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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Aug 19 2007, 1:46pm
Post #1 of 14
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The roller-coaster ride of The Hobbit!!
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It looks like we may have been spared the fickle-finger-of-fate that is Wall Street and their insane influence on dreams and schemes!
Last Wednesday (Aug. 15), Salon had an article on financers for filmmakers have been slamming the door shut on money... including MGM and United Artists (involving production of The Hobbit).
Part of Salon's article said:
..."Is there no end to the carnage wrought by subprime madness? Far from being "contained," the fallout is now spreading to fictional realms populated by some of the mightiest icons of human civilization. On Wednesday afternoon, the Financial Times published a scoop breaking the news that funding for a slate of upcoming blockbuster movies may be delayed because of Wall Street's current woes.
...The studio in question is MGM: The movies on the list include "The Hobbit" and the next installments in both the Terminator and James Bond sagas....
......Unlike Wall Street's traders, we will not panic at the approach of this unholy subprime nemesis, more deadly than Sauron, SPECTRE and an army of artificially intelligent robots intent on extinguishing all human life. The Financial Times says that MGM "is understood to be relaxed about the delay because none of the films in line to receive funds from the financing is due to start production imminently."
...But still: When Bilbo Baggins, James Bond, and the Terminator are stopped in their tracks, what hope is there for the rest of us?"
*spasm*
Then came Variety's article on Friday with a REAL eye-opener for me! Did I misunderstand or not realize that MGM and UA were working together in co-producing The Hobbit!?!? *twitch* OMG! That would be Awesome!
Here's what Variety had to say:
..."United Artists closed its $500 million deal with Merrill Lynch late Thursday morning in the wake of news that Goldman Sachs had backed away from committing to a $1 billion fund for MGM.
...Goldman Sachs was one of five banks considering underwriting the MGM fund. Move was Hollywood's first brush with the widening credit crunch.
...However, MGM CEO Harry Sloan said Goldman Sachs' move -- or any delay in the franchise fund -- would not impact the movies it has in the works, including "The Hobbit," a co-production with New Line, or the next installment with the Bond franchise, which it is cofinancing with Sony.
..."No MGM property will wait for a film (finance) slate," Sloan said.
...Of course, MGM's future possible tentpoles have issues of their own. "The Hobbit" has been locked in a battle between Peter Jackson and New Line, while legal wranglings have been holding up "Terminator 4."
...Sloan said that the Lion was waiting until the UA deal closed before moving forward on the MGM franchise film fund, which he says the company will offer at a later date.
...MGM invested substantial coin in the UA deal, which has been in the works for months...
......Wagner said UA was especially pleased to be able to close the deal amid challenging conditions in the financial markets.
..."This has been in the works for a long time really," Wagner said. "It's yet another vote of confidence in the potential success of United Artists."
......One busy financial dealmaker said the fact the deal didn't come apart was good news for the entertainment industry and future fundraising efforts.
..."There's no death knell for investment in the entertainment industry," he said.
...Besides MGM, Merrill Lynch also ponied up a sizable chunk of the coin for the UA deal, the bulk of which is a revolving debt facility. Additional monies came from hedge funds and more than 15 institutional investors based in the U.S., Europe, Asia and Africa."
This is great news, imho! When they speak about other "investors", I wonder if that includes some anonymous investors? From un-named lands? hmmmm? huh? *winkie-wink*
 
Trust him... The Hobbit is coming!
"Barney Snow was here." ~Hug like a hobbit!~ "In my heaven..."
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Eledhwen
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Aug 19 2007, 8:09pm
Post #2 of 14
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I don't think UA's involved in The Hobbit
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I hate the Variety style - the film biz slang they use and their insistence on dropping "the" (as in "Pic is long-winded"). But after Googling for a simpler article, that bit you've copied is basically talking about an investment fund that UA (which is an MGM subsidiary) has just set up after investment from Merrill Lynch. However a similar, larger fund that MGM proper wants to set up - to help fund films including The Hobbit - has been shelved for the moment because of the stock market problems. But even though UA's an MGM subsidiary, I don't think that article is suggesting UA is at all involved in The Hobbit. Its fund is for different projects.
There's a better-written version of the same story here, from MSN.
Marlborough vineyards on a sunny winter's day.
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kareniel
Lorien
Aug 19 2007, 10:27pm
Post #3 of 14
(994 views)
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To stimulate the economy and thus improve the chances of The Hobbit's being produced, let's all go shopping! I'll get my purse. Anybody with me?
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Aug 19 2007, 11:39pm
Post #4 of 14
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Ooooh, pretty shoes! *buys*
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded b*****d with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Ataahua's stories
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Mar
Gondor
Aug 20 2007, 12:15am
Post #5 of 14
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High Finance makes my head spin!
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Very interesting news though. I don't often think about money matters that are the driving force behind much of everything in society today. Not that it is a 'bad' thing - it is just the way it is. Everyone has their fingers in everyone else's pie so to speak. As long as we get our slice, I won't complain. Also, I hope their fingers are reasonably clean......
Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles,
it empties today of its strength.
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Sunflower
Valinor
Aug 20 2007, 1:51am
Post #6 of 14
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Maybe industrial turmoil is good news for The Hobbit. In a superstitious way. Every time George Lucas went to Tunisia to film Tatooine scenes for Star Wars, before the start of filming, every time (and Tatooine was in 4 of the 6 films), there would be a huge sandstorm that knocked out the sets. The first time this happened was in 1976 and Lucas freaked out, he thought the whole production was doomed. Now, when it happened in 2004, it was the crew that freaked, but Lucas just said, "Oh, don't worry, this is good luck!" So maybe turmoil of this sort is like a "Tatooine sandstorm"--for PJ, it heralds a great Tolkien adaptation! You have to have industrial sqabbling anfd struggle first! *Crosses fingers*
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Aug 20 2007, 9:00am
Post #7 of 14
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there ya go. Yeah, I can't always keep up with the jargon and between-the-lines... especially with Variety who is obviously writing for insiders.
Thanks m'dear :D
Trust him... The Hobbit is coming!
"Barney Snow was here." ~Hug like a hobbit!~ "In my heaven..."
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Aug 20 2007, 9:02am
Post #8 of 14
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Oooooh, pretty action figures! *buys*
Trust him... The Hobbit is coming!
"Barney Snow was here." ~Hug like a hobbit!~ "In my heaven..."
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Aug 20 2007, 9:04am
Post #9 of 14
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*remembers how original LotR with Miramax fell apart* I LOVE your insight! I'm gonna run with it and cheer on this sandstorm ;)
*high five*
Trust him... The Hobbit is coming!
"Barney Snow was here." ~Hug like a hobbit!~ "In my heaven..."
TORn's Observations Lists
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Sunflower
Valinor
Aug 20 2007, 9:40am
Post #10 of 14
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..that's not a "Borat"-style "high five", Grandma!
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Sunflower
Valinor
Aug 20 2007, 9:56am
Post #11 of 14
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There's a LOT of discussion about this in the Movie area, I know you always post in Main (I always did too, back in the old forums when I was still Fimbrethil) but it might be worth a look. I didn't start any threads there BTW.
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Aug 24 2007, 9:05am
Post #12 of 14
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I haven's seen "Borat", so I've probably set myself up for some raised eyebrows ;)
And I'll definitely peek in on that thread! Thanks :D
Trust him... The Hobbit is coming!
"Barney Snow was here." ~Hug like a hobbit!~ "In my heaven..."
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Nessa Inglorion
The Shire
Aug 27 2007, 6:56am
Post #13 of 14
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Yessss, maybe it's a sign.. N/T
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*remembers how original LotR with Miramax fell apart* I LOVE your insight! I'm gonna run with it and cheer on this sandstorm ;)
*high five*
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Nessa Inglorion
The Shire
Aug 27 2007, 6:58am
Post #14 of 14
(960 views)
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I just helped and bought Daniel Reeves frodo shire font :) Very apropo purchase I must say.
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