Today was Sony Pictures Animation day on the Hulett studio tour, where I was told:
"We're working on Hotel Transylvania as the next theatrical feature. We've also got Open Season 3 going, and some other projects in early development. Sony was happy with the money that OS2 has brought in, and they've okayed scripting and boarding on another one ..."
..."We've got six months to get Open Season 3 up on boards and ready. We're working with the writer, who's good about working with the board artists, real collaborative. But we're moving fast ..." "... They are animating the Open Seasons in Texas, and theyre making money because they've kept the costs down on them."
I got to see some of the character development for Hotel Transylvniai going on upstairs; the characters look edgy and fun (whether they stay in the picture when story beats are worked out is another story.) ...
Yesterday at Disney Television Animation Sonora, I was happy to see that crew for the new season of Inspector Oso is trickling back to work. And the new show they haven't yet officially announced? Designers and story artists are coming aboard, and Story Booking is proceeding at a high rate of speed.
So while DTVA Sonora has lots of square footage that is empty, at least a few productions are rumbling to life. (There's a lot more artists working upstairs at Disney Toons.)
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How much are these new "Open Season" movies costing?
I heard that "Open Season 2" cost $ 9 million, and that the new one is less than that.
Wow! That is reeeally keeping cost$ down.
I'm still waiting for word that Phil Lord & Chris Miller are being brought back to Sony to direct another movie for them. I'd be fine if Cloudy was the basis for a SPA house style of storytelling & character design/animation; it was so different from what we've seen out of Pixar/DW/Blue Sky.
So is Cloudy actually going to make a profit? It's got some box-office take, but is it enough to offset its budget?
I would wager that the picture will be in the black when all income streams have been tapped.
In the old days, if a picture made twice its production costs, it edged into profits. Now the rule of thumb is 3X.
But look at the whole picture: theatrical gross, merchandising, television licensing, dvd sales and rentals.
A studio's cash flow from a project is important.
Open Season 2 was well below $9 million.
Isn't The Smurfs the next Sony Pictures Animation film although that one is a hybrid rather a fully animated film?
After the success of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, I have high hopes for Hotel Transylvania and the future SPA slate.
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