UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ - Wicked -- in 4k UHD (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

I LOVED the film. To each, his own.

 

[Tino]

You are drinking the Universal Kool-Aid, I'm afraid The first movie may have cost 150 million, but you can add over 300 million to that figure, so it is nowhere near recouping yet. Why would a studio lie about its overseas grosses? Hmmm. To look good? Because they're almost impossible to verify?

So all studio grosses are lies? Sorry Bruce but I disagree with your opinions. So I guess I’m not drinking your Kool-Aid.

 

[JoshZ]

So all studio grosses are lies? Sorry Bruce but I disagree with your opinions. So I guess I’m not drinking your Kool-Aid.

Are you not familiar with the concept of Hollywood Accounting? Studios will boast of massive grosses for a movie on one hand, and then claim it as a total tax loss the following year due to underperforming expectations versus the budget and marketing expenses. This has been going on for decades.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Are you not familiar with the concept of Hollywood Accounting? Studios will boast of massive grosses for a movie on one hand, and then claim it as a total tax loss the following year due to underperforming expectations versus the budget and marketing expenses. This has been going on for decades.

Do we have examples of such financial tactics?

 

[Tino]

Are you not familiar with the concept of Hollywood Accounting? Studios will boast of massive grosses for a movie on one hand, and then claim it as a total tax loss the following year due to underperforming expectations versus the budget and marketing expenses. This has been going on for decades.

I’m very familiar with Hollywood accounting discrepancies over the years. But I tend to believe worldwide grosses of these kind of films and don’t subscribe to internet conspiracy theories that they are all bullshit. Sure it happens. But for the majority of films I believe the grosses are correct. That’s what I choose to believe. Your mileage may vary.

 

[TravisR]

Are you not familiar with the concept of Hollywood Accounting? Studios will boast of massive grosses for a movie on one hand, and then claim it as a total tax loss the following year due to underperforming expectations versus the budget and marketing expenses. This has been going on for decades.

Everyone has heard of that but wouldn't the numbers being suggested here be defrauding investors on a scale that's staggering even for big business in modern America?

 

[Malcolm R]

Every studio has their own box office tracking people, who get all the same figures reported from theaters including the grosses of their competitors. Studios can spin those numbers some, and we sometimes hear about "the studio reported $xxx, but other studios have them closer to $xxx," then the actual numbers on Monday even things out. If a studio were wildly inflating their numbers, there would be push back from a number of other sources.

"Hollywood accounting" is about the profit side of the equation, manipulating all the negative costs against the gross so they can avoid paying out to those cast/crew that might have profit-sharing points in their contracts. This is why many top line actors and directors now have participation based on the gross, rather than profit. Grosses are viewed by involved parties as an accurate indicator of a film's performance while profit can be more of a moving target.

 

[richardburton84]

Bringing this thread back on topic, I’ve seen two different performances of the musical (both part of school field trips) and while some of the music was decent, I wasn’t particularly enamored by the play. I honestly am not all that interested in seeing the film, though like Robert Crawford, I might reconsider once Part II comes out. On another note, I’m still trying to figure out how it was considered eligible for Best Original Score at the Oscars.

 

[titch]

Do we have examples of such financial tactics?

Murphy Movie Made Millions But Stayed in Red, Studio Ledgers Say

Court documents and other papers obtained by The Times on Saturday attempt to explain how Paramount Pictures' Eddie Murphy comedy "Coming to America" sold more than $350 million worth of tickets to moviegoers around the world without turning a profit.

www.latimes.com

 

[Robert Crawford]

Murphy Movie Made Millions But Stayed in Red, Studio Ledgers Say

Court documents and other papers obtained by The Times on Saturday attempt to explain how Paramount Pictures' Eddie Murphy comedy "Coming to America" sold more than $350 million worth of tickets to moviegoers around the world without turning a profit.

www.latimes.com

That’s one example.

 

[titch]

That’s one example.

Oh - there are many documented examples of creative accounting by films studios. My Big Fat Greek Wedding grossed $368 million against a $5 million dollar budget. The production company (which included Tom Hanks, of all people) sued the studio Gold Circle Films, which had insisted that their runaway hit had "only" grossed $77 million and had actually lost $20 million!

Production firm sues over 'my big fat missing pay cheque'

The original producers of last year's surprise hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding have sued the studio which made the film, saying they have not received their share of the profits

www.theguardian.com

 

[titch]

Even a movie raking in a billion dollars can be reported as making a loss.

STUDIO SHAME! Even Harry Potter Pic Loses Money Because Of Warner Bros’ Phony Baloney Net Profit Accounting

Near $1 billion grossing feature 'Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix' Loses Money: Read Net Profit Statement

deadline.com

 

[Robert Crawford]

Remember that old saying “figures don’t lie but liars do figures”.

 

[Robert Harris]

Everyone has heard of that but wouldn't the numbers being suggested here be defrauding investors on a scale that's staggering even for big business in modern America?

That would be the reality.

 

[Robert Harris]

Oh - there are many documented examples of creative accounting by films studios. My Big Fat Greek Wedding grossed $368 million against a $5 million dollar budget. The production company (which included Tom Hanks, of all people) sued the studio Gold Circle Films, which had insisted that their runaway hit had "only" grossed $77 million and had actually lost $20 million!

Production firm sues over 'my big fat missing pay cheque'

The original producers of last year's surprise hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding have sued the studio which made the film, saying they have not received their share of the profits

www.theguardian.com

Much of this comes down not to words as many people may presume them to be defined, but specific contractual meanings of those words.

Two totally different things,

There is no such thing as “gross,” “net,” “profit” or loss.

Try defining “artificial breakeven.”

 

[compson]

Universal is part of a public company. Comcast breaks out the results of its studios and reports their aggregate revenue and expenses quarterly. Those reports are reviewed carefully by people in finance, executives, and lawyers before being filed with the SEC and released to the public.

 

[Sam Favate]

Forrest Gump was another film that had creative accounting so that the studio did not have to pay the author of the book what he was due.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/19/business/nightcap-hollywood-accounting-strike/index.html

 

[Tino]

There are two separate issues here. The reporting of grosses and the reporting of profits. My comments are in regard to the former.

Back to Wicked I loved the Broadway show and really enjoyed the film. My 4K is arriving on Tuesday.

 

[David Weicker]

Murphy Movie Made Millions But Stayed in Red, Studio Ledgers Say

Court documents and other papers obtained by The Times on Saturday attempt to explain how Paramount Pictures' Eddie Murphy comedy "Coming to America" sold more than $350 million worth of tickets to moviegoers around the world without turning a profit.

www.latimes.com

That is one story from 35 years ago

 

[haineshisway]

That’s one example.

I'm sorry, Robert - you asked for an example and you got one. And your response is "That's one example." Do you not see how silly that looks? I'll give you another example - Alien. Notorious - full page story in the LA Times if memory serves, and the producers sued Fox and suddenly the film was in profit. Point being, the reported grosses were incredible and yet... My friend was an associate producer on the film and a profit participant and I heard ALL the stories. I believe Art Buchwald also did a major piece about it. You CAN do your own research, you know.