Monday, May 15, 2006
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Many in Hollywood were surprised to see in a lawsuit filed against Steven Seagal recently that the actor was collecting a salary of about $4 million for his work in a DVD premiere movie. For years, that figure represented the high side of the entire budget for a DVD premiere, then known more pejoratively as direct-to-video movies. And back then they tended to be films that were not good enough to get theatrical distribution. But since the '80s, that market has grown to about $3 billion and now produces movies never intended to be shown in theaters. Many people in the industry assume those movies still are shot on skimpy budgets in warehouses, the homes of filmmakers and remote locations on schedules of two or three weeks. So it will come as even more of a surprise for those people to hear that, according to a source, Seagal is sometimes paid more than $10 million for a DVD premiere movie--often more than his best theatrical payday--and that budgets on some of them now run as high as $12 million to $20 million. Seagal's May release, Submerged, and his upcoming Mercenary, carry budgets estimated at $15 million each. "We sit on the same [store] shelf as the DVD of War of the Worlds, so we have to compete with the big theatricals and have the bonus features that consumers expect on all DVDs," said a prolific DVD premiere producer, who asked to speak anonymously over concern for lingering stigma associated with the movie category. Production values and accommodations for cast and crew on many DVD premiere shoots now have more in common with major theatrical productions than the small-budget indie films screened and acclaimed at film festivals. Filmmakers and actors who have worked in big-budget theatrical films and DVD premieres say there is little difference in the work in terms of shooting schedules at 40 to 60 days, craft services and catering, or cast and crew professionalism. "What's different is that you don't have the marketing expense and you don't have as enormous of a budget," the producer said. There are some big disparities in salaries for top talent appearing in DVD premieres, as compared to unknown actors getting as little as $150,000 to headline a picture. Two other leading names in the DVD premiere action genre--Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme--are said to sometimes draw between $2 million and $4 million per picture. The DVD premiere category and Lundgren's clout affords him the opportunity to write and direct, as on the upcoming The Mechanik. Produced by Nu Image for $5 million, The Mechanik was shot in St. Petersburg and Sofia, Bulgaria, in about 40 days. "We shot there seven years ago, and it was very rough," Lundgren recalled of an earlier shoot. "Today, they've got the pop-out trailers, big hotels with room service, restaurants, spas. Accommodations and air travel around the world aren't really that different." The top titles in the DVD premiere movie segment, including Seagal's Belly of the Beast released last year and The Foreigner in 2003, each covered their budgets with the $14.3 million and $16.7 million generated from home video in the U.S. alone, according to DVD Exclusive research. Throw in subsequent cable licensing fees and overseas theatrical, home video and TV revenue, and it's not unusual for a movie like that to generate well in excess of $50 million. Industry observers say Seagal's audience--males 18-49, primarily blacks and Hispanics--remains the same whether it is a movie in theaters or a DVD premiere. Most of the nearly $3 billion a year in revenue that market has come to represent is from animated sequels to theatrical hits, where big-name talent frequently reprise their voices and record new songs. But live-action DVD premiere actors, particularly in the action genre, still suffer professional snubs for being a "direct-to-video star." Sylvester Stallone recently has appeared in several DVD premiere movies, and sources say he has others in the works. Vin Diesel was being targeted as the next big DVD premiere movie action star until his unexpected success in The Pacifier, and now he will not discuss the subject, according to producers. "None of these actors want to say they are doing DVD premieres," said a filmmaker speaking on condition of anonymity due to the work he does with such a performer. In the '60s, film actors were warned by their advisors against working in TV for fear it would undermine their stature. But when major film stars began taking a chance by appearing in acclaimed network mini-series and HBO movies in the '70s and '80s, such as Dustin Hoffman's starring role in the 1985 TV adaptation of Death of a Salesman, it paved the way for performers to feel more comfortable going back to TV without losing their clout in theatrical films. As an example, take multiple Oscar-nominee Glenn Close, who joined the cast of the cable TV series The Shield this year. That transition is only now beginning to take place with DVD premiere movies, with actors such as Rutger Hauer (Batman Begins and the July 12 DVD premiere Dracula III: Legacy) and Vivica A. Fox (Kill Bill and the July 19 DVD premiere Blast!), among others, smoothly moving back and forth between the two mediums. |
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