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Private equity is a cancer.
it literally is, infinite growth for its own sake at any cost.
but hey, there is also stock market
Nooooo! This is horrible news. Who will produce the weird stuff now?
A25
Keep making more studios until we peak at A69
Nice.
It’s punk yet cynical. I love it
Annapurna and Neon.
I’m was going to come in with Booooo! But I think you’re Nooooo! Will cover my feelings.
This is truly terrible news. It’s so strange when things like this happen and they 100% drop what makes them magic. It would be like that amazing fresh local Pizza place pivoted to doing terrible cheap frozen pizza.
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I know this is concerning for the fans but this is a fairly common evolution with all these indie distributors. Their rise is similar to Miramax in the 80s and they went on to release some of their best films the following decade once they had funding.
Let’s hope A24 sticks with the Daniels like Weinstein stuck with Tarantino
I was thinking the same thing - it’d be nice if they could just keep doing what they’re doing now since it’s great, but who knows, maybe this will lead to some other great films that otherwise never would have been made. If they can maintain their quality in the big budget space, there’s a relatively unfilled niche for popcorn flicks made with care and artistry.
Off the top of my head, Mad Max: Fury Road fits the description of ‘big budget, action, based on existing IP’ and I don’t think anyone would wish that hadn’t been made.
Maybe they will start producing garbage; it’s entirely possible. I’d rather have a little optimism and wait to hate until it actually happens though. It’d be awesome to see what passionate and talented filmmakers like the Daniels would do with both a big budget and the creative freedom A24 has historically offered.
It is a hope, but not one connected to any actual reality I fear.
There wasn’t any special clause about “more action movies” in the Miramax scenario, and also the movie market was vastly different in the 1990s compared to now. In the 1990s there was a lot more diversification of blockbuster genres, allowing for the particular type of blockbusters they managed to produce then, but that market is basically all gone now.
Did nobody stop to think that maybe the value of A24 comes from the fact that they’re not making bland action blockbusters?
I’ve come to the realization that professional executives, board directors and shareholders are the most creatively bankrupt and utterly boring people in existence. I came to this realization when I was looking up what kinds of pens rich people like and realized they all look the same, except some have more diamonds than others. Because all the most expensive pens are bedazzled with diamonds, one of the most boring gemstones in the world.
Understandable yet still terrible news. We might still get weird and good auteur films off the back of mainstream movie profits, but I have the pessimistic feeling that even if things would go this way, it will not last long. A24 has been putting out amazing movies for a while now and it would be sad to see it lose its focus because of this equity crap.
This was bound to happen. Costs are rising and their biggest box office hit was an action flick, Everything Everywhere All at Once. But why didn’t they sell the share to Apple? Apple is already interested in making drama and weird movies. And I doubt they care too much about AppleTV making a profit, since they already make an insane amount of money from their devices. It’s an amount that not even Disney with their media empire can come close to.
Said this in the other thread…
It’s really simple to see why.
From here, cross referenced with boxofficemojo.com:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_A24_films (2020s only)
First Cow - $101,068 (US) / $1,386,609 (global)
Boy’s State - unlisted
On The Rocks - - / $992,103
Saint Maud - - / $1,383,868
Minari - $3,110,580 / $15,282,731
False Positive - unlisted
Zola - $4,844,399 / $4,998,097
Val - unlisted
The Green Knight - $17,173,321 / $18,887,953
Lamb - $2,676,410 / $3,189,087
The Souvenir Part 2 - $98,929 / $380,778
C’mon, C’mon - $1,863,674 / $4,499,395
The Humans - - / $47,029
Red Rocket - $1,023,086 / $2,315,997
The Tragedy of Macbeth - - / $524,771
The Sky is Everywhere - unlisted
After Yang - $46,872 / $729,254
X - $11,765,309 / $14,740,889
Everything, Everywhere, All At Once - $77,191,785 / $141,129,020
Men - $7,587,853 / $11,152,071
Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts - - / $122,390 Marcel, the Shell with Shoes On - $6,333,702 / $6,909,209
Bodies Bodies Bodies - $11,446,602 / $13,929,670
Funny Pages - $0 / $0 (not unlisted)
Pearl - $9,423,445 / $9,747,742
Instinct - - / $947,316
God’s Creatures - $45,849 / $275,107
Stars at Noon - - / $225,509
Aftersun - $1,658,790 / $8,345,462
Causeway - unlisted
The Inspection - $390,429 / $546,906
White Noise - - / $71,728
The Eternal Daughter - $86,490 / $446,551
The Whale - $17,463,630 / $54,883,206
This Place Rules - unlisted
When You Finish Saving the World - $196,920 / -
Close - $1,100,113 / $5,213,591
Sharper - unlisted
Pi - (re-release) - no current numbers
Showing Up - $754,483 / $1,222,428
Beau is Afraid - $8,176,562 / $11,480,078
You Hurt My Feelings - $4,830,788 / $5,698,637
Past Lives - $10,923,569 / $14,996,172
Earth Mama - $0 / $0 (not unlisted)
The Deepest Breath - unlisted
Stephen Curry: Underrated - unlisted
Talk to Me - $48,105,234 / $89,400,384
Medusa Deluxe - - / $68,560
Stop Making Sense - (re-release) $4,000,378 / $4,641,772
Dicks: The Musical - $220,867 / -Everything, Everywhere, All At Once - $77,191,785 / $141,129,020
This is a goddamn travesty to a wonderful movie that won all the awards at the Oscars.
For comparison, Barbie got $1.43B. While I’m sure it’s a great movie in its own right, it shouldn’t be making 10x as much as one of the most creative movies made in the last 15 years.
I really didn’t get the hype for that film personally and am not surprised it didn’t find a wide audience. Same with most of their films. I enjoyed a ton of them, but they aren’t suited to the mass appeal box office draws for monetization.
It surprised me too, I had figured it was going to be their #1 movie, but I was expecting something like $300 million at least.
This is why:
It originally opened in 10 theaters. That’s it. It averaged $20K per theater, but still, only 10.
A few weeks later, when it went wide, it was still only in 1,250 theaters.
https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3861218049/?ref_=bo_da_table_6
It expanded up to 2,220:
https://www.boxofficemojo.com/date/2022-04-15/?ref_=bo_da_nav
But it was competing with Sonic 2 and Secrets of Dumbledore, both of which were in over 4,000 theaters.
It never played in more than 2,220 theaters.
By point of comparison, Barbie LAUNCHED in 4,243 theaters.
https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1077904129/?ref_=bo_tt_gr_1
what are some other studios to keep an eye on?
Hate to say it but probably Apple. They already make drama and weird stuff. I bet many producers and directors are going to flock to Apple if A24 is going to focus more on action franchises
It really caught me off guard how much high quality and out-there content is on Apple TV+. As a scifi and comedy nerd, having shows like Silo, Severance, Foundation, For All Mankind, Strange Planet, Hello Tomorrow, Central Park, Ted Lasso, Mythic Quest, The Afterparty, etc has been fantastic. Reminds me of the old days of Netflix where cinematography and daring ideas were allowed. Not to mention the picture quality is astounding compared to other streaming services.
All that appeared on Netflix seems to be yet another reality show from 10 years ago they’ve bought from other networks to pad out their already heaving pile of reality boringness. If they hike the price again, I’m cancelling.
I think you make an excellent point, fartsparkles.
See you later, spacecowboy.
Apple doesn’t need to turn a profit and can burn money on high quality projects and keep renewing new seasons without caring about viewership. As much as I normally hate mega corps, this is a space where they’re using the fact that they’re too big to fail for a positive…
Silo was pretty good, got me into the books.
I think Neon puts out a lot of good stuff. Generally a bit of a darker tone (not always) with their films, but still quality.
awesome thanks, turns out I saw and loved a lot of their stuff (like titane, memories of murder, triangle of sadness) but never realized they were from the same studio
