Pain & Gain Streaming: Micheal Bay the Benevolent
April 27, 2013 § Leave a Comment
Pain and Gain is exactly the kind of movie that stands to lose the most money due to illegal download. Its core audience makes up the core illegal download populace. I bet Pain & Gain will be at the top of the most downloaded movie of the year list, as well as most money lost due to illegal downloading.
Michael Bay had to have been aware of this during the process. There is no way this was an overlooked error. Some sort of missed calculation? It cost just 26 million, that’s what it cost to storyboard Transformers. No this was a gift from the benevolent Michael Bay. To his fan base, the dudes and bros just like him. So while they sit at home on their computers watching his movie, he doesn’t have to worry about how much money hes losing on the front end. This film solidifies him with his base, and they will support him in the primaries, Transformers 4, by being first in line at the midnight showing at every IMAX 3D, digital 3D, or regular 2D screen in the country.
This was a brilliant move by Bay and it keeps him sharp and gives him a more rounded character. It will be interesting to see how the physicality of this Pain and Gain affects how he tackles Transformers 4. There have already been reports quoting him saying as much. Suggesting that there would be something different about the next film in the saga.
I think this weak weekend says as much about Bay as it does about his fans. Not only his fans but the movie going public in general. They want big loud action fests, on the best speakers and on the best screens. They want to be wowed, and it looks like they will be this summer. However, the fact that this small film by Bay is not doing well right now can mean two things, the first being that the average movie goer can tell the difference between a small movie that they feel will be entertaining to them or not. We have seen this time and time again, this year and last, and in 2011 and every year before that. People go see the movies that are marketed in such a way that it appeals to their sensibilities, and not so much which actor happens to be starring in it.
This also means that this kind of action dark comedy genre film is better left to the ranks of horror, and that means cheaper is better. I like the 5 to 15 mil range for something like this if it comes from a studio. The right indie project could do big numbers in this genre.
But that’s kind of the point. This is an indie for Michael Bay. And how much it grosses doesn’t matter, It’s just a heavily priced commercial for Michael Bay’s brand, along with its two stars, Wahlberg’s main fan base his action movie dudes, and The Rock’s main fan base is Wrestling fans. I think that’s a cross section of fan base, Wrestling, Action Movie, Michael Bay movies, and illegal downloaders. The studio takes a hit, but they will recoup in the long run, they always do, and it’s a gift to Bay for the billions.
– W.B. Preston
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Entertainment Wars
February 10, 2013 § Leave a Comment
I was reading Mendelson’s Memos as I often do in the mornings and I came across this article he wrote about the mega-conglomerate media corporations swallowing up any and all lucrative properties. While this is certainly a strange turn of events, they are not without precedent. Though the entertainment monopolies were not the first to fall under the ire of trust busting U.S. Ant-Trust Laws, the studios were eventually forced to give up ownership of theaters and cinemas across the country. These laws were put in place to keep one corporation from cornering the market and putting all the wealth into the hands of a wealthy few. In this case the wealthy few are the Big Media Corporations Disney and Warner. In his article Mendelson suggests a possible dystopian future in which Disney and Warner own the rights to all of the major tentpole properties including the likes of Star Wars, Marvel, D.C., Harry Potter with the eventual acquisition of Transformers, Star Trek, Mission Impossible and a few other titles owned by Paramount, Fox, Sony, and Universal.
If his prediction comes to pass it would mean the further homogenization ad assimilation of what once was geek culture. The obliteration of what is already a retreating idea. What once was ostracized and niche has become main stream and passé. If now you are seen wearing a Wolverine shirt you are some how hip, ironic, or cool. When I was in college wearing the exact same shirt would have made you a nerd, geek, or loser. It no longer matters. That’s the point. It doesn’t matter if you like Star Wars or Star Trek, Batman or Iron Man, Captain Jack or Sherlock Holmes. All of those movies are written, directed, or produced by the same couple guys, and ushered through one of two studios, with Star Trek on its way to Disney according to Mr. Mendelson.
What’s it all mean? A geek by definition is an outsider, if what made you a geek is no longer outside of the main stream do you immediately lose your geek status? Unfortunately not. What makes us geeks, well geeks is that we seek out new and ever more obscure media to consume. So while the entirety of my geeky childhood is ripped from my room and put on display for all to see all I can do is sigh and give a half-hearted I told you so. I mean, I’m not sure if any of the other geeks feel this way, but I’ve been reading, watching, and playing these stories for 20 years. The rest of you are just now showing up. SO let Disney and Warner buy the rest of my childhood toys. Perhaps it will encourage the other studios to give some new talent the opportunity to create new heroes,and put new stories up on the screen.
Related articles
- Scott Mendelson: What Will the Next Wave of Blockbusters Bring? What 2013 Release Will Be the Next Star Wars/Batman/Harry Potter? (huffingtonpost.com)
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- Is Disney A Better Buy Than Time Warner And CBS? (seekingalpha.com)
