They should have picked a different director, but I can see German Uwe Boll being reluctant to do a movie concerning Nazis. It's my understanding--and it could be totally based on ignorance--that the German people basically avoid talking about the Nazi days.
Add two more more video game franchise movies he plans on ruining.
Dungeon Siege (in an IGN interview, he said it is his next movie) Hitman
There's an interview on IGN where he talks about Alone in the Dark but also mentions Bloodrayne and his upcoming projects as well as why people trash him.
So that is how they are going to try and sell this movie? See Lokken naked.
I really wonder who would give this guy money after the turkey "House Of The Dead". I guess maybe because he probably broke even on it, but you can tell just by watching the trailer that it was something awful.
Maybe he has a rich uncle who doesn't care where his money goes? Whoever it is, cut it off...
I mean, people like to rag on Paul Anderson, but he at least rises to the level of mediocre. Uwe has no hope, particularly after that article.
From what I understand, there's a German tax loophole that investors take advantage of, that allows them to write off film investments that lose money (in the same year as the investment) but they don't have to pay taxes on future profits.... or something along those lines.
So basically Boll offers them a chance to write off some $$ and perhaps dodge paying taxes on a future profit. Since all of the money comes from foreign investments, he can approach a US distributor and basically give them a finished film to distribute for a very small fee. So there's really no risk for someone like Lions Gate.
Except that it costs a LOT of money to press over 2,100 prints of a film. I suspect that Lions Gate (via Artisan) had some sort of contractual obligation with Bollworks which required them to release the flick theatrically.
I believe that the LG folks really know their horror fare, which is why it boggles my mind to see them strike that many prints of this cinematic fiasco.
It does cost a lot of money, but even then the risk is still pretty low. (At a guess, $15-16 million would be needed to make 2100 prints, though who knows what special discounts, etc a distributor might have). Given the home video/DVD market, it's hard to see how Lion's Gate would lose money on this (I have no idea how the foreign distribution is set up).
Though your point is well taken -- they'd make even more if it was just a straight-to-video release.
I need to figure out how Uwe Boll gets financing. He should be teaching coursework in how to take money from people. It's better then the Nigerian Email scams.