Possibly ....
... Verbinski sees a new frontier in animation where audacious outlaws may finally win. He said R-rated animation projects (such as David Fincher’s discussed adaptation of “The Goon“) may be pioneer projects to watch.
“There’s so much you can do in animation, and maybe what’s interesting is a movie where you don’t bring your 6-year-old,” Verbinksi said, adding that the the animation legacy of Ralph Bakshi and “Heavy Metal” may be a compass point for Hollywood as far as mature audience ambitions. “You can tell so many stories. I think where it’s going is very interesting if we let it be.”
But I tend to think that Hollywood conglomerates will want to make features that make a good deal more money than Verbinski ... or Ralph Bakshi in his heyday ... pulled in with their animated creations.
Don't get me wrong. Some high-powered player will be able to get his pet "adult" animated project off the ground. But if the feature doesn't make a lot of swag, our fine entertainment conglomerates will quickly run away from it.
Disney, Viacom, Warners and the rest are not Renaissance art studios. They are in the game for profit.
(Even Johnny Depp, with all his power and influence, will be unlikely to get Rum Diaries II off the ground. Because RD Uno made pretty close to nothing.)
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22 comments:
how would he know? With rango, he made one of the most silly, childish, and juvenile cartoons in a very long time. And it was repugnant to look at. No wonder it didn't even make it's money back at the box office.
Never gonna happen, Ralph Bakshi style of raunchy animation is for an audience of one.
agreed. He's certainly following suit with juvenile pap like rango. Except at least Bakshi was an artist, and often had something to say.
Just like Katzenberg's ridiculous statement about Dreamworks... "We make movies for the Adult in every Child" ....Yes....he said that.
Good luck with that Verbinski.
Considering that the South Park movie and Beavis and Butthead movies each did well when they were released. I don't think it is out of the realm for "adult" animated features to do well.
They're just not going to do well enough to justify anything north of a $5 million dollar budget. Which is allot if you abandon CG which isn't necessary for an adult audience.
My favorite part of these comment sections is the one guy who's just obsessed with Rango He always mentions how juvenile and ugly it is and he keeps restating it hoping it will somehow become accepted fact.
We get it dude, you didn't like Rango very much!
Perhaps a better way to produce and market R rated cartoons is to do them as shorts, bundle them together as a collection, and funnel them through DVD and cable download. These would interest mostly animation buffs but would create a product that gets the producers point across and offers exposure to a lot more different kinds of art direction.
The last poster has a good idea. There has never been much of a market for R-rated animation, probably because so much of it is crappy. The tiny segment of the audience for 'adult' fare has also been burned too many times. The rest of the audience isn't ever going to come along for the ride. Shorts tend to be cheaper to produce, and with an anthology you can just skip the really ugly stuff.
A more relevant recent example could be the heavily effects-animated Sin City, R-rated, with a domestic boxoffice total of $74-million.
One of the worst movies ever made.
Oh shut up.
Well, it's true that edgy, violent, sexually-oriented animation typically has a limited market. Blur and Fincher will find that out with The Goon.
Will somebody please re-read the quote? Verbinski didn't promise "profitable," just "interesting." Interesting is entirely within the hands of the writer/director and has nothing to do with the target audience. The success of Adult Swim is all the proof you need that there is a market. As far as the anthology format goes, two words: Heavy Metal.
And I totally agree about Mr. Rango/Niagara Falls. Methinks the lady doth protest too much. Did Uncle Gore fire us, or something?
Verbinski didn't promise "profitable," just "interesting...The success of Adult Swim is all the proof you need that there is a market.
Verbinski is talking about feature films. Adult Swim is a relatively obscure cable TV series that has a teeny tiny viewership.
Put it to rest and make a good film. Leave the Bakshi bunk in the 70's please.
Anthologies never do well at the BO regardless of it being animated or live action.
It will take a well done,very funny R rated animated movie to get any kind of audience via word of mouth.
It would help if it built an audience via shorts and keep the production costs down so an indie distributor who takes chances with arthouse films can get it into a few theaters.
They will never achieve wide release, but again most movies don't. Doesn't mean they can't be profitable or shoudln't be made.
"Considering that the South Park movie and Beavis and Butthead "
Because they were good MOVIES! Unlike rango. Which flopped at the box office.
Why the fuck do you have to bring up Rango? I didn't include it in my point, plus it wasn't an R rated adult movie.
The Japanese have figured out this a long time ago...the west is always playing catch up.
The Japanese mostly make incomprehensable crap for 13 year old goth girls and old dirty men who enjoy watching what would get them arrested should they attempt iit in real life--hardly "mature, " and hardly "adult."
Wow, with all of your apparent knowledge, your sweeping statements that encompass every bit of animation produced in that country has seemed to miss masterpieces such as Jin-Roh and Ghost in the Shell. But I guess you already knew that...
Yep. Pretty accurate, too.
"My favorite part of these comment sections is the one guy who's just obsessed with Rango He always mentions how juvenile and ugly it is and he keeps restating it hoping it will somehow become accepted fact."
"We get it dude, you didn't like Rango very much!"
Thank you.
Anyway, I would love to see some animated films aimed at a much older audience, but I doubt it will happen anytime soon. When PG-13 rated animated movie become more common, than I think we'll see some R rated films. Granted, we don't need a higher rating in order to tell a mature story. Rango and the various films from Pixar and Dreamworks have accomplished much with their PG ratings, but it would be nice to be able to aim higher than the 6-11 crowds.
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