Re: What Did You Watch? 2024-12-05 (Thursday)

On 12/6/2024 6:39 PM, BTR1701 wrote:

On Dec 6, 2024 at 5:40:53 PM PST, "Arthur Lipscomb"
<arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
 

On 12/6/2024 11:31 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:

  On 12/6/24 11:11 AM, BTR1701 wrote:
 

  On Dec 6, 2024 at 6:46:04 AM PST, "Nyssa" <Nyssa@LogicalInsight.net>
  wrote:

  anim8rfsk wrote:

    Ubiquitous <weberm@polaris.net> wrote:
>

    After an arduous workout, I watched:
    Nothing.
    What did you watch?

    Hey, thanks for asking!
    Nothing
>

  I'm sensing a pattern here...

>
  Well, I did watch something.
>
  I watched WOLFS on the Apple TVs. George Clooney and Brad Pitt play a
  couple
  of aging fixers who end up on the same job and grudgingly are forced
  to work
  together to clean up an accidental death in a hotel suite where the NY
  district attorney (Amy Ryan) was canoodling with a young kid who fell
  off the
  bed, hit his head, and died. Maybe. The movie goes on from there with
  Pitt and
  Clooney unraveling a mystery with the help of the not-quite-dead-yet
  victim.
>
  Pretty good movie. Supposedly doing bang-up numbers on Apple, but
  plans for a
  sequel have been quashed. Rumors are that Pitt and Clooney were pissed
  off
  about the streaming release of it. They were apparently expecting a
  theatrical
  release and they felt it was an insult to be treated as a straight-to-
  video
  level commodity.

    That is indeed the story. But I bet they come to some kind of deal over
  the next year to do a sequel - Apple might have to guarantee a
  theatrical release this time. But I bet a sequel ends up happening...

>
The way I heard it, the director was ticked off and said no sequel.

 Well, unless directing any and all sequels was in his contract, who cares?
Clooney and Pitt are pretty much essential to any potential sequel but the
director isn't. They can get another director.
 

The director is also the writer.  So unless he sold the rights, he probably has some say if a sequel gets made or not.  And even if the studio could pump out a cash grab sequel, that doesn't mean the actors will cooperate.
Not entirely the same thing, but I'm reminded of when Superman II replaced Donner with Lester, and then again when Snyder was replaced by Whedon, in both cases some of the actors refused to return to film scenes leading to doubles having to be used.
Another thing this reminds me of is even if the actors, studio, and the filming rights are all aligned, you *still* need a writer/director. I've seen so many actor interviews where they *want* to do a sequel, and the studio probably wouldn't mind but they just can't get it together to make it happen.  We are seeing this play out in real time with the forever upcoming "Blade" movie.  That was supposed to come out years ago, and they haven't even managed to finish a script or keep a director.  That movie is burning through scripts and directors like Spinal Tap burns through drummers.