Remember this rant? How Tremors Can save Hollywood
But this is the particularly important part.
And yes, the film makers knew how to stretch a dollar. They put a dollar on the rack and they just kept twisting until the dollar screamed. Mostly by using horror tropes to their advantage — using the Monster’s POV (like Jaws), having Bad Things Happen to secondary characters out of sight, hidden monsters (also Jaws). And pyrotechnics are comparatively cheap.
Why do I bring this up?
The Movie Obsession just came out.
At current rate of speed, it’s probably going to make a quarter billion dollars at the box office.
Obsession was apparently made by a 26-year-old YouTuber, for $750,000, shot over just 20 days
You read that correctly. It was made for less than a million. It’s probably going to make a quarter-billion.
It’s almost like good writing and good acting can trump vomiting a million dollars onto the screen with a bunch of flashing lights and CGI, and trying to smack you in the head with tH3 mE$$@G3.
Instead of, I don’t know, Joker: Folie a Deux — a $200 million garbage fire that hated the audience. Or Mickey 17’s $118 anti-Trump screed. Or $165 million for The Mandalorian & Grogu, which is getting its ass kicked by Obsession.
As I said last time, the bloat is going to kill films. How insane is it to burn $300 million on a film, and assume you’re going to make a billion? Do you know how rare that is?
Meanwhile: good writing, good acting, and good production values equals profit.
Seriously, I am a total and complete nobody who writes books because I’m not useful for anything else. And I can figure this out.
Markets reward value. Not virtue-signaling. Not “the message.” Not burning cash or money laundering.
Perhaps treat your audience like they have a brain. Maybe keep corporate suits out of the movie-making process. Slash and burn the overhead like it’s Pasadena.
So thank you, I was right.
Again, feel free to ask me anything in the comments. If you get an email, you can ping me through the comment button at the top.
And please, feel free to buy a book, or leave a book review. Either would be greatly appreciated.
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