Thursday, March 03, 2011

The New Pretender

Now with rich, creamy Add On.

... to the animation throne.

Success for Paramount's 'Rango' could lead to end of deal with DreamWorks... Computer animation is one of Hollywood's few growth industries, with nearly every major studio now wanting to stake a claim ... It's a landscape that few foresaw as recently as 2006, when Paramount and DreamWorks entered into a seven-year pact for the Viacom Inc.-owned studio to distribute the movies of the newly independent animation company.

... Paramount has two animated movies following "Rango": Steven Spielberg's ... "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn," ... and another "SpongeBob" picture.

When animated features are pulling down five hundred ... seven hundred ... or a billion dollars at the world box office, every conglomerate wants to get into the act.

I'm not totally sure that Rango is going to be this season's animated blockbuster, but so far the reviews are encouraging, so what do I know? Maybe Gore Verbinski's latest movie will be the next $200 million darling.

If it is, you can plunk down money on a future that will see even more corporate players jumping into the long-form cartoon business.

Add On: The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Rango is shooting for a REALLY BIG weekend:

Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount's "Rango", voiced by Johnny Depp, is expected to score the best debut of the year when rolling out Friday in 3,917 theaters.

Most believe that "Rango" -- reteaming Depp with Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski -- will gross north of $40 million for the weekend ...

We'll see how the grosses pan out, won't we?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Really, Paramount? DreamWorks makes one successful animated film after another year after year and you want to give them away?

Anonymous said...

And rango is really quite awful and extremely childish and juvenile. And finally--a cartoon far uglier than shrek.

Anonymous said...

"And rango is really quite awful and extremely childish and juvenile. And finally--a cartoon far uglier than shrek"

Wow, what a pompous, self important @ss you are there buddy boy. Why not say something like."While the look of Rango may not be my cuppa tea I hope it has a great weekend, after all a high tide floats all ships"? Instead you offer up snarky lil comments. Typical TAG troll.

What's a matter, honey? Did you apply to work on the film and did big bad ILM not have the smarts to hire you?

Anonymous said...

From the linked article:
"If the economics of a continued deal make sense, then we'd be happy to renew our agreement with DWA," said Paramount Chairman Brad Grey. "If they don't, we'd wish DWA nothing but the best and we would continue to produce and release our own films."

This is just blustery pre-negotiation dick-waving. Paramount has had far too much success with Dreamworks to ever let that cash cow slip through their fingers. They're just trying to soften up their negotiating opposition, to try to keep the distribution fee at 8%.

Anonymous said...

I previewed Rango on Wednesday, and I agree with everything Roger Ebert has to say about it. Its problems are largely tied to unfinished character arcs but they stop there.

If you're going to bitch about how "ugly" the animation is you shouldn't be watching animated movies. All animation has a visual style and your preference is going to vary film by film. Just because you don't like the art style doesn't mean you can make it ugly.

I also don't understand how you can call Rango juvenile. That's like saying Pirates was juvenile, or Indiana Jones. Rango is a solid animated movie that extends to all demographics.

Artist who doesnt work for ILM said...

I think it looks fun and fresh. The 2 minute clip was really funny. My only complaint was not knowing where to look some of the time. Not sure if it was the lighting or composition or just that I was watching it on my computer...

Either way, here's to a successful opening weekend!

Anonymous said...

I just got back from watching Rango and I thought it was a solid film. The story was strong, the animation was new and interesting, and it actually felt like a true western. No matter of the negative comments here it's going to do well. Just wait and see.

Vincent Waller said...

Ugly yes. Naked mole rats are ugly, In this film they are beautifully Ugly. My only real grief with the design would be with the wig on the head on of Rango's love interest.
I felt all the secondary characters were some the prettiest ugly characters I've ever laid eyes on.
Other than one Latte joke, nothing in this movie made me groan and roll my eyes as happens to me in most modern American animation.
I also would not recommend taking kids under 10 to see Rango, unless you have a rugrat that revels in dangerous scary situations.

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