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Thursday, October 19, 2017

The Writer's Life 10/19 - Bang for Buck

There's an article in today's NY Post about the business of movies. Here's the gist, edited by yours truly: Analysts from PartyCasino have studied box-office data from 1980 to 2017 and found surprising results on which actors generated the most profit in their film appearances. Emilio Estevez's pictures returned $6.70 for every budgeted dollar. Second is Jean-Claude Van Damme at $4.20, third is Mel Gibson at $3.50, fourth is Tyler Perry at $3 and fifth is Dudley Moore at $3. Here are the five least profitable stars. Remember that what may seem like paltry returns probably translates into millions. Still, it's a fun bit of trivia. Brad Pitt returned only 10 cents for every dollar spent. Second is Johnny Depp, 20 cents; third Robert De Niro, 24 cents; fourth Hugh Jackman, 25 cents; and fifth Anthony Hopkins, 26 cents. PartyCasino also crunched the numbers for actresses from the past decade and found Rose Byrne scored the best return - $9.80 for every budgeted dollar, followed by Regina Hall, $3.50, and Octavia Spencer, $2.90. Researchers took each movie’s gross from Box Office Mojo and subtracted its budget. In terms of genre, mysteries proved to be the most profitable, returning $39.89, horror second, $34.13; followed by thrillers, $17.36, and documentaries, $7.38. Action movies were the least profitable, generating $1.89, followed by crime pictures, $2.01, and musicals $2.05. I wondered if "drama" was one of the categories, but failed to find any info on it.

Here are the ten biggest Hollywood flops of all time - financially, according to Wiki:
The 13th Warrior (1999), Budget: $100,000,000–160,000,000, Return: $61,700,000.
47 Ronin (2013), Budget: $175,000,000–225,000,000, Return: $151,800,000.
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), Budget: $46,600,000, Return $8,100,000.
The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002), Budget: $100,000,000, Return: $7,100,000.
The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000), Budget: $76,000,000–98,600,000, Return: $35,100,000.
The Alamo (2004), Budget: $107,000,000, Return: $25,800,000.
Alexander (2004), Budget: $155,000,000, Return: $167,300,000. (Seems to be an error, as profit is greater than the next film in line.)
Ali (2001), Budget: $107,000,000, Return: $87,700,000.
Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016), Budget: $170,000,000, Return: $299,500,000.
Allied (2016). Budget: $85,000,000, Return: $118,600,000.
I've only seen two, the first, which was ordinary, and last, which was disappointing but not bad. 

Another Post article reports something I don't find surprising. Six fat people are suing Coca-Cola, Pepsico and Dr. Pepper Snapple, claiming aspartame has made them gain, not lose weight. I've witnessed countless occasions of someone overweight, even obese, sitting at a meal, diet soda within reach. I doubt the sweetener is at fault. I suspect overall diet or genetic disposition is. What's not surprising is that lawyers would try to shake down companies for big bucks. I wouldn't drink that swill. I love regular soda and limit myself to one serving, 10-14 ounces drunk directly from a two liter bottle, per day at supper. I look forward to it all afternoon. I'd drink it all day long if overindulgence weren't so damaging.

My thanks to the kind folks who bought books, especially the woman who purchased the last three of the Danielle Steel translations into Russian I had on hand, and the woman who bought Jack London's White Fang and Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms for her teenage daughter, whom she has introduced to classics.
Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc
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