Nah...if it's not boardgames, it will be some other intellectual property that bares a dubious ability to turn into a film franchise. I mean, hell, people hold up Blair Witch to this day as an example of why their $20,000 film is going to make millions, this is just the upper-level of that example ("Pirates of the Caribbean is a theme park ride and the movie franchise did BILLIONS!")
Battleship... the movie... why?
- Thread starter Jon Starr
- Start date
Nah...if it's not boardgames, it will be some other intellectual property that bares a dubious ability to turn into a film franchise. I mean, hell, people hold up Blair Witch to this day as an example of why their $20,000 film is going to make millions, this is just the upper-level of that example ("Pirates of the Caribbean is a theme park ride and the movie franchise did BILLIONS!")
Barry_Green
Moderator
Seriously good example there: "Pirates" is a relatively pathetic ride at a theme park with no characters, no story behind it, yet Bruckheimer managed to turn that into one of the most successful film franchises of recent times. There wasn't much more for the "Pirates" team to work from than the "Battleship" guys had...
GaryinCalifornia
Veteran
I have to disagree that Pirates is a pathetic ride... I loved going to Disneyland as a child... to me not only was it fun but it also sparked my imagination... so I guess everyone see things differently...
Barry_Green
Moderator
Just got back from there last week. It's on par with the Jungle Cruise, but without the narration. I mean, for 40 years ago, sure, it was great, but compared to anything from the last couple of decades it's really showing its age. Still better than the most pathetic ride in existence, disneyworlds "movies through the ages" or whatever that's called. Man, I wanted my money back after that. Plus damages for pain and suffering.
Batutta
Major Contributor
True enough, although I don't think the stories of the Pirates films were ever the main draw. The series just lucked out and struck gold by casting Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow. I don't think the Pirates brand name did anything to draw people to the theater and a brand name certainly did Battleship no favors. The studios rationale for backing these projects wasn't really sound, even if in one case it did pan out. Pirates had one difference though, in that Disney owned the ride AND made the film themselves to extend the value of their own property. Slightly different than a studio trying to exploit somebody else's brand name because they are too lazy to build their own.
Jon Starr
Veteran
Completely agree. Pirates really is just an extension of something Disney already owned, and it was at least something with a world and atmosphere. It never used the pirates name as a selling point, it simply brought the name to the big screen. A very different strategy from Battleship.