Why do directors even make movies if its going to turn out a flop?

Question

why spend the money and time when people and movie critics are going to give it a bad rating. lately ive been watching new movies and boy hollywood had died, what happend to those good times when most of the movies that came out where good flicks to watch.

you got to be kidding me, i wouldnt make a movie if i knew it was going to really suck. the directors should know ..thats the reason they went to film school in the first place.

Answer 1

You never know what's going to be a hit and what's going to be a flop. There are several factors that determine the success of the film: the box office, critics, the studio's reaction, cast & crew, etc. But since you're asking about directios, I'll stick with that. Every director I've ever met always think they are going to make the next great film. The script could be terrible but they always go into a project that they can make it a hit. There are several reasons why a director will do a film:

1) Most directors are looking for their big break. That means they will do whatever comes their way as long as they can get their name on it. The more times people see their name, the more people are going to remember it. True, it could backfire on them and people could associate their name with terrible pictures but at least people will know their name. For some people, it's all about being in the limelight and getting the attention. I know tons of famous people who haven't contribute to the entertainment industry but just b/c people know who they are, they get to be famous.

2)Some directors will do a project because they believe in it or is a subject matter that really matters to them. Some directors will do a project for the passion of the project rather than the money. For some, it's all about doing what you love.

3)Of course, money talks and some directors will do terrible projects just because a paycheck comes with it. Working in the industry, I've had a chance to ask some people why did they make such-and-such a film? Most of the time, it's because of the money. Or that they needed to work again, which to me, translates that need money.

4)Some directors are obligated by the studio do 'crap' films. Of course, the studio will never say it's crap. Rather, they called it a 'challenging' project. Some directors are under contract, while others will take the project just to stay in the good graces of the studio executives. And if they do take a 'crap' project, directors will use it as bargaining chip when they want to do a more successful picture the next time they get to direct.

5)When a director gets a bad script, they have high hopes that their directorial style will make it a better movie. Not always true. But every director believe that their style of directing can impact the script. And if it does become a hit, they will try to take all the credit for turning it around.

6)Sometimes it's not even the director or script's fault. Sometimes, it's the trend or what people are into. There's been a lot of movies that were great but failed because they were released at the wrong time or they were marketed wrong. Sometimes, the audience members get tired of seeing the same stuff over and over. The most common thing I heard is that they are tried of remakes. It seems people want to see something new and different.

7) There's a lot of things that can determine the success of a movie. It's not always about the box office or critics. Sometimes those two items are in sync, most of time they are not. And then again, it's all about personal opinion. What seems bad to you, may be good to others.

Answer 2

I heard something once that I thought was rather interesting. This was something that was alledgedly being done back in the "Golden Era" of Hollywood. Sometimes, if a big studio (like MGM or Warner Bros) was having a really good year, they would make a flop. They would do this so they could write off the losses to balance out the profits at tax time. Other times, it was used as a means to "punish" or even eliminate a wayward star. The naughty star would be given a movie that was trash and was sure to flop. A really naughty star might get a series of flops and become box office poison. In the case of John Gilbert, MGM felt he was "interfering" too much with Greta Garbo. In his first talkie, his voice sounded as if he had been breathing helium. The audiences laughed every time he spoke onscreen and he was ruined for good in movies. Of course, that particular movie was a flop. MGM blamed in on the new technology and the sound crew. But...?

Answer 3

Most of the time, they are not expecting it to be a huge flop. They don't expect every movie to be a huge blockbuster and make billions, but they run the numbers and find an acceptable level of risk vs reward and go ahead with it. Often enough there is that small movie that makes it big and keeps those quirky little movies getting made. Napoleon Dynamite is one prime example. It is probably one of the stupidest movies of all time, but it only cost a few thousand and made 50+ million.

They have other ways to recoup the money, in merchandising and the like. George Lucas forfeited all the profits from Episode IV in exchange for all the merchandise rights. (smart move)

Jerry Sienfeld was asked at the end of his big special after the show ended if he was going to do a movie. He said he didn't know if he would cause when you go to a bad movie it's two hours, but when you're in a bad movie it's two years. he said he would be looking out from the screen saying i'm sorry. I know it's terrible, but they have me under contract.

Answer 4

What a silly question. No one makes a movie expecting it to be a huge flop. And everyone has their own idea of what is good and what is bad. For instance I loved the movie waterworld but it got such bad reviews that everyone considers it a huge flop.