FacebookTwitter
Hatrack River Forum   
my profile login | search | faq | forum home

  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» Hatrack River Forum » Active Forums » Books, Films, Food and Culture » Big budget movie flopped? Sue the author of the book it was based on!

   
Author Topic: Big budget movie flopped? Sue the author of the book it was based on!
Stephan
Member
Member # 7549

 - posted      Profile for Stephan   Email Stephan         Edit/Delete Post 
"In case you haven't heard, Clive Cussler, whose ocean-going, globe-trotting adventure tales have only become more popular in recent years, is being sued in two jurisdictions by billionaire businessman and producer Philip Anschutz because Cussler's self-described popularity did not translate onto the big screen in Sahara, which apparently lost $105 million despite starring Matthew McConaughey as Dirk Pitt. (Here's a belated suggestion: if you're making the first movie in decades based on an author known for his deep-sea adventures, maybe you shouldn't name it after a desert.) Anschutz alleges, among other things, that Cussler overstated his following by claiming that his books have sold more than 100 million copies (Anschutz's lawyers claim the number is closer to 30 million, which of course is not bad...)."

All I can say is, wow. Sahara got me into reading Cussler's books to.

Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
MightyCow
Member
Member # 9253

 - posted      Profile for MightyCow           Edit/Delete Post 
I read a couple Dirk Pitt adventures. They're just too pulpy for me. Kind of fun, mindless reading, but really too much to believe.

You can't just suspend disbelieve. You have to take disbelief and lock it into a golden chest, bury it in an active volcano, drop that volcano into the deepest trench in the ocean, cover it with a diamond the size of New Jersey, set a water-breathing tribe of cannibalistic Aztec warriors as a guard, and by page 300 Dirk Pitt will still have rescued your disbelief using only a a leather belt, a 1940 Corvette, and an authentic WWII German machine gun.

Posts: 3950 | Registered: Mar 2006  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Blayne Bradley
unregistered


 - posted            Edit/Delete Post 
...


...

...


...


roflmao

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Rakeesh
Member
Member # 2001

 - posted      Profile for Rakeesh   Email Rakeesh         Edit/Delete Post 
Clive Cussler is actually a pretty interesting man. To some extent, his stories are autobiographical. Not the swashbuckling of course (and he freely admits that), but the part where he personally leads and works in expeditions that find lost, sometimes historically very signifigant, shipwrecks.
Posts: 17164 | Registered: Jun 2001  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Stephan
Member
Member # 7549

 - posted      Profile for Stephan   Email Stephan         Edit/Delete Post 
His 70's books are just hilarious to read now. No author could get away with how women are treated in those books today.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
erosomniac
Member
Member # 6834

 - posted      Profile for erosomniac           Edit/Delete Post 
If they can prove he claimed 100 million in sales and actual documented sales are only 30 million, they have a legitimate reason to be pissed.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Icarus
Member
Member # 3162

 - posted      Profile for Icarus   Email Icarus         Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
Originally posted by MightyCow:
I read a couple Dirk Pitt adventures. They're just too pulpy for me. Kind of fun, mindless reading, but really too much to believe.

You can't just suspend disbelieve. You have to take disbelief and lock it into a golden chest, bury it in an active volcano, drop that volcano into the deepest trench in the ocean, cover it with a diamond the size of New Jersey, set a water-breathing tribe of cannibalistic Aztec warriors as a guard, and by page 300 Dirk Pitt will still have rescued your disbelief using only a a leather belt, a 1940 Corvette, and an authentic WWII German machine gun.

[ROFL]
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Icarus
Member
Member # 3162

 - posted      Profile for Icarus   Email Icarus         Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
Originally posted by erosomniac:
If they can prove he claimed 100 million in sales and actual documented sales are only 30 million, they have a legitimate reason to be pissed.

Sounds fishy to me. You don't buy film rights to books based on anecdotal data from the author. There are agents involved, and possibly you have some sort of research department. Companies don't spend over a hundred million dollars without doing any sort of market analysis.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
erosomniac
Member
Member # 6834

 - posted      Profile for erosomniac           Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
Originally posted by Icarus:
quote:
Originally posted by erosomniac:
If they can prove he claimed 100 million in sales and actual documented sales are only 30 million, they have a legitimate reason to be pissed.

Sounds fishy to me. You don't buy film rights to books based on anecdotal data from the author. There are agents involved, and possibly you have some sort of research department. Companies don't spend over a hundred million dollars without doing any sort of market analysis.
Well, duh. By "prove he claimed 100 million in sales," it's sort of implied that he and his agents would have falsified documents in order to lend credibility to their claim. It's not like he came up to them and said "Hey, my books sold 100 million copies, make me a movie!" and they said "KTHX."
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
katharina
Member
Member # 827

 - posted      Profile for katharina   Email katharina         Edit/Delete Post 
This is a countersuit. Cussler sued the filmmakers because the crappy movie killed the franchise, and this was the response.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
erosomniac
Member
Member # 6834

 - posted      Profile for erosomniac           Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
Originally posted by katharina:
This is a countersuit. Cussler sued the filmmakers because the crappy movie killed the franchise, and this was the response.

Sounds like Cussler's a king-sized toolbox.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
katharina
Member
Member # 827

 - posted      Profile for katharina   Email katharina         Edit/Delete Post 
Well, the filmmakers did cast Matthew McCouneghy. They are not blameless. [Razz]

I'll bet Uncle Orson would have a dandy perspective on this. I hope he writes about it.

Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Rakeesh
Member
Member # 2001

 - posted      Profile for Rakeesh   Email Rakeesh         Edit/Delete Post 
Well, it depends on how much control he was promised over the initial movie and how much he actually had...I know he was very disappointed in it from the start.
Posts: 17164 | Registered: Jun 2001  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Stephan
Member
Member # 7549

 - posted      Profile for Stephan   Email Stephan         Edit/Delete Post 
If the film makers win, could it set a nasty precedent for sueing authors?
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
FlyingCow
Member
Member # 2150

 - posted      Profile for FlyingCow   Email FlyingCow         Edit/Delete Post 
I hope Cussler wins, then maybe writers like Le Guin and Auel can sue... and possibly Asimov and Heinlein's estates.

And, by the slippery slope argument, then maybe we fans can sue George Lucas and prevent him from ruining anything else.

[Big Grin]

Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Jim-Me
Member
Member # 6426

 - posted      Profile for Jim-Me   Email Jim-Me         Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
And, by the slippery slope argument, then maybe we fans can sue George Lucas and prevent him from ruining anything else.

Best.

Southpark.

Ever.

("Free Hat")

Posts: 3846 | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
FlyingCow
Member
Member # 2150

 - posted      Profile for FlyingCow   Email FlyingCow         Edit/Delete Post 
That was a South Park episode? Man, maybe I'll have to start watching that show.
Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Jim-Me
Member
Member # 6426

 - posted      Profile for Jim-Me   Email Jim-Me         Edit/Delete Post 
Yes it is, and yes you should watch that episode at least. Google "free hat" and I bet you'll find it.
Posts: 3846 | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Lyrhawn
Member
Member # 7039

 - posted      Profile for Lyrhawn   Email Lyrhawn         Edit/Delete Post 
I tried reading "Raise the Titanic," and fell asleep about 10 pages in. I absolutely could not get into it. Sahara was your average popcorn flick, nothing special at all.

And I have no sympathy for the execs. If they are industry professionals, they should know when they've made crap and when they've made a decent summer bug budget blockbuster. Now I know that what the execs think and what the moviegoing public think often differe from each other, but suing the author because he said he had a bigger fanbase? Cheap. That's the execs being lazy because they couldn't make a good movie, and were expecting a ready made audience to come pay to see their crappy movie. Maybe if next time their first concern is to make a good movie that non-fans can come see, they'll make enough money to not have to sue anyone.

Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Sterling
Member
Member # 8096

 - posted      Profile for Sterling   Email Sterling         Edit/Delete Post 
In related news, the studio plans to file individial suits against 178 million people for "seeming to be, you know, the kind of people who would go to see that kind of movie" and then not turning up to buy tickets.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Counter Bean
Member
Member # 10176

 - posted      Profile for Counter Bean           Edit/Delete Post 
Even if he did sell 100 million copies his share of that is what? 50 million? 30 after taxes and maybe 20 after expenses certainly it is not likely that his personal fortune is going to come close to their loss, or that a judge would believe that his person fortune should be backing a movie just because he wrote the story.
Posts: 231 | Registered: Feb 2007  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
pooka
Member
Member # 5003

 - posted      Profile for pooka   Email pooka         Edit/Delete Post 
If they have documentation of the claim and the refutation of the claim, I guess they could do that. Or maybe they could look at Matthew McConaughey a little harder, maybe there's call for suing the casting director. Also, in Cussler's defense (which I hesitate) have there been other 100 million selling authors who's filmed stories were duds?
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
FlyingCow
Member
Member # 2150

 - posted      Profile for FlyingCow   Email FlyingCow         Edit/Delete Post 
I'd say that there have been at least 100 million Dungeons and Dragons books sold in the last 30 years.

And that movie was awful.

[Edit: 100,000 != to 100 million]

[ February 23, 2007, 12:20 PM: Message edited by: FlyingCow ]

Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Teshi
Member
Member # 5024

 - posted      Profile for Teshi   Email Teshi         Edit/Delete Post 
Sahara was not a horrible movie. After first seeing this newsstory a while back I watched it just to see.

Although it was nothing to write home about, once it got into its momentum it was a perfectly normal, decent and rather interesting-concepted film (albeit somewhat unbelievable). However, the opening half hour was heavy. By heavy I mean it had a lot to establish and we knew it. Part of this was due to the fact that the two main characters, a man and a woman, had quite seperate interests and missions until the very end.

I think a way to solve this would be to get us to care about the characters early on and so we don't mind a bit of backstory. However, the movie did nothing to make us care (Like, yes. Care, no) for the characters' safety, thus making a clumsy ninja attack (OKay, not a ninja, almsot a ninja) on the woman character and her underwhelming rescue by the man, rather laughable.

Anyway, that's why the movie failed as a movie. Partially the book's dualism and partially the adaptation.

Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
pooka
Member
Member # 5003

 - posted      Profile for pooka   Email pooka         Edit/Delete Post 
I hope this isn't too spoilerific, and I don't know if it was inherent to the book or something that happened in the moviemaking, but the story seemed to go in one direction and then not get there. "Ship of Death"? What the?

I, for one, am glad that "White Death" is unlikely to be filmed at this rate.

Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
mr_porteiro_head
Member
Member # 4644

 - posted      Profile for mr_porteiro_head   Email mr_porteiro_head         Edit/Delete Post 
I was unimpressed by "Sahara".

I honestly can't remember if I even finished watching it or not.

Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
LadyDove
Member
Member # 3000

 - posted      Profile for LadyDove   Email LadyDove         Edit/Delete Post 
Have they figured out whom we can sue for "Ishtar"?
Posts: 2425 | Registered: Jan 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
aspectre
Member
Member # 2222

 - posted      Profile for aspectre           Edit/Delete Post 
I'm thinking about suing Philip Anschutz for not making my novel into a major movie,
which would have generated enough publicity to make my book to sell in the millions,
which would have caused a major publisher to give me a HUGE prepublication advance on royalties,
which would have given me a decent incentive to think about writing that book in the first place.

Posts: 8501 | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
The Pixiest
Member
Member # 1863

 - posted      Profile for The Pixiest   Email The Pixiest         Edit/Delete Post 
I'm gonna sue myself for not writing anything worth making a movie about...

Just like any other lawsuit, the only winners are the lawyers.

Posts: 7085 | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Dagonee
Member
Member # 5818

 - posted      Profile for Dagonee           Edit/Delete Post 
And yet you all keep suing each other!

Mwahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Stephan
Member
Member # 7549

 - posted      Profile for Stephan   Email Stephan         Edit/Delete Post 
Wow, I guess we got OSC's view point in his reviews after all. He makes a good point that the script writers have to try and appeal to an audience other then just the readers.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Tarrsk
Member
Member # 332

 - posted      Profile for Tarrsk           Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
Originally posted by Dagonee:
And yet you all keep suing each other!

Mwahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Lawyers FTW!
Posts: 1321 | Registered: Sep 1999  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
TheGrimace
Member
Member # 9178

 - posted      Profile for TheGrimace   Email TheGrimace         Edit/Delete Post 
am I the only one here that is somewhat familiar with Cussler's works, but was completely unaware that the movie was related to them? I've read a handful (and was unaware that he had one titled Sahara) but if any of the ads for the movie actually mentioned his name I might have gone. But maybe I just missed those ads
Posts: 1038 | Registered: Feb 2006  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Stephan
Member
Member # 7549

 - posted      Profile for Stephan   Email Stephan         Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
Originally posted by TheGrimace:
am I the only one here that is somewhat familiar with Cussler's works, but was completely unaware that the movie was related to them? I've read a handful (and was unaware that he had one titled Sahara) but if any of the ads for the movie actually mentioned his name I might have gone. But maybe I just missed those ads

My mom reads his books religiously, and didn't realize the connection until she saw the back of the dvd in the rental store.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Lissande
Member
Member # 350

 - posted      Profile for Lissande   Email Lissande         Edit/Delete Post 
I wouldn't say the movie was any worse than the book.

I should say that I read the book when a surely well-meaning 19-year-old told me all about it and actually bought it for me because I told her I read historical fiction. I didn't have the heart to tell her that wasn't quite the definition of 'historical fiction' I'd been thinking of. [Big Grin] (It really was nice of her.)

Posts: 2762 | Registered: Sep 1999  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Coccinelle
Member
Member # 5832

 - posted      Profile for Coccinelle   Email Coccinelle         Edit/Delete Post 
I was so disappointed in Sahara too. My goodness there were only three gratitutious shots of a well-oiled Mathew McConaughey....
Posts: 862 | Registered: Oct 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Nighthawk
Member
Member # 4176

 - posted      Profile for Nighthawk   Email Nighthawk         Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
Originally posted by Coccinelle:
I was so disappointed in Sahara too. My goodness there were only three gratitutious shots of a well-oiled Mathew McConaughey....

And they did nothing with Penelope Cruz's... er... talent! Yeah, that's it! Talent!
Posts: 3486 | Registered: Sep 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
pH
Member
Member # 1350

 - posted      Profile for pH           Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
Originally posted by Nighthawk:
quote:
Originally posted by Coccinelle:
I was so disappointed in Sahara too. My goodness there were only three gratitutious shots of a well-oiled Mathew McConaughey....

And they did nothing with Penelope Cruz's... er... talent! Yeah, that's it! Talent!
I thought that low-cut tank top showcased her talent quite nicely...

-pH

Posts: 9057 | Registered: Nov 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
SteveRogers
Member
Member # 7130

 - posted      Profile for SteveRogers           Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
Originally posted by Jim-Me:
quote:
And, by the slippery slope argument, then maybe we fans can sue George Lucas and prevent him from ruining anything else.

Best.

Southpark.

Ever.

("Free Hat")

That really is a good episode. I rather enjoyed it. I have it on DVD because I own season six.
Posts: 6026 | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
BlackBlade
Member
Member # 8376

 - posted      Profile for BlackBlade   Email BlackBlade         Edit/Delete Post 
I was confused, I thought the studio sued Cussler and then in OSC article its Cussler suing the studio. I understand you can counter sue as well but I have no idea how this rhubarb started!

Man I have not used the word rhubarb or heard it used in a very LONG time! [Big Grin]

Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
SteveRogers
Member
Member # 7130

 - posted      Profile for SteveRogers           Edit/Delete Post 
Rhubarb.
Posts: 6026 | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Stephan
Member
Member # 7549

 - posted      Profile for Stephan   Email Stephan         Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
Originally posted by BlackBlade:
I was confused, I thought the studio sued Cussler and then in OSC article its Cussler suing the studio. I understand you can counter sue as well but I have no idea how this rhubarb started!

Man I have not used the word rhubarb or heard it used in a very LONG time! [Big Grin]

They sued each other. The studio sued him, after he sued them.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
TheTick
Member
Member # 2883

 - posted      Profile for TheTick   Email TheTick         Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
Originally posted by TheGrimace:
am I the only one here that is somewhat familiar with Cussler's works, but was completely unaware that the movie was related to them? I've read a handful (and was unaware that he had one titled Sahara) but if any of the ads for the movie actually mentioned his name I might have gone. But maybe I just missed those ads

I never heard his name associated with it. I figured it out when I saw the novel sitting in the bookpile adjacent to the 'throne' my Father in law reads on.

I enjoyed it, as far as standard action/adventure movies go. I'm part of the problem, though, as I borrowed a DVD from someone to watch it. (don't sue me Clive!)

Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
   

   Close Topic   Feature Topic   Move Topic   Delete Topic next oldest topic   next newest topic
 - Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:


Contact Us | Hatrack River Home Page

Copyright © 2008 Hatrack River Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.


Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classic™ 6.7.2