How do bad movies and theater productions get enough money to make it to release?

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How do bad movies and theater productions get enough money to make it to release?

In: Economics

6 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

The thing about garbage is that it is usually pretty cheap to produce. If you only spend a pittance on making a terrible film you might actually make a reasonable profit from its release.

Also the investors may not have known they were funding hot garbage from the start. By the time they know they need to make a choice: Either cut funding immediately and take a total loss, or fund through release and hope to make some money back. Lessening their losses may motivate releasing a terrible film.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Major movies? The studio’s hits are supposed to cover the flops. That’s another reason for Hollywood accounting: the studios need the extra money to stay afloat.

Some smaller studios have been destroyed by one or a series of flops. Check out the history of Pirate Island, Heaven’s Gate. The studios were then taken over by larger studios or declared bankruptcy.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Basically nobody starts out to make a stinker or a bad production (OK, yeah that was the plot of “The Producers”, but anyway) but it happens. By then most of the cost is in it. At that point, make the best of it, small distribution, maybe recoup some on video and streaming.

Probably some of the highest grossing movies sounded like crap in the development stage, and some of the greatest ideas with big stars tanked, so investing in a show just takes guts. Whoever invested in the premise of “Hamilton” took a huge risk.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Investors merely have to *think* the show is worth putting their money into. For various reasons, their predictions are often wrong.

Anonymous 0 Comments

I can release a home video I made for $20 with my friends.

I can release it for free online, or for small amounts to physical media, or I can try and negotiate with theaters or major streaming/tv companies

“Release” isn’t necessarily a big expensive thing, not a singular process- it’s just a term meaning it’s now available to the public. it’s as expensive as you make it, and depends on what you’re trying to do.

Anonymous 0 Comments

What people consider “bad” movies, are often very very commercially successful.

Sharknado is a “bad movie” and it made so much money it got a bunch of sequels.