The Weinstein Scandal messed up foreign films' reach in the US (long read)

[Nero Christ]

I've been seeing a lot of posts and arguments on here recently about theaters showing foreign films or better yet indie and mid-scale films. While profitability plays a huge role in what is shown in theaters and even decided to be made into a film, I feel the Weinstein Company & Miramax taking them hits also played a huge role in what we're currently seeing with the current state of film.

Now I'm not defending Weinstein at all he deserves to go to jail for the foul shyt he did...The fact is however, his company was the leading one in funding foreign films and making them visible here in the states. Something like City of God may not even be known like it is now without Miramax. Got shown this article a couple of days ago and it hints at how influential they were and getting foreign films seen on a bigger stage and why Americans aren't as interested in them now a days like they used to: The Lonely Subtitle: Here’s Why U.S. Audiences Are Abandoning Foreign-Language Films

the quote I'm talking about

James Schamus“Consider [it] the Miramax effect,” said Music Box Films’ Ed Arentz, who currently has Pawel Pawlikowski’s Polish-language “Ida” in release. “The old Miramax was routinely driving foreign-language box office with unprecedented levels of marketing effort. We saw a reprise with these tactics recently with the French-produced ‘The Artist,’ but from 1987 to 2005, they had 26 or so $1 million-plus subtitled releases.”





While The Weinstein Company continues to invest in foreign-language hits (“The Grandmaster,” “The Intouchables”), it is one of the very few companies that does so. Sony Pictures Classics also remains dedicated to foreign cinema, releasing recent successes such as “Amour,” “A Separation,” and “The Raid: Redemption.”

Now this article was written in 2014 way before the Weinstein scandal, but all it (Weinstein scandal) did was speed up the process of American cinema being less willing to take chances on these films. The rest of the article breaks down the necessity for foreign films to be seen in theaters to help them make money.

So what do you guys think about all of this...do you think it is best for these companies to continue to only make safe bets?

do we need another Miramax for foreign films and small & mid-scale films to get to theaters?

Is the argument that the film not being profitable thus not being worthy of theater release flawed?

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Roma? Parasite? A fantastic woman?

it’s never been a better time for foreign films getting exposure.

 

[ORDER_66]

Well who's fault is that???

 

[Nero Christ]

Roma? Parasite? A fantastic woman?

it’s never been a better time for foreign films getting exposure.

Roma was released on Netflix, Parasite I believe has had a limited run in theaters, and A Fantastic Woman I'm not too sure about, but the truth is Miramax was getting foreign films more publicity than what these films currently have except for Parasite which has gone on to big a big worldwide hit.

Well who's fault is that???

It's Harvey's fault, I'm not denying that or absolving him. I was just noting how their fall has had a hand in the current state of film

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

As I was saying in other threads these studios aren't making "safe bets" all the time.. For every blockbuster that is a hit there's others like Solo, Dumbo, John Carter, Lone Ranger, Dark Phoenix, Terminator Dark Fate and so on that are huge flops..

A safe bet is something like the Conjuring series where it's no more than $15-$30M to make the movie and it's a given that it's going to make $200-$300M worldwide.

John Wick is another example of a small/medium budget that always makes money.

Joker was the breakout this year. No CGI, no big CGI battles, Rated R, not a lot of action and it did well over a billion dollars.

Studio executives are mostly fukking idiots.

They see something work like the MCU or the nolan Batman trilogy or the Fast & Furious series and they think that's the only way to make money.

It takes directors like Jordan Peele to come out of nowhere and make a Get Out just to get put on and now he can make Us and other projects, Universal took a chance on him and it paid off

 

[Nero Christ]

@MartyMcFly @HHR @FlyRy @obarth @hex

lets get yall opinions on this subject

 

[Zero]

I'll find them on the innanet like errythang else

 

[MartyMcFly]

Hold my spot. I’ll be back. Watching the toys that made us right mow and diktat want to pause lol

 

[Cynic]

Streaming wars are on in full force

 

[obarth]

This underlines the importance of streaming nowadays. With growing competition, every streaming service is going to be hungry for content. Foreign and indie films/filmmakers are always going to have Netflix or Amazon Prime willing to give them a platform. The execs at the big studios are basically fighting to keep their jobs in an era where people are going to the theaters less and less, That's why franchises, sequels, and reboots/remakes get easily greenlit. They're "safe bets". These guys stumble upon insanely profitable, yet quality, movies like The Joker on accident. They figure with such a relatively cheap budget they don't have anything to lose if it flops and they can at least be pretty sure they'll get some awards season buzz. The prospect of shelling out a 100 million plus on something that doesn't seemingly have mass appeal (i.e The Irishman) is far more daunting and its how nikkas get fired. Besides streaming this really speaks to the need to support local theaters that are willing to show foreign and indie films.

 

[dora_da_destroyer]

were foreign films ever big? fukk your subtitles

 

[Zero]

were foreign films ever big? fukk your subtitles

No...never

 

[hex]

@MartyMcFly @HHR @FlyRy @obarth @hex

lets get yall opinions on this subject

Gotta charge it to the game honestly.

Yeah it's great that he helped broaden the exposure of foreign movies but dude was a scum bag.

The sad part is I doubt he's even the worst one. And he definitely ain't the only one. He just got caught. And it took literally decades.

Regardless, I never let mainstream cinema dictate what I watch. I was just in "The Irishman" thread dropping like....20 foreign movies, most of which never came out in America. And the vast majority of them go toe-to-toe with anything "great" America has released in the last 15-20 years.

Fred.

 

[re'up]

It was mentioned that Gomorra was caught in this, which I still have only seen Season 1 & 2, though those are among my favorite of all time. I just keep wanting to watch it the right way, no ads and wierdo shyt.

I have seen at least a dozen foreign films in theaters this year, and I am in San Diego, so, it isn't as if all is lost.

 

[Still FloW]

As I was saying in other threads these studios aren't making "safe bets" all the time.. For every blockbuster that is a hit there's others like Solo, Dumbo, John Carter, Lone Ranger, Dark Phoenix, Terminator Dark Fate and so on that are huge flops..

A safe bet is something like the Conjuring series where it's no more than $15-$30M to make the movie and it's a given that it's going to make $200-$300M worldwide.

John Wick is another example of a small/medium budget that always makes money.

Joker was the breakout this year. No CGI, no big CGI battles, Rated R, not a lot of action and it did well over a billion dollars.

Studio executives are mostly fukking idiots.

They see something work like the MCU or the nolan Batman trilogy or the Fast & Furious series and they think that's the only way to make money.

It takes directors like Jordan Peele to come out of nowhere and make a Get Out just to get put on and now he can make Us and other projects, Universal took a chance on him and it paid off

this.. studio execs the biggest out of touch idiots this world has ever seen. especially those fakkits over at wb