One movie and new kids? RANT

[Steve]

--- In HPFGU-Movie at yahoogroups.com, CLShannon at a... wrote:
> 
> In a message dated 8/12/03 9:15:55 PM, swmil at m... writes:
> 
> << They ARE high. While many on this site thought the first two 
> movies were "so-so" or eye candy, I liked the trio very much and the
>  movies. 
> 
> They're just fun!! >>
> 
> The actual paragraph says:
> <<<
> A rep for Warners said the studio will likely bring back the
> franchise's aging kid stars--Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and
Rupert Grint ... 
> <<<<
>
> ...edited...
>
> I know I would consider not even seeing GOF if they recast - call me
> strange, but I can't accept new actors, especially if any of the 
> lines of the movie recall past events. It would be too jarring, 
> Cindy

bboy_mn:

High? They are positively smoking crack.

And speaking of crack, what is this 'aging kid stars' crack. My mother
at 75 is aging; Dan Radcliffe at 14 is not 'aging' in this context in
any sense.

Have you ever heard the expression, killing the goose that lays the
golden eggs? When you get too greedy, you frequently end up with less
instead of more. I could easily see that happening with Warner Brothers. 

An speaking of the goose, not only is it not wise to kill the goose
that lays the billion dollar eggs, but it's also unwise to not feed
the goose. True we don't know what pay Dan and the other primary
characters have negotiated for Goblet of Fire, but I have no doubt it
is way below the Hollywood standard for a money making franchise like
this. JKR did Warner a great favor in insisting of British actors,
because they work on a different scale and a much lower level of greed
than US actors.

 Frankie Muniz (Malcom in the Middle) got $5 million for Agent Cody
Banks which grossed $45 million. Dan Radcliffe got $2 million for a
movie that grossed over $800 million. And with his pathetic gross of
$45 million, they sign Frankie Muniz for Agent Cody Banks II. Also,
keep in mind that Dan only got the $2 million because the Actor's
Equity Union step in and force Warner to increase his salary. That
makes me think that $2 million is like minimum wage for a roll like
this. I would also like to know if Dan and the other actors are
getting secondary royalties from mechandising rights, etc....

Warner certainly has a proven franchise here, they know for a fact
that there is no way these movies can NOT make money, they have no
excuse for low balling the primary actors on their salaries.

The greatest threat to these movies is not the actors or the actors
age, but the short sightedness of the studios. The attempt to make
Goblet of Fire into a single 2.5 hour movie in unconscionable and
irrational. 

The two existing movies by any standard were gutted to the limit. The
movies, but more so CoS, jump from scene to scene with no explaination
as to why things are happening, no plot development, no underlying
character motivation. I have trouble believing that anyone who had
never read the book could even make a coherent story out of what they
were shown in CoS. Many of the scene that were filmed that developed
the story line and explained people's action were found in the DVD
extras. The movie would have been substantially improved if those
scenes had been left in, and their total running time is not that much.

If they try to squeeze PoA, which I think is one of the most important
movies in the franchise, into 2.5 hrs, they will gut it to the point
where it is a pointless hollow shell. 

If they try to do that to GoF, there won't even be enough left to
resemble a movie. Can they really squeeze a coherent trip to the World
Cup, three Triwizards tasks, and the confrontation and resolution of
an encounter with Voldemort in to 2.5 hrs? I don't think so. We are
esentially talking about losing far far more than half the book, to
make the movie. If they do that, I suspect this will be the last HP
movie of any significants. I simple can't believe that any HP fan will
be satisfied with the movie, and it will certainly not reach the near
billion dollar mark that the other movies have. This will be the axe
falling on the neck of the Golden Billion Dollar Goose.

What they realy need is a director and producer who have some
independant artistic vision. Director and producer who will fight for
that artistic vision and not let it be compromised. So far, none of
the director I've heard suggested are anything more that product
packaging technicians; stooges of corporate desire.

Personally, I think Warner is hopelessly misguided, and will in my
opinion be the doom of the franchise. PoA is there chance to prove
that they do understand the story and they understand their audiences.
If this movie doesn't live up to a reasonable standard, I think
interest in future movies will fade fast.

Of course, that just my opinion.

bboy_mn