Wtf. Sweeney Todd is certainly not a "failed collaboration". An R rated Academy award winning musical that made its investment back (x3) and was critically praised is an outstanding success.
Plus this article doesn't say much. What major Hollywood studio spends millions a huge international film without running financial models? This isn't abnormal. Sure, maybe the studio had some extra reservations, but I don't see any evidence of a "fight" that distinguishes the situation from any other movie.
Scratch and claw for every day you're worth!
Make them drag you screaming from life, keep dreaming
You'll live forever here on earth.
Seeing as it was Sweeney freaking Todd, it's not unfair to have expected the movie to be marvelous rather than merely mostly good. But yeah, I wouldn't call it a failed collaboration. Except, I guess, it didn't make as much money as the godawful Alice in Wonderland, which so far as I know is its nearest Depp/Burton contemporary.
Sweeney is actually one of my favorite movie musicals of the post-Chicago era. It's just not as good as it could have been.
Actually, art direction is a big one for me. People notice pretty looking art direction in trailers all the time and want to see movies because of it. The main thing that attracts me to The Life of Pi is the art direction.
One of the elevator operators at the AMC Empire 25 asked me what film I had seen. I told him I saw LIFE OF PI. He responded "Oh man, that movie is supposed to have better graphics than AVATAR! I can't wait to check it out!"
I will never forget that. His excitement was based purely on word of mouth about the film's "graphics" being better than another's. It was a sad day for storytelling.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
Yeah, for a magazine like Hollywood Reporter, you'd think they'd realize that Sweeney was a tough sell, and performed better than expectations... I'm mixed ont he actual film, but it certainly did better than I expected.
Domestically, SWEENEY TODD pretty much bombed, and even if it cost $50 to make an it ended making $150 worldwide, the original budget doesn't include marketing costs, which probably put the budget closer to $80. This is also a movie that was supposed to be a big player at the Oscars, it got nominated for major prizes at the Globes but ended up disappointing once Oscar nominations came out. I don't think they are incorrect in saying that the film (At least domestically and in terms of major awards--and no, Art Direction is not considered a "major award," which is different from saying it isn't a significant or even an impressive award to get) was a failure. It's also one of those movies that is good and has great moments, but that never realizes its potential.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
Count me as someone who thinks that the Sweeney Todd movie is absolutely wonderful. As an adaptation, it's not definitive, but as a movie it's pretty fantastic. I personally feel that there could be about 4 or 5 different ways that Sweeney Todd could have been effectively adapted to film and Burton just did one of the four.
In terms of its reception/box office gross, I would count Sweeney as a moderate success. It actually received the best reviews for a movie musical since Chicago (some critics actually like it MORE than Chicago) and though it didn't receive a ton of Oscar love, it was still a major presence on the awards circuit that season.
Box office wise, yes it was a bust in the US making just about $50 million, but thanks to a much better reception from audiences overseas and a modest $50 million budget (I highly doubt that Warner Bros. spent $30 million on marketing, I would venture to say it was $20 million or less) the movie did break even.
In terms of its artistic success, that's up for personal interpretation. But when taking into account worldwide box office and reviews from movie critics as well as nominations and awards received (not just Oscars), I don't think it can be said that the movie was a failure.
"Sing the words, Patti!!!!" Stephen Sondheim to Patti LuPone.
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joined:5/7/04
Posted: 12/5/12 at 04:36pm