Perhaps Zack Snyder will be the only one of this current visual age to truly survive and thrive. He’ll be under the tutelage of Christopher Nolan while directing Superman: Man of Steel, which is a leg up on his co-horts who are just out there trying to use special effects to mask the problems of the stories they are telling. While Snyder’s got his share of problems, chief among them being massive early success affording him the chance to go wild without being reigned in, he’s now got someone to look up to and impress. He’s working with a script he didn’t write and hopefully it will be a turning point in his career. But what about the rest of them?
Today Variety reports Disney is not moving forward with TRON: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski’s adaptation of his illustrated novel Oblivion (aka Horizons) and is allowing him and his publisher shop the project to other studios and producers. Not a good sign for the man the Mouse House gave a reported $170 million to bring their effects-driven Tron franchise back to life.
Other names that come to mind include Scott Stewart (Legion), the Strause Brothers (Skyline), Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil: Afterlife) and Jonathan Liebesman (Battle: Los Angeles). I’d add Michael Bay to the list, but in some cases name recognition such as Transformers in Bay’s case and even Resident Evil when it comes to Anderson makes a property worth even more, no matter the absence of storytelling.
It just seems the more and more Hollywood turns to these visual storytellers, used to working in effects and/or commercials, we are getting films that are pretty much empty vessels. It’s like a bad date and the person across the table from you stares like you’re speaking another language while you’re trying to make conversation. No amount of good looks makes up for that blank stare and it seems like we are getting closer and closer to Hollywood becoming fed up with this idea of selling to the video game crowd… or at least to a point where the budgets will begin to get reigned in.
I have a feeling studios won’t be wagering upwards of $170 million on an untested director again. I’m sure we’ll still get those risks such as Sucker Punch to try and bring in the Comic Con crowd, but the reported $82 million budget on that one may also be a thing of the past. Battle: Los Angeles was made for a reported $70 million (though I have to assume marketing costs had to be at least another $50m) and the $152.8 million it’s made worldwide will likely make that $70 million figure something of a ceiling for these kinds of films in the future. At least, that’s the clear indication I’m getting from Disney and its decision to say good-bye to Oblivian.
