Discuss: What is 20th Century Fox Doing Wrong?

Just to start off this article, I’m going to reiterate my opening comments in my  review for ‘Max Payne’.

‘Aliens’, ‘Predator’, ‘Die Hard’, ‘Die Hard 2†², ‘Point Break’, ‘Speed’, ‘Die Hard With a Vengeance’.   What do all of these films have in common?   They are all action films released by 20th Century Fox between the mid-80s and the mid-90s.

‘Daredevil’, ‘I, Robot’, ‘Alien Vs. Predator’, ‘Transporter 2†², ‘Live Free or Die Hard’, ‘Hitman’, ‘Babylon A.D.’.   What do all of these films have in common?   They are all action films released by 20th Century Fox in the past five years.

See a drop-off there somewhere?

And that’s just in the action department.   This idea that every action film has to be a PG-13-rated, accessible motion picture is wrong, wrong, wrong.   But that has been Fox’s moniker when it comes to action for the better part of a decade.

Sure, ‘Hitman’ was rated R, but, like ‘Live Free or Die Hard’, ‘Max Payne’, and ‘Babylon A.D.’, it was a dumbed down film that was, believe it or not, taken out of the hands of its very capable director.

‘Hitman’ director Xavier Gans was originally asked by Fox to deliver a PG-13-rated film.   He refused.   See, there’s something certain filmmakers have called integrity and a belief in their projects.   Gans is one such man.

So, what did Fox do in regards to Gans’ insistence that his film be an action movie for adults?   They let him make his movie, then they took it away from him in the editing stage and handed it over to Nicolas De Toth.   Mark that name, because the guy is a complete, corporate shill.   He does anything Fox tells him to do, and he’s been heavily compensated for it.

De Toth was brought in to give ‘Hitman’ a more commercial appearance.   He did the same thing to ‘Live Free or Die Hard,’ and what he ended up doing to both films was essentially cut the nuts off two action films that could have easily been instant classics.   They aren’t.   ‘Hitman’ made money.   It cost roughly $24 million and it made back almost $39.7 million in domestic box office.   However, you can’t help but think how much the film could have made were Gans allowed to present his original vision.

Another film director with some integrity is Mathieu Kassovitz, who had his own run-in with Fox executives on his film ‘Babylon A.D.’

Once again, what could have been a potentially ground-breaking action movie that lived on for a long time got its backbone ripped out Sub Zero-style once Fox execs got their hands on the film.   They cut an estimated 70 minutes out of Kassovitz’s original cut of the film and knocked its running time down to just over 90 minutes.   The finished product is dumbed down, incoherent, and an all-around mess.   However, in watching the film, you can’t help but realize that there is a vision somewhere underneath all the muck.

What does Kassovitz have to say about the film?   Well, his verbal sparring with Fox has been noted, and you can read all his outspoken issues righthere.   What he essentially says is that he was never allowed to do the film he wanted to do, and Fox turned his deep-thinking, epic experience into a violence-filled train wreck that had the IQ of a snail.   And I know some snails.   they are really stupid.

But, is Fox stepping in to make their films more “commercial” really the only thing they do wrong?   Hell no.

Anyone remember the Warner Bros/Fox/’Watchmen’ debacle?

Now, I’m not going to hold Fox’s feet to the fire on this issue all by themselves.  Ã‚   WB was as much to blame for this mess as Fox was.   WB knew they didn’t have full-steam-ahead access to make and release ‘Watchmen.’   However, Fox didn’t seem to give a damn until after it was apparent ‘Watchmen’ was going to become the next ‘Dark Knight.’

God only knows the type of film ‘Watchmen’ would have become had Fox gone through with making it.   Snyder would have been locked out of the editing booth, and his 160-minute vision would be drastically cut down to make more room for the love story between Night Owl II and Silk Spectre II.   And something tells me the animated feature film ‘Tales of the Black Freighter’ would never even have seen the light of day.

Of course, Fox’s interference, or even their attempt at an interference, got fan-boys’ blood boiling all across the world. Â  There were rumors abound that Fox’s big, tent pole, Summer movie, ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine,’ would be boycotted. Â  As if. Â  And, even if a boycott were organized by certain people, nothing much would bring down ‘Wolverine’s box office. Â  The only thing that could do that was if the film were leaked online… Oh!

Yeah, let’s address that now.

Look at ’em there. Â  They almost look melancholy at the news that came out early Friday morning that a DVD-quality copy of the ‘Wolverine’ work print had been leaded online. Â  By noon, thousands of people had their hands on what would be Fox’s biggest film of the year. Â  But can you really feel sorry for Fox in all of this?

Devin over at  CHUD wrote a great article late Friday evening about how the ‘Wolverine’ work print got out.   In it, he discusses the mass amounts of DVD screeners of the film that were being handed out at Fox like trick or treat candy.   Well, he’s not wrong.   We have it on pretty good authority that screeners of the film were, in fact, being passed around to employees at Fox all up and down the hierarchy of the studio.   Interns were getting copies of this thing, so that brings up one of two scenarios.

1.) 20th Century Fox is stupid. Â  I know, I know. Â  You can argue all day about the intelligence of the mainstream media, let alone one of the bigger film studios. Â  But, let’s face it, these movie studios are not stupid. Â  They may not always have their thumb on the pulse of the nation. Â  They may typically do things for there sheer sake of making an extra dollar or two, but they are not stupid. Â  All of them? Â  Yes, all of them. Â  That includes Fox. Â  Scenario 1 has been thrown out the window.

2.) It was all a marketing ploy.   If a work print copy of ‘Wolverine’ “leaks” out, and Fox acts like they are freaking out, then, believe me when I tell you it is a win-win situation for the studio.   There hasn’t been a whole lot of ‘Wolverine’ talk in the past month or two.   The last thing we talked about in terms of ‘Wolverine’ was the  super early review of the film we exclusively had on our site.   Before that, it was the final trailer the film had released.   That was over a month ago.   ‘Wolverine’ needed to get its name out there some way, any way.   It became the one thing everyone was talking about Friday.   You know when Attack of the Show brings on Faraci to talk about something, it’s kind of a big deal.   Everyone was talking about ‘Wolverine’ on Friday.

“But, what about the people who didn’t like what they saw?” you might be asking yourself. Â  Granted, there were a lot of people who watched the work print and didn’t think it was that great. Â  Fox was right in there to say that what these people had seen was an unfinished version with completely unfinished special effects. Â  Between the effects and that extra 10-15 worth of re-shoots that have been added in, Fox can play what was released last Friday off as a totally different film. Â  Fox 2. Â  World 0.

Of course, news about the leaked work print sprawled all the way across the weekend. Â  Late last night word came down that Fox had fired Fox News entertainment blogger Roger Friedman for posting a review of the incomplete film. Â  They didn’t fire him because he wrote a bad review. Â  That would be something Fox actually did right. Â  No, they fired the man after he wrote a very generous review of the film. Â  Movie bloggers all over the Internet community called for Friedman’s dismissal, and Fox obliged.

So, just in case you weren’t keeping score there, a work print version of ‘Wolverine’ leaks out. Â  Everyone talks about it. Â  Fox says not to judge the film based on the work print, because it isn’t an accurate representation of what they will be releasing next month. Â  A movie critic who works for Fox posts a positive review of the film, and Fox fires the man after movie bloggers complain. Â  We have officially hit tilt on the 20th Century Fox pinball game

Another story the ‘Wolverine’ work print leak covered up was Fox’s debacle with the ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ DVD. Â  I’m sure you didn’t know (I didn’t know until talking with some people late Friday night) that a bad batch of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ DVDs were shipped without any special features included on the discs. Â  How much is a bad batch? Â  There’s no telling. Â  It could be 50. Â  It could be 50,000. Â  What we do know is that the issue was so large that Amazon had to put up the following disclaimer:

DVD Alert: We are aware that special features were missing from a number of  Slumdog Millionaire  DVDs. Fox has set up a hotline telephone number (1-888-223-4FOX) for those consumers who may have purchased a version that does not contain special features. Upon calling the hotline, these consumers will be able to have their disc replaced for one containing special features. Fox regrets any inconvenience this has caused.

A special telephone hotline just for people with a screwed up ‘Slumdog’ DVD? Â  That’s money well spent. Â  How did this happen? Â  Apparently Fox was trying something new with releasing different versions of the film to rental stores (no special features) than what is released to retailers (loaded with special feature). Â  The packaging got screwed up. Â  Consumer A got Consumer B’s special feature-less DVD. Â  Fox sets up a hotline with money they saved over firing Roger Friedman.

So, where does all this leave us? Â  It’s nothing new with studios screwing things up, trying to cover their own ass, and generally figure out new and creative ways of ripping off the people who keep them in business. Â  That’s America, people. Â  Love it. Â  All of the studios are guilty of it. Â  Warner does it. Â  Paramount does it. Â  Hell, even Lionsgate, seemingly the last independent studio out there, is doing it every Halloween with their ‘Saw’ franchise.

But that’s a different discussion for a different day. Â  Today, we are talking about Fox and all the things they are apparently doing wrong lately. Â  There’s a whole bunch out there, and I’m sure, if I keep doing digging, I’ll uncover another 1800 words worth of article.

So, tell me I’m wrong.   Tell me I’m right.   It wouldn’t be the first nor the last time in either case.   Let us know below what you think about Fox and all the varying degrees of wrong that is coming from the studio as of late.   And, if there’s any topic you want me or any of the Movie Geeks to rant and rave about in our Discuss column,  let us know that, too.

Good night.

Travel well.