Yesterday, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas came down from their respective perches atop Mount Olympus and a huge pile of Disney Dollars to tell us all how the movie industry’s comeuppance was about to come: progressive pricing that would place a premium on big damn summer fare while squeezing smaller films out into the box office ghetto.

Coincidentally enough, today we’re getting a chance to sorta see what that looks like with Paramount’s World War Z Mega Ticket “Deal”. What does the mega deal get you? Well, according to Deadline, the $50 Mega Ticket includes:

[A]dmission to the June 19 3D showing of the flick, a download or stream of the film when it’s released on home video, custom 3D glasses, a limited-edition official movie poster and a small popcorn. [...] The offer is good at megaplexes in Irvine, San Diego, Houston, Atlanta and Philadelphia.

Now, if you had already planned on seeing World War Z, you have a burning need for the above mentioned baubles, and you feel like that really is a value, then go nuts. But for people to think that this is a step toward the future that Spielberg and Lucas predicted, well, that’s hard to believe.

For one thing, the value of advanced screenings for the studios comes from word of mouth and buzz. That’s why such passes are often given away: the studios want to make the viewer (and potential viral marketing sleeper agent) comfortable with as little investment to justify as possible. That’s partly why some members of the press get into advanced screenings as well.

If you pay $50 to see World War Z early, that experience needs to justify that cost — moreso than if you had shelled out $10 bucks or seen it for free, because now your investment is much more than mere time or a few bucks and now it can be held accountable.

Put it this way: if I go to a fast food place and my burger is rubbery and tasteless, I’m going to be displeased. If I go to a nice restaurant and get a $50 steak that is equally rubbery and tasteless, I’m going to be pissed, I’m going to complain, and I’m going to let people know about it the experience.

Is Paramount sure that they’re offering up a $50 steak that is worth the price? For their sake, I hope so, but in light of the chatter surrounding World War Z, with stories about a set in chaos, re-writes, and no planned ending, well… it seems like Paramount could have used all the good buzz and word of mouth that they could get.

To the larger point, with regard to the theory about progressive ticketing, — and Luke did a nice job talking about that last night – I’d add that the embrace of that new model would have to assume that theater owners had suddenly become eager to be complicit in their own destruction, because I can’t imagine the National Association of Theater Owners fighting such a shift with any less ferocity than they have in the fight against smaller theatrical to home release windows ( a fight to keep the theater experience away from extinction).

Why is that? Well, the economics of the situation boil down to this: theater’s make a ton of their money on concessions, not the movie tickets themselves. What is required for concession sales? People, and if packages like this or progressive pricing become commonplace, it would price out a large segment of the market, because for most of us, this is a time of “No fucking around” when it comes to our finances, a time when the weighty line between the black and red of a budget jumps right off the kitchen table to crawl up our guts before sliding across our necks.

People can barely afford the cost of a standard ticket right now, let alone some ratcheted up price, and so while we shouldn’t hold our breaths for a break or mercy, we should be confident that for as long as the studio’s need to appease theater owners (and they will until such a time as our infrastructure can promise as impactful and lucrative a VOD release as the present model offers for theatrical releases), we won’t have to worry about progressive pricing being anything more than an annoying gimmick. A gimmick that, for now, only faintly threatens the magical and communal nature of seeing a movie in a packed theater and irreplaceable signature experiences like IMAX, the Alamo Drafthouse, the dying drive in, the reRun theater in Brooklyn, and several others.

Source: Deadline

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Hey, remember the Star Wars prequels? I know you do. Anyway, it’s been a topic discussion amongst fans as to exactly where the prequel films went off the rails, and where they might have possibly been improved?

Even George Lucas might have considered this. He was planning the prequels since the development of the very first Star Wars movie in 1977 after all, and given that 20 years passed between the first film and that first prequel, Episode I: The Phantom Menace, there must have been a lot ideas that were created and then disposed of. Well, it seems that some of those ideas have reached the light of day.

In J.W. Rinzler‘s upcoming book The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, shares the details of the a story conference between Lucas, director Richard Marquand, screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, and producer Howard Kazanjian in the 80s as to how the epic climax of the prequel trilogy would breakdown. Here’s the alternative take:

“Well, anyway, Luke’s father gets subverted by the Emperor. He gets a little weird at home and his wife begins to figure out that things are going wrong and she confides in Ben, who is his mentor. On his missions through the galaxies, Anakin has been going off doing his Jedi thing and a lot of Jedi have been getting killed—and it’s because they turn their back on him and he cuts them down. The president is turning into an Emperor and Luke’s mother suspects that something has happened to her husband. She is pregnant. Anakin gets worse and worse, and finally Ben has to fight him and he throws him down into a volcano and Vader is all beat up.

Now, when he falls into the pit, his other arm goes and his leg and there is hardly anything left of him by the time the Emperor’s troops fish him out of the drink. Then when Ben finds out that Vader has been fished out and is in the hands of the Empire, he is worried about it. He goes back to Vader’s wife and explains that Anakin is the bad guy, the one killing all the Jedi.

When he goes back his wife, Mrs. Skywalker has had the kids, the twins, so she has these two little babies who are six months old or so. So everybody has to go into hiding. The Skywalker line is very strong with the Force, so Ben says, ‘I think we should protect the kids, because they may be able to help us right the wrong that your husband has created in the universe.’ And so Ben takes one and gives him to a couple out there on Tatooine and he gets his little hideout in the hills and he watches him grow. Ben can’t raise Luke himself, because he’s a wanted man. Leia and Luke’s mother go to Alderaan and are taken in by the king there, who is a friend of Ben’s. She dies shortly thereafter and Leia is brought up by her foster parents. She knows that her real mother died.”

Well that’s pretty close to the way Episode III: Revenge of the Sith broke, but it’s a bit more in-line with the continuity established in the original trilogy. It also makes more sense to me that Anakin/Padme relationship was out in the open and not a top secret romance the way Lucas went, but I think in the case of the prequels that’s kind of a nitpick.

But what do you Bastards think? Was that the version of the prequels you wanted to see?

Source: Comic Book Movie

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As any nerd will automatically tell you, today is May the 4th, Star Wars day. Get it? May the fourth? Leave it to nerds to hijack a random day on the calendar and turn it into their own holiday based on a play on words (oh by the way, it’s also Free Comic Book Day, so a double pox on normies).

Celebrating the venerated day, fans will often dress up as their favorite characters, make intergalactic themed foods (Blue Milk, coconut covered chocolate Wookie balls…etc), get that rebel alliance tattoo they’ve been thinking about getting, write some unfortunate fan-fiction, and have a Star Wars movie marathon with friends and family and not the prequels. We at Nerd Bastards, however, wanna do something a little different….

Over the years, we’ve come across a number of videos inspired by the Star Wars. Some are good, some are bad, and some are extremely well done. There’s only a few, however, that stand out (in our eyes) as the best and funniest, and it is those that we present to you here, cue the scrolling text!

[Editor's note: Our scrolling text guy missed his deadline... sorry]

(more…)

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This week on The Bastardcast, which is a thing you apparently listen to, Jeremy and Jason discuss why Dan Aykroyd‘s hope tastes like tumor salad. Also, the great question of life is asked: why is Futurama no longer a TV show but Vanilla Ice churning freaking butter is?

Wait! There are more things! Can JJ Abrams woo George Lucas away from the butter sculpting circuit (and if not, will Lucas align with Vanilla Ice to form the unstoppable butter-duo “Ice Ice Jawa”?)

Also, do robot’s draw dicks on mars and order pizza via Xbox because they are freaking douche bags? Is Joss Whedon pulling an us while really mailing it in with SHIELD? Will there ever be a good Daredevil movie? Do you even remember the long abandoned Bastardcast VERSUS segment? And who is the biggest one-eyed freaking badass on Earth: Nick Fury or Snake Plissken?

We don’t know the answer to any of this stuff, but we do know that Anthony Michael Hall and Ethan Embry’s work on a banner and a jacket to welcome Ed Helms to the Rusty Grisswold club is a COMPLETE FREAKING WASTE!

All of that and our slightly tardy 2010 Winter Movie Preview, on The Bastardcast!

The Bastardcast: Can we say fuck on here?

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It’s one of those things that sounds like an April Fool’s joke, but it isn’t (repeat: isn’t), but Dark Horse Comics has announced that they are teaming LucasBooks Executive Editor J.W. Rinzler and comic book artist Mike Mayhew (The Avengers) to turn George Lucas’ original 1974 first draft of his Star Wars screenplay into an 8-issue comic miniseries to be released sometime this fall.

“So what?” you maybe asking. “The first draft can’t be that much different than the movie I’ve watched several hundred times since it was first released in 1977.” Well you would be wrong, for this Star Wars is the  story of Jedi Annikin Starkiller and General Luke Skywalker, an alien named Han Solo, and evil Sith Knights.

The full press release from Dark Horse is below, along with some preview art work.

It’s no April Fools’ prank! Dark Horse is honored to announce a dream project: working with J.W. Rinzler, executive editor at LucasBooks, and artist Mike Mayhew (Avengers) to adapt the rough-draft original screenplay which spawned the biggest franchise in film history!

Three years before his 1977 film, George Lucas put down on paper his first story set in a galaxy far, far away—a tale of fantastic adventures, daring escapes, “lazer swords,” romance, and monsters. A story of Jedi Annikin Starkiller and General Luke Skywalker, an alien named Han Solo, and evil Sith Knights. The screenplay was titled The Star Wars!

“I’m not sure where I first read about The Star Wars—it was years and years ago—but the idea of Luke Skywalker being an older Jedi General, and Han Solo being a six-foot-tall lizard, turned my Star Wars fan brain on its side,” said longtime Star Wars editor Randy Stradley. “I always assumed this would be one of those stories that would be ‘lost to history,’ so getting to work on bringing it to life is kinda like a dream come true.”

“While researching in the Lucasfilm Archives I’ve found many treasures—but one which truly astounded me was George’s rough draft forThe Star Wars. His first complete imaginings were hallucinating to read—mind blowing,” said writer J.W. Rinzler. “While working with George on another book project, I once asked if we could adapt his rough draft. He was hesitant. Years later, with Dark Horse’s invaluable help, we showed him a few drawn and colored pages of what it might look like. He gave us the okay.”

Originally conceived in 1974, The Star Wars has been the subject of rumor and legend in the fan community throughout the history of the galaxy far, far away. Now, Lucas has seen fit to grant Dark Horse the right to adapt this fabled story into an eight-issue comic series launching in September!

Source: /Film

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Though many would argue his best days, and best movies, are behind him, 70-year-old Harrison Ford isn’t quitting anytime soon. There isn’t only the possibility of seeing him return as Han Solo in Star Wars Episode VII, but there’s the ongoing rumors of another Indiana Jones flick – oh please god, no – and director Ridley Scott has a renewed interest in continuing Blade Runner. How does Ford feel about all these opportunities? He’s game, but only if they’re ambitious enough.

While on a press junket for his new film 42, MTV asked Ford about his future plans,

It might be nice, depending on the circumstances, to revisit any one of those characters. What interests me now is the opportunity to work at all and to work in ambitious projects. I can’t think that way. What I’m looking for is the next opportunity, the next ambitious opportunity. It doesn’t matter if it’s one of those. If it’s one of those, great. If it’s not, that’s fine too.

He also comments on the harsh words he’s said about George Lucas in the past,

I might have said things in the past that were characterizations of how I felt at the time. That was then. This is now. It doesn’t matter.

Hey, Harrison. Lucas isn’t in charge anymore. He can’t stop you from being in Star Wars, so go ahead, tell us how you really feel.

Watch the whole interview below. Which of these roles would you most like to see him reprise?

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This week on THE BASTARDCAST, Jason and Jeremy return after a brief hiatus to talk about why George Lucas hates you, Community pander-puppets, why nobody seems to care about Robin’s death… including Batman, and a pantsless drunk chick and her pow-pow-power wheel aided attempt to escape the long arm of the law.

Also on the show: Jason feels tough, Warner Bros. tries to buy back Christian Bale‘s Bat-love, Russell Crowe see’s a UFO, Jon Stewart opens the door for Craigers-Redux, and a space privateer wants to create the world’s worst sitcom… in space!

What, you want more? Fine! How about we bring you the first annual “Night of 1,000 Horrible Impressions” and the boys discussing a lego spill in West Virginia, the Late Night wars, headless giraffes, kosher porn, a way for Bill Murray to sell out for a good cause, The Walking Dead, Jeremy’s Poseidon-y Adventure, a lost tomb of wet comic books, the Tweet of the Week, one man’s ceaseless love of the white powder, the divine splendor of butter statues, and why everyone hates Megan Fox.

All that, the regrettable omission of the term “boob guns”, the “Ignition” of a debate about the National Anthem, and a desperate appeal for Dan Harmon‘s love and your hate.

The Bastardcast: In our free time, we write erotic Magnum PI fanfic.

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Yes, YOU! You there with your internet connection and your dislike of Jar Jar Binks and monotonous pod races. YOU caused this!

Bloomberg Businessweek has published an in-depth look into the lead up to, and then final sale of the Star Wars franchise from George Lucas to Disney. The rather lengthy but highly engaging article has a handful of revelations and surprises in it. Apparently Lucas sold the beloved future films after seeing how Disney handled the purchase of Marvel and Pixar (that is, didn’t change a damn thing and kept cashing the moneychecks.) Oh and the whole J.J. Abrams as director of Episode VII? Apparently new LucasFilm boss Kathleen Kennedy practically stalked him till he signed up.  Also, Lucas didn’t want Disney’s people get their mousy little paws all over his precious plots for the next trilogy:

At first Lucas wouldn’t even turn over his rough sketches of the next three Star Wars films. When Disney executives asked to see them, he assured them they would be great and said they should just trust him. “Ultimately you have to say, ‘Look, I know what I’m doing. Buying my stories is part of what the deal is.’ I’ve worked at this for 40 years, and I’ve been pretty successful,” Lucas says. “I mean, I could have said, ‘Fine, well, I’ll just sell the company to somebody else.’”

What counts as the saddest thing I have read all day (like ‘three legged kitten trying to climb stairs’ sad) is that when it came time to finally sign the deal, Lucas was ”melancholy”  and as Disney CEO Robert Iger said in his own words, “was Darth Vader.” – DAMN IT, Now I have the image of a sad-sack George Lucas all depressed. His neck pouch half inflated as he signs away not only our childhood but his life’s work. I’ve spent the past decade and a half filled with nerd rage over what the prequels wrought only to have those flames doused by the thought of a single tear rolling down his plump and swollen cheek.

On the topic of all the ‘net based hate we have all tossed in Lucas’ vague direction for what he did 14 years ago, apparently we were what made him so sad that he sold off Star Wars without much of a fight:

The criticism got to Lucas. He found it difficult to be creative when people were calling him a jerk. “It was fine before the Internet,” he says. “But now with the Internet, it’s gotten very vicious and very personal. You just say, ‘Why do I need to do this?’”

What they failed to report is that afterwards Lucas put in a Sarah Mclachlan CD and just sat in the dark for a few hours…

If you want to read the whole thing (and you should since it’s a great read) head over to Bloomberg Businessweek.

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Since the announcement that there’s going to be a Star Wars Episode VII, the speculation as to whether or not original trilogy stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher might return in some capacity. At various points in the last six months we’ve had some kind of formal or informal confirmation, from studio sources or the stars themselves, that they’re either in negotiations or have already signed up.

The real status of things is a big, fat question mark though, so let’s go to someone who should know better: Star Wars creator George Lucas. In an interview with Bloomberg Business Week about the Disney/Lucasfilm merger, the big, bearded man himself weighed in on the subject of bringing back the Big Three.

“We had already signed Mark and Carrie and Harrison—or we were pretty much in final stages of negotiation,” reveals Lucas. “So I called them to say, ‘Look, this is what’s going on.’ Maybe I’m not supposed to say that. I think they want to announce that with some big whoop-de-do, but we were negotiating with them.”

Interesting, so Disney wanted to make sure that they had their ducks more or less in a row before holding the press conference. Understandable, it would be crazy not to have them in a Star Wars film that takes place after Return of the Jedi, and they knew that fanboys would ask… Although Lucas adds, “I won’t say whether the negotiations were successful or not.”

In other news, Lucas was asked about his role in the production of the new films. J.J. Abrams is directing and Michael Arndt is writing the script, but throughout the process it seems that Lucas will be helping the cross their t’s and dot their i’s. “I mostly say, ‘You can’t do this. You can do that,’ ” he explains. “You know, ‘The cars don’t have wheels. They fly with antigravity.’ There’s a million little pieces. Or I can say, ‘He doesn’t have the power to do that, or he has to do this.’ I know all that stuff.”

I think a lot of us are of the opinion that the less George Lucas involvement in the film, the better.

More news as it develops.

Source: Comic Book Movie

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