Eli Roth says one of the best things about his new movie “Aftershock” is that it creates a “real, new business model” that could help independent films hold their own against studio blockbusters.
Roth co-wrote, produced and stars in the horror film opening Friday about a group of people who are in a Chilean nightclub when a massive earthquake strikes, resulting in deadly chaos. It is inspired by real events that occurred after the South American country was hit by a magnitude 8.8 quake in 2010.
Roth has directed, produced and appeared in his share of big-budget films including “The Man with the Iron Fists,” “Inglourious Basterds” and his “Hostel” series, but in an interview Wednesday, he said he and co-writer/director Nicolas Lopez set out to make “Aftershock” in a different manner. Roth said they decided, “instead of doing a $40 million movie, let’s do this as a $2 million movie and see what we can do.”
They opted not to film in Hollywood but rather in Chile, where not many big movies are shot. “So they’re not thinking about how to do stuff. They’re figuring it out. They don’t know that you need 10 people to do this job, so two people do it,” Roth said.
“Aftershock” was filmed with inexpensive SLR cameras fitted with very good lenses. Roth said the result was footage that looks just like what you see in a “Spider-Man” movie and that audiences couldn’t tell the difference. “You just need to know how to light, you need to know how to shoot, but the future is here and you don’t need all the bells and whistles that Hollywood thinks they need,” he said.
Roth noted that even the biggest blockbusters are in theaters for only weeks before they’re released on video. “So instead of spending $40 million in advertising, hoping it makes 80 million,” ”Aftershock” is being released in theaters, iTunes and Video On Demand on the same day with minimal advertising, he said.
He predicted that if this “everywhere release” works with “Aftershock,” others will follow, allowing them to get their films out to a targeted audience without the backing or the budget of a big studio and still turning a profit.
Is “Glicked” The New “Barbenheimer”? “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” Hit Theater Screens
"Barbenheimer" was a phenomenon impossible to manufacture. But, more than a year later, that hasn't stopped people from trying to make "Glicked" — or even "Babyratu" — happen.
The counterprogramming of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" in July 2023 hit a nerve culturally and had the receipts to back it up. Unlike so many things that begin as memes, it transcended its online beginnings. Instead of an either-or, the two movies ultimately complemented and boosted one another at the box office.
And ever since, moviegoers, marketers and meme makers have been trying to recreate that moment, searching the movie release schedule for odd mashups and sending candidates off into the social media void. Most attempts have fizzled (sorry, "Saw Patrol" ).
This weekend is perhaps the closest approximation yet as the Broadway musical adaptation "Wicked" opens Friday against the chest-thumping sword-and-sandals epic "Gladiator II." Two big studio releases (Universal and Paramount), with one-name titles, opposite tones and aesthetics and big blockbuster energy — it was already halfway there before the name game began: "Wickiator," "Wadiator," "Gladwick" and even the eyebrow raising "Gladicked" have all been suggested.
"'Glicked' rolls off the tongue a little bit more," actor Fred Hechinger said at the New York screening of "Gladiator II" this week. "I think we should all band around 'Glicked.' It gets too confusing if you have four or five different names for it."
As with "Barbenheimer," as reductive as it might seem, "Glicked" also has the male/female divide that make the fan art extra silly. One is pink and bright and awash in sparkles, tulle, Broadway bangers and brand tie-ins; The other is all sweat and sand, blood and bulging... Read More