How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #46
    Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

    Originally posted by bioprofessor View Post
    Agreed, but if you have a Western with a gripping human story driving it, as oppossed to fanciful cowboy and indians fodder, then that just might be the niche for the Western in the 21st century - or for that matter, any century.
    Yup, got that.

    My western has no cowboys OR Indians.

    It's also a romance. I think of it as a straight "Brokeback Mountain."
    "People who work in Hollywood are the ones who didn't quit." -- Lawrence Kasdan

    Please visit my website and blog: www.lauridonahue.com.

    Comment


    • #47
      Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

      Originally posted by LauriD View Post
      Yup, got that.

      My western has no cowboys OR Indians.

      It's also a romance. I think of it as a straight "Brokeback Mountain."
      Keep coming back, LauriD.

      It works if you work it.
      ==========

      Comment


      • #48
        Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

        Originally posted by BattleDolphinZero View Post
        Hollywood doesn't want to make westerns. They never do big money domestically (or at least in recent years have not) and they do nothing overseas.
        So true. Probably two to three reasonably budgeted Westerns are made every year and they always struggle. But, at the same time, people like them, actors like them, directors like them. I've always kept my eye open for a fresh take on the gunfighter Western, as we have made five movies in New Mexico over the years and would love to do a great action driven Western there. If you can make it in an innovative fashion, with the right cast, for the right price, I think you could do just fine.

        Comment


        • #49
          Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

          I see the success of TRUE GRIT resulting in two scenarios. More "familiar" Westerns being modernized (3:10 to Yuma that is often referenced is a remake). So maybe an updated take of STAGECOACH, HIGH NOON, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, etc.

          The other scenario is that the success of this movie will enable the Coens to make bigger budgeted movies to their sensibilities.

          What I don't see in this scenario is an upsurge of demand for spec Westerns written by unknowns. I don't see THE BRIGANDS OF RATTLEBORGE being rushed into production any time soon because of this.

          Comment


          • #50
            Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

            Originally posted by LauriD View Post

            "True Grit has set a new opening weekend record -- for Westerns -- or as Boxofficemojo.com put it, the movie drew the "top-grossing opening weekend ever for a straight-shooting Western." The site says the movie has the highest Western movie gross overall when its five days of release are considered ($36.8). The movie is the highest grossing Western since 2007's 3:10 to Yuma.
            But it's not like 3:10 to Yuma sparked a stampede of Westerns, now, did it?

            So it seems unlikely that even moderately outperforming that movie would't drastically change the landscape.

            In any event, pretty much ever Coen brothers film is a Coen brothers film first, and a whatever-genre-its-in film second.

            Comment


            • #51
              Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

              http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=truegrit2010.htm

              $62 million on a $38 mil budget in 9 days...

              Too bad westerns never do big money....

              "People who work in Hollywood are the ones who didn't quit." -- Lawrence Kasdan

              Please visit my website and blog: www.lauridonahue.com.

              Comment


              • #52
                Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

                Originally posted by LauriD View Post
                http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=truegrit2010.htm

                $62 million on a $38 mil budget in 9 days...

                Too bad westerns never do big money....

                And JONAH HEX bombed. Your logic cancels itself out.
                2011 Screenwriting Goal: 15 pages a day.

                Comment


                • #53
                  Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

                  Originally posted by LauriD View Post
                  http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=truegrit2010.htm

                  $62 million on a $38 mil budget in 9 days...

                  Too bad westerns never do big money....

                  It's not us you have to convince. It's the agents, managers, and producers who you have to win over. As far as I know, the big fat Greek wedding genre averages $200 million at the B.O. More people should be writing them.

                  Comment


                  • #54
                    Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

                    Originally posted by Lucha Scribre View Post
                    And JONAH HEX bombed. Your logic cancels itself out.
                    I didn't say westerns ALWAYS make money. No genre ALWAYS makes money. But it's not true that westerns "never" or "don't" make money.
                    "People who work in Hollywood are the ones who didn't quit." -- Lawrence Kasdan

                    Please visit my website and blog: www.lauridonahue.com.

                    Comment


                    • #55
                      Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

                      Originally posted by Hamboogul View Post
                      It's not us you have to convince. It's the agents, managers, and producers who you have to win over. As far as I know, the big fat Greek wedding genre averages $200 million at the B.O. More people should be writing them.
                      One of my points is that writers buy into (and thus perpetuate) unsupported industry prejudices about what the public does and doesn't want to see, thus putting both writers and the industry into creative straightjackets.
                      "People who work in Hollywood are the ones who didn't quit." -- Lawrence Kasdan

                      Please visit my website and blog: www.lauridonahue.com.

                      Comment


                      • #56
                        Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

                        Originally posted by LauriD View Post
                        One of my points is that writers buy into (and thus perpetuate) unsupported industry prejudices about what the public does and doesn't want to see, thus putting both writers and the industry into creative straightjackets.
                        Unfortunately, the film industry, much like the publishing industry, does not put enough faith in the consumer, who may be more open-minded than they think. It would be nice if they held focus groups at the script level, instead of testing the finished product on audiences

                        While I'm an advocate of always following one's muse and passion, I recognize that there are most definitely odds against new spec writers with certain types of scripts.

                        As far as I can tell, these scripts include:

                        -too small (arthouse material better suited for indie producers)
                        -too big (not necessarily because the writer is unproven but because past a certain budget, these films rarely come from specs, and almost always from pre-existing IP's like novels, comic books or video games; plus certain big budget genres even more difficult than others)
                        -western and period
                        -drama (they win the Oscars, but they usually come from novels, and a lot of reps don't get turned on by drama specs)
                        -horror, to some extent
                        -dark comedy / satire (I've heard these are really hard to sell even though industry people tend to like them)
                        -and probably a few more.

                        Now clearly, films get made on a regular basis in all the above genres, but unproven spec writers are definitely fighting an uphill battle in an already nearly impossible battle if their script falls in any of the above "difficult" categories.

                        You can't sell if you don't get read, and you can't get read if someone sees your logline and immediately dismisses it because in their mind it spells out IMPOSSIBLE TO SELL.

                        I highly doubt that the average rep is going to read a logline (provided they even get that far, of course) for a Victorian drama, for instance, and think, Oh boy, this sure would be a tough sell, but I can't wait to read this script just in case the writer is so talented that I can put her/him up for assignments and use this fine piece of writing as a sample!!

                        Despite all of that, however, I say Carry on. You never know when you might be an exception to some unwritten rule.
                        Last edited by Rantanplan; 01-01-2011, 11:53 PM.

                        Comment


                        • #57
                          Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

                          The horse is dead and your stick is broken......

                          Fwiw, there is an ad on afilmwriter seeking a western feature.
                          Last edited by Lucha Scribre; 01-02-2011, 03:31 AM.
                          2011 Screenwriting Goal: 15 pages a day.

                          Comment


                          • #58
                            Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

                            Yet another western:

                            Title:Blood MeridianLogline:Set on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s, a fourteen-year-old Tennessean stumbles into the nightmarish world where Indians are being murdered and the market for their scalps is thriving.Writer:James Franco Prod. Co:Rabbit Bandini Productions Genre:Drama Logged:1/3/2011 More:To be based on Cormac McCarthy’s novel. James Franco will also direct.


                            And "True Grit" is now at $86,670,382.
                            "People who work in Hollywood are the ones who didn't quit." -- Lawrence Kasdan

                            Please visit my website and blog: www.lauridonahue.com.

                            Comment


                            • #59
                              Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

                              Originally posted by LauriD View Post
                              Yet another western:

                              Title:Blood MeridianLogline:Set on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s, a fourteen-year-old Tennessean stumbles into the nightmarish world where Indians are being murdered and the market for their scalps is thriving.Writer:James Franco Prod. Co:Rabbit Bandini Productions Genre:Drama Logged:1/3/2011 More:To be based on Cormac McCarthy's novel. James Franco will also direct.


                              And "True Grit" is now at $86,670,382.
                              Laurie, Cormac McCarthy is one of the most acclaimed novelists today.... when you have that kind of author, or the Coen Bros attached to a property, it's a whole other ballgame...

                              Still, you should definitely take advantage of the situation and query your butt off, which I'm sure is what you're already doing

                              That said, I'll be very interested in seeing what Franco does with MERIDIAN. It's a tough piece. And one of the most violent things I've ever read.

                              Comment


                              • #60
                                Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

                                As a Hot Ticket, Will 'True Grit' Sway the
                                Oscars?

                                As "True Grit" shows signs of being a breakout hit, it
                                is reviving the question of whether the audience gets a
                                vote.

                                http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/mo...ines&emc=tha28

                                "Last weekend “True Grit,” written and directed by Ethan and Joel Coen, shocked Hollywood by burning up the box office. The sober western generated $24.4 million in North American theaters, just $1.3 million less than the holiday weekend’s No. 1 movie, the blatantly commercial “Little Fockers.” And “True Grit” dropped only 2 percent from the prior weekend, which was its first in theaters; drops of 50 percent are routine, and anything less than 30 percent is judged by the industry to be spectacular."
                                "People who work in Hollywood are the ones who didn't quit." -- Lawrence Kasdan

                                Please visit my website and blog: www.lauridonahue.com.

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X