Hollywood Babble On & On #825: Two Random Drips...

DRIPPING #1: 5 MORE CRAIGS?

Micheal G. Wilson, long-time producer, and occasional writer for the James Bond franchise, said that he would like current Bond, Daniel Craig, to do 5 more 007 movies and beat Roger Moore's longevity.

Now I like Craig as Bond, and I've been a fan of the franchise since I was a little kid and saw Dr. No back in the days when they showed older feature films on network TV, however, I don't think he's going to make it to eight Bonds.

He's 43 now shooting his third film Skyfall, and in a best case scenario there would be a new Bond movie out every two years, meaning that he will be 53+ by the time he wraps up that sort of commitment.  Now we all remember Roger Moore's long run with the franchise, but instead of remembering his wit, and romantic charm, we remember that he was kept a little too long at the fair.  Even he noticed that his "Bond Girls" looked more like daughters than lovers.

And that's if there's a best case scenario.  MGM's financial situation hasn't been particularly stable in a very long time, and that situation caused Skyfall to be set back four years after Quantum of Solace.

I personally see Craig doing two more after Skyfall at the most, if the 2 year schedule's maintained, and then retiring gracefully to a younger actor.  Might I suggest....

Think about it...what I lack in wit, charm, sex appeal, and he-man action heroics I make up for in... uh.... hmmm.....

DRIPPING #2: MAKE DEALS, NOT MOVIES?

The new owners of the one time indie powerhouse Miramax Pictures have discovered a new business model for the movie company.

Don't make movies.

And it seems to be working, deals involving the Miramax film library have added up to $325 million.

Now while this sounds all well and good, it's not the best way to run a movie company.  Having a nice, desirable library with a lot of award winning or popular movies is wonderful, and the revenue that such a library can generate is even nicer.

However, there will come a time when the outlets who pay for access to that library will take a look at what you have, sigh, and say: "What else have you got?"

If you don't have anything else, then you're screwed.

Movie libraries need to be constantly and consistently replenished, because their value lies in their constant and steady growth, because that growth builds long term relationships between the companies who own the libraries, and the outlets who pay good money to put out those movies.  Outlets will ask themselves: 

"Hey, do I want to buy movies from Company A that has X number of titles, and Y number of new titles that come in every year? Or should I buy from Company B, who have Z number of titles, and nothing new coming down the pike?"

In the long run they will prefer to deal with Company A, because they know that once they burn through the current library, there's new product on the way. Companies that don't constantly and consistently create new product, eventually get swallowed up by those who do.

Which may be the whole plan behind the new Miramax in the first place.