Skip to Content

Learn about Chevy's new hybrid from AutoblogGreen!

Waxing Hysterical: How come Cinderella Man kinda bombed?

by Karina Longworth Jun 15th 2005 // 2:45PM

Filed under: Universal, Critical Thought

There are a bunch of Chicken Littles out there in entertainment reportage land, who have been running around proclaiming that the Hollywood sky is, like, totally about to fall on their heads. And, you know, it could be - but that doesn't mean we can't hold the most hyperbolic little chickens up to the light for a little scrutiny. So whereas the title for this sporadic new feature might seem to stem from one New York Times reporter with the first name of Sharon, trust us - no one with a "movies are over" drum to beat, from well-meaning reporters to idiot rumormongers, is totally safe.

It always startles me, the things Sharon Waxman is able to type with a seemingly straight face. In writing of a meeting held in Universal City yesterday, designed to brainstorm possible reasons for Cinderella Man's thus-far unspectacular performance, Waxman seems entirely serious about reassuring us that the associated executives "did not see any serious damage from the phone-throwing antics that led to [Russell] Crowe's arrest in New York shortly after his film's release." Phew. Consider that elephant tackled!


So why didn't a serious picture involving three of the most overrated respected talents in Hollywood connect with audiences? Brian Grazer tells Waxman that he knew summer wasn't the right season for the film. "It's almost a scientific equation, the summer movies are big, exciting, fun events," he says. That doesn't mean he isn't personally disapointed: "There are hardly words to describe how we all feel. I feel like crying."

The whole scene, as Waxman describes it, eventually devolves into a coffee klatsch of grown men in almost-tears. Source after quoted source describes succumbing to the suspicion that audiences don't actually want good movies, or if they do, they only want them between September and May. "Despite all protest to the opposite, that audiences are clamoring for an alternative, I guess what they're really looking for is what their behavior shows," says Universal Vice Chairman Marc Schmuger.

What's most baffling about all of this, is that everyone involved seems truly baffled. Waxman, Schmuger, Grazer, Sony's Amy Pascal - each speaks of this situation like what happened to Cinderella Man was heretofore inconcievable, like they've never even thought about it before, and like it's this huge existential lightning bolt that's going to not only cause financial problems for the studio, but will be equally devastating on a personal level.

This is just insane. The major movie companies figured out long ago that huge movies tend to make huge profits - but they also necessarily take up huge space in the zeitgeist. Universal, et al, then set to work learning how to conquer the necessary mass-mind real estate that makes something like Mr. and Mrs. Smith's opening weekend possible. Why doesn't it make sense that there's only so much of that cultural space to go around? If the gross on Cinderella Man is making Brian Grazer cry, it's not anyone's fault but his own.

10 Comments

  • Source
  • Print this

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Featured Galleries

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Max Payne

Hottest of 2008 Comic Con!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Quantum of Solace

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

G.I. Joe

Megan Fox

The Dark Knight

 

Sponsored Links

Weblogs, Inc. Network