"The BFG" - Big Failure?

Yeah, yeah - the headlines have already declared Stephen Spielberg's "The BFG" a box office bomb. It's taken in over $26M this holiday weekend in US gross alone, which is not too shabby for a fairy-tale film. So why declare it a failure right out the gate? Sadly, the current pace shows this kid-friendly summer fare will fail to earn back the $140M Disney sank into it.

The real question is, why the dismal returns given the big names involved? Has Spielberg lost his mojo? Are current generations just unfamiliar or apathetic toward the works of Dahl? Did marketing fail to get the word out?

     More than likely, it's the film itself. Here's a few of the problems I see up front:

• For a big budget summer release - this feature lacks any recognizable faces. The Disney audience (think 5-12 year-olds) is used to seeing their favorite stars lead Disney pictures when live action is involved. This one boasts a newcomer (the adorable Ruby Barnhill) and no familiar characters like its oceanic competition.
• It's dated, but not appealingly so. For some inexplicable reason, this one seems to be set in the 1980's, but only referentially via a "Nancy & Ron" reference. Today's kids are, well, self-centered. If you're going to set a film in the past, it has to hit them on the heads with it or focus on a timeline they recognize.
• The pacing is slow. Painfully slow at times. The film is, as expected, beautifully shot and filled with gorgeous FX, but someone must've fallen asleep in the editing room. The timing is just...off.
• There's little to no humor. This film is bittersweet and somewhat sad. There's very little funny involved, with the exception of a couple of scenes. Kids today aren't attracted to bittersweet.
• The story itself doesn't speak to modern audiences. In a world where people are fighting for acceptance for all kinds, this story misses the opportunity to highlight common struggles, glossing over the conflict sure to arise when the BFG first reveals himself to the "human beans." Even the anti-bullying message is lost in all the FX gloss.
• It's too long for it's target audience. This film is rated PG, (which explains all the missed opportunities within the story), automatically targeting the 5 to 12 age group. At 1:57 running time, no sane adult is going to bring a young child to see it in the theaters. Let's face it, anything over 85 minutes is straying into meltdown territory for younger kids, and guarantees you're going to miss at least 5 minutes running to the bathroom mid-show.
• Timing - Disney is splitting it's own audiences by opening during the "Finding Dory" run. With most kid-oriented films enjoying 6-8 week theater runs lately, it hardly makes sense to launch "The BFG" two weeks after the much-anticipated "Finding Dory," which targets the EXACT SAME AUDIENCE. I think this film would have fared much better around the winter holiday season or early fall, when fewer family films are available and the story of an orphan finding a home feels more significant than the mid-summer popcorn and explosions season.

All that being said, I enjoyed the film. Mostly because the CGI "BFG" looked and acted an awful lot like my long-since-passed beloved grandfather. Okay, and the story is sweet and Ruby Barnhill was adorable. Plus, I'm a Roald Dahl fan and could watch "James and the Giant Peach" over and over again. My 12-year-old indie fan of a daughter also enjoyed the film, but it merited only slightly above the "Meh" rating for her.

What can aspiring filmmakers do to avoid similar financial quagmires like "The BFG?" It's simple:

1. Know your target audience. If you're targeting kids, keep it short and funny.
2. Remember even classical adaptations need to "speak" to modern movie-goers.
3. Edit, edit, edit. Even big budget films could use a good trim before release.
4. Watch your release dates! Especially when the competition is your own studio.

The Big Studio Casting Catch

Recently headlines have told the sad story of the on-going culture of discrimination in Hollywood. Idris Elba is too "street" to play Bond. Maggie Gyllenhaal, at 37, is too old to play the love interest of a man old enough to have fathered her. Anne Hathaway at 32 is losing roles for characters written as older than her to women in their twenties. The still insanely gorgeous Salma Hayek feels she has been written off by Hollywood because she's nearing 50. Melissa McCarthy faces constant criticism over her weight.
     While there is little doubt these stars have experienced the negative side of a middle-aged-white-male-friendly fickle Hollywood machine, let's check the stats for the most visible studio films of 2015 to see just how pervasive the problem is today (with love interests highlighted in multi-lead casts):

• Jurassic World: Chris Pratt (36), Bryce Dallas Howard (34)
• Avengers, Age of Ultron: Robert Downey, Jr. (50), Chris Hemsworth (32), Mark Ruffalo (48), Chris Evans (34), Scarlett Johansson (31), Jeremy Renner (44), Linda Cardellini (40)
• Straight Outta Compton: O'Shea Jackson, Jr. (24)
• Furious 7: Vin Diesel (48), Paul Walker (41), ...Michelle Rodriguez (37)
• Kingsman, The Secret Service: Colin Firth (55), Taron Egerton (26)
• Mad Max, Fury Road: Charlize Theron (40), Tom Hardy (38)
• Ant-Man: Paul Rudd (46), Evangeline Lilly (36)
• Cinderella: Lily James (26), Richard Madden (29)
• Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation: Tom Cruise (53)
• Trainwreck: Amy Schumer (34), Bill Hader (37)
• Spy: Melissa McCarthy (45), Jude Law (43), Jason Statham (48)
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E.: Henry Cavill (32), Armie Hammer (29), Alicia Vikander (27), Elizabeth Debicki (25)
• Pitch Perfect 2: Anna Kendrick (30), Rebel Wilson (35)
• Fifty Shades of Grey: Dakota Johnson (25), Jamie Dornan (32)
• Terminator Genisys: Emilia Clark (29), Jai Courtney (29), Arnold Schwarzenegger (68)
• McFarland, USA: Kevin Costner (65), Maria Bello (48)
• Magic Mike XXL: Channing Tatum (35)
• The Longest Ride: Scott Eastwood (34), Britt Robertson (25)
• Insurgent: Shailene Woodley (24), Ansel Elgort (21), Theo James (31)
• Ricki and the Flash: Meryl Streep (66), Kevin Kline (68)
• Fantastic Four: Miles Teller (28), Michael B Jordan (28), Kate Mara (32), Jamie Bell (34)
• Hitman, Agent 47: Rupert Friend (34), Hannah Ware (32)
• No Escape: Lake Bell (36), Owen Wilson (47), Pierce Brosnan (62)

 

     This chart shows that, although there does appear to be some opportunity for women over 32, the big studios still generally cast older male leads with younger females, shying away from similarly-aged female leads or love interests. If you're an actress who's hit her 35th birthday, the outlook isn't so great when it comes to the big-budget Hollywood movie machines.

     Oddly enough, recent studies showed that women in the 30-45 age range have more disposable income and are more likely to head to the theaters if there's something there to draw their attention. Just look at the box office success of female-friendly films like "Cinderella" ($201.1M), "Pitch Perfect 2" ($183.8M), "Fifty Shades of Grey" ($166.1M), "Spy!" ($110.4M), and "Trainwreck" ($105.7M), all currently in the top 20 gross list for 2015. As early as 2011, movie ticket sales were split 50/50 between male and female buyers, with a trend toward females purchasing more often than males. More recent numbers show a trend toward 55% of ticket buyers being female, and the this chart proves that movies featuring female leads are pulling those audiences in where they're available. (Note the slightly higher per/screen average for movies with female leads than those with males.)

     Logic would dictate that the big studios should be scrambling to produce fare that appeals to the increasing 30-45 female movie consumer base. Instead, more than half of the major studio releases in 2015 have been action films, though they have clearly attempted to win female viewers by casting stronger female lead roles and expanding female roles overall. On the flip side, most of the ensemble casts in the big studio films were still mainly male, typically out-numbering female lead roles 2 to 1.

    So what to do about the lack of quality roles for all of the outstanding actresses out there over 32? The fix lies in the hands of low budget studios and independent filmmakers. Releases like 2014's "Cake" (starring Jennifer Aniston) and "Still Alice" (Julianne Moore) fared well with female audiences. "Alice" raked in $18.6M on a budget of $4.1M and both films earning a bevy of nominations and awards, including a Best Actress Oscar for Julianne Moore.
     Now, what about the whole Idris Elba/Bond fiasco? Can black leads pull the box office draw their white peers do? Hmmm...I think the $141M over 3 weeks speaks volumes. Smart filmmakers should pay attention, even if the big studios decide to cling to their 1950's-era casting practices.