David Lambert
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2001
- Messages
- 11,377
Guys, may I point out that this discussion highlights the reasons why some studios (Columbia most notably) refuses to discuss upcoming releases until the last moment?
We (consumers in general, not just HTFers) beg and beg the studios to put out our favorite film. If they finally come up and say "yeah, we're working on it", we then beg and beg them for a reasonable idea of when we'll see it. They finally give us a far-off, VERY general idea of when that would be - "sometime in 2003", for instance - and then we later criticize them if it turns out to be January 2004 when the darn thing hits.
It's easy to generally plan for the anniversary year in a case like this; there is a natural marketing tie-in. Once the guys at the studio get that into their head, they do everything possible to make it. They keep on trying to make it. They don't want to give it up...until the reality of the schedule forces them to. It sounds like this may be what happened here. Whatever happened, it does't matter, and it really doesn't concern us.
When we go on an protest the delay, and insinuate that the studio folks aren't fully competent planners, it just leads them to ask themselves, "Why do we do this to ourselves? Why don't we just shut up about future plans, and the world will know about it only when we're about ready to ship it?" Is that what you want?
Not me. I'd rather have a "ballpark" expectation, and then not be the guy who tries to hold the studio to it in case a delay comes up - for ANY reason.
Include me in with the group that is glad Warner's taking the time to do it right the first time, instead of giving it a half-baked rush job. Under no circumstances would I begrudge them the extra time on this release. It might lead to the next movie being rushed out the door with a less-than-best effort. No way any of us want that!
We (consumers in general, not just HTFers) beg and beg the studios to put out our favorite film. If they finally come up and say "yeah, we're working on it", we then beg and beg them for a reasonable idea of when we'll see it. They finally give us a far-off, VERY general idea of when that would be - "sometime in 2003", for instance - and then we later criticize them if it turns out to be January 2004 when the darn thing hits.
It's easy to generally plan for the anniversary year in a case like this; there is a natural marketing tie-in. Once the guys at the studio get that into their head, they do everything possible to make it. They keep on trying to make it. They don't want to give it up...until the reality of the schedule forces them to. It sounds like this may be what happened here. Whatever happened, it does't matter, and it really doesn't concern us.
When we go on an protest the delay, and insinuate that the studio folks aren't fully competent planners, it just leads them to ask themselves, "Why do we do this to ourselves? Why don't we just shut up about future plans, and the world will know about it only when we're about ready to ship it?" Is that what you want?
Not me. I'd rather have a "ballpark" expectation, and then not be the guy who tries to hold the studio to it in case a delay comes up - for ANY reason.
Include me in with the group that is glad Warner's taking the time to do it right the first time, instead of giving it a half-baked rush job. Under no circumstances would I begrudge them the extra time on this release. It might lead to the next movie being rushed out the door with a less-than-best effort. No way any of us want that!