Turnaround (filmmaking)

Turnaround in filmmaking is the use of outside assistance to resolve problems preventing a film project from completing its development phase and entering the preproduction phase. A project stuck in development phase is said to be in development hell.

Background

The outside help needed to get a film project into turnaround may appear in the form of new money being invested into a project in development hell, or it might come along as another outside studio taking interest in a project which the original studio may find difficult to move forward into the pre-production phase. When an outside source takes over a film project from development hell in one studio and transfers the film project to another studio which is willing to invest further resources to move the project into pre-production, then the project is said to have gone through a 'turnaround'. The film project can now move forward out of development hell in one studio into the pre-production phase of filmmaking at another studio.

The term 'turnaround' is borrowed from business operations and management consulting where it is used to describe business ventures which are in some form of insolvency and require a 'business turnaround' or 'management turnaround' to become profitable and make a 'turnaround' in business performance. In the case of the filmmaking process, the transfer of the film project from development hell, at one studio, leading to the project receiving a green light to begin pre-production, at another studio, is referred to as a 'turnaround' for that film.

Informal descriptions

A 'turnaround' or 'turnaround deal' is occasionally used to describe an arrangement in the film industry whereby the production costs of a project that one studio has developed are declared a loss on the company's tax return, thereby preventing the studio from exploiting the property any further. The rights can then be sold to another studio in exchange for the cost of development plus interest. ^[1]

Examples

Michael Cieply defined the term in The New York Times as "arrangements under which producers can move a project from one studio to another under certain conditions". ^[2] Some examples include:

• Columbia Pictures stopped production of Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial . However, Universal Pictures picked up the film and made it a success. ^{[3] [4] [5]}
• Back to the Future was under development at Columbia Pictures. however, Columbia was developing a satire of the Universal-owned noir film Double Indemnity (1944) called Big Trouble (1986). Its similarities to Double Indemnity meant the studio would violate Universal Pictures' copyright. With production imminent, Columbia asked for the rights from Universal; in exchange, Universal obtained the rights to Back to the Future. the film wound up being a hit. ^{[6] [7] [8]}
• Dirty Dancing began development at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, management changes however at the studio put the film in limbo. Vestron Pictures eventually picked up the film and was a success. ^{[9] [10]}
• Total Recall originally begain work at De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG). however, after DEG suffered some box-office failures like Dune, and filed for bankruptcy in 1988, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger convinced Carolco Pictures to buy the movie. The film was a hit. ^{[11] [12] [13] [14]}
• Home Alone and Edward Scissorhands were originally developed under Warner Bros., but the studio shut down the project after its budget increased. however, 20th Century Fox took control of the film after secret meetings with producer and screenwriter John Hughes, and it was a hit. Warner Bros also sent Edward Scissorhands to 20th Century Fox after Tim Burton collaborated with Warner on Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice and Batman (1989). ^{[15] [16]}
• The 1993 film My Life's in Turnaround, starring Donal Lardner Ward, Eric Schaeffer, Martha Plimpton and Phoebe Cates, tells the story of two friends who attempt to sell the story of their lives to a variety of studios.
• Tim Burton's Ed Wood was originally in development at Columbia Pictures, but the studio put the film in "turnaround" over Burton's decision to shoot in black-and-white. Ed Wood was taken to Walt Disney Studios, which produced the film through its Touchstone Pictures label. ^{[17] [18]} this was blamed for the film's box-office failure.
• Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction began production at TriStar Pictures, but turned it down after deeming the script to be "too demented". however, Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein picked up the project and it was a success. ^[19]
• Carolco Pictures sold off the rights to several films in production including; Stargate (to Le Studio Canal+), Last of the Dogmen, and Showgirls (the latter, to Chargeurs ^[20] ). this was done due to their financial troubles, and in order to fund their next big-budget film; Cutthroat Island. ^{[21] [22] [23] [24] [25]} Cutthroat Island wound up being a massive box-office bomb and wound up ending Carolco Pictures however.
• The turnaround of The Boondock Saints is documented in Overnight , a 2003 documentary that mainly focuses on the perspective of how director Troy Duffy "fell" in Hollywood.
• The Lord of the Rings film trilogy originally began development at Miramax. however after Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein tried to force the project into one film, director Peter Jackson argued his way until Weinstein agreed to allow Jackson to take the project to New Line Cinema, and was a massive success. ^{[26] [27] [28] [29]}
• After the rights to adapt Stephenie Meyer's novel Twilight were purchased by MTV Films in 2004, they were optioned by Paramount Pictures where it remained in turnaround before they let the rights lapse in 2007. Summit Entertainment picked them up and released Twilight in 2008. ^{[30] [31] [32] [33] [34]}
• Watchmen originally began development at 20th Century Fox before moving to Warner Bros., where it remained in development hell for over two decades before it was finally released in 2009. ^{[2] [35] [36]}
• The 2012 film Argo makes several references to the film that was faked for the 1980 CIA Iranian hostage extraction operation as being "in turnaround". ^[37]
• Vivo was originally developed at DreamWorks Animation, but was cancelled due to the restructuring at the company. It was later revived by Sony Pictures Animation and was successful. ^{[38] [39]}

References and notes

1. Michael Cieply (2008-08-23). "The Murky Side of Movie Rights". The New York Times.
2. Michael Cieply (2008-08-29). "Studio War Involving 'Watchmen' Heats Up". The New York Times . Retrieved 2008-09-01.
3. McDonald, Paul & Wasko, Janet (2008) Hollywood Film Industry. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. p. 54
4. McBride, Joseph (2011). Steven Spielberg: A Biography, Second Edition. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 323–38. ISBN   978-1-604-73836-0.
5. Caulfield, Deborah (July 18, 1982). "E.T. Gossip: The One That Got Away?". Los Angeles Times .
6. Koknow, David (June 9, 2015). "How Back To The Future Almost Didn't Get Made". Esquire . Archived from the original on July 26, 2016. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
7. Gaines, Caseen (2015). We Don't Need Roads: The Making of the Back to the Future Trilogy. New York City: Plume. ISBN   978-0-14-218153-9.
8. Fleming, Mike (October 21, 2015). "Blast From The Past On Back To The Future: How Frank Price Rescued Robert Zemeckis' Classic From Obscurity". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on October 22, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
9. Rickey, Carrie (August 19, 2012). "'Dirty Dancing': Panned as a dud, but dynamite". The Inquirer . Archived from the original on December 21, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
10. Kolson, Ann (August 17, 1997). "Fairy Tale Without an Ending". The New York Times . p. 2.11.
11. Murray, Will (May 1990). "Postcards From Mars". Starlog . United States: Starlog Group, Inc. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
12. Broeske, Pat H. (December 4, 1988). "Spaced Out" . Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
13. Murray, Will (July 1990). "Man Without Memory". Starlog . United States: Starlog Group, Inc. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
14. Hughes, David (2012). "We Can Rewrite it for You Wholesale". Tales from Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made? (New ed.). London, England: Titan Publishing Group. pp. 60–89. ISBN   9780857687234.
15. Bucklow, Andrew (December 4, 2019). "Home Alone secrets revealed in Netflix show 'The Movies That Made Us'". news.com.au . Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
16. Frook, John Evan (1993-04-13). "Canton Product at Colpix starting gate". Variety . Archived from the original on 2012-11-05. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
17. "Danny Elfman presents his Tim Burton movie scores at Adelaide Festival". Sydney Morning Herald . 16 October 2014. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
18. Salisbury, Mark, ed. (2006). "Cabin Boy and Ed Wood". Burton on Burton. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN   978-0-57-122926-0.
19. Dawson, Jeff (1995a). Quentin Tarantino: The Cinema of Cool. New York and London: Applause. ISBN   1-55783-227-7.
20. Williams, Michael (October 5, 1995). "Chargeurs engages in risque pic business". Variety . Retrieved April 9, 2014.
21. Prince, Stephen (2000) A New Pot of Gold: Hollywood Under the Electronic Rainbow, 1980–1989. University of California Press, Berkeley/Los Angeles, California. ISBN   0-520-23266-6
22. "'RECALL' IN NEW DIMENSION". Variety . 14 January 1997. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
23. "Company Town: Carolco May Be Close to Restructuring". LA Times. 14 February 1995. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
24. "Kassar signs deal with Paramount". United Press International. 3 January 1996. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
25. "Carlco Pictures Contract". November 15, 1994. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
26. Thompson, Kristin (2007). The Frodo Franchise: The Lord of the Rings and Modern Hollywood. University of California Press. pp. 25–35. ISBN   978-0-5202-5813-6.
27. Sibley, Brian (2006). "Quest for the Ring". Peter Jackson: A Film-maker's Journey. London: HarperCollins. pp. 329–387. ISBN   0-00-717558-2.
28. Sibley (2006), pp. 388–392
29. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Appendices (DVD). New Line Cinema. 2002.
30. Mark Harrison (2021-01-21). "How Paramount missed out on making Twilight". Film Stories. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
31. "Is the "Twilight" Witch Hunt over at Paramount?". 27 January 2009. Archived from the original on 29 November 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
32. Dave McNary (2007-06-07). "New Summit unveils new projects". Variety. Reed Business Information. Archived from the original on 2009-09-12. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
33. Steven Zeitchik (2007-12-26). "Pattinson bites into 'Twilight' role". The Hollywood Reporter. Nielsen Business Media.
34. Carolyn Giardina; Borys Kit (2007-11-16). "Stewart enters 'Twilight' zone". The Hollywood Reporter. Nielsen Business Media. Archived from the original on 2008-11-23. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
35. Hughes, David (2008), "Who Watches the Watchmen? – How The Greatest Graphic Novel of Them All Confounded Hollywood", The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made (4th ed.), Chicago Review Press; updated and expanded edition Titan Books, pp. 144–151, ISBN   978-1-84576-755-6
36. Cieply, Michael (2008-09-20). "Battle Over 'Watchmen' Surrounds a Producer". The New York Times . Retrieved 2008-09-20.
37. "'Argo': Too Good To Be True, Because It Isn't". npr. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
38. Fleming, Mike Jr. (December 14, 2016). "Sony Animation Sets Lin-Manuel Miranda's 'Vivo' For 2020 Bow". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved July 15, 2019.
39. Han, Angie (December 14, 2016). "Lin-Manuel Miranda's Vivo Coming From Sony in 2020". SlashFilm . Retrieved October 8, 2019.