In an interview with the Hollywood Wiretap, Chronicles of Narnia producer Mark Johnson offers some insights into the current state of Hollywood. He is currently in pre-production on the next installment of the Narnia series: "Prince Caspian."
In confirmation of what we've talked about at the bizofshowbiz quite a few times, Johnson confirmed that things are a lot tighter now in reference to budgets than they have been before. He added when asked about the budget though, that on projects of this size, even in years past "everything is scrutinized and questioned." He admitted that he is in discussions with Disney (DIS) at this time on the overall budget for the project.
When asked about whether this budget would be larger than the first movie which was said to be around $180 million, he said that it wasn't able to comment, but it was a "good assumption."
Johnson also said that even though these big budget movies include a lot of special effects, it's really the character development and their interlocking relationships that are his primary interest. I like this outlook from Johnson as so many films have failed even though they included millions of dollars of special effects in them. It's always about the story as we say here.
One answer Johnson made was telling when asked about whether independents were more eager to work with established film makers on a smaller scale, or if they wanted new people.
He said: "It depends. But there more established directors and actors today have quite frankly priced themselves out of the market. A lot of studios big and small say, 'We can’t make those deals any more. We would rather go with somebody and take a chance on them, whether or not he or she is a first or second time director.'"
That's the bottom line for a lot of Hollywood at this time. Many of those in the industry aren't accepting the new realities and changes, and are trying to get the type of money that has been part of the problem of the industry and where it's at today.
It's good to hear Johnson look at these things and accept what the new way of doing business must entail for the industry to be profitable.
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