A new development in the way deals get done for directors that's sure to further inflate ego posturing all over Hollywood, the Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson will get "20/20" ($20 million up front and 20 percent of the grosses) for his remake of King Kong for Universal. Cinecultist's favorite quote in the Times article about it has to be this one from an unnamed studio exec:
One studio chief said she was in a state of shock when she heard about Mr. Jackson's deal. "No director has ever made more than $12 million" on a single film, she said. "It's going to have unbelievable ramifications. It's insane."
We can so hear this exec yelling at the reporter "In-Sane!!!!" But really, CC's not sure exactly what's so shocking or insane about this development. As people (we're talking non-cinecultist here) become more apt to recognize the names of movie makers as they are to be familiar with the stars, those same moviegoers will want to see the new Peter Jackson movie. Hence, Peter Jackson wants to be paid accordingly. What's really shocking is the list of other directors (slash writers slash producers -- as though this makes them more "hardworking" or something) that the article lists will also be poised to ask for pay raises. The Warchoski brothers? Ok, maybe. But M. Night Shyamalan? Hack. Chris Columbus?? Uber-hack. Jerry Bruckheimer!?! King of Hacks.
Posted by karen at October 28, 2003 8:53 AM