When to Put a Project Down

It’s almost impossible to think about the iconic film “Titanic” being fifteen years old, as it just celebrated its 3D re-release at the London premiere. The film helped launch Kate Winslet and Leonardo Dicaprio into stardom, gave its generation countless one-liners, forever etched one Celine Dion song onto our hearts, and elevated James Cameron’s career to a startling height.

Cameron is without a doubt one of the most successful and recognized directors of our day. He’s notorious for being hands on and having himself involved in every aspect of his latest film or new underwater expedition. Cameron is, in every sense of the word, a project director. He displays not only the title, but also the traits that make him a trusted and respected part of the film community.

When a project becomes as successful as “Titanic” did, it’s easy to get yourself lost in it. But how much is too much? When does a healthy interest become an obsession? And when is it time to let go? Successful project campaigns can last for years, without even counting development and production stages, and while it’s true that Cameron has moved on to other films since 1997, the movie still keeps finding a way to remain relevant.

It’s understandable about its recent 3D release, Cameron helped pioneer the new 3D craze with his even more successful 2009 film “Avatar”. It’s a treatment that many films are getting, though few have the luxury of being re-releases. Some people may even find this to be too much to stomach; that the film is too old and should be put to rest no matter its success. And thankfully many didn’t have to suffer the straight to DVD disaster that was “Titanic 2”.

With Cameron’s latest dive to the Mariana Trench to check out the wreckage of the historic ship – he returned even yesterday, March 27^th, from another dive for unrelated reasons – he discovered many subtle differences with his team of elite engineers about how the ship most accurately went down. This prompted him to question possibly tweaking some of the film footage for its re-release, as he wanted it to be as completely accurate as possible.

Is such an obsession healthy about one’s projects? We all strive to put out the best material that we can, and it’s hard for many filmmakers to be able to accept something less than perfect. One could spend the rest of their lives editing and re-editing a film to get it down to an absolute science. There must be a sense of self-disciple though where you are able to realize that a project is up to par and ready to be seen by others. Surrounding yourself with a talented, sensible team helps with this decision making process as well. Cameron seems to not have a shortage of this, often talking about how he surrounds himself with only the best.

It’s overwhelming to realize that one of the top filmmakers in today’s world has thoughts of tweaking and perfecting one of his most successful projects. It’s a good reminder that no matter what you are undertaking, you must remember to always draw that line in your mind about when to appropriately stop a project and move on to the next. Never let yourself be consumed by trying to reach perfection, no matter your status as a filmmaker or your ‘success rate’. There will always be a new film waiting to be made, and no matter what your outcome was, your film will always find fans.

Weekend Box Office Review

The biggest success over the weekend box office continues to be Universal Picture’s “The Lorax” which racked in a stunning $70.7 million during its opening weekend alone, and pulled in another $39 million this past weekend. In comparison, Disney’s big budget action, sci-fi film “John Carter” pulled in only $30.6 million as it opened on Friday. There seems to be a trend with larger than life budget action films (Carter’s being $250 million) that seem to flop at the box office. Could it be that audiences are expecting too much, and not getting enough when it comes to thrills, a convincing story, and believable computer animation?

Family films never seem to be in dire need of a boost at the box office. Partially due to the fact that most children still get very excited about going to the movie theater and haven’t yet discovered the worlds of Netflix or internet streaming. It’s also a good excuse for parents to be able to get their children out of the house for at least a couple of hours of the week, which seems almost vital in today’s hectic world. Animated family films are ageless, and can be enjoyed by grandchildren and grandparents alike, whereas action films are more niche – an age rage which seems to be faltering when heading to theaters. The average movie-goer needs to be extra enticed these days, and if they hear through the grape vine that a movie isn’t living up to standards, their desire to attend quickly fizzles.

This is also true for the new thriller, which opened, “Silent House” – pulling in roughly $7 million cumulatively. Horror and thriller genres are never expected to be huge box office smashes, and the deep fans of the genre are always looking for the newest, most horrifying film to assuage them. When horror flicks seem to fall short, so does the attendance rate.

While it’s most likely that “The Lorax” will continue to flourish, while lagging families get to the theater to enjoy the words of Dr. Seuss brought to the big screen, films such as “John Carter” and “Silent House” may see a slight raise over the next weekend, with sales falling short of opening weekend as their time drags on. “Silent House” perhaps even seeing the fate of many indie horror films and getting dropped from the theaters weeks early.