never quite get it when big profile films with Oscar potential are pushed back beyond Christmas unless they're really horrible. Last year, Warner pushed back "The Pledge" and I remember a lot of press about "Rosewood" in '96 before it got dumped into a February '97 release.
Then again, a summer berth might be a placeholder as MGM realizes they don't have anything to fill that slot that will make as much money as this.
If they really wanted to dump this, it would have been scheduled for January or April.

 

[Andy Sheets]

This set of delays just reminds me of Mission Impossible 2 (see hidden production problems) - and we all know how that turned out.

I'm sure MGM would be ecstatic if Windtalkers made over $200 million