Is He Brave Enough To Step Away From Studios Altogether?
This marriage is no longer working, the one between Kevin Costner and major film studios.
Troubles over "Waterworld" and "The Postman" aside (and they should be put way aside, since it's been more than a decade that those films came out), things started going very wrong with the release of "For Love of the Game," when KC took issue with cuts to the film, which was released by Universal Studios.. The deleted scenes put on the DVD showed he was right.
The next fiasco came with New Line Cinema concerning "Thirteen Days." When New Line scooped up that film, its parent company was Time-Warner, which was still owned by Ted Turner, who was a fan of the script. By the time the film was finished and ready for release, the parent company was AOL Time-Warner, and Turner was out of the picture. New Line's executives blundered with the release of a quality film that had some fair chances for major award nominations. Instead of releasing it at the originally scheduled point in October, 2000, on the anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis and just weeks before the presidential election, New Line held it back for a New York/LA release in December and a nationwide release in January, 2001 - too late to matter either to the election or the film's Oscar chances.
(We'll leave "3,000 Miles To Graceland," a bad film, and "Dragonfly," which was not KC-produced, out of the equation.)
The next real tangle that came up was with "Open Range," which KC produced and directed. He won one battle - to keep its gritty shootout intact - but lost the other, for a better release date. Still, the mid-August release date away from major films allowed "Open Range" to gain a deserved following and some respect, if not the deserved major award nominations.
Then came "The Upside of Anger," also not KC-produced but worthy of mention because its release and promotion were screwed up yet again by New Line. It was released in March, 2005, with little reception after its warm welcome at that year's Sundance Festival and good reviews by critics. This time, it was Joan Allen who was robbed of major award consideration for sure, and maybe KC as well.
(KC's next two films, "Rumor Has It" and "The Guardian," also fall out of the equation because Jennifer Aniston was actually the star of the former, and KC shared the screen with Ashton Kutcher in the latter.)
The final straws have come the last two summers, with "Mr. Brooks," released by MGM, and "Swing Vote," released by Disney. Both were mistreated, being released in the middle of summer franchise season, at times when audiences would be distracted elsewhere.
It's obvious the studios no longer know how to treat his films. His movies are throwbacks to a time when story mattered more in movies than special effects, gross-out acts and loud action. The studios know they make money in the theaters on those films on the weekends. Fans of KC will go on weekdays, or more likely these days, buy or rent his films on DVD.
He and his work deserve better.
When "Upside" director Mike Binder was promoting the movie, he indicated a couple of times that KC is an independent filmmaker who still attaches himself to the major studios because that's the system he came up in. It's true.
But all the studios do for him these days is slap the film into 2,000 theaters, put a few people on the talk shows, and that's it. "Swing Vote" in particular was a film that should have generated more traction in this election year, and Disney just threw it to the wolves.
New Line will release "The New Daughter," his next film. Oy vey.
When KC has been interviewed, he's often reflected on whether he is smart enough and brave enough to take important steps in his life and career. Now, the question is different: Is he smart enough and brave enough to make a clean break from the studios and reinvent himself as a totally independent filmmaker?
The answer is yes. The question is whether he will do so.
He's started to dip a toe in with his project "The Explorer's Club," which will combine Internet animation with a live-action film. He has other interesting projects coming up, including more Westerns. He needs to get them into arenas where they will be seen and appreciated, so he can make more. One of those arenas might be television.
Kevin, it's time for you to divorce the studios. Do it for your films. Do it for your fans.
Troubles over "Waterworld" and "The Postman" aside (and they should be put way aside, since it's been more than a decade that those films came out), things started going very wrong with the release of "For Love of the Game," when KC took issue with cuts to the film, which was released by Universal Studios.. The deleted scenes put on the DVD showed he was right.
The next fiasco came with New Line Cinema concerning "Thirteen Days." When New Line scooped up that film, its parent company was Time-Warner, which was still owned by Ted Turner, who was a fan of the script. By the time the film was finished and ready for release, the parent company was AOL Time-Warner, and Turner was out of the picture. New Line's executives blundered with the release of a quality film that had some fair chances for major award nominations. Instead of releasing it at the originally scheduled point in October, 2000, on the anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis and just weeks before the presidential election, New Line held it back for a New York/LA release in December and a nationwide release in January, 2001 - too late to matter either to the election or the film's Oscar chances.
(We'll leave "3,000 Miles To Graceland," a bad film, and "Dragonfly," which was not KC-produced, out of the equation.)
The next real tangle that came up was with "Open Range," which KC produced and directed. He won one battle - to keep its gritty shootout intact - but lost the other, for a better release date. Still, the mid-August release date away from major films allowed "Open Range" to gain a deserved following and some respect, if not the deserved major award nominations.
Then came "The Upside of Anger," also not KC-produced but worthy of mention because its release and promotion were screwed up yet again by New Line. It was released in March, 2005, with little reception after its warm welcome at that year's Sundance Festival and good reviews by critics. This time, it was Joan Allen who was robbed of major award consideration for sure, and maybe KC as well.
(KC's next two films, "Rumor Has It" and "The Guardian," also fall out of the equation because Jennifer Aniston was actually the star of the former, and KC shared the screen with Ashton Kutcher in the latter.)
The final straws have come the last two summers, with "Mr. Brooks," released by MGM, and "Swing Vote," released by Disney. Both were mistreated, being released in the middle of summer franchise season, at times when audiences would be distracted elsewhere.
It's obvious the studios no longer know how to treat his films. His movies are throwbacks to a time when story mattered more in movies than special effects, gross-out acts and loud action. The studios know they make money in the theaters on those films on the weekends. Fans of KC will go on weekdays, or more likely these days, buy or rent his films on DVD.
He and his work deserve better.
When "Upside" director Mike Binder was promoting the movie, he indicated a couple of times that KC is an independent filmmaker who still attaches himself to the major studios because that's the system he came up in. It's true.
But all the studios do for him these days is slap the film into 2,000 theaters, put a few people on the talk shows, and that's it. "Swing Vote" in particular was a film that should have generated more traction in this election year, and Disney just threw it to the wolves.
New Line will release "The New Daughter," his next film. Oy vey.
When KC has been interviewed, he's often reflected on whether he is smart enough and brave enough to take important steps in his life and career. Now, the question is different: Is he smart enough and brave enough to make a clean break from the studios and reinvent himself as a totally independent filmmaker?
The answer is yes. The question is whether he will do so.
He's started to dip a toe in with his project "The Explorer's Club," which will combine Internet animation with a live-action film. He has other interesting projects coming up, including more Westerns. He needs to get them into arenas where they will be seen and appreciated, so he can make more. One of those arenas might be television.
Kevin, it's time for you to divorce the studios. Do it for your films. Do it for your fans.
posted by FlaFan @ 2:14 PM
2 Comments:
At 12:44 AM,
Anonymous said…
KEVIN COSTNER YOU ARE A VERY GOOD ACTORTHATWRYI LIKE YOU ALOT ITHANK THAT IT WOULD BE A G ReAt GOOD TIME IF ICOULD FINDLYMEeT YOU SO We cOUldtalk about your movies and yourC heer so ITHougtiWOULD FIndbawAySO ICOUNLdMEETYOU SOYOUare So cuTe ANDTHATS WHY IVEALWAYSWANTED TO MEET YOU MY HOL ELiFE soplease tellme that thatyouwilLf indlymeetme MR COSTN ERReMEBErThAT YOUARE My MOVIE S Tarontv:/sO you HaVe a NuMBER 1FAN LovESYOU MY nAMe is TAMMY
At 3:51 AM,
Anonymous said…
Please do it for you fans! I have posted elsewhere in this site how I feel about that point. I love the films Costner directs: his beautiful locations, his choices when it comes to score, the emphasis on story, his frank emotionalism. I wasn't aware of his woes with the press/critics until actually a short time ago. Just wasn't paying attention, I suppose. But he has my full attention now. I discovered while watching the extras on my Open Range DVD that this man had a load of trouble getting money for that wonderful movie. I imagine the problem hasn't gone away and what a sad commentary it makes.
I would love to see him commit to being an independent film maker...he is, in essence, anyway. I gather that he is quite his own man and has been such for a very long time. Why waste precious energy fighting with the studios? It looks like all those stunts he has done over the years are actually safer for him than those outdoor country western gigs. I am delighted that he is enjoying himself but I REALLY want to see more MOVIES. Direct more movies, Mister! Direct them. Forget the major studios. If you direct them, they will come, RIGHT?
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